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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4912-h.zip b/4912-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bb93ad --- /dev/null +++ b/4912-h.zip diff --git a/4912-h/4912-h.htm b/4912-h/4912-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24c2ad5 --- /dev/null +++ b/4912-h/4912-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,20990 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Wacousta—Complete, by John Richardson +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy +(Complete), by John Richardson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy (Complete) + +Author: John Richardson + +Posting Date: September 6, 2009 [EBook #4912] +Release Date: January, 2004 +First Posted: March 25, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--COMPLETE *** + + + + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<A NAME="vol1"></A> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WACOUSTA; +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + or,<BR> +</H4> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE PROPHECY. +</H2> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Complete +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +John Richardson +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="33%"> +<A HREF="#vol1">Volume One</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="33%"> +<A HREF="#vol2">Volume Two</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="33%"> +<A HREF="#vol3">Volume Three</A> +</TD> +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="50%"> + +<BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="50%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap0101">I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap0102">II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap0103">III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap0104">IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap0105">V</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0106">VI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0107">VII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0108">VIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0109">IX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0110">X</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Preface +</H3> + +<P> +It is well known to every man conversant with the earlier history of +this country that, shortly subsequent to the cession of the Canadas to +England by France, Ponteac, the great head of the Indian race of that +period, had formed a federation of the various tribes, threatening +extermination to the British posts established along the Western +frontier. These were nine in number, and the following stratagem was +resorted to by the artful chief to effect their reduction. Investing +one fort with his warriors, so as to cut off all communication with the +others, and to leave no hope of succor, his practice was to offer terms +of surrender, which never were kept in the honorable spirit in which +the far more noble and generous Tecumseh always acted with his enemies, +and thus, in turn, seven of these outposts fell victims to their +confidence in his truth. +</P> + +<P> +Detroit and Michilimackinac, or Mackinaw as it is now called, remained, +and all the ingenuity of the chieftain was directed to the possession +of these strongholds. The following plan, well worthy of his invention, +was at length determined upon. During a temporary truce, and while +Ponteac was holding forth proposals for an ultimate and durable peace, +a game of lacrosse was arranged by him to take place simultaneously on +the common or clearing on which rested the forts of Michilimackinac and +Detroit. The better to accomplish their object, the guns of the +warriors had been cut short and given to their women, who were +instructed to conceal them under their blankets, and during the game, +and seemingly without design, to approach the drawbridge of the fort. +This precaution taken, the players were to approach and throw over +their ball, permission to regain which they presumed would not be +denied. On approaching the drawbridge they were with fierce yells to +make a general rush, and, securing the arms concealed by the women, to +massacre the unprepared garrison. +</P> + +<P> +The day was fixed; the game commenced, and was proceeded with in the +manner previously arranged. The ball was dexterously hurled into the +fort, and permission asked to recover it. It was granted. The +drawbridge was lowered, and the Indians dashed forward for the +accomplishment of their work of blood. How different the results in the +two garrisons! At Detroit, Ponteac and his warriors had scarcely +crossed the drawbridge when, to their astonishment and disappointment, +they beheld the guns of the ramparts depressed—the artillerymen with +lighted matches at their posts and covering the little garrison, +composed of a few companies of the 42nd Highlanders, who were also +under arms, and so distributed as to take the enemy most at an +advantage. Suddenly they withdrew and without other indication of their +purpose than what had been expressed in their manner, and carried off +the missing ball. Their design had been discovered and made known by +means of significant warnings to the Governor by an Indian woman who +owed a debt of gratitude to his family, and was resolved, at all +hazards, to save them. +</P> + +<P> +On the same day the same artifice was resorted to at Michilimackinac, +and with the most complete success. There was no guardian angel there +to warn them of danger, and all fell beneath the rifle, the tomahawk, +the war-club, and the knife, one or two of the traders—a Mr. Henry +among the rest—alone excepted. +</P> + +<P> +It was not long after this event when the head of the military +authorities in the Colony, apprised of the fate of these captured +posts, and made acquainted with the perilous condition of Fort Detroit, +which was then reduced to the last extremity, sought an officer who +would volunteer the charge of supplies from Albany to Buffalo, and +thence across the lake to Detroit, which, if possible, he was to +relieve. That volunteer was promptly found in my maternal grandfather, +Mr. Erskine, from Strabane, in the North of Ireland, then an officer in +the Commissariat Department. The difficulty of the undertaking will be +obvious to those who understand the danger attending a journey through +the Western wilderness, beset as it was by the warriors of Ponteac, +ever on the lookout to prevent succor to the garrison, and yet the duty +was successfully accomplished. He left Albany with provisions and +ammunition sufficient to fill several Schnectady boats—I think +seven—and yet conducted his charge with such prudence and foresight, +that notwithstanding the vigilance of Ponteac, he finally and after +long watching succeeded, under cover of a dark and stormy night, in +throwing into the fort the supplies of which the remnant of the +gallant "Black Watch," as the 42nd was originally named, and a company +of whom, while out reconnoitering, had been massacred at a spot in the +vicinity of the town, thereafter called the Bloody Run, stood so +greatly in need. This important service rendered, Mr. Erskine, in +compliance with the instructions he had received, returned to Albany, +where he reported the success of the expedition. +</P> + +<P> +The colonial authorities were not regardless of his interests. When the +Ponteac confederacy had been dissolved, and quiet and security restored +in that remote region, large tracts of land were granted to Mr. +Erskine, and other privileges accorded which eventually gave him the +command of nearly a hundred thousand dollars—enormous sum to have been +realized at that early period of the country. But it was not destined +that he should retain this. The great bulk of his capital was expended +on almost the first commercial shipping that ever skimmed the surface +of Lakes Huron and Erie. Shortly prior to the Revolution, he was +possessed of seven vessels of different tonnage, and the trade in which +he had embarked, and of which he was the head, was rapidly increasing +his already large fortune, when one of those autumnal hurricanes, which +even to this day continue to desolate the waters of the treacherous +lake last named, suddenly arose and buried beneath its engulfing waves +not less than six of these schooners laden with such riches, chiefly +furs, of the West as then were most an object of barter. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Erskine, who had married the daughter of one of the earliest +settlers from France, and of a family well known in history, a lady who +had been in Detroit during the siege of the British garrison by +Ponteac, now abandoned speculation, and contenting himself with the +remnant of his fortune, established himself near the banks of the +river, within a short distance of the Bloody Run. Here he continued +throughout the Revolution. Early, however, in the present century, he +quitted Detroit and repaired to the Canadian shore, where on a property +nearly opposite, which he obtained in exchange, and which in honor of +his native country he named Strabane—known as such to this day—he +passed the autumn of his days. The last time I beheld him was a day or +two subsequent to the affair of the Thames, when General Harrison and +Colonel Johnson were temporary inmates of his dwelling. +</P> + +<P> +My father, of a younger branch of the Annandale family, the head of +which was attainted in the Scottish rebellion of 1745, was an officer +of Simcoe's well-known Rangers, in which regiment, and about the same +period, the present Lord Hardinge commenced his services in this +country. Being quartered at Fort Erie, he met and married at the house +of one of the earliest Canadian merchants a daughter of Mr. Erskine, +then on a visit to her sister, and by her had eight children, of whom I +am the oldest and only survivor. Having a few years after his marriage +been ordered to St. Joseph's, near Michilimackinac, my father thought +it expedient to leave me with Mr. Erskine at Detroit, where I received +the first rudiments of my education. But here I did not remain long, +for it was during the period of the stay of the detachment of Simcoe's +Rangers at St. Joseph that Mr. Erskine repaired with his family to the +Canadian shore, where on the more elevated and conspicuous part of his +grounds which are situated nearly opposite the foot of Hog Island, so +repeatedly alluded to in "Wacousta," he had caused a flag-staff to be +erected, from which each Sabbath day proudly floated the colors under +which he had served, and which he never could bring himself to disown. +</P> + +<P> +It was at Strabane that the old lady, with whom I was a great favorite, +used to enchain my young interest by detailing various facts connected +with the siege she so well remembered, and infused into me a longing to +grow up to manhood that I might write a book about it. The details of +the Ponteac plan for the capture of the two forts were what she most +enlarged upon, and although a long lapse of years of absence from the +scene, and ten thousand incidents of a higher and more immediate +importance might have been supposed to weaken the recollections of so +early a period of life, the impression has ever vividly remained. Hence +the first appearance of "Wacousta" in London in 1832, more than a +quarter of a century later. The story is founded solely on the artifice +of Ponteac to possess himself of those two last British forts. All else +is imaginary. +</P> + +<P> +It is not a little curious that I, only a few years subsequent to the +narration by old Mrs. Erskine of the daring and cunning feats of +Ponteac, and his vain attempt to secure the fort of Detroit, should +myself have entered it in arms. But it was so. I had ever hated school +with a most bitter hatred, and I gladly availed myself of an offer from +General Brock to obtain for me a commission in the King's service. +Meanwhile I did duty as a cadet with the gallant 41st regiment, to +which the English edition of "Wacousta" was inscribed, and was one of +the guard of honor who took possession of the fort. The duty of a +sentinel over the British colors, which had just been hoisted was +assigned to me, and I certainly felt not a little proud of the +distinction. +</P> + +<P> +Five times within half a century had the flag of that fortress been +changed. First the lily of France, then the red cross of England, and +next the stars and stripes of America had floated over its ramparts; +and then again the red cross, and lastly the stars. On my return to +this country a few years since, I visited those scenes of stirring +excitement in which my boyhood had been passed, but I looked in vain +for the ancient fortifications which had given a classical interest to +that region. The unsparing hand of utilitarianism had passed over them, +destroying almost every vestige of the past. Where had risen the only +fortress in America at all worthy to give antiquity to the scene, +streets had been laid out and made, and houses had been built, leaving +not a trace of its existence save the well that formerly supplied the +closely besieged garrison with water; and this, half imbedded in the +herbage of an enclosure of a dwelling house of mean appearance, was +rather to be guessed at than seen; while at the opposite extremity of +the city, where had been conspicuous for years the Bloody Run, +cultivation and improvement had nearly obliterated every trace of the +past. +</P> + +<P> +Two objections have been urged against "Wacousta" as a consistent +tale—the one as involving an improbability, the other a geographical +error. It has been assumed that the startling feat accomplished by that +man of deep revenge, who is not alone in his bitter hatred and contempt +for the base among those who, like spaniels, crawl and kiss the dust at +the instigation of their superiors, and yet arrogate to themselves a +claim to be considered gentlemen and men of honor and independence—it +has, I repeat, been assumed that the feat attributed to him in +connection with the flag-staff of the fort was impossible. No one who +has ever seen these erections on the small forts of that day would +pronounce the same criticism. Never very lofty, they were ascended at +least one-third of their height by means of small projections nailed to +them for footholds for the artillerymen, frequently compelled to clear +the flag lines entangled at the truck; therefore a strong and active +man, such as Wacousta is described to have been, might very well have +been supposed, in his strong anxiety for revenge and escape with his +victim, to have doubled his strength and activity on so important an +occasion, rendering that easy of attainment by himself which an +ordinary and unexcited man might deem impossible. I myself have knocked +down a gate, almost without feeling the resistance, in order to escape +the stilettos of assassins. +</P> + +<P> +The second objection is to the narrowness attributed in the tale to the +river St. Clair. This was done in the license usually accorded to a +writer of fiction, in order to give greater effect to the scene +represented as having occurred there, and, of course, in no way +intended as a geographical description of the river, nor was it +necessary. In the same spirit and for the same purpose it has been +continued. +</P> + +<P> +It will be seen that at the termination of the tragedy enacted at the +bridge, by which the Bloody Run was in those days crossed, that the +wretched wife of the condemned soldier pronounced a curse that could +not, of course, well be fulfilled in the course of the tale. Some few +years ago I published in Canada—I might as well have done so in +Kamschatka—the continuation, which was to have been dedicated to the +last King of England, but which, after the death of that monarch, was +inscribed to Sir John Harvey, whose letter, as making honorable mention +of a gallant and beloved brother, I feel it a duty to the memory of the +latter to subjoin. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> + GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FREDERICTON, N.B.,<BR> +<BR> + Major Richardson, Montreal.<BR> +<BR> + November 26th, 1839.<BR> +<BR> + "Dear Sir;—I am favored with your very interesting + communication of the 2nd instant, by which I learn + that you are the brother of two youths whose gallantry + and merits—and with regard to one of them, his + sufferings—during the late war, excited my warmest + admiration and sympathy. I beg you to believe that I + am far from insensible to the affecting proofs which + you have made known to me of this grateful recollection + of any little service I may have had it in my power + to render them; and I will add that the desire which + I felt to serve the father will be found to extend + itself to the son, if your nephew should ever find + himself under circumstances to require from me any + service which it may be within my power to render him." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> + "With regard to your very flattering proposition to + inscribe your present work to me, I can only say that, + independent of the respect to which the author of so + very charming a production as 'Wacousta' is entitled, + the interesting facts and circumstances so unexpectedly + brought to my knowledge and recollection would ensure + a ready acquiescence on my part." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> + "I remain, dear sir your very faithful servant"<BR> +<BR> + "(Signed) J. HARVEY. "<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The "Prophecy Fulfilled," which, however, has never been seen out of +the small country in which it appeared—Detroit, perhaps, alone +excepted—embraces and indeed is intimately connected with the +Beauchamp tragedy, which took place at or near Weisiger's Hotel, in +Frankfort, Kentucky, where I had been many years before confined as a +prisoner of war. While connecting it with the "Prophecy Fulfilled," and +making it subservient to the end I had in view, I had not read or even +heard of the existence of a work of the same character, which had +already appeared from the pen of an American author. Indeed, I have +reason to believe that the "Prophecy Fulfilled," although not published +until after a lapse of years, was the first written. No similarity of +treatment of the subject exists between the two versions, and this, be +it remembered, I remark without in the slightest degree impugning the +merit of the production of my fellow-laborer in the same field. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE AUTHOR. +<BR><BR> +New York City, January 1st, 1851. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0101"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTORY +</H3> + +<P> +As we are about to introduce our readers to scenes with which the +European is little familiarised, some few cursory remarks, illustrative +of the general features of the country into which we have shifted our +labours, may not be deemed misplaced at the opening of this volume. +</P> + +<P> +Without entering into minute geographical detail, it may be necessary +merely to point out the outline of such portions of the vast continent +of America as still acknowledge allegiance to the English crown, in +order that the reader, understanding the localities, may enter with +deeper interest into the incidents of a tale connected with a ground +hitherto untouched by the wand of the modern novelist. +</P> + +<P> +All who have ever taken the trouble to inform themselves of the +features of a country so little interesting to the majority of +Englishmen in their individual character must be aware,—and for the +information of those who are not, we state,—that that portion of the +northern continent of America which is known as the United States is +divided from the Canadas by a continuous chain of lakes and rivers, +commencing at the ocean into which they empty themselves, and extending +in a north-western direction to the remotest parts of these wild +regions, which have never yet been pressed by other footsteps than +those of the native hunters of the soil. First we have the magnificent +St. Lawrence, fed from the lesser and tributary streams, rolling her +sweet and silver waters into the foggy seas of the Newfoundland.—But +perhaps it will better tend to impress our readers with a panoramic +picture of the country in which our scene of action is more immediately +laid, by commencing at those extreme and remote points of our Canadian +possessions to which their attention will be especially directed in the +course of our narrative. +</P> + +<P> +The most distant of the north-western settlements of America is +Michilimackinac, a name given by the Indians, and preserved by the +Americans, who possess the fort even to this hour. It is situated at +the head of the Lakes Michigan and Huron, and adjacent to the Island of +St. Joseph's, where, since the existence of the United States as an +independent republic, an English garrison has been maintained, with a +view of keeping the original fortress in check. From the lakes above +mentioned we descend into the River Sinclair, which, in turn, +disembogues itself into the lake of the same name. This again renders +tribute to the Detroit, a broad majestic river, not less than a mile in +breadth at its source, and progressively widening towards its mouth +until it is finally lost in the beautiful Lake Erie, computed at about +one hundred and sixty miles in circumference. From the embouchure of +this latter lake commences the Chippawa, better known in Europe from +the celebrity of its stupendous falls of Niagara, which form an +impassable barrier to the seaman, and, for a short space, sever the +otherwise uninterrupted chain connecting the remote fortresses we have +described with the Atlantic. At a distance of a few miles from the +falls, the Chippawa finally empties itself into the Ontario, the most +splendid of the gorgeous American lakes, on the bright bosom of which, +during the late war, frigates, seventy-fours, and even a ship of one +hundred and twelve guns, manned by a crew of one thousand men, +reflected the proud pennants of England! At the opposite extremity of +this magnificent and sea-like lake, which is upwards of two hundred +miles in circumference, the far-famed St. Lawrence takes her source; +and after passing through a vast tract of country, whose elevated banks +bear every trace of fertility and cultivation, connects itself with the +Lake Champlain, celebrated, as well as Erie, for a signal defeat of our +flotilla during the late contest with the Americans. Pushing her bold +waters through this somewhat inferior lake, the St. Lawrence pursues +her course seaward with impetuosity, until arrested near La Chine by +rock-studded shallows, which produce those strong currents and eddies, +the dangers of which are so beautifully expressed in the Canadian Boat +Song,—a composition that has rendered the "rapids" almost as familiar +to the imagination of the European as the falls of Niagara themselves. +Beyond La Chine the St. Lawrence gradually unfolds herself into greater +majesty and expanse, and rolling past the busy commercial town of +Montreal, is once more increased in volume by the insignificant lake of +St. Peter's, nearly opposite to the settlement of Three Rivers, midway +between Montreal and Quebec. From thence she pursues her course unfed, +except by a few inferior streams, and gradually widens as she rolls +past the capital of the Canadas, whose tall and precipitous +battlements, bristled with cannon, and frowning defiance from the +clouds in which they appear half imbedded, might be taken by the +imaginative enthusiast for the strong tower of the Spirit of those +stupendous scenes. From this point the St. Lawrence increases in +expanse, until, at length, after traversing a country where the traces +of civilisation become gradually less and less visible, she finally +merges in the gulf, from the centre of which the shores on either hand +are often invisible to the naked eye; and in this manner is it +imperceptibly lost in that misty ocean, so dangerous to mariners from +its deceptive and almost perpetual fogs. +</P> + +<P> +In following the links of this extensive chain of lakes and rivers, it +must be borne in recollection, that, proceeding seaward from +Michilimackinac and its contiguous district, all that tract of country +which lies to the right constitutes what is now known as the United +States of America, and all on the left the two provinces of Upper and +Lower Canada, tributary to the English government, subject to the +English laws, and garrisoned by English troops. The several forts and +harbours established along the left bank of the St. Lawrence, and +throughout that portion of our possessions which is known as Lower +Canada, are necessarily, from the improved condition and more numerous +population of that province, on a larger scale and of better +appointment; but in Upper Canada, where the traces of civilisation are +less evident throughout, and become gradually more faint as we advance +westward, the fortresses and harbours bear the same proportion In +strength and extent to the scantiness of the population they are +erected to protect. Even at the present day, along that line of remote +country we have selected for the theatre of our labours, the garrisons +are both few in number and weak in strength, and evidence of +cultivation is seldom to be found at any distance in the interior; so +that all beyond a certain extent of clearing, continued along the banks +of the lakes and rivers, is thick, impervious, rayless forest, the +limits of which have never yet been explored, perhaps, by the natives +themselves. +</P> + +<P> +Such being the general features of the country even at the present day, +it will readily be comprehended how much more wild and desolate was the +character they exhibited as far back as the middle of the last century, +about which period our story commences. At that epoch, it will be borne +in mind, what we have described as being the United States were then +the British colonies of America dependent on the mother-country; while +the Canadas, on the contrary, were, or had very recently been, under +the dominion of France, from whom they had been wrested after a long +struggle, greatly advanced in favour of England by the glorious battle +fought on the plains of Abraham, near Quebec, and celebrated for the +defeat of Montcalm and the death of Wolfe. +</P> + +<P> +The several attempts made to repossess themselves of the strong hold of +Quebec having, in every instance, been met by discomfiture and +disappointment, the French, in despair, relinquished the contest, and, +by treaty, ceded their claims to the Canadas,—an event that was +hastened by the capitulation of the garrison of Montreal, commanded by +the Marquis de Vaudreuil, to the victorious arms of General Amherst. +Still, though conquered as a people, many of the leading men in the +country, actuated by that jealousy for which they were remarkable, +contrived to oppose obstacles to the quiet possession of a conquest by +those whom they seemed to look upon as their hereditary enemies; and in +furtherance of this object, paid agents, men of artful and intriguing +character, were dispersed among the numerous tribes of savages, with a +view of exciting them to acts of hostility against their conquerors. +The long and uninterrupted possession, by the French, of those +countries immediately bordering on the hunting grounds and haunts of +the natives, with whom they carried on an extensive traffic in furs, +had established a communionship of interest between themselves and +those savage and warlike people, which failed not to turn to account +the vindictive views of the former. The whole of the province of Upper +Canada at that time possessed but a scanty population, protected in its +most flourishing and defensive points by stockade forts; the chief +object of which was to secure the garrisons, consisting each of a few +companies, from any sudden surprise on the part of the natives, who, +although apparently inclining to acknowledge the change of neighbours, +and professing amity, were, it was well known, too much in the interest +of their old friends the French, and even the French Canadians +themselves, not to be regarded with the most cautious distrust. +</P> + +<P> +These stockade forts were never, at any one period, nearer to each +other than from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles, so that, in +the event of surprise or alarm, there was little prospect of obtaining +assistance from without. Each garrison, therefore, was almost wholly +dependent on its own resources; and, when surrounded unexpectedly by +numerous bands of hostile Indians, had no other alternative than to +hold out to the death. Capitulation was out of the question; for, +although the wile and artifice of the natives might induce them to +promise mercy, the moment their enemies were in their power promises +and treaties were alike broken, and indiscriminate massacre ensued. +Communication by water was, except during a period of profound peace, +almost impracticable; for, although of late years the lakes of Canada +have been covered with vessels of war, many of them, as we have already +remarked, of vast magnitude, and been the theatres of conflicts that +would not have disgraced the salt waters of ocean itself, at the period +to which our story refers the flag of England was seen to wave only on +the solitary mast of some ill-armed and ill-manned gunboat, employed +rather for the purpose of conveying despatches from fort to fort, than +with any serious view to acts either of aggression or defence. +</P> + +<P> +In proportion as the colonies of America, now the United States, pushed +their course of civilisation westward, in the same degree did the +numerous tribes of Indians, who had hitherto dwelt more seaward, retire +upon those of their own countrymen, who, buried in vast and +impenetrable forests, had seldom yet seen the face of the European +stranger; so that, in the end, all the more central parts of those +stupendous wilds became doubly peopled. Hitherto, however, that +civilisation had not been carried beyond the state of New York; and all +those countries which have, since the American revolution, been added +to the Union under the names of Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, +&c., were, at the period embraced by our story, inhospitable and +unproductive woods, subject only to the dominion of the native, and as +yet unshorn by the axe of the cultivator. A few portions only of the +opposite shores of Michigan were occupied by emigrants from the +Canadas, who, finding no one to oppose or molest them, selected the +most fertile spots along the banks of the river; and of the existence +of these infant settlements, the English colonists, who had never +ventured so far, were not even aware until after the conquest of Canada +by the mother-country. This particular district was the centre around +which the numerous warriors, who had been driven westward by the +colonists, had finally assembled; and rude villages and encampments +rose far and near for a circuit of many miles around this infant +settlement and fort of the Canadians, to both of which they had given +the name of Detroit, after the river on whose elevated banks they +stood. Proceeding westward from this point, and along the tract of +country that diverged from the banks of the Lakes Huron, Sinclair, and +Michigan, all traces of that partial civilisation were again lost in +impervious wilds, tenanted only by the fiercest of the Indian tribes, +whose homes were principally along the banks of that greatest of +American waters, the Lake Superior, and in the country surrounding the +isolated fort of Michilimackinac, the last and most remote of the +European fortresses in Canada. +</P> + +<P> +When at a later period the Canadas were ceded to us by France, those +parts of the opposite frontier which we have just described became also +tributary to the English crown, and were, by the peculiar difficulties +that existed to communication with the more central and populous +districts, rendered especially favourable to the exercise of hostile +intrigue by the numerous active French emissaries every where dispersed +among the Indian tribes. During the first few years of the conquest, +the inhabitants of Canada, who were all either European French, or +immediate descendants of that nation, were, as might naturally be +expected, more than restive under their new governors, and many of the +most impatient spirits of the country sought every opportunity of +sowing the seeds of distrust and jealousy in the hearts of the natives. +By these people it was artfully suggested to the Indians, that their +new oppressors were of the race of those who had driven them from the +sea, and were progressively advancing on their territories until scarce +a hunting ground or a village would be left to them. They described +them, moreover, as being the hereditary enemies of their great father, +the King of France, with whose governors they had buried the hatchet +for ever, and smoked the calumet of perpetual peace. Fired by these +wily suggestions, the high and jealous spirit of the Indian chiefs took +the alarm, and they beheld with impatience the "Red Coat," or +"Saganaw," [Footnote: This word thus pronounced by themselves, in +reference to the English soldiery, is, in all probability, derived from +the original English settlers in Saganaw Bay.] usurping, as they deemed +it, those possessions which had so recently acknowledged the supremacy +of the pale flag of their ancient ally. The cause of the Indians, and +that of the Canadians, became, in some degree, identified as one, and +each felt it was the interest, and it may be said the natural instinct, +of both, to hold communionship of purpose, and to indulge the same +jealousies and fears. Such was the state of things in 1763, the period +at which our story commences,—an epoch fruitful in designs of +hostility and treachery on the part of the Indians, who, too crafty and +too politic to manifest their feelings by overt acts declaratory of the +hatred carefully instilled into their breasts, sought every opportunity +to compass the destruction of the English, wherever they were most +vulnerable to the effects of stratagem. Several inferior forts situated +on the Ohio had already fallen into their hands, when they summoned all +their address and cunning to accomplish the fall of the two important +though remote posts of Detroit and Michilimackinac. For a length of +time they were baffled by the activity and vigilance of the respective +governors of these forts, who had had too much fatal experience in the +fate of their companions not to be perpetually on the alert against +their guile; but when they had at length, in some degree, succeeded in +lulling the suspicions of the English, they determined on a scheme, +suggested by a leading chief, a man of more than ordinary character, +which promised fair to rid them altogether of a race they so cordially +detested. We will not, however, mar the interest of our tale, by +anticipating, at this early stage, either the nature or the success of +a stratagem which forms the essential groundwork of our story. +</P> + +<P> +While giving, for the information of the many, what, we trust, will not +be considered a too compendious outline of the Canadas, and the events +connected with them, we are led to remark, that, powerful as was the +feeling of hostility cherished by the French Canadians towards the +English when the yoke of early conquest yet hung heavily on them, this +feeling eventually died away under the mild influence of a government +that preserved to them the exercise of all their customary privileges, +and abolished all invidious distinctions between the descendants of +France and those of the mother-country. So universally, too, has this +system of conciliation been pursued, we believe we may with safety +aver, of all the numerous colonies that have succumbed to the genius +and power of England, there are none whose inhabitants entertain +stronger feelings of attachment and loyalty to her than those of +Canada; and whatever may be the transient differences,—differences +growing entirely out of circumstances and interests of a local +character, and in no way tending to impeach the acknowledged fidelity +of the mass of French Canadians,—whatever, we repeat, may be the +ephemeral differences that occasionally spring up between the governors +of those provinces and individual members of the Houses of Assembly, +they must, in no way, be construed into a general feeling of +disaffection towards the English crown. +</P> + +<P> +In proportion also as the Canadians have felt and acknowledged the +beneficent effects arising from a change of rulers, so have the Indian +tribes been gradually weaned from their first fierce principle of +hostility, until they have subsequently become as much distinguished by +their attachment to, as they were three quarters of a century ago +remarkable for their untameable aversion for, every thing that bore the +English name, or assumed the English character. Indeed, the hatred +which they bore to the original colonists has been continued to their +descendants, the subjects of the United States; and the same spirit of +union subsisted between the natives and British troops, and people of +Canada, during the late American war, that at an earlier period of the +history of that country prevailed so powerfully to the disadvantage of +England. +</P> + +<P> +And now we have explained a course of events which were in some measure +necessary to the full understanding of the country by the majority of +our readers, we shall, in furtherance of the same object, proceed to +sketch a few of the most prominent scenes more immediately before us. +</P> + +<P> +The fort of Detroit, as it was originally constructed by the French, +stands in the middle of a common, or description of small prairie, +bounded by woods, which, though now partially thinned in their +outskirts, were at that period untouched by the hand of civilisation. +Erected at a distance of about half a mile from the banks of the river, +which at that particular point are high and precipitous, it stood then +just far enough from the woods that swept round it in a semicircular +form to be secure from the rifle of the Indian; while from its +batteries it commanded a range of country on every hand, which no enemy +unsupported by cannon could traverse with impunity. Immediately in the +rear, and on the skirt of the wood, the French had constructed a sort +of bomb-proof, possibly intended to serve as a cover to the workmen +originally employed in clearing the woods, but long since suffered to +fall into decay. Without the fortification rose a strong and triple +line of pickets, each of about two feet and a half in circumference, +and so fitted into each other as to leave no other interstices than +those which were perforated for the discharge of musketry. They were +formed of the hardest and most knotted pines that could be procured; +the sharp points of which were seasoned by fire until they acquired +nearly the durability and consistency of iron. Beyond these firmly +imbedded pickets was a ditch, encircling the fort, of about twenty feet +in width, and of proportionate depth, the only communication over which +to and from the garrison was by means of a drawbridge, protected by a +strong chevaux-de-frise. The only gate with which the fortress was +provided faced the river; on the more immediate banks of which, and to +the left of the fort, rose the yet infant and straggling village that +bore the name of both. Numerous farm-houses, however, almost joining +each other, contributed to form a continuity of many miles along the +borders of the river, both on the right and on the left; while the +opposite shores of Canada, distinctly seen in the distance, presented, +as far as the eye could reach, the same enlivening character of +fertility. The banks, covered with verdure on either shore, were more +or less undulating at intervals; but in general they were high without +being abrupt, and picturesque without being bold, presenting, in their +partial cultivation, a striking contrast to the dark, tall, and +frowning forests bounding every point of the perspective. +</P> + +<P> +At a distance of about five miles on the left of the town the course of +the river was interrupted by a small and thickly wooded island, along +whose sandy beach occasionally rose the low cabin or wigwam which the +birch canoe, carefully upturned and left to dry upon the sands, +attested to be the temporary habitation of the wandering Indian. That +branch of the river which swept by the shores of Canada was (as at this +day) the only navigable one for vessels of burden, while that on the +opposite coast abounded in shallows and bars, affording passage merely +to the light barks of the natives, which seemed literally to skim the +very surface of its waves. Midway, between that point of the continent +which immediately faced the eastern extremity of the island we have +just named and the town of Detroit, flowed a small tributary river, the +approaches to which, on either hand, were over a slightly sloping +ground, the view of which could be entirely commanded from the fort. +The depth of this river, now nearly dried up, at that period varied +from three to ten or twelve feet; and over this, at a distance of about +twenty yards from the Detroit, into which it emptied itself, rose, +communicating with the high road, a bridge, which will more than once +be noticed in the course of our tale. Even to the present hour it +retains the name given to it during these disastrous times; and there +are few modern Canadians, or even Americans, who traverse the "Bloody +Bridge," especially at the still hours of advanced night, without +recalling to memory the tragic events of those days, (handed down as +they have been by their fathers, who were eye-witnesses of the +transaction,) and peopling the surrounding gloom with the shades of +those whose life-blood erst crimsoned the once pure waters of that now +nearly exhausted stream; and whose mangled and headless corpses were +slowly borne by its tranquil current into the bosom of the parent +river, where all traces of them finally disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +These are the minuter features of the scene we have brought more +immediately under the province of our pen. What Detroit was in 1763 it +nearly is at the present day, with this difference, however, that many +of those points which were then in a great degree isolated and rude are +now redolent with the beneficent effects of improved cultivation; and +in the immediate vicinity of that memorable bridge, where formerly +stood merely the occasional encampment of the Indian warrior, are now +to be seen flourishing farms and crops, and other marks of agricultural +industry. Of the fort of Detroit itself we will give the following +brief history:—It was, as we have already stated, erected by the +French while in the occupancy of the country by which it is more +immediately environed; subsequently, and at the final cession of the +Canadas, it was delivered over to England, with whom it remained until +the acknowledgement of the independence of the colonists by the +mother-country, when it hoisted the colours of the republic; the +British garrison marching out, and crossing over into Canada, followed +by such of the loyalists as still retained their attachment to the +English crown. At the commencement of the late war with America it was +the first and more immediate theatre of conflict, and was remarkable, +as well as Michilimackinac, for being one of the first posts of the +Americans that fell into our hands. The gallant daring, and promptness +of decision, for which the lamented general, Sir Isaac Brock, was so +eminently distinguished, achieved the conquest almost as soon as the +American declaration of war had been made known in Canada; and on this +occasion we ourselves had the good fortune to be selected as part of +the guard of honour, whose duty it was to lower the flag of America, +and substitute that of England in its place. On the approach, however, +of an overwhelming army of the enemy in the autumn of the ensuing year +it was abandoned by our troops, after having been dismantled and +reduced, in its more combustible parts, to ashes. The Americans, who +have erected new fortifications on the site of the old, still retain +possession of a post to which they attach considerable importance, from +the circumstance of its being a key to the more western portions of the +Union. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0102"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<P> +It was during the midnight watch, late in September, 1763, that the +English garrison of Detroit, in North America, was thrown into the +utmost consternation by the sudden and mysterious introduction of a +stranger within its walls. The circumstance at this moment was +particularly remarkable; for the period was so fearful and pregnant +with events of danger, the fort being assailed on every side by a +powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution and vigilance of no common +kind were unceasingly exercised by the prudent governor for the safety +of those committed to his charge. A long series of hostilities had been +pursued by the North-American Indians against the subjects of England, +within the few years that had succeeded to the final subjection of the +Canadas to her victorious arms; and many and sanguinary were the +conflicts in which the devoted soldiery were made to succumb to the +cunning and numbers of their savage enemies. In those lone regions, +both officers and men, in their respective ranks, were, by a +communionship of suffering, isolation, and peculiarity of duty, drawn +towards each other with feelings of almost fraternal affection; and the +fates of those who fell were lamented with sincerity of soul, and +avenged, when opportunity offered, with a determination prompted +equally by indignation and despair. This sentiment of union, existing +even between men and officers of different corps, was, with occasional +exceptions, of course doubly strengthened among those who fought under +the same colours, and acknowledged the same head; and, as it often +happened in Canada, during this interesting period, that a single +regiment was distributed into two or three fortresses, each so far +removed from the other that communication could with the utmost +facility be cut off, the anxiety and uncertainty of these detachments +became proportioned to the danger with which they knew themselves to be +more immediately beset. The garrison of Detroit, at the date above +named, consisted of a third of the —— regiment, the remainder of +which occupied the forts of Michilimackinac and Niagara, and to each +division of this regiment was attached an officer's command of +artillery. It is true that no immediate overt act of hostility had for +some time been perpetrated by the Indians, who were assembled in force +around the former garrison; but the experienced officer to whom the +command had been intrusted was too sensible of the craftiness of the +surrounding hordes to be deceived, by any outward semblance of amity, +into neglect of those measures of precaution which were so +indispensable to the surety of his trust. +</P> + +<P> +In this he pursued a line of policy happily adapted to the delicate +nature of his position. Unwilling to excite the anger or wound the +pride of the chiefs, by any outward manifestation of distrust, he +affected to confide in the sincerity of their professions, and, by +inducing his officers to mix occasionally in their councils, and his +men in the amusements of the inferior warriors, contrived to impress +the conviction that he reposed altogether on their faith. But, although +these acts were in some degree coerced by the necessity of the times, +and a perfect knowledge of all the misery that must accrue to them in +the event of their provoking the Indians into acts of open hostility, +the prudent governor took such precautions as were deemed efficient to +defeat any treacherous attempt at violation of the tacit treaty on the +part of the natives. The officers never ventured out, unless escorted +by a portion of their men, who, although appearing to be dispersed +among the warriors, still kept sufficiently together to be enabled, in +a moment of emergency, to afford succour not only to each other but to +their superiors. On these occasions, as a further security against +surprise, the troops left within were instructed to be in readiness, at +a moment's warning, to render assistance, if necessary, to their +companions, who seldom, on any occasion, ventured out of reach of the +cannon of the fort, the gate of which was hermetically closed, while +numerous supernumerary sentinels were posted along the ramparts, with a +view to give the alarm if any thing extraordinary was observed to occur +without. +</P> + +<P> +Painful and harassing as were the precautions it was found necessary to +adopt on these occasions, and little desirous as were the garrison to +mingle with the natives on such terms, still the plan was pursued by +the Governor from the policy already named: nay, it was absolutely +essential to the future interests of England that the Indians should be +won over by acts of confidence and kindness; and so little disposition +had hitherto been manifested by the English to conciliate, that every +thing was to be apprehended from the untameable rancour with which +these people were but too well disposed to repay a neglect at once +galling to their pride and injurious to their interests. +</P> + +<P> +Such, for a term of many months, had been the trying and painful duty +that had devolved on the governor of Detroit; when, in the summer of +1763, the whole of the western tribes of Indians, as if actuated by one +common impulse, suddenly threw off the mask, and commenced a series of +the most savage trespasses upon the English settlers in the vicinity of +the several garrisons, who were cut off in detail, without mercy, and +without reference to either age or sex. On the first alarm the weak +bodies of troops, as a last measure of security, shut themselves up in +their respective forts, where they were as incapable of rendering +assistance to others as of receiving it themselves. In this emergency +the prudence and forethought of the governor of Detroit were eminently +conspicuous; for, having long foreseen the possibility of such a +crisis, he had caused a plentiful supply of all that was necessary to +the subsistence and defence of the garrison to be provided at an +earlier period, so that, if foiled in their attempts at stratagem, +there was little chance that the Indians would speedily reduce them by +famine. To guard against the former, a vigilant watch was constantly +kept by the garrison both day and night, while the sentinels, doubled +in number, were constantly on the alert. Strict attention, moreover, +was paid to such parts of the ramparts as were considered most +assailable by a cunning and midnight enemy; and, in order to prevent +any imprudence on the part of the garrison, all egress or ingress was +prohibited that had not the immediate sanction of the chief. With this +view the keys of the gate were given in trust to the officer of the +guard; to whom, however, it was interdicted to use them unless by +direct and positive order of the Governor. In addition to this +precaution, the sentinels on duty at the gate had strict private +instructions not to suffer any one to pass either in or out unless +conducted by the governor in person; and this restriction extended even +to the officer of the guard. +</P> + +<P> +Such being the cautious discipline established in the fort, the +appearance of a stranger within its walls at the still hour of midnight +could not fail to be regarded as an extraordinary event, and to excite +an apprehension which could scarcely have been surpassed had a numerous +and armed band of savages suddenly appeared among them. The first +intimation of this fact was given by the violent ringing of an alarm +bell; a rope communicating with which was suspended in the Governor's +apartments, for the purpose of arousing the slumbering soldiers in any +case of pressing emergency. Soon afterwards the Governor himself was +seen to issue from his rooms into the open area of the parade, clad in +his dressing-gown, and bearing a lamp in one hand and a naked sword in +the other. His countenance was pale; and his features, violently +agitated, betrayed a source of alarm which those who were familiar with +his usual haughtiness of manner were ill able to comprehend. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way did he go?—why stand ye here?—follow—pursue him +quickly—let him not escape, on your lives!" +</P> + +<P> +These sentences, hurriedly and impatiently uttered, were addressed to +the two sentinels who, stationed in front of his apartments, had, on +the first sound of alarm from the portentous bell, lowered their +muskets to the charge, and now stood immovable in that position. +</P> + +<P> +"Who does your honour mane?" replied one of the men, startled, yet +bringing his arms to the recover, in salutation of his chief. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, the man—the stranger—the fellow who has just passed you." +</P> + +<P> +"Not a living soul has passed us since our watch commenced, your +honour," observed the second sentinel; "and we have now been here +upwards of an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible, sirs: ye have been asleep on your posts, or ye must have +seen him. He passed this way, and could not have escaped your +observation had ye been attentive to your duty." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, sure, and your honour knows bist," rejoined the first sentinel; +"but so hilp me St. Patrick, as I have sirved man and boy in your +honour's rigimint this twilve years, not even the fitch of a man has +passed me this blissed night. And here's my comrade, Jack Halford, who +will take his Bible oath to the same, with all due difirince to your +honour." +</P> + +<P> +The pithy reply to this eloquent attempt at exculpation was a brief +"Silence, sirrah, walk about!" +</P> + +<P> +The men brought their muskets once more, and in silence, to the +shoulder, and, in obedience to the command of their chief, resumed the +limited walk allotted to them; crossing each other at regular intervals +in the semicircular course that enfiladed, as it were, the only +entrance to the Governor's apartments. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile every thing was bustle and commotion among the garrison, who, +roused from sleep by the appalling sound of the alarm bell at that late +hour, were hastily arming. Throughout the obscurity might be seen the +flitting forms of men, whose already fully accoutred persons proclaimed +them to be of the guard; while in the lofty barracks, numerous lights +flashing to and fro, and moving with rapidity, attested the alacrity +with which the troops off duty were equipping themselves for some +service of more than ordinary interest. So noiseless, too, was this +preparation, as far as speech was concerned, that the occasional +opening and shutting of pans, and ringing of ramrods to ascertain the +efficiency of the muskets, might be heard distinctly in the stillness +of the night at a distance of many furlongs. +</P> + +<P> +HE, however, who had touched the secret spring of all this picturesque +movement, whatever might be his gratification and approval of the +promptitude with which the summons to arms had been answered by his +brave troops, was far from being wholly satisfied with the scene he had +conjured up. Recovered from the first and irrepressible agitation which +had driven him to sound the tocsin of alarm, he felt how derogatory to +his military dignity and proverbial coolness of character it might be +considered, to have awakened a whole garrison from their slumbers, when +a few files of the guard would have answered his purpose equally well. +Besides, so much time had been suffered to elapse, that the stranger +might have escaped; and if so, how many might be disposed to ridicule +his alarm, and consider it as emanating from an imagination disturbed +by sleep, rather than caused by the actual presence of one endowed like +themselves with the faculties of speech and motion. For a moment he +hesitated whether he should not countermand the summons to arms which +had been so precipitately given; but when he recollected the harrowing +threat that had been breathed in his ear by his midnight visiter,—when +he reflected, moreover, that even now it was probable he was lurking +within the precincts of the fort with a view to the destruction of all +that it contained,—when, in short, he thought of the imminent danger +that must attend them should he be suffered to escape,—he felt the +necessity of precaution, and determined on his measures, even at the +risk of manifesting a prudence which might be construed unfavourably. +On re-entering his apartments, he found his orderly, who, roused by the +midnight tumult, stood waiting to receive the commands of his chief. +</P> + +<P> +"Desire Major Blackwater to come to me immediately." +</P> + +<P> +The mandate was quickly obeyed. In a few seconds a short, thick-set, +and elderly officer made his appearance in a grey military undress +frock. +</P> + +<P> +"Blackwater, we have traitors within the fort. Let diligent search be +made in every part of the barracks for a stranger, an enemy, who has +managed to procure admittance among us: let every nook and cranny, +every empty cask, be examined forthwith; and cause a number of +additional sentinels to be stationed along the ramparts, in order to +intercept his escape." +</P> + +<P> +"Good Heaven, is it possible?" said the Major, wiping the perspiration +from his brows, though the night was unusually chilly for the season of +the year:—"how could he contrive to enter a place so vigilantly +guarded?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ask me not HOW, Blackwater," returned the Governor seriously; "let it +suffice that he has been in this very room, and that ten minutes since +he stood where you now stand." +</P> + +<P> +The Major looked aghast.—"God bless me, how singular! How could the +savage contrive to obtain admission? or was he in reality an Indian?" +</P> + +<P> +"No more questions, MAJOR Blackwater. Hasten to distribute the men, and +let diligent search be made every where; and recollect, neither officer +nor man courts his pillow until dawn." +</P> + +<P> +The "Major" emphatically prefixed to his name was a sufficient hint to +the stout officer that the doubts thus familiarly expressed were here +to cease, and that he was now addressed in the language of authority by +his superior, who expected a direct and prompt compliance with his +orders. He therefore slightly touched his hat in salutation, and +withdrew to make the dispositions that had been enjoined by his Colonel. +</P> + +<P> +On regaining the parade, he caused the men, already forming into +companies and answering to the roll-call of their respective +non-commissioned officers, to be wheeled into square, and then in a low +but distinct voice stated the cause of alarm; and, having communicated +the orders of the Governor, finished by recommending to each the +exercise of the most scrutinising vigilance; as on the discovery of the +individual in question, and the means by which he had contrived to +procure admission, the safety of the whole garrison, it was evident, +must depend. +</P> + +<P> +The soldiers now dispersed in small parties throughout the interior of +the fort, while a select body were conducted to the ramparts by the +officers themselves, and distributed between the sentinels already +posted there, in such numbers, and at such distances, that it appeared +impossible any thing wearing the human form could pass them +unperceived, even in the obscurity that reigned around. +</P> + +<P> +When this duty was accomplished, the officers proceeded to the posts of +the several sentinels who had been planted since the last relief, to +ascertain if any or either of them had observed aught to justify the +belief that an enemy had succeeded in scaling the works. To all their +enquiries, however, they received a negative reply, accompanied by a +declaration, more or less positive with each, that such had been their +vigilance during the watch, had any person come within their beat, +detection must have been inevitable. The first question was put to the +sentinel stationed at the gate of the fort, at which point the whole of +the officers of the garrison were, with one or two exceptions, now +assembled. The man at first evinced a good deal of confusion; but this +might arise from the singular fact of the alarm that had been given, +and the equally singular circumstance of his being thus closely +interrogated by the collective body of his officers: he, however, +persisted in declaring that he had been in no wise inattentive to his +duty, and that no cause for alarm or suspicion had occurred near his +post. The officers then, in order to save time, separated into two +parties, pursuing opposite circuits, and arranging to meet at that +point of the ramparts which was immediately in the rear, and +overlooking the centre of the semicircular sweep of wild forest we have +described as circumventing the fort. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Blessington, I know not what you think of this sort of work," +observed Sir Everard Valletort, a young lieutenant of the —— +regiment, recently arrived from England, and one of the party who now +traversed the rampart to the right; "but confound me if I would not +rather be a barber's apprentice in London, upon nothing, and find +myself, than continue a life of this kind much longer. It positively +quite knocks me up; for what with early risings, and watchings (I had +almost added prayings), I am but the shadow of my former self." +</P> + +<P> +"Hist, Valletort, hist! speak lower," said Captain Blessington, the +senior officer present, "or our search must be in vain. Poor fellow!" +he pursued, laughing low and good humouredly at the picture of miseries +thus solemnly enumerated by his subaltern;—"how much, in truth, are +you to be pitied, who have so recently basked in all the sunshine of +enjoyment at home. For our parts, we have lived so long amid these +savage scenes, that we have almost forgotten what luxury, or even +comfort, means. Doubt not, my friend, that in time you will, like us, +be reconciled to the change." +</P> + +<P> +"Confound me for an idiot, then, if I give myself time," replied Sir +Everard affectedly. "It was only five minutes before that cursed alarm +bell was sounded in my ears, that I had made up my mind fully to resign +or exchange the instant I could do so with credit to myself; and, I am +sure, to be called out of a warm bed at this unseasonable hour offers +little inducement for me to change my opinion." +</P> + +<P> +"Resign or exchange with credit to yourself!" sullenly observed a stout +tall officer of about fifty, whose spleen might well be accounted for +in his rank of "Ensign" Delme. "Methinks there can be little credit in +exchanging or resigning, when one's companions are left behind, and in +a post of danger." +</P> + +<P> +"By Jasus, and ye may say that with your own pritty mouth," remarked +another veteran, who answered to the name of Lieutenant Murphy; "for it +isn't now, while we are surrounded and bediviled by the savages, that +any man of the —— rigimint should be after talking of bating a +retrate." +</P> + +<P> +"I scarcely understand you, gentlemen," warmly and quickly retorted Sir +Everard, who, with all his dandyism and effeminacy of manner, was of a +high and resolute spirit. "Do either of you fancy that I want courage +to face a positive danger, because I may not happen to have any +particular vulgar predilection for early rising?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense, Valletort, nonsense," interrupted, in accents of almost +feminine sweetness, his friend Lieutenant Charles de Haldimar, the +youngest son of the Governor: "Murphy is an eternal echo of the +opinions of those who look forward to promotion; and as for Delme—do +you not see the drift of his observation? Should you retire, as you +have threatened, of course another lieutenant will be appointed in your +stead; but, should you chance to lose your scalp during the struggle +with the savages, the step goes in the regiment, and he, being the +senior ensign, obtains promotion in consequence." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" observed Captain Blessington, "this is indeed the greatest curse +attached to the profession of a soldier. Even among those who most +esteem, and are drawn towards each other as well by fellowship in +pleasure as companionship in danger, this vile and debasing +principle—this insatiable desire for personal advancement—is certain +to intrude itself; since we feel that over the mangled bodies of our +dearest friends and companions, we can alone hope to attain preferment +and distinction." +</P> + +<P> +A moment or two of silence ensued, in the course of which each +individual appeared to be bringing home to his own heart the +application of the remark just uttered; and which, however they might +seek to disguise the truth from themselves, was too forcible to find +contradiction from the secret monitor within. And yet of those +assembled there was not one, perhaps, who would not, in the hour of +glory and of danger, have generously interposed his own frame between +that of his companion and the steel or bullet of an enemy. Such are the +contradictory elements which compose a soldier's life. +</P> + +<P> +This conversation, interrupted only by occasional questioning of the +sentinels whom they passed in their circuit, was carried on in an +audible whisper, which the close approximation of the parties to each +other, and the profound stillness of the night, enabled them to hear +with distinctness. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, nay, De Haldimar," at length observed Sir Everard, in reply to +the observation of his friend, "do not imagine I intend to gratify Mr. +Delme by any such exhibition as that of a scalpless head; but, if such +be his hope, I trust that the hour which sees my love-locks dangling at +the top of an Indian pole may also let daylight into his own carcass +from a rifle bullet or a tomahawk." +</P> + +<P> +"And yit, Captin, it sames to me," observed Lieutenant Murphy, in +allusion to the remark of Blessington rather than in reply to the last +speaker,—"it sames to me, I say, that promotion in ony way is all fair +and honourable in times of hardship like thase; and though we may drop +a tare over our suparior when the luck of war, in the shape of a +tommyhawk, knocks him over, still there can be no rason why we +shouldn't stip into his shoes the viry nixt instant; and it's that, we +all know, that we fight for. And the divil a bitter chance any man of +us all has of promotion thin yoursilf, Captin: for it'll be mighty +strange if our fat Major doesn't git riddlid like a cullinder through +and through with the bullits from the Ingians' rifles before we have +quite done with this business, and thin you will have the rigimintal +majority, Captin; and it may be that one Liftinint Murphy, who is now +the sanior of his rank, may come in for the vacant captincy." +</P> + +<P> +"And Delme for the lieutenancy," said Charles de Haldimar +significantly. "Well, Murphy, I am happy to find that you, at least, +have hit on another than Sir Everard Valletort: one, in fact, who will +render the promotion more general than it would otherwise have been. +Seriously, I should be sorry if any thing happened to our worthy Major, +who, with all his bustling and grotesque manner, is as good an officer +and as brave a soldier as any his Majesty's army in Canada can boast. +For my part, I say, perish all promotion for ever, if it is only to be +obtained over the dead bodies of those with whom I have lived so long +and shared so many dangers!" +</P> + +<P> +"Nobly uttered, Charles," said Captain Blessington: "the sentiment is, +indeed, one well worthy of our present position; and God knows we are +few enough in number already, without looking forward to each other's +death as a means of our own more immediate personal advancement. With +you, therefore, I repeat, perish all my hopes of promotion, if it is +only to be obtained over the corpses of my companions! And let those +who are most sanguine in their expectations beware lest they prove the +first to be cut off, and that even before they have yet enjoyed the +advantages of the promotion they so eagerly covet." +</P> + +<P> +This observation, uttered without acrimony, had yet enough of delicate +reproach in it to satisfy Lieutenant Murphy that the speaker was far +from approving the expression of such selfish anticipations at a moment +like the present, when danger, in its most mysterious guise, lurked +around, and threatened the safety of all most dear to them. +</P> + +<P> +The conversation now dropped, and the party pursued their course in +silence. They had just passed the last sentinel posted in their line of +circuit, and were within a few yards of the immediate rear of the +fortress, when a sharp "Hist!" and sudden halt of their leader, Captain +Blessington, threw them all into an attitude of the most profound +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you hear?" he asked in a subdued whisper, after a few seconds of +silence, in which he had vainly sought to catch a repetition of the +sound. +</P> + +<P> +"Assuredly," he pursued, finding that no one answered, "I distinctly +heard a human groan." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?—in what direction?" asked Sir Everard and De Haldimar in the +same breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Immediately opposite to us on the common. But see, here are the +remainder of the party stationary, and listening also." +</P> + +<P> +They now stole gently forward a few paces, and were soon at the side of +their companions, all of whom were straining their necks and bending +their heads in the attitude of men listening attentively. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you heard any thing, Erskine?" asked Captain Blessington in the +same low whisper, and addressing the officer who led the opposite party. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a sound ourselves, but here is Sir Everard's black servant, Sambo, +who has just riveted our attention, by declaring that he distinctly +heard a groan towards the skirt of the common." +</P> + +<P> +"He is right," hastily rejoined Blessington; "I heard it also." +</P> + +<P> +Again a death-like silence ensued, during which the eyes of the party +were strained eagerly in the direction of the common. The night was +clear and starry, yet the dark shadow of the broad belt of forest threw +all that part of the waste which came within its immediate range into +impenetrable obscurity. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see any thing?" whispered Valletort to his friend, who stood +next him: "look—look!" and he pointed with his finger. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," returned De Haldimar, after an anxious gaze of a minute, +"but that dilapidated old bomb-proof." +</P> + +<P> +"See you not something dark, and slightly moving immediately in a line +with the left angle of the bomb-proof?" +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar looked again.—"I do begin to fancy I see something," he +replied; "but so confusedly and indistinctly, that I know not whether +it be not merely an illusion of my imagination. Perhaps it is a stray +Indian dog devouring the carcass of the wolf you shot yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"Be it dog or devil, here is for a trial of his vulnerability.—Sambo, +quick, my rifle." +</P> + +<P> +The young negro handed to his master one of those long heavy rifles, +which the Indians usually make choice of for killing the buffalo, elk, +and other animals whose wildness renders them difficult of approach. He +then, unbidden, and as if tutored to the task, placed himself in a +stiff upright position in front of his master, with every nerve and +muscle braced to the most inflexible steadiness. The young officer next +threw the rifle on the right shoulder of the boy for a rest, and +prepared to take his aim on the object that had first attracted his +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Make haste, massa,—him go directly,—Sambo see him get up." +</P> + +<P> +All was breathless attention among the group of officers; and when the +sharp ticking sound produced by the cocking of the rifle of their +companion fell on their ears, they bent their gaze upon the point +towards which the murderous weapon was levelled with the most aching +and intense interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, quick, massa,—him quite up," again whispered the boy. +</P> + +<P> +The words had scarcely passed his lips, when the crack of the rifle, +followed by a bright blaze of light, sounded throughout the stillness +of the night with exciting sharpness. For an instant all was hushed; +but scarcely had the distant woods ceased to reverberate the +spirit-stirring echoes, when the anxious group of officers were +surprised and startled by a sudden flash, the report of a second rifle +from the common, and the whizzing of a bullet past their ears. This was +instantly succeeded by a fierce, wild, and prolonged cry, expressive at +once of triumph and revenge. It was that peculiar cry which an Indian +utters when the reeking scalp has been wrested from his murdered victim. +</P> + +<P> +"Missed him, as I am a sinner," exclaimed Sir Everard, springing to his +feet, and knocking the butt of his rifle on the ground with a movement +of impatience. "Sambo, you young scoundrel, it was all your fault,—you +moved your shoulder as I pulled the trigger. Thank Heaven, however, the +aim of the Indian appears to have been no better, although the sharp +whistling of his ball proves his piece to have been well levelled for a +random shot." +</P> + +<P> +"His aim has been too true," faintly pronounced the voice of one +somewhat in the rear of his companions. "The ball of the villain has +found a lodgment in my breast. God bless ye all, my boys; may your +fates be more lucky than mine!" While he yet spoke, Lieutenant Murphy +sank into the arms of Blessington and De Haldimar, who had flown to him +at the first intimation of his wound, and was in the next instant a +corpse. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0103"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<P> +"To your companies, gentlemen, to your companies on the instant. There +is treason in the fort, and we had need of all our diligence and +caution. Captain de Haldimar is missing, and the gate has been found +unlocked. Quick, gentlemen, quick; even now the savages may be around +us, though unseen." +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Haldimar missing!—the gate unlocked!" exclaimed a number +of voices. "Impossible!—surely we are not betrayed by our own men." +</P> + +<P> +"The sentinel has been relieved, and is now in irons," resumed the +communicator of this startling piece of intelligence. It was the +adjutant of the regiment. +</P> + +<P> +"Away, gentlemen, to your posts immediately," said Captain Blessington, +who, aided by De Haldimar, hastened to deposit the stiffening body of +the unfortunate Murphy, which they still supported, upon the rampart. +Then addressing the adjutant, "Mr. Lawson, let a couple of files be +sent immediately to remove the body of their officer." +</P> + +<P> +"That shot which I heard from the common, as I approached, was not +fired at random, then, I find," observed the adjutant, as they all now +hastily descended to join their men.—"Who has fallen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Murphy, of the grenadiers," was the reply of one near him. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor fellow! our work commences badly," resumed Mr. Lawson: "Murphy +killed, and Captain de Haldimar missing. We had few officers enough to +spare before, and their loss will be severely felt; I greatly fear, +too, these casualties may have a tendency to discourage the men." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing more easy than to supply their place, by promoting some of our +oldest sergeants," observed Ensign Delme, who, as well as the ill-fated +Murphy, had risen from the ranks. "If they behave themselves well, the +King will confirm their appointments." +</P> + +<P> +"But my poor brother, what of him, Lawson? what have you learnt +connected with his disappearance?" asked Charles de Haldimar with deep +emotion. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing satisfactory, I am sorry to say," returned the adjutant; "in +fact, the whole affair is a mystery which no one can unravel; even at +this moment the sentinel, Frank Halloway, who is strongly suspected of +being privy to his disappearance, is undergoing a private examination +by your father the governor." +</P> + +<P> +"Frank Halloway!" repeated the youth with a start of astonishment; +"surely Halloway could never prove a traitor,—and especially to my +brother, whose life he once saved at the peril of his own." +</P> + +<P> +The officers had now gained the parade, when the "Fall in, gentlemen, +fall in," quickly pronounced by Major Blackwater, prevented all further +questioning on the part of the younger De Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +The scene, though circumscribed in limit, was picturesque in effect, +and might have been happily illustrated by the pencil of the painter. +The immediate area of the parade was filled with armed men, distributed +into three divisions, and forming, with their respective ranks facing +outwards, as many sides of a hollow square, the mode of defence +invariably adopted by the Governor in all cases of sudden alarm. The +vacant space, which communicated with the powder magazine, was left +open to the movements of three three-pounders, which were to support +each face in the event of its being broken by numbers. Close to these, +and within the square, stood the number of gunners necessary to the +duty of the field-pieces, each of which was commanded by a bombardier. +At the foot of the ramparts, outside the square, and immediately +opposite to their several embrasures, were stationed the gunners +required for the batteries, under a non-commissioned officer also, and +the whole under the direction of a superior officer of that arm, who +now walked to and fro, conversing in a low voice with Major Blackwater. +One gunner at each of these divisions of the artillery held in his hand +a blazing torch, reflecting with picturesque yet gloomy effect the +bright bayonets and equipment of the soldiers, and the anxious +countenances of the women and invalids, who, bending eagerly through +the windows of the surrounding barracks, appeared to await the issue of +these preparations with an anxiety increased by the very consciousness +of having no other parts than those of spectators to play in the scene +that was momentarily expected. +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes from the falling in of the officers with their +respective companies, the clank of irons was heard in the direction of +the guard-room, and several forms were seen slowly advancing into the +area already occupied as we have described. This party was preceded by +the Adjutant Lawson, who, advancing towards Major Blackwater, +communicated a message, that was followed by the command of the latter +officer for the three divisions to face inwards. The officer of +artillery also gave the word to his men to form lines of single files +immediately in the rear of their respective guns, leaving space enough +for the entrance of the approaching party, which consisted of half a +dozen files of the guard, under a non-commissioned officer, and one +whose manacled limbs, rather than his unaccoutred uniform, attested him +to be not merely a prisoner, but a prisoner confined for some serious +and flagrant offence. +</P> + +<P> +This party now advanced through the vacant quarter of the square, and +took their stations immediately in the centre. Here the countenances of +each, and particularly that of the prisoner, who was, if we may so term +it, the centre of that centre, were thrown into strong relief by the +bright glare of the torches as they were occasionally waved in air, to +disencumber them of their dross, so that the features of the prisoner +stood revealed to those around as plainly as if it had been noonday. +Not a sound, not a murmur, escaped from the ranks: but, though the +etiquette and strict laws of military discipline chained all speech, +the workings of the inward mind remained unchecked; and as they +recognised in the prisoner Frank Halloway, one of the bravest and +boldest in the field, and, as all had hitherto imagined, one of the +most devoted to his duty, an irrepressible thrill of amazement and +dismay crept throughout the frames, and for a moment blanched the +cheeks of those especially who belonged to the same company. On being +summoned from their fruitless search after the stranger, to fall in +without delay, it had been whispered among the men that treason had +crept into the fort, and a traitor, partly detected in his crime, had +been arrested and thrown into irons; but the idea of Frank Halloway +being that traitor was the last that could have entered into their +thoughts, and yet they now beheld him covered with every mark of +ignominy, and about to answer his high offence, in all human +probability, with his life. +</P> + +<P> +With the officers the reputation of Halloway for courage and fidelity +stood no less high; but, while they secretly lamented the circumstance +of his defalcation, they could not disguise from themselves the almost +certainty of his guilt, for each, as he now gazed upon the prisoner, +recollected the confusion and hesitation of manner he had evinced when +questioned by them preparatory to their ascending to the ramparts. +</P> + +<P> +Once more the suspense of the moment was interrupted by the entrance of +other forms into the area. They were those of the Adjutant, followed by +a drummer, bearing his instrument, and the Governor's orderly, charged +with pens, ink, paper, and a book which, from its peculiar form and +colour, every one present knew to be a copy of the Articles of War. A +variety of contending emotions passed through the breasts of many, as +they witnessed the silent progress of these preparations, rendered +painfully interesting by the peculiarity of their position, and the +wildness of the hour at which they thus found themselves assembled +together. The prisoner himself was unmoved: he stood proud, calm, and +fearless amid the guard, of whom he had so recently formed one; and +though his countenance was pale, as much, perhaps, from a sense of the +ignominious character in which he appeared as from more private +considerations, still there was nothing to denote either the abjectness +of fear or the consciousness of merited disgrace. Once or twice a low +sobbing, that proceeded at intervals from one of the barrack windows, +caught his ear, and he turned his glance in that direction with a +restless anxiety, which he exerted himself in the instant afterwards to +repress; but this was the only mark of emotion he betrayed. +</P> + +<P> +The above dispositions having been hastily made, the adjutant and his +assistants once more retired. After the lapse of a minute, a tall +martial-looking man, habited in a blue military frock, and of handsome, +though stern, haughty, and inflexible features, entered the area. He +was followed by Major Blackwater, the captain of artillery, and +Adjutant Lawson. +</P> + +<P> +"Are the garrison all present, Mr. Lawson? are the officers all +present?" +</P> + +<P> +"All except those of the guard, sir," replied the Adjutant, touching +his hat with a submission that was scrupulously exacted on all +occasions of duty by his superior. +</P> + +<P> +The Governor passed his hand for a moment over his brows. It seemed to +those around him as if the mention of that guard had called up +recollections which gave him pain; and it might be so, for his eldest +son, Captain Frederick de Haldimar, had commanded the guard. Whither he +had disappeared, or in what manner, no one knew. +</P> + +<P> +"Are the artillery all present, Captain Wentworth?" again demanded the +Governor, after a moment of silence, and in his wonted firm +authoritative voice. +</P> + +<P> +"All present, sir," rejoined the officer, following the example of the +Adjutant, and saluting his chief. +</P> + +<P> +"Then let a drum-head court-martial be assembled immediately, Mr. +Lawson, and without reference to the roster let the senior officers be +selected." +</P> + +<P> +The Adjutant went round to the respective divisions, and in a low voice +warned Captain Blessington, and the four senior subalterns, for that +duty. One by one the officers, as they were severally called upon, left +their places in the square, and sheathing their swords, stepped into +that part of the area appointed as their temporary court. They were now +all assembled, and Captain Blessington, the senior of his rank in the +garrison, was preparing to administer the customary oaths, when the +prisoner Halloway advanced a pace or two in front of his escort, and +removing his cap, in a clear, firm, but respectful voice, thus +addressed the Governor:— +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel de Haldimar, that I am no traitor, as I have already told you, +the Almighty God, before whom I swore allegiance to his Majesty, can +bear me witness. Appearances, I own, are against me; but, so far from +being a traitor, I would have shed my last drop of blood in defence of +the garrison and your family.—Colonel de Haldimar," he pursued, after +a momentary pause, in which he seemed to be struggling to subdue the +emotion which rose, despite of himself, to his throat, "I repeat, I am +no traitor, and I scorn the imputation—but here is my best answer to +the charge. This wound, (and he unbuttoned his jacket, opened his +shirt, and disclosed a deep scar upon his white chest,) this wound I +received in defence of my captain's life at Quebec. Had I not loved +him, I should not so have exposed myself, neither but for that should I +now stand in the situation of shame and danger, in which my comrades +behold me." +</P> + +<P> +Every heart was touched by this appeal—this bold and manly appeal to +the consideration of the Governor. The officers, especially, who were +fully conversant with the general merit of Halloway, were deeply +affected, and Charles de Haldimar—the young, the generous, the feeling +Charles de Haldimar,—even shed tears. +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, prisoner?" interrogated the Governor, after a short +pause, during which he appeared to be weighing and deducing inferences +from the expressions just uttered. "What mean you, by stating, but for +that (alluding to your regard for Captain de Haldimar) you would not +now be in this situation of shame and danger?" +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner hesitated a moment; and then rejoined, but in a tone that +had less of firmness in it than before,—"Colonel de Haldimar, I am not +at liberty to state my meaning; for, though a private soldier, I +respect my word, and have pledged myself to secrecy." +</P> + +<P> +"You respect your word, and have pledged yourself to secrecy! What mean +you, man, by this rhodomontade? To whom can you have pledged yourself, +and for what, unless it be to some secret enemy without the walls? +Gentlemen, proceed to your duty: it is evident that the man is a +traitor, even from his own admission.—On my life," he pursued, more +hurriedly, and speaking in an under tone, as if to himself, "the fellow +has been bribed by, and is connected with—." The name escaped not his +lips; for, aware of the emotion he was betraying, he suddenly checked +himself, and assumed his wonted stern and authoritative bearing. +</P> + +<P> +Once more the prisoner addressed the Governor in the same clear firm +voice in which he had opened his appeal. +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel de Haldimar, I have no connection with any living soul without +the fort; and again I repeat, I am no traitor, but a true and loyal +British soldier, as my services in this war, and my comrades, can well +attest. Still, I seek not to shun that death which I have braved a +dozen times at least in the —— regiment. All that I ask is, that I +may not be tried—that I may not have the shame of hearing sentence +pronounced against me YET; but if nothing should occur before eight +o'clock to vindicate my character from this disgrace, I will offer up +no further prayer for mercy. In the name of that life, therefore, which +I once preserved to Captain de Haldimar, at the price of my own blood, +I entreat a respite from trial until then." +</P> + +<P> +"In the name of God and all his angels, let mercy reach your soul, and +grant his prayer!" +</P> + +<P> +Every ear was startled—every heart touched by the plaintive, +melancholy, silver tones of the voice that faintly pronounced the last +appeal, and all recognised it for that of the young, interesting, and +attached wife of the prisoner. Again the latter turned his gaze towards +the window whence the sounds proceeded, and by the glare of the torches +a tear was distinctly seen by many coursing down his manly cheek. The +weakness was momentary. In the next instant he closed his shirt and +coat, and resuming his cap, stepped back once more amid his guard, +where he remained stationary, with the air of one who, having nothing +further to hope, has resolved to endure the worst that can happen with +resignation and fortitude. +</P> + +<P> +After the lapse of a few moments, again devoted to much apparent deep +thought and conjecture, the Governor once more, and rather hurriedly, +resumed,— +</P> + +<P> +"In the event, prisoner, of this delay in your trial being granted, +will you pledge yourself to disclose the secret to which you have +alluded? Recollect, there is nothing but that which can save your +memory from being consigned to infamy for ever; for who, among your +comrades, will believe the idle denial of your treachery, when there is +the most direct proof against you? If your secret die with you, +moreover, every honest man will consider it as having been one so +infamous and injurious to your character, that you were ashamed to +reveal it." +</P> + +<P> +These suggestions of the Colonel were not without their effect; for, in +the sudden swelling of the prisoner's chest, as allusion was made to +the disgrace that would attach to his memory, there was evidence of a +high and generous spirit, to whom obloquy was far more hateful than +even death itself. +</P> + +<P> +"I do promise," he at length replied, stepping forward, and uncovering +himself as before,—"if no one appear to justify my conduct at the hour +I have named, a full disclosure of all I know touching this affair +shall be made. And may God, of his infinite mercy, grant, for Captain +de Haldimar's sake, as well as mine, I may not then be wholly deserted!" +</P> + +<P> +There was something so peculiarly solemn and impressive in the manner +in which the unhappy man now expressed himself, that a feeling of the +utmost awe crept into the bosoms of the surrounding throng; and more +than one veteran of the grenadiers, the company to which Halloway +belonged, was heard to relieve his chest of the long pent-up sigh that +struggled for release. +</P> + +<P> +"Enough, prisoner," rejoined the Governor; "on this condition do I +grant your request; but recollect,—your disclosure ensures no hope of +pardon, unless, indeed, you have the fullest proof to offer in your +defence. Do you perfectly understand me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," replied the soldier firmly; and again he placed his cap on his +head, and retired a step or two back among the guard. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be removed, and conducted to one of the +private cells. Who is the subaltern of the guard?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ensign Fortescue," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Then let Ensign Fortescue keep the key of the cell himself. Tell him, +moreover, I shall hold him individually responsible for his charge." +</P> + +<P> +Once more the prisoner was marched out of the area; and, as the +clanking sound of his chains became gradually fainter in the distance, +the same voice that had before interrupted the proceedings, pronounced +a "God be praised!—God be praised!" with such melody of sorrow in its +intonations that no one could listen to it unmoved. Both officers and +men were more or less affected, and all hoped—they scarcely knew why +or what—but all hoped something favourable would occur to save the +life of the brave and unhappy Frank Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +Of the first interruption by the wife of the prisoner the Governor had +taken no notice; but on this repetition of the expression of her +feelings he briefly summoned, in the absence of the Adjutant, the +sergeant-major of the regiment to his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Sergeant-major Bletson, I desire that, in future, on all occasions of +this kind, the women of the regiment may be kept out of the way. Look +to it, sir!" +</P> + +<P> +The sergeant-major, who had stood erect as his own halbert, which he +held before him in a saluting position, during this brief admonition of +his colonel, acknowledged, by a certain air of deferential respect and +dropping of the eyes, unaccompanied by speech of any kind, that he felt +the reproof, and would, in future, take care to avoid all similar cause +for complaint. He then stalked stiffly away, and resumed, in a few +hasty strides, his position in rear of the troops. +</P> + +<P> +"Hard-hearted man!" pursued the same voice: "if my prayers of gratitude +to Heaven give offence, may the hour never come when my lips shall +pronounce their bitterest curse upon your severity!" +</P> + +<P> +There was something so painfully wild—so solemnly prophetic—in these +sounds of sorrow as they fell faintly upon the ear, and especially +under the extraordinary circumstances of the night, that they might +have been taken for the warnings of some supernatural agency. During +their utterance, not even the breathing of human life was to be heard +in the ranks. In the next instant, however, Sergeant-major Bletson was +seen repairing, with long and hasty strides, to the barrack whence the +voice proceeded, and the interruption was heard no more. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the officers, who had been summoned from the ranks for the +purpose of forming the court-martial, still lingered in the centre of +the square, apparently waiting for the order of their superior, before +they should resume their respective stations. As the quick and +comprehensive glance of Colonel de Haldimar now embraced the group, he +at once became sensible of the absence of one of the seniors, all of +whom he had desired should be selected for the court-martial. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Lawson," he remarked, somewhat sternly, as the Adjutant now +returned from delivering over his prisoner to Ensign Fortescue, "I +thought I understood from your report the officers were all present!" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe, sir, my report will be found perfectly correct," returned +the Adjutant, in a tone which, without being disrespectful, marked his +offended sense of the implication. +</P> + +<P> +"And Lieutenant Murphy—" +</P> + +<P> +"Is here, sir," said the Adjutant, pointing to a couple of files of the +guard, who were bearing a heavy burden, and following into the square. +"Lieutenant Murphy," he pursued, "has been shot on the ramparts; and I +have, as directed by Captain Blessington, caused the body to be brought +here, that I may receive your orders respecting the interment." As he +spoke, he removed a long military grey cloak, which completely +enshrouded the corpse, and disclosed, by the light of the still +brightly flaming torches of the gunners, the features of the +unfortunate Murphy. +</P> + +<P> +"How did he meet his death?" enquired the governor; without, however, +manifesting the slightest surprise, or appearing at all moved at the +discovery. +</P> + +<P> +"By a rifle shot fired from the common, near the old bomb proof," +observed Captain Blessington, as the adjutant looked to him for the +particular explanation he could not render himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! this reminds me," pursued the austere commandant,—"there was a +shot fired also from the ramparts. By whom, and at what?" +</P> + +<P> +"By me, sir," said Lieutenant Valletort, coming forward from the ranks, +"and at what I conceived to be an Indian, lurking as a spy upon the +common." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, Lieutenant Sir Everard Valletort, no repetition of these +firings, if you please; and let it be borne in mind by all, that +although, from the peculiar nature of the service in which we are +engaged, I so far depart from the established regulations of the army +as to permit my officers to arm themselves with rifles, they are to be +used only as occasion may require in the hour of conflict, and not for +the purpose of throwing a whole garrison into alarm by trials of skill +and dexterity upon shadows at this unseasonable hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I was not aware, sir," returned Sir Everard proudly, and secretly +galled at being thus addressed before the men, "it could be deemed a +military crime to destroy an enemy at whatever hour he might present +himself, and especially on such an occasion as the present. As for my +firing at a shadow, those who heard the yell that followed the second +shot, can determine that it came from no shadow, but from a fierce and +vindictive enemy. The cry denoted even something more than the ordinary +defiance of an Indian: it seemed to express a fiendish sentiment of +personal triumph and revenge." +</P> + +<P> +The governor started involuntarily. "Do you imagine, Sir Everard +Valletort, the aim of your rifle was true—that you hit him?" +</P> + +<P> +This question was asked so hurriedly, and in a tone so different from +that in which he had hitherto spoken, that the officers around +simultaneously raised their eyes to those of their colonel with an +expression of undissembled surprise. He observed it, and instantly +resumed his habitual sternness of look and manner. +</P> + +<P> +"I rather fear not, sir," replied Sir Everard, who had principally +remarked the emotion; "but may I hope (and this was said with +emphasis), in the evident disappointment you experience at my want of +success, my offence may be overlooked?" +</P> + +<P> +The governor fixed his penetrating eyes on the speaker, as if he would +have read his inmost mind; and then calmly, and even impressively, +observed,— +</P> + +<P> +"Sir Everard Valletort, I do overlook the offence, and hope you may as +easily forgive yourself. It were well, however, that your indiscretion, +which can only find its excuse in your being so young an officer, had +not been altogether without some good result. Had you killed or +disabled the—the savage, there might have been a decent palliative +offered; but what must be your feelings, sir, when you reflect, the +death of yon officer," and he pointed to the corpse of the unhappy +Murphy, "is, in a great degree, attributable to yourself? Had you not +provoked the anger of the savage, and given a direction to his aim by +the impotent and wanton discharge of your own rifle, this accident +would never have happened." +</P> + +<P> +This severe reproving of an officer, who had acted from the most +praiseworthy of motives, and who could not possibly have anticipated +the unfortunate catastrophe that had occurred, was considered +especially harsh and unkind by every one present; and a low and almost +inaudible murmur passed through the company to which Sir Everard was +attached. For a minute or two that officer also appeared deeply pained, +not more from the reproof itself than from the new light in which the +observation of his chief had taught him to view, for the first time, +the causes that had led to the fall of Murphy. Finding, however, that +the governor had no further remark to address to him, he once more +returned to his station in the ranks. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Lawson," resumed the commandant, turning to the adjutant, "let +this victim be carried to the spot on which he fell, and there +interred. I know no better grave for a soldier than beneath the sod +that has been moistened with his blood. Recollect," he continued, as +the adjutant once more led the party out of the area,—"no firing, Mr. +Lawson. The duty must be silently performed, and without the risk of +provoking a forest of arrows, or a shower of bullets from the savages. +Major Blackwater," he pursued, as soon as the corpse had been removed, +"let the men pile their arms even as they now stand, and remain ready +to fall in at a minute's notice. Should any thing extraordinary happen +before the morning, you will, of course, apprise me." He then strode +out of the area with the same haughty and measured step that had +characterised his entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"Our colonel does not appear to be in one of his most amiable moods +to-night," observed Captain Blessington, as the officers, after having +disposed of their respective companies, now proceeded along the +ramparts to assist at the last funeral offices of their unhappy +associate. "He was disposed to be severe, and must have put you, in +some measure, out of conceit with your favourite rifle, Valletort." +</P> + +<P> +"True," rejoined the Baronet, who had already rallied from the +momentary depression of his spirits, "he hit me devilish hard, I +confess, and was disposed to display more of the commanding officer +than quite suits my ideas of the service. His words were as caustic as +his looks; and could both have pierced me to the quick, there was no +inclination on his part wanting. By my soul I could .... but I forgive +him. He is the father of my friend: and for that reason will I chew the +cud of my mortification, nor suffer, if possible, a sense of his +unkindness to rankle at my heart. At all events, Blessington, my mind +is made up, and resign or exchange I certainly shall the instant I can +find a decent loop-hole to creep out of." +</P> + +<P> +Sir Everard fancied the ear of his captain was alone listening to these +expressions of his feeling, or in all probability he would not have +uttered them. As he concluded the last sentence, however, he felt his +arm gently grasped by one who walked a pace or two silently in their +rear. He turned, and recognised Charles de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure, Valletort, you will believe how much pained I have been at +the severity of my father; but, indeed, there was nothing personally +offensive intended. Blessington can tell you as well as myself it is +his manner altogether. Nay, that although he is the first in seniority +after Blackwater, the governor treats him with the same distance and +hauteur he would use towards the youngest ensign in the service. Such +are the effects of his long military habits, and his ideas of the +absolutism of command. Am I not right, Blessington?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite right, Charles. Sir Everard may satisfy himself his is no +solitary instance of the stern severity of your father. Still, I +confess, notwithstanding the rigidity of manner which he seems, on all +occasions, to think so indispensable to the maintenance of authority in +a commanding officer, I never knew him so inclined to find fault as he +is to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," observed Valletort, good humouredly, "his conscience is +rather restless; and he is willing to get rid of it and his spleen +together. I would wager my rifle against the worthless scalp of the +rascal I fired at to-night, that this same stranger, whose asserted +appearance has called us from our comfortable beds, is but the creation +of his disturbed dreams. Indeed, how is it possible any thing formed of +flesh and blood could have escaped us with the vigilant watch that has +been kept on the ramparts? The old gentleman certainly had that +illusion strongly impressed on his mind when he so sapiently spoke of +my firing at a shadow." +</P> + +<P> +"But the gate," interrupted Charles de Haldimar, with something of mild +reproach in his tones,—"you forget, Valletort, the gate was found +unlocked, and that my brother is missing. HE, at least, was flesh and +blood, as you say, and yet he has disappeared. What more probable, +therefore, than that this stranger is at once the cause and the agent +of his abduction?" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible, Charles," observed Captain Blessington; "Frederick was in +the midst of his guard. How, therefore, could he be conveyed away +without the alarm being given? Numbers only could have succeeded in so +desperate an enterprise; and yet there is no evidence, or even +suspicion, of more than one individual having been here." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a singular affair altogether," returned Sir Everard, musingly. +"Of two things, however, I am satisfied. The first is, that the +stranger, whoever he may be, and if he really has been here, is no +Indian; the second, that he is personally known to the governor, who +has been, or I mistake much, more alarmed at his individual presence +than if Ponteac and his whole band had suddenly broken in upon us. Did +you remark his emotion, when I dwelt on the peculiar character of +personal triumph and revenge which the cry of the lurking villain +outside seemed to express? and did you notice the eagerness with which +he enquired if I thought I had hit him? Depend upon it, there is more +in all this than is dreamt of in our philosophy." +</P> + +<P> +"And it was your undisguised perception of that emotion," remarked +Captain Blessington, "that drew down his severity upon your own head. +It was, however, too palpable not to be noticed by all; and I dare say +conjecture is as busily and as vaguely at work among our companions as +it is with us. The clue to the mystery, in a great degree, now dwells +with Frank Halloway; and to him we must look for its elucidation. His +disclosure will be one, I apprehend, full of ignominy to himself, but +of the highest interest and importance to us all. And yet I know not +how to believe the man the traitor he appears." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you remark that last harrowing exclamation of his wife?" observed +Charles de Haldimar, in a tone of unspeakable melancholy. "How +fearfully prophetic it sounded in my ears. I know not how it is," he +pursued, "but I wish I had not heard those sounds; for since that +moment I have had a sad strange presentiment of evil at my heart. +Heaven grant my poor brother may make his appearance, as I still trust +he will, at the hour Halloway seems to expect, for if not, the latter +most assuredly dies. I know my father well; and, if convicted by a +court martial, no human power can alter the destiny that awaits Frank +Halloway." +</P> + +<P> +"Rally, my dear Charles, rally," said Sir Everard, affecting a +confidence he did not feel himself; "indulge not in these idle and +superstitious fancies. I pity Halloway from my soul, and feel the +deepest interest in his pretty and unhappy wife; but that is no reason +why one should attach importance to the incoherent expressions wrung +from her in the agony of grief." +</P> + +<P> +"It is kind of you, Valletort, to endeavour to cheer my spirits, when, +if the truth were confessed, you acknowledge the influence of the same +feelings. I thank you for the attempt, but time alone can show how far +I shall have reason, or otherwise, to lament the occurrences of this +night." +</P> + +<P> +They had now reached that part of the ramparts whence the shot from Sir +Everard's rifle had been fired. Several men were occupied in digging a +grave in the precise spot on which the unfortunate Murphy had stood +when he received his death-wound; and into this, when completed, the +body, enshrouded in the cloak already alluded to, was deposited by his +companions. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0104"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<P> +While the adjutant was yet reading, in a low and solemn voice, the +service for the dead, a fierce and distant yell, as if from a legion of +devils, burst suddenly from the forest, and brought the hands of the +startled officers instinctively to their swords. This appalling cry +lasted, without interruption, for many minutes, and was then as +abruptly checked as it had been unexpectedly delivered. A considerable +pause succeeded, and then again it rose with even more startling +vehemence than before. By one unaccustomed to those devilish sounds, no +distinction could have been made in the two several yells that had been +thus savagely pealed forth; but those to whom practice and long +experience in the warlike habits and customs of the Indians had +rendered their shouts familiar, at once divined, or fancied they +divined, the cause. The first was, to their conception, a yell +expressive at once of vengeance and disappointment in pursuit,—perhaps +of some prisoner who had escaped from their toils; the second, of +triumph and success,—in all probability, indicative of the recapture +of that prisoner. For many minutes afterwards the officers continued to +listen, with the most aching attention, for a repetition of the cry, or +even fainter sounds, that might denote either a nearer approach to the +fort, or the final departure of the Indians. After the second yell, +however, the woods, in the heart of which it appeared to have been +uttered, were buried in as profound a silence as if they had never yet +echoed back the voice of man; and all at length became satisfied that +the Indians, having accomplished some particular purpose, had retired +once more to their distant encampments for the night. Captain Erskine +was the first who broke the almost breathless silence that prevailed +among themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"On my life De Haldimar is a prisoner with the Indians. He has been +attempting his escape,—has been detected,—followed, and again fallen +into their hands. I know their infernal yells but too well. The last +expressed their savage joy at the capture of a prisoner; and there is +no one of us missing but De Haldimar." +</P> + +<P> +"Not a doubt of it," said Captain Blessington; "the cry was certainly +what you describe it, and Heaven only knows what will be the fate of +our poor friend." +</P> + +<P> +No other officer spoke, for all were oppressed by the weight of their +own feelings, and sought rather to give indulgence to speculation in +secret, than to share their impressions with their companions. Charles +de Haldimar stood a little in the rear, leaning his head upon his hand +against the box of the sentry, (who was silently, though anxiously, +pacing his walk,) and in an attitude expressive of the deepest +dejection and sorrow. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I must finish Lawson's work, although I am but a poor hand +at this sort of thing," resumed Captain Erskine, taking up the prayer +book the adjutant had, in hastening on the first alarm to get the men +under arms, carelessly thrown on the grave of the now unconscious +Murphy. +</P> + +<P> +He then commenced the service at the point where Mr. Lawson had so +abruptly broken off, and went through the remainder of the prayers. A +very few minutes sufficed for the performance of this solemn duty, +which was effected by the faint dim light of the at length dawning day, +and the men in attendance proceeded to fill up the grave of their +officer. +</P> + +<P> +Gradually the mists, that had fallen during the latter hours of the +night, began to ascend from the common, and disperse themselves in air, +conveying the appearance of a rolling sheet of vapour retiring Back +upon itself, and disclosing objects in succession, until the eye could +embrace all that came within its extent of vision. As the officers yet +lingered near the rude grave of their companion, watching with +abstracted air the languid and almost mechanical action of their jaded +men, as they emptied shovel after shovel of the damp earth over the +body of its new tenant, they were suddenly startled by an expression of +exultation from Sir Everard Valletort. +</P> + +<P> +"By Jupiter, I have pinked him," he exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew my +rifle could not err; and as for my sight, I have carried away too many +prizes in target-shooting to have been deceived in that. How delighted +the old governor will be, Charles, to hear this. No more lecturing, I +am sure, for the next six months at least;" and the young officer +rubbed his hands together, at the success of his shot, with as much +satisfaction and unconcern for the future, as if he had been in his own +native England; in the midst of a prize-ring. +</P> + +<P> +Roused by the observation of his friend, De Haldimar quitted his +position near the sentry box, and advanced to the outer edge of the +rampart. To him, as to his companions, the outline of the old bomb +proof was now distinctly visible, but it was sometime before they could +discover, in the direction in which Valletort pointed, a dark speck +upon the common; and this so indistinctly, they could scarcely +distinguish it with the naked eye. +</P> + +<P> +"Your sight is quite equal to your aim, Sir Everard," remarked +Lieutenant Johnstone, one of Erskine's subalterns, "and both are +decidedly superior to mine; yet I used to be thought a good rifleman +too, and have credit for an eye no less keen than that of an Indian. +You have the advantage of me, however; for I honestly admit I never +could have picked off yon fellow in the dark as you have done." +</P> + +<P> +As the dawn increased, the dark shadow of a human form, stretched at +its length upon the ground, became perceptible; and the officers, with +one unanimous voice, bore loud testimony to the skill and dexterity of +him who had, under such extreme disadvantages, accomplished the death +of their skulking enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Bravo, Valletort," said Charles de Haldimar, recovering his spirits, +as much from the idea, now occurring to him, that this might indeed be +the stranger whose appearance had so greatly disturbed his father, as +from the gratification he felt in the praises bestowed on his friend. +"Bravo, my dear fellow;" then approaching, and in a half whisper, "when +next I write to Clara, I shall request her, with my cousin's +assistance, to prepare a chaplet of bays, wherewith I shall myself +crown you as their proxy. But what is the matter now, Valletort? Why +stand you there gazing upon the common, as if the victim of your +murderous aim was rising from his bloody couch, to reproach you with +his death? Tell me, shall I write to Clara for the prize, or will you +receive it from her own hands?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bid her rather pour her curses on my head; and to those, De Haldimar, +add your own," exclaimed Sir Everard, at length raising himself from +the statue-like position he had assumed. "Almighty God," he pursued, in +the same tone of deep agony, "what have I done? Where, where shall I +hide myself?" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he turned away from his companions, and covering his eyes +with his hand, with quick and unequal steps, even like those of a +drunken man, walked, or rather ran, along the rampart, as if fearful of +being overtaken. +</P> + +<P> +The whole group of officers, and Charles de Haldimar in particular, +were struck with dismay at the language and action of Sir Everard; and +for a moment they fancied that fatigue, and watching, and excitement, +had partially affected his brain. But when, after the lapse of a minute +or two, they again looked out upon the common, the secret of his +agitation was too faithfully and too painfully explained. +</P> + +<P> +What had at first the dusky and dingy hue of a half-naked Indian, was +now perceived, by the bright beams of light just gathering in the east, +to be the gay and striking uniform of a British officer. Doubt as to +who that officer was there could be none, for the white sword-belt +suspended over the right shoulder, and thrown into strong relief by the +field of scarlet on which it reposed, denoted the wearer of this +distinguishing badge of duty to be one of the guard. +</P> + +<P> +To comprehend effectually the feelings of the officers, it would be +necessary that one should have been not merely a soldier, but a soldier +under the same circumstances. Surrounded on every hand by a fierce and +cruel enemy—prepared at every moment to witness scenes of barbarity +and bloodshed in their most appalling shapes—isolated from all society +beyond the gates of their own fortress, and by consequence reposing on +and regarding each other as vital links in the chain of their wild and +adventurous existence,—it can easily be understood with what sincere +and unaffected grief they lamented the sudden cutting off even of those +who least assimilated in spirit and character with themselves. Such, in +a great degree, had been the case in the instance of the officer over +whose grave they were now met to render the last offices of +companionship, if not of friendship. Indeed Murphy—a rude, vulgar, and +illiterate, though brave Irishman—having risen from the ranks, the +coarseness of which he had never been able to shake off, was little +calculated, either by habits or education, to awaken feelings, except +of the most ordinary description, in his favour; and he and Ensign +Delme were the only exceptions to those disinterested and tacit +friendships that had grown up out of circumstances in common among the +majority. If, therefore, they could regret the loss of such a companion +as Murphy, how deep and heartfelt must have been the sorrow they +experienced when they beheld the brave, generous, manly, amiable, and +highly-talented Frederick de Haldimar—the pride of the garrison, and +the idol of his family—lying extended, a cold, senseless corpse, slain +by the hand of the bosom friend of his own brother!—Notwithstanding +the stern severity and distance of the governor, whom few +circumstances, however critical or exciting, could surprise into +relaxation of his habitual stateliness, it would have been difficult to +name two young men more universally liked and esteemed by their brother +officers than were the De Haldimars—the first for the qualities +already named—the second, for those retiring, mild, winning manners, +and gentle affections, added to extreme and almost feminine beauty of +countenance for which he was remarkable. Alas, what a gloomy picture +was now exhibited to the minds of all!—Frederick de Haldimar a corpse, +and slain by the hand of Sir Everard Valletort! What but disunion could +follow this melancholy catastrophe? and how could Charles de Haldimar, +even if his bland nature should survive the shock, ever bear to look +again upon the man who had, however innocently or unintentionally, +deprived him of a brother whom he adored? +</P> + +<P> +These were the impressions that passed through the minds of the +compassionating officers, as they directed their glance alternately +from the common to the pale and marble-like features of the younger De +Haldimar, who, with parted lips and stupid gaze, continued to fix his +eyes upon the inanimate form of his ill-fated brother, as if the very +faculty of life itself had been for a period suspended. At length, +however, while his companions watched in silence the mining workings of +that grief which they feared to interrupt by ill-timed observations, +even of condolence, the death-like hue, which had hitherto suffused the +usually blooming cheek of the young officer, was succeeded by a flush +of the deepest dye, while his eyes, swollen by the tide of blood now +rushing violently to his face, appeared to be bursting from their +sockets. The shock was more than his delicate frame, exhausted as it +was by watching and fatigue, could bear. He tottered, reeled, pressed +his hand upon his head, and before any one could render him assistance, +fell senseless on the ramparts. +</P> + +<P> +During the interval between Sir Everard Valletort's exclamation, and +the fall of Charles de Haldimar, the men employed at the grave had +performed their duty, and were gazing with mingled astonishment and +concern, both on the body of their murdered officer, and on the dumb +scene acting around them. Two of these were now despatched for a +litter, with which they speedily re-appeared. On this Charles de +Haldimar, already delirious with the fever of intense excitement, was +carefully placed, and, followed by Captain Blessington and Lieutenant +Johnstone, borne to his apartment in the small range of buildings +constituting the officers' barracks. Captain Erskine undertook the +disagreeable office of communicating these distressing events to the +governor; and the remainder of the officers once more hastened to join +or linger near their respective companies, in readiness for the order +which it was expected would be given to despatch a numerous party of +the garrison to secure the body of Captain de Haldimar. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0105"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<P> +The sun was just rising above the horizon, in all that peculiar +softness of splendour which characterises the early days of autumn in +America, as Captain Erskine led his company across the drawbridge that +communicated with the fort. It was the first time it had been lowered +since the investment of the garrison by the Indians; and as the dull +and rusty chains performed their service with a harsh and grating +sound, it seemed as if an earnest were given of melancholy boding. +Although the distance to be traversed was small, the risk the party +incurred was great; for it was probable the savages, ever on the alert, +would not suffer them to effect their object unmolested. It was perhaps +singular, and certainly contradictory, that an officer of the +acknowledged prudence and forethought ascribed to the +governor—qualities which in a great degree neutralised his excessive +severity in the eyes of his troops—should have hazarded the chance of +having his garrison enfeebled by the destruction of a part, if not of +the whole, of the company appointed to this dangerous duty; but with +all his severity, Colonel de Haldimar was not without strong affection +for his children. The feelings of the father, therefore, in a great +degree triumphed over the prudence of the commander; and to shield the +corpse of his son from the indignities which he well knew would be +inflicted on it by Indian barbarity, he had been induced to accede to +the earnest prayer of Captain Erskine, that he might be permitted to +lead out his company for the purpose of securing the body. Every means +were, however, taken to cover the advance, and ensure the retreat of +the detachment. The remainder of the troops were distributed along the +rear of the ramparts, with instructions to lie flat on their faces +until summoned by their officers from that position; which was to be +done only in the event of close pursuit from the savages. Artillerymen +were also stationed at the several guns that flanked the rear of the +fort, and necessarily commanded both the common and the outskirt of the +forest, with orders to fire with grape-shot at a given signal. Captain +Erskine's instructions were, moreover, if attacked, to retreat back +under the guns of the fort slowly and in good order, and without +turning his back upon the enemy. +</P> + +<P> +Thus confident of support, the party, after traversing the drawbridge +with fixed bayonets, inclined to the right, and following the winding +of the ditch by which it was surrounded, made the semi-circuit of the +rampart until they gained the immediate centre of the rear, and in a +direct line with the bomb-proof. Here their mode of advance was +altered, to guard more effectually against the enemy with whom they +might possibly have to contend. The front and rear ranks of the +company, consisting in all of ninety men, were so placed as to leave +space in the event of attack, of a portion of each wheeling inwards so +as to present in an instant three equal faces of a square. As the rear +was sufficiently covered by the cannon of the fort to defeat any +attempt to turn their flanks, the manoeuvre was one that enabled them +to present a fuller front in whatever other quarter they might be +attacked; and had this additional advantage, that in the advance by +single files a narrower front was given to the aim of the Indians, who, +unless they fired in an oblique direction, could only, of necessity, +bring down two men (the leading files) at a time. +</P> + +<P> +In this order, and anxiously overlooked by their comrades, whose eyes +alone peered from above the surface of the rampart on which they lay +prostrate, the detachment crossed the common; one rank headed by +Captain Erskine, the other by Lieutenant Johnstone. They had now +approached within a few yards of the unfortunate victim, when Captain +Erskine commanded a halt of his party; and two files were detached from +the rear of each rank, to place the body on a litter with which they +had provided themselves. He and Johnstone also moved in the same +direction in advance of the men, prepared to render assistance if +required. The corpse lay on its face, and in no way despoiled of any of +its glittering habiliments; a circumstance that too well confirmed the +fact of De Haldimar's death having been accomplished by the ball from +Sir Everard Valletort's rifle. It appeared, however, the ill-fated +officer had struggled much in the agonies of death; for the left leg +was drawn Up into an unnatural state of contraction, and the right +hand, closely compressed, grasped a quantity of grass and soil, which +had evidently been torn up in a paroxysm of suffering and despair. +</P> + +<P> +The men placed the litter at the side of the body, which they now +proceeded to raise. As they were in the act of depositing it on this +temporary bier, the plumed hat fell from the head, and disclosed, to +the astonishment of all, the scalpless crown completely saturated in +its own clotted blood and oozing brains. +</P> + +<P> +An exclamation of horror and disgust escaped at the same moment from +the lips of the two officers, and the men started back from their +charge as if a basilisk had suddenly appeared before them. Captain +Erskine pursued:—"What the devil is the meaning of all this, +Johnstone?" +</P> + +<P> +"What, indeed!" rejoined his lieutenant, with a shrug of the shoulders, +that was intended to express his inability to form any opinion on the +subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Unless it should prove," continued Erskine, "as I sincerely trust it +may, that poor Valletort is not, after all, the murderer of his friend. +It must be so. De Haldimar has been slain by the same Indian who killed +Murphy.—Do you recollect his scalp cry? He was in the act of +despoiling his victim of this trophy of success, when Sir Everard +fired. Examine the body well, Mitchell, and discover where the wound +lies." +</P> + +<P> +The old soldier to whom this order was addressed now prepared, with the +assistance of his comrades, to turn the body upon its back, when +suddenly the air was rent with terrific yells, that seemed to be +uttered in their very ears, and in the next instant more than a hundred +dark and hideous savages sprang simultaneously to their feet within the +bomb-proof, while every tree along the skirt of the forest gave back +the towering form of a warrior. Each of these, in addition to his +rifle, was armed with all those destructive implements of warfare which +render the Indians of America so formidable and so terrible an enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand to your arms, men," shouted Captain Erskine, recovering from his +first and unavoidable, though but momentary, surprise. "First and +fourth sections, on your right and left backwards wheel:—Quick, men, +within the square, for your lives." As he spoke, he and Lieutenant +Johnstone sprang hastily back, and in time to obtain admittance within +the troops, who had rapidly executed the manoeuvre commanded. Not so +with Mitchell and his companions. On the first alarm they had quitted +the body of the mutilated officer, and flown to secure their arms, but +even while in the act of stooping to take them up, they had been +grappled by a powerful and vindictive foe; and the first thing they +beheld on regaining their upright position was a dusky Indian at the +side, and a gleaming tomahawk flashing rapidly round the head of each. +</P> + +<P> +"Fire not, on your lives," exclaimed Captain Erskine hastily, as he saw +several of the men in front levelling, in the excitement of the moment, +their muskets at the threatening savages. "Prepare for attack," he +pursued; and in the next instant each man dropped on his right knee, +and a barrier of bristling bayonets seemed to rise from the very bowels +of the earth. Attracted by the novelty of the sight, the bold and +daring warriors, although still retaining their firm grasp of the +unhappy soldiers, were for a moment diverted from their bloody purpose, +and temporarily suspended the quick and rotatory motion of their +weapons. Captain Erskine took advantage of this pause to seize the +halbert of one of his sergeants, to the extreme point of which he +hastily attached a white pocket handkerchief, that was loosely thrust +into the breast of his uniform; this he waved on high three several +times, and then relinquishing the halbert, dropped also on his knee +within the square. +</P> + +<P> +"The dog of a Saganaw asks for mercy," said a voice from within the +bomb-proof, and speaking in the dialect of the Ottawas. "His pale flag +bespeaks the quailing of his heart, and his attitude denotes the +timidity of the hind. His warriors are like himself, and even now upon +their knees they call upon their Manitou to preserve them from the +vengeance of the red-skins. But mercy is not for dogs like these. Now +is the time to make our tomahawks warm in their blood; and every head +that we count shall be a scalp upon our war poles." +</P> + +<P> +As he ceased, one universal and portentous yell burst from the +fiend-like band; and again the weapons of death were fiercely +brandished around the heads of the stupified soldiers who had fallen +into their power. +</P> + +<P> +"What can they be about?" anxiously exclaimed Captain Erskine, in the +midst of this deafening clamour, to his subaltern.—"Quiet, man; damn +you, quiet, or I'll cut you down," he pursued, addressing one of his +soldiers, whose impatience caused him to bring his musket half up to +the shoulder. And again he turned his head in the direction of the +fort:—"Thank God, here it comes at last,—I feared my signal had not +been noticed." +</P> + +<P> +While he yet spoke, the loud roaring of a cannon from the ramparts was +heard, and a shower of grape-shot passed over the heads of the +detachment, and was seen tearing up the earth around the bomb-proof, +and scattering fragments of stone and wood into the air. The men +simultaneously and unbidden gave three cheers. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant the scene was changed. As if moved by some mechanical +impulse, the fierce band that lined the bomb-proof sank below the +surface, and were no longer visible, while the warriors in the forest +again sought shelter behind the trees. The captured soldiers were also +liberated without injury, so sudden and startling had been the terror +produced in the savages by the lightning flash that announced its heavy +messengers of destruction. Discharge after discharge succeeded without +intermission; but the guns had been levelled so high, to prevent injury +to their own men, they had little other effect than to keep the Indians +from the attack. The rush of bullets through the close forest, and the +crashing of trees and branches as they fell with startling force upon +each other, were, with the peals of artillery, the only noises now to +be heard; for not a yell, not a word was uttered by the Indians after +the first discharge; and but for the certainty that existed in every +mind, it might have been supposed the whole of them had retired. +</P> + +<P> +"Now is your time," cried Captain Erskine; "bring in the litter to the +rear, and stoop as much as possible to avoid the shot." +</P> + +<P> +The poor half-strangled fellows, however, instead of obeying the order +of their captain, looked round in every direction for the enemy by whom +they had been so rudely handled, and who had glided from them almost as +imperceptibly and swiftly as they had first approached. It seemed as if +they apprehended that any attempt to remove the body would be visited +by those fierce devils with the same appalling and ferocious +threatenings. +</P> + +<P> +"Why stand ye there, ye dolts," continued their captain, "looking +around as if ye were bewitched? Bring the litter in to the +rear.—Mitchell, you old fool, are you grown a coward in your age? Are +you not ashamed to set such an example to your comrades?" +</P> + +<P> +The doubt thus implied of the courage of his men, who, in fact, were +merely stupified with the scene they had gone through, had, as Captain +Erskine expected, the desired effect. They now bent themselves to the +litter, on which they had previously deposited their muskets, and with +a self-possession that contrasted singularly with their recent air of +wild astonishment, bore it to the rear at the risk of being cut in two +at every moment by the fire from the fort. +</P> + +<P> +One fierce yell, instinctively proffered by several of the lurking band +in the forest, marked their disappointment and rage at the escape of +their victims; but all attempt at uncovering themselves, so as to be +enabled to fire, was prevented by the additional showers of grape which +that yell immediately brought upon them. +</P> + +<P> +The position in which Captain Erskine now found himself was highly +critical. Before him, and on either flank, was a multitude of savages, +who only awaited the cessation of the fire from the fort to commence +their fierce and impetuous attack. That that fire could not long be +sustained was evident, since ammunition could ill be spared for the +present inefficient purpose, where supplies of all kinds were so +difficult to be obtained; and, if he should attempt a retreat, the +upright position of his men exposed them to the risk of being swept +away by the ponderous metal, that already fanned their cheeks with the +air it so rapidly divided. Suddenly, however, the fire from the +batteries was discontinued, and this he knew to be a signal for +himself. He gave an order in a low voice, and the detachment quitted +their recumbent and defensive position, still remaining formed in +square. At the same instant, a gun flashed from the fort; but not as +before was heard the rushing sound of the destructive shot crushing the +trees in its resistless course. The Indians took courage at this +circumstance, for they deemed the bullets of their enemies were +expended; and that they were merely discharging their powder to keep up +the apprehension originally produced. Again they showed themselves, +like so many demons, from behind their lurking places; and yells and +shouts of the most terrific and threatening character once more rent +the air, and echoed through the woods. Their cries of anticipated +triumph were, however, but of short duration. Presently, a hissing +noise was heard in the air; and close to the bomb-proof, and at the +very skirt of the forest, they beheld a huge globe of iron fall +perpendicularly to the earth, to the outer part of which was attached +what they supposed to be a reed, that spat forth innumerable sparks of +fire, without however, seeming to threaten the slightest injury. +Attracted by the novel sight, a dozen warriors sprang to the spot, and +fastened their gaze upon it with all the childish wonder and curiosity +of men in a savage state. One, more eager and restless than his +fellows, stooped over it to feel with his hand of what it was composed. +At that moment it burst, and limbs, and head, and entrails, were seen +flying in the air, with the fragments of the shell, and prostrate and +struggling forms lay writhing on every hand in the last, fierce agonies +of death. +</P> + +<P> +A yell of despair and a shout of triumph burst at the same moment from +the adverse parties. Taking advantage of the terror produced, by this +catastrophe, in the savages, Captain Erskine caused the men bearing the +corpse to retreat, with all possible expedition, under the ramparts of +the fort. He waited until they got nearly half way, and then threw +forward the wheeling sections, that had covered this movement, once +more into single file, in which order he commenced his retreat. Step by +step, and almost imperceptibly, the men paced backwards, ready, at a +moment's notice, to reform the square. Partly recovered from the terror +and surprise produced by the bursting of the shell, the Indians were +quick in perceiving this movement: filled with rage at having been so +long baulked of their aim, they threw themselves once more impetuously +from their cover; and, with stimulating yells, at length opened their +fire. Several of Captain Erskine's men were wounded by this discharge; +when, again, and furiously the cannon opened from the fort. It was then +that the superiority of the artillery was made manifest. Both right and +left of the retreating files the ponderous shot flew heavily past, +carrying death and terror to the Indians; while not a man of those who +intervened was scathed or touched in its progress. The warriors in the +forest were once more compelled to shelter themselves behind the trees; +but in the bomb-proof, where they were more secure, they were also more +bold. From this a galling fire, mingled with the most hideous yells, +was now kept up; and the detachment, in their slow retreat, suffered +considerably. Several men had been killed; and, about twenty, including +Lieutenant Johnstone, wounded, when again, one of those murderous +globes fell, hissing in the very centre of the bomb-proof. In an +instant, the Indian fire was discontinued; and their dark and pliant +forms were seen hurrying with almost incredible rapidity over the +dilapidated walls, and flying into the very heart of the forest, so +that when the shell exploded, a few seconds afterwards, not a warrior +was to be seen. From this moment the attack was not renewed, and +Captain Erskine made good his retreat without farther molestation. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, old buffers!" exclaimed one of the leading files, as the +detachment, preceded by its dead and wounded, now moved along the moat +in the direction of the draw-bridge, "how did you like the grip of them +black savages?—I say, Mitchell, old Nick will scarcely know the face +of you, it's so much altered by fright.—Did you see," turning to the +man in his rear, "how harum-scarum he looked, when the captain called +out to him to come off?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold your clapper, you spooney, and be damned to you!" exclaimed the +angry veteran.—"Had the Ingian fastened his paw upon your ugly neck as +he did upon mine, all the pitiful life your mother ever put into you +would have been spirited away from very fear; so you needn't brag." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, and if any of ye had a grain of spunk, ye would have fired, and +freed a fellow from the clutch of them hell thieves," muttered another +of the men at the litter. "All the time, the devil had me by the +throat, swinging his tommyhawk about my head, I saw ye dancing up and +down in the heavens, instead of being on your marrow bones on the +common." +</P> + +<P> +"And didn't I want to do it?" rejoined the first speaker. "Ask Tom +Winkler here, if the captain didn't swear he'd cut the soul out of my +body if I even offered so much as to touch the trigger of my musket." +</P> + +<P> +"Faith, and lucky he did," replied his covering man (for the ranks had +again joined), "since but for that, there wouldn't be at this moment so +much as a hair of the scalp of one of you left." +</P> + +<P> +"And how so, Mr. Wiseacre?" rejoined his comrade. +</P> + +<P> +"How so! Because the first shot that we fired would have set the devils +upon them in right earnest—and then their top-knots wouldn't have been +worth a brass farthing. They would have been scalped before they could +say Jack Robinson." +</P> + +<P> +"It was a hell of a risk," resumed another of the litter men, "to give +four men a chance of having their skull pieces cracked open like so +many egg-shells, and all to get possession of a dead officer." +</P> + +<P> +"And sure, you beast," remarked a different voice in a tone of anger, +"the dead body of the brave captain was worth a dozen such rotten +carcasses with all the life in them. What matter would it be if ye had +all been scalped?" Then with a significant half glance to the rear, +which was brought up by their commander, on whose arm leaned the +slightly wounded Johnstone, "Take care the captain doesn't hear ye +prating after that fashion, Will Burford." +</P> + +<P> +"By Jasus," said a good-humoured, quaint looking Irishman, who had been +fixing his eyes on the litter during this pithy and characteristic +colloquy; "it sames to me, my boys, that ye have caught the wrong cow +by the horns, and that all your pains has been for nothing at all, at +all. By the holy pope, ye are all wrong; it's like bringing salt butter +to Cork, or coals to your Newcastle, as ye call it. Who the divil ever +heard of the officer wearing ammunition shoes?" +</P> + +<P> +The men all turned their gaze on that part of the vestment of the +corpse to which their attention had been directed by this remark, when +it was at once perceived, although it had hitherto escaped the +observation even of the officers, that, not only the shoes were those +usually worn by the soldiers, and termed ammunition or store shoes, but +also, the trowsers were of the description of coarse grey, peculiar to +that class. +</P> + +<P> +"By the piper that played before Moses, and ye're right, Dick Doherty," +exclaimed another Irishman; "sure, and it isn't the officer at all! +Just look at the great black fist of him too, and never call me Phil +Shehan, if it ever was made for the handling of an officer's spit." +</P> + +<P> +"Well said, Shehan," observed the man who had so warmly reproved Will +Burford, and who had formerly been servant to De Haldimar; "the +captain's hand is as white and as soft as my cross-belt, or, what's +saying a great deal more, as Miss Clara's herself, heaven bless her +sweet countenance! and Lieutenant Valletort's nigger's couldn't well be +much blacker nor this." +</P> + +<P> +"What a set of hignoramuses ye must be," grunted old Mitchell, "not to +see that the captain's hand is only covered with dirt; and as for the +ammunition shoes and trowsers, why you know our officers wear any thing +since we have been cooped up in this here fort." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, by the holy poker," (and here we must beg to refer the reader to +the soldier's vocabulary for any terms that may be, in the course of +this dialogue, incomprehensible to him or her,)—"Yes, by the holy +poker, off duty, if they like it," returned Phil Shehan; "but it isn't +even the colonel's own born son that dare to do so while officer of the +guard." +</P> + +<P> +"Ye are right, comrade," said Burford; "there would soon be hell and +tommy to pay if he did." +</P> + +<P> +At this point of their conversation, one of the leading men at the +litter, in turning to look at its subject, stumbled over the root of a +stump that lay in his way, and fell violently forward. The sudden +action destroyed the equilibrium of the corpse, which rolled off its +temporary bier upon the earth, and disclosed, for the first time, a +face begrimmed with masses of clotted blood, which had streamed forth +from the scalped brain during the night. +</P> + +<P> +"It's the divil himself," said Phil Shehan, making the sign of the +cross, half in jest, half in earnest: "for it isn't the captin at all, +and who but the divil could have managed to clap on his rigimintals?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, it's an Ingian," remarked Dick Burford, sagaciously; "it's an +Ingian that has killed the captain, and dressed himself in his clothes. +I thought he smelt strong, when I helped to pick him up." +</P> + +<P> +"And that's the reason why the bloody heathens wouldn't let us carry +him off," said another of the litter men. "I thought they wouldn't ha' +made such a rout about the officer, when they had his scalp already in +their pouch-belts." +</P> + +<P> +"What a set of prating fools ye are," interrupted the leading sergeant; +"who ever saw an Ingian with light hair? and sure this hair in the neck +is that of a Christian." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment Captain Erskine, attracted by the sudden halt produced +by the falling of the body, came quickly up to the front. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the meaning of all this, Cassidy?" he sternly demanded of the +sergeant; "why is this halt without my orders, and how comes the body +here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Carter stumbled against a root, sir, and the body rolled over upon the +ground." +</P> + +<P> +"And was the body to roll back again?" angrily rejoined his +captain.—"What mean ye, fellows, by standing there; quick, replace it +upon the litter, and mind this does not occur again." +</P> + +<P> +"They say, sir," said the sergeant, respectfully, as the men proceeded +to their duty, "that it is not Captain de Haldimar after all, but an +Ingian." +</P> + +<P> +"Not Captain de Haldimar! are ye all mad? and have the Indians, in +reality, turned your brains with fear?" +</P> + +<P> +What, however, was his own surprise, and that of Lieutenant Johnstone, +when, on a closer examination of the corpse, which the men had now +placed with its face uppermost, they discovered the bewildering fact +that it was not, indeed, Captain de Haldimar who lay before them, but a +stranger, dressed in the uniform of that officer. +</P> + +<P> +There was no time to solve, or even to dwell on the singular mystery; +for the Indians, though now retired, might be expected to rally and +renew the attack. Once more, therefore, the detachment moved forward; +the officers dropping as before to the rear, to watch any movements of +the enemy should he re-appear. Nothing, however, occurred to interrupt +their march; and in a few minutes the heavy clanking sound of the +chains of the drawbridge, as it was again raised by its strong pullies, +and the dull creaking sound of the rusty bolts and locks that secured +the ponderous gate, announced the detachment was once more safely +within the fort. +</P> + +<P> +While the wounded men were being conveyed to the hospital, a group, +comprising almost all the officers of the garrison, hastened to meet +Captain Erskine and Lieutenant Johnstone. Congratulations on the escape +of the one, and compliments, rather than condolences, on the accident +of the other, which the arm en echarpe denoted to be slight, were +hastily and warmly proffered. These felicitations were the genuine +ebullitions of the hearts of men who really felt a pride, unmixed with +jealousy, in the conduct of their fellows; and so cool and excellent +had been the manner in which Captain Erskine had accomplished his +object, that it had claimed the undivided admiration of all who had +been spectators of the affair, and had, with the aid of their +telescopes, been enabled to follow the minutest movements of the +detachment. +</P> + +<P> +"By heaven!" he at length replied, his chest swelling with gratified +pride at the warm and generous approval of his companions, "this more +than repays me for every risk. Yet, to be sincere, the credit is not +mine, but Wentworth's. But for you, my dear fellow," grasping and +shaking the hand of that officer, "we should have rendered but a +Flemish account of ourselves. How beautifully those guns covered our +retreat! and the first mortar that sent the howling devils flying in +air like so many Will-o'the-wisps, who placed that, Wentworth?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did," replied the officer, with a quickness that denoted a natural +feeling of exultation; "but Bombardier Kitson's was the most effective. +It was his shell that drove the Indians finally out of the bomb-proof, +and left the coast clear for your retreat." +</P> + +<P> +"Then Kitson, and his gunners also, merit our best thanks," pursued +Captain Erskine, whose spirits, now that his detachment was in safety, +were more than usually exhilarated by the exciting events of the last +hour; "and what will be more acceptable, perhaps, they shall each have +a glass of my best old Jamaica before they sleep,—and such stuff is +not to be met with every day in this wilderness of a country. But, +confound my stupid head! where are Charles de Haldimar and Sir Everard +Valletort?" +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Charles is in a high fever, and confined to his bed," remarked +Captain Blessington, who now came up adding his congratulations in a +low tone, that marked the despondency of his heart; "and Sir Everard I +have just left on the rampart with the company, looking, as he well +may, the very image of despair." +</P> + +<P> +"Run to them, Sumners, my dear boy," said Erskine, hastily addressing +himself to a young ensign who stood near him; "run quickly, and relieve +them of their error. Say it is not De Haldimar who has been killed, +therefore they need not make themselves any longer uneasy on that +score." +</P> + +<P> +The officers gave a start of surprise. Sumners, however, hastened to +acquit himself of the pleasing task assigned him, without waiting to +hear the explanation of the singular declaration. +</P> + +<P> +"Not De Haldimar!" eagerly and anxiously exclaimed Captain Blessington; +"who then have you brought to us in his uniform, which I clearly +distinguished from the rampart as you passed? Surely you would not +tamper with us at such a moment, Erskine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who it is, I know not more than Adam," rejoined the other; "unless, +indeed, it be the devil himself. All I do know, is, it is not our +friend De Haldimar; although, as you observe, he most certainly wears +his uniform. But you shall see and judge for yourselves, gentlemen. +Sergeant Cassidy," he enquired of that individual, who now came to ask +if the detachment was to be dismissed, "where have you placed the +litter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Under the piazza of the guard-room, Sir," answered the sergeant. +</P> + +<P> +These words had scarcely been uttered, when a general and hasty +movement of the officers, anxious to satisfy themselves by personal +observation it was not indeed De Haldimar who had fallen, took place in +the direction alluded to, and in the next moment they were at the side +of the litter. +</P> + +<P> +A blanket had been thrown upon the corpse to conceal the loathsome +disfigurement of the face, over which masses of thick coagulated blood +were laid in patches and streaks, that set all recognition at defiance. +The formation of the head alone, which was round and short, denoted it +to be not De Haldimar's. Not a feature was left undefiled; and even the +eyes were so covered, it was impossible to say whether their lids were +closed or open. More than one officer's cheek paled with the sickness +that rose to his heart as he gazed on the hideous spectacle; yet, as +the curiosity of all was strongly excited to know who the murdered man +really was who had been so unaccountably inducted in the uniform of +their lost companion, they were resolved to satisfy themselves without +further delay. A basin of warm water and a sponge were procured from +the guard-room of Ensign Fortescue, who now joined them, and with these +Captain Blessington proceeded to remove the disguise. +</P> + +<P> +In the course of this lavation, it was discovered the extraordinary +flow of blood and brains had been produced by the infliction of a deep +wound on the back of the head, by the sharp and ponderous tomahawk of +an Indian. It was the only blow that had been given; and the +circumstance of the deceased having been found lying on his face, +accounted for the quantity of gore, that, trickling downwards, had so +completely disguised every feature. As the coat of thick encrusted +matter gave way beneath the frequent application of the moistening +sponge, the pallid hue of the countenance denoted the murdered man to +be a white. All doubt, however, was soon at an end. The ammunition +shoes, the grey trowsers, the coarse linen, and the stiff leathern +stock encircling the neck, attested the sufferer to be a soldier of the +garrison; but it was not until the face had been completely denuded of +its unsightly covering, and every feature fully exposed, that that +soldier was at length recognised to be Harry Donellan, the trusty and +attached servant of Captain de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +While yet the officers stood apart, gazing at the corpse, and forming a +variety of conjectures, as vague as they were unsatisfactory, in regard +to their new mystery, Sir Everard Valletort, pale and breathless with +the speed he had used, suddenly appeared among them. +</P> + +<P> +"God of heaven! can it be true—and is it really not De Haldimar whom I +have shot?" wildly asked the agitated young man. "Who is this, +Erskine?" he continued, glancing at the litter. "Explain, for pity's +sake, and quickly." +</P> + +<P> +"Compose yourself, my dear Valletort," replied the officer addressed. +"You see this is not De Haldimar, but his servant Donellan. Neither has +the latter met his death from your rifle; there is no mark of a bullet +about him. It was an Indian tomahawk that did his business; and I will +stake my head against a hickory nut the blow came from the same rascal +at whom you fired, and who gave back the shot and the scalp halloo." +</P> + +<P> +This opinion was unanimously expressed by the remainder of the +officers. Sir Everard was almost as much overpowered by his joy, as he +had previously been overwhelmed by his despair, and he grasped and +shook the hand of Captain Erskine, who had thus been the means of +relieving his conscience, with an energy of gratitude and feeling that +almost drew tears from the eyes of that blunt but gallant officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God, thank God!" he fervently exclaimed: "I have not then even +the death of poor Donellan to answer for;" and hastening from the +guard-room, he pursued his course hurriedly and delightedly to the +barrack-room of his friend. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0106"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<P> +The hour fixed for the trial of the prisoner Halloway had now arrived, +and the officers composing the court were all met in the mess-room of +the garrison, surrounding a long table covered with green cloth, over +which were distributed pens, ink, and paper for taking minutes of the +evidence, and such notes of the proceedings as the several members +might deem necessary in the course of the trial. Captain Blessington +presided; and next him, on either hand, were the first in seniority, +the two junior occupying the lowest places. The demeanour of the +several officers, serious and befitting the duty they were met to +perform, was rendered more especially solemn from the presence of the +governor, who sat a little to the right of the president, and without +the circle, remained covered, and with his arms folded across his +chest. At a signal given by the president to the orderly in waiting, +that individual disappeared from the room, and soon afterwards Frank +Halloway, strongly ironed, as on the preceding night, was ushered in by +several files of the guard, under Ensign Fortescue himself. +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner having been stationed a few paces on the left of the +president, that officer stood up to administer the customary oath. His +example was followed by the rest of the court, who now rose, and +extending each his right hand upon the prayer book, repeated, after the +president, the form of words prescribed by military law. They then, +after successively touching the sacred volume with their lips, once +more resumed their seats at the table. +</P> + +<P> +The prosecutor was the Adjutant Lawson, who now handed over to the +president a paper, from which the latter officer read, in a clear and +distinct voice, the following charges, viz.— +</P> + +<P> +"1st. For having on the night of the —th September 1763, while on duty +at the gate of the Fortress of Detroit, either admitted a stranger into +the garrison himself, or suffered him to obtain admission, without +giving the alarm, or using the means necessary to ensure his +apprehension, such conduct being treasonable, and in breach of the +articles of war. +</P> + +<P> +"2d. For having been accessary to the abduction of Captain Frederick de +Haldimar and private Harry Donellan, the disappearance of whom from the +garrison can only be attributed to a secret understanding existing +between the prisoner and the enemy without the walls, such conduct +being treasonable, and in breach of the articles of war." +</P> + +<P> +"Private Frank Halloway," continued Captain Blessington, after having +perused these two short but important charges, "you have heard what has +been preferred against you; what say you, therefore? Are you guilty, or +not guilty?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not guilty," firmly and somewhat exultingly replied the prisoner, +laying his hand at the same time on his swelling heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay, sir," sternly observed the governor, addressing the president; +"you have not read ALL the charges." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Blessington took up the paper from the table, on which he had +carelessly thrown it, after reading the accusations above detailed, and +perceived, for the first time, that a portion had been doubled back. +His eye now glanced over a third charge, which had previously escaped +his attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Prisoner," he pursued, after the lapse of a minute, "there is a third +charge against you, viz. for having, on the night of the —th Sept. +1763, suffered Captain De Haldimar to unclose the gate of the fortress, +and, accompanied by his servant, private Harry Donellan, to pass your +post without the sanction of the governor, such conduct being in direct +violation of a standing order of the garrison, and punishable with +death." +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner started. "What!" he exclaimed, his cheek paling for the +first time with momentary apprehension; "is this voluntary confession +of my own to be turned into a charge that threatens my life? Colonel de +Haldimar, is the explanation which I gave you only this very hour, and +in private, to be made the public instrument of my condemnation? Am I +to die because I had not firmness to resist the prayer of my captain +and of your son, Colonel de Haldimar?" +</P> + +<P> +The president looked towards the governor, but a significant motion of +the head was the only reply; he proceeded,— +</P> + +<P> +"Prisoner Halloway, what plead you to this charge? Guilty, or not +guilty?" +</P> + +<P> +"I see plainly," said Halloway, after the pause of a minute, during +which he appeared to be summoning all his energies to his aid; "I see +plainly that it is useless to strive against my fate. Captain de +Haldimar is not here, and I must die. Still I shall not have the +disgrace of dying as a traitor, though I own I have violated the orders +of the garrison." +</P> + +<P> +"Prisoner," interrupted Captain Blessington, "whatever you may have to +urge, you had better reserve for your defence. Meanwhile, what answer +do you make to the last charge preferred?—Are you guilty, or not +guilty?" +</P> + +<P> +"Guilty," said Halloway, in a tone of mingled pride and sorrow, "guilty +of having listened to the earnest prayer of my captain, and suffered +him, in violation of my orders, to pass my post. Of the other charges I +am innocent." +</P> + +<P> +The court listened with the most profound attention and interest to the +words of the prisoner, and they glanced at each other in a manner that +marked their sense of the truth they attached to his declaration. +</P> + +<P> +"Halloway, prisoner," resumed Captain Blessington, mildly, yet +impressively; "recollect the severe penalty which the third charge, no +less than the others, entails, and recall your admission. Be advised by +me," he pursued, observing his hesitation. "Withdraw your plea, then, +and substitute that of not guilty to the whole." +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Blessington," returned the prisoner with deep emotion, "I feel +all the kindness of your motive; and if any thing can console me in my +present situation, it is the circumstance of having presiding at my +trial an officer so universally beloved by the whole corps. Still," and +again his voice acquired its wonted firmness, and his cheek glowed with +honest pride, "still, I say, I scorn to retract my words. Of the two +first charges I am as innocent as the babe unborn. To the last I plead +guilty; and vain would it be to say otherwise, since the gate was found +open while I was on duty, and I know the penalty attached to the +disobedience of orders." +</P> + +<P> +After some further but ineffectual remonstrance on the part of the +president, the pleas of the prisoner were recorded, and the examination +commenced. Governor de Haldimar was the first witness. +</P> + +<P> +That officer, having been sworn, stated, that on the preceding night he +had been intruded upon in his apartment by a stranger, who could have +obtained admission only through the gate of the fortress, by which also +he must have made good his escape. That it was evident the prisoner had +been in correspondence with their enemies; since, on proceeding to +examine the gate it had been found unlocked, while the confusion +manifested by him on being accused, satisfied all who were present of +the enormity of his guilt. Search had been made every where for the +keys, but without success. +</P> + +<P> +The second charge was supported by presumptive evidence alone; for +although the governor swore to the disappearance of his son, and the +murder of his servant, and dwelt emphatically on the fact of their +having been forcibly carried off with the connivance of the prisoner, +still there was no other proof of this, than the deductions drawn from +the circumstances already detailed. To meet this difficulty, however, +the third charge had been framed. +</P> + +<P> +In proof of this the governor stated, that the prisoner, on being +interrogated by him immediately subsequent to his being relieved from +his post, had evinced such confusion and hesitation, as to leave no +doubt whatever of his guilt; that, influenced by the half promise of +communication, which the court had heard as well as himself, he had +suffered the trial of the prisoner to be delayed until the present +hour, strongly hoping he might then be induced to reveal the share he +had borne in these unworthy and treasonable practices; that, with a +view to obtain this disclosure, so essential to the safety of the +garrison, he had, conjointly with Major Blackwater, visited the cell of +the prisoner, to whom he related the fact of the murder of Donellan, in +the disguise of his master's uniform, conjuring him, at the same time, +if he regarded his own life, and the safety of those who were most dear +to him, to give a clue to the solution of this mysterious circumstance, +and disclose the nature and extent of his connection with the enemy +without; that the prisoner however resolutely denied, as before, the +guilt imputed to him, but having had time to concoct a plausible story, +stated, (doubtless with a view to shield himself from the severe +punishment he well knew to be attached to his offence,) that Captain de +Haldimar himself had removed the keys from the guard-room, opened the +gate of the fortress, and accompanied by his servant, dressed in a +coloured coat, had sallied forth upon the common. "And this," +emphatically pursued the governor, "the prisoner admits he permitted, +although well aware that, by an order of long standing for the security +of the garrison, such a fragrant dereliction of his duty subjected him +to the punishment of death." +</P> + +<P> +Major Blackwater was the next witness examined. His testimony went to +prove the fact of the gate having been found open, and the confusion +manifested by the prisoner. It also substantiated that part of the +governor's evidence on the third charge, which related to the +confession recently made by Halloway, on which that charge had been +framed. +</P> + +<P> +The sergeant of the guard, and the governor's orderly having severally +corroborated the first portions of Major Blackwater's evidence, the +examination on the part of the prosecution terminated; when the +president called on the prisoner Halloway for his defence. The latter, +in a clear, firm, and collected tone, and in terms that surprised his +auditory, thus addressed the Court:— +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. President, and gentlemen,—Although, standing before you in the +capacity of a private soldier, and, oh! bitter and humiliating +reflection, in that most wretched and disgraceful of all situations, a +suspected traitor, I am not indeed what I seem to be. It is not for me +here to enter into the history of my past life; neither will I tarnish +the hitherto unsullied reputation of my family by disclosing my true +name. Suffice it to observe, I am a gentleman by birth; and although, +of late years, I have known all the hardships and privations attendant +on my fallen fortunes, I was once used to bask in the luxuries of +affluence, and to look upon those who now preside in judgment over me +as my equals. A marriage of affection,—a marriage with one who had +nothing but her own virtues and her own beauty to recommend her, drew +upon me the displeasure of my family, and the little I possessed, +independently of the pleasure of my relations, was soon dissipated. My +proud soul scorned all thought of supplication to those who had +originally spurned my wife from their presence; and yet my heart bled +for the privations of her who, alike respectable in family, was, both +from sex and the natural delicacy, of her frame, so far less +constituted to bear up against the frowns of adversity than myself. Our +extremity had now become great,—too great for human endurance; when, +through the medium of the public prints, I became acquainted with the +glorious action that had been fought in this country by the army under +General Wolfe. A new light burst suddenly upon my mind, and visions of +after prosperity constantly presented themselves to my view. The field +of honour was open before me, and there was a probability I might, by +good conduct, so far merit the approbation of my superiors, as to +obtain, in course of time, that rank among themselves to which by birth +and education I was so justly entitled to aspire. Without waiting to +consult my Ellen, whose opposition I feared to encounter until +opposition would be fruitless, I hastened to Lieutenant Walgrave, the +recruiting officer of the regiment,—tendered my services,—was +accepted and approved,—received the bounty money,—and became +definitively a soldier, under the assumed name of Frank Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +"It would be tedious and impertinent, gentlemen," resumed the prisoner, +after a short pause, "to dwell on the humiliations of spirit to which +both my wife and myself were subjected at our first introduction to our +new associates, who, although invariably kind to us, were, +nevertheless, ill suited, both by education and habit, to awaken any +thing like congeniality of feeling or similarity of pursuit. Still we +endeavoured, as much as possible, to lessen the distance that existed +between us; and from the first moment of our joining the regiment, +determined to adopt the phraseology and manners of those with whom an +adverse destiny had so singularly connected us. In this we succeeded; +for no one, up to the present moment, has imagined either my wife or +myself to be other than the simple and unpretending Frank and Ellen +Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +"On joining the regiment in this country," pursued the prisoner, after +another pause, marked by much emotion, "I had the good fortune to be +appointed to the grenadier company. Gentlemen, you all know the amiable +qualities of Captain de Haldimar. But although, unlike yourselves, I +have learnt to admire that officer only at a distance, my devotion to +his interests has been proportioned to the kindness with which I have +ever been treated by him; and may I not add, after this avowal of my +former condition, my most fervent desire has all along been to seize +the first favourable opportunity of performing some action that would +eventually elevate me to a position in which I might, without blushing +for the absence of the ennobling qualities of birth and condition, avow +myself his friend, and solicit that distinction from my equal which was +partially extended to me by my superior? The opportunity I sought was +not long wanting. At the memorable affair with the French general, +Levi, at Quebec, in which our regiment bore so conspicuous a part, I +had the good fortune to save the life of my captain. A band of Indians, +as you all, gentlemen, must recollect, had approached our right flank +unperceived, and while busily engaged with the French in front, we were +compelled to divide our fire between them and our new and fierce +assailants. The leader of that band was a French officer, who seemed +particularly to direct his attempts against the life of Captain de +Haldimar. He was a man of powerful proportions and gigantic stature—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold!" said the governor, starting suddenly from the seat in which he +had listened with evident impatience to this long outline of the +prisoner's history. "Gentlemen," addressing the court, "that is the +very stranger who was in my apartment last night,—the being with whom +the prisoner is evidently in treacherous correspondence, and all this +absurd tale is but a blind to deceive your judgment, and mitigate his +own punishment. Who is there to prove the man he has just described was +the same who aimed at Captain de Haldimar's life at Quebec?" +</P> + +<P> +A flush of deep indignation overspread the features of the prisoner, +whose high spirit, now he had avowed his true origin, could ill brook +the affront thus put upon his veracity. +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel de Haldimar!" he proudly replied, while his chains clanked +with the energy and force with which he drew up his person into an +attitude of striking dignity; "for once I sink the private soldier, and +address you in the character of the gentleman and your equal. I have a +soul, Sir, notwithstanding my fallen fortunes, as keenly alive to +honour as your own; and not even to save my wretched life, would I be +guilty of the baseness you now attribute to me. You have asked," he +pursued, in a more solemn tone, "what proof I have to show this +individual to be the same who attempted the life of Captain de +Haldimar. To Captain de Haldimar himself, should Providence have spared +his days, I shall leave the melancholy task of bearing witness to all I +here advance, when I shall be no more. Nay, Sir," and his look partook +at once of mingled scorn and despondency, "well do I know the fate that +awaits me; for in these proceedings—in that third charge—I plainly +read my death-warrant. But what, save my poor and wretched wife, have I +to regret? Colonel de Haldimar," he continued, with a vehemence meant +to check the growing weakness which the thought of his unfortunate +companion called up to his heart, "I saved the life of your son, even +by your own admission, no matter whose the arm that threatened his +existence; and in every other action in which I have been engaged, +honourable mention has ever been made of my conduct. Now, Sir, I ask +what has been my reward? So far from attending to the repeated +recommendations of my captain for promotion, even in a subordinate +rank, have you once deemed it necessary to acknowledge my services by +even a recognition of them in any way whatever?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. President, Captain Blessington," interrupted the governor, +haughtily, "are we met here to listen to such language from a private +soldier? You will do well, Sir, to exercise your prerogative, and stay +such impertinent matter, which can have no reference whatever to the +defence of the prisoner." +</P> + +<P> +"Prisoner," resumed the president, who, as well as the other members of +the court, had listened with the most profound and absorbing interest +to the singular disclosure of him whom they still only knew as Frank +Halloway, "this language cannot be permitted; you must confine yourself +to your defence." +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me, gentlemen," returned Halloway, in his usual firm but +respectful tone of voice; "pardon me, if, standing on the brink of the +grave as I do, I have so far forgotten the rules of military discipline +as to sink for a moment the soldier in the gentleman; but to be taxed +with an unworthy fabrication, and to be treated with contumely when +avowing the secret of my condition, was more than human pride and human +feeling could tolerate." +</P> + +<P> +"Confine yourself, prisoner, to your defence," again remarked Captain +Blessington, perceiving the restlessness with which the governor +listened to these bold and additional observations of Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +Again the governor interposed:—"What possible connexion can there be +between this man's life, and the crime with which he stands charged? +Captain Blessington, this is trifling with the court, who are assembled +to try the prisoner for his treason, and not to waste their time in +listening to a history utterly foreign to the subject." +</P> + +<P> +"The history of my past life—Colonel de Haldimar," proudly returned +the prisoner, "although tedious and uninteresting to you, is of the +utmost importance to myself; for on that do I ground the most essential +part of my defence. There is nothing but circumstantial evidence +against me on the two first charges; and as those alone can reflect +dishonour on my memory, it is for the wisdom of this court to determine +whether that evidence is to be credited in opposition to the solemn +declaration of him, who, in admitting one charge, equally affecting his +life with the others, repudiates as foul those only which would attaint +his honour. Gentlemen," he pursued, addressing the court, "it is for +you to determine whether my defence is to be continued or not; yet, +whatever be my fate, I would fain remove all injurious impression from +the minds of my judges; and this can only be done by a simple detail of +circumstances, which may, by the unprejudiced, be as simply believed." +</P> + +<P> +Here the prisoner paused: when, after some low and earnest conversation +among the members of the court, two or three slips of written paper +were passed to the President. He glanced his eye hurriedly over them, +and then directed Halloway to proceed with his defence. +</P> + +<P> +"I have stated," pursued the interesting soldier, "that the officer who +led the band of Indians was a man of gigantic stature, and of +apparently great strength. My attention was particularly directed to +him from this circumstance, and as I was on the extreme flank of the +grenadiers, and close to Captain de Haldimar, had every opportunity of +observing his movements principally pointed at that officer. He first +discharged a carbine, the ball of which killed a man of the company at +his (Captain de Haldimar's) side; and then, with evident rage at having +been defeated in his aim, he took a pistol from his belt, and advancing +with rapid strides to within a few paces of his intended victim, +presented it in the most deliberate manner. At that moment, gentlemen, +(and it was but the work of a moment,) a thousand confused and almost +inexplicable feelings rose to my heart. The occasion I had long sought +was at length within my reach; but even the personal considerations, +which had hitherto influenced my mind, were sunk in the anxious desire +I entertained to preserve the life of an officer so universally +beloved, and so every way worthy of the sacrifice. While yet the pistol +remained levelled, I sprang before Captain de Haldimar, received the +ball in my breast, and had just strength sufficient to fire my musket +at this formidable enemy when I sank senseless to the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"It will not be difficult for you, gentlemen, who have feeling minds, +to understand the pleasurable pride with which, on being conveyed to +Captain de Haldimar's own apartments in Quebec, I found myself almost +overwhelmed by the touching marks of gratitude showered on me by his +amiable relatives. Miss Clara de Haldimar, in particular, like a +ministering angel, visited my couch of suffering at almost every hour, +and always provided with some little delicacy, suitable to my +condition, of which I had long since tutored myself to forget even the +use. But what principally afforded me pleasure, was to remark the +consolations which she tendered to my poor drooping Ellen, who, already +more than half subdued by the melancholy change in our condition in +life, frequently spent hours together in silent grief at the side of my +couch, and watching every change in my countenance with all the intense +anxiety of one who feels the last stay on earth is about to be severed +for ever. Ah! how I then longed to disclose to this kind and +compassionating being the true position of her on whom she lavished her +attention, and to make her known, not as the inferior honored by her +notice, but as the equal alike worthy of her friendship and deserving +of her esteem; but the wide, wide barrier that divided the wife of the +private soldier from the daughter and sister of the commissioned +officer sealed my lips, and our true condition continued unrevealed. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," resumed Halloway, after a short pause, "if I dwell on +these circumstances, it is with a view to show how vile are the charges +preferred against me. Is it likely, with all the incentives to good +conduct I have named, I should have proved a traitor to my country? +And, even if so, what to gain, I would ask; and by what means was a +correspondence with the enemy to be maintained by one in my humble +station? As for the second charge, how infamous, how injurious is it to +my reputation, how unworthy to be entertained! From the moment of my +recovery from that severe wound, every mark of favour that could be +bestowed on persons in our situation had been extended to my wife and +myself, by the family of Colonel de Haldimar; and my captain, knowing +me merely as the simple and low born Frank Halloway, although still the +preserver of his life, has been unceasing in his exertions to obtain +such promotion as he thought my conduct generally, independently of my +devotedness to his person, might claim. How these applications were +met, gentlemen, I have already stated; but notwithstanding Colonel de +Haldimar has never deemed me worthy of the promotion solicited, that +circumstance could in no way weaken my regard and attachment for him +who had so often demanded it. How then, in the name of heaven, can a +charge so improbable, so extravagant, as that of having been +instrumental in the abduction of Captain de Haldimar, be entertained? +and who is there among you, gentlemen, who will for one moment believe +I could harbour a thought so absurd as that of lending myself to the +destruction of one for whom I once cheerfully offered up the sacrifice +of my blood? And now," pursued the prisoner, after another short pause, +"I come to the third charge,—that charge which most affects my life, +but impugns neither my honour nor my fidelity. That God, before whom I +know I shall shortly appear, can attest the sincerity of my statement, +and before him do I now solemnly declare what I am about to relate is +true. +</P> + +<P> +"Soon after the commencement of my watch last night, I heard a voice +distinctly on the outside of the rampart, near my post, calling in a +low and subdued tone on the name of Captain de Haldimar. The accents, +hastily and anxiously uttered, were apparently those of a female. For a +moment I continued irresolute how to act, and hesitated whether or not +I should alarm the garrison; but, at length, presuming it was some +young female of the village with whom my captain was acquainted, it +occurred to me the most prudent course would be to apprize that officer +himself. While I yet hesitated whether to leave my post for a moment +for the purpose, a man crossed the parade a few yards in my front; it +was Captain de Haldimar's servant, Donellan, then in the act of +carrying some things from his master's apartment to the guard-room. I +called to him, to say the sentinel at the gate wished to see the +captain of the guard immediately. In the course of a few minutes he +came up to my post, when I told him what I had heard. At that moment, +the voice again repeated his name, when he abruptly left me and turned +to the left of the gate, evidently on his way to the rampart. Soon +afterwards I heard Captain de Haldimar immediately above me, sharply +calling out 'Hist, hist!' as if the person on the outside, despairing +of success, was in the act of retreating. A moment or two of silence +succeeded, when a low conversation ensued between the parties. The +distance was so great I could only distinguish inarticulate sounds; yet +it seemed to me as if they spoke not in English, but in the language of +the Ottawa Indians, a tongue with which, as you are well aware, +gentlemen, Captain de Haldimar is familiar. This had continued about +ten minutes, when I again heard footsteps hastily descending the +rampart, and moving in the direction of the guard-house. Soon +afterwards Captain de Haldimar re-appeared at my post, accompanied by +his servant Donellan; the former had the keys of the gate in his hand, +and he told me that he must pass to the skirt of the forest on some +business of the last importance to the safety of the garrison. +</P> + +<P> +"At first I peremptorily refused, stating the severe penalty attached +to the infringement of an order, the observation of which had so +especially been insisted upon by the governor, whose permission, +however, I ventured respectfully to urge might, without difficulty, be +obtained, if the business was really of the importance he described it. +Captain de Haldimar, however, declared he well knew the governor would +not accord that permission, unless he was positively acquainted with +the nature and extent of the danger to be apprehended; and of these, he +said, he was not himself sufficiently aware. All argument of this +nature proving ineffectual, he attempted to enforce his authority, not +only in his capacity of officer of the guard, but also as my captain, +ordering me, on pain of confinement, not to interfere with or attempt +to impede his departure. This, however, produced no better result; for +I knew that, in this instance, I was amenable to the order of the +governor alone, and I again firmly refused to violate my duty. +</P> + +<P> +"Finding himself thwarted in his attempt to enforce my obedience, +Captain de Haldimar, who seemed much agitated and annoyed by what he +termed my obstinacy, now descended to entreaty; and in the name of that +life which I had preserved to him, and of that deep gratitude which he +had ever since borne to me, conjured me not to prevent his departure. +'Halloway,' he urged, 'your life, my life, my father's life,—the life +of my sister Clara perhaps, who nursed you in illness, and who has ever +treated your wife with attention and kindness,—all these depend upon +your compliance with my request. 'Hear me,' he pursued, following up +the impression which he clearly perceived he had produced in me by this +singular and touching language: 'I promise to be back within the hour; +there is no danger attending my departure, and here will I be before +you are relieved from your post; no one can know I have been absent, +and your secret will remain with Donellan and myself. Do you think,' he +concluded, 'I would encourage a soldier of my regiment to disobey a +standing order of the garrison, unless there was some very +extraordinary reason for my so doing? But there is no time to be lost +in parley. Halloway! I entreat you to offer no further opposition to my +departure. I pledge myself to be back before you are relieved.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," impressively continued the prisoner, after a pause, during +which each member of the court seemed to breathe for the first time, so +deeply had the attention of all been riveted by the latter part of this +singular declaration, "how, under these circumstances, could I be +expected to act? Assured by Captain de Haldimar, in the most solemn +manner, that the existence of those most dear to his heart hung on my +compliance with his request, how could I refuse to him, whose life I +had saved, and whose character I so much esteemed, a boon so earnestly, +nay, so imploringly solicited? I acceded to his prayer, intimating, at +the same time, if he returned not before another sentinel should +relieve me, the discovery of my breach of duty must be made, and my +punishment inevitable. His last words, however, were to assure me he +should return at the hour he had named, and when I closed the gate upon +him it was under the firm impression his absence would only prove of +the temporary nature he had stated.—Gentlemen," abruptly concluded +Halloway, "I have nothing further to add; if I have failed in my duty +as a soldier, I have, at least, fulfilled that of a man; and although +the violation of the first entail upon me the punishment of death, the +motives which impelled me to that violation will not, I trust, be +utterly lost sight of by those by whom my punishment is to be awarded." +</P> + +<P> +The candid, fearless, and manly tone in which Halloway had delivered +this long and singular statement, however little the governor appeared +to be affected by it, evidently made a deep impression on the court, +who had listened with undiverted attention to the close. Some +conversation again ensued, in a low tone, among several members, when +two slips of written paper were passed up, as before, to the president. +These elicited the following interrogatories:— +</P> + +<P> +"You have stated, prisoner, that Captain de Haldimar left the fort +accompanied by his servant Donellan. How were they respectively +dressed?" +</P> + +<P> +"Captain de Haldimar in his uniform; Donellan, as far as I could +observe, in his regimental clothing also, with this difference, that he +wore his servant's round glazed hat and his grey great coat." +</P> + +<P> +"How then do you account for the extraordinary circumstance of Donellan +having been found murdered in his master's clothes? Was any allusion +made to a change of dress before they left the fort?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not the slightest," returned the prisoner; "nor can I in any way +account for this mysterious fact. When they quitted the garrison, each +wore the dress I have described." +</P> + +<P> +"In what manner did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan effect their +passage across the ditch?" continued the president, after glancing at +the second slip of paper. "The draw-bridge was evidently not lowered, +and there were no other means at hand to enable him to effect his +object with promptitude. How do you explain this, prisoner?" +</P> + +<P> +When this question was put, the whole body of officers, and the +governor especially, turned their eyes simultaneously on Halloway, for +on his hesitation or promptness in replying seemed to attach much of +the credit they were disposed to accord his statement. Halloway +observed it, and coloured. His reply, however, was free, unfaltering, +and unstudied. +</P> + +<P> +"A rope with which Donellan had provided himself, was secured to one of +the iron hooks that support the pullies immediately above the gate. +With this they swung themselves in succession to the opposite bank." +</P> + +<P> +The members of the court looked at each other, apparently glad that an +answer so confirmatory of the truth of the prisoner's statement, had +been thus readily given. +</P> + +<P> +"Were they to have returned in the same manner?" pursued the president, +framing his interrogatory from the contents of another slip of paper, +which, at the suggestion of the governor, had been passed to him by the +prosecutor, Mr. Lawson. +</P> + +<P> +"They were," firmly replied the prisoner. "At least I presumed they +were, for, I believe in the hurry of Captain de Haldimar's departure, +he never once made any direct allusion to the manner of his return; nor +did it occur to me until this moment how they were to regain possession +of the rope, without assistance from within." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," observed Colonel de Haldimar, addressing the president, +"the rope still remains. Mr. Lawson, examine the gate, and report +accordingly." +</P> + +<P> +The adjutant hastened to acquit himself of this laconic order, and soon +afterwards returned, stating not only that there was no rope, but that +the hook alluded to had disappeared altogether. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the cheek of the prisoner paled; but it was evidently less +from any fear connected with his individual existence, than from the +shame he felt at having been detected in a supposed falsehood. He +however speedily recovered his self-possession, and exhibited the same +character of unconcern by which his general bearing throughout the +trial had been distinguished. +</P> + +<P> +On this announcement of the adjutant, the governor betrayed a movement +of impatience, that was meant to convey his utter disbelief of the +whole of the prisoner's statement, and his look seemed to express to +the court it should also arrive, and without hesitation, at the same +conclusion. Even all authoritative as he was, however, he felt that +military etiquette and strict discipline prevented his interfering +further in this advanced state of the proceedings. +</P> + +<P> +"Prisoner," again remarked Captain Blessington, "your statement in +regard to the means employed by Captain de Haldimar in effecting his +departure, is, you must admit, unsupported by appearances. How happens +it the rope is no longer where you say it was placed? No one could have +removed it but yourself. Have you done so? and if so, can you produce +it, or say where it is to be found?" +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Blessington," replied Halloway, proudly, yet respectfully, "I +have already invoked that great Being, before whose tribunal I am so +shortly to appear, in testimony of the truth of my assertion; and +again, in his presence, do I repeat, every word I have uttered is true. +I did not remove the rope, neither do I know what is become of it. I +admit its disappearance is extraordinary, but a moment's reflection +must satisfy the court I would not have devised a tale, the falsehood +of which could at once have been detected on an examination such as +that which has just been instituted. When Mr. Lawson left this room +just now, I fully expected he would have found the rope lying as it had +been left. What has become of it, I repeat, I know not; but in the +manner I have stated did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan cross the +ditch. I have nothing further to add," he concluded once more, drawing +up his fine tall person, the native elegance of which could not be +wholly disguised even in the dress of a private soldier; "nothing +further to disclose. Yet do I repel with scorn the injurious +insinuation against my fidelity, suggested in these doubts. I am +prepared to meet my death as best may become a soldier, and, let me +add, as best may become a proud and well born gentleman; but humanity +and common justice should at least be accorded to my memory. I am an +unfortunate man, but no traitor." +</P> + +<P> +The members were visibly impressed by the last sentences of the +prisoner. No further question however was asked, and he was again +removed by the escort, who had been wondering spectators of the scene, +to the cell he had so recently occupied. The room was then cleared of +the witnesses and strangers, the latter comprising nearly the whole of +the officers off duty, when the court proceeded to deliberate on the +evidence, and pass sentence on the accused. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0107"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<P> +Although the young and sensitive De Haldimar had found physical relief +in the summary means resorted to by the surgeon, the moral wound at his +heart not only remained unsoothed, but was rendered more acutely +painful by the wretched reflections, which, now that he had full +leisure to review the past, and anticipate the future in all the gloom +attached to both, so violently assailed him. From the moment when his +brother's strange and mysterious disappearance had been communicated by +the adjutant in the manner we have already seen, his spirits had been +deeply and fearfully depressed. Still he had every reason to expect, +from the well-known character of Halloway, the strong hope expressed by +the latter might be realised; and that, at the hour appointed for +trial, his brother would be present to explain the cause of his +mysterious absence, justify the conduct of his subordinate, and +exonerate him from the treachery with which he now stood charged. Yet, +powerful as this hope was, it was unavoidably qualified by dispiriting +doubt; for a nature affectionate and bland, as that of Charles de +Haldimar, could not but harbour distrust, while a shadow of +uncertainty, in regard to the fate of a brother so tenderly loved, +remained. He had forced himself to believe as much as possible what he +wished, and the effort had, to a certain extent succeeded; but there +had been something so solemn and so impressive in the scene that had +passed when the prisoner was first brought up for trial, something so +fearfully prophetic in the wild language of his unhappy wife, he had +found it impossible to resist the influence of the almost superstitious +awe they had awakened in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +What the feelings of the young officer were subsequently, when in the +person of the murdered man on the common, the victim of Sir Everard +Valletort's aim, he recognised that brother, whose disappearance had +occasioned him so much inquietude, we shall not attempt to describe: +their nature is best shown in the effect they produced—the almost +overwhelming agony of body and mind, which had borne him, like a +stricken plant, unresisting to the earth. But now that, in the calm and +solitude of his chamber, he had leisure to review the fearful events +conspiring to produce this extremity, his anguish of spirit was even +deeper than when the first rude shock of conviction had flashed upon +his understanding. A tide of suffering, that overpowered, without +rendering him sensible of its positive and abstract character, had, in +the first instance, oppressed his faculties, and obscured his +perception; but now, slow, sure, stinging, and gradually succeeding +each other, came every bitter thought and reflection of which that tide +was composed; and the generous heart of Charles de Haldimar was a prey +to feelings that would have wrung the soul, and wounded the +sensibilities of one far less gentle and susceptible than himself. +</P> + +<P> +Between Sir Everard Valletort and Charles de Haldimar, who, it has +already been remarked, were lieutenants in Captain Blessington's +company, a sentiment of friendship had been suffered to spring up +almost from the moment of Sir Everard's joining. The young men were +nearly of the same age; and although the one was all gentleness, the +other all spirit and vivacity, not a shade of disunion had at any +period intervened to interrupt the almost brotherly attachment +subsisting between them, and each felt the disposition of the other was +the one most assimilated to his own. In fact, Sir Everard was far from +being the ephemeral character he was often willing to appear. Under a +semblance of affectation, and much assumed levity of manner, never, +however, personally offensive, he concealed a brave, generous, warm, +and manly heart, and talents becoming the rank he held in society, such +as would not have reflected discredit on one numbering twice his years. +He had entered the army, as most young men of rank usually did at that +period, rather for the agremens it held forth, than with any serious +view to advancement in it as a profession. Still he entertained the +praiseworthy desire of being something more than what is, among +military men, emphatically termed a feather-bed soldier; and, contrary +to the wishes of his fashionable mother, who would have preferred +seeing him exhibit his uniform in the drawing-rooms of London, had +purchased the step into his present corps from a cavalry regiment at +home. Not that we mean, however, to assert he was not a feather-bed +soldier in its more literal sense: no man that ever glittered in gold +and scarlet was fonder of a feather-bed than the young baronet; and, in +fact, his own observations, recorded in the early part of this volume, +sufficiently prove his predilection for an indulgence which, we take +it, in no way impugned his character as a soldier. Sir Everard would +have fought twenty battles in the course of the month, if necessary, +and yet not complained of the fatigue or severity of his service, +provided only he had been suffered to press his downy couch to what is +termed a decent hour in the day. But he had an innate and, perhaps, it +may be, an instinctive horror of drills and early rising; a pastime in +which the martinets and disciplinarians of the last century were very +much given to indulge. He frequently upheld an opinion that must have +been little less than treason in the eyes of a commander so strict as +Colonel de Haldimar, that an officer who rose at eight, with all his +faculties refreshed and invigorated, might evince as much of the true +bearing of the soldier in the field, as he who, having quitted his +couch at dawn, naturally felt the necessity of repose at a moment when +activity and exertion were most required. +</P> + +<P> +We need scarcely state, Sir Everard's theories on this important +subject were seldom reduced to practice; for, even long before the +Indians had broken out into open acts of hostility, when such +precautions were rendered indispensable, Colonel de Haldimar had never +suffered either officer or man to linger on his pillow after the first +faint dawn had appeared. This was a system to which Sir Everard could +never reconcile himself. He had quitted England with a view to active +service abroad, it is true, but he had never taken "active service" in +its present literal sense, and, as he frequently declared to his +companions, he preferred giving an Indian warrior a chance for his +scalp any hour after breakfast, to rising at daybreak, when, from very +stupefaction, he seldom knew whether he stood on his head or his heels. +"If the men must be drilled," he urged, "with a view to their health +and discipline, why not place them under the direction of the adjutant +or the officer of the day, whoever he might chance to be, and not +unnecessarily disturb a body of gentlemen from their comfortable +slumbers at that unconscionable hour?" Poor Sir Everard! this was the +only grievance of which he complained, and he complained bitterly. +Scarcely a morning passed without his inveighing loudly against the +barbarity of such a custom; threatening at the same time, amid the +laughter of his companions, to quit the service in disgust at what he +called so ungentlemanly and gothic a habit. All he waited for, he +protested, was to have an opportunity of bearing away the spoils of +some Indian chief, that, on his return to England, he might afford his +lady mother an opportunity of judging with her own eyes of the sort of +enemy he had relinquished the comforts of home to contend against, and +exhibiting to her very dear friends the barbarous proofs of the prowess +of her son. Though these observations were usually made half in jest +half in earnest, there was no reason to doubt the young and lively +baronet was, in truth, heartily tired of a service which seemed to +offer nothing but privations and annoyances, unmixed with even the +chances of obtaining those trophies to which he alluded; and, but for +two motives, there is every probability he would have seriously availed +himself of the earliest opportunity of retiring. The first of these was +his growing friendship for the amiable and gentle Charles de Haldimar; +the second the secret, and scarcely to himself acknowledged, interest +which had been created in his heart for his sister Clara; whom he only +knew from the glowing descriptions of his friend, and the strong +resemblance she was said to bear to him by the other officers. +</P> + +<P> +Clara de Haldimar was the constant theme of her younger brother's +praise. Her image was ever uppermost in his thoughts—her name ever +hovering on his lips; and when alone with his friend Valletort, it was +his delight to dwell on the worth and accomplishments of his amiable +and beloved sister. Then, indeed, would his usually calm blue eye +sparkle with the animation of his subject, while his colouring cheek +marked all the warmth and sincerity with which he bore attestation to +her gentleness and her goodness. The heart of Charles de Haldimar, +soldier as he was, was pure, generous, and unsophisticated as that of +the sister whom he so constantly eulogized; and, while listening to his +eloquent praises, Sir Everard learnt to feel an interest in a being +whom all had declared to be the counterpart of her brother, as well in +personal attraction as in singleness of nature. With all his affected +levity, and notwithstanding his early initiation into fashionable +life—that matter-of-fact life which strikes at the existence of our +earlier and dearer illusions—there was a dash of romance in the +character of the young baronet which tended much to increase the +pleasure he always took in the warm descriptions of his friend. The +very circumstance of her being personally unknown to him, was, with Sir +Everard, an additional motive for interest in Miss de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +Imagination and mystery generally work their way together; and as there +was a shade of mystery attached to Sir Everard's very ignorance of the +person of one whom he admired and esteemed from report alone, +imagination was not slow to improve the opportunity, and to endow the +object with characteristics, which perhaps a more intimate knowledge of +the party might have led him to qualify. In this manner, in early +youth, are the silken and willing fetters of the generous and the +enthusiastic forged. We invest some object, whose praises, whispered +secretly in the ear, have glided imperceptibly to the heart, with all +the attributes supplied by our own vivid and readily according +imaginations; and so accustomed do we become to linger on the picture, +we adore the semblance with an ardour which the original often fails to +excite. When, however, the high standard of our fancy's fair creation +is attained, we worship as something sacred that which was to our +hearts a source of pure and absorbing interest, hallowed by the very +secrecy in which such interest was indulged. Even where it fails, so +unwilling are we to lose sight of the illusion to which our thoughts +have fondly clung, so loth to destroy the identity of the semblance +with its original, that we throw a veil over that reason which is then +so little in unison with our wishes, and forgive much in consideration +of the very mystery which first gave a direction to our interest, and +subsequently chained our preference. How is it to be lamented, that +illusions so dear, and images so fanciful, should find their level with +time; or that intercourse with the world, which should be the means +rather of promoting than marring human happiness, should leave on the +heart so little vestige of those impressions which characterize the +fervency of youth; and which, dispassionately considered, constitute +the only true felicity of riper life! It is then that man, in all the +vigour and capacity of his intellectual nature, feels the sentiment of +love upon him in all its ennobling force. It is then that his impetuous +feelings, untinged by the romance which imposes its check upon the more +youthful, like the wild flow of the mighty torrent, seeks a channel +wherein they may empty themselves; and were he to follow the guidance +of those feelings, of which in that riper life he seems ashamed as of a +weakness unworthy his sex, in the warm and glowing bosom of Nature's +divinity—WOMAN—would he pour forth the swollen tide of his affection; +and acknowledge, in the fullness of his expanding heart, the vast +bounty of Providence, who had bestowed on him so invaluable—so +unspeakably invaluable, a blessing.—But no; in the pursuit of +ambition, in the acquisition of wealth, in the thirst after power, and +the craving after distinction, nay, nineteen times out of twenty, in +the most frivolous occupations, the most unsatisfactory amusements, do +the great mass of the maturer man sink those feelings; divested of +which, we become mere plodders on the earth, mere creatures of +materialism: nor is it until after age and infirmity have overtaken +them, they look back with regret to that real and substantial, but +unenjoyed happiness, which the occupied heart and the soul's communion +alone can bestow. Then indeed, when too late, are they ready to +acknowledge the futility of those pursuits, the inadequacy of those +mere ephemeral pleasures, to which in the full meridian of their +manhood they sacrificed, as a thing unworthy of their dignity, the +mysterious charm of woman's influence and woman's beauty. +</P> + +<P> +We do not mean to say Clara de Haldimar would have fallen short of the +high estimate formed of her worth by the friend of her brother; neither +is it to be understood, Sir Everard suffered this fair vision of his +fancy to lead him into the wild and labyrinthian paths of boyish +romance; but certain it is, the floating illusions, conjured up by his +imagination, exercised a mysterious influence over his heart, that +hourly acquired a deeper and less equivocal character. It might have +been curiosity in the first instance, or that mere repose of the fancy +upon an object of its own creation, which was natural to a young man +placed like himself for the moment out of the pale of all female +society. It has been remarked, and justly, there is nothing so +dangerous to the peace of the human heart as solitude. It is in +solitude, our thoughts, taking their colouring from our feelings, +invest themselves with the power of multiplying ideal beauty, until we +become in a measure tenants of a world of our own creation, from which +we never descend, without loathing and disgust, into the dull and +matter-of-fact routine of actual existence. Hence the misery of the +imaginative man!—hence his little sympathy with the mass, who, tame +and soulless, look upon life and the things of life, not through the +refining medium of ideality, but through the grossly magnifying optics +of mere sense and materialism. +</P> + +<P> +But, though we could, and perhaps may, at some future period, write +volumes on this subject, we return for the present from a digression +into which we have been insensibly led by the temporary excitement of +our own feelings. +</P> + +<P> +Whatever were the impressions of the young baronet, and however he +might have been inclined to suffer the fair image of the gentle Clara, +such as he was perhaps wont to paint it, to exercise its spell upon his +fancy, certain it is, he never expressed to her brother more than that +esteem and interest which it was but natural he should accord to the +sister of his friend. Neither had Charles de Haldimar, even amid all +his warmth of commendation, ever made the slightest allusion to his +sister, that could be construed into a desire she should awaken any +unusual or extraordinary sentiment of preference. Much and fervently as +he desired such an event, there was an innate sense of decorum, and it +may be secret pride, that caused him to abstain from any observation +having the remotest tendency to compromise the spotless delicacy of his +adored sister; and such he would have considered any expression of his +own hopes and wishes, where no declaration of preference had been +previously made. There was another motive for this reserve on the part +of the young officer. The baronet was an only child, and would, on +attaining his majority, of which he wanted only a few months, become +the possessor of a large fortune. His sister Clara, on the contrary, +had little beyond her own fair fame and the beauty transmitted to her +by the mother she had lost. Colonel de Haldimar was a younger son, and +had made his way through life with his sword, and an unblemished +reputation alone,—advantages he had shared with his children, for the +two eldest of whom his interest and long services had procured +commissions in his own regiment. +</P> + +<P> +But even while Charles de Haldimar abstained from all expression of his +hopes, he had fully made up his mind that Sir Everard and his sister +were so formed for each other, it was next to an impossibility they +could meet without loving. In one of his letters to the latter, he had +alluded to his friend in terms of so high and earnest panegyric, that +Clara had acknowledged, in reply, she was prepared to find in the young +baronet one whom she should regard with partiality, if it were only on +account of the friendship subsisting between him and her brother. This +admission, however, was communicated in confidence, and the young +officer had religiously preserved his sister's secret. +</P> + +<P> +These and fifty other recollections now crowded on the mind of the +sufferer, only to render the intensity of his anguish more complete; +among the bitterest of which was the certainty that the mysterious +events of the past night had raised up an insuperable barrier to this +union; for how could Clara de Haldimar become the wife of him whose +hands were, however innocently, stained with the life-blood of her +brother! To dwell on this, and the loss of that brother, was little +short of madness, and yet De Haldimar could think of nothing else; nor +for a period could the loud booming of the cannon from the ramparts, +every report of which shook his chamber to its very foundations, call +off his attention from a subject which, while it pained, engrossed +every faculty and absorbed every thought. At length, towards the close, +he called faintly to the old and faithful soldier, who, at the foot of +the bed, stood watching every change of his master's countenance, to +know the cause of the cannonade. On being informed the batteries in the +rear were covering the retreat of Captain Erskine, who, in his attempt +to obtain the body, had been surprised by the Indians, a new direction +was temporarily given to his thoughts, and he now manifested the utmost +impatience to know the result. +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes Morrison, who, in defiance of the surgeon's strict +order not on any account to quit the room, had flown to obtain some +intelligence which he trusted might remove the anxiety of his suffering +master, again made his appearance, stating the corpse was already +secured, and close under the guns of the fort, beneath which the +detachment, though hotly assailed from the forest, were also fast +retreating. +</P> + +<P> +"And is it really my brother, Morrison? Are you quite certain that it +is Captain de Haldimar?" asked the young officer, in the eager accents +of one who, with the fullest conviction on his mind, yet grasps at the +faintest shadow of a consoling doubt. "Tell me that it is not my +brother, and half of what I possess in the world shall be yours." +</P> + +<P> +The old soldier brushed a tear from his eye. "God bless you, Mr. de +Haldimar, I would give half my grey hairs to be able to do so; but it +is, indeed, too truly the captain who has been killed. I saw the very +wings of his regimentals as he lay on his face on the litter." +</P> + +<P> +Charles de Haldimar groaned aloud. "Oh God! oh God! would I had never +lived to see this day." Then springing suddenly up in his +bed.—"Morrison, where are my clothes? I insist on seeing my +slaughtered brother myself." +</P> + +<P> +"Good Heaven, sir, consider," said the old man approaching the bed, and +attempting to replace the covering which had been spurned to its very +foot,—"consider you are in a burning fever, and the slightest cold may +kill you altogether. The doctor's orders are, you were on no account to +get up." +</P> + +<P> +The effort made by the unfortunate youth was momentary. Faint from the +blood he had lost, and giddy from the excitement of his feelings, he +sank back exhausted on his pillow, and wept like a child. +</P> + +<P> +Old Morrison shed tears also; for his heart bled for the sufferings of +one whom he had nursed and played with even in early infancy, and whom, +although his master, he regarded with the affection he would have borne +to his own child. As he had justly observed, he would have willingly +given half his remaining years to be able to remove the source of the +sorrow which so deeply oppressed him. +</P> + +<P> +When this violent paroxysm had somewhat subsided, De Haldimar became +more composed; but his was rather that composure which grows out of the +apathy produced by overwhelming grief, than the result of any relief +afforded to his suffering heart by the tears he had shed. He had +continued some time in this faint and apparently tranquil state, when +confused sounds in the barrack-yard, followed by the raising of the +heavy drawbridge, announced the return of the detachment. Again he +started up in his bed and demanded his clothes, declaring his intention +to go out and receive the corpse of his murdered brother. All +opposition on the part of the faithful Morrison was now likely to prove +fruitless, when suddenly the door opened, and an officer burst +hurriedly into the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Courage! courage! my dear De Haldimar; I am the bearer of good news. +Your brother is not the person who has been slain." +</P> + +<P> +Again De Haldimar sank back upon his pillow, overcome by a variety of +conflicting emotions. A moment afterwards, and he exclaimed +reproachfully, yet almost gasping with the eagerness of his manner,— +</P> + +<P> +"For God's sake, Sumners—in the name of common humanity, do not trifle +with my feelings. If you would seek to lull me with false hopes, you +are wrong. I am prepared to hear and bear the worst at present; but to +be undeceived again would break my heart." +</P> + +<P> +"I swear to you by every thing I have been taught to revere as sacred," +solemnly returned Ensign Sumners, deeply touched by the affliction he +witnessed, "what I state is strictly true. Captain Erskine himself sent +me to tell you." +</P> + +<P> +"What, is he only wounded then?" and a glow of mingled hope and +satisfaction was visible even through the flush of previous excitement +on the cheek of the sufferer. "Quick, Morrison, give me my +clothes.—Where is my brother, Sumners?" and again he raised up his +debilitated frame with the intention of quitting his couch. +</P> + +<P> +"De Haldimar, my dear De Haldimar, compose yourself, and listen to me. +Your brother is still missing, and we are as much in the dark about his +fate as ever. All that is certain is, we have no positive knowledge of +his death; but surely that is a thousand times preferable to the horrid +apprehensions under which we have all hitherto laboured." +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, Sumners? or am I so bewildered by my sufferings as not +to comprehend you clearly?—Nay, nay, forgive me; but I am almost +heart-broken at this loss, and scarcely know what I say. But what is it +you mean? I saw my unhappy brother lying on the common with my own +eyes. Poor Valletort, himself—" here a rush of bitter recollections +flashed on the memory of the young man, and the tears coursed each +other rapidly down his cheek. His emotion lasted for a few moments, and +he pursued,—"Poor Valletort himself saw him, for he was nearly as much +overwhelmed with affliction as I was; and even Morrison beheld him +also, not ten minutes since, under the very walls of the fort; nay, +distinguished the wings of his uniform: and yet you would persuade me +my brother, instead of being brought in a corpse, is still missing and +alive. This is little better than trifling with my wretchedness, +Sumners," and again he sank back exhausted on his pillow. +</P> + +<P> +"I can easily forgive your doubts, De Haldimar," returned the +sympathizing Sumners, taking the hand of his companion, and pressing it +gently in his own; "for, in truth, there is a great deal of mystery +attached to the whole affair. I have not seen the body myself; but I +distinctly heard Captain Erskine state it certainly was not your +brother, and he requested me to apprise both Sir Everard Valletort and +yourself of the fact." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is the murdered man, then? and how comes he to be clad in the +uniform of one of our officers? Pshaw! it is too absurd to be credited. +Erskine is mistaken—he must be mistaken—it can be no other than my +poor brother Frederick. Sumners, I am sick, faint, with this cruel +uncertainty: go, my dear fellow, at once, and examine the body; then +return to me, and satisfy my doubts, if possible." +</P> + +<P> +"Most willingly, if you desire it," returned Sumners, moving towards +the door; "but believe me, De Haldimar, you may make your mind tranquil +on the subject;—Erskine spoke with certainty." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you seen Valletort?" asked De Haldimar, while an involuntary +shudder pervaded his fame. +</P> + +<P> +"I have. He flew on the instant to make further enquiries; and was in +the act of going to examine the body of the murdered man when I came +here.—But here he is himself, and his countenance is the harbinger of +any thing but a denial of my intelligence." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Charles, what a weight of misery has been removed from my heart!" +exclaimed that officer, now rushing to the bedside of his friend, and +seizing his extended hand,—"Your brother, let us hope, still lives." +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty God, I thank thee!" fervently ejaculated De Haldimar; and +then, overcome with joy, surprise, and gratitude, he again sank back +upon his pillow, sobbing and weeping violently. +</P> + +<P> +Sumners had, with delicate tact, retired the moment Sir Everard made +his appearance; for he, as well as the whole body of officers, was +aware of the close friendship that subsisted between the young men, and +he felt, at such a moment, the presence of a third person must be a +sort of violation of the sacredness of their interview. +</P> + +<P> +For some minutes the young baronet stood watching in silence, and with +his friend's hand closely clasped in his own, the course of those tears +which seemed to afford so much relief to the overcharged heart of the +sufferer. At length they passed gradually away; and a smile, expressive +of the altered state of his feelings, for the first time animated the +flushed but handsome features of the younger De Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +We shall not attempt to paint all that passed between the friends +during the first interesting moments of an interview which neither had +expected to enjoy again, or the delight and satisfaction with which +they congratulated themselves on the futility of those fears, which, if +realised, must have embittered every future moment of their lives with +the most harrowing recollections. Sir Everard, particularly, felt, and +was not slow to express, his joy on this occasion; for, as he gazed +upon the countenance of his friend, he was more than ever inclined to +confess an interest in the sister he was said so much to resemble. +</P> + +<P> +With that facility with which in youth the generous and susceptible are +prone to exchange their tears for smiles, as some powerful motive for +the reaction may prompt, the invalid had already, and for the moment, +lost sight of the painful past in the pleasurable present, so that his +actual excitement was strongly in contrast with the melancholy he had +so recently exhibited. Never had Charles de Haldimar appeared so +eminently handsome; and yet his beauty resembled that of a frail and +delicate woman, rather than that of one called to the manly and arduous +profession of a soldier. It was that delicate and Medor-like beauty +which might have won the heart and fascinated the sense of a second +Angelica. The light brown hair flowing in thick and natural waves over +a high white forehead; the rich bloom of the transparent and downy +cheek; the large, blue, long, dark-lashed eye, in which a shade of +languor harmonised with the soft but animated expression of the whole +countenance,—the dimpled mouth,—the small, clear, and even +teeth,—all these now characterised Charles de Haldimar; and if to +these we add a voice rich, full, and melodious, and a smile sweet and +fascinating, we shall be at no loss to account for the readiness with +which Sir Everard suffered his imagination to draw on the brother for +those attributes he ascribed to the sister. +</P> + +<P> +It was while this impression was strong upon his fancy, he took +occasion to remark, in reply to an observation of De Haldimar's, +alluding to the despair with which his sister would have been seized, +had she known one brother had fallen by the hand of the friend of the +other. +</P> + +<P> +"The grief of my own heart, Charles, on this occasion, would have been +little inferior to her own. The truth is, my feelings during the last +three hours have let me into a secret, of the existence of which I was, +in a great degree, ignorant until then: I scarcely know how to express +myself, for the communication is so truly absurd and romantic you will +not credit it." He paused, hesitated, and then, as if determined to +anticipate the ridicule he seemed to feel would be attached to his +confession, with a forced half laugh pursued: "The fact is, Charles, I +have been so much used to listen to your warm and eloquent praises of +your sister, I have absolutely, I will not say fallen in love with +(that would be going too far), but conceived so strong an interest in +her, that my most ardent desire would be to find favour in her eyes. +What say you, my friend? are you inclined to forward my suit; and if +so, is there any chance for me, think you, with herself?" +</P> + +<P> +The breast of Charles de Haldimar, who had listened with deep and +increasing attention to this avowal, swelled high with pleasurable +excitement, and raising himself up in his bed with one hand, while he +grasped one of Sir Everard's with the other, he exclaimed with a +transport of affection too forcible to be controlled,— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Valletort, Valletort! this is, indeed, all that was wanting to +complete my happiness. My sister Clara I adore with all the affection +of my nature; I love her better than my own life, which is wrapped up +in hers. She is an angel in disposition,—all that is dear, tender, and +affectionate,—all that is gentle and lovely in woman; one whose +welfare is dearer far to me than my own, and without whose presence I +could not live. Valletort, that prize,—that treasure, that dearer half +of myself, is yours,—yours for ever. I have long wished you should +love, each other, and I felt, when you met, you would. If I have +hitherto forborne from expressing this fondest wish of my heart, it has +been from delicacy—from a natural fear of compromising the purity of +my adored Clara. Now, however, you have confessed yourself interested, +by a description that falls far short of the true peril of that dear +girl, I can no longer disguise my gratification and delight. +Valletort," he concluded, impressively, "there is no other man on earth +to whom I would say so much; but you were formed for each other, and +you will, you must, be the husband of my sister." +</P> + +<P> +If the youthful and affectionate De Haldimar was happy, Sir Everard was +no less so; for already, with the enthusiasm of a young man of twenty, +he painted to himself the entire fruition of those dreams of happiness +that had so long been familiarised to his imagination. One doubt alone +crossed his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"But if your sister should have decided differently, Charles," he at +length remarked, as he gently quitted the embrace of his friend: "who +knows if her heart may not already throb for another; and even if not, +it is possible she may judge me far less flatteringly than you do." +</P> + +<P> +"Valletort, your fears are groundless. Having admitted thus far, I will +even go farther, and add, you have been the subject of one of my +letters to Clara, who, in her turn, 'confesses a strong interest in one +of whom she has heard so much.' She writes playfully, of course, but it +is quite evident to me she is prepared to like you." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! But, Charles, liking is many degrees removed you know from +loving; besides, I understand there are two or three handsome and +accomplished fellows among the garrison of Michilimackinac, and your +sister's visit to her cousin may not have been paid altogether with +impunity." +</P> + +<P> +"Think not thus meanly of Clara's understanding, Valletort. There must +be something more than mere beauty and accomplishment to fix the heart +of my sister. The dark eyed and elegant Baynton, and the musical and +sonnetteering Middleton, to whom you, doubtless, allude, are very +excellent fellows in their way; but handsome and accomplished as they +are, they are not exactly the men to please Clara de Haldimar." +</P> + +<P> +"But, my dear Charles, you forget also any little merit of my own is +doubly enhanced in your eyes, by the sincerity of the friendship +subsisting between us; your sister may think very differently." +</P> + +<P> +"Psha, Valletort! these difficulties are all of your own creation," +returned his friend, impatiently; "I know the heart of Clara is +disengaged. What would you more?" +</P> + +<P> +"Enough, De Haldimar; I will no longer doubt my own prospects. If she +but approve me, my whole life shall be devoted to the happiness of your +sister." +</P> + +<P> +A single knock was now heard at the door of the apartment; it was +opened, and a sergeant appeared at the entrance. +</P> + +<P> +"The company are under arms for punishment parade, Lieutenant +Valletort," said the man, touching his cap. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant, the visionary prospects of the young men gave place to +the stern realities connected with that announcement of punishment. The +treason of Halloway,—the absence of Frederick de Haldimar,—the +dangers by which they were beset,—and the little present probability +of a re-union with those who were most dear to them,—all these +recollections now flashed across their minds with the rapidity of +thought; and the conversation that had so recently passed between them +seemed to leave no other impression than what is produced from some +visionary speculation of the moment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0108"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<P> +As the bells of the fort tolled the tenth hour of morning, the groups +of dispersed soldiery, warned by the rolling of the assembly drum, once +more fell into their respective ranks in the order described in the +opening of this volume, Soon afterwards the prisoner Halloway was +reconducted into the square by a strong escort, who took their stations +as before in the immediate centre, where the former stood principally +conspicuous to the observation of his comrades. His countenance was +paler, and had less, perhaps, of the indifference he had previously +manifested; but to supply this there was a certain subdued air of calm +dignity, and a composure that sprang, doubtless, from the consciousness +of the new character in which he now appeared before his superiors. +Colonel de Haldimar almost immediately followed, and with him were the +principal staff of the garrison, all of whom, with the exception of the +sick and wounded and their attendants, were present to a man. The +former took from the hands of the governor, Lawson, a large packet, +consisting of several sheets of folded paper closely written upon. +These were the proceedings of the court martial. +</P> + +<P> +After enumerating the several charges, and detailing the evidence of +the witnesses examined, the adjutant came at length to the finding and +sentence of the court, which were as follows:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"The court having duly considered the evidence adduced against the +prisoner private Frank Halloway, together with what he has urged in his +defence, are of opinion,—" +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"That with regard to the first charge, it is not proved." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"That with regard to the second charge, it is not proved." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"That with regard to the third charge, even by his own voluntary +confession, the prisoner is guilty." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"The court having found the prisoner private Frank Halloway guilty of +the third charge preferred against him, which is hi direct violation of +a standing order of the garrison, entailing capital punishment, do +hereby sentence him, the said prisoner, private Frank Halloway, to be +shot to death at such time and place as the officer commanding may deem +fit to appoint." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Although the utmost order pervaded the ranks, every breath had been +suspended, every ear stretched during the reading of the sentence; and +now that it came arrayed in terror and in blood, every glance was +turned in pity on its unhappy victim. But Halloway heard it with the +ears of one who has made up his mind to suffer; and the faint half +smile that played upon his lip spoke more in scorn than in sorrow. +Colonel de Haldimar pursued:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"The court having found it imperatively incumbent on them to award the +punishment of death to the prisoner, private Frank Halloway, at the +same time gladly avail themselves of their privilege by strongly +recommending him to mercy. The court cannot, in justice to the +character of the prisoner, refrain from expressing their unanimous +conviction, that notwithstanding the mysterious circumstances which +have led to his confinement and trial, he is entirely innocent of the +treachery ascribed to him. The court have founded this conviction on +the excellent character, both on duty and in the field, hitherto borne +by the prisoner,—his well-known attachment to the officer with whose +abduction be stands charged,—and the manly, open, and (as the court +are satisfied) correct history given of his former life. It is, +moreover, the impression of the court, that, as stated by the prisoner, +his guilt on the third charge has been the result only of his +attachment for Captain de Haldimar. And for this, and the reasons above +assigned, do they strongly recommend the prisoner to mercy." +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> + (Signed)<BR> +<BR> + NOEL BLESSINGTON,<BR> + Captain and President.<BR> +<BR> + Sentence approved and confirmed.<BR> +<BR> + CHARLES DE HALDIMAR,<BR> + Colonel Commandant.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +While these concluding remarks of the court were being read, the +prisoner manifested the deepest emotion. If a smile of scorn had +previously played upon his lip, it was because he fancied the court, +before whom he had sought to vindicate his fame, had judged him with a +severity not inferior to his colonel's; but now that, in the presence +of his companions, he heard the flattering attestation of his services, +coupled even as it was with the sentence that condemned him to die, +tears of gratitude and pleasure rose despite of himself to his eyes; +and it required all his self-command to enable him to abstain from +giving expression to his feelings towards those who had so generously +interpreted the motives of his dereliction from duty. But when the +melancholy and startling fact of the approval and confirmation of the +sentence met his ear, without the slightest allusion to that mercy +which had been so urgently recommended, he again overcame his weakness, +and exhibited his wonted air of calm and unconcern. +</P> + +<P> +"Let the prisoner be removed, Mr. Lawson," ordered the governor, whose +stern and somewhat dissatisfied expression of countenance was the only +comment on the recommendation for mercy. +</P> + +<P> +The order was promptly executed. Once more Halloway left the square, +and was reconducted to the cell he had occupied since the preceding +night. +</P> + +<P> +"Major Blackwater," pursued the governor, "let a detachment consisting +of one half the garrison be got in readiness to leave the fort within +the hour. Captain Wentworth, three pieces of field artillery will be +required. Let them be got ready also." He then retired from the area +with the forbidding dignity and stately haughtiness of manner that was +habitual to him; while the officers, who had just received his +commands, prepared to fulfil the respective duties assigned them. +</P> + +<P> +Since the first alarm of the garrison no opportunity had hitherto been +afforded the officers to snatch the slightest refreshment. Advantage +was now taken of the short interval allowed by the governor, and they +all repaired to the mess-room, where their breakfast had long since +been provided. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Blessington," remarked Captain Erskine, as he filled his plate +for the third time from a large haunch of smoke-dried venison, for +which his recent skirmish with the Indians had given him an unusual +relish, "so it appears your recommendation of poor Halloway to mercy is +little likely to be attended to. Did you remark how displeased the +colonel looked as he bungled through it? One might almost be tempted to +think he had an interest in the man's death, so determined does he +appear to carry his point." +</P> + +<P> +Although several of his companions, perhaps, felt and thought the same, +still there was no one who would have ventured to avow his real +sentiments in so unqualified a manner. Indeed such an observation +proceeding from the lips of any other officer would have excited the +utmost surprise; but Captain Erskine, a brave, bold, frank, and +somewhat thoughtless soldier, was one of those beings who are +privileged to say any thing. His opinions were usually expressed +without ceremony; and his speech was not the most circumspect NOW, as +since his return to the fort he had swallowed, fasting, two or three +glasses of a favourite spirit, which, without intoxicating, had greatly +excited him. +</P> + +<P> +"I remarked enough," said Captain Blessington, who sat leaning his head +on one hand, while with the other he occasionally, and almost +mechanically, raised a cup filled with a liquid of a pale blood colour +to his lips,—"quite enough to make me regret from my very soul I +should have been his principal judge. Poor Halloway, I pity him much; +for, on my honour, I believe him to be the gentleman he represents +himself." +</P> + +<P> +"A finer fellow does not live," remarked the last remaining officer of +the grenadiers. "But surely Colonel de Haldimar cannot mean to carry +the sentence into effect. The recommendation of a court, couched in +such terms as these, ought alone to have some weight with him." +</P> + +<P> +"It is quite clear, from the fact of his having been remanded to his +cell, the execution of the poor fellow will be deferred at least," +observed one of Captain Erskine's subalterns. "If the governor had +intended he should suffer immediately, he would have had him shot the +moment after his sentence was read. But what is the meaning and object +of this new sortie? and whither are we now going? Do you know, Captain +Erskine, our company is again ordered for this duty?" +</P> + +<P> +"Know it, Leslie! of course I do; and for that reason am I paying my +court to the more substantial part of the breakfast. Come, Blessington, +my dear fellow, you have quite lost your appetite, and we may have +sharp work before we get back. Follow my example: throw that nasty +blood-thickening sassafras away, and lay a foundation from this +venison. None sweeter is to be found in the forests of America. A few +slices of that, and then a glass each of my best Jamaica, and we shall +have strength to go through the expedition, if its object be the +capture of the bold Ponteac himself." +</P> + +<P> +"I presume the object is rather to seek for Captain de Haldimar," said +Lieutenant Boyce, the officer of grenadiers; "but in that case why not +send out his own company?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because the Colonel prefers trusting to cooler heads and more +experienced arms," good-humouredly observed Captain Erskine. +"Blessington is our senior, and his men are all old stagers. My lads, +too, have had their mettle up already this morning, and there is +nothing like that to prepare men for a dash of enterprise. It is with +them as with blood horses, the more you put them on their speed the +less anxious are they to quit the course. Well, Johnstone, my brave +Scot, ready for another skirmish?" he asked, as that officer now +entered to satisfy the cravings of an appetite little inferior to that +of his captain. +</P> + +<P> +"With 'Nunquam non paratus' for my motto," gaily returned the young +man, "it were odd, indeed, if a mere scratch like this should prevent +me from establishing my claim to it by following wherever my gallant +captain leads." +</P> + +<P> +"Most courteously spoken, and little in the spirit of a man yet +smarting under the infliction of a rifle wound, it must be confessed," +remarked Lieutenant Leslie. "But, Johnstone, you should bear in mind a +too close adherence to that motto has been, in some degree, fatal to +your family." +</P> + +<P> +"No reflections, Leslie, if you please," returned his brother +subaltern, slightly reddening. "If the head of our family was +unfortunate enough to be considered a traitor to England, he was not +so, at least, to Scotland; and Scotland was the land of his birth. But +let his political errors be forgotten. Though the winged spur no longer +adorn the booted heel of an Earl of Annandale, the time may not be far +distant when some liberal and popular monarch of England shall restore +a title forfeited neither through cowardice nor dishonour, but from an +erroneous sense of duty." +</P> + +<P> +"That is to say," muttered Ensign Delme, looking round for approval as +he spoke, "that our present king is neither liberal nor popular. Well, +Mr. Johnstone, were such an observation to reach the ears of Colonel de +Haldimar you would stand a very fair chance of being brought to a court +martial." +</P> + +<P> +"That is to say nothing of the kind, sir," somewhat fiercely retorted +the young Scot; "but any thing I do say you are at liberty to repeat to +Colonel de Haldimar, or whom you will. I cannot understand, Leslie, why +you should have made any allusion to the misfortunes of my family at +this particular moment, and in this public manner. I trust it was not +with a view to offend me;" and he fixed his large black eyes upon his +brother subaltern, as if he would have read every thought of his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my honour, Johnstone, I meant nothing of the kind," frankly +returned Leslie. "I merely meant to hint that as you had had your share +of service this morning, you might, at least, have suffered me to +borrow your spurs, while you reposed for the present on your laurels." +</P> + +<P> +"There are my gay and gallant Scots," exclaimed Captain Erskine, as he +swallowed off a glass of the old Jamaica which lay before him, and with +which he usually neutralised the acidities of a meat breakfast, +"Settled like gentlemen and lads of spirit as ye are," he pursued, as +the young men cordially shook each other's hand across the table. "What +an enviable command is mine, to have a company of brave fellows who +would face the devil himself were it necessary; and two hot and +impatient subs., who are ready to cut each other's throat for the +pleasure of accompanying me against a set of savages that are little +better than so many devils. Come, Johnstone, you know the Colonel +allows us but one sub. at a time, in consequence of our scarcity of +officers, therefore it is but fair Leslie should have his turn. It will +not be long, I dare say, before we shall have another brush with the +rascals." +</P> + +<P> +"In my opinion," observed Captain Blessington, who had been a silent +and thoughtful witness of what was passing around him, "neither Leslie +nor Johnstone would evince so much anxiety, were they aware of the +true-nature of the duty for which our companies have been ordered. +Depend upon it, it is no search after Captain de Haldimar in which we +are about to be engaged; for much as the colonel loves his son, he +would on no account compromise the safety of the garrison, by sending a +party into the forest, where poor De Haldimar, if alive, is at all +likely to be found." +</P> + +<P> +"Faith you are right, Blessington; the governor is not one to run these +sort of risks on every occasion. My chief surprise, indeed, is, that he +suffered me to venture even upon the common; but if we are not designed +for some hostile expedition, why leave the fort at all?" +</P> + +<P> +"The question will need no answer, if Halloway be found to accompany +us." +</P> + +<P> +"Psha! why should Halloway be taken out for the purpose? If he be shot +at all, he will be shot on the ramparts, in the presence of, and as an +example to, the whole garrison. Still, on reflection, I cannot but +think it impossible the sentence should be carried into full effect, +after the strong, nay, the almost unprecedented recommendation to mercy +recorded on the face of the proceedings." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Blessington shook his head despondingly. "What think you, +Erskine, of the policy of making an example, which may be witnessed by +the enemy as well as the garrison? It is evident, from his demeanour +throughout, nothing will convince the colonel that Halloway is not a +traitor, and he may think it advisable to strike terror in the minds of +the savages, by an execution which will have the effect of showing the +treason of the soldier to have been discovered." +</P> + +<P> +In this opinion many of the officers now concurred; and as the fate of +the unfortunate Halloway began to assume a character of almost +certainty, even the spirit of the gallant Erskine, the least subdued by +the recent distressing events, was overclouded; and all sank, as if by +one consent, into silent communion with their thoughts, as they almost +mechanically completed the meal, at which habit rather than appetite +still continued them. Before any of them had yet risen from the table, +a loud and piercing scream met their ears from without; and so quick +and universal was the movement it produced, that its echo had scarcely +yet died away in distance, when the whole of the breakfast party had +issued from the room, and were already spectators of the cause. +</P> + +<P> +The barracks of the officers, consisting of a range of low buildings, +occupied the two contiguous sides of a square, and in the front of +these ran a narrow and covered piazza, somewhat similar to those +attached to the guardhouses in England, which description of building +the barracks themselves most resembled. On the other two faces of the +square stood several block-houses, a style of structure which, from +their adaptation to purposes of defence as well as of accommodation, +were every where at that period in use in America, and are even now +continued along the more exposed parts of the frontier. These, capable +of containing each a company of men, were, as their name implies, +formed of huge masses of roughly-shapen timber, fitted into each other +at the extremities by rude incisions from the axe, and filled in with +smaller wedges of wood. The upper part of these block-houses projected +on every side several feet beyond the ground floor, and over the whole +was a sheathing of planks, which, as well as those covering the +barracks of the officers, were painted of a brick-red colour. Unlike +the latter, they rose considerably above the surface of the ramparts; +and, in addition to the small window to be seen on each side of each +story of the block-house, were numerous smaller square holes, +perforated for the discharge of musketry. Between both these barracks +and the ramparts there was just space sufficient to admit of the +passage of artillery of a heavy calibre; and at each of the four +angles, composing the lines of the fort, was an opening of several feet +in extent, not only to afford the gunners room to work their batteries, +but to enable them to reach their posts with greater expedition in the +event of any sudden emergency. On the right, on entering the fort over +the drawbridge, were the block-houses of the men; and immediately in +front, and on the left, the barracks of the officers, terminated at the +outer extremity by the guard-house, and at the inner by the quarters of +the commanding officer. +</P> + +<P> +As the officers now issued from the mess-room nearly opposite to the +gate, they observed, at that part of the barracks which ran at right +angles with it, and immediately in front of the apartment of the +younger De Haldimar, whence he had apparently just issued, the +governor, struggling, though gently, to disengage himself from a +female, who, with disordered hair and dress, lay almost prostrate upon +the piazza, and clasping his booted leg with an energy evidently +borrowed from the most rooted despair. The quick eye of the haughty man +had already rested on the group of officers drawn by the scream of the +supplicant. Numbers, too, of the men, attracted by the same cause, were +collected in front of their respective block-houses, and looking from +the windows of the rooms in which they were also breakfasting, +preparatory to the expedition. Vexed and irritated beyond measure, at +being thus made a conspicuous object of observation to his inferiors, +the unbending governor made a violent and successful effort to +disengage his leg; and then, without uttering a word, or otherwise +noticing the unhappy being who lay extended at his feet, he stalked +across the parade to his apartments at the opposite angle, without +appearing to manifest the slightest consciousness of the scene that had +awakened such universal attention. +</P> + +<P> +Several of the officers, among whom was Captain Blessington, now +hastened to the assistance of the female, whom all had recognised, from +the first, to be the interesting and unhappy wife of Halloway. Many of +the comrades of the latter, who had been pained and pitying spectators +of the scene, also advanced for the same purpose; but, on perceiving +their object anticipated by their superiors, they withdrew to the +blocks-houses, whence they had issued. Never was grief more forcibly +depicted, than in the whole appearance of this unfortunate woman; never +did anguish assume a character more fitted to touch the soul, or to +command respect. Her long fair hair, that had hitherto been hid under +the coarse mob-cap, usually worn by the wives of the soldiers, was now +divested of all fastening, and lay shadowing a white and polished +bosom, which, in her violent struggles to detain the governor, had +burst from its rude but modest confinement, and was now displayed in +all the dazzling delicacy of youth and sex. If the officers gazed for a +moment with excited look upon charms that had long been strangers to +their sight, and of an order they had little deemed to find in Ellen +Halloway, it was but the involuntary tribute rendered by nature unto +beauty. The depth and sacredness of that sorrow, which had left the +wretched woman unconscious of her exposure, in the instant afterwards +imposed a check upon admiration, which each felt to be a violation of +the first principles of human delicacy, and the feeling was repressed +almost in the moment that gave it birth. +</P> + +<P> +They were immediately in front of the room occupied by Charles de +Haldimar, in the piazza of which were a few old chairs, on which the +officers were in the habit of throwing themselves during the heat of +the day. On one of these Captain Blessington, assisted by the officer +of grenadiers, now seated the suffering and sobbing wife of Halloway. +His first care was to repair the disorder of her dress; and never was +the same office performed by man with greater delicacy, or absence of +levity by those who witnessed it. This was the first moment of her +consciousness. The inviolability of modesty for a moment rose paramount +even to the desolation of her heart, and putting rudely aside the hand +that reposed unavoidably upon her person, the poor woman started from +her seat, and looked wildly about her, as if endeavouring to identify +those by whom she was surrounded. But when she observed the pitying +gaze of the officers fixed upon her, in earnestness and commiseration, +and heard the benevolent accents of the ever kind Blessington exhorting +her to composure, her weeping became more violent, and her sobs more +convulsive. Captain Blessington threw an arm round her waist to prevent +her from falling; and then motioning to two or three women of the +company to which her husband was attached, who stood at a little +distance, in front of one of the block-houses, prepared to deliver her +over to their charge. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, not yet!" burst at length from the lips of the agonised woman, +as she shrank from the rude but well-intentioned touch of the +sympathising assistants, who had promptly answered the signal; then, as +if obeying some new direction of her feelings, some new impulse of her +grief, she liberated herself from the slight grasp of Captain +Blessington, turned suddenly round, and, before any one could +anticipate the movement, entered an opening on the piazza, raised the +latch of a door situated at its extremity, and was, in the next +instant, in the apartment of the younger De Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +The scene that met the eyes of the officers, who now followed close +after her, was one well calculated to make an impression on the hearts +even of the most insensible. In the despair and recklessness of her +extreme sorrow, the young wife of Halloway had already thrown herself +upon her knees at the bedside of the sick officer; and, with her hands +upraised and firmly clasped together, was now supplicating him in +tones, contrasting singularly in their gentleness with the depth of the +sorrow that had rendered her thus regardless of appearances, and +insensible to observation. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mr. de Haldimar!" she implored, "in the name of God and of our +blessed Saviour, if you would save me from madness, intercede for my +unhappy husband, and preserve him from the horrid fate that awaits him. +You are too good, too gentle, too amiable, to reject the prayer of a +heart-broken woman. Moreover, Mr. de Haldimar," she proceeded, with +deeper energy, while she caught and pressed, between her own white and +bloodless hands, one nearly as delicate that lay extended near her, +"consider all my dear but unfortunate husband has done for your family. +Think of the blood he once spilt in the defence of your brother's life; +that brother, through whom alone, oh God! he is now condemned to die. +Call to mind the days and nights of anguish I passed near his couch of +suffering, when yet writhing beneath the wound aimed at the life of +Captain de Haldimar. Almighty Providence!" she pursued, in the same +impassioned yet plaintive voice, "why is not Miss Clara here to plead +the cause of the innocent, and to touch the stubborn heart of her +merciless father? She would, indeed, move heaven and earth to save the +life of him to whom she so often vowed eternal gratitude and +acknowledgment. Ah, she little dreams of his danger now; or, if prayer +and intercession could avail, my husband should yet live, and this +terrible struggle at my heart would be no more." +</P> + +<P> +Overcome by her emotion, the unfortunate woman suffered her aching head +to droop upon the edge of the bed, and her sobbing became so painfully +violent, that all who heard her expected, at every moment, some fatal +termination to her immoderate grief. Charles de Haldimar was little +less affected; and his sorrow was the more bitter, as he had just +proved the utter inefficacy of any thing in the shape of appeal to his +inflexible father. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Halloway, my dear Mrs. Halloway, compose yourself," said Captain +Blessington, now approaching, and endeavouring to raise her gently from +the floor, on which she still knelt, while her hands even more firmly +grasped that of De Haldimar. "You are ill, very ill, and the +consequences of this dreadful excitement may be fatal. Be advised by +me, and retire. I have desired my room to be prepared for you, and +Sergeant Wilmot's wife shall remain with you as long as you may require +it." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, no!" she again exclaimed with energy; "what care I for my own +wretched life—my beloved and unhappy husband is to die. Oh God! to die +without guilt—to be cut off in his youth—to be shot as a traitor—and +that simply for obeying the wishes of the officer whom he loved!—the +son of the man who now spurns all supplication from his presence. It is +inhuman—it is unjust—and Heaven will punish the hard-hearted man who +murders him—yes, murders him! for such a punishment for such an +offence is nothing less than murder." Again she wept bitterly, and as +Captain Blessington still essayed to soothe and raise her:—"No, no! I +will not leave this spot," she continued; "I will not quit the side of +Mr. de Haldimar, until he pledges himself to intercede for my poor +husband. It is his duty to save the life of him who saved his brother's +life; and God and human justice are with my appeal. Oh, tell me, then, +Mr. de Haldimar,—if you would save my wretched heart from +breaking,—tell me you will intercede for, and obtain the pardon of, my +husband!" +</P> + +<P> +As she concluded this last sentence in passionate appeal, she had risen +from her knees; and, conscious only of the importance of the boon +solicited, now threw herself upon the breast of the highly pained and +agitated young officer. Her long and beautiful hair fell floating over +his face, and mingled with his own, while her arms were wildly clasped +around him, in all the energy of frantic and hopeless adjuration. +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty God!" exclaimed the agitated young man, as he made a feeble +and fruitless effort to raise the form of the unhappy woman; "what +shall I say to impart comfort to this suffering being? Oh, Mrs. +Halloway," he pursued, "I would willingly give all I possess in this +world to be the means of saving your unfortunate husband,—and as much +for his own sake as for yours would I do this; but, alas! I have not +the power. Do not think I speak without conviction. My father has just +been with me, and I have pleaded the cause of your husband with an +earnestness I should scarcely have used had my own life been at stake. +But all my entreaties have been in vain. He is obstinate in the belief +my brother's strange absence, and Donellan's death, are attributable +only to the treason of Halloway. Still there is a hope. A detachment is +to leave the fort within the hour, and Halloway is to accompany them. +It may be, my father intends this measure only with a view to terrify +him into a confession of guilt; and that he deems it politic to make +him undergo all the fearful preliminaries without carrying the sentence +itself into effect." +</P> + +<P> +The unfortunate woman said no more. When she raised her heaving chest +from that of the young officer, her eyes, though red and shrunk to half +their usual size with weeping, were tearless; but on her countenance +there was an expression of wild woe, infinitely more distressing to +behold, in consequence of the almost unnatural check so suddenly +imposed upon her feelings. She tottered, rather than walked, through +the group of officers, who gave way on either hand to let her pass; and +rejecting all assistance from the women who had followed into the room, +and who now, in obedience to another signal from Captain Blessington, +hastened to her support, finally gained the door, and quitted the +apartment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0109"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<P> +The sun was high in the meridian, as the second detachment, commanded +by Colonel de Haldimar in person, issued from the fort of Detroit. It +was that soft and hazy season, peculiar to the bland and beautiful +autumns of Canada, when the golden light of Heaven seems as if +transmitted through a veil of tissue, and all of animate and inanimate +nature, expanding and fructifying beneath its fostering influence, +breathes the most delicious languor and voluptuous repose. It was one +of those still, calm, warm, and genial days, which in those regions +come under the vulgar designation of the Indian summer; a season that +is ever hailed by the Canadian with a satisfaction proportioned to the +extreme sultriness of the summer, and the equally oppressive rigour of +the winter, by which it is immediately preceded and followed. It is +then that Nature, who seems from the creation to have bestowed all of +grandeur and sublimity on the stupendous Americas, looks gladly and +complacently on her work; and, staying the course of parching suns and +desolating frosts, loves to luxuriate for a period in the broad and +teeming bosom of her gigantic offspring. It is then that the +forest-leaves, alike free from the influence of the howling hurricane +of summer, and the paralysing and unfathomable snows of winter, cleave, +tame and stirless in their varying tints, to the parent branch; while +the broad rivers and majestic lakes exhibit a surface resembling rather +the incrustation of the polished mirror than the resistless, viewless +particles of which the golden element is composed. It is then that, +casting its satisfied glance across those magnificent rivers, the eye +beholds, as if reflected from a mirror (so similar in production and +appearance are the contiguous shores), both the fertility of cultivated +and the rudeness of uncultivated nature, that every where surround and +diversify the view. The tall and sloping banks, covered with verdure to +the very sands, that unite with the waters lying motionless at their +base; the continuous chain of neat farm-houses (we speak principally of +Detroit and its opposite shores); the luxuriant and bending orchards, +teeming with fruits of every kind and of every colour; the ripe and +yellow corn vying in hue with the soft atmosphere, which reflects and +gives full effect to its abundance and its richness,—these, with the +intervening waters unruffled, save by the lazy skiff, or the light bark +canoe urged with the rapidity of thought along its surface by the +slight and elegantly ornamented paddle of the Indian; or by the sudden +leaping of the large salmon, the unwieldy sturgeon, the bearded +cat-fish, or the delicately flavoured maskinonge, and fifty other +tenants of their bosom;—all these contribute to form the foreground of +a picture bounded in perspective by no less interesting, though perhaps +ruder marks of the magnificence of that great architect—Nature, on +which the eye never lingers without calm; while feelings, at once +voluptuous and tender, creep insensibly over the heart, and raise the +mind in adoration to the one great and sole Cause by which the +stupendous whole has been produced. +</P> + +<P> +Such a day as that we have just described was the —— of September, +1763, when the chief portion of the English garrison of Detroit issued +forth from the fortifications in which they had so long been cooped up, +and in the presumed execution of a duty undeniably the most trying and +painful that ever fell to the lot of soldier to perform. The heavy dull +movement of the guns, as they traversed the drawbridge resembled in +that confined atmosphere the rumbling of low and distant thunder; and +as they shook the rude and hollow sounding planks, over which they were +slowly dragged, called up to every heart the sad recollection of the +service for which they had been required. Even the tramp of the men, as +they moved heavily and measuredly across the yielding bridge, seemed to +wear the character of the reluctance with which they proceeded on so +hateful a duty; and more than one individual, as he momentarily turned +his eye upon the ramparts, where many of his comrades were grouped +together watching the departure of the detachment, testified by the +significant and mournful movement of his head how much he envied their +exemption from the task. +</P> + +<P> +The direct military road runs in a straight line from the fort to the +banks of the Detroit, and the eastern extremity of the town. Here it is +intersected by the highway running parallel with the river, and +branching off at right angles on either hand; the right, leading in the +direction of the more populous states; the left, through the town, and +thence towards the more remote and western parts, where European +influence has yet been but partially extended. The only difference +between its present and former character is, that what is now a +flourishing commercial town was then a mere village; while the adjacent +country, at present teeming with every mark of vegetation, bore no +other evidence of fertility than what was afforded by a few scattered +farm-houses, many of which skirted various parts of the forest. Along +this road the detachment now wended its slow and solemn course, and +with a mournful pageantry of preparation that gave fearful earnest of +the tragedy expected to be enacted. +</P> + +<P> +In front, and dragged by the hands of the gunners, moved two of the +three three-pounders, that had been ordered for the duty. Behind these +came Captain Blessington's company, and in their rear, the prisoner +Halloway, divested of his uniform, and clad in a white cotton jacket, +and cap of the same material. Six rank and file of the grenadiers +followed, under the command of a corporal, and behind these again, came +eight men of the same company; four of whom bore on their shoulders a +coffin, covered with a coarse black pall that had perhaps already +assisted at fifty interments; while the other four carried, in addition +to their own, the muskets of their burdened comrades. After these, +marched a solitary drummer-boy; whose tall bear-skin cap attested him +to be of the grenadiers also, while his muffled instrument marked the +duty for which he had been selected. Like his comrades, none of whom +exhibited their scarlet uniforms, he wore the collar of his great coat +closely buttoned beneath his chin, which was only partially visible +above the stiff leathern stock that encircled his neck. Although his +features were half buried in his huge cap and the high collar of his +coat, there was an air of delicacy about his person that seemed to +render him unsuited to such an office; and more than once was Captain +Erskine, who followed immediately behind him at the head of his +company, compelled to call sharply to the urchin, threatening him with +a week's drill unless he mended his feeble and unequal pace, and kept +from under the feet of his men. The remaining gun brought up the rear +of the detachment, who marched with fixed bayonets and two balls in +each musket; the whole presenting a front of sections, that completely +filled up the road along which they passed. Colonel de Haldimar, +Captain Wentworth, and the Adjutant Lawson followed in the extreme rear. +</P> + +<P> +An event so singular as that of the appearance of the English without +their fort, beset as they were by a host of fierce and dangerous +enemies, was not likely to pass unnoticed by a single individual in the +little village of Detroit. We have already observed, that most of the +colonist settlers had been cruelly massacred at the very onset of +hostilities. Not so, however, with the Canadians, who, from their +anterior relations with the natives, and the mutual and tacit good +understanding that subsisted between both parties, were suffered to +continue in quiet and unmolested possession of their homes, where they +preserved an avowed neutrality, never otherwise infringed than by the +assistance secretly and occasionally rendered to the English troops, +whose gold they were glad to receive in exchange for the necessaries of +life. +</P> + +<P> +Every dwelling of the infant town had commenced giving up its tenants, +from the moment when the head of the detachment was seen traversing the +drawbridge; so that, by the time it reached the highway, and took its +direction to the left, the whole population of Detroit were already +assembled in groups, and giving expression to their several +conjectures, with a vivacity of language and energy of gesticulation +that would not have disgraced the parent land itself. As the troops +drew nearer, however, they all sank at once into a silence, as much the +result of certain unacknowledged and undefined fears, as of the respect +the English had ever been accustomed to exact. The men removed their +short dingy clay pipes from their mouths with one hand, and uncovered +themselves with the other, while the women made their hasty reverence +with the air of people who seek to propitiate by an act of civility; +even the very children scraped and bowed, as if they feared the +omission might be fatal to them, and, clinging to the hands and dress +of their parents, looked up occasionally to their countenances to +discover whether the apprehensions of their own fluttering and timid +hearts were likely to be realised. Still there was sufficient of +curiosity with all to render them attentive spectators of the passing +troop. Hitherto, it had been imagined, the object of the English was an +attack on the encampments of their enemies; but when the gaze of each +adult inhabitant fell on the unaccoutred form of the lone soldier, who, +calm though pale, now moved among his comrades in the ignominious garb +of death, they could no longer doubt its true destination. +</P> + +<P> +The aged made the sign of the cross, and mumbled over a short prayer +for the repose of his soul, while the more youthful indulged in +half-breathed ejaculations of pity and concern that so fine and +interesting a man should be doomed to so dreadful a fate. +</P> + +<P> +At the farther extremity of the town, and at a bend in the road, which +branched off more immediately towards the river, stood a small public +house, whose creaking sign bore three ill executed fleurs-de-lis, +apologetic emblems of the arms of France. The building itself was +little more than a rude log hut, along the front of which ran a plank, +supported by two stumps of trees, and serving as a temporary +accommodation both for the traveller and the inmate. On this bench +three persons, apparently attracted by the beauty of the day and the +mildness of the autumnal sun, were now seated, two of whom were +leisurely puffing their pipes, while the third, a female, was employed +in carding wool, a quantity of which lay in a basket at her feet, while +she warbled, in a low tone, one of the simple airs of her native land. +The elder of the two men, whose age might be about fifty, offered +nothing particularly remarkable in his appearance: he was dressed in +one of those thick coats made of the common white blanket, which, even +to this day, are so generally worn by the Canadians, while his hair, +cut square upon the forehead, and tied into a club of nearly a foot +long, fell into the cape, or hood, attached to it: his face was ruddy +and shining as that of any rival Boniface among the race of the +hereditary enemies of his forefathers; and his thick short neck, and +round fat person, attested he was no more an enemy to the good things +of this world than themselves, while he was as little oppressed by its +cares: his nether garments were of a coarse blue homespun, and his feet +were protected by that rudest of all rude coverings, the Canadian +shoe-pack. This was composed of a single piece of stiff brown leather, +curved and puckered round the sides and front, where it was met by a +tongue of softer material, which helped to confine it in that position, +and to form the shoe. A bandana handkerchief fell from his neck upon +his chest; the covering of which was so imperfectly drawn, as to +disclose a quantity of long, coarse, black, and grisly hair. +</P> + +<P> +His companion was habited in a still more extraordinary manner. His +lower limbs were cased, up to the mid-thigh, in leathern leggings, the +seam of which was on the outside, leaving a margin, or border, of about +an inch wide, which had been slit into innumerable small fringes, +giving them an air of elegance and lightness: a garter of leather, +curiously wrought, with the stained quills of the porcupine, encircled +each leg, immediately under the knee, where it was tied in a bow, and +then suffered to hang pendant half way down the limb; to the fringes of +the leggings, moreover, were attached numerous dark-coloured horny +substances, emitting, as they rattled against each other, at the +slightest movement of the wearer, a tinkling sound, resembling that +produced by a number of small thin delicate brass bells; these were the +tender hoofs of the wild deer, dried, scraped, and otherwise prepared +for this ornamental purpose. Upon his large feet he wore mocassins, +made of the same pliant material with his leggings, and differing in +shape from the foot-gear of his companion in this particular only, that +they had no tongue introduced into the front: they were puckered +together by a strong sinew of the deer, until they met along the instep +in a seam concealed by the same ornamental quill-work that decorated +the garters: a sort of flap, fringed like the leggings, was folded back +from the ankle, upon the sides of the foot, and the whole was confined +by a strong though neat leathern thong, made of smoked deer-skin also, +which, after passing once or twice under the foot, was then tightly +drawn several times round the ankle, where it was finally secured. Two +strips of leather, about an inch and a half in width, attached to the +outer side of each legging, were made fast at their opposite +extremities to a strong girdle, encircling the loins, and supporting a +piece of coarse blue cloth, which, after passing completely under the +body, fell in short flaps both before and behind. The remainder of the +dress consisted of a cotton shirt, figured and sprigged on a dark +ground, that fell unconfined over the person; a close deer-skin +hunting-coat, fringed also at its edges; and a coarse common felt hat, +in the string of which (for there was no band) were twisted a number of +variegated feathers, furnished by the most beautiful and rare of the +American autumnal birds. Outside this hunting-coat, and across the +right shoulder, was flung an ornamented belt, to which were appended, +on the left side, and in a line with the elbow, a shot-pouch, made of +the untanned hide of some wild animal, and a flask for powder, formed +of the horn of the buffalo; on which, highly polished for this purpose, +were inscribed, with singular accuracy of proportion, a variety of +figures, both of men, and birds, and beasts, and fishes; two or three +small horn measures for powder, and a long thin wire, intended to serve +as a pricker for the rifle that reclined against the outside of the +hut, were also attached to this belt by strips of deer-skin of about +six inches in length. Into another broad leathern belt, that confined +the hunting coat, was thrust a tomahawk, the glittering head of which +was uppermost, and unsheathed: while at the opposite side, and half +supporting the powder-horn, the huge handle of a knife, whose blade was +buried in a strong leathern sheath, was distinctly visible. +</P> + +<P> +The form and face of this individual were in perfect keeping with the +style of his costume, and the formidable character of his equipment. +His stature was considerably beyond that of the ordinary race of men, +and his athletic and muscular limbs united the extremes of strength and +activity in a singular degree. His features, marked and prominent, wore +a cast of habitual thought, strangely tinctured with ferocity; and the +general expression of his otherwise not unhandsome countenance was +repellent and disdainful. At the first glance he might have been taken +for one of the swarthy natives of the soil; but though time and +constant exposure to scorching suns had given to his complexion a dusky +hue, still there were wanting the quick, black, penetrating eye; the +high cheek-bone; the straight, coarse, shining, black hair; the small +bony hand and foot; and the placidly proud and serious air, by which +the former is distinguished. His own eye was of a deep bluish grey; his +hair short, dark, and wavy; his hands large and muscular; and so far +from exhibiting any of the self-command of the Indian, the constant +play of his features betrayed each passing thought with the same +rapidity with which it was conceived. But if any doubt could have +existed in the mind of him who beheld this strangely accoutred figure, +it would have been instantly dispelled by a glance at his lower limbs. +We have already stated the upper part of his leggings terminated about +mid-thigh; from this to the hip, that portion of the limb was +completely bare, and disclosed, at each movement of the garment that +was suffered to fall loosely over it, not the swarthy and +copper-coloured flesh of the Indian, but the pale though sun-burnt skin +of one of a more temperate clime. His age might be about forty-five. +</P> + +<P> +At the moment when the English detachment approached the bend in the +road, these two individuals were conversing earnestly together, pausing +only to puff at intervals thick and wreathing volumes of smoke from +their pipes, which were filled with a mixture of tobacco and +odoriferous herbs. Presently, however, sounds that appeared familiar to +his ear arrested the attention of the wildly accoutred being we have +last described. It was the heavy roll of the artillery carriages +already advancing along the road, and somewhat in the rear of the hut. +To dash his pipe to the ground, seize and cock and raise his rifle to +his shoulder, and throw himself forward in the eager attitude of one +waiting until the object of his aim should appear in sight, was but the +work of a moment. Startled by the suddenness of the action, his male +companion moved a few paces also from his seat, to discover the cause +of this singular movement. The female, on the contrary, stirred not, +but ceasing for a moment the occupation in which she had been engaged, +fixed her dark and brilliant eyes upon the tall and picturesque form of +the rifleman, whose active and athletic limbs, thrown into powerful +relief by the distention of each nerve and muscle, appeared to engross +her whole admiration and interest, without any reference to the cause +that had produced this abrupt and hostile change in his movements. It +was evident that, unlike the other inhabitants of the town, this group +had been taken by surprise, and were utterly unprepared to expect any +thing in the shape of interruption. +</P> + +<P> +For upwards of a minute, during which the march of the men became +audible even to the ears of the female, the formidable warrior, for +such his garb denoted him to be, continued motionless in the attitude +he had at first assumed—his right cheek reposing on the ornamented +stock of his rifle, and his quick and steady eye fixed in one +undeviating line with the sight near the breech, and that which +surmounted the extreme end of the deadly weapon. No sooner, however, +had the head of the advancing column come within sight, than the +trigger was pulled, and the small and ragged bullet sped hissing from +the grooved and delicate barrel. A triumphant cry was next pealed from +the lips of the warrior,—a cry produced by the quickly repeated +application and removal of one hand to and from the mouth, while the +other suffered the butt end of the now harmless weapon to fall loosely +upon the earth. He then slowly and deliberately withdrew within the +cover of the hut. +</P> + +<P> +This daring action, which had been viewed by the leading troops with +astonishment not unmingled with alarm, occasioned a temporary confusion +in the ranks, for all believed they had fallen into an ambuscade of the +Indians. A halt was instantly commanded by Captain Blessington, in +order to give time to the governor to come up from the rear, while he +proceeded with one of the leading sections to reconnoitre the front of +the hut. To his infinite surprise, however, he found neither enemy, nor +evidence that an enemy had been there. The only individuals visible +were the Canadian already alluded to, and the dark-eyed female. Both +were seated on the bench;—the one smoking his pipe with a well assumed +appearance of unconcern—the other carding her wool, but with a hand +that by a close observer might be seen to tremble in its office, and a +cheek that was paler considerably than at the moment when we first +placed her before the imagination of the reader. Both, however, started +with unaffected surprise on seeing Captain Blessington and his little +force turn the corner of the house from the main road; and certain +looks of recognition passed between all parties, that proved them to be +no strangers to each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, monsieur," said the Canadian, in a mingled dialect, neither French +nor English, but partaking in some degree of the idiom of both, while +he attempted an ease and freedom of manner that was too miserably +affected to pass current with the mild but observant officer whom he +addressed, "how much surprise I am, and glad to see you. It is a long +times since you came out of de fort. I hope de governeur and de officir +be all very well. I was tinking to go to-day to see if you want any +ting. I have got some nice rum of the Jamaique for Capitaine Erskine. +Will you please to try some?" While speaking, the voluble host of the +Fleur de lis had risen from his seat, laid aside his pipe, and now +stood with his hands thrust into the pockets of his blanket coat. +</P> + +<P> +"It is, indeed, a long time since we have been here, master Francois," +somewhat sarcastically and drily replied Captain Blessington; "and you +have not visited us quite so often latterly yourself, though well aware +we were in want of fresh provisions. I give you all due credit, +however, for your intention of coming to-day, but you see we have +anticipated you. Still this is not the point. Where is the Indian who +fired at us just now? and how is it we find you leagued with our +enemies?" +</P> + +<P> +"What, sir, is it you say?" asked the Canadian, holding up his hands +with feigned astonishment "Me league myself with de savage. Upon my +honour I did not see nobody fire, or I should tell you. I love de +English too well to do dem harms." +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, Francois, no nonsense. If I cannot make you confess, there +is one not far from me who will. You know Colonel de Haldimar too well +to imagine he will be trifled with in this manner: if he detects you in +a falsehood, he will certainly cause you to be hanged up at the first +tree. Take my advice, therefore, and say where you have secreted this +Indian; and recollect, if we fall into an ambuscade, your life will be +forfeited at the first shot we hear fired." +</P> + +<P> +At this moment the governor, followed by his adjutant, came rapidly up +to the spot. Captain Blessington communicated the ill success of his +queries, when the former cast on the terrified Canadian one of those +severe and searching looks which he so well knew how to assume. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the rascal who fired at us, sirrah? tell me instantly, or you +have not five minutes to live." +</P> + +<P> +The heart of mine host of the Fleur de lis quailed within him at this +formidable threat; and the usually ruddy hue of his countenance had now +given place to an ashy paleness. Still, as he had positively denied all +knowledge of the matter on which he was questioned, he appeared to feel +his safety lay in adhering to his original statement. Again, therefore, +he assured the governor, on his honour (laying his hand upon his heart +as he spoke), that what he had already stated was the fact. +</P> + +<P> +"Your honour—you pitiful trading scoundrel—how dare you talk to me of +your honour? Come, sir, confess at once where you have secreted this +fellow, or prepare to die." +</P> + +<P> +"If I may be so bold, your Honour," said one of Captain Blessington's +men, "the Frenchman lies. When the Ingian fired among us, this fellow +was peeping under his shoulder and watching us also. If I had not seen +him too often at the fort to be mistaken in his person, I should have +known him, at all events, by his blanket coat and red handkerchief." +</P> + +<P> +This blunt statement of the soldier, confirmed as it was the instant +afterwards by one of his comrades, was damning proof against the +Canadian, even if the fact of the rifle being discharged from the front +of the hut had not already satisfied all parties of the falsehood of +his assertion. +</P> + +<P> +"Come forward, a couple of files, and seize this villain," resumed the +governor with his wonted sternness of manner. "Mr. Lawson, see if his +hut does not afford a rope strong enough to hang the traitor from one +of his own apple trees." +</P> + +<P> +Both parties proceeded at the same moment to execute the two distinct +orders of their chief. The Canadian was now firmly secured in the grasp +of the two men who had given evidence against him, when, seeing all the +horror of the summary and dreadful fate that awaited him, he confessed +the individual who had fired had been sitting with him the instant +previously, but that he knew no more of him than of any other savage +occasionally calling at the Fleur de lis. He added, that on discharging +the rifle he had bounded across the palings of the orchard, and fled in +the direction of the forest. He denied, on interrogation, all knowledge +or belief of an enemy waiting in ambush; stating, moreover, even the +individual in question had not been aware of the sortie of the +detachment until apprised of their near approach by the heavy sound of +the gun-carriages. +</P> + +<P> +"Here are undeniable proofs of the man's villany, sir," said the +adjutant, returning from the hut and exhibiting objects of new and +fearful interest to the governor. "This hat and rope I found secreted +in one of the bed-rooms of the auberge. The first is evidently +Donellan's; and from the hook attached to the latter, I apprehend it to +be the same stated to have been used by Captain de Haldimar in crossing +the ditch." +</P> + +<P> +The governor took the hat and rope from the hands of his subordinate, +examined them attentively, and after a few moments of deep musing, +during which his countenance underwent several rapid though scarcely +perceptible changes, turned suddenly and eagerly to the soldier who had +first convicted the Canadian in his falsehood, and demanded if he had +seen enough of the man who had fired to be able to give even a general +description of his person. +</P> + +<P> +"Why yes, your Honour, I think I can; for the fellow stood long enough +after firing his piece, for a painter to have taken him off from head +to foot. He was a taller and larger man by far than our biggest +grenadier, and that is poor Harry Donellan, as your Honour knows. But +as for his dress, though I could see it all, I scarcely can tell how to +describe it. All I know is, he was covered with smoked deer-skin, in +some such fashion as the great chief Ponteac, only, instead of having +his head bare and shaved, he wore a strange outlandish sort of a hat, +covered over with wild birds' feathers in front." +</P> + +<P> +"Enough," interrupted the governor, motioning the man to silence; then, +in an undertone to himself,—"By Heaven, the very same." A shade of +disappointment, not unmingled with suppressed alarm, passed rapidly +across his brow; it was but momentary. "Captain Blessington," he +ordered quickly and impatiently, "search the hut and grounds for this +lurking Indian, who is, no doubt, secreted in the neighbourhood. Quick, +quick, sir; there is no time to be lost." Then in an angry and +intimidating tone to the Canadian, who had already dropped on his +knees, supplicating mercy, and vociferating his innocence in the same +breath,—"So, you infernal scoundrel, this is the manner in which you +have repaid our confidence. Where is my son, sir? or have you already +murdered him, as you did his servant? Tell me, you villain, what have +you to say to these proofs of your treachery? But stay, I shall take +another and fitter opportunity to question you. Mr. Lawson, secure this +traitor properly, and let him be conveyed to the centre of the +detachment." +</P> + +<P> +The mandate was promptly obeyed; and, in despite of his own unceasing +prayers and protestations of innocence, and the tears and entreaties of +his dark-eyed daughter Babette, who had thrown herself on her knees at +his side, the stout arms of mine host of the Fleur de lis were soon +firmly secured behind his back with the strong rope that had been found +under such suspicious circumstances in his possession. Before he was +marched off, however, two of the men who had been sent in pursuit, +returned from the orchard, stating that further search was now +fruitless. They had penetrated through a small thicket at the extremity +of the grounds, and had distinctly seen a man answering the description +given by their comrades, in full flight towards the forest skirting the +heights in front. +</P> + +<P> +The governor was evidently far from being satisfied with the result of +a search too late instituted to leave even a prospect of success. +"Where are the Indians principally encamped, sirrah?" he sternly +demanded of his captive; "answer me truly, or I will carry off this +wench as well, and if a single hair of a man of mine be even singed by +a shot from a skulking enemy, you may expect to see her bayoneted +before your eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my God! Monsieur le Gouverneur," exclaimed the affrighted +aubergiste, "as I am an honest man, I shall tell de truth, but spare my +child. They are all in de forest, and half a mile from de little river +dat runs between dis and de Pork Island." +</P> + +<P> +"Hog Island, I suppose you mean." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes sir, de Hog Island is de one I means." +</P> + +<P> +"Conduct him to the centre, and let him be confronted with the +prisoner," directed the governor, addressing his adjutant; "Captain +Blessington, your men may resume their stations in the ranks." +</P> + +<P> +The order was obeyed; and notwithstanding the tears and supplications +of the now highly excited Babette, who flung herself upon his neck, and +was only removed by force, the terrified Canadian was borne off from +his premises by the troops. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0110"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<P> +While this scene was enacting in front of the Fleur de lis, one of a +far more touching and painful nature was passing in the very heart of +the detachment itself. At the moment when the halt was ordered by +Captain Blessington, a rumour ran through the ranks that they had +reached the spot destined for the execution of their ill-fated comrade. +Those only in the immediate front were aware of the true cause; but +although the report of the rifle had been distinctly heard by all, it +had been attributed by those in the rear to the accidental discharge of +one of their own muskets. A low murmur, expressive of the opinion +generally entertained, passed gradually from rear to front, until it at +length reached the ears of the delicate drummer boy who marched behind +the coffin. His face was still buried in the collar of his coat; and +what was left uncovered of his features by the cap, was in some degree +hidden by the forward drooping of his head upon his chest. Hitherto he +had moved almost mechanically along, tottering and embarrassing himself +at every step under the cumbrous drum that was suspended from a belt +round his neck over the left thigh; but now there was a certain +indescribable drawing up of the frame, and tension of the whole person, +denoting a concentration of all the moral and physical energies,—a +sudden working up, as it were, of the intellectual and corporeal being +to some determined and momentous purpose. +</P> + +<P> +At the first halt of the detachment, the weary supporters of the coffin +had deposited their rude and sombre burden upon the earth, preparatory +to its being resumed by those appointed to relieve them. The dull sound +emitted by the hollow fabric, as it touched the ground, caught the ear +of him for whom it was destined, and he turned to gaze upon the sad and +lonely tenement so shortly to become his final resting place. There was +an air of calm composure and dignified sorrow upon his brow, that +infused respect into the hearts of all who beheld him; and even the men +selected to do the duty of executioners sought to evade his glance, as +his steady eye wandered from right to left of the fatal rank. His +attention, however, was principally directed towards the coffin, which +lay before him; on this he gazed fixedly for upwards of a minute. He +then turned his eyes in the direction of the fort, shuddered, heaved a +profound sigh, and looking up to heaven with the apparent fervour that +became his situation, seemed to pray for a moment or two inwardly and +devoutly. The thick and almost suffocating breathing of one immediately +beyond the coffin, was now distinctly heard by all. Halloway started +from his attitude of devotion, gazed earnestly on the form whence it +proceeded, and then wildly extending his arms, suffered a smile of +satisfaction to illumine his pale features. All eyes were now turned +upon the drummer boy, who, evidently labouring under convulsive +excitement of feeling, suddenly dashed his cap and instrument to the +earth, and flew as fast as his tottering and uncertain steps would +admit across the coffin, and into the arms extended to receive him. +</P> + +<P> +"My Ellen! oh, my own devoted, but too unhappy Ellen!" passionately +exclaimed the soldier, as he clasped the slight and agitated form of +his disguised wife to his throbbing heart. "This, this, indeed, is joy +even in death. I thought I could have died more happily without you, +but nature tugs powerfully at my heart; and to see you once more, to +feel you once more HERE" (and he pressed her wildly to his chest) "is +indeed a bliss that robs my approaching fate of half its terror." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh Reginald! my dearly beloved Reginald! my murdered husband!" +shrieked the unhappy woman; "your Ellen will not survive you. Her heart +is already broken, though she cannot weep; but the same grave shall +contain us both. Reginald, do you believe me? I swear it; the same +grave shall contain us both." +</P> + +<P> +Exhausted with the fatigue and excitement she had undergone, the +faithful and affectionate creature now lay, without sense or motion, in +the arms of her wretched husband. Halloway bore her, unopposed, a pace +or two in advance, and deposited her unconscious form on the fatal +coffin. +</P> + +<P> +No language of ours can render justice to the trying character of the +scene. All who witnessed it were painfully affected, and over the +bronzed cheek of many a veteran coursed a tear, that, like that of +Sterne's recording angel, might have blotted out a catalogue of sins. +Although each was prepared to expect a reprimand from the governor, for +suffering the prisoner to quit his station in the ranks, humanity and +nature pleaded too powerfully in his behalf, and neither officer nor +man attempted to interfere, unless with a view to render assistance. +Captain Erskine, in particular, was deeply pained, and would have given +any thing to recall the harsh language he had used towards the supposed +idle and inattentive drummer boy. Taking from a pocket in his uniform a +small flask of brandy, which he had provided against casualties, the +compassionating officer slightly raised the head of the pale and +unconscious woman with one hand, while with the other he introduced a +few drops between her parted lips. Halloway knelt at the opposite side +of the coffin; one hand searching, but in vain, the suspended pulse of +his inanimate wife; the other, unbuttoning the breast of the drum-boy's +jacket, which, with every other part of the equipment, she wore beneath +the loose great coat so effectually accomplishing her disguise. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the position of the chief actors in this truly distressing +drama, at the moment when Colonel de Haldimar came up with his new +prisoner, to mark what effect would be produced on Halloway by his +unexpected appearance. His own surprise and disappointment may be +easily conceived, when, in the form of the recumbent being who seemed +to engross universal attention, he recognised, by the fair and +streaming hair, and half exposed bosom, the unfortunate being whom, +only two hours previously, he had spurned from his feet in the costume +of her own sex, and reduced, by the violence of her grief, to almost +infantine debility. Question succeeded question to those around, but +without eliciting any clue to the means by which this mysterious +disguise had been effected. No one had been aware, until the truth was +so singularly and suddenly revealed, the supposed drummer was any other +than one of the lads attached to the grenadiers; and as for the other +facts, they spoke too plainly to the comprehension of the governor to +need explanation. Once more, however, the detachment was called to +order. Halloway struck his hand violently upon his brow, kissed the wan +lips of his still unconscious wife, breathing, as he did so, a half +murmured hope she might indeed be the corpse she appeared. He then +raised himself from the earth with a light and elastic vet firm +movement, and resumed the place he had previously occupied, where, to +his surprise, he beheld a second victim bound, and, apparently, devoted +to the same death. When the eyes of the two unhappy men met, the +governor closely watched the expression of the countenance of each; but +although the Canadian started on beholding the soldier, it might be +merely because he saw the latter arrayed in the garb of death, and +followed by the most unequivocal demonstrations of a doom to which he +himself was, in all probability, devoted. As for Halloway, his look +betrayed neither consciousness nor recognition; and though too proud to +express complaint or to give vent to the feelings of his heart, his +whole soul appeared to be absorbed in the unhappy partner of his +luckless destiny. Presently he saw her borne, and in the same state of +insensibility, in the arms of Captain Erskine and Lieutenant Leslie, +towards the hut of his fellow prisoner, and he heard the former officer +enjoin the weeping girl, Babette, to whose charge they delivered her +over, to pay every attention to her her situation might require. The +detachment then proceeded. +</P> + +<P> +The narrow but deep and rapid river alluded to by the Canadian, as +running midway between the town and Hog Island, derived its source far +within the forest, and formed the bed of one of those wild, dark, and +thickly wooded ravines so common in America. As it neared the Detroit, +however, the abruptness of its banks was so considerably lessened, as +to render the approach to it on the town side over an almost +imperceptible slope. Within a few yards of its mouth, as we have +already observed in our introductory chapter, a rude but strong wooden +bridge, over which lay the high road, had been constructed by the +French; and from the centre of this, all the circuit of intermediate +clearing, even to the very skirt of the forest, was distinctly +commanded by the naked eye. To the right, on approaching it from the +town, lay the adjacent shores of Canada, washed by the broad waters of +the Detroit, on which it was thrown into strong relief, and which, at +the distance of about a mile in front, was seen to diverge into two +distinct channels, pursuing each a separate course, until they again +met at the western extremity of Hog Island. On the left, and in the +front, rose a succession of slightly undulating hills, which, at a +distance of little more than half a mile, terminated in an elevation +considerably above the immediate level of the Detroit side of the +ravine. That, again, was crowned with thick and overhanging forest, +taking its circular sweep, as we have elsewhere shown, around the fort. +The intermediate ground was studded over with rude stumps of trees, and +bore, in various directions, distinct proofs of the spoliation wrought +among the infant possessions of the murdered English settlers. The view +to the rear was less open; the town being partially hidden by the +fruit-laden orchards that lined the intervening high road, and hung +principally on its left. This was not the case with the fort. Between +these orchards and the distant forest lay a line of open country, fully +commanded by its cannon, even to the ravine we have described, and in a +sweep that embraced every thing from the bridge itself to the forest, +in which all traces of its source was lost. +</P> + +<P> +When the detachment had arrived within twenty yards of the bridge, they +were made to file off to the left, until the last gun had come up. They +were then fronted; the rear section of Captain Erskine's company +resting on the road, and the left flank, covered by the two first guns +pointed obliquely, both in front and rear, to guard against surprise, +in the event of any of the Indians stealing round to the cover of the +orchards. The route by which they had approached this spot was upwards +of two miles in extent; but, as they now filed off into the open +ground, the leading sections observed, in a direct line over the +cleared country, and at the distance of little more than three quarters +of a mile, the dark ramparts of the fortress that contained their +comrades, and could even distinguish the uniforms of the officers and +men drawn up in line along the works, where they were evidently +assembled to witness the execution of the sentence on Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +Such a sight as that of the English so far from their fort, was not +likely to escape the notice of the Indians. Their encampment, as the +Canadian had truly stated, lay within the forest, and beyond the +elevated ground already alluded to; and to have crossed the ravine, or +ventured out of reach of the cannon of the fort, would have been to +have sealed the destruction of the detachment. But the officer to whom +their security was entrusted, although he had his own particular views +for venturing thus far, knew also at what point to stop; and such was +the confidence of his men in his skill and prudence, they would have +fearlessly followed wherever he might have chosen to lead. Still, even +amid all the solemnity of preparation attendant on the duty they were +out to perform, there was a natural and secret apprehensiveness about +each, that caused him to cast his eyes frequently and fixedly on that +part of the forest which was known to afford cover to their merciless +foes. At times they fancied they beheld the dark and flitting forms of +men gliding from tree to tree along the skirt of the wood; but when +they gazed again, nothing of the kind was to be seen, and the illusion +was at once ascribed to the heavy state of the atmosphere, and the +action of their own precautionary instincts. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the solemn tragedy of death was preparing in mournful +silence. On the centre of the bridge, and visible to those even within +the fort, was placed the coffin of Halloway, and at twelve paces in +front were drawn up the six rank and file on whom had devolved, by lot, +the cruel duty of the day. With calm and fearless eye the prisoner +surveyed the preparations for his approaching end; and whatever might +be the inward workings of his mind, there was not among the assembled +soldiery one individual whose countenance betrayed so little of sorrow +and emotion as his own. With a firm step, when summoned, he moved +towards the fatal coffin, dashing his cap to the earth as he advanced, +and baring his chest with the characteristic contempt of death of the +soldier. When he had reached the centre of the bridge, he turned facing +his comrades, and knelt upon the coffin. Captain Blessington, who, +permitted by the governor, had followed him with a sad heart and heavy +step, now drew a Prayer-book from his pocket, and read from it in a low +voice. He then closed the volume, listened to something the prisoner +earnestly communicated to him, received a small packet which he drew +from the bosom of his shirt, shook him long and cordially by the hand, +and then hastily resumed his post at the head of the detachment. +</P> + +<P> +The principal inhabitants of the village, led by curiosity, had +followed at a distance to witness the execution of the condemned +soldier: and above the heads of the line, and crowning the slope, were +collected groups of both sexes and of all ages, that gave a still more +imposing character to the scene. Every eye was now turned upon the +firing party, who only awaited the signal to execute their melancholy +office, when suddenly, in the direction of the forest, and upon the +extreme height, there burst the tremendous and deafening yells of +upwards of a thousand savages. For an instant Halloway was forgotten in +the instinctive sense of individual danger, and all gazed eagerly to +ascertain the movements of their enemy. Presently a man, naked to the +waist, his body and face besmeared with streaks of black and red paint, +and his whole attitude expressing despair and horror, was seen flying +down the height with a rapidity proportioned to the extreme peril in +which he stood. At about fifty paces in his rear followed a dozen +bounding, screaming Indians, armed with uplifted tomahawks, whose +anxiety in pursuit lent them a speed that even surpassed the efforts of +flight itself. It was evident the object of the pursued was to reach +the detachment, that of the pursuers to prevent him. The struggle was +maintained for a few moments with equality, but in the end the latter +were triumphant, and at each step the distance that separated them +became less. At the first alarm, the detachment, with the exception of +the firing party, who still occupied their ground, had been thrown into +square, and, with a gun planted in each angle, awaited the attack +momentarily expected. But although the heights were now alive with the +dusky forms of naked warriors, who, from the skirt of the forest, +watched the exertions of their fellows, the pursuit of the wretched +fugitive was confined to these alone. Foremost of the latter, and +distinguished by his violent exertions and fiendish cries, was the tall +and wildly attired warrior of the Fleur de lis. At every bound he took +he increased the space that divided him from his companions, and +lessened that which kept him from his panting and nearly exhausted +victim. Already were they descending the nearest of the undulating +hills, and both now became conspicuous objects to all around; but +principally the pursuer, whose gigantic frame and extraordinary speed +riveted every eye, even while the interest of all was excited for the +wretched fugitive alone. +</P> + +<P> +At that moment Halloway, who had been gazing on the scene with an +astonishment little inferior to that of his comrades, sprang suddenly +to his feet upon the coffin, and waving his hand in the direction of +the pursuing enemy, shouted aloud in a voice of mingled joy and +triumph,— +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! Almighty God, I thank thee! Here, here comes one who alone has the +power to snatch me from my impending doom." +</P> + +<P> +"By Heaven, the traitor confesses, and presumes to triumph in his +guilt," exclaimed the voice of one, who, while closely attending to +every movement of the Indians, was also vigilantly watching the effect +likely to be produced on the prisoner by this unexpected interruption. +"Corporal, do your duty." +</P> + +<P> +"Stay, stay—one moment stay!" implored Halloway with uplifted hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Do your duty, sir," fiercely repeated the governor. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh stop—for God's sake, stop! Another moment and he will be here, and +I—" +</P> + +<P> +He said no more—a dozen bullets penetrated his body—one passed +directly through his heart. He leaped several feet in the air, and then +fell heavily, a lifeless bleeding corpse, across the coffin. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the pursuit of the fugitive was continued, but by the warrior +of the Fleur de lis alone. Aware of their inefficiency to keep pace +with this singular being, his companions had relinquished the chace, +and now stood resting on the brow of the hill where the wretched +Halloway had first recognised his supposed deliverer, watching eagerly, +though within musket shot of the detachment, the result of a race on +which so much apparently depended. Neither party, however, attempted to +interfere with the other, for all eyes were now turned on the flying +man and his pursuer with an interest that denoted the extraordinary +efforts of the one to evade and the other to attain the accomplishment +of his object. Although the exertions of the former had been +stupendous, such was the eagerness and determination of the latter, +that at each step he gained perceptibly on his victim. The immediate +course taken was in a direct line for the ravine, which it evidently +was the object of the fugitive to clear at its nearest point. Already +had he approached within a few paces of its brink, and every eye was +fastened on the point where it was expected the doubtful leap would be +taken, when suddenly, as if despairing to accomplish it at a bound, he +turned to the left, and winding along its bank, renewed his efforts in +the direction of the bridge. This movement occasioned a change in the +position of the parties which was favourable to the pursued. Hitherto +they had been so immediately on a line with each other, it was +impossible for the detachment to bring a musket to bear upon the +warrior, without endangering him whose life they were anxious to +preserve. For a moment or two his body was fairly exposed, and a dozen +muskets were discharged at intervals from the square, but all without +success. Recovering his lost ground, he soon brought the pursued again +in a line between himself and the detachment, edging rapidly nearer to +him as he advanced, and uttering terrific yells, that were echoed back +from his companions on the brow of the hill. It was evident, however, +his object was the recapture, not the destruction, of the flying man, +for more than once did he brandish his menacing tomahawk in rapid +sweeps around his head, as if preparing to dart it, and as often did he +check the movement. The scene at each succeeding moment became more +critical and intensely interesting. The strength of the pursued was now +nearly exhausted, while that of his formidable enemy seemed to suffer +no diminution. Leap after leap he took with fearful superiority, +sideling as he advanced. Already had he closed upon his victim, while +with a springing effort a large and bony hand was extended to secure +his shoulder in his grasp. The effort was fatal to him; for in reaching +too far he lost his balance, and fell heavily upon the sward. A shout +of exultation burst from the English troops, and numerous voices now +encouraged the pursued to renew his exertions. The advice was not lost; +and although only a few seconds had elapsed between the fall and +recovery of his pursuer, the wretched fugitive had already greatly +increased the distance that separated them. A cry of savage rage and +disappointment burst from the lips of the gigantic warrior; and +concentrating all his remaining strength and speed into one final +effort, he bounded and leapt like a deer of the forest whence he came. +The opportunity for recapture, however, had been lost in his fall, for +already the pursued was within a few feet of the high road, and on the +point of turning the extremity of the bridge. One only resource was now +left: the warrior suddenly checked himself in his course, and remained +stationary; then raising and dropping his glittering weapon several +times in a balancing position, he waited until the pursued had gained +the highest point of the open bridge. At that moment the glittering +steel, aimed with singular accuracy and precision, ran whistling +through the air, and with such velocity of movement as to be almost +invisible to the eyes of those who attempted to follow it in its +threatening course. All expected to see it enter into the brain against +which it had been directed; but the fugitive had marked the movement in +time to save himself by stooping low to the earth, while the weapon, +passing over him, entered with a deadly and crashing sound into the +brain of the weltering corpse. This danger passed, he sprang once more +to his feet, nor paused again in his flight, until, faint and +exhausted, he sank without motion under the very bayonets of the firing +party. +</P> + +<P> +A new direction was now given to the interest of the assembled and +distinct crowds that had witnessed these startling incidents. Scarcely +had the wretched man gained the protection of the soldiery, when a +shriek divided the air, so wild, so piercing, and so unearthly, that +even the warrior of the Fleur de lis seemed to lose sight of his +victim, in the harrowing interest produced by that dreadful scream. All +turned their eyes for a moment in the quarter whence it proceeded; when +presently, from behind the groups of Canadians crowning the slope, was +seen flying, with the rapidity of thought, one who resembled rather a +spectre than a being of earth;—it was the wife of Halloway. Her long +fair hair was wild and streaming—her feet, and legs, and arms were +naked—and one solitary and scanty garment displayed rather than +concealed the symmetry of her delicate person. She flew to the fatal +bridge, threw herself on the body of her bleeding husband, and +imprinting her warm kisses on his bloody lips, for a moment or two +presented the image of one whose reason has fled for ever. Suddenly she +started from the earth; her face, her hands, and her garment so +saturated with the blood of her husband, that a feeling of horror crept +throughout the veins of all who beheld her. She stood upon the coffin, +and across the corpse—raised her eyes and hands imploringly to +Heaven—and then, in accents wilder even than her words, uttered an +imprecation that sounded like the prophetic warning of some unholy +spirit. +</P> + +<P> +"Inhuman murderer!" she exclaimed, in tones that almost paralysed the +ears on which it fell, "if there be a God of justice and of truth, he +will avenge this devilish deed. Yes, Colonel de Haldimar, a prophetic +voice whispers to my soul, that even as I have seen perish before my +eyes all I loved on earth, without mercy and without hope, so even +shall you witness the destruction of your accursed race. +Here—here—here," and she pointed downwards, with singular energy of +action, to the corpse of her husband, "here shall their blood flow till +every vestige of his own is washed away; and oh, if there be spared one +branch of thy detested family, may it only be that they may be reserved +for some death too horrible to be conceived!" +</P> + +<P> +Overcome by the frantic energy with which she had uttered these +appalling words, she sank backwards, and fell, uttering another shriek, +into the arms of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. +</P> + +<P> +"Hear you this, Colonel de Haldimar?" shouted the latter in a fierce +and powerful voice, and in the purest English accent; "hear you the +curse and prophecy of this heart-broken woman? You have slain her +husband, but she has found another. Ay, she shall be my bride, if only +for her detestation of yourself. When next you see us here," he +thundered, "tremble for your race. Ha, ha, ha! no doubt this is another +victim of your cold and calculating guile; but it shall be the last. By +Heaven, my very heart leaps upward in anticipation of thy coming hour. +Woman, thy hatred to this man has made me love thee; yes, thou shall be +my bride, and with my plans of vengeance will I woo thee. By this kiss +I swear it." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, he bent his face over that of the pale and inanimate +woman, and pressed his lips to hers, yet red and moist with blood spots +from the wounds of her husband. Then wresting, with a violent effort, +his reeking tomahawk from the cranched brain of the unfortunate +soldier, and before any one could recover sufficiently from the effect +of the scene altogether to think even of interfering, he bore off his +prize in triumph, and fled, with nearly the same expedition he had +previously manifested, in the direction of the forest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="vol2"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WACOUSTA; +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + or +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PROPHECY. +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Volume Two of Three +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +John Richardson +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="50%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="17%"> +<A HREF="#chap0201">I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="17%"> +<A HREF="#chap0202">II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="17%"> +<A HREF="#chap0203">III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="17%"> +<A HREF="#chap0204">IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="17%"> +<A HREF="#chap0205">V</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="17%"> +<A HREF="#chap0206">VI</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0207">VII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0208">VIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0209">IX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0210">X</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0211">XI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0212">XII</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0201"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<P> +It was on the evening of that day, so fertile in melancholy incident, +to which our first volume has been devoted, that the drawbridge of +Detroit was, for the third time since the investment of the garrison, +lowered; not, as previously, with a disregard of the intimation that +might be given to those without by the sullen and echoing rattle of its +ponderous chains, but with a caution attesting how much secrecy of +purpose was sought to be preserved. There was, however, no array of +armed men within the walls, that denoted an expedition of a hostile +character. Overcome with the harassing duties of the day, the chief +portion of the troops had retired to rest, and a few groups of the +guard alone were to be seen walking up and down in front of their post, +apparently with a view to check the influence of midnight drowsiness, +but, in reality, to witness the result of certain preparations going on +by torchlight in the centre of the barrack square. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of an anxious group of officers, comprising nearly all of +that rank within the fort, stood two individuals, attired in a costume +having nothing in common with the gay and martial habiliments of the +former. They were tall, handsome young men, whose native elegance of +carriage was but imperfectly hidden under an equipment evidently +adopted for, and otherwise fully answering, the purpose of disguise. A +blue cotton shell jacket, closely fitting to the person, trowsers of +the same material, a pair of strong deer-skin mocassins, and a coloured +handkerchief tied loosely round the collar of a checked shirt, the +whole surmounted by one of those rough blanket coats, elsewhere +described, formed the principal portion of their garb. Each, moreover, +wore a false queue of about nine inches in length, the effect of which +was completely to change the character of the countenance, and lend to +the features a Canadian-like expression. A red worsted cap, resembling +a bonnet de nuit, was thrown carelessly over the side of the head, +which could, at any moment, when deeper disguise should be deemed +necessary, command the additional protection of the rude hood that fell +back upon the shoulders from the collar of the coat to which it was +attached. They were both well armed. Into a broad belt, that encircled +the jacket of each, were thrust a brace of pistols and a strong dagger; +the whole so disposed, however, as to be invisible when the outer +garment was closed: this, again, was confined by a rude sash of worsted +of different colours, not unlike, in texture and quality, what is worn +by our sergeants at the present day. They were otherwise armed, +however, and in a less secret manner. Across the right shoulder of each +was thrown a belt of worsted also, to which were attached a rude powder +horn and shot pouch, with a few straggling bullets, placed there as if +rather by accident than design. Each held carelessly in his left hand, +and with its butt resting on the earth, a long gun; completing an +appearance, the attainment of which had, in all probability, been +sedulously sought,—that of a Canadian duck-hunter. +</P> + +<P> +A metamorphosis so ludicrously operated in the usually elegant costume +of two young English officers,—for such they were,—might have been +expected to afford scope to the pleasantry of their companions, and to +call forth those sallies which the intimacy of friendship and the +freemasonry of the profession would have fully justified. But the +events that had occurred in such rapid succession, since the preceding +midnight, were still painfully impressed on the recollection of all, +and some there were who looked as if they never would smile again; +neither laugh nor jeering, therefore, escaped the lips of one of the +surrounding group. Every countenance wore a cast of thought,—a +character of abstraction, ill suited to the indulgence of levity; and +the little conversation that passed between them was in a low and +serious tone. It was evident some powerful and absorbing dread existed +in the mind of each, inducing him rather to indulge in communion with +his own thoughts and impressions, than to communicate them to others. +Even the governor himself had, for a moment, put off the dignity and +distance of his usually unapproachable nature, to assume an air of +unfeigned concern, and it might be dejection, contrasting strongly with +his habitual haughtiness. Hitherto he had been walking to and fro, a +little apart from the group, and with a hurriedness and indecision of +movement that betrayed to all the extreme agitation of his mind. For +once, however, he appeared to be insensible to observation, or, if not +insensible, indifferent to whatever comments might be formed or +expressed by those who witnessed his undissembled emotion. He was at +length interrupted by the adjutant, who communicated something in a low +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Let him be brought up, Mr. Lawson," was the reply. Then advancing into +the heart of the group, and addressing the two adventurers, he +enquired, in a tone that startled from its singular mildness, "if they +were provided with every thing they required." +</P> + +<P> +An affirmative reply was given, when the governor, taking the taller of +the young men aside, conversed with him earnestly, and in a tone of +affection strangely blended with despondency. The interview, however, +was short, for Mr. Lawson now made his appearance, conducting an +individual who has already been introduced to our readers. It was the +Canadian of the Fleur de lis. The adjutant placed a small wooden +crucifix in the hands of the governor. +</P> + +<P> +"Francois," said the latter, impressively, "you know the terms on which +I have consented to spare your life. Swear, then, by this cross; that +you will be faithful to your trust; that neither treachery nor evasion +shall be practised; and that you will, to the utmost of your power, aid +in conveying these gentlemen to their destination. Kneel and swear it." +</P> + +<P> +"I do swear it!" fervently repeated the aubergiste, kneeling and +imprinting his lips with becoming reverence on the symbol of martyrdom. +"I swear to do dat I shall engage, and may de bon Dieu have mercy to my +soul as I shall fulfil my oat." +</P> + +<P> +"Amen," pronounced the governor, "and may Heaven deal by you even as +you deal by us. Bear in mind, moreover, that as your treachery will be +punished, so also shall your fidelity be rewarded. But the night wears +apace, and ye have much to do." Then turning to the young officers who +were to be his companions,—"God bless you both; may your enterprise be +successful! I fear," offering his hand to the younger, "I have spoken +harshly to you, but at a moment like the present you will no longer +cherish a recollection of the unpleasant past." +</P> + +<P> +The only answer was a cordial return of his own pressure. The Canadian +in his turn now announced the necessity for instant departure, when the +young men, following his example, threw their long guns carelessly over +the left shoulder. Low, rapid, and fervent adieus were uttered on both +sides; and although the hands of the separating parties met only in a +short and hurried grasp, there was an expression in the touch of each +that spoke to their several hearts long after the separation had +actually taken place. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay one moment!" exclaimed a voice, as the little party now moved +towards the gateway; "ye are both gallantly enough provided without, +but have forgotten there is something quite as necessary to sustain the +inward man. Duck shooting, you know, is wet work. The last lips that +were moistened from this," he proceeded, as the younger of the +disguised men threw the strap of the proffered canteen over his +shoulder, "were those of poor Ellen Halloway." +</P> + +<P> +The mention of that name, so heedlessly pronounced by the brave but +inconsiderate Erskine, produced a startling effect on the taller of the +departing officers. He struck his brow violently with his hand, uttered +a faint groan, and bending his head upon his chest, stood in an +attitude expressive of the deep suffering of his mind. The governor, +too, appeared agitated; and sounds like those of suppressed sobs came +from one who lingered at the side of him who had accepted the offer of +the canteen. The remainder of the officers preserved a deep and +mournful silence. +</P> + +<P> +"It is times dat we should start," again observed the Canadian, "or we +shall be taken by de daylight before we can clear de river." +</P> + +<P> +This intimation once more aroused the slumbering energies of the taller +officer. Again he drew up his commanding figure, extended his hand to +the governor in silence, and turning abruptly round, hastened to follow +close in the footsteps of his conductor. +</P> + +<P> +"You will not forget all I have said to you," whispered the voice of +one who had reserved his parting for the last, and who now held the +hand of the younger adventurer closely clasped in his own. "Think, oh, +think how much depends on the event of your dangerous enterprise." +</P> + +<P> +"When you behold me again," was the reply, "it will be with smiles on +my lip and gladness in my heart; for if we fail, there is that within +me, which whispers I shall never see you more. But keep up your +spirits, and hope for the best. We embark under cheerless auspices, it +is true; but let us trust to Providence for success in so good a +cause,—God bless you!" +</P> + +<P> +In the next minute he had joined his companions; who, with light and +noiseless tread, were already pursuing their way along the military +road that led to the eastern extremity of the town. Soon afterwards, +the heavy chains of the drawbridge were heard grating on the ear, in +despite of the evident caution used in restoring it to its wonted +position, and all again was still. +</P> + +<P> +It had at first been suggested their course should be held in an +angular direction across the cleared country alluded to in our last +chapter, in order to avoid all chance of recognition in the town; but +as this might have led them into more dangerous contact with some of +the outlying parties of Indians, who were known to prowl around the +fort at night, this plan had been abandoned for the more circuitous and +safe passage by the village. Through this our little party now pursued +their way, and without encountering aught to impede their progress. The +simple mannered inhabitants had long since retired to rest, and neither +light nor sound denoted the existence of man or beast within its +precincts. At length they reached that part of the road which turned +off abruptly in the direction of the Fleur de lis. The rude hut threw +its dark shadows across their path, but all was still and deathlike as +in the village they had just quitted. Presently, however, as they drew +nearer, they beheld, reflected from one of the upper windows, a faint +light that fell upon the ground immediately in front of the auberge; +and, at intervals, the figure of a human being approaching and receding +from it as if in the act of pacing the apartment. +</P> + +<P> +An instinctive feeling of danger rose at the same moment to the hearts +of the young officers; and each, obeying the same impulse, unfastened +one of the large horn buttons of his blanket coat, and thrust his right +hand into the opening. +</P> + +<P> +"Francois, recollect your oath," hastily aspirated the elder, as he +grasped the hand of their conductor rather in supplication than in +threat; "if there be aught to harm us here, your own life will most +assuredly pay the forfeit of your faith." +</P> + +<P> +"It is noting but a womans," calmly returned the Canadian; "it is my +Babette who is sorry at my loss. But I shall come and tell you +directly." +</P> + +<P> +He then stole gently round the corner of the hut, leaving his anxious +companions in the rear of the little building, and completely veiled in +the obscurity produced by the mingling shadows of the hut itself, and a +few tall pear trees that overhung the paling of the orchard at some +yards from the spot on which they stood. +</P> + +<P> +They waited some minutes to hear the result of the Canadian's +admittance into his dwelling; but although each with suppressed +breathing sought to catch those sounds of welcome with which a daughter +might be supposed to greet a parent so unexpectedly restored, they +listened in vain. At length, however, while the ears of both were on +the rack to drink in the tones of a human voice, a faint scream floated +on the hushed air, and all again was still. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" whispered the elder of the officers; "that scream is sweeter to +my ear than the softest accents of woman's love. It is evident the +ordinary tones of speech cannot find their way to us here from the +front of the hut. The faintness of yon cry, which was unquestionably +that of a female, is a convincing proof of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Hist!" urged his companion, in the same almost inaudible whisper, +"what sound was that?" +</P> + +<P> +Both again listened attentively, when the noise was repeated. It came +from the orchard, and resembled the sound produced by the faint crash +of rotten sticks and leaves under the cautious but unavoidably rending +tread of a human foot. At intervals it ceased, as if the person +treading, alarmed at his own noise, was apprehensive of betraying his +approach; and then recommenced, only to be checked in the same manner. +Finally it ceased altogether. +</P> + +<P> +For upwards of five minutes the young men continued to listen for a +renewal of the sound, but nothing was now audible, save the short and +fitful gusts of a rising wind among the trees of the orchard. +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been some wild animal in search of its prey," again +whispered the younger officer; "had it been a man, we should have heard +him leap the paling before this." +</P> + +<P> +"By Heaven, we are betrayed,—here he is," quickly rejoined the other, +in the same low tone. "Keep close to the hut, and stand behind me. If +my dagger fail, you must try your own. But fire not, on your life, +unless there be more than two, for the report of a pistol will be the +destruction of ourselves and all that are dear to us." +</P> + +<P> +Each with uplifted arm now stood ready to strike, even while his heart +throbbed with a sense of danger, that had far more than the mere dread +of personal suffering or death to stimulate to exertion in +self-defence. Footsteps were now distinctly heard stealing round that +part of the hut which bordered on the road; and the young men turned +from the orchard, to which their attention had previously been +directed, towards the new quarter whence they were intruded upon. +</P> + +<P> +It was fortunate this mode of approach had been selected. That part of +the hut which rested on the road was so exposed as to throw the outline +of objects into strong relief, whereas in the direction of the thickly +wooded orchard all was impenetrable gloom. Had the intruder stolen +unannounced upon the alarmed but determined officers by the latter +route, the dagger of the first would in all probability have been +plunged to its hilt in his bosom. As it was, each had sufficient +presence of mind to distinguish, as it now doubled the corner of the +hut, and reposed upon the road, the stout square-set figure of the +Canadian. The daggers were instantly restored to their sheaths, and +each, for the first time since the departure of their companion, +respired freely. +</P> + +<P> +"It is quite well," whispered the latter as he approached. "It was my +poor Babette, who tought I was gone to be kill. She scream so loud, as +if she had seen my ghost. But we must wait a few minute in de house, +and you shall see how glad my girl is to see me once again." +</P> + +<P> +"Why this delay, Francois? why not start directly?" urged the taller +officer; "we shall never clear the river in time; and if the dawn +catches us in the waters of the Detroit, we are lost for ever." +</P> + +<P> +"But you see I am not quite prepare yet," was the answer. "I have many +tings to get ready for de canoe, which I have not use for a long times. +But you shall not wait ten minute, if you do not like. Dere is a good +fire, and Babette shall give you some ting to eat while I get it all +ready." +</P> + +<P> +The young men hesitated. The delay of the Canadian, who had so +repeatedly urged the necessity for expedition while in the fort, had, +to say the least of it, an appearance of incongruity. Still it was +evident, if disposed to harm them, he had full opportunity to do so +without much risk of effectual opposition from themselves. Under all +circumstances, therefore, it was advisable rather to appear to confide +implicitly in his truth, than, by manifesting suspicion, to pique his +self-love, and neutralize whatever favourable intentions he might +cherish in their behalf. In this mode of conduct they were confirmed, +by a recollection of the sacredness attached by the religion of their +conductor to the oath so solemnly pledged on the symbol of the cross, +and by a conviction of the danger of observation to which they stood +exposed, if, as they had apprehended, it was actually a human footstep +they had heard in the orchard. This last recollection suggested a +remark. +</P> + +<P> +"We heard a strange sound within the orchard, while waiting here for +your return," said the taller officer; "it was like the footstep of a +man treading cautiously over rotten leaves and branches. How do you +account for it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it was my pigs," replied the Canadian, without manifesting the +slightest uneasiness at the information. "They run about in de orchard +for de apples what blows down wid de wind." +</P> + +<P> +"It could not be a pig we heard," pursued his questioner; "but another +thing, Francois, before we consent to enter the hut,—how will you +account to your daughter for our presence? and what suspicion may she +not form at seeing two armed strangers in company with you at this +unseasonable hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I have tell her," replied the Canadian, "dat I have bring two friends, +who go wid me in de canoe to shoot de ducks for two tree days. You +know, sir, I go always in de fall to kill de ducks wid my friends, and +she will not tink it strange." +</P> + +<P> +"You have managed well, my brave fellow; and now we follow you in +confidence. But in the name of Heaven, use all possible despatch, and +if money will lend a spur to your actions, you shall have plenty of it +when our enterprise has been accomplished." +</P> + +<P> +Our adventurers followed their conductor in the track by which he had +so recently rejoined them. As they turned the corner of the hut, the +younger, who brought up the rear, fancied he again heard a sound in the +direction of the orchard, resembling that of one lightly leaping to the +ground. A gust of wind, however, passing rapidly at the moment through +the dense foliage, led him to believe it might have been produced by +the sullen fall of one of the heavy fruits it had detached in its +course. Unwilling to excite new and unnecessary suspicion in his +companion, he confined the circumstance to his own breast, and followed +into the hut. +</P> + +<P> +After ascending a flight of about a dozen rude steps, they found +themselves in a small room, furnished with no other ceiling than the +sloping roof itself, and lighted by an unwieldy iron lamp, placed on a +heavy oak table, near the only window with which the apartment was +provided. This latter had suffered much from the influence of time and +tempest; and owing to the difficulty of procuring glass in so remote a +region, had been patched with slips of paper in various parts. The two +corner and lower panes of the bottom sash were out altogether, and pine +shingles, such as are used even at the present day for covering the +roofs of dwelling houses, had been fitted into the squares, excluding +air and light at the same time. The centre pane of this tier was, +however, clear and free from flaw of every description. Opposite to the +window blazed a cheerful wood fire, recently supplied with fuel; and at +one of the inner corners of the room was placed a low uncurtained bed, +that exhibited marks of having been lain in since it was last made. On +a chair at its side were heaped a few dark-looking garments, the +precise nature of which were not distinguishable at a cursory and +distant glance. +</P> + +<P> +Such were the more remarkable features of the apartment into which our +adventurers were now ushered. Both looked cautiously around on +entering, as if expecting to find it tenanted by spirits as daring as +their own; but, with the exception of the daughter of their conductor, +whose moist black eyes expressed, as much by tears as by smiles, the +joy she felt at this unexpected return of her parent, no living object +met their enquiring glance. The Canadian placed a couple of +rush-bottomed chairs near the fire, invited his companions to seat +themselves until he had completed his preparation for departure, and +then, desiring Babette to hasten supper for the young hunters, quitted +the room and descended the stairs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0202"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<P> +The position of the young men was one of embarrassment; for while the +daughter, who was busied in executing the command of her father, +remained in the room, it was impossible they could converse together +without betraying the secret of their country, and, as a result of +this, the falsehood of the character under which they appeared. Long +residence in the country had, it is true, rendered the patois of that +class of people whom they personated familiar to one, but the other +spoke only the pure and native language of which it was a corruption. +It might have occurred to them at a cooler moment, and under less +critical circumstances, that, even if their disguise had been +penetrated, it was unlikely a female, manifesting so much lively +affection for her parent, would have done aught to injure those with +whom he had evidently connected himself. But the importance attached to +their entire security from danger left them but little room for +reflections of a calming character, while a doubt of that security +remained. +</P> + +<P> +One singularity struck them both. They had expected the young woman, +urged by a natural curiosity, would have commenced a conversation, even +if they did not; and he who spoke the patois was prepared to sustain it +as well as his anxious and overcharged spirit would enable him; and as +he was aware the morning had furnished sufficient incident of fearful +interest, he had naturally looked for a verbal re-enactment of the +harrowing and dreadful scene. To their surprise, however, they both +remarked that, far from evincing a desire to enter into conversation, +the young woman scarcely ever looked at them, but lingered constantly +near the table, and facing the window. Still, to avoid an appearance of +singularity on their own parts as far as possible, the elder of the +officers motioned to his companion, who, following his example, took a +small pipe and some tobacco from a compartment in his shot pouch, and +commenced puffing the wreathing smoke from his lips,—an occupation, +more than any other, seeming to justify their silence. +</P> + +<P> +The elder officer sat with his back to the window, and immediately in +front of the fire; his companion, at a corner of the rude hearth, and +in such a manner that, without turning his head, he could command every +part of the room at a glance. In the corner facing him stood the bed +already described. A faint ray of the fire-light fell on some minute +object glittering in the chair, the contents of which were heaped up in +disorder. Urged by that wayward curiosity, which is sometimes excited, +even under circumstances of the greatest danger and otherwise absorbing +interest, the young man kicked the hickory log that lay nearest to it +with his mocassined foot, and produced a bright crackling flame, the +reflection of which was thrown entirely upon the object of his gaze; it +was a large metal button, on which the number of his regiment was +distinctly visible. Unable to check his desire to know further, he left +his seat, to examine the contents of the chair. As he moved across the +room, he fancied he heard a light sound from without; his companion, +also, seemed to manifest a similar impression by an almost +imperceptible start; but the noise was so momentary, and so fanciful, +neither felt it worth his while to pause upon the circumstance. The +young officer now raised the garments from the chair: they consisted of +a small grey great-coat, and trowsers, a waistcoat of coarse white +cloth, a pair of worsted stockings, and the half-boots of a boy; the +whole forming the drum-boy's equipment, worn by the wretched wife of +Halloway when borne senseless into the hut on that fatal morning. +Hastily quitting a dress that called up so many dreadful recollections, +and turning to his companion with a look that denoted apprehension, +lest he too should have beheld these melancholy remembrances of the +harrowing scene, the young officer hastened to resume his seat. In the +act of so doing, his eye fell upon the window, at which the female +still lingered. Had a blast from Heaven struck his sight, the terror of +his soul could not have been greater. He felt his cheek to pale, and +his hair to bristle beneath his cap, while the checked blood crept +slowly and coldly, as if its very function had been paralysed; still he +had presence of mind sufficient not to falter in his step, or to +betray, by any extraordinary movement, that his eye had rested on any +thing hateful to behold. +</P> + +<P> +His companion had emptied his first pipe, and was in the act of +refilling it, when he resumed his seat. He was evidently impatient at +the delay of the Canadian, and already were his lips opening to give +utterance to his disappointment, when he felt his foot significantly +pressed by that of his friend. An instinctive sense of something +fearful that was to ensue, but still demanding caution on his part, +prevented him from turning hastily round to know the cause. Satisfied, +however, there was danger, though not of an instantaneous character, he +put his pipe gently by, and stealing his hand under his coat, again +grasped the hilt of his dagger. At length he slowly and partially +turned his head, while his eyes inquiringly demanded of his friend the +cause of his alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Partly to aid in concealing his increasing paleness, and partly with a +view to render it a medium for the conveyance of subdued sound, the +hand of the latter was raised to his face in such a manner that the +motion of his lips could not be distinguished from behind. +</P> + +<P> +"We are betrayed," he scarcely breathed. "If you can command yourself, +turn and look at the window; but for God's sake arm yourself with +resolution, or look not at all: first draw the hood over your head, and +without any appearance of design. Our only chance of safety lies in +this,—that the Canadian may still be true, and that our disguise may +not be penetrated." +</P> + +<P> +In despite of his native courage,—and this had often been put to +honourable proof,—he, thus mysteriously addressed, felt his heart to +throb violently. There was something so appalled in the countenance of +his friend—something so alarming in the very caution he had +recommended—that a vague dread of the horrible reality rushed at once +to his mind, and for a moment his own cheek became ashy pale, and his +breathing painfully oppressed. It was the natural weakness of the +physical man, over which the moral faculties had, for an instant, lost +their directing power. Speedily recovering himself, the young man +prepared to encounter the alarming object which had already so greatly +intimidated his friend. Carefully drawing the blanket hood over his +head, he rose from his seat, and, with the energetic movement of one +who has formed some desperate determination, turned his back to the +fire-place, and threw his eyes rapidly and eagerly upon the window. +They fell only on the rude patchwork of which it was principally +composed. The female had quitted the room. +</P> + +<P> +"You must have been deceived," he whispered, keeping his eye still bent +upon the window, and with so imperceptible a movement of the lips that +sound alone could have betrayed he was speaking,—"I see nothing to +justify your alarm. Look again." +</P> + +<P> +The younger officer once more directed his glance towards the window, +and with a shuddering of the whole person, as he recollected what had +met his eye when he last looked upon it. "It is no longer there, +indeed," he returned in the same scarcely audible tone. "Yet I could +not be mistaken; it was between those two corner squares of wood in the +lower sash." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps it was merely a reflection produced by the lamp on the centre +pane," rejoined his friend, still keeping his eye riveted on the +suspicious point. +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible! but I will examine the window from the spot on which I +stood when I first beheld it." +</P> + +<P> +Again he quitted his seat, and carelessly crossed the room. As he +returned he threw his glance upon the pane, when, to his infinite +horror and surprise, the same frightful vision presented itself. +</P> + +<P> +"God of Heaven!" he exclaimed aloud, and unable longer to check the +ebullition of his feelings,—"what means this?—Is my brain turned? and +am I the sport of my own delusive fancy?—Do you not see it NOW?" +</P> + +<P> +No answer was returned. His friend stood mute and motionless, with his +left hand grasping his gun, and his right thrust into the waist of his +coat. His eye grew upon the window, and his chest heaved, and his cheek +paled and flushed alternately with the subdued emotion of his heart. A +human face was placed close to the unblemished glass, and every feature +was distinctly revealed by the lamp that still lay upon the table. The +glaring eye was fixed on the taller of the officers; but though the +expression was unfathomably guileful, there was nothing that denoted +any thing like a recognition of the party. The brightness of the wood +fire had so far subsided as to throw the interior of the room into +partial obscurity, and under the disguise of his hood it was impossible +for one without to distinguish the features of the taller officer. The +younger, who was scarcely an object of attention, passed comparatively +unnoticed. +</P> + +<P> +Fatigued and dimmed with the long and eager tension of its nerves, the +eye of the latter now began to fail him. For a moment he closed it; and +when again it fell upon the window; it encountered nothing but the +clear and glittering pane. For upwards of a minute he and his friend +still continued to rivet their gaze, but the face was no longer visible. +</P> + +<P> +Why is it that what is called the "human face divine" is sometimes +gifted with a power to paralyse, that the most loathsome reptile in the +creation cannot attain? Had a hyena or cougar of the American forest, +roaring for prey, appeared at that window, ready to burst the fragile +barrier, and fasten its talons in their hearts, its presence would not +have struck such sickness to the soul of our adventurers as did that +human face. It is that man, naturally fierce and inexorable, is alone +the enemy of his own species. The solution of this problem—this +glorious paradox in nature, we leave to profounder philosophers to +resolve. Sufficient for us be it to know, and to deplore that it is so. +</P> + +<P> +Footsteps were now heard upon the stairs; and the officers, aroused to +a full sense of their danger, hastily and silently prepared themselves +for the encounter. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop a bullet into your gun," whispered the elder, setting the example +himself. "We may be obliged to have recourse to it at last. Yet make no +show of hostility unless circumstances satisfy us we are betrayed; +then, indeed, all that remains for us will be to sell our lives as +dearly as we can. Hist! he is here." +</P> + +<P> +The door opened; and at the entrance, which was already filled up in +the imaginations of the young men with a terrible and alarming figure, +appeared one whose return had been anxiously and long desired. It was a +relief, indeed, to their gallant but excited hearts to behold another +than the form they had expected; and although, for the moment, they +knew not whether the Canadian came in hostility or in friendship, each +quitted the attitude of caution into which he had thrown himself, and +met him midway in his passage through the room. There was nothing in +the expression of his naturally open and good-humoured countenance to +denote he was at all aware of the causes for alarm that had operated so +powerfully on themselves. He announced with a frank look and +unfaltering voice every thing was in readiness for their departure. +</P> + +<P> +The officers hesitated; and the taller fixed his eyes upon those of +mine host, as if his gaze would have penetrated to the innermost +recesses of his heart. Could this be a refinement of his treachery? and +was he really ignorant of the existence of the danger which threatened +them? Was it not more probable his object was to disarm their fears, +that they might be given unprepared and, therefore, unresisting victims +to the ferocity of their enemies? Aware as he was, that they were both +well provided with arms, and fully determined to use them with effect, +might not his aim be to decoy them to destruction without, lest the +blood spilt under his roof, in the desperation of their defence, should +hereafter attest against him, and expose him to the punishment he would +so richly merit? Distracted by these doubts, the young men scarcely +knew what to think or how to act; and anxious as they had previously +been to quit the hut, they now considered the moment of their doing so +would be that of their destruction. The importance of the enterprise on +which they were embarked was such as to sink all personal +considerations. If they had felt the influence of intimidation on their +spirits, it arose less from any apprehension of consequences to +themselves, than from the recollection of the dearer interests involved +in their perfect security from discovery. +</P> + +<P> +"Francois," feelingly urged the taller officer, again adverting to his +vow, "you recollect the oath you so solemnly pledged upon the cross of +your Saviour. Tell me, then, as you hope for mercy, have you taken that +oath only that you might the more securely betray us to our enemies? +What connection have you with them at this moment? and who is HE who +stood looking through that window not ten minutes since?" +</P> + +<P> +"As I shall hope for mercy in my God," exclaimed the Canadian with +unfeigned astonishment, "I have not see nobody. But what for do you +tink so? It is not just. I have given my oat to serve you, and I shall +do it." +</P> + +<P> +There was candour both in the tone and countenance of the man as he +uttered these words, half in reproach, half in justification; and the +officers no longer doubted. +</P> + +<P> +"You must forgive our suspicions at a moment like the present," +soothingly observed the younger; "yet, Francois, your daughter saw and +exchanged signals with the person we mean. She left the room soon after +he made his appearance. What has become of her?" +</P> + +<P> +The Canadian gave a sudden start, looked hastily round, and seemed to +perceive for the first time the girl was absent. He then put a finger +to his lip to enjoin silence, advanced to the table, and extinguished +the light. Desiring his companions, in a low whisper, to tread +cautiously and follow, he now led the way with almost noiseless step to +the entrance of the hut. At the threshold of the door were placed a +large well-filled sack, a light mast and sail, and half a dozen +paddles. The latter burden he divided between the officers, on whose +shoulders he carefully balanced them. The sack he threw across his own; +and, without expressing even a regret that an opportunity of bidding +adieu to his child was denied him, hastily skirted the paling of the +orchard until, at the further extremity, he had gained the high road. +</P> + +<P> +The heavens were obscured by passing clouds driven rapidly by the wind, +during the short pauses of which our adventurers anxiously and +frequently turned to listen if they were pursued. Save the rustling of +the trees that lined the road, and the slight dashing of the waters on +the beach, however, no sound was distinguishable. At length they gained +the point whence they were to start. It was the fatal bridge, the +events connected with which were yet so painfully fresh in their +recollection. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop one minutes here," whispered the Canadian, throwing his sack upon +the sand near the mouth of the lesser river; "my canoe is chain about +twenty yards up de bridge. I shall come to you directly." Then +cautioning the officers to keep themselves concealed under the bridge, +he moved hastily under the arch, and disappeared in the dark shadow +which it threw across the rivulet. +</P> + +<P> +The extremities of the bridge rested on the banks of the little river +in such a manner as to leave a narrow passage along the sands +immediately under the declination of the arch. In accordance with the +caution of their conductor, the officers had placed themselves under +it; and with their backs slightly bent forward to meet the curvature of +the bridge, so that no ray of light could pass between their bodies and +the fabric itself, now awaited the arrival of the vessel on which their +only hope depended. We shall not attempt to describe their feelings on +finding themselves, at that lone hour of the night, immediately under a +spot rendered fearfully memorable by the tragic occurrences of the +morning. The terrible pursuit of the fugitive, the execution of the +soldier, the curse and prophecy of his maniac wife, and, above all, the +forcible abduction and threatened espousal of that unhappy woman by the +formidable being who seemed to have identified himself with the evils +with which they stood menaced,—all rushed with rapid tracery on the +mind, and excited the imagination, until each, filled with a sentiment +not unallied to superstitious awe, feared to whisper forth his +thoughts, lest in so doing he should invoke the presence of those who +had principally figured in the harrowing and revolting scene. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you not hear a noise?" at length whispered the elder, as he leaned +himself forward, and bent his head to the sand, to catch more +distinctly a repetition of the sound. +</P> + +<P> +"I did; there again! It is upon the bridge, and not unlike the step of +one endeavouring to tread lightly. It may be some wild beast, however." +</P> + +<P> +"We must not be taken by surprise," returned his companion. "If it be a +man, the wary tread indicates consciousness of our presence. If an +animal, there can be no harm in setting our fears at rest." +</P> + +<P> +Cautiously stealing from his lurking-place, the young officer emerged +into the open sands, and in a few measured noiseless strides gained the +extremity of the bridge. The dark shadow of something upon its centre +caught his eye, and a low sound like that of a dog lapping met his ear. +While his gaze yet lingered on the shapeless object, endeavouring to +give it a character, the clouds which had so long obscured it passed +momentarily from before the moon, and disclosed the appalling truth. It +was a wolf-dog lapping up from the earth, in which they were encrusted, +the blood and brains of the unfortunate Frank Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +Sick and faint at the disgusting sight, the young man rested his elbow +on the railing that passed along the edge of the bridge, and, leaning +his head on his hand for a moment, forgot the risk of exposure he +incurred, in the intenseness of the sorrow that assailed his soul. His +heart and imagination were already far from the spot on which he stood, +when he felt an iron hand upon his shoulder. He turned, shuddering with +an instinctive knowledge of his yet unseen visitant, and beheld +standing over him the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the savage in a low triumphant tone, "the place +of our meeting is well timed, though somewhat singular, it must be +confessed. Nay," he fiercely added, grasping as in a vice the arm that +was already lifted to strike him, "force me not to annihilate you on +the spot. Ha! hear you the cry of my wolf-dog?" as that animal now set +up a low but fearful howl; "it is for your blood he asks, but your hour +is not yet come." +</P> + +<P> +"No, by Heaven, is it not!" exclaimed a voice; a rapid and rushing +sweep was heard through the air for an instant, and then a report like +a stunning blow. The warrior released his grasp—placed his hand upon +his tomahawk, but without strength to remove it from his belt tottered +a pace or two backwards—and then fell, uttering a cry of mingled pain +and disappointment, at his length upon the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Quick, quick to our cover!" exclaimed the younger officer, as a loud +shout was now heard from the forest in reply to the yell of the fallen +warrior. "If Francois come not, we are lost; the howl of that wolf-dog +alone will betray us, even if his master should be beyond all chance of +recovery." +</P> + +<P> +"Desperate diseases require desperate remedies," was the reply; "there +is little glory in destroying a helpless enemy, but the necessity is +urgent, and we must leave nothing to chance." As he spoke, he knelt +upon the huge form of the senseless warrior, whose scalping knife he +drew from its sheath, and striking a firm and steady blow, quitted not +the weapon until he felt his hand reposing on the chest of his enemy. +</P> + +<P> +The howl of the wolf-dog, whose eyes glared like two burning coals +through the surrounding gloom, was now exchanged to a fierce and +snappish bark. He made a leap at the officer while in the act of rising +from the body; but his fangs fastened only in the chest of the shaggy +coat, which he wrung with the strength and fury characteristic of his +peculiar species. This new and ferocious attack was fraught with danger +little inferior to that which they had just escaped, and required the +utmost promptitude of action. The young man seized the brute behind the +neck in a firm and vigorous grasp, while he stooped upon the motionless +form over which this novel struggle was maintained, and succeeded in +making himself once more master of the scalping knife. Half choked by +the hand that unflinchingly grappled with him, the savage animal +quitted his hold and struggled violently to free himself. This was the +critical moment. The officer drew the heavy sharp blade, from the +handle to the point, across the throat of the infuriated beast, with a +force that divided the principal artery. He made a desperate leap +upwards, spouting his blood over his destroyer, and then fell gasping +across the body of his master. A low growl, intermingled with faint +attempts to bark, which the rapidly oozing life rendered more and more +indistinct, succeeded; and at length nothing but a gurgling sound was +distinguishable. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the anxious and harassed officers had regained their place of +concealment under the bridge, where they listened with suppressed +breathing for the slightest sound to indicate the approach of the +canoe. At intervals they fancied they could hear a noise resembling the +rippling of water against the prow of a light vessel, but the swelling +cries of the rushing band, becoming at every instant more distinct, +were too unceasingly kept up to admit of their judging with accuracy. +</P> + +<P> +They now began to give themselves up for lost, and many and bitter were +the curses they inwardly bestowed on the Canadian, when the outline of +a human form was seen advancing along the sands, and a dark object upon +the water. It was their conductor, dragging the canoe along, with all +the strength and activity of which he was capable. +</P> + +<P> +"What the devil have you been about all this time, Francois?" exclaimed +the taller officer, as he bounded to meet him. "Quick, quick, or we +shall be too late. Hear you not the blood-hounds on their scent?" Then +seizing the chain in his hand, with a powerful effort he sent the canoe +flying through the arch to the very entrance of the river. The burdens +that had been deposited on the sands were hastily flung in, the +officers stepping lightly after. The Canadian took the helm, directing +the frail vessel almost noiselessly through the water, and with such +velocity, that when the cry of the disappointed savages was heard +resounding from the bridge, it had already gained the centre of the +Detroit. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0203"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<P> +Two days had succeeded to the departure of the officers from the fort, +but unproductive of any event of importance. About daybreak, however, +on the morning of the third, the harassed garrison were once more +summoned to arms, by an alarm from the sentinels planted in rear of the +works; a body of Indians they had traced and lost at intervals, as they +wound along the skirt of the forest, in their progress from their +encampment, were at length developing themselves in force near the bomb +proof. With a readiness which long experience and watchfulness had +rendered in some degree habitual to them, the troops flew to their +respective posts; while a few of the senior officers, among whom was +the governor, hastened to the ramparts to reconnoitre the strength and +purpose of their enemies. It was evident the views of these latter were +not immediately hostile; for neither were they in their war paint, nor +were their arms of a description to carry intimidation to a disciplined +and fortified soldiery. Bows, arrows, tomahawks, war clubs, spears, and +scalping knives, constituted their warlike equipments, but neither +rifle nor fire-arms of any kind were discernible. Several of their +leaders, distinguishable by a certain haughty carriage and commanding +gesticulation, were collected within the elevated bomb-proof, +apparently holding a short but important conference apart from their +people, most of whom stood or lay in picturesque attitudes around the +ruin. These also had a directing spirit. A tall and noble looking +warrior, wearing a deer-skin hunting frock closely girded around his +loins, appeared to command the deference of his colleagues, claiming +profound attention when he spoke himself, and manifesting his assent or +dissent to the apparently expressed opinions of the lesser chiefs +merely by a slight movement of the head. +</P> + +<P> +"There he is indeed!" exclaimed Captain Erskine, speaking as one who +communes with his own thoughts, while he kept his telescope levelled on +the form of the last warrior; "looking just as noble as when, three +years ago, he opposed himself to the progress of the first English +detachment that had ever penetrated to this part of the world. What a +pity such a fine fellow should be so desperate and determined an enemy!" +</P> + +<P> +"True; you were with Major Rogers on that expedition," observed the +governor, in a tone now completely divested of the haughtiness which +formerly characterised his address to his officers. "I have often heard +him speak of it. You had many difficulties to contend against, if I +recollect." +</P> + +<P> +"We had indeed, sir," returned the frank-hearted Erskine, dropping the +glass from his eye. "So many, in fact, that more than once, in the +course of our progress through the wilderness, did I wish myself at +head-quarters with my company. Never shall I forget the proud and +determined expression of Ponteac's countenance, when he told Rogers, in +his figurative language, 'he stood in the path in which he travelled.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Heaven, he at least stands not in the path in which OTHERS +travel," musingly rejoined the governor. "But what sudden movement is +that within the ruin?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Indians are preparing to show a white flag," shouted an +artillery-man from his station in one of the embrasures below. +</P> + +<P> +The governor and his officers received this intelligence without +surprise: the former took the glass from Captain Erskine, and coolly +raised it to his eye. The consultation had ceased; and the several +chiefs, with the exception of their leader and two others, were now +seen quitting the bomb-proof to join their respective tribes. One of +those who remained, sprang upon an elevated fragment of the ruin, and +uttered a prolonged cry, the purport of which,—and it was fully +understood from its peculiar nature,—was to claim attention from the +fort. He then received from the hands of the other chief a long spear, +to the end of which was attached a piece of white linen. This he waved +several times above his head; then stuck the barb of the spear firmly +into the projecting fragment. Quitting his elevated station, he next +stood at the side of the Ottawa chief, who had already assumed the air +and attitude of one waiting to observe in what manner his signal would +be received. +</P> + +<P> +"A flag of truce in all its bearings, by Jupiter!" remarked Captain +Erskine. "Ponteac seems to have acquired a few lessons since we first +met." +</P> + +<P> +"This is evidently the suggestion of some European," observed Major +Blackwater; "for how should he understand any thing of the nature of a +white flag? Some of those vile spies have put him up to this." +</P> + +<P> +"True enough, Blackwater; and they appear to have found an intelligent +pupil," observed Captain Wentworth. "I was curious to know how he would +make the attempt to approach us; but certainly never once dreamt of his +having recourse to so civilised a method. Their plot works well, no +doubt; still we have the counter-plot to oppose to it." +</P> + +<P> +"We must foil them with their own weapons," remarked the governor, +"even if it be only with a view to gain time. Wentworth, desire one of +your bombardiers to hoist the large French flag on the staff." +</P> + +<P> +The order was promptly obeyed. The Indians made a simultaneous movement +expressive of their satisfaction; and in the course of a minute, the +tall warrior, accompanied by nearly a dozen inferior chiefs, was seen +slowly advancing across the common, towards the group of officers. +</P> + +<P> +"What generous confidence the fellow has, for an Indian!" observed +Captain Erskine, who could not dissemble his admiration of the warrior. +"He steps as firmly and as proudly within reach of our muskets, as if +he was leading in the war-dance." +</P> + +<P> +"How strange," mused Captain Blessington, "that one who meditates so +deep a treachery, should have no apprehension of it in others!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a compliment to the honour of our flag," observed the governor, +"which it must be our interest to encourage. If, as you say, Erskine, +the man is really endowed with generosity, the result of this affair +will assuredly call it forth." +</P> + +<P> +"If it prove otherwise, sir," was the reply, "we must only attribute +his perseverance to the influence which that terrible warrior of the +Fleur de lis is said to exercise over his better feelings. By the by, I +see nothing of him among this flag of truce party. It could scarcely be +called a violation of faith to cut off such a rascally renegade. Were +he of the number of those advancing, and Valletort's rifle within my +reach, I know not what use I might not be tempted to make of the last." +</P> + +<P> +Poor Erskine was singularly infelicitous in touching, and ever +unconsciously, on a subject sure to give pain to more than one of his +brother officers. A cloud passed over the brow of the governor, but it +was one that originated more in sorrow than in anger. Neither had he +time to linger on the painful recollections hastily and confusedly +called up by the allusion made to this formidable and mysterious being, +for the attention of all was now absorbed by the approaching Indians. +With a bold and confiding carriage the fierce Ponteac moved at the head +of his little party, nor hesitated one moment in his course, until he +got near the brink of the ditch, and stood face to face with the +governor, at a distance that gave both parties not only the facility of +tracing the expression of each other's features, but of conversing +without effort. There he made a sudden stand, and thrusting his spear +into the earth, assumed an attitude as devoid of apprehension as if he +had been in the heart of his own encampment. +</P> + +<P> +"My father has understood my sign," said the haughty chief. "The +warriors of a dozen tribes are far behind the path the Ottawa has just +travelled; but when the red skin comes unarmed, the hand of the Saganaw +is tied behind his back." +</P> + +<P> +"The strong hold of the Saganaw is his safeguard," replied the +governor, adopting the language of the Indian. "When the enemies of his +great father come in strength, he knows how to disperse them; but when +a warrior throws himself unarmed into his power, he respects his +confidence, and his arms hang rusting at his side." +</P> + +<P> +"The talk of my father is big," replied the warrior, with a scornful +expression that seemed to doubt the fact of so much indifference as to +himself; "but when it is a great chief who directs the nations, and +that chief his sworn enemy, the temptation to the Saganaw may be +strong." +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw is without fear," emphatically rejoined the governor; "he +is strong in his own honour; and he would rather die under the tomahawk +of the red skin, than procure a peace by an act of treachery." +</P> + +<P> +The Indian paused; cold, calm looks of intelligence passed between him +and his followers, and a few indistinct and guttural sentences were +exchanged among themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"But our father asks not why our mocassins have brushed the dew from +off the common," resumed the chief; "and yet it is long since the +Saganaw and the red skin have spoken to each other, except through the +war whoop. My father must wonder to see the great chief of the Ottawas +without the hatchet in his hand." +</P> + +<P> +"The hatchet often wounds those who use it unskilfully," calmly +returned the governor. "The Saganaw is not blind. The Ottawas, and the +other tribes, find the war paint heavy on their skins. They see that my +young men are not to be conquered, and they have sent the great head of +all the nations to sue for peace." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of the habitual reserve and self-possession of his race, the +haughty warrior could not repress a movement of impatience at the bold +and taunting language of his enemy, and for a moment there was a fire +in his eye that told how willingly he would have washed away the insult +in his blood. The same low guttural exclamations that had previously +escaped their lips, marked the sense entertained of the remark by his +companions. +</P> + +<P> +"My father is right," pursued the chief, resuming his self-command; +"the Ottawas, and the other tribes, ask for peace, but not because they +are afraid of war. When they strike the hatchet into the war post, they +leave it there until their enemies ask them to take it out." +</P> + +<P> +"Why come they now, then, to ask for peace?" was the cool demand. +</P> + +<P> +The warrior hesitated, evidently at a loss to give a reply that could +reconcile the palpable contradiction of his words. +</P> + +<P> +"The rich furs of our forests have become many," he at length observed, +"since we first took up the hatchet against the Saganaw; and every +bullet we keep for our enemies is a loss to our trade. We once +exchanged furs with the children of our father of the pale flag. They +gave us, in return, guns, blankets, powder, ball, and all that the red +man requires in the hunting season. These are all expended; and my +young men would deal with the Saganaw as they did with the French." +</P> + +<P> +"Good; the red skins would make peace; and although the arm of the +Saganaw is strong, he will not turn a deaf ear to their desire." +</P> + +<P> +"All the strong holds of the Saganaw, except two, have fallen before +the great chief of the Ottawas!" proudly returned the Indian, with a +look of mingled scorn and defiance. "They, too, thought themselves +beyond the reach of our tomahawks; but they were deceived. In less than +a single moon nine of them have fallen, and the tents of my young +warriors are darkened with their scalps; but this is past. If the red +skin asks for peace, it is because he is tired of seeing the blood of +the Saganaw on his tomahawk. Does my father hear?" +</P> + +<P> +"We will listen to the great chief of the Ottawas, and hear what he has +to say," returned the governor, who, as well as the officers at his +side, could with difficulty conceal their disgust and sorrow at the +dreadful intelligence thus imparted of the fates of their companions. +"But peace," he pursued with dignity, "can only be made in the council +room, and under the sacred pledge of the calumet. The great chief has a +wampum belt on his shoulder, and a calumet in his hand. His aged +warriors, too, are at his side. What says the Ottawa? Will he enter? If +so, the gate of the Saganaw shall be open to him." +</P> + +<P> +The warrior started; and for a moment the confidence that had hitherto +distinguished him seemed to give place to an apprehension of meditated +treachery. He, however, speedily recovered himself, and observed +emphatically, "It is the great head of all the nations whom my father +invites to the council seat. Were he to remain in the hands of the +Saganaw, his young men would lose their strength. They would bury the +hatchet for ever in despair, and hide their faces in the laps of their +women." +</P> + +<P> +"Does the Ottawa chief see the pale flag on the strong hold of his +enemies. While that continues to fly, he is safe as if he were under +the cover of his own wigwam. If the Saganaw could use guile like the +fox" (and this was said with marked emphasis), "what should prevent him +from cutting off the Ottawa and his chiefs, even where they now stand?" +</P> + +<P> +A half smile of derision passed over the dark cheek of the Indian. "If +the arm of an Ottawa is strong," he said, "his foot is not less swift. +The short guns of the chiefs of the Saganaw" (pointing to the pistols +of the officers) "could not reach us; and before the voice of our +father could be raised, or his eye turned, to call his warriors to his +side, the Ottawa would be already far on his way to the forest." +</P> + +<P> +"The great chief of the Ottawas shall judge better of the Saganaw," +returned the governor.—"He shall see that his young men are ever +watchful at their posts:—Up, men, and show yourselves." +</P> + +<P> +A second or two sufficed to bring the whole, of Captain Erskine's +company, who had been lying flat on their faces, to their feet on the +rampart. The Indians were evidently taken by surprise, though they +evinced no fear. The low and guttural "Ugh!" was the only expression +they gave to their astonishment, not unmingled with admiration. +</P> + +<P> +But, although the chiefs preserved their presence of mind, the sudden +appearance of the soldiers had excited alarm among their warriors, who, +grouped in and around the bomb-proof, were watching every movement of +the conferring parties, with an interest proportioned to the risk they +conceived their head men had incurred in venturing under the very walls +of their enemies. Fierce yells were uttered; and more than a hundred +dusky warriors, brandishing their tomahawks in air, leaped along the +skirt of the common, evidently only awaiting the signal of their great +chief, to advance and cover his retreat. At the command of the +governor, however, the men had again suddenly disappeared from the +surface of the rampart; so that when the Indians finally perceived +their leader stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot he had +previously occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more +assumed their attitude of profound attention. +</P> + +<P> +"What thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked the +governor;—"did he imagine that the young white men lie sleeping like +beavers in their dams, when the hunter sets his traps to catch +them?—did he imagine that they foresee not the designs of their +enemies? and that they are not always on the watch to prevent them?" +</P> + +<P> +"My father is a great warrior," returned the Indian; "and if his arm is +full of strength, his head is fall of wisdom. The chiefs will no longer +hesitate;—they will enter the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sit with +him in the council." +</P> + +<P> +He next addressed a few words, and in a language not understood by +those upon the walls, to one of the younger of the Indians. The latter +acknowledged his sense and approbation of what was said to him by an +assentient and expressive "Ugh!" which came from his chest without any +apparent emotion of the lips, much in the manner of a modern +ventriloquist. He then hastened, with rapid and lengthened boundings, +across the common towards his band. After the lapse of a minute or two +from reaching them, another simultaneous cry arose, differing in +expression from any that had hitherto been heard. It was one denoting +submission to the will, and compliance with some conveyed desire, of +their superior. +</P> + +<P> +"Is the gate of the Saganaw open?" asked the latter, as soon as his ear +had been greeted with the cry we have just named. "The Ottawa and the +other great chiefs are ready;—their hearts are bold, and they throw +themselves into the hands of the Saganaw without fear." +</P> + +<P> +"The Ottawa chief knows the path," drily rejoined the governor: "when +he comes in peace, it is ever open to him; but when his young men press +it with the tomahawk in their hands, the big thunder is roused to +anger, and they are scattered away like the leaves of the forest in the +storm." "Even now," he pursued, as the little band of Indians moved +slowly round the walls, "the gate of the Saganaw opens for the Ottawa +and the other chiefs." +</P> + +<P> +"Let the most vigilant caution be used every where along the works, but +especially in the rear," continued the governor, addressing Captain +Blessington, on whom the duty of the day had devolved. "We are safe, +while their chiefs are with us; but still it will be necessary to watch +the forest closely. We cannot be too much on our guard. The men had +better remain concealed, every twentieth file only standing up to form +a look-out chain. If any movement of a suspicious nature be observed, +let it be communicated by the discharge of a single musket, that the +drawbridge may be raised on the instant." With the delivery of these +brief instructions he quitted the rampart with the majority of his +officers. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, hasty preparations had been made in the mess-room to receive +the chiefs. The tables had been removed, and a number of clean rush +mats, manufactured, after the Indian manner, into various figures and +devices, spread carefully upon the floor. At the further end from the +entrance was placed a small table and chair, covered with scarlet +cloth. This was considerably elevated above the surface of the floor, +and intended for the governor. On either side of the room, near these, +were ranged a number of chairs for the accommodation of the inferior +officers. +</P> + +<P> +Major Blackwater received the chiefs at the gate. With a firm, proud +step, rendered more confident by his very unwillingness to betray any +thing like fear, the tall, and, as Captain Erskine had justly +designated him, the noble-looking Ponteac trod the yielding planks that +might in the next moment cut him off from his people for ever. The +other chiefs, following the example of their leader, evinced the same +easy fearlessness of demeanour, nor glanced once behind them to see if +there was any thing to justify the apprehension of hidden danger. +</P> + +<P> +The Ottawa was evidently mortified at not being received by the +governor in person. "My father is not here!" he said fiercely to the +major:—"how is this? The Ottawa and the other chiefs are kings of all +their tribes. The head of one great people should be received only by +the head of another great people!" +</P> + +<P> +"Our father sits in the council-hall," returned the major. "He has +taken his seat, that he may receive the warriors with becoming honour. +But I am the second chief, and our father has sent me to receive them." +</P> + +<P> +To the proud spirit of the Indian this explanation scarcely sufficed. +For a moment he seemed to struggle, as if endeavouring to stifle his +keen sense of an affront put upon him. At length he nodded his head +haughtily and condescendingly, in token of assent; and gathering up his +noble form, and swelling out his chest, as if with a view to strike +terror as well as admiration into the hearts of those by whom he +expected to be surrounded, stalked majestically forward at the head of +his confederates. +</P> + +<P> +An indifferent observer, or one ignorant of these people, would have +been at fault; but those who understood the workings of an Indian's +spirit could not have been deceived by the tranquil exterior of these +men. The rapid, keen, and lively glance—the suppressed sneer of +exultation—the half start of surprise—the low, guttural, and almost +inaudible "Ugh!"—all these indicated the eagerness with which, at one +sly but compendious view, they embraced the whole interior of a fort +which it was of such vital importance to their future interests they +should become possessed of, yet which they had so long and so +unsuccessfully attempted to subdue. As they advanced into the square, +they looked around, expecting to behold the full array of their +enemies; but, to their astonishment, not a soldier was to be seen. A +few women and children only, in whom curiosity had overcome a natural +loathing and repugnance to the savages, were peeping from the windows +of the block houses. Even at a moment like the present, the fierce +instinct of these latter was not to be controlled. One of the children, +terrified at the wild appearance of the warriors, screamed violently, +and clung to the bosom of its mother for protection. Fired at the +sound, a young chief raised his hand to his lips, and was about to peal +forth his terrible war whoop in the very centre of the fort, when the +eye of the Ottawa suddenly arrested him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0204"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<P> +There were few forms of courtesy observed by the warriors towards the +English officers on entering the council room. Ponteac, who had +collected all his native haughtiness into one proud expression of look +and figure, strode in without taking the slightest notice even of the +governor. The other chiefs imitated his example, and all took their +seats upon the matting in the order prescribed by their rank among the +tribes, and their experience in council. The Ottawa chief sat at the +near extremity of the room, and immediately facing the governor. A +profound silence was observed for some minutes after the Indians had +seated themselves, during which they proceeded to fill their pipes. The +handle of that of the Ottawa chief was decorated with numerous feathers +fancifully disposed. +</P> + +<P> +"This is well," at length observed the governor. "It is long since the +great chiefs of the nations have smoked the sweet grass in the council +hall of the Saganaw. What have they to say, that their young men may +have peace to hunt the beaver, and to leave the print of their +mocassins in the country of the Buffalo?—What says the Ottawa chief?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Ottawa chief is a great warrior," returned the other, haughtily; +and again repudiating, in the indomitableness of his pride, the very +views that a more artful policy had first led him to avow. "He has +already said that, within a single moon, nine of the strong holds of +the Saganaw have fallen into his hands, and that the scalps of the +white men fill the tents of his warriors. If the red skins wish for +peace, it is because they are sick with spilling the blood of their +enemies. Does my father hear?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Ottawa has been cunning, like the fox," calmly returned the +governor. "He went with deceit upon his lips, and said to the great +chiefs of the strong holds of the Saganaw,—'You have no more forts +upon the lakes; they have all fallen before the red skins: they gave +themselves into our hands; and we spared their lives, and sent them +down to the great towns near the salt lake.' But this was false: the +chiefs of the Saganaw, believing what was said to them, gave up their +strong holds; but their lives were not spared, and the grass of the +Canadas is yet moist with their blood. Does the Ottawa hear?" +</P> + +<P> +Amazement and stupefaction sat for a moment on the features of the +Indians. The fact was as had been stated; and yet, so completely had +the several forts been cut off from all communication, it was deemed +almost impossible one could have received tidings of the fate of the +other, unless conveyed through the Indians themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"The spies of the Saganaw have been very quick to escape the vigilance +of the red skins," at length replied the Ottawa; "yet they have +returned with a lie upon their lips. I swear by the Great Spirit, that +nine of the strong holds of the Saganaw have been destroyed. How could +the Ottawa go with deceit upon his lips, when his words were truth?" +</P> + +<P> +"When the red skins said so to the warriors of the last forts they +took, they said true; but when they went to the first, and said that +all the rest had fallen, they used deceit. A great nation should +overcome their enemies like warriors, and not seek to beguile them with +their tongues under the edge of the scalping knife!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why did the Saganaw come into the country of the red skins?" haughtily +demanded the chief. "Why did they take our hunting grounds from us? Why +have they strong places encircling the country of the Indians, like a +belt of wampum round the waist of a warrior?" +</P> + +<P> +"This is not true," rejoined the governor. "It was not the Saganaw, but +the warriors of the pale flag, who first came and took away the hunting +grounds, and built the strong places. The great father of the Saganaw +had beaten the great father of the pale flag quite out of the Canadas, +and he sent his young men to take their place and to make peace with +the red skins, and to trade with them, and to call them brothers." +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw was false," retorted the Indian. "When a chief of the +Saganaw came for the first time with his warriors into the country of +the Ottawas, the chief of the Ottawas stood in his path, and asked him +why, and from whom, he came? That chief was a bold warrior, and his +heart was open, and the Ottawa liked him; and when he said he came to +be friendly with the red skins, the Ottawa believed him, and he shook +him by the hand, and said to his young men, 'Touch not the life of a +Saganaw; for their chief is the friend of the Ottawa chief, and his +young men shall be the friends of the red warriors.' Look," he +proceeded, marking his sense of the discovery by another of those +ejaculatory "Ughs!" so expressive of surprise in an Indian, "at the +right hand of my father I see a chief," pointing to Captain Erskine, +"who came with those of the Saganaw who first entered the country of +the Detroit;—ask that chief if what the Ottawa says is not true. When +the Saganaw said he came only to remove the warriors of the pale flag, +that he might be friendly and trade with the red skins, the Ottawa +received the belt of wampum he offered, and smoked the pipe of peace +with him, and he made his men bring bags of parched corn to his +warriors who wanted food, and he sent to all the nations on the lakes, +and said to them, 'The Saganaw must pass unhurt to the strong hold on +the Detroit.' But for the Ottawa, not a Saganaw would have escaped; for +the nations were thirsting for their blood, and the knives of the +warriors were eager to open their scalps. Ask the chief who sits at the +right hand of my father," he again energetically repeated, "if what the +Ottawa says is not true." +</P> + +<P> +"What the Ottawa says is true," rejoined the governor; "for the chief +who sits on my right hand has often said that, but for the Ottawa, the +small number of the warriors of the Saganaw must have been cut off; and +his heart is big with kindness to the Ottawa for what he did. But if +the great chief meant to be friendly, why did he declare war after +smoking the pipe of peace with the Saganaw? Why did he destroy the +wigwams of the settlers, and carry off the scalps even of their weak +women and children? All this has the Ottawa done; and yet he says that +he wished to be friendly with my young men. But the Saganaw is not a +fool. He knows the Ottawa chief had no will of his own. On the right +hand of the Ottawa sits the great chief of the Delawares, and on his +left the great chief of the Shawanees. They have long been the sworn +enemies of the Saganaw; and they came from the rivers that run near the +salt lake to stir up the red skins of the Detroit to war. They +whispered wicked words in the ear of the Ottawa chief, and he +determined to take up the bloody hatchet. This is a shame to a great +warrior. The Ottawa was a king over all the tribes in the country of +the fresh lakes, and yet he weakly took council like a woman from +another." +</P> + +<P> +"My father lies!" fiercely retorted the warrior, half springing to his +feet, and involuntarily putting his hand upon his tomahawk. "If the +settlers of the Saganaw have fallen," he resumed in a calmer tone, +while he again sank upon his mat, "it is because they did not keep +their faith with the red skins. When they came weak, and were not yet +secure in their strong holds, their tongues were smooth and full of +soft words; but when they became strong under the protection of their +thunder, they no longer treated the red skins as their friends, and +they laughed at them for letting them come into their country." "But," +he pursued, elevating his voice, "the Ottawa is a great chief, and he +will be respected." Then adverting in bitterness to the influence +supposed to be exercised over him,—"What my father has said is false. +The Shawanees and the Delawares are great nations; but the Ottawas are +greater than any, and their chiefs are full of wisdom. The Shawanees +and the Delawares had no talk with the Ottawa chief to make him do what +his own wisdom did not tell him." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, if the talk came not from the Shawanees and the Delawares, it +came from the spies of the warriors of the pale flag. The great father +of the French was angry with the great father of the Saganaw, because +he conquered his warriors in many battles; and he sent wicked men to +whisper lies of the Saganaw into the ears of the red skins, and to make +them take up the hatchet against them. There is a tall spy at this +moment in the camp of the red skins," he pursued with earnestness, and +yet paling as he spoke. "It is said he is the bosom friend of the great +chief of the Ottawas. But I will not believe it. The head of a great +nation would not be the friend of a spy—of one who is baser than a +dog. His people would despise him; and they would say, 'Our chief is +not fit to sit in council, or to make war; for he is led by the word of +a pale face who is without honour.'" +</P> + +<P> +The swarthy cheek of the Indian reddened, and his eye kindled into +fire. "There is no spy, but a great warrior, in the camp of the +Ottawas," he fiercely replied. "Though he came from the country that +lies beyond the salt lake, he is now a chief of the red skins, and his +arm is mighty, and his heart is big. Would my father know why he has +become a chief of the Ottawas?" he pursued with scornful exultation. +"When the strong holds of the Saganaw fell, the tomahawk of the 'white +warrior' drank more blood than that of a red skin, and his tent is hung +around with poles bending under the weight of the scalps he has taken. +When the great chief of the Ottawas dies, the pale face will lead his +warriors, and take the first seat in the council. The Ottawa chief is +his friend." +</P> + +<P> +"If the pale face be the friend of the Ottawa," pursued the governor, +in the hope of obtaining some particular intelligence in regard to this +terrible and mysterious being, "why is he not here to sit in council +with the chiefs? Perhaps," he proceeded tauntingly, as he fancied he +perceived a disinclination on the part of the Indian to account for the +absence of the warrior, "the pale face is not worthy to take his place +among the head men of the council. His arm may be strong like that of a +warrior, but his head may be weak like that of a woman; or, perhaps, he +is ashamed to show himself before the pale faces, who have turned him +out of their tribe." +</P> + +<P> +"My father lies!" again unceremoniously retorted the warrior. "If the +friend of the Ottawa is not here, it is because his voice cannot speak. +Does my father recollect the bridge on which he killed his young +warrior? Does he recollect the terrible chase of the pale face by the +friend of the Ottawa? Ugh!" he continued, as his attention was now +diverted to another object of interest, "that pale face was swifter +than any runner among the red skins, and for his fleetness he deserved +to live to be a great hunter in the Canadas; but fear broke his +heart,—fear of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The red skins saw him +fall at the feet of the Saganaw without life, and they saw the young +warriors bear him off in their arms. Is not the Ottawa right?" The +Indian paused, threw his eye rapidly along the room, and then, fixing +it on the governor, seemed to wait with deep but suppressed interest +for his reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Peace to the bones of a brave warrior!" seriously and evasively +returned the governor: "the pale face is no longer in the land of the +Canadas, and the young warriors of the Saganaw are sorry for his loss; +but what would the Ottawa say of the bridge? and what has the pale +warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, to do with it?" +</P> + +<P> +A gleam of satisfaction pervaded the countenance of the Indian, as he +eagerly bent his ear to receive the assurance that the fugitive was no +more; but when allusion was again made to the strange warrior, his brow +became overcast, and he replied with mingled haughtiness and anger,— +</P> + +<P> +"Does my father ask? He has dogs of spies among the settlers of the +pale flag, but the tomahawk of the red skins will find them out, and +they shall perish even as the Saganaw themselves. Two nights ago, when +the warriors of the Ottawas were returning from their scout upon the +common, they heard the voice of Onondato, the great wolf-dog of the +friend of the Ottawa chief. The voice came from the bridge where the +Saganaw killed his young warrior, and it called upon the red skins for +assistance. My young men gave their war cry, and ran like wild deer to +destroy the enemies of their chief; but when they came, the spies had +fled, and the voice of Onondato was low and weak as that of a new fawn; +and when the warriors came to the other end of the bridge, they found +the pale chief lying across the road and covered over with blood. They +thought he was dead, and their cry was terrible; for the pale warrior +is a great chief, and the Ottawas love him; but when they looked again, +they saw that the blood was the blood of Onondato, whose throat the +spies of the Saganaw had cut, that he might not hunt them and give them +to the tomahawk of the red skins." +</P> + +<P> +Frequent glances, expressive of their deep interest in the announcement +of this intelligence, passed between the governor and his officers. It +was clear the party who had encountered the terrible warrior of the +Fleur de lis were not spies (for none were employed by the garrison), +but their adventurous companions who had so recently quitted them. This +was put beyond all doubt by the night, the hour, and the not less +important feet of the locality; for it was from the bridge described by +the Indian, near which the Canadian had stated his canoe to be chained, +they were to embark on their perilous and uncertain enterprise. The +question of their own escape from danger in this unlooked for collision +with so powerful and ferocious an enemy, and of the fidelity of the +Canadian, still remained involved in doubt, which it might be +imprudent, if not dangerous, to seek to have resolved by any direct +remark on the subject to the keen and observant warrior. The governor +removed this difficulty by artfully observing,— +</P> + +<P> +"The great chief of the Ottawas has said they were the spies of the +Saganaw who killed the pale warrior. His young men has found them, +then; or how could he know they were spies?" +</P> + +<P> +"Is there a warrior among the Saganaw who dares to show himself in the +path of the red skins, unless he come in strength and surrounded by his +thunder?" was the sneering demand. "But my father is wrong, if he +supposes the friend of the Ottawa is killed. No," he pursued fiercely, +"the dogs of spies could not kill him; they were afraid to face so +terrible a warrior. They came behind him in the dark, and they struck +him on the head like cowards and foxes as they were. The warrior of the +pale face, and the friend of the Ottawa chief, is sick, but not dead. +He lies without motion in his tent, and his voice cannot speak to his +friend to tell him who were his enemies, that he may bring their scalps +to hang up within his wigwam. But the great chief will soon be well, +and his arm will be stronger than ever to spill the blood of the +Saganaw as he has done before." +</P> + +<P> +"The talk of the Ottawa chief is strange," returned the governor, +emphatically and with dignity. "He says he conies to smoke the pipe of +peace with the Saganaw, and yet he talks of spilling their blood as if +it was water from the lake. What does the Ottawa mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" exclaimed the Indian, in his surprise. "My father is right, but +the Ottawa and the Saganaw have not yet smoked together. When they +have, the hatchet will be buried for ever. Until then, they are still +enemies." +</P> + +<P> +During this long and important colloquy of the leading parties, the +strictest silence had been preserved by the remainder of the council. +The inferior chiefs had continued deliberately puffing the smoke from +their curled lips, as they sat cross-legged on their mats, and nodding +their heads at intervals in confirmation of the occasional appeal made +by the rapid glance of the Ottawa, and uttering their guttural "Ugh!" +whenever any observation of the parlant parties touched their feelings, +or called forth their surprise. The officers had been no less silent +and attentive listeners, to a conversation on the issue of which hung +so many dear and paramount interests. A pause in the conference gave +them an opportunity of commenting in a low tone on the communication +made, in the strong excitement of his pride, by the Ottawa chief, in +regard to the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis; who, it was +evident, swayed the councils of the Indians, and consequently exercised +an influence over the ultimate destinies of the English, which it was +impossible to contemplate without alarm. It was evident to all, from +whatsoever cause it might arise, this man cherished a rancour towards +certain individuals in the fort, inducing an anxiety in its reduction +scarcely equalled by that entertained on the part of the Indians +themselves. Beyond this, however, all was mystery and doubt; nor had +any clue been given to enable them to arrive even at a well founded +apprehension of the motives which had given birth to the vindictiveness +of purpose, so universally ascribed to him even by the savages +themselves. +</P> + +<P> +The chiefs also availed themselves of this pause in the conversation of +the principals, to sustain a low and animated discussion. Those of the +Shawanee and Delaware nations were especially earnest; and, as they +spoke across the Ottawa, betrayed, by their vehemence of gesture, the +action of some strong feeling upon their minds, the precise nature of +which could not be ascertained from their speech at the opposite +extremity of the room. The Ottawa did not deign to join in their +conversation, but sat smoking his pipe in all the calm and forbidding +dignity of a proud Indian warrior conscious of his own importance. +</P> + +<P> +"Does the great chief of the Ottawas, then, seek for peace in his heart +at length?" resumed the governor; "or is he come to the strong hold of +Detroit, as he went to the other strong holds, with deceit on his lips?" +</P> + +<P> +The Indian slowly removed his pipe from his mouth, fixed his keen eye +searchingly on that of the questioner for nearly a minute, and then +briefly and haughtily said, "The Ottawa chief has spoken." +</P> + +<P> +"And do the great chiefs of the Shawanees, and the great chiefs of the +Delawares, and the great chiefs of the other nations, ask for peace +also?" demanded the governor. "If so, let them speak for themselves, +and for their warriors." +</P> + +<P> +We will not trespass on the reader, on whom we have already inflicted +too much of this scene, by a transcript of the declarations of the +inferior chiefs. Suffice it to observe, each in his turn avowed motives +similar to those of the Ottawa for wishing the hatchet might be buried +for ever, and that their young men should mingle once more in +confidence, not only with the English troops, but with the settlers, +who would again be brought into the country at the cessation of +hostilities. When each had spoken, the Ottawa passed the pipe of +ceremony, with which he was provided, to the governor. +</P> + +<P> +The latter put it to his lips, and commenced smoking. The Indians +keenly, and half furtively, watched the act; and looks of deep +intelligence, that escaped not the notice of the equally anxious and +observant officers, passed among them. +</P> + +<P> +"The pipe of the great chief of the Ottawas smokes well," calmly +remarked the governor; "but the Ottawa chief, in his hurry to come and +ask for peace, has made a mistake. The pipe and all its ornaments are +red like blood: it is the pipe of war, and not the pipe of peace. The +great chief of the Ottawas will be angry with himself; he has entered +the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sat in the council, without doing +any good for his young men. The Ottawa must come again." +</P> + +<P> +A deep but subdued expression of disappointment passed over the +features of the chiefs. They watched the countenances of the officers, +to see whether the substitution of one pipe for the other had been +attributed, in their estimation, to accident or design. There was +nothing, however, to indicate the slightest doubt of their sincerity. +</P> + +<P> +"My father is right," replied the Indian, with an appearance of +embarrassment, which, whether natural or feigned, had nothing +suspicious in it. "The great chief of the Ottawas has been foolish, +like an old woman. The young chiefs of his tribe will laugh at him for +this. But the Ottawa chief will come again, and the other chiefs with +him, for, as my father sees, they all wish for peace; and that my +father may know all the nations wish for peace, as well as their head +men, the warriors of the Ottawa, and of the Shawanee, and of the +Delaware, shall play at ball upon the common, to amuse his young men, +while the chiefs sit in council with the chiefs of the Saganaw. The red +skins shall come naked, and without their rifles and their tomahawks; +and even the squaws of the warriors shall come upon the common, to show +the Saganaw they may be without fear. Does my father hear?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Ottawa chief says well," returned the governor; "but will the pale +friend of the Ottawa come also to take his seat in the council hall? +The great chief has said the pale warrior has become the second chief +among the Ottawas; and that when he is dead, the pale warrior will lead +the Ottawas, and take the first seat in the council. He, too, should +smoke the pipe of peace with the Saganaw, that they may know he is no +longer their enemy." +</P> + +<P> +The Indian hesitated, uttering merely his quick ejaculatory "Ugh!" in +expression of his surprise at so unexpected a requisition. "The pale +warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, is very sick," he at length said; +"but if the Great Spirit should give him back his voice before the +chiefs come again to the council, the pale face will come too. If my +father does not see him then, he will know the friend of the Ottawa +chief is very sick." +</P> + +<P> +The governor deemed it prudent not to press the question too closely, +lest in so doing he should excite suspicion, and defeat his own object. +"When will the Ottawa and the other chiefs come again?" he asked; "and +when will their warriors play at ball upon the common, that the Saganaw +may see them and be amused?" +</P> + +<P> +"When the sun has travelled so many times," replied Ponteac, holding up +three fingers of his left hand. "Then will the Ottawa and the other +chiefs bring their young warriors and their women." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too soon," was the reply; "the Saganaw must have time to collect +their presents, that they may give them to the young warriors who are +swiftest in the race, and the most active at the ball. The great chief +of the Ottawas, too, must let the settlers of the pale flag, who are +the friends of the red skins, bring in food for the Saganaw, that a +great feast may be given to the chiefs, and to the warriors, and that +the Saganaw may make peace with the Ottawas and the other nations as +becomes a great people. In twice so many days," holding up three of his +fingers in imitation of the Indian, "the Saganaw will be ready to +receive the chiefs in council, that they may smoke the pipe of peace, +and bury the hatchet for ever. What says the great chief of the +Ottawas?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is good," was the reply of the Indian, his eye lighting up with +deep and exulting expression. "The settlers of the pale flag shall +bring food to the Saganaw. The Ottawa chief will send them, and he will +desire his young men not to prevent them. In so many days, then," +indicating with his fingers, "the great chiefs will sit again in +council with the Saganaw, and the Ottawa chief will not be a fool to +bring the pipe he does not want." +</P> + +<P> +With this assurance the conference terminated. Ponteac raised his tall +frame from the mat on which he had been squatted, nodded +condescendingly to the governor, and strode haughtily into the square +or area of the fort. The other chiefs followed his example; and to +Major Blackwater was again assigned the duty of accompanying them +without the works. The glance of the savages, and that of Ponteac in +particular, was less wary than at their entrance. Each seemed to +embrace every object on which the eye could rest, as if to fix its +position indelibly in his memory. The young chief, who had been so +suddenly and opportunely checked while in the very act of pealing forth +his terrible war whoop, again looked up at the windows of the block +house, in quest of those whom his savage instinct had already devoted +in intention to his tomahawk, but they were no longer there. Such was +the silence that reigned every where, the fort appeared to be tenanted +only by the few men of the guard, who lingered near their stations, +attentively watching the Indians, as they passed towards the gate. A +very few minutes sufficed to bring the latter once more in the midst of +their warriors, whom, for a few moments, they harangued earnestly, when +the whole body again moved off in the direction of their encampment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0205"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<P> +The week that intervened between the visit of the chiefs and the day +appointed for their second meeting in council, was passed by the +garrison in perfect freedom from alarm, although, as usual, in diligent +watchfulness and preparations for casualties. In conformity with his +promise, the Indian had despatched many of the Canadian settlers, with +such provisions as the country then afforded, to the governor, and +these, happy to obtain the gold of the troops in return for what they +could conveniently spare, were not slow in availing themselves of the +permission. Dried bears' meat, venison, and Indian corn, composed the +substance of these supplies, which were in sufficient abundance to +produce a six weeks' increase to the stock of the garrison. Hitherto +they had been subsisting, in a great degree, upon salt provisions; the +food furtively supplied by the Canadians being necessarily, from their +dread of detection, on so limited a scale, that a very small portion of +the troops had been enabled to profit by it. This, therefore, was an +important and unexpected benefit, derived from the falling in of the +garrison with the professed views of the savages; and one which, +perhaps, few officers would, like Colonel de Haldimar, have possessed +the forethought to have secured. But although it served to relieve the +animal wants of the man, there was little to remove his moral +inquietude. Discouraged by the sanguinary character of the warfare in +which they seemed doomed to be for ever engaged, and harassed by +constant watchings,—seldom taking off their clothes for weeks +together,—the men had gradually been losing their energy of spirit, in +the contemplation of the almost irremediable evils by which they were +beset; and looked forward with sad and disheartening conviction to a +fate, that all things tended to prove to them was unavoidable, however +the period of its consummation might be protracted. Among the officers, +this dejection, although proceeding from a different cause, was no less +prevalent; and notwithstanding they sought to disguise it before their +men, when left to themselves, they gave unlimited rein to a despondency +hourly acquiring strength, as the day fixed on for the second council +with the Indians drew near. +</P> + +<P> +At length it came, that terrible and eventful day, and, as if in +mockery of those who saw no beauty in its golden beams, arrayed in all +the gorgeous softness of its autumnal glory. Sad and heavy were the +hearts of many within that far distant and isolated fort, as they rose, +at the first glimmering of light above the horizon, to prepare for the +several duties assigned them. All felt the influence of a feeling that +laid prostrate the moral energies even of the boldest: but there was +one young officer in particular, who exhibited a dejection, +degenerating almost into stupefaction; and more than once, when he +received an order from his superior, hesitated as one who either heard +not, or, in attempting to perform it, mistook the purport of his +instructions, and executed some entirely different duty. The +countenance of this officer, whose attenuated person otherwise bore +traces of languor and debility, but too plainly marked the +abstractedness and terror of his mind, while the set stiff features and +contracted muscles of the face contributed to give an expression of +vacuity, that one who knew him not might have interpreted unfavourably. +Several times, during the inspection of his company at the early +parade, he was seen to raise his head, and throw forward his ear, as if +expecting to catch the echo of some horrible and appalling cry, until +the men themselves remarked, and commented, by interchange of looks, on +the singular conduct of their officer, whose thoughts had evidently no +connection with the duty he was performing, or the spot on which he +stood. +</P> + +<P> +When this customary inspection had been accomplished,—how imperfectly, +has been seen,—and the men dismissed from their ranks, the same young +officer was observed, by one who followed his every movement with +interest, to ascend that part of the rampart which commanded an +unbroken view of the country westward, from the point where the +encampment of the Indians was supposed to lie, down to the bridge on +which the terrible tragedy of Halloway's death had been so recently +enacted. Unconscious of the presence of two sentinels, who moved to and +fro near their respective posts, on either side of him, the young +officer folded his arms, and gazed in that direction for some minutes, +with his whole soul riveted on the scene. Then, as if overcome by +recollections called up by that on which he gazed, he covered his eyes +hurriedly with his hands, and betrayed, by the convulsed movement of +his slender form, he was weeping bitterly. This paroxysm past, he +uncovered his face, sank with one knee upon the ground, and upraising +his clasped hands, as if in appeal to his God, seemed to pray deeply +and fervently. In this attitude he continued for some moments, when he +became sensible of the approach of an intruder. He raised himself from +his knee, turned, and beheld one whose countenance was stamped with a +dejection scarcely inferior to his own. It was Captain Blessington. +</P> + +<P> +"Charles, my dear Charles!" exclaimed the latter hurriedly, as he laid +his hand upon the shoulder of the emaciated De Haldimar, "consider you +are not alone. For God's sake, check this weakness! There are men +observing you on every side, and your strange manner has already been +the subject of remark in the company." +</P> + +<P> +"When the heart is sick, like mine," replied the youth, in a tone of +fearful despondency, "it is alike reckless of forms, and careless of +appearances. I trust, however," and here spoke the soldier, "there are +few within this fort who will believe me less courageous, because I +have been seen to bend my knee in supplication to my God. I did not +think that YOU, Blessington, would have been the first to condemn the +act." +</P> + +<P> +"I condemn it, Charles! you mistake me, indeed you do," feelingly +returned his captain, secretly pained at the mild reproach contained in +the concluding sentence; "but there are two things to be considered. In +the first instance, the men, who are yet in ignorance of the great +evils with which we are threatened, may mistake the cause of your +agitation; you were in tears just now, Charles, and the sentinels must +have remarked it as well as myself. I would not have them to believe +that one of their officers was affected by the anticipation of coming +disaster, in a way their own hearts are incapable of estimating. You +understand me, Charles? I would not have them too much discouraged by +an example that may become infectious." +</P> + +<P> +"I DO understand you, Blessington," and a forced and sickly smile +played for a moment over the wan yet handsome features of the young +officer; "you would not have me appear a weeping coward in their eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, dear Charles, I did not say it." +</P> + +<P> +"But you meant it, Blessington; yet, think not,"—and he warmly pressed +the hand of his captain,—"think not, I repeat, I take your hint in any +other than the friendly light in which it was intended. That I have +been no coward, however, I hope I have given proof more than once +before the men, most of whom have known me from my very cradle; yet, +whatever they may think, is to me, at this moment, a matter of utter +indifference. Blessington," and again the tears rolled from his fixed +eyes over his cheek, while he pointed with his finger to the western +horizon, "I have neither thought nor feeling for myself; my whole heart +lies buried there. Oh, God of Heaven!" he pursued after a pause, and +again raising his eyes in supplication, "avert the dreadful destiny +that awaits my beloved sister." +</P> + +<P> +"Charles, Charles, if only for that sister's sake, then, calm an +agitation which, if thus indulged in, will assuredly destroy you. All +will yet be well. The delay obtained by your father has been sufficient +for the purpose proposed. Let us hope for the best: if we are deceived +in our expectation, it will then be time enough to indulge in a grief, +which could scarcely be exceeded, were the fearful misgivings of your +mind to be realised before your eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"Blessington," returned the young officer,—and his features exhibited +the liveliest image of despair,—"all hope has long since been extinct +within my breast. See you yon theatre of death?" he mournfully pursued, +pointing to the fatal bridge, which was thrown into full relief against +the placid bosom of the Detroit: "recollect you the scene that was +acted on it? As for me, it is ever present to my mind,—it haunts me in +my thoughts by day, and in my dreams by night. I shall never forget it +while memory is left to curse me with the power of retrospection. On +the very spot on which I now stand was I borne in a chair, to witness +the dreadful punishment; you see the stone at my feet, I marked it by +that. I saw you conduct Halloway to the centre of the bridge; I beheld +him kneel to receive his death; I saw, too, the terrible race for life, +that interrupted the proceedings; I marked the sudden upspring of +Halloway to his feet upon the coffin, and the exulting waving of his +hand, as he seemed to recognise the rivals for mastery in that race. +Then was heard the fatal volley, and I saw the death-struggle of him +who had saved my brother's life. I could have died, too, at that +moment; and would to Providence I had! but it was otherwise decreed. My +aching interest was, for a moment, diverted by the fearful chase now +renewed upon the height; and, in common with those around me, I watched +the efforts of the pursuer and the pursued with painful earnestness and +doubt as to the final result. Ah, Blessington, why was not this all? +The terrible shriek, uttered at the moment when the fugitive fell, +apparently dead, at the feet of the firing party, reached us even here. +I felt as if my heart must have burst, for I knew it to be the shriek +of poor Ellen Halloway,—the suffering wife,—the broken-hearted woman +who had so recently, in all the wild abandonment of her grief, wetted +my pillow, and even my cheek, with her burning tears, while +supplicating an intercession with my father for mercy, which I knew it +would be utterly fruitless to promise. Oh, Blessington," pursued the +sensitive and affectionate young officer, "I should vainly attempt to +paint all that passed in my mind at that dreadful moment. Nothing but +the depth of my despair gave me strength to support the scene +throughout. I saw the frantic and half-naked woman glide like a phantom +past the troops, dividing the air with the rapidity of thought. I knew +it to be Ellen; for the discovery of her exchange of clothes with one +of the drum boys of the grenadiers was made soon after you left the +fort. I saw her leap upon the coffin, and, standing over the body of +her unhappy husband, raise her hands to heaven in adjuration, and my +heart died within me. I recollected the words she had spoken on a +previous occasion, during the first examination of Halloway, and I felt +it to be the prophetic denunciation, then threatened, that she was now +uttering on all the race of De Haldimar. I saw no more, Blessington. +Sick, dizzy, and with every faculty of my mind annihilated, I turned +away from the horrid scene, and was again borne to my room. I tried to +give vent to my overcharged heart in tears; but the power was denied +me, and I sank at once into that stupefaction which you have since +remarked in me, and which has been increasing every hour. What +additional cause I have had for the indulgence of this confirmed +despondency you are well acquainted with. It is childish, it is +unsoldierlike, I admit: but, alas! that dreadful scene is eternally +before my eyes, and absorbs my mind, to the exclusion of every other +feeling. I have not a thought or a care but for the fate that too +certainly awaits those who are most dear to me; and if this be a +weakness, it is one I shall never have the power to shake off. In a +word, Blessington, I am heart-broken." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Blessington was deeply affected; for there was a solemnity in +the voice and manner of the young officer that carried conviction to +the heart; and it was some moments before he could so far recover +himself as to observe,— +</P> + +<P> +"That scene, Charles, was doubtless a heart-rending one to us all; for +I well recollect, on turning to remark the impression made on my men +when the wretched Ellen Halloway pronounced her appalling curse to have +seen the large tears coursing each other over the furrowed cheeks of +some of our oldest soldiers: and if THEY could feel thus, how much more +acute must have been the grief of those immediately interested in its +application!" +</P> + +<P> +"THEIR tears were not for the denounced race of De Haldimar," returned +the youth,—"they were shed for their unhappy comrade—they were wrung +from their stubborn hearts by the agonising grief of the wife of +Halloway." +</P> + +<P> +"That this was the case in part, I admit," returned Captain +Blessington. "The feelings of the men partook of a mixed character. It +was evident that grief for Halloway, compassion for his wife, secret +indignation and, it may be, disgust at the severity of your father, and +sorrow for his innocent family, who were included in that denunciation, +predominated with equal force in their hearts at the same moment. There +was an expression that told how little they would have pitied any +anguish of mind inflicted on their colonel, provided his children, whom +they loved, were not to be sacrificed to its accomplishment." +</P> + +<P> +"You admit, then, Blessington, although indirectly," replied the young +De Haldimar in a voice of touching sorrow, "that the consummation of +the sacrifice IS to be looked for. Alas! it is that on which my mind +perpetually lingers; yet, Heaven knows, my fears are not for myself." +</P> + +<P> +"You mistake me, dearest Charles. I look upon the observations of the +unhappy woman as the ravings of a distracted mind—the last wild +outpourings of a broken heart, turning with animal instinct on the hand +that has inflicted its death-blow." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, why did she except no one member of that family!" said the unhappy +De Haldimar, pursuing rather the chain of his reflections than replying +to the observation of his captain. "Had the weight of her malediction +fallen on all else than my adored sister, I could have borne the +infliction, and awaited the issue with resignation, if not without +apprehension. But my poor gentle and unoffending Clara,—alike innocent +of the cause, and ignorant of the effect,—what had she done to be +included in this terrible curse?—she, who, in the warm and generous +affection of her nature, had ever treated Ellen Halloway rather as a +sister than as the dependant she always appeared." Again he covered his +eyes with his hands, to conceal the starting tears. +</P> + +<P> +"De Haldimar," said Captain Blessington reprovingly, but mildly, "this +immoderate grief is wrong—it is unmanly, and should be repressed. I +can feel and understand the nature of your sorrow; but others may not +judge so favourably. We shall soon be summoned to fall in; and I would +not that Mr. Delme, in particular, should notice an emotion he is so +incapable of understanding." +</P> + +<P> +The hand of the young officer dropped from his face to the hilt of his +sword. His cheek became scarlet; and even through the tears which he +half choked himself to command, there was an unwonted flashing from his +blue eye, that told how deeply the insinuation had entered into his +heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Think you, Captain Blessington," he proudly retorted, "there is an +officer in the fort who should dare to taunt me with my feelings as you +have done? I came here, sir, in the expectation I should be alone. At a +fitting hour I shall be found where Captain Blessington's subaltern +should be—with his company." +</P> + +<P> +"De Haldimar—dear De Haldimar, forgive me!" returned his captain. +"Heaven knows I would not, on any consideration, wantonly inflict pain +on your sensitive heart. My design was to draw you out of this +desponding humour; and with this view I sought to arouse your pride, +but certainly not to wound your feelings. De Haldimar," he concluded, +with marked expression, "you must not, indeed, feel offended with one +who has known and esteemed you from very boyhood. Friendship and +interest in your deep affliction of spirit alone brought me here—the +same feelings prompted my remark. Do you not believe me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," impressively returned the young man, grasping the hand that was +extended to him in amity. "It is I, rather, Blessington, who should ask +you to forgive my petulance; but, indeed, indeed," and again his tone +faltered, and his eye was dimmed, "I am more wretched even than I am +willing to confess. Pardon my silly conduct—it was but the vain and +momentary flashing of the soldier's spirit impatient of an assumed +imputation, and the man less than the profession is to be taxed with +it. But it is past; and already do you behold me once more the tame and +apprehensive being I must ever continue until all is over." +</P> + +<P> +"What can I possibly urge to console one who seems so willing to nurse +into conviction all the melancholy imaginings of a diseased mind," +observed Captain Blessington, in a voice that told how deeply he felt +for the situation of his young friend. "Recollect, dearest Charles, the +time that has been afforded to our friends. More than a week has gone +by since they left the fort, and a less period was deemed sufficient +for their purpose. Before this they must have gained their destination. +In fact, it is my positive belief they have; for there could be nothing +to detect them in their disguise. Had I the famous lamp of Aladdin," he +pursued, in a livelier tone, "over the history of which Clara and +yourself used to spend so many hours in childhood, I have no doubt I +could show them to you quietly seated within the fort, recounting their +adventures to Clara and her cousin, and discoursing of their absent +friends." +</P> + +<P> +"Would I to Heaven you had the power to do so!" replied De Haldimar, +smiling faintly at the conceit, while a ray of hope beamed for a moment +upon his sick soul; "for then, indeed, would all my fears for the +present be at rest. But you forget, Blessington, the encounter stated +to have taken place between them and that terrible stranger near the +bridge. Besides, is it not highly probable the object of their +expedition was divined by that singular and mysterious being, and that +means have been taken to intercept their passage? If so, all hope is at +an end." +</P> + +<P> +"Why persevere in viewing only the more sombre side of the picture?" +returned his friend. "In your anxiety to anticipate evil, Charles, you +have overlooked one important fact. Ponteac distinctly stated that his +ruffian friend was still lying deprived of consciousness and speech +within his tent, and yet two days had elapsed since the encounter was +said to have taken place. Surely we have every reason then to infer +they were beyond all reach of pursuit, even admitting, what is by no +means probable the recovery of the wretch immediately after the return +of the chiefs from the council." +</P> + +<P> +A gleam of satisfaction, but so transient as to be scarcely noticeable, +passed over the pale features of the youthful De Haldimar. He looked +his thanks to the kind officer who was thus solicitous to tender him +consolation; and was about to reply, when the attention of both was +diverted by the report of a musket from the rear of the fort. Presently +afterwards, the word was passed along the chain of sentinels, upon the +ramparts, that the Indians were issuing in force from the forest upon +the common near the bomb-proof. Then was heard, as the sentinel at the +gate delivered the password, the heavy roll of the drum summoning to +arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! here already!" said Captain Blessington, as, glancing towards the +forest, he beheld the skirt of the wood now alive with dusky human +forms: "Ponteac's visit is earlier than we had been taught to expect; +but we are as well prepared to receive him now, as later; and, in fact, +the sooner the interview is terminated, the sooner we shall know what +we have to depend upon. Come, Charles, we must join the company, and +let me entreat you to evince less despondency before the men. It is +hard, I know, to sustain an artificial character under such +disheartening circumstances; still, for example's sake, it must be +done." +</P> + +<P> +"What I can I will do, Blessington," rejoined the youth, as they both +moved from the ramparts; "but the task is, in truth, one to which I +find myself wholly unequal. How do I know that, even at this moment, my +defenceless, terrified, and innocent sister may not be invoking the +name and arm of her brother to save her from destruction." +</P> + +<P> +"Trust in Providence, Charles. Even although our worst apprehensions be +realised, as I fervently trust they will not, your sister may be +spared. The Canadian could not have been unfaithful, or we should have +learnt something of his treachery from the Indians. Another week will +confirm us in the truth or fallacy of our impressions. Until then, let +us arm our hearts with hope. Trust me, we shall yet see the laughing +eyes of Clara fill with tears of affection, as I recount to her all her +too sensitive and too desponding brother has suffered for her sake." +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar made no reply. He deeply felt the kind intention of his +captain, but was far from cherishing the hope that had been +recommended. He sighed heavily, pressed the arm, on which he leaned, in +gratitude for the motive, and moved silently with his friend to join +their company below the rampart. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0206"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<P> +Meanwhile the white flag had again been raised by the Indians upon the +bomb-proof; and this having been readily met by a corresponding signal +from the fort, a numerous band of savages now issued from the cover +with which their dark forms had hitherto been identified, and spread +themselves far and near upon the common. On this occasion they were +without arms, offensive or defensive, of any kind, if we may except the +knife which was always carried at the girdle, and which constituted a +part rather of their necessary dress than of their warlike equipment. +These warriors might have been about five hundred in number, and were +composed chiefly of picked men from the nations of the Ottawas, the +Delawares, and the Shawanees; each race being distinctly recognisable +from the others by certain peculiarities of form and feature which +individualised, if we may so term it, the several tribes. Their only +covering was the legging before described, composed in some instances +of cloth, but principally of smoked deerskin, and the flap that passed +through the girdle around the loins, by which the straps attached to +the leggings were secured. Their bodies, necks, and arms were, with the +exception of a few slight ornaments, entirely naked; and even the +blanket, that served them as a couch by night and a covering by day, +had, with one single exception, been dispensed with, apparently with a +view to avoid any thing like encumbrance in their approaching sport. +Each individual was provided with a stout sapling of about three feet +in length, curved, and flattened at the root extremity, like that used +at the Irish hurdle; which game, in fact, the manner of ball-playing +among the Indians in every way resembled. +</P> + +<P> +Interspersed among these warriors were a nearly equal number of squaws. +These were to be seen lounging carelessly about in small groups, and +were of all ages; from the hoary-headed, shrivelled-up hag, whose eyes +still sparkled with a fire that her lank and attenuated frame denied, +to the young girl of twelve, whose dark and glowing cheek, rounded +bust, and penetrating glance, bore striking evidence of the +precociousness of Indian beauty. These latter looked with evident +interest on the sports of the younger warriors, who, throwing down +their hurdles, either vied with each other in the short but incredibly +swift foot-race, or indulged themselves in wrestling and leaping; while +their companions, abandoned to the full security they felt to be +attached to the white flag waving on the fort, lay at their lazy length +upon the sward, ostensibly following the movements of the several +competitors in these sports, but in reality with heart and eye directed +solely to the fortification that lay beyond. Each of these females, in +addition to the machecoti, or petticoat, which in one solid square of +broad-cloth was tightly wrapped around the loins, also carried a +blanket loosely thrown around the person, but closely confined over the +shoulders in front, and reaching below the knee. There was an air of +constraint in their movements, which accorded ill with the occasion of +festivity for which they were assembled; and it was remarkable, whether +it arose from deference to those to whom they were slaves, as well as +wives and daughters, or from whatever other cause it might be, none of +them ventured to recline themselves upon the sward in imitation of the +warriors. +</P> + +<P> +When it had been made known to the governor that the Indians had begun +to develop themselves in force upon the common unarmed, yet redolent +with the spirit that was to direct their meditated sports, the soldiers +were dismissed from their respective companies to the ramparts; where +they were now to be seen, not drawn up in formidable and hostile array, +but collected together in careless groups, and simply in their +side-arms. This reciprocation of confidence on the part of the garrison +was acknowledged by the Indians by marks of approbation, expressed as +much by the sudden and classic disposition of their fine forms into +attitudes strikingly illustrative of their admiration and pleasure, as +by the interjectional sounds that passed from one to the other of the +throng. From the increased alacrity with which they now lent themselves +to the preparatory and inferior amusements of the day, it was evident +their satisfaction was complete. +</P> + +<P> +Hitherto the principal chiefs had, as on the previous occasion, +occupied the bomb-proof; and now, as then, they appeared to be +deliberating among themselves, but evidently in a more energetic and +serious manner. At length they separated, when Ponteac, accompanied by +the chiefs who had attended him on the former day, once more led in the +direction of the fort. The moment of his advance was the signal for the +commencement of the principal game. In an instant those of the warriors +who lay reclining on the sward sprang to their feet, while the +wrestlers and racers resumed their hurdles, and prepared themselves for +the trial of mingled skill and swiftness. At first they formed a dense +group in the centre of the common; and then, diverging in two equal +files both to the right and to the left of the immediate centre, where +the large ball was placed, formed an open chain, extending from the +skirt of the forest to the commencement of the village. On the one side +were ranged the Delawares and the Shawanees, and on the other the more +numerous nation of the Ottawas. The women of these several tribes, +apparently much interested in the issue of an amusement in which the +manliness and activity of their respective friends were staked, had +gradually and imperceptibly gained the front of the fort, where they +were now huddled in groups at about twenty paces from the drawbridge, +and bending eagerly forward to command the movements of the +ball-players. +</P> + +<P> +In his circuit round the walls, Ponteac was seen to remark the +confiding appearance of the unarmed soldiery with a satisfaction that +was not sought to be disguised; and from the manner in which he threw +his glance along each face of the rampart, it was evident his object +was to embrace the numerical strength collected there. It was moreover +observed, when he passed the groups of squaws on his way to the gate, +he addressed some words in a strange tongue to the elder matrons of +each. +</P> + +<P> +Once more the dark warriors were received at the gate by Major +Blackwater; and, as with firm but elastic tread, they moved across the +square, each threw his fierce eyes rapidly and anxiously around, and +with less of concealment in his manner than had been manifested on the +former occasion. On every hand the same air of nakedness and desertion +met their gaze. Not even a soldier of the guard was to be seen; and +when they cast their eyes upwards to the windows of the blockhouses, +they were found to be tenantless as the area through which they passed. +A gleam of fierce satisfaction pervaded the swarthy countenances of the +Indians; and the features of Ponteac, in particular, expressed the +deepest exultation. Instead of leading his party, he now brought up the +rear; and when arrived in the centre of the fort, he, without any +visible cause for the accident, stumbled, and fell to the earth. The +other chiefs for a moment lost sight of their ordinary gravity, and +marked their sense of the circumstance by a prolonged sound, partaking +of the mingled character of a laugh and a yell. Startled at the cry, +Major Blackwater, who was in front, turned to ascertain the cause. At +that moment Ponteac sprang lightly again to his feet, responding to the +yell of his confederates by another even more startling, fierce, and +prolonged than their own. He then stalked proudly to the head of the +party, and even preceded Major Blackwater into the council room. +</P> + +<P> +In this rude theatre of conference some changes had been made since +their recent visit, which escaped not the observation of the +quick-sighted chiefs. Their mats lay in the position they had +previously occupied, and the chairs of the officers were placed as +before, but the room itself had been considerably enlarged. The slight +partition terminating the interior extremity of the mess-room, and +dividing it from that of one of the officers, had been removed; and +midway through this, extending entirely across, was drawn a curtain of +scarlet cloth, against which the imposing figure of the governor, +elevated as his seat was above those of the other officers, was thrown +into strong relief. There was another change, that escaped not the +observation of the Indians, and that was, not more than one half of the +officers who had been present at the first conference being now in the +room. Of these latter, one had, moreover, been sent away by the +governor the moment the chiefs were ushered in. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" ejaculated the proud leader, as he took his seat +unceremoniously, and yet not without reluctance, upon the mat. "The +council-room of my father is bigger than when the Ottawa was here +before, yet the number of his chiefs is not so many." +</P> + +<P> +"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the Saganaw has promised the +red skins a feast," returned the governor. "Were he to leave it to his +young warriors to provide it, he would not be able to receive the +Ottawa like a great chief, and to make peace with him as he could wish." +</P> + +<P> +"My father has a great deal of cloth, red, like the blood of a pale +face," pursued the Indian, rather in demand than in observation, as he +pointed with his finger to the opposite end of the room. "When the +Ottawa was here last, he did not see it." +</P> + +<P> +"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the great father of the +Saganaw has a big heart to make presents to the red skins. The cloth +the Ottawa sees there is sufficient to make leggings for the chiefs of +all the nations." +</P> + +<P> +Apparently satisfied with this reply, the fierce Indian uttered one of +his strong guttural and assentient "ughs," and then commenced filling +the pipe of peace, correct on the present occasion in all its +ornaments, which was handed to him by the Delaware chief. It was +remarked by the officers this operation took up an unusually long +portion of his time, and that he frequently turned his ear, like a +horse stirred by the huntsman's horn, with quick and irrepressible +eagerness towards the door. +</P> + +<P> +"The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa chief, is not here," said +the governor, as he glanced his eye along the semicircle of Indians. +"How is this? Is his voice still sick, that he cannot come; or has the +great chief of the Ottawas forgotten to tell him?" +</P> + +<P> +"The voice of the pale warrior is still sick, and he cannot speak," +replied the Indian. "The Ottawa chief is very sorry; for the tongue of +his friend the pale face is full of wisdom." +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the last words escaped his lips, when a wild shrill cry +from without the fort rang on the ears of the assembled council, and +caused a momentary commotion among the officers. It arose from a single +voice, and that voice could not be mistaken by any who had heard it +once before. A second or two, during which the officers and chiefs kept +their eyes intently fixed on each other, passed anxiously away, and +then nearer to the gate, apparently on the very drawbridge itself, was +pealed forth the wild and deafening yell of a legion of devilish +voices. At that sound, the Ottawa and the other chiefs sprang to their +feet, and their own fierce cry responded to that yet vibrating on the +ears of all. Already were their gleaming tomahawks brandished wildly +over their heads, and Ponteac had even bounded a pace forward to reach +the governor with the deadly weapon, when, at the sudden stamping of +the foot of the latter upon the floor, the scarlet cloth in the rear +was thrown aside, and twenty soldiers, their eyes glancing along the +barrels of their levelled muskets, met the startled gaze of the +astonished Indians. +</P> + +<P> +An instant was enough to satisfy the keen chief of the true state of +the case. The calm composed mien of the officers, not one of whom had +even attempted to quit his seat, amid the din by which his ears were so +alarmingly assailed,—the triumphant, yet dignified, and even severe +expression of the governor's countenance; and, above all, the +unexpected presence of the prepared soldiery,—all these at once +assured him of the discovery of his treachery, and the danger that +awaited him. The necessity for an immediate attempt to join his +warriors without, was now obvious to the Ottawa; and scarcely had he +conceived the idea before it was sought to be executed. In a single +spring he gained the door of the mess-room, and, followed eagerly and +tumultuously by the other chiefs, to whose departure no opposition was +offered, in the next moment stood on the steps of the piazza that ran +along the front of the building whence he had issued. +</P> + +<P> +The surprise of the Indians on reaching this point, was now too +powerful to be dissembled; and, incapable either of advancing or +receding, they remained gazing on the scene before them with an air of +mingled stupefaction, rage, and alarm. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed +since they had proudly strode through the naked area of the fort; and +yet, even in that short space of time, its appearance had been entirely +changed. Not a part was there now of the surrounding buildings that was +not redolent with human life, and hostile preparation. Through every +window of the officers' low rooms, was to be seen the dark and frowning +muzzle of a field-piece, bearing upon the gateway; and behind these +were artillerymen, holding their lighted matches, supported again by +files of bayonets, that glittered in their rear. In the block-houses +the same formidable array of field-pieces and muskets was visible; +while from the four angles of the square, as many heavy guns, that had +been artfully masked at the entrance of the chiefs, seemed ready to +sweep away every thing that should come before them. The guard-room +near the gate presented the same hostile front. The doors of this, as +well as of the other buildings, had been firmly secured within; but +from every window affording cover to the troops, gleamed a line of +bayonets rising above the threatening field-pieces, pointed, at a +distance of little more than twelve feet, directly upon the gateway. In +addition to his musket, each man of the guard moreover held a hand +grenade, provided with a short fuze that could be ignited in a moment +from the matches of the gunners, and with immediate effect. The +soldiers in the block-houses were similarly provided. +</P> + +<P> +Almost magic as was the change thus suddenly effected in the appearance +of the garrison, it was not the most interesting feature in the +exciting scene. Choking up the gateway, in which they were completely +wedged, and crowding the drawbridge, a dense mass of dusky Indians were +to be seen casting their fierce glances around; yet paralysed in their +movements by the unlooked-for display of a resisting force, threatening +instant annihilation to those who should attempt either to advance or +to recede. Never, perhaps, were astonishment and disappointment more +forcibly depicted on the human countenance, than as they were now +exhibited by these men, who had already, in imagination, secured to +themselves an easy conquest. They were the warriors who had so recently +been engaged in the manly yet innocent exercise of the ball; but, +instead of the harmless hurdle, each now carried a short gun in one +hand and a gleaming tomahawk in the other. After the first general +yelling heard in the council-room, not a sound was uttered. Their burst +of rage and triumph had evidently been checked by the unexpected manner +of their reception, and they now stood on the spot on which the further +advance of each had been arrested, so silent and motionless, that, but +for the rolling of their dark eyes, as they keenly measured the +insurmountable barriers that were opposed to their progress, they might +almost have been taken for a wild group of statuary. +</P> + +<P> +Conspicuous at the head of these was he who wore the blanket; a tall +warrior, on whom rested the startled eye of every officer and soldier +who was so situated as to behold him. His face was painted black as +death; and as he stood under the arch of the gateway, with his white +turbaned head towering far above those of his companions, this +formidable and mysterious enemy might have been likened to the spirit +of darkness presiding over his terrible legions. +</P> + +<P> +In order to account for the extraordinary appearance of the Indians, +armed in every way for death, at a moment when neither gun nor tomahawk +was apparently within miles of their reach, it will be necessary to +revert to the first entrance of the chiefs into the fort. The fall of +Ponteac had been the effect of design; and the yell pealed forth by +him, on recovering his feet, as if in taunting reply to the laugh of +his comrades, was in reality a signal intended for the guidance of the +Indians without. These, now following up their game with increasing +spirit, at once changed the direction of their line, bringing the ball +nearer to the fort. In their eagerness to effect this object, they had +overlooked the gradual secession of the unarmed troops, spectators of +their sport from the ramparts, until scarcely more than twenty +stragglers were left. As they neared the gate, the squaws broke up +their several groups, and, forming a line on either hand of the road +leading to the drawbridge, appeared to separate solely with a view not +to impede the action of the players. For an instant a dense group +collected around the ball, which had been driven to within a hundred +yards of the gate, and fifty hurdles were crossed in their endeavours +to secure it, when the warrior, who formed the solitary exception to +the multitude, in his blanket covering, and who had been lingering in +the extreme rear of the party, came rapidly up to the spot where the +well-affected struggle was maintained. At his approach, the hurdles of +the other players were withdrawn, when, at a single blow from his +powerful arm, the ball was seen flying into the air in an oblique +direction, and was for a moment lost altogether to the view. When it +again met the eye, it was descending perpendicularly into the very +centre of the fort. +</P> + +<P> +With the fleetness of thought now commenced a race that had ostensibly +for its object the recovery of the lost ball; and in which, he who had +driven it with such resistless force outstripped them all. Their course +lay between the two lines of squaws; and scarcely had the head of the +bounding Indians reached the opposite extremity of those lines, when +the women suddenly threw back their blankets, and disclosed each a +short gun and a tomahawk. To throw away their hurdles and seize upon +these, was the work of an instant. Already, in imagination, was the +fort their own; and, such was the peculiar exultation of the black and +turbaned warrior, when he felt the planks of the drawbridge bending +beneath his feet, all the ferocious joy of his soul was pealed forth in +the terrible cry which, rapidly succeeded by that of the other Indians, +had resounded so fearfully through the council-room. What their +disappointment was, when, on gaining the interior, they found the +garrison prepared for their reception, has already been shown. +</P> + +<P> +"Secure that traitor, men!" exclaimed the governor, advancing into the +square, and pointing to the black warrior, whose quick eye was now +glancing on every side, to discover some assailable point in the +formidable defences of the troops. +</P> + +<P> +A laugh of scorn and derision escaped the lips of the warrior. "Is +there a man—are there any ten men, even with Governor de Haldimar at +their head, who will be bold enough to attempt it?" he asked. "Nay!" he +pursued, stepping boldly a pace or two in front of the wondering +savages,—"here I stand singly, and defy your whole garrison!" +</P> + +<P> +A sudden movement among the soldiers in the guard-room announced they +were preparing to execute the order of their chief. The eye of the +black warrior sparkled with ferocious pleasure; and he made a gesture +to his followers, which was replied to by the sudden tension of their +hitherto relaxed forms into attitudes of expectance and preparation. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay, men; quit not your cover for your lives!" commanded the +governor, in a loud deep voice:—"keep the barricades fast, and move +not." +</P> + +<P> +A cloud of anger and disappointment passed over the features of the +black warrior. It was evident the object of his bravado was to draw the +troops from their defences, that they might be so mingled with their +enemies as to render the cannon useless, unless friends and foes (which +was by no means probable) should alike be sacrificed. The governor had +penetrated the design in time to prevent the mischief. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment of uncontrollable rage, the savage warrior aimed his +tomahawk at the head of the governor. The latter stepped lightly aside, +and the steel sank with such force into one of the posts supporting the +piazza, that the quivering handle snapped close off at its head. At +that moment, a single shot, fired from the guard-house, was drowned in +the yell of approbation which burst from the lips of the dark crowd. +The turban of the warrior was, however, seen flying through the air, +carried away by the force of the bullet which had torn it from his +head. He himself was unharmed. +</P> + +<P> +"A narrow escape for us both, Colonel de Haldimar," he observed, as +soon as the yell had subsided, and with an air of the most perfect +unconcern. "Had my tomahawk obeyed the first impulse of my heart, I +should have cursed myself and died: as it is, I have reason to avoid +all useless exposure of my own life, at present. A second bullet may be +better directed; and to die, robbed of my revenge, would ill answer the +purpose of a life devoted to its attainment. Remember my pledge!" +</P> + +<P> +At the hasty command of the governor, a hundred muskets were raised to +the shoulders of his men; but, before a single eye could glance along +the barrel, the formidable and active warrior had bounded over the +heads of the nearest Indians into a small space that was left +unoccupied; when, stooping suddenly to the earth, he disappeared +altogether from the view of his enemies. A slight movement in the +centre of the numerous band crowding the gateway, and extending even +beyond the bridge, was now discernible: it was like the waving of a +field of standing corn, through which some animal rapidly winds its +tortuous course, bending aside as the object advances, and closing +again when it has passed. After the lapse of a minute, the terrible +warrior was seen to spring again to his feet, far in the rear of the +band; and then, uttering a fierce shout of exultation, to make good his +retreat towards the forest. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Ponteac and the other chiefs of the council continued rooted +to the piazza on which they had rushed at the unexpected display of the +armed men behind the scarlet curtain. The loud "Waugh" that burst from +the lips of all, on finding themselves thus foiled in their schemes of +massacre, had been succeeded, the instant afterwards, by feelings of +personal apprehension, which each, however, had collectedness enough to +disguise. Once the Ottawa made a movement as if he would have cleared +the space that kept him from his warriors; but the emphatical pointing +of the finger of Colonel de Haldimar to the levelled muskets of the men +in the block-houses prevented him, and the attempt was not repeated. It +was remarked by the officers, who also stood on the piazza, close +behind the chiefs, when the black warrior threw his tomahawk at the +governor, a shade of displeasure passed over the features of the +Ottawa; and that, when he found the daring attempt was not retaliated +on his people, his countenance had been momentarily lighted up with a +satisfied expression, apparently marking his sense of the forbearance +so unexpectedly shown. +</P> + +<P> +"What says the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked the governor +calmly, and breaking a profound silence that had succeeded to the last +fierce yell of the formidable being just departed. "Was the Saganaw not +right, when he said the Ottawa came with guile in his heart, and with a +lie upon his lips? But the Saganaw is not a fool, and he can read the +thoughts of his enemies upon their faces, and long before their lips +have spoken." +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" ejaculated the Indian; "my father is a great chief, and his head +is full of wisdom. Had he been feeble, like the other chiefs of the +Saganaw, the strong-hold of the Detroit must have fallen, and the red +skins would have danced their war-dance round the scalps of his young +men, even in the council-room where they came to talk of peace." +</P> + +<P> +"Does the great chief of the Ottawas see the big thunder of the +Saganaw?" pursued the governor: "if not, let him open his eyes and +look. The Saganaw has but to move his lips, and swifter than the +lightning would the pale faces sweep away the warriors of the Ottawa, +even where they now stand: in less time than the Saganaw is now +speaking, would they mow them down like the grass of the Prairie." +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" again exclaimed the chief, with mixed doggedness and fierceness: +"if what my father says is true, why does he not pour out his anger +upon the red skins?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let the great chief of the Ottawas listen," replied the governor with +dignity. "When the great chiefs of all the nations that are in league +with the Ottawas came last to the council, the Saganaw knew that they +carried deceit in their hearts, and that they never meant to smoke the +pipe of peace, or to bury the hatchet in the ground. The Saganaw might +have kept them prisoners, that their warriors might be without a head; +but he had given his word to the great chief of the Ottawas, and the +word of a Saganaw is never broken. Even now, while both the chiefs and +the warriors are in his power,—he will not slay them, for he wishes to +show the Ottawa the desire of the Saganaw is to be friendly with the +red skins, and not to destroy them. Wicked men from the Canadas have +whispered lies in the ear of the Ottawa; but a great chief should judge +for himself, and take council only from the wisdom of his own heart. +The Ottawa and his warriors may go," he resumed, after a short pause; +"the path by which they came is again open to them. Let them depart in +peace; the big thunder of the Saganaw shall not harm them." +</P> + +<P> +The countenance of the Indian, who had clearly seen the danger of his +position, wore an expression of surprise which could not be dissembled: +low exclamations passed between him and his companions; and, then +pointing to the tomahawk that lay half buried in the wood, he said, +doubtingly,— +</P> + +<P> +"It was the pale face, the friend of the great chief of the Ottawas, +who struck the hatchet at my father. The Ottawa is not a fool to +believe the Saganaw can sleep without revenge." +</P> + +<P> +"The great chief of the Ottawas shall know us better," was the reply. +"The young warriors of the Saganaw might destroy their enemies where +they now stand, but they seek not their blood. When the Ottawa chief +takes council from his own heart, and not from the lips of a cowardly +dog of a pale face, who strikes his tomahawk and then flies, his wisdom +will tell him to make peace with the Saganaw, whose warriors are +without treachery, even as they are without fear." +</P> + +<P> +Another of those deep interjectional "ughs" escaped the chest of the +proud Indian. +</P> + +<P> +"What my father says is good," he returned; "but the pale face is a +great warrior, and the Ottawa chief is his friend. The Ottawa will go." +</P> + +<P> +He then addressed a few sentences, in a tongue unknown to the officers, +to the swarthy and anxious crowd in front. These were answered by a +low, sullen, yet assentient grunt, from the united band, who now +turned, though with justifiable caution and distrust, and recrossed the +drawbridge without hinderance from the troops. Ponteac waited until the +last Indian had departed, and then making a movement to the governor, +which, with all its haughtiness, was meant to mark his sense of the +forbearance and good faith that had been manifested, once more stalked +proudly and calmly across the area, followed by the remainder of the +chiefs. The officers who were with the governor ascended to the +ramparts, to follow their movements; and it was not before their report +had been made, that the Indians were immerging once more into the heart +of the forest, the troops were withdrawn from their formidable +defences, and the gate of the fort again firmly secured. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0207"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<P> +While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succession of +incidents resulting from the mysterious entrance of the warrior of the +Fleur de lis into the English fort, be it our task to explain the +circumstances connected with the singular disappearance of Captain de +Haldimar, and the melancholy murder of his unfortunate servant. +</P> + +<P> +It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway, in the course of +his defence before the court-martial, distinctly stated the voice of +the individual who had approached his post, calling on the name of +Captain de Haldimar, on the night of the alarm, to have been that of a +female, and that the language in which they subsequently conversed was +that of the Ottawa Indians. This was strictly the fact; and the only +error into which the unfortunate soldier had fallen, had reference +merely to the character and motives of the party. He had naturally +imagined, as he had stated, it was some young female of the village, +whom attachment for his officer had driven to the desperate +determination of seeking an interview; nor was this impression at all +weakened by the subsequent discourse of the parties in the Indian +tongue, with which it was well known most of the Canadians, both male +and female, were more or less conversant. The subject of that short, +low, and hurried conference was, indeed, one that well warranted the +singular intrusion; and, in the declaration of Halloway, we have +already seen the importance and anxiety attached by the young officer +to the communication. Without waiting to repeat the motives assigned +for his departure, and the prayers and expostulations to which he had +recourse to overcome the determination and sense of duty of the +unfortunate sentinel, let us pass at once to the moment when, after +having cleared the ditch, conjointly with his faithful follower, in the +manner already shown, Captain de Haldimar first stood side by side with +his midnight visitant. +</P> + +<P> +The night, it has elsewhere been observed, was clear and starry, so +that objects upon the common, such as the rude stump that here and +there raised its dark low head above the surface, might be dimly seen +in the distance. To obviate the danger of discovery by the sentinels, +appeared to be the first study of the female; for, when Captain de +Haldimar, followed by his servant, had reached the spot on which she +stood, she put the forefinger of one hand to her lips, and with the +other pointed to his booted foot. A corresponding signal showed that +the lightness of the material offered little risk of betrayal. +Donellan, however, was made to doff his heavy ammunition shoes; and, +with this precaution, they all stole hastily along, under the shadows +of the projecting ramparts, until they had gained the extreme rear. +Here the female suddenly raised her tall figure from the stooping +position in which she, as well as her companions, had performed the +dangerous circuit; and, placing her finger once more significantly on +her lips, led in the direction of the bomb-proof, unperceived by the +sentinels, most of whom, it is probable, had, up to the moment of the +alarm subsequently given, been too much overcome by previous watching +and excitement to have kept the most vigilant look-out. +</P> + +<P> +Arrived at the skirt of the forest, the little party drew up within the +shadow of the ruin, and a short and earnest dialogue ensued, in Indian, +between the female and the officer. This was succeeded by a command +from the latter to his servant, who, after a momentary but respectful +expostulation, which, however, was utterly lost on him to whom it was +addressed, proceeded to divest himself of his humble apparel, assuming +in exchange the more elegant uniform of his superior. Donellan, who was +also of the grenadiers, was remarkable for the resemblance he bore, in +figure, to Captain de Haldimar; wanting, it is true, the grace and +freedom of movement of the latter, but still presenting an outline +which, in an attitude of profound repose, might, as it subsequently +did, have set even those who were most intimate with the officer at +fault. +</P> + +<P> +"This is well," observed the female, as the young man proceeded to +induct himself in the grey coat of his servant, having previously drawn +the glazed hat close over his waving and redundant hair: "if the +Saganaw is ready, Oucanasta will go." +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, and your honour does not mane to lave me behind!" exclaimed the +anxious soldier, as his captain now recommended him to stand closely +concealed near the ruin until his return. "Who knows what ambuscade the +she-divil may not lade your honour into; and thin who will you have to +bring you out of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Donellan, it must not be: I first intended it, as you may perceive +by my bringing you out; but the expedition on which I am going is of +the utmost importance to us all, and too much precaution cannot be +taken. I fear no ambuscade, for I can depend on the fidelity of my +guide; but the presence of a third person would only embarrass, without +assisting me in the least. You must remain behind; the woman insists +upon it, and there is no more to be said." +</P> + +<P> +"To ould Nick with the ugly winch, for her pains!" half muttered the +disappointed soldier to himself. "I wish it may be as your honour says; +but my mind misgives me sadly that evil will come of this. Has your +honour secured the pistols?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are here," returned his captain, placing a hand on either chest. +"And now, Donellan, mark me: I know nothing that can detain me longer +than an hour; at least the woman assures me, and I believe her, that I +may be back then; but it is well to guard against accidents. You must +continue here for the hour, and for the hour only. If I come not then, +return to the fort without delay, for the rope must be removed, and the +gate secured, before Halloway is relieved. The keys you will find in +the pocket of my uniform: when you have done with them, let them be +hung up in their proper place in the guard-room. My father must not +know either that Halloway suffered me to pass the gate, or that you +accompanied me." +</P> + +<P> +"Lord love us! your honour talks as if you nivir would return, giving +such a heap of orders!" exclaimed the startled man; "but if I go back +alone, as I trust in heaven I shall not, how am I to account for being +dressed in your honour's rigimintals?" +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you, Donellan," impatiently returned the officer, "that I shall +be back; but I only wish to guard against accidents. The instant you +get into the fort, you will take off my clothes and resume your own. +Who the devil is to see you in the uniform, unless it be Halloway?" +</P> + +<P> +"If the Saganaw would not see the earth red with the blood of his race, +he will go," interrupted the female. "Oucanasta can feel the breath of +the morning fresh upon her cheek, and the council of the chiefs must be +begun." +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw is ready, and Oucanasta shall lead the way," hastily +returned the officer. "One word more, Donellan;" and he pressed the +hand of his domestic kindly: "should I not return, you must, without +committing Halloway or yourself, cause my father to be apprised that +the Indians meditate a deep and treacherous plan to get possession of +the fort. What that plan is, I know not yet myself, neither does this +woman know; but she says that I shall hear it discussed unseen, even in +the heart of their own encampment. All you have to do is to acquaint my +father with the existence of danger. And now be cautious: above all +things, keep close under the shadow of the bomb-proof; for there are +scouts constantly prowling about the common, and the glittering of the +uniform in the starlight may betray you." +</P> + +<P> +"But why may I not follow your honour?" again urged the faithful +soldier; "and where is the use of my remaining here to count the stars, +and hear the 'All's well!' from the fort, when I could be so much +better employed in guarding your honour from harm? What sort of +protection can that Ingian woman afford, who is of the race of our +bitterest enemies, them cursed Ottawas, and your honour venturing, too, +like a spy into the very heart of the blood-hounds? Ah, Captain de +Haldimar, for the love of God, do not trust yourself alone with her, or +I am sure I shall never see your honour again!" +</P> + +<P> +The last words (unhappily too prophetic) fell only on the ear of him +who uttered them. The female and the officer had already disappeared +round an abrupt angle of the bomb-proof; and the soldier, as directed +by his master, now drew up his tall figure against the ruin, where he +continued for a period immovable, as if he had been planted there in +his ordinary character of sentinel, listening, until they eventually +died away in distance, to the receding footsteps of his master; and +then ruminating on the several apprehensions that crowded on his mind, +in regard to the probable issue of his adventurous project. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Captain de Haldimar and his guide trod the mazes of the +forest, with an expedition that proved the latter to be well acquainted +with its bearings. On quitting the bomb-proof, she had struck into a +narrow winding path, less seen than felt in the deep gloom pervading +the wood, and with light steps bounded over obstacles that lay strewed +in their course, emitting scarcely more sound than would have been +produced by the slimy crawl of its native rattlesnake. Not so, however, +with the less experienced tread of her companion. Wanting the pliancy +of movement given to it by the light mocassin, the booted foot of the +young officer, despite of all his precaution, fell heavily to the +ground, producing such a rustling among the dried leaves, that, had an +Indian ear been lurking any where around, his approach must inevitably +have been betrayed. More than once, too, neglecting to follow the +injunction of his companion, who moved in a stooping posture, with her +head bent over her chest, his hat was caught in the closely matted +branches, and fell sullenly and heavily to the earth, evidently much to +the discomfiture of his guide. +</P> + +<P> +At length they stood on the verge of a dark and precipitous ravine, the +abrupt sides of which were studded with underwood, so completely +interwoven, that all passage appeared impracticable. What, however, +seemed an insurmountable obstacle, proved, in reality, an inestimable +advantage; for it was by clinging to this, in imitation of the example +set him by his companion, the young officer was prevented from rolling +into an abyss, the depth of which was lost in the profound obscurity +that pervaded the scene. Through the bed of this dark dell rolled a +narrow stream, so imperceptible to the eye in the "living darkness," +and so noiseless in its course, that it was not until warned by his +companion he stood on the very brink of it, Captain de Haldimar was +made sensible of its existence. Both cleared it at a single bound, in +which the activity of the female was not the least conspicuous, and, +clambering up the opposite steep, secured their footing, by the aid of +the same underwood that had assisted them in their descent. +</P> + +<P> +On gaining the other summit, which was not done without detaching +several loose stones from their sandy bed, they again, fell into the +path, which had been lost sight of in traversing the ravine. They had +proceeded along this about half a mile, when the female suddenly +stopped, and pointing to a dim and lurid atmosphere that now began to +show itself between the thin foliage, whispered that in the opening +beyond stood the encampment of the Indians. She then seated herself on +the trunk of a fallen tree, that lay at the side of the almost +invisible path they had hitherto pursued, and motioning to her +companion to unboot himself, proceeded to unlace the fastenings of her +mocassins. +</P> + +<P> +"The foot of the Saganaw must fall like the night dew on the prairie," +she observed: "the ear of the red skin is quicker than the lightning, +and he will know that a pale face is near, if he hear but his tread +upon a blade of grass." +</P> + +<P> +Gallantry in the civilised man is a sentiment that never wholly +abandons him; and in whatever clime he may be thrown, or under whatever +circumstances he may be placed,—be it called forth by white or by +blackamoor,—it is certain to influence his conduct: it is a +refinement, of that instinctive deference to the weaker sex, which +nature has implanted in him for the wisest of purposes; and which, +while it tends to exalt those to whom its influence is extended, fails +not to reflect a corresponding lustre on himself. +</P> + +<P> +The young officer had, at the first suggestion of his guide, divested +himself of his boots, prepared to perform the remainder of the journey +merely in his stockings, but his companion now threw herself on her +knees before him, and, without further ceremony, proceeded to draw over +his foot one of the mocassins she had just relinquished. +</P> + +<P> +"The feet of the Saganaw are soft as those of a young child," she +remarked, in a voice of commiseration; "but the mocassins of Oucanasta +shall protect them from the thorns of the forest." +</P> + +<P> +This was too un-European,—too much reversing the established order of +things, to be borne patiently. As if he had felt the dignity of his +manhood offended by the proposal, the officer drew his foot hastily +back, declaring, as he sprang from the log, he did not care for the +thorns, and could not think of depriving a female, who must be much +more sensible of pain than himself. +</P> + +<P> +Oucanasta, however, was not to be outdone in politeness. She calmly +reseated herself on the log, drew her right foot over her left knee, +caught one of the hands of her companion, and placing it upon the naked +sole, desired him to feel how impervious to attack of every description +was that indurated portion of the lower limb. +</P> + +<P> +This practical argument was not without its weight, and had more effect +in deciding the officer than a volume of remonstrance. Most men love to +render tribute to a delicate and pretty foot. Some, indeed, go so far +as to connect every thing feminine with these qualities, and to believe +that nothing can be feminine without them. For our parts, we confess, +that, although no enemies to a pretty foot, it is by no means a sine +qua non in our estimate of female perfection; being in no way disposed, +where the head and heart are gems, to undervalue these in consideration +of any deficiency in the heels. Captain de Haldimar probably thought +otherwise; for when he had passed his unwilling hand over the foot of +Oucanasta, which, whatever her face might have been, was certainly any +thing but delicate, and encountered numerous ragged excrescences and +raspy callosities that set all symmetry at defiance, a wonderful +revolution came over his feelings; and, secretly determining the +mocassins would be equally well placed on his own feet, he no longer +offered any opposition. +</P> + +<P> +This important point arranged, the officer once more followed his guide +in silence. Gradually the forest, as they advanced, became lighter with +the lurid atmosphere before alluded to; and at length, through the +trees, could be indistinctly seen the Indian fires from which it +proceeded. The young man was now desired by his conductress to use the +utmost circumspection in making the circuit of the wood, in order to +gain a position immediately opposite to the point where the path they +had hitherto pursued terminated in the opening. This, indeed, was the +most dangerous and critical part of the undertaking. A false step, or +the crackling of a decayed branch beneath the foot, would have been +sufficient to betray proximity, in which case his doom was sealed. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunate did he now deem himself in having yielded to the counsel of +his guide. Had he retained his unbending boot, it must have crushed +whatever it pressed; whereas, the pliant mocassin, yielding to the +obstacles it encountered, enabled him to pass noiselessly over them. +Still, while exempt from danger on this score, another, scarcely less +perplexing, became at every instant more obvious; for, as they drew +nearer to the point which the female sought to gain, the dim light of +the half-slumbering fires fell so immediately upon their path, that had +a single human eye been turned in that direction, their discovery was +inevitable. It was with a beating heart, to which mere personal fear, +however, was a stranger, that Captain de Haldimar performed this +concluding stage of his adventurous course; but, at a moment when he +considered detection unavoidable, and was arming himself with +resolution to meet the event, the female suddenly halted, placing, in +the act, the trunk of an enormous beech between her companion and the +dusky forms within, whose very breathing could be heard by the anxious +officer. Without uttering a word, she took his hand, and, drawing him +gently forward, disappeared altogether from his view. The young man +followed, and in the next moment found himself in the bowelless body of +the tree itself; into which, on the side of the encampment, both light +and sound were admitted by a small aperture formed by the natural decay +of the wood. +</P> + +<P> +The Indian pressed her lips to the ear of her companion, and rather +breathed than said,—"The Saganaw will see and hear every thing from +this in safety; and what he hears let him treasure in his heart. +Oucanasta must go. When the council is over she will return, and lead +him back to his warriors." +</P> + +<P> +With this brief intimation she departed, and so noiselessly, that the +young officer was not aware of her absence until some minutes of +silence had satisfied him she must be gone. His first care then was to +survey, through the aperture that lay in a level with his eye, the +character of the scene before him. The small plain, in which lay the +encampment of the Indians, was a sort of oasis of the forest, girt +round with a rude belt of underwood, and somewhat elevated, so as to +present the appearance of a mound, constructed on the first principles +of art. This was thickly although irregularly studded with tents, some +of which were formed of large coarse mats thrown over poles disposed in +a conical shape, while others were more rudely composed of the leafy +branches of the forest. +</P> + +<P> +Within these groups of human forms lay, wrapped in their blankets, +stretched at their lazy length. Others, with their feet placed close to +the dying embers of their fires, diverged like so many radii from their +centre, and lay motionless in sleep, as if life and consciousness were +wholly extinct. Here and there was to be seen a solitary warrior +securing, with admirable neatness, and with delicate ligatures formed +of the sinew of the deer, the guiding feather, or fashioning the bony +barb of his long arrow; while others, with the same warlike spirit in +view, employed themselves in cutting and greasing small patches of +smoked deerskin, which were to secure and give a more certain direction +to the murderous bullet. Among the warriors were interspersed many +women, some of whom might be seen supporting in their laps the heavy +heads of their unconscious helpmates, while they occupied themselves, +by the firelight, in parting the long black matted hair, and +maintaining a destructive warfare against the pigmy inhabitants of that +dark region. These signs of life and activity in the body of the camp +generally were, however, but few and occasional; but, at the spot where +Captain de Haldimar stood concealed, the scene was different. At a few +yards from the tree stood a sort of shed, composed of tall poles placed +upright in the earth, and supporting a roof formed simply of rude +boughs, the foliage of which had been withered by time. This simple +edifice might be about fifty feet in circumference. In the centre +blazed a large fire that had been newly fed, and around this were +assembled a band of swarthy warriors, some twenty or thirty in number, +who, by their proud, calm, and thoughtful bearing, might at once be +known to be chiefs. +</P> + +<P> +The faces of most of these were familiar to the young officer, who +speedily recognised them for the principals of the various tribes +Ponteac had leagued in arms against his enemies. That chief himself, +ever remarkable for his haughty eye and commanding gesture, was of the +number of those present; and, a little aloof from his inferiors, sat, +with his feet stretched towards the fire, and half reclining on his +side in an attitude of indolence; yet with his mind evidently engrossed +by deep and absorbing thought. From some observations that distinctly +met his ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party were only awaiting +the arrival of an important character, without whose presence the +leading chief was unwilling the conference should begin. The period of +the officer's concealment had just been long enough to enable him to +fix all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the faint report +of a distant rifle was heard echoing throughout the wood. This was +instantly succeeded by a second, that sounded more sharply on the ear; +and then followed a long and piercing cry, that brought every warrior, +even of those who slept, quickly to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +An anxious interval of some minutes passed away in the fixed and +listening attitudes, which the chiefs especially had assumed, when a +noise resembling that of some animal forcing its way rapidly through +the rustling branches, was faintly heard in the direction in which the +shots had been fired. This gradually increased as it evidently +approached the encampment, and then, distinctly, could be heard the +light yet unguarded boundings of a human foot. At every moment the +rustling of the underwood, rapidly divided by the approaching form, +became more audible; and so closely did the intruder press upon the +point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that that officer, +fancying he had been betrayed, turned hastily round, and, grasping one +of the pistols he had secreted in his chest, prepared himself for a +last and deadly encounter. An instant or two was sufficient to +re-assure him. The form glided hastily past, brushing the tree with its +garments in its course, and clearing, at a single bound, the belt of +underwood that divided the encampment from the tall forest, stood +suddenly among the group of anxious and expectant chiefs. +</P> + +<P> +This individual, a man of tall stature, was powerfully made. He wore a +jerkin, or hunting-coat, of leather; and his arms were, a rifle which +had every appearance of having just been discharged, a tomahawk reeking +with blood, and a scalping-knife, which, in the hurry of some recent +service it had been made to perform, had missed its sheath, and was +thrust naked into the belt that encircled his loins. His countenance +wore an expression of malignant triumph; and as his eye fell on the +assembled throng, its self-satisfied and exulting glance seemed to give +them to understand he came not without credentials to recommend him to +their notice. Captain de Haldimar was particularly struck by the air of +bold daring and almost insolent recklessness pervading every movement +of this man; and it was difficult to say whether the haughtiness of +bearing peculiar to Ponteac himself, was not exceeded by that of this +herculean warrior. +</P> + +<P> +By the body of chiefs his appearance had been greeted with a mere +general grunt of approbation; but the countenance of the leader +expressed a more personal interest. All seemed to expect he had +something of moment to communicate; but as it was not consistent with +the dignity of Indian etiquette to enquire, they waited calmly until it +should please their new associate to enter on the history of his +exploits. In pursuance of an invitation from Ponteac, he now took his +seat on the right hand of that chief, and immediately facing the tree, +from which Captain de Haldimar, strongly excited both by the reports of +the shots that had been fired, and the sight of the bloody tomahawk of +the recently arrived Indian, gazed earnestly and anxiously on the +swarthy throng. +</P> + +<P> +Glancing once more triumphantly round the circle, who sat smoking their +pipes in calm and deliberative silence, the latter now observed the eye +of a young chief, who sat opposite to him, intently riveted on his left +shoulder. He raised his hand to the part, withdrew it, looked at it, +and found it wet with blood. A slight start of surprise betrayed his +own unconsciousness of the accident; yet, secretly vexed at the +discovery which had been made, and urged probably by one of his wayward +fits, he demanded haughtily and insultingly of the young chief, if that +was the first time he had ever looked on the blood of a warrior. +</P> + +<P> +"Does my brother feel pain?" was the taunting reply. "If he is come to +us with a trophy, it is not without being dearly bought. The Saganaw +has spilt his blood." +</P> + +<P> +"The weapons of the Saganaw, like those of the smooth face of the +Ottawa, are without sting," angrily retorted the other. "They only +prick the skin like a thorn; but when Wacousta drinks the blood of his +enemy," and he glanced his eye fiercely at the young man, "it is the +blood next his heart." +</P> + +<P> +"My brother has always big words upon his lips," returned the young +chief, with a scornful sneer at the implied threat against himself. +"But where are his proofs?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the eye of the party thus challenged kindled into flame, +while his lips were firmly compressed together; and as he half bent +himself forward, to scan with greater earnestness the features of his +questioner, his right hand sank to his left side, tightly grasping the +handle of his scalping-knife. The action was but momentary. Again he +drew himself up, puffed the smoke deliberately from his bloody +tomahawk, and, thrusting his right hand into his bosom, drew leisurely +forth a reeking scalp, which he tossed insolently across the fire into +the lap of the young chief. A loud and general "ugh!" testified the +approbation of the assembled group, at the unequivocal answer thus +given to the demand of the youth. The eye of the huge warrior sparkled +with a deep and ferocious exultation. +</P> + +<P> +"What says the smooth face of the Ottawas now?" he demanded, in the +same insolent strain. "Does it make his heart sick to look upon the +scalp of a great chief?" +</P> + +<P> +The young man quietly turned the horrid trophy over several times in +his hand, examining it attentively in every part. Then tossing it back +with contemptuous coolness to its owner, he replied,— +</P> + +<P> +"The eyes of my brother are weak with age. He is not cunning, like a +red skin. The Ottawa has often seen the Saganaw in their fort, and he +knows their chiefs have fine hair like women; but this is like the +bristles of the fox. My brother has not slain a great chief, but a +common warrior." +</P> + +<P> +A flush of irrepressible and threatening anger passed over the features +of the vast savage. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it for a boy," he fiercely asked, "whose eyes know not yet the +colour of blood, to judge of the enemies that fall by the tomahawk of +Wacousta? but a great warrior never boasts of actions that he does not +achieve. It is the son of the great chief of the Saganaw whom he has +slain. If the smooth face doubts it, and has courage to venture, even +at night, within a hundred yards of the fort, he will see a Saganaw +without a scalp; and he will know that Saganaw by his dress—the +dress," he pursued, with a low emphatic laugh, "that Oucanasta, the +sister of the smooth face, loved so much to look upon." +</P> + +<P> +Quicker than thought was the upspringing of the young Indian to his +feet. With a cheek glowing, an eye flashing, and his gleaming tomahawk +whirling rapidly round his head, he cleared at a single bound the fire +that separated him from his insulter. The formidable man who had thus +wantonly provoked the attack, was equally prompt in meeting it. At the +first movement of the youth, he too had leapt to his feet, and +brandished the terrible weapon that served in the double capacity of +pipe and hatchet. A fierce yell escaped the lips of each, as they thus +met in close and hostile collision, and the scene for the moment +promised to be one of the most tragic character; but before either +could find an assailable point on which to rest his formidable weapon, +Ponteac himself had thrown his person between them, and in a voice of +thunder commanded the instant abandonment of their purpose. Exasperated +even as they now mutually were, the influence of that authority, for +which the great chief of the Ottawas was well known, was not without +due effect on the combatants. His anger was principally directed +against the assailant, on whom the tones of his reproving voice +produced a change the intimidation of his powerful opponent could never +have effected. The young chief dropped the point of his tomahawk, bowed +his head in submission, and then resuming his seat, sat during the +remainder of the night with his arms folded, and his head bent in +silence over his chest. +</P> + +<P> +"Our brother has done well," said Ponteac, glancing approvingly at him +who had exhibited the reeking trophy, and whom he evidently favoured. +"He is a great chief, and his words are truth. We heard the report of +his rifle, and we also heard the cry that told he had borne away the +scalp of an enemy. But we will think of this to-morrow. Let us now +commence our talk." +</P> + +<P> +Our readers will readily imagine the feelings of Captain de Haldimar +during this short but exciting scene. From the account given by the +warrior, there could be no doubt the murdered man was the unhappy +Donellan; who, probably, neglecting the caution given him, had exposed +himself to the murderous aim of this fierce being, who was apparently a +scout sent for the purpose of watching the movements of the garrison. +The direction of the firing, the allusion made to the regimentals, nay, +the scalp itself, which he knew from the short crop to be that of a +soldier, and fancied he recognised from its colour to be that of his +servant, formed but too conclusive evidence of the fact; and, bitterly +and deeply, as he gazed on this melancholy proof of the man's sacrifice +of life to his interest, did he repent that he had made him the +companion of his adventure, or that, having done so, he had not either +brought him away altogether, or sent him instantly back to the fort. +Commiseration for the fate of the unfortunate Donellan naturally +induced a spirit of personal hostility towards his destroyer; and it +was with feelings strongly excited in favour of him whom he now +discovered to be the brother of his guide, that he saw him spring +fiercely to the attack of his gigantic opponent. There was an activity +about the young chief amply commensurate with the greater physical +power of his adversary; while the manner in which he wielded his +tomahawk, proved him to be any thing but the novice in the use of the +formidable weapon the other had represented him. It was with a feeling +of disappointment, therefore, which the peculiarity of his own position +could not overcome, he saw Ponteac interpose himself between the +parties. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, however, a subject of deeper and more absorbing interest +than even the fate of his unhappy follower engrossed every faculty of +his mind, and riveted both eye and ear in painful tension to the +aperture in his hiding-place. The chiefs had resumed their places, and +the silence of a few minutes had succeeded to the fierce affray of the +warriors, when Ponteac, in a calm and deliberate voice, proceeded to +state he had summoned all the heads of the nations together, to hear a +plan he had to offer for the reduction of the last remaining forts of +their enemies, Michilimackinac and Detroit. He pointed out the +tediousness of the warfare in which they were engaged; the desertion of +the hunting-grounds by their warriors; and their consequent deficiency +in all those articles of European traffic which they were formerly in +the habit of receiving in exchange for their furs. He dwelt on the +beneficial results that would accrue to them all in the event of the +reduction of those two important fortresses; since, in that case, they +would be enabled to make such terms with the English as would secure to +them considerable advantages; while, instead of being treated with the +indignity of a conquered people, they would be enabled to command +respect from the imposing attitude this final crowning of their +successes would enable them to assume. He stated that the prudence and +vigilance of the commanders of these two unreduced fortresses were +likely long to baffle, as had hitherto been the case, every open +attempt at their capture; and admitted he had little expectation of +terrifying them into a surrender by the same artifice that had +succeeded with the forts on the Ohio and the lower lakes. The plan, +however, which he had to propose, was one he felt assured would be +attended with success. He would disclose that plan, and the great +chiefs should give it the advantage of their deliberation. +</P> + +<P> +Captain de Haldimar was on the rack. The chief had gradually dropped +his voice as he explained his plan, until at length it became so low, +that undistinguishable sounds alone reached the ear of the excited +officer. For a moment he despaired of making himself fully master of +the important secret; but in the course of the deliberation that +ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the discourse of the leader were +abundantly filled up. It was what the reader has already seen. The +necessities of the Indians were to be urged as a motive for their being +tired of hostilities. A peace was to be solicited; a council held; a +ball-playing among the warriors proposed, as a mark of their own +sincerity and confidence during that council; and when the garrison, +lulled into security, should be thrown entirely off their guard, the +warriors were to seize their guns and tomahawks, with which (the former +cut short, for the better concealment of their purpose) their women +would be provided, rush in, under pretext of regaining their lost ball, +when a universal massacre of men, women, and children was to ensue, +until nothing wearing the garb of a Saganaw should be left. +</P> + +<P> +It would be tedious to follow the chief through all the minor +ramifications of his subtle plan. Suffice it they were of a nature to +throw the most wary off his guard; and so admirably arranged was every +part, so certain did it appear their enemies must give into the snare, +that the oldest chiefs testified their approbation with a vivacity of +manner and expression little wont to characterize the deliberative +meetings of these reserved people. But deepest of all was the approval +of the tall warrior who had so recently arrived. To him had the +discourse of the leader been principally directed, as one whose counsel +and experience were especially wanting to confirm him in his purpose. +He was the last who spoke; but, when he did, it was with a force—an +energy—that must have sunk every objection, even if the plan had not +been so perfect and unexceptionable in its concoction as to have +precluded a possibility of all negative argument. During the delivery +of his animated speech, his swarthy countenance kindled into fierce and +rapidly varying expression. A thousand dark and complicated passions +evidently struggled at his heart; and as he dwelt leisurely and +emphatically on the sacrifice of human life that must inevitably attend +the adoption of the proposed measure, his eye grew larger, his chest +expanded, nay, his very nostril appeared to dilate with unfathomably +guileful exultation. Captain de Haldimar thought he had never gazed on +any thing wearing the human shape half so atrociously savage. +</P> + +<P> +Long before the council was terminated, the inferior warriors, who had +been so suddenly aroused from their slumbering attitudes, had again +retired to their tents, and stretched their lazy length before the +embers of their fires. The weary chiefs now prepared to follow their +example. They emptied the ashes from the bowls of their pipe-tomahawks, +replaced them carefully at their side, rose, and retired to their +respective tents. Ponteac and the tall warrior alone remained. For a +time they conversed earnestly together. The former listened attentively +to some observations made to him by his companion, in the course of +which, the words "chief of the Saganaw—fort—spy—enemy," and two or +three others equally unconnected, were alone audible to the ear of him +who so attentively sought to catch the slightest sound. He then thrust +his hand under his hunting-coat, and, as if in confirmation of what he +had been stating, exhibited a coil of rope and the glossy boot of an +English officer. Ponteac uttered one of his sharp ejaculating "ughs!" +and then rising quickly from his seat, followed by his companion, soon +disappeared in the heart of the encampment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0208"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<P> +How shall we attempt to paint all that passed through the mind of +Captain de Haldimar during this important conference of the fierce +chiefs?—where find language to convey the cold and thrilling horror +with which he listened to the calm discussion of a plan, the object of +which was the massacre, not only of a host of beings endeared to him by +long communionship of service, but of those who were wedded to his +heart by the dearer ties of affection and kindred? As Ponteac had +justly observed, the English garrisons, strong in their own defences, +were little likely to be speedily reduced, while their enemies confined +themselves to overt acts of hostility; but, against their insidious +professions of amity who could oppose a sufficient caution? His father, +the young officer was aware, had all along manifested a spirit of +conciliation towards the Indians, which, if followed up by the +government generally, must have had the effect of preventing the cruel +and sanguinary war that had so recently desolated this remote part of +the British possessions. How likely, therefore, was it, having this +object always in view, he should give in to the present wily stratagem, +where such plausible motives for the abandonment of their hostile +purpose were urged by the perfidious chiefs! From the few hasty hints +already given him by his guide,—that kind being, who evidently sought +to be the saviour of the devoted garrisons,—he had gathered that a +deep and artful plan was to be submitted to the chiefs by their leader; +but little did he imagine it was of the finished nature it now proved +to be. Any other than the present attempt, the vigilance and prudence +of his experienced father, he felt, would have rendered abortive; but +there was so much speciousness in the pleas that were to be advanced in +furtherance of their assumed object, he could not but admit the almost +certainty of their influence, even on him. +</P> + +<P> +Sick and discouraged as he was at the horrible perspective thus forced +on his mental view, the young officer had not, for some moments, +presence of mind to reflect that the danger of the garrison existed +only so long as he should be absent from it. At length, however, the +cheering recollection came, and with it the mantling rush of blood, to +his faint heart. But, short was the consoling hope: again he felt +dismay in every fibre of his frame; for he now reflected, that although +his opportune discovery of the meditated scheme would save one fort, +there was no guardian angel to extend, as in this instance, its +protecting influence to the other; and within that other there breathed +those who were dearer far to him than his own existence;—beings, whose +lives were far more precious to him than any even in the garrison of +which he was a member. His sister Clara, whom he loved with a love +little inferior to that of his younger brother; and one, even more +dearly loved than Clara,—Madeline de Haldimar, his cousin and +affianced bride,—were both inmates of Michilimackinac, which was +commanded by the father of the latter, a major in the —— regiment. +With Madeline de Haldimar he had long since exchanged his vows of +affection; and their nuptials, which were to have taken place about the +period when the present war broke out, had only been suspended because +all communication between the two posts had been entirely cut off by +the enemy. +</P> + +<P> +Captain de Haldimar had none of the natural weakness and timidity of +character which belonged to the gentler and more sensitive Charles. +Sanguine and full of enterprise, he seldom met evils half way; but when +they did come, he sought to master them by the firmness and +collectedness with which he opposed his mind to their infliction. If +his heart was now racked with the most acute suffering—his reason +incapacitated from exercising its calm deliberative power, the seeming +contradiction arose not from any deficiency in his character, but was +attributable wholly to the extraordinary circumstances of the moment. +</P> + +<P> +It was a part of the profound plan of the Ottawa chief, that it should +be essayed on the two forts on the same day; and it was a suggestion of +the murderer of poor Donellan, that a parley should be obtained, +through the medium of a white flag, the nature of which he explained to +them, as it was understood among their enemies. If invited to the +council, then they were to enter, or not, as circumstances might +induce; but, in any case, they were to go unprovided with the pipe of +peace, since this could not be smoked without violating every thing +held most sacred among themselves. The red, or war-pipe, was to be +substituted as if by accident; and, for the success of the deception, +they were to presume on the ignorance of their enemies. This, however, +was not important, since the period of their first parley was to be the +moment chosen for the arrangement of a future council, and the proposal +of a ball-playing upon the common. Three days were to be named as the +interval between the first conference of Ponteac with the governor and +the definitive council which was to ensue; during which, however, it +was so arranged, that, before the lip of a red skin should touch the +pipe of peace, the ball-players should rush in and massacre the +unprepared soldiery, while the chiefs despatched the officers in +council. +</P> + +<P> +It was the proximity of the period allotted for the execution of their +cruel scheme that mainly contributed to the dismay of Captain de +Haldimar. The very next day was appointed for carrying into effect the +first part of the Indian plan: and how was it possible that a +messenger, even admitting he should elude the vigilance of the enemy, +could reach the distant post of Michilimackinac within the short period +on which hung the destiny of that devoted fortress. In the midst of the +confused and distracting images that now crowded on his brain, came at +length one thought, redolent with the brightest colourings of hope. On +his return to the garrison, the treachery of the Indians being made +known, the governor might so far, and with a view of gaining time, give +in to the plan of his enemies, as to obtain such delay as would afford +the chance of communication between the forts. The attempt, on the part +of those who should be selected for this purpose, would, it is true, be +a desperate one: still it must be made; and, with such incentives to +exertion as he had, how willingly would he propose his own services! +</P> + +<P> +The more he dwelt on this mode of defeating the subtle designs of the +enemy, the more practicable did it appear. Of his own safe return to +the fort he entertained not a doubt; for he knew and relied on the +Indian woman, who was bound to him by a tie of gratitude, which her +conduct that night evidently denoted to be superior even to the +interests of her race. Moreover, as he had approached the encampment +unnoticed while the chiefs were yet awake to every thing around them, +how little probability was there of his return being detected while all +lay wrapped in the most profound repose. It is true that, for a moment, +his confidence deserted him as he recurred to the earnest dialogue of +the two Indians, and the sudden display of the rope and boot, the +latter of which articles he had at once recognised to be one of those +he had so recently worn; but his apprehensions on that score were again +speedily set to rest, when he reflected, had any suspicion existed in +the minds of these men that an enemy was lurking near them, a general +alarm would have been spread, and hundreds of warriors despatched to +scour the forest. +</P> + +<P> +The night was now rapidly waning away, and already the cold damp air of +an autumnal morning was beginning to make itself felt. More than half +an hour had elapsed since the departure of Ponteac and his companion, +and yet Oucanasta came not. With a sense of the approach of day came +new and discouraging thoughts, and, for some minutes, the mind of the +young officer became petrified with horror, as he reflected on the bare +possibility of his escape being intercepted. The more he lingered on +this apprehension, the more bewildered were his ideas; and already, in +horrible perspective, he beheld the destruction of his nearest and +dearest friends, and the host of those who were humbler followers, and +partakers in the same destiny. Absolutely terrified with the misgivings +of his own heart, he, in the wildness and unconnectedness of his +purpose, now resolved to make the attempt to return alone, although he +knew not even the situation of the path he had so recently quitted. He +had actually moved a pace forward on his desperate enterprise, when he +felt a band touching the extended arm with which he groped to find the +entrance to his hiding-place. The unexpected collision sent a cold +shudder through his frame; and such was the excitement to which he had +worked himself up, it was not without difficulty he suppressed an +exclamation, that must inevitably have sealed his doom. The soft tones +of Oucanasta's voice re-assured him. +</P> + +<P> +"The day will soon dawn," she whispered; "the Saganaw must go." +</P> + +<P> +With the return of hope came the sense of all he owed to the +devotedness of this kind woman. He grasped the hand that still lingered +on his arm, pressed it affectionately in his own, and then placed it in +silence on his throbbing heart. The breathing of Oucanasta became +deeper, and the young officer fancied he could feel her trembling with +agitation. Again, however, and in a tone of more subdued expression, +she whispered that he must go. +</P> + +<P> +There was little urging necessary to induce a prompt compliance with +the hint. Cautiously emerging from his concealment, Captain de Haldimar +now followed close in the rear of his guide, who took the same circuit +of the forest to reach the path that led towards the fort. This they +speedily gained, and then pursued their course in silence, until they +at length arrived at the log where the exchange of mocassins had been +made. +</P> + +<P> +"Here the Saganaw may take breath," she observed, as she seated herself +on the fallen tree; "the sleep of the red skin is sound, and there is +no one upon the path but Oucanasta." +</P> + +<P> +Anxious as he felt to secure his return to the fort, there was an +implied solicitation in the tones of her to whom he owed so much, that +prevented Captain de Haldimar from offering an objection, which he +feared might be construed into slight. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment or two the Indian remained with her arms folded, and her +head bent over her chest; and then, in a low, deep, but tremulous +voice, observed,— +</P> + +<P> +"When the Saganaw saved Oucanasta from perishing in the angry waters, +there was a girl of the pale faces with him, whose skin was like the +snows of the Canadian winter, and whose hair was black like the fur of +the squirrel. Oucanasta saw," she pursued, dropping her voice yet +lower, "that the Saganaw was loved by the pale girl, and her own heart +was very sick, for the Saganaw had saved her life, and she loved him +too. But she knew she was very foolish, and that an Indian girl could +never be the wife of a handsome chief of the Saganaw; and she prayed to +the Great Spirit of the red skins to give her strength to overcome her +feelings; but the Great Spirit was angry with her, and would not hear +her." She paused a moment, and then abruptly demanded, "Where is that +pale girl now?" +</P> + +<P> +Captain de Haldimar had often been rallied, not only by his +brother-officers, but even by his sister and Madeline de Haldimar +herself, on the conquest he had evidently made of the heart of this +Indian girl. The event to which she had alluded had taken place several +months previous to the breaking out of hostilities. Oucanasta was +directing her frail bark, one evening, along the shores of the Detroit, +when one of those sudden gusts of wind, so frequent in these countries, +upset the canoe, and left its pilot struggling amid the waves. Captain +de Haldimar, who happened to be on the bank at the moment with his +sister and cousin, was an eye-witness of her danger, and instantly flew +down the steep to her assistance. Being an excellent swimmer, he was +not long in gaining the spot, where, exhausted with the exertion she +had made, and encumbered with her awkward machecoti, the poor girl was +already on the point of perishing. But for his timely assistance, +indeed, she must have sunk to the bottom; and, since that period, the +grateful being had been remarked for the strong but unexpressed +attachment she felt for her deliverer. This, however, was the first +moment Captain de Haldimar became acquainted with the extent of +feelings, the avowal of which not a little startled and surprised, and +even annoyed him. The last question, however, suggested a thought that +kindled every fibre of his being into expectancy,—Oucanasta might be +the saviour of those he loved; and he felt that, if time were but +afforded her, she would. He rose from the log, dropped on one knee +before the Indian, seized both her hands with eagerness, and then in +tones of earnest supplication whispered,— +</P> + +<P> +"Oucanasta is right: the pale girl with the skin like snow, and hair +like the fur of the squirrel, is the bride of the Saganaw. Long before +he saved the life of Oucanasta, he knew and loved that pale girl. She +is dearer to the Saganaw than his own blood; but she is in the fort +beyond the great lake, and the tomahawks of the red skins will destroy +her; for the warriors of that fort have no one to tell them of their +danger. What says the red girl? will she go and save the lives of the +sister and the wife of the Saganaw." +</P> + +<P> +The breathing of the Indian became deeper; and Captain de Haldimar +fancied she sighed heavily, as she replied,— +</P> + +<P> +"Oucanasta is but a weak woman, and her feet are not swift like those +of a runner among the red skins; but what the Saganaw asks, for his +sake she will try. When she has seen him safe to his own fort, she will +go and prepare herself for the journey. The pale girl shall lay her +head on the bosom of the Saganaw, and Oucanasta will try to rejoice in +her happiness." +</P> + +<P> +In the fervour of his gratitude, the young officer caught the drooping +form of the generous Indian wildly to his heart; his lips pressed hers, +and during the kiss that followed, the heart of the latter bounded and +throbbed, as if it would have passed from her own into the bosom of her +companion. +</P> + +<P> +Never was a kiss less premeditated, less unchaste. Gratitude, not +passion, had called it forth; and had Madeline de Haldimar been near at +the moment, the feeling that had impelled the seeming infidelity to +herself would have been regarded as an additional claim on her +affection. On the whole, however, it was a most unfortunate and +ill-timed kiss, and, as is often the case under such circumstances, led +to the downfall of the woman. In the vivacity of his embrace, Captain +de Haldimar had drawn his guide so far forward upon the log, that she +lost her balance, and fell with a heavy and reverberating crash among +the leaves and dried sticks that were strewed thickly around. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely a second elapsed when the forest was alive with human yells, +that fell achingly on the ears of both; and bounding warriors were +heard on every hand, rapidly dividing the dense underwood they +encountered in their pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +Quick as thought the Indian had regained her feet. She grasped the hand +of her companion; and hurrying, though not without caution, along the +path, again stood on the brow of the ravine through which they had +previously passed. +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw must go alone," she whispered. "The red skins are close +upon our trail, but they will find only an Indian woman, when they +expect a pale face. Oucanasta will save her friend." +</P> + +<P> +Captain de Haldimar did as he was desired. Clinging to the bushes that +lined the face of the precipitous descent, he managed once more to gain +the bed of the ravine. For a moment he paused to listen to the sounds +of his pursuers, whose footsteps were now audible on the eminence he +had just quitted; and then, gathering himself up for the leap that was +to enable him to clear the rivulet, he threw himself heavily forward. +His feet alighted upon an elevated and yielding substance, that gave +way with a crashing sound that echoed far and near throughout the +forest, and he felt himself secured as if in a trap. Although +despairing of escape, he groped with his hands to discover what it was +that thus detained him, and found he had fallen through a bark canoe, +the bottom of which had been turned upwards. The heart of the fugitive +now sank within him: there could be no doubt that his retreat was +intercepted. The canoe had been placed there since he last passed +through the ravine: and it was evident, from the close and triumphant +yell that followed the rending of the frail bark, such a result had +been anticipated. +</P> + +<P> +Stunned as he was by the terrific cries of the savages, and confused as +were his ideas, Captain de Haldimar had still presence of mind to +perceive the path itself offered him no further security. He therefore +quitted it altogether, and struck, in an oblique direction, up the +opposite face of the ravine. Scarcely had he gone twenty yards, when he +heard the voices of several Indians conversing earnestly near the canoe +he had just quitted; and presently afterwards he could distinctly hear +them ascending the opposite brow of the ravine by the path he recently +congratulated himself on having abandoned. To advance or to recede was +now equally impracticable; for, on every side, he was begirt by +enemies, into whose hands a single false step must inevitably betray +him. What would he not have given for the presence of Oucanasta, who +was so capable of advising him in this difficulty! but, from the moment +of his descending into the ravine, he had utterly lost sight of her. +</P> + +<P> +The spot on which he now rested was covered with thick brushwood, +closely interwoven at their tops, but affording sufficient space +beneath for a temporary close concealment; so that, unless some Indian +should touch him with his foot, there was little seeming probability of +his being discovered by the eye. Under this he crept, and lay, +breathless and motionless, with his head raised from the ground, and +his ear on the stretch for the slightest noise. For several minutes he +remained in this position, vainly seeking to catch the sound of a +voice, or the fall of a footstep; but the most deathlike silence had +succeeded to the fierce yellings that had so recently rent the forest. +At times he fancied he could distinguish faint noises in the direction +of the encampment; and so certain was he of this, he at length came to +the conclusion that the Indians, either baffled in their search, had +relinquished the pursuit, or, having encountered Oucanasta, had been +thrown on a different scent. His first intention had been to lie +concealed until the following night, when the warriors, no longer on +the alert, should leave the path once more open to him; but now that +the conviction of their return was strong on his mind, he changed his +determination, resolving to make the best of his way to the fort with +the aid of the approaching dawn. With this view he partly withdrew his +body from beneath its canopy of underwood; but, scarcely had he done +so, when a hundred tongues, like the baying of so many blood-hounds, +again rent the air with their wild cries, which seemed to rise up from +the very bowels of the earth, and close to the appalled ear of the +young officer. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely conscious of what he did, Captain de Haldimar grasped one of +his pistols, for he fancied he felt the hot breathing of human life +upon his cheek. With a sickly sensation of fear, he turned to satisfy +himself whether it was not an illusion of his heated imagination. What, +however, was his dismay, when he beheld bending over him a dark and +heavy form, the outline of which alone was distinguishable in the deep +gloom in which the ravine remained enveloped! Desperation was in the +heart of the excited officer: he cocked his pistol; but scarcely had +the sharp ticking sound floated on the air, when he felt a powerful +hand upon his chest; and, with as much facility as if he had been a +child, was he raised by that invisible hand to his feet. A dozen +warriors now sprang to the assistance of their comrade, when the whole, +having disarmed and bound their prisoner, led him back in triumph to +their encampment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0209"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<P> +The fires of the Indians were nearly now extinct; but the faint light +of the fast dawning day threw a ghastly, sickly, hue over the +countenances of the savages, which rendered them even more terrific in +their war paint. The chiefs grouped themselves immediately around their +prisoner, while the inferior warriors, forming an outer circle, stood +leaning their dark forms upon their rifles, and following, with keen +and watchful eye, every movement of their captive. Hitherto the +unfortunate officer had been too much engrossed by his despair to pay +any immediate attention to the individual who had first discovered and +seized him. It was sufficient for him to know all hope of the safety of +the garrison had perished with his captivity: and, with that +recklessness of life which often springs from the very consciousness of +inability to preserve it, he now sullenly awaited the death which he +expected at each moment would be inflicted. Suddenly his ear was +startled by an interrogatory, in English, from one who stood behind him. +</P> + +<P> +With a movement of surprise, Captain de Haldimar turned to examine his +questioner. It was the dark and ferocious warrior who had exhibited the +scalp of his ill-fated servant. For a moment the officer fixed his eyes +firmly and unshrinkingly on those of the savage, seeking to reconcile +the contradiction that existed between his dress and features and the +purity of the English he had just spoken. The other saw his drift, and, +impatient of the scrutiny, again repeated, as he fiercely pulled the +strong leathern thong by which the prisoner now found himself secured +to his girdle,— +</P> + +<P> +"Who and what are you?—whence come you?—and for what purpose are you +here?" Then, as if struck by some sudden recollection, he laid his hand +upon the shoulder of his victim; and, while his eye grew upon his +features, he pursued, in a tone of vehemence,—"Ha! by Heaven, I should +know that face!—the cursed lines of the blood of De Haldimar are +stamped upon that brow! But stay, one proof and I am satisfied." While +he yet spoke he dashed the menial hat of his captive to the earth, put +aside his hair, and then, with fiendish exultation, pursued,—"It is +even so. Do you recollect the battle of the plains of Abraham, Captain +de Haldimar?—Recollect you the French officer who aimed so desperately +at your life, and whose object was defeated by a soldier of your +regiment? I am that officer: my victim escaped me then, but not for +ever. The hour of vengeance is nearly now arrived, and your capture is +the pledge of my success. Hark, how the death-cry of all his hated race +will ring in madness on your father's ear!" +</P> + +<P> +Amazement, stupefaction, and horror, filled the mind of the wretched +officer at this extraordinary declaration. He perfectly recollected +that the individual who had evinced so much personal hostility on the +occasion alluded to, was indeed a man wearing the French uniform, +although at the head of a band of savages, and of a stature and +strength similar to those of him who now so fiercely avowed himself the +bitter and deadly foe of all his race. If this were so, and his tone +and language left little room for doubt, the doom of the ill-fated +garrison was indeed irrevocably sealed. This mysterious enemy evidently +possessed great influence in the councils of the Indians; and while the +hot breath of his hatred continued to fan the flame of fierce hostility +that had been kindled in the bosom of Ponteac, whose particular friend +he appeared to be, there would be no end to the atrocities that must +follow. Great, however, as was the dismay of Captain de Haldimar, who, +exhausted with the adventures of the night, presented a ghastly image +of anxiety and fatigue, it was impossible for him to repress the +feelings of indignation with which the language of this fierce man had +inspired him. +</P> + +<P> +"If you are in reality a French officer," he said, "and not an +Englishman, as your accent would denote, the sentiments you have now +avowed may well justify the belief, that you have been driven with +ignominy from a service which your presence must eternally have +disgraced. There is no country in Europe that would willingly claim you +for its subject. Nay, even the savage race, with whom you are now +connected, would, if apprised of your true nature, spurn you as a thing +unworthy to herd even with their wolf-dogs." +</P> + +<P> +A fierce sardonic laugh burst from the lips of the warrior, but this +was so mingled with rage as to give an almost devilish expression to +his features. +</P> + +<P> +"Ignominy—ignominy!" he repeated, while his right hand played +convulsively with the handle of his tomahawk; "is it for a De Haldimar +to taunt me with ignominy? Fool!" he pursued, after a momentary pause, +"you have sealed your doom." Then abruptly quitting the handle of his +weapon, he thrust his hand into his bosom, and again drawing forth the +reeking scalp of Donellan, he dashed it furiously in the face of his +prisoner. "Not two hours since," he exclaimed, "I cheered myself with +the thought that the scalp of a De Haldimar was in my pouch. Now, +indeed, do I glory in my mistake. The torture will be a more fitting +death for you." +</P> + +<P> +Had an arm of the insulted soldier been at liberty, the offence would +not have gone unavenged even there; for such was the desperation of his +heart, that he felt he could have hugged the death struggle with his +insolent captor, notwithstanding the fearful odds, nor quitted him +until one or both should have paid the debt of fierce enmity with life. +As it was he could only betray, by his flashing eye, excited look, and +the impatient play of his foot upon the ground, the deep indignation +that consumed his heart. +</P> + +<P> +The tall savage exulted in the mortification he had awakened, and as +his eye glanced insolently from head to foot along his enemy, its +expression told how much he laughed at the impotence of his anger. +Suddenly, however, a change passed over his features. The mocassin of +the officer had evidently attracted his attention, and he now demanded, +in a more serious and imperative tone,— +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! what means this disguise? Who is the wretch whom I have slain, +mistaking him for a nobler victim; and how comes it that an officer of +the English garrison appears here in the garb of a servant? By heaven, +it is so! you are come as a spy into the camp of the Indians to steal +away the councils of the chiefs. Speak, what have you heard?" +</P> + +<P> +With these questions returned the calm and self-possession of the +officer. He at once saw the importance of his answer, on which hung not +merely his own last faint chance of safety, but that also of his +generous deliverer. Struggling to subdue the disgust which he felt at +holding converse with this atrocious monster, he asked in turn,— +</P> + +<P> +"Am I then the only one whom the warriors have overtaken in their +pursuit?" +</P> + +<P> +"There was a woman, the sister of that boy," and he pointed +contemptuously to the young chief who had so recently assailed him, and +who now, in common with his followers, stood impatiently listening to a +colloquy that was unintelligible to all. "Speak truly, was SHE not the +traitress who conducted you here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Had you found me here," returned the officer, with difficulty +repressing his feelings, "there might have been some ground for the +assertion; but surely the councils of the chiefs could not be overheard +at the distant point at which you discovered me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why then were you there in this disguise?—and who is he," again +holding up the bloody scalp, "whom I have despoiled of this?" +</P> + +<P> +"There are few of the Ottawa Indians," returned Captain de Haldimar, +"who are ignorant I once saved that young woman's life. Is it then so +very extraordinary an attachment should have been the consequence? The +man whom you slew was my servant. I had brought him out with me for +protection during my interview with the woman, and I exchanged my +uniform with him for the same purpose. There is nothing in this, +however, to warrant the supposition of my being a spy." +</P> + +<P> +During the delivery of these more than equivocal sentences, which, +however, he felt were fully justified by circumstances, the young +officer had struggled to appear calm and confident; but, despite of his +exertions, his consciousness caused his cheek to colour, and his eye to +twinkle, beneath the searching glance of his ferocious enemy. The +latter thrust his hand into his chest, and slowly drew forth the rope +he had previously exhibited to Ponteac. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think me a fool, Captain de Haldimar," he observed, sneeringly, +"that you expect so paltry a tale to be palmed successfully on my +understanding? An English officer is not very likely to run the risk of +breaking his neck by having recourse to such a means of exit from a +besieged garrison, merely to intrigue with an Indian woman, when there +are plenty of soldiers' wives within, and that too at an hour when he +knows the scouts of his enemies are prowling in the neighbourhood. +Captain de Haldimar," he concluded, slowly and deliberately, "you have +lied." +</P> + +<P> +Despite of the last insult, his prisoner remained calm. The very +observation that had just been made afforded him a final hope of +exculpation, which, if it benefited not himself, might still be of +service to the generous Oucanasta. +</P> + +<P> +"The onus of such language," he observed coolly and with dignity, +"falls not on him to whom it is addressed, but on him who utters it. +Yet one who professes to have been himself a soldier, must see in this +very circumstance a proof of my innocence. Had I been sent out as a spy +to reconnoitre the movements, and to overhear the councils of our +enemies, the gate would have been open for my egress; but that rope is +in itself an evidence I must have stolen forth unknown to the garrison." +</P> + +<P> +Whether it was that the warrior had his own particular reasons for +attaching truth to this statement, or that he merely pretended to do +so, Captain de Haldimar saw with secret satisfaction his last argument +was conclusive. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, be it so," retorted the savage, while a ferocious smile passed +over his swarthy features; "but, whether you have been here as a spy, +or have merely ventured out in prosecution of an intrigue, it matters +not. Before the sun has travelled far in the meridian you die; and the +tomahawk of your father's deadly foe—of—of—of Wacousta, as I am +called, shall be the first to drink your blood." +</P> + +<P> +The officer made a final effort at mercy. "Who or what you are, or +whence your hatred of my family, I know not," he said; "but surely I +have never injured you: wherefore, then, this insatiable thirst for my +blood? If you are, indeed, a Christian and a soldier, let your heart be +touched with humanity, and procure my restoration to my friends. You +once attempted my life in honourable combat, why not wait, then, until +a fitting opportunity shall give not a bound and defenceless victim to +your steel, but one whose resistance may render him a conquest worthy +of your arm?" +</P> + +<P> +"What! and be balked of the chance of my just revenge? Hear me, Captain +de Haldimar," he pursued, in that low, quick, deep tone that told all +the strong excitement of his heart:—"I have, it is true, no particular +enmity to yourself, further than that you are a De Haldimar; but hell +does not supply a feeling half so bitter as my enmity to your proud +father; and months, nay years, have I passed in the hope of such an +hour as this. For this have I forsworn my race, and become—what you +now behold me—a savage both in garb and character. But this matters +not," he continued, fiercely and impatiently, "your doom is sealed; and +before another sun has risen, your stern father's gaze shall be blasted +with the sight of the mangled carcase of his first born. Ha! ha! ha!" +and he laughed low and exultingly; "even now I think I see him +withering, if heart so hard can wither, beneath this proof of my +undying hate." +</P> + +<P> +"Fiend!—monster!—devil!" exclaimed the excited officer, now losing +sight of all considerations of prudence in the deep horror inspired by +his captor:—"Kill me—torture me—commit any cruelty on me, if such be +your savage will; but outrage not humanity by the fulfilment of your +last disgusting threat. Suffer not a father's heart to be agonised—a +father's eye to be blasted—with a view of the mangled remains of him +to whom he has given life." +</P> + +<P> +Again the savage rudely pulled the thong that bound his prisoner to his +girdle, and removing his tomahawk from his belt, and holding its +sullied point close under the eye of the former, exclaimed, as he bent +eagerly over him,— +</P> + +<P> +"See you this, Captain de Haldimar? At the still hour of midnight, +while you had abandoned your guard to revel in the arms of your Indian +beauty, I stole into the fort by means of the same rope that you had +used in quitting it. Unseen by the sentinels I gained your father's +apartment. It was the first time we had met for twenty years; and I do +believe that had the very devil presented himself in my place, he would +have been received with fewer marks of horror. Oh, how that proud man's +eye twinkled beneath this glittering blade! He attempted to call out, +but my look paralysed his tongue, and cold drops of sweat stole rapidly +down his brow and cheek. Then it was that my seared heart once more +beat with the intoxication of triumph. Your father was alone and +unarmed, and throughout the fort not a sound was to be heard, save the +distant tread of the sentinels. I could have laid him dead, at my feet +at a single blow, and yet have secured my retreat. But no, that was not +my object. I came to taunt him with the promise of my revenge—to tell +him the hour of my triumph was approaching fast; and, ha!" he +concluded, laughing hideously as he passed his large rude hand through +the wavy hair of the now uncovered officer, "this is, indeed, a fair +and unexpected first earnest of the full redemption of my pledge. +No—no!" he continued, as if talking to himself, "he must not die. +Tantulus-like, he shall have death ever apparently within his grasp; +but, until all his race have perished before his eyes, he shall not +attain it." +</P> + +<P> +Hitherto the Indians had preserved an attitude of calm, listening to +the interrogatories put to the prisoner with that wonder and curiosity +with which a savage people hear a language different from their own; +and marking the several emotions that were elicited in the course of +the animated colloquy of the pale faces. Gradually, however, they +became impatient under its duration; and many of them, in the +excitement produced by the fierce manner of him who was called +Wacousta, fixed their dark eyes upon the captive, while they grasped +the handles of their tomahawks, as if they would have disputed with the +former the privilege of dying his weapon first in his blood. When they +saw the warrior hold up his menacing blade to the eye of his victim, +while he passed his hand through the redundant hair, they at once +inferred the sacrifice was about to be completed, and rushing furiously +forward, they bounded, and leaped, and yelled, and brandished their own +weapons in the most appalling manner. +</P> + +<P> +Already had the unhappy officer given himself self up for lost; fifty +bright tomahawks were playing about his head at the same instant, and +death—that death which is never without terror to the young, however +brave they may be in the hour of generous conflict—seemed to have +arrived at last. He raised his eyes to Heaven, committing his soul to +his God in the same silent prayer that he offered up for the +preservation of his friends and comrades; and then bending them upon +the earth, summoned all his collectedness and courage to sustain him +through the trial. At the very moment, however when he expected to feel +the crashing steel within his brain, he felt himself again violently +pulled by the thong that secured his hands. In the next instant he was +pressed close to the chest of his vast enemy, who, with one arm +encircling his prisoner, and the other brandishing his fierce blade in +rapid evolutions round his head, kept the yelling band at bay, with the +evident unshaken determination to maintain his sole and acknowledged +right to the disposal of his captive. +</P> + +<P> +For several moments the event appeared doubtful; but, notwithstanding +his extreme agility in the use of a weapon, in the management of which +he evinced all the dexterity of the most practised native, the odds +were fearfully against Wacousta; and while his flashing eye and +swelling chest betrayed his purpose rather to perish himself than +suffer the infringement of his claim, it was evident that numbers must, +in the end, prevail against him. On an appeal to Ponteac, however, of +which he now suddenly bethought himself, the authority of the latter +was successfully exerted, and he was again left in the full and +undisturbed possession of his prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +A low and earnest conversation now ensued among the chiefs, in which, +as before, Wacousta bore a principal part. When this was terminated, +several Indians approached the unhappy officer, and unfastening the +thong with which his hands were firmly and even painfully girt, +deprived him both of coat, waistcoat, and shirt. He was then bound a +second time in the same manner, his body besmeared with paint, and his +head so disguised as to give him the caricature semblance of an Indian +warrior. When these preparations were completed, he was led to the tree +in which he had been previously concealed, and there firmly secured. +Meanwhile Wacousta, at the head of a numerous band of warriors, had +departed once more in the direction of the fort. +</P> + +<P> +With the rising of the sun now vanished all traces of the mist that had +fallen since the early hours of morning, leaving the unfortunate +officer ample leisure to survey the difficulties of his position. He +had fancied, from the course taken by his guide the previous night, +that the plain or oasis, as we have elsewhere termed it, lay in the +very heart of the forest; but that route now proved to have been +circuitous. The tree to which he was bound was one of a slight belt, +separating the encampment from the open grounds which extended towards +the river, and which was so thin and scattered on that side as to leave +the clear silver waters of the Detroit visible at intervals. Oh, what +would he not have given, at that cheering sight, to have had his limbs +free, and his chance of life staked on the swiftness of his flight! +While he had imagined himself begirt by interminable forest, he felt as +one whose very thought to elude those who were, in some degree, the +deities of that wild scene, must be paralysed in its first conception. +But here was the vivifying, picture of civilised nature. Corn fields, +although trodden down and destroyed—dwelling houses, although burnt or +dilapidated—told of the existence of those who were of the same race +with himself; and notwithstanding these had perished even as he must +perish, still there was something in the aspect of the very ruins of +their habitations which, contrasted with the solemn gloom of the +forest, carried a momentary and indefinable consolation to his spirit. +Then there was the ripe and teeming orchard, and the low whitewashed +cabin of the Canadian peasant, to whom the offices of charity, and the +duties of humanity, were no strangers; and who, although the secret +enemies of his country, had no motive for personal hostility towards +himself. Then, on the river itself, even at that early hour, was to be +seen, fastened to the long stake driven into its bed, or secured by the +rude anchor of stone appended to a cable of twisted bark, the light +canoe or clumsy periagua of the peasant fisherman, who, ever and anon, +drew up from its deep bosom the shoal-loving pickerel or pike, or white +or black bass, or whatever other tenant of these waters might chance to +affix itself to the traitorous hook. It is true that his view of these +objects was only occasional and indistinct; but his intimate +acquaintance with the localities beyond brought every thing before +Captain de Haldimar's eye; and even while he sighed to think they were +for ever cut off from his reach, he already, in idea, followed the +course of flight he should pursue were the power but afforded him. +</P> + +<P> +From this train of painful and exciting thought the wretched captive +was aroused, by a faint but continued yelling in a distant part of the +forest, and in the direction that had been taken by Wacousta and his +warriors. Then, after a short interval, came the loud booming of the +cannon of the fort, carried on with a spirit and promptitude that told +of some pressing and dangerous emergency, and fainter afterwards the +sharp shrill reports of the rifles, bearing evidence the savages were +already in close collision with the garrison. Various were the +conjectures that passed rapidly through the mind of the young officer, +during a firing that had called almost every Indian in the encampment +away to the scene of action, save the two or three young Ottawas who +had been left to guard his own person, and who lay upon the sward near +him, with head erect and ear sharply set, listening to the startling +sounds of conflict. What the motive of the hurried departure of the +Indians was he knew not; but he had conjectured the object of the +fierce Wacousta was to possess himself of the uniform in which his +wretched servant was clothed, that no mistake might occur in his +identity, when its true owner should be exhibited in it, within view of +the fort, mangled and disfigured, in the manner that fierce and +mysterious man had already threatened. It was exceedingly probable the +body of Donellan had been mistaken for his own, and that in the anxiety +of his father to prevent the Indians from carrying it off, the cannon +had been directed to open upon them. But if this were the case, how +were the reports of the rifles, and the fierce yellings that continued, +save at intervals, to ring throughout the forest to be accounted for? +The bullets of the Indians evidently could not reach the fort, and they +were too wily, and attached too much value to their ammunition, to risk +a shot that was not certain of carrying a wound with it. For a moment +the fact itself flashed across his mind, and he attributed the fire of +small arms to the attack and defence of a party that had been sent out +for the purpose of securing the body, supposed to be his own; yet, if +so, again how was he to account for his not hearing the report of a +single musket? His ear was too well practised not to know the sharp +crack of the rifle from the heavy dull discharge of the musket, and as +yet the former only had been distinguishable, amid the intervals that +ensued between each sullen booming of the cannon. While this impression +continued on the mind of the anxious officer, he caught, with the +avidity of desperation, at the faint and improbable idea that his +companions might be able to penetrate to his place of concealment, and +procure his liberation; but when he found the firing, instead of +drawing nearer, was confined to the same spot, and even more fiercely +kept up by the Indians towards the close, he again gave way to his +despair, and resigning himself to his fate, no longer sought comfort in +vain speculation as to its cause. His ear now caught the report of the +last shell as it exploded, and then all was still and hushed, as if +what he had so recently heard was but a dream. +</P> + +<P> +The first intimation given him of the return of the savages was the +death howl, set up by the women within the encampment. Captain de +Haldimar turned his eyes, instinct with terror, towards the scene, and +beheld the warriors slowly issuing from the opposite side of the forest +into the plain, and bearing in silence the dead and stiffened forms of +those who had been cut down by the destructive fire from the fort. +Their mien was sullen and revengeful, and more than one dark and +gleaming eye did he encounter turned upon him, with an expression that +seemed to say a separate torture should avenge the death of each of +their fallen comrades. +</P> + +<P> +The early part of the morning wore away in preparation for the +interment of the slain. These were placed in rows under the council +shed, where they were attended by their female relatives, who composed +the features and confined the limbs, while the gloomy warriors dug, +within the limit of the encampment, rude graves, of a depth just +sufficient to receive the body. When these were completed, the dead +were deposited, with the usual superstitious ceremonies of these +people, in their several receptacles, after which a mound of earth was +thrown up over each, and the whole covered with round logs, so disposed +as to form a tomb of semicircular shape: at the head of each grave was +finally planted a pole, bearing various devices in paint, intended to +illustrate the warlike achievements of the defunct parties. +</P> + +<P> +Captain de Haldimar had followed the course of these proceedings with a +beating heart; for too plainly had he read in the dark and threatening +manner both of men and women, that the retribution about to be wreaked +upon himself would be terrible indeed. Much as he clung to life, and +bitterly as he mourned his early cutting off from the affections +hitherto identified with his existence, his wretchedness would have +been less, had he not been overwhelmed by the conviction that, with +him, must perish every chance of the safety of those, the bare +recollection of whom made the bitterness of death even more bitter. +Harrowing as were these reflections, he felt that immediate +destruction, since it could not be avoided, would be rather a blessing +than otherwise. But such, evidently, was not the purpose of his +relentless enemy. Every species of torment which his cruel invention +could supply would, he felt convinced, be exercised upon his frame; and +with this impression on his mind, it would have required sterner nerves +than his, not to have shrunk from the very anticipation of so dreadful +an ordeal. +</P> + +<P> +It was now noon, and yet no visible preparation was making for the +consummation of the sacrifice. This, Captain de Haldimar imputed to the +absence of the fierce Wacousta, whom he had not seen since the return +of the warriors from their skirmish. The momentary disappearance of +this extraordinary and ferocious man was, however, fraught with no +consolation to his unfortunate prisoner, who felt he was only engaged +in taking such measures as would render not only his destruction more +certain, but his preliminary sufferings more complicated and +protracted. While he was thus indulging in fruitless speculation as to +the motive for his absence, he fancied he heard the report of a rifle, +succeeded immediately afterwards by the war-whoop, at a considerable +distance, and in the direction of the river. In this impression he was +confirmed, by the sudden upstarting to their feet of the young Indians +to whose custody he had been committed, who now advanced to the outer +edge of the belt of forest, with the apparent object of obtaining a +more unconfined view of the open ground that lay beyond. The rapid +gliding of spectral forms from the interior of the encampment in the +same direction, denoted, moreover, that the Indians generally had +heard, and were attracted by the same sound. +</P> + +<P> +Presently afterwards, repeated "waughs!" and "Wacousta!—Wacousta!" +from those who had reached the extreme skirt of the forest, fell on the +dismayed ear of the young officer. It was evident, from the peculiar +tones in which these words were pronounced, that they beheld that +warrior approaching them with some communication of interest; and, sick +at heart, and filled with irrepressible dismay, Captain de Haldimar +felt his pulse to throb more violently as each moment brought his enemy +nearer to him. +</P> + +<P> +A startling interest was now created among the Indians; for, as the +savage warrior neared the forest, his lips pealed forth that peculiar +cry which is meant to announce some intelligence of alarm. Scarcely had +its echoes died away in the forest, when the whole of the warriors +rushed from the encampment towards the clearing. Directed by the sound, +Captain de Haldimar bent his eyes upon the thin skirt of wood that lay +immediately before him, and at intervals could see the towering form of +that vast warrior bounding, with incredible speed, up the sloping +ground that led from the town towards the forest. A ravine lay before +him; but this he cleared, with a prodigious effort, at a single leap; +and then, continuing his way up the slope, amid the low guttural +acclamations of the warriors at his extraordinary dexterity and +strength, finally gained the side of Ponteac, then leaning carelessly +against a tree at a short distance from the prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +A low and animated conversation now ensued between these two important +personages, which at moments assumed the character of violent +discussion. From what Captain de Haldimar could collect, the Ottawa +chief was severely reproving his friend for the inconsiderate ardour +which had led him that morning into collision with those whom it was +their object to lull into security by a careful avoidance of hostility, +and urging the possibility of their plan being defeated in consequence. +He moreover obstinately refused the pressing request of Wacousta, in +regard to some present enterprise which the latter had just suggested, +the precise nature of which, however, Captain de Haldimar could not +learn. Meanwhile, the rapid flitting of numerous forms to and from the +encampment, arrayed in all the fierce panoply of savage warfare, while +low exclamations of excitement occasionally caught his ear, led the +officer to infer, strange and unusual as such an occurrence was, that +either the detachment already engaged, or a second, was advancing on +their position. Still, this offered little chance of security for +himself; for more than once, during his long conference with Ponteac, +had the fierce Wacousta bent his eye in ferocious triumph on his +victim, as if he would have said,—"Come what will—whatever be the +result—you, at least, shall not escape me." Indeed, so confident did +the latter feel that the instant of attack would be the signal of his +own death, that, after the first momentary and instinctive cheering of +his spirit, he rather regretted the circumstance of their approach; or, +if he rejoiced at all, it was only because it afforded him the prospect +of immediate death, instead of being exposed to all the horror of a +lingering and agonising suffering from the torture. +</P> + +<P> +While the chiefs were yet earnestly conversing, the alarm cry, +previously uttered by Wacousta, was repeated, although in a low and +subdued tone, by several of the Indians who stood on the brow of the +eminence. Ponteac started suddenly to the same point; but Wacousta +continued for a moment or two rooted to the spot on which he stood, +with the air of one in doubt as to what course he should pursue. He +then abruptly raised his head, fixed his dark and menacing eye on his +captive, and was already in the act of approaching him, when the +earnest and repeated demands for his presence, by the Ottawa chief, +drew him once more to the outskirt of the wood. +</P> + +<P> +Again Captain de Haldimar breathed freely. The presence of that fierce +man had been a clog upon the vital functions of his heart; and, to be +relieved from it, even at a moment like the present, when far more +important interests might be supposed to occupy his mind, was a +gratification, of which not even the consciousness of impending death +could wholly deprive him. From the continued pressing of the Indians +towards one particular point in the clearing, he now conjectured, that, +from that point, the advance of the troops was visible. Anxious to +obtain even a momentary view of those whom he deemed himself fated +never more to mingle with in this life, he raised himself upon his +feet, and stretched his neck and bent his eager glance in the direction +by which Wacousta had approached; but, so closely were the dark +warriors grouped among the trees, he found it impossible. Once or +twice, however, he thought he could distinguish the gleaming of the +English bayonets in the bright sunshine, as they seemed to file off in +a parallel line with the ravine. Oh, how his generous heart throbbed at +that moment; and how ardently did he wish that he could have stood in +the position of the meanest soldier in those gallant ranks! Perhaps his +own brave and devoted grenadiers were of the number, burning with +enthusiasm to be led against the captors or destroyers of their +officer; and this thought added to his wretchedness still more. +</P> + +<P> +While the unfortunate prisoner, thus strongly excited, bent his whole +soul on the scene before him, he fancied he heard the approach of a +cautious footstep. He turned his head as well as his confined position +would admit, and beheld, close behind him, a dark Indian, whose eyes +alone were visible above the blanket in which his person was completely +enveloped. His right arm was uplifted, and the blade of a scalping +knife glittered in his hand. A cold shudder ran through the veins of +the young officer, and he closed his eyes, that he might not see the +blow which he felt was about to be directed at his heart. The Indian +glanced hurriedly yet cautiously around, to see if he was observed; and +then, with the rapidity of thought, divided, first the thongs that +secured the legs, and then those which confined the arms of the +defenceless captive. When Captain de Haldimar, full of astonishment at +finding himself once more at liberty, again unclosed his eyes, they +fell on the not unhandsome features of the young chief, the brother of +Oucanasta. +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw is the prisoner of Wacousta," said the Indian hastily; +"and Wacousta is the enemy of the young Ottawa chief. The warriors of +the pale faces are there" (and he pointed directly before him). "If the +Saganaw has a bold heart and a swift foot, he may save his life:" and, +with this intimation, he hurried away in the same cautious manner, and +was in the next instant seen making a circuit to arrive at the point at +which the principal strength of the Indians was collected. +</P> + +<P> +The position of Captain de Haldimar had now attained its acme of +interest; for on his own exertions alone depended every thing that +remained to be accomplished. With wonderful presence of mind he +surveyed all the difficulties of his course, while he availed himself +at the same moment of whatever advantages were within his grasp. On the +approach of Wacousta, the young Indians, to whose custody he had been +committed, had returned to their post; but no sooner had that warrior, +obeying the call of Ponteac, again departed, than they once more flew +to the extreme skirt of the forest, after first satisfying themselves +the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure. Either with a +view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance in their course, or through +hurry and inadvertence, they had left their blankets near the foot of +the tree. The first thought of the officer was to seize one of these; +for, in order to gain the point whence his final effort to join the +detachment must be made, it was necessary he should pass through the +body of scattered Indians who stood immediately in his way; and the +disguise of the blanket could alone afford him a reasonable chance of +moving unnoticed among them. Secretly congratulating himself on the +insulting mockery that had inducted his upper form in the disguising +warpaint of his enemies, he now drew the protecting blanket close up to +his eyes; and then, with every nerve braced up, every faculty of mind +and body called into action, commenced his dangerous enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps in advance, +when, to his great discomfiture and alarm, he beheld the formidable +Wacousta approaching from a distance, evidently in search of his +prisoner. With the quickness of thought he determined on his course. To +appear to avoid him would be to excite the suspicion of the fierce +warrior; and, desperate as the alternative was, he resolved to move +undeviatingly forward. At each step that drew him nearer to his enemy, +the beating of his heart became more violent; and had it not been for +the thick coat of paint in which he was invested, the involuntary +contraction of the muscles of his face must inevitably have betrayed +him. Nay, even as it was, had the keen eye of the warrior fallen on +him, such was the agitation of the officer, he felt he must have been +discovered. Happily, however, Wacousta, who evidently took him for some +inferior warrior hastening to the point where his fellows were already +assembled, passed without deigning to look at him, and so close, their +forms almost touched. Captain de Haldimar now quickened his pace. It +was evident there was no time to be lost; for Wacousta, on finding him +gone, would at once give the alarm, when a hundred warriors would be +ready on the instant to intercept his flight. Taking the precaution to +disguise his walk by turning in his toes after the Indian manner, he +reached, with a beating heart, the first of the numerous warriors who +were collected within the belt of forest, anxiously watching the +movements of the detachment in the plain below. To his infinite joy he +found that each was too much intent on what was passing in the +distance, to heed any thing going on near themselves; and when he at +length gained the extreme opening, and stood in a line with those who +were the farthest advanced, without having excited a single suspicion +in his course, he could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses. +</P> + +<P> +Still the most difficult part of the enterprise remained to be +completed. Hitherto he had moved under the friendly cover of the +underwood, the advantage of which had been to conceal that part of his +regimental trousers which the blanket left exposed; and if he moved +forward into the clearing, the quick glance of an Indian would not be +slow in detecting the difference between these and his own ruder +leggings. There was no alternative now but to commence his flight from +the spot on which he stood; and for this he prepared himself. At one +rapid and comprehensive view he embraced the immediate localities +before him. On the other side of the ravine he could now distinctly see +the English troops, either planning, as he conceived, their own attack, +or waiting in the hope of drawing the Indians from their cover. It was +evident that to reach them the ravine must be crossed, unless the more +circuitous route by the bridge, which was hid from his view by an +intervening hillock, should be preferred; but as the former had been +cleared by Wacousta in his ascent, and was the nearest point by which +the detachment could be approached, to this did he now direct his +undivided attention. +</P> + +<P> +While he yet paused with indecision, at one moment fancying the time +for starting was not yet arrived, and at the next that he had suffered +it to pass away, the powerful and threatening voice of Wacousta was +heard proclaiming the escape of his captive. Low but expressive +exclamations from the warriors marked their sense of the importance of +the intelligence; and many of them hastily dispersed themselves in +pursuit. This was the critical moment for action: for, as the anxious +officer had rather wished than expected, those Indians who had been +immediately in front, and whose proximity he most dreaded, were among +the number of those who dashed into the heart of the forest—Captain de +Haldimar now stood alone, and full twenty paces in front of the nearest +of the savages. For a moment he played with his mocassined foot to +satisfy himself, of the power and flexibility of its muscles, and then +committing himself to his God, dashed the blanket suddenly from his +shoulders, and, with eye and heart fixed on the distant soldiery, +darted down the declivity with a speed of which he had never yet +believed himself capable. Scarcely, however, had his fleeing form +appeared in the opening, when a tremendous and deafening yell rent the +air, and a dozen wild and naked warriors followed instantly in pursuit. +Attracted by that yell, the terrible Wacousta, who had been seeking his +victim in a different quarter, bounded forward to the front with an eye +flashing fire, and a brow compressed into the fiercest hate; and so +stupendous were his efforts, so extraordinary was his speed, that had +it not been for the young Ottawa chief, who was one of the pursuing +party, and who, under the pretence of assisting in the recapture of the +prisoner, sought every opportunity of throwing himself before, and +embarrassing the movements of his enemy, it is highly probable the +latter would have succeeded. Despite of these obstacles, however, the +fierce Wacousta, who had been the last to follow, soon left the +foremost of his companions far behind him; and but for his sudden fall, +while in the very act of seizing the arm of his prisoner, his gigantic +efforts must have been crowned with the fullest success. But the reader +has already seen how miraculously Captain de Haldimar, reduced to the +last stage of debility, as much from inanition as from the unnatural +efforts of his flight, finally accomplished his return to the +detachment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0210"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<P> +At the western extremity of the lake Huron, and almost washed by the +waters of that pigmy ocean, stands the fort of Michilimackinac. +Constructed on a smaller scale, and garrisoned by a less numerical +force, the defences of this post, although less formidable than those +of the Detroit, were nearly similar, at the period embraced by our +story, both in matter and in manner. Unlike the latter fortress, +however, it boasted none of the advantages afforded by culture; +neither, indeed, was there a single spot in the immediate vicinity that +was not clad in the eternal forest of these regions. It is true, that +art and laborious exertion had so far supplied the deficiencies of +nature as to isolate the fort, and throw it under the protecting sweep +of its cannon; but, while this afforded security, it failed to produce +any thing like a pleasing effect to the eye. The very site on which the +fortress now stood had at one period been a portion of the wilderness +that every where around was only terminated by the sands on the lake +shore: and, although time and the axe of the pioneer had in some degree +changed its features, still there was no trace of that blended natural +scenery that so pleasingly diversified the vicinity of the sister fort. +Here and there, along the imperfect clearing, and amid the dark and +thickly studded stumps of the felled trees, which in themselves were +sufficient to give the most lugubrious character to the scene, rose the +rude log cabin of the settler; but, beyond this, cultivation appeared +to have lost her power in proportion with the difficulties she had to +encounter. Even the two Indian villages, L'Arbre-Croche and Chabouiga, +situate about a mile from the fort, with which they formed nearly an +equilateral triangle, were hid from the view of the garrison by the +dark dense forest, in the heart of which they were embedded. +</P> + +<P> +Lake ward the view was scarcely less monotonous; but it was not, as in +the rear, that monotony which is never occasionally broken in upon by +some occurrence of interest. If the eye gazed long and anxiously for +the white sail of the well known armed vessel, charged at stated +intervals with letters and tidings of those whom time, and distance, +and danger, far from estranging, rendered more dear to the memory, and +bound more closely to the heart, it was sure of being rewarded at last; +and then there was no picture on which it could love to linger so well +as that of the silver waves bearing that valued vessel in safety to its +wonted anchorage in the offing. Moreover, the light swift bark canoes +of the natives often danced joyously on its surface; and while the +sight was offended at the savage, skulking among the trees of the +forest, like some dark spirit moving cautiously in its course of secret +destruction, and watching the moment when he might pounce unnoticed on +his unprepared victim, it followed, with momentary pleasure and +excitement, the activity and skill displayed by the harmless paddler, +in the swift and meteor-like race that set the troubled surface of the +Huron in a sheet of hissing foam. Nor was this all. When the eye turned +wood-ward, it fell heavily, and without interest, upon a dim and dusky +point, known to enter upon savage scenes and unexplored countries; +whereas, whenever it reposed upon the lake, it was with an eagerness +and energy that embraced the most vivid recollections of the past, and +led the imagination buoyantly over every well-remembered scene that had +previously been traversed, and which must be traversed again before the +land of the European could be pressed once more. The forest, in a word, +formed, as it were, the gloomy and impenetrable walls of the +prison-house, and the bright lake that lay before it the only portal +through which happiness and liberty could be again secured. +</P> + +<P> +The principal entrance into the fort, which presented four equal sides +of a square, was from the forest; but, immediately opposite to this, +and behind the apartments of the commanding officer, there was another +small gate that opened upon the lake shore; but which, since the +investment of the place, had been kept bolted and locked, with a +precaution befitting the danger to which the garrison was exposed. +Still, there were periods, even now, when its sullen hinges were to be +heard moaning on the midnight breeze; for it served as a medium of +communication between the besieged and others who were no less +critically circumstanced than themselves. +</P> + +<P> +The very day before the Indians commenced their simultaneous attack on +the several posts of the English, the only armed vessel that had been +constructed on these upper lakes, serving chiefly as a medium of +communication between Detroit and Michilimackinac, had arrived with +despatches and letters from the former fort. A well-concerted plan of +the savages to seize her in her passage through the narrow waters of +the river Sinclair had only been defeated by the vigilance of her +commander; but, ever since the breaking out of the war, she had been +imprisoned within the limits of the Huron. Laborious indeed was the +duty of the devoted crew. Several attempts had been renewed by the +Indians to surprise them; but, although their little fleets stole +cautiously and noiselessly, at the still hour of midnight, to the spot +where, at the last expiring rays of twilight, they had beheld her +carelessly anchored, and apparently lulled into security, the subject +of their search was never to be met with. No sooner were objects on the +shore rendered indistinct to the eye, than the anchor was silently +weighed, and, gliding wherever the breeze might choose to carry her, +the light bark was made to traverse the lake, with every sail set, +until dawn. None, however, were suffered to slumber in the presumed +security afforded by this judicious flight. Every man was at his post; +and, while a silence so profound was preserved, that the noise of a +falling pin might have been heard upon her decks, every thing was in +readiness to repel an attack of their enemies, should the vessel, in +her course, come accidentally in collision with their pigmy fleets. +When morning broke, and no sign of their treacherous foes was visible, +the vessel was again anchored, and the majority of the crew suffered to +retire to their hammocks, while the few whose turn of duty it chanced +to be, kept a vigilant look-out, that, on the slightest appearance of +alarm, their slumbering comrades might again be aroused to energy and +action. +</P> + +<P> +Severe and harassing as had been the duty on board this vessel for many +months,—at one moment exposed to the assaults of the savages, at +another assailed by the hurricanes that are so prevalent and so +dangerous on the American lakes,—the situation of the crew was even +less enviable than that of the garrison itself. What chiefly +contributed to their disquietude, was the dreadful consciousness that, +however their present efforts might secure a temporary safety, the +period of their fall was only protracted. A few months more must bring +with them all the severity of the winter of those climes, and then, +blocked up in a sea of ice,—exposed to all the rigour of cold,—all +the miseries of hunger,—what effectual resistance could they oppose to +the numerous bands of Indians who, availing themselves of the +defenceless position of their enemies, would rush from every quarter to +their destruction. +</P> + +<P> +At the outset of these disheartening circumstances the officer had +summoned his faithful crew together, and pointing out the danger and +uncertainty of their position, stated that two chances of escape still +remained to them. The first was, by an attempt to accomplish the +passage of the river Sinclair during some dark and boisterous night, +when the Indians would be least likely to suspect such an intention: it +was at this point that the efforts of their enemies were principally to +be apprehended; but if, under cover of storm and darkness, they could +accomplish this difficult passage, they would easily gain the Detroit, +and thence pass into lake Erie, at the further extremity of which they +might, favoured by Providence, effect a landing, and penetrate to the +inhabited parts of the colony of New York. The other alternative +was,—and he left it to themselves to determine,—to sink the vessel on +the approach of winter, and throw themselves into the fort before them, +there to await and share the destiny of its gallant defenders. +</P> + +<P> +With the generous enthusiasm of their profession, the noble fellows had +determined on the latter course. With their officer they fully +coincided in opinion, that their ultimate hopes of life depended on the +safe passage of the Sinclair; for it was but too obvious, that soon or +late, unless some very extraordinary revolution should be effected in +the intentions of the Indians, the fortress must be starved into +submission. Still, as it was tolerably well supplied with provisions, +this gloomy prospect was remote, and they were willing to run all +chances with their friends on shore, rather than desert them in their +extremity. The determination expressed by them, therefore, was, that +when they could no longer keep the lake in safety, they would, if the +officer permitted it, scuttle the vessel, and attempt an entrance into +the fort, where they would share the fate of the troops, whatever it +might chance to be. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner was this resolution made known, than their young commander +sought an opportunity of communicating with the garrison, This, +however, was no very easy task; for, so closely was the fort hemmed in +by the savages, it was impossible to introduce a messenger within its +walls; and so sudden had been the cutting off of all communication +between the vessel and the shore, that the thought had not even +occurred to either commander to establish the most ordinary +intelligence by signal. In this dilemma recourse was had to an +ingenious expedient. The dispatches of the officer were enclosed in one +of the long tin tubes in which were generally deposited the maps and +charts of the schooner, and to this, after having been carefully +soldered, was attached an inch rope of several hundred fathoms in +length: the case was then put into one of the ship's guns, so placed as +to give it the elevation of a mortar; thus prepared, advantage was +taken of a temporary absence of the Indians to bring the vessel within +half a mile of the shore, and when the attention of the garrison, +naturally attracted by this unusual movement, was sufficiently +awakened, that opportunity was chosen for the discharge of the gun; and +as the quantity of powder had been proportionably reduced for the +limited range, the tube was soon safely deposited within the rampart. +The same means were adopted in replying; and one end of the rope +remaining attached to the schooner, all that was necessary was to +solder up the tube as before, and throw it over the ramparts upon the +sands, whence it was immediately pulled over her side by the watchful +mariners. +</P> + +<P> +As the dispatch conveyed to the garrison, among other subjects of +interest, bore the unwelcome intelligence that the supplies of the crew +were nearly expended, an arrangement was proposed by which, at stated +intervals, a more immediate communication with the former might be +effected. Whenever, therefore, the wind permitted, the vessel was kept +hovering in sight during the day, beneath the eyes of the savages, and +on the approach of evening an unshotted gun was discharged, with a view +of drawing their attention more immediately to her movements; every +sail was then set, and under a cloud of canvass the course of the +schooner was directed towards the source of the Sinclair, as if an +attempt to accomplish that passage was to be made during the night. No +sooner, however, had the darkness fairly set in, than the vessel was +put about, and, beating against the wind, generally contrived to reach +the offing at a stated hour, when a boat, provided with muffled oars, +was sent off to the shore. This ruse had several times deceived the +Indians, and it was on these occasions that the small gate to which we +have alluded was opened, for the purpose of conveying the necessary +supplies. +</P> + +<P> +The buildings of the fort consisted chiefly of block-houses, the +internal accommodations of which were fully in keeping with their rude +exterior, being but indifferently provided with the most ordinary +articles of comfort, and fitted up as the limited resources of that +wild and remote district could supply. The best and most agreeably +situated of these, if a choice could be made, was that of the +commanding officer. This building rose considerably above the others, +and overhanging that part of the rampart which skirted the shores of +the Huron, commanded a full view of the lake, even to its extremity of +frowning and belting forest. +</P> + +<P> +To this block-house there were two staircases; the principal leading to +the front entrance from the barrack-square, the other opening in the +rear, close under the rampart, and communicating by a few rude steps +with the small gate that led upon the sands. In the lower part of this +building, appropriated by the commanding officer to that exclusive +purpose, the official duties of his situation were usually performed; +and on the ground-floor a large room, that extended from front to rear +of the block-house on one side of the passage, had formerly been used +as a hall of council with the Indian chiefs. The floor above this +comprised both his own private apartments and those set apart for the +general use of the family; but, above all, and preferable from their +cheerful view over the lake, were others, which had been reserved for +the exclusive accommodation of Miss de Haldimar. This upper floor +consisted of two sleeping apartments, with a sitting-room, the latter +extending the whole length of the block-house and opening immediately +upon the lake, from the only two windows with which that side of the +building was provided. The principal staircase led into one of the +bed-rooms, and both of the latter communicated immediately with the +sitting-room, which again, in its turn, opened, at the opposite +extremity, on the narrow staircase that led to the rear of the +block-house. +</P> + +<P> +The furniture of this apartment, which might be taken as a fair sample +of the best the country could afford, was wild, yet simple, in the +extreme. Neat rush mats, of an oblong square, and fantastically put +together, so as to exhibit in the weaving of the several coloured reeds +both figures that were known to exist in the creation, and those which +could have no being save in the imagination of their framers, served as +excellent substitutes for carpets, while rush bottomed chairs, the +product of Indian ingenuity also, occupied those intervals around the +room that were unsupplied by the matting. Upon the walls were hung +numerous specimens both of the dress and of the equipments of the +savages, and mingled with these were many natural curiosities, the +gifts of Indian chiefs to the commandant at various periods before the +war. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing could be more unlike the embellishments of a modern European +boudoir than those of this apartment, which had, in some degree, been +made the sanctum of its present occupants. Here was to be seen the +scaly carcass of some huge serpent, extending its now harmless length +from the ceiling to the floor—there an alligator, stuffed after the +same fashion; and in various directions the skins of the beaver, the +marten, the otter, and an infinitude of others of that genus, filled up +spaces that were left unsupplied by the more ingenious specimens of +Indian art. Head-dresses tastefully wrought in the shape of the +crowning bays of the ancients, and composed of the gorgeous feathers of +the most splendid of the forest birds—bows and quivers handsomely, and +even elegantly ornamented with that most tasteful of Indian +decorations, the stained quill of the porcupine; war clubs of massive +iron wood, their handles covered with stained horsehair and feathers +curiously mingled together—machecotis, hunting coats, mocassins, and +leggings, all worked in porcupine quill, and fancifully +arranged,—these, with many others, had been called into requisition to +bedeck and relieve the otherwise rude and naked walls of the apartment. +</P> + +<P> +Nor did the walls alone reflect back the picture of savage ingenuity, +for on the various tables, the rude polish of which was hid from view +by the simple covering of green baize, which moreover constituted the +garniture of the windows, were to be seen other products of their art. +Here stood upon an elevated stand a model of a bark canoe, filled with +its complement of paddlers carved in wood and dressed in full costume; +the latter executed with such singular fidelity of feature, that +although the speaking figures sprung not from the experienced and +classic chisel of the sculptor but from the rude scalping knife of the +savage, the very tribe to which they belonged could be discovered at a +glance by the European who was conversant with the features of each: +then there were handsomely ornamented vessels made of the birch bark, +and filled with the delicate sugars which the natives extract from the +maple tree in early spring; these of all sizes, even to the most tiny +that could well be imagined, were valuable rather as exquisite +specimens of the neatness with which those slight vessels could be put +together, sewn as they were merely with strips of the same bark, than +from any intrinsic value they possessed. Covered over with fantastic +figures, done either in paint, or in quill work artfully interwoven +into the fibres of the bark, they presented, in their smooth and +polished surface, strong evidence of the address of the savages in +their preparation of this most useful and abundant produce of the +country. Interspersed with these, too, were numerous stands filled with +stuffed birds, some of which combined in themselves every variety and +shade of dazzling plumage; and numerous rude cases contained the rarest +specimens of the American butterfly, most of which were of sizes and +tints that are no where equalled in Europe. One solitary table alone +was appropriated to whatever wore a transatlantic character in this +wild and museum-like apartment. On this lay a Spanish guitar, a few +pieces of old music, a collection of English and French books, a couple +of writing-desks, and, scattered over the whole, several articles of +unfinished needle-work. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the apartment in which Madeline and Clara de Haldimar were met +at the moment we have selected for their introduction to our readers. +It was the morning of that day on which the second council of the +chiefs, the result of which has already been seen, was held at Detroit. +The sun had risen bright and gorgeously above the adjacent forest, +throwing his golden beams upon the calm glassy waters of the lake; and +now, approaching rapidly towards the meridian, gradually diminished the +tall bold shadows of the block-houses upon the shore. At the distance +of about a mile lay the armed vessel so often alluded to; her light low +hull dimly seen in the hazy atmosphere that danced upon the waters, and +her attenuated masts and sloping yards, with their slight tracery of +cordage, recalling rather the complex and delicate ramifications of the +spider's web, than the elastic yet solid machinery to which the lives +of those within had so often been committed in sea and tempest. Upon +the strand, and close opposite to the small gate which now stood ajar, +lay one of her boats, the crew of which had abandoned her with the +exception only of a single individual, apparently her cockswain, who, +with the tiller under his arm, lay half extended in the stern-sheets, +his naked chest exposed, and his tarpaulin hat shielding his eyes from +the sun while he indulged in profound repose. These were the only +objects that told of human life. Everywhere beyond the eye rested on +the faint outline of forest, that appeared like the softened tracing of +a pencil at the distant junction of the waters with the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +The windows that commanded this prospect were now open; and through +that which was nearest to the gate, half reclined the elegant, slight, +and somewhat petite form of a female, who, with one small and +delicately formed hand supporting her cheek, while the other played +almost unconsciously with an open letter, glanced her eye alternately, +and with an expression of joyousness, towards the vessel that lay +beyond, and the point in which the source of the Sinclair was known to +lie. It was Clara de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the vacant space at the same window was filled by another +form, but of less girlish appearance—one that embraced all the full +rich contour of the Medicean Venus, and a lazy languor in its movements +that harmonised with the speaking outlines of the form, and without +which the beauty of the whole would have been at variance and +imperfect. Neither did the face belie the general expression of the +figure. The eyes, of a light hazel, were large, full, and somewhat +prominent—the forehead broad, high, and redolent with an expression of +character—and the cheek rich in that peculiar colour which can be +likened only to the downy hues of the peach, and is, in itself, a +physical earnest of the existence of deep, but not boisterous—of +devoted, but not obtrusive affections; an impression that was not, in +the present instance, weakened by the full and pouting lip, and the +rather heavy formation of the lower face. The general expression, +moreover, of a countenance which, closely analysed, could not be termed +beautiful, marked a mind at once ardent in its conceptions, and steady +and resolute in its silent accomplishments of purpose. She was of the +middle height. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the person of Madeline de Haldimar; but attractive, or rather +winning, as were her womanly attributes, her principal power lay in her +voice,—the beauty, nay, the voluptuousness of which nothing could +surpass. It was impossible to listen to the slow, full, rich, deep, and +melodious tones that fell trembling from her lips upon the ear, and not +feel, aye shudder, under all their fascination on the soul. In such a +voice might the Madonna of Raphael have been supposed to offer up her +supplications from the gloomy precincts of the cloister. No wonder that +Frederick de Haldimar loved her, and loved her with all the intense +devotedness of his own glowing heart. His cousin was to him a divinity +whom he worshipped in the innermost recesses of his being; and his, in +return, was the only ear in which the accents of that almost superhuman +voice had breathed the thrilling confession of an attachment, which its +very tones announced could be deep and imperishable as the soul in +which it had taken root. Often in the hours that preceded the period +when they were to have been united heart and mind and thought in one +common destiny, would he start from her side, his brain whirling with +very intoxication, and then obeying another wild impulse, rush once +more into her embrace; and clasping his beloved Madeline to his heart, +entreat her again to pour forth all the melody of that confession in +his enraptured ear. Artless and unaffected as she was generous and +impassioned, the fond and noble girl never hesitated to gratify him +whom alone she loved; and deep and fervent was the joy of the soldier, +when he found that each passionate entreaty, far from being met with +caprice, only drew from the lips of his cousin warmer and more +affectionate expressions of her attachment. Such expressions, coming +from any woman, must have been rapturous and soothing in the extreme; +but, when they flowed from a voice whose very sound was melody, they +acted on the heart of Captain de Haldimar with a potency that was as +irresistible as the love itself which she inspired. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the position of things just before the commencement of the +Indian war. Madeline de Haldimar had been for some time on a visit to +Detroit, and her marriage with her cousin was to have taken place +within a few days. The unexpected arrival of intelligence from +Michilimackinac that her father was dangerously ill, however, retarded +the ceremony; and, up to the present period, their intercourse had been +completely suspended. If Madeline de Haldimar was capable of strong +attachment to her lover, the powerful ties of nature were no less +deeply rooted in her heart, and commiseration and anxiety for her +father now engrossed every faculty of her mind. She entreated her +cousin to defer the solemnisation of their nuptials until her parent +should be pronounced out of danger, and, having obtained his consent to +the delay, instantly set off for Michilimackinac, accompanied by her +cousin Clara, whom, she had prevailed on the governor to part with +until her own return. Hostilities were commenced very shortly +afterwards, and, although Major de Haldimar speedily recovered from his +illness, the fair cousins were compelled to share the common +imprisonment of the garrison. +</P> + +<P> +When Miss de Haldimar joined her more youthful cousin at the window, +through which the latter was gazing thoughtfully on the scene before +her, she flung her arm around her waist with the protecting manner of a +mother. The mild blue eyes of Clara met those that were fastened in +tenderness upon her, and a corresponding movement on her part brought +the more matronly form of her cousin into close and affectionate +contact with her own. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Madeline, what a day is this!" she exclaimed; "and how often on my +bended knees have I prayed to Heaven that it might arrive! Our trials +are ended at last, and happiness and joy are once more before us. There +is the boat that is to conduct us to the vessel, which, in its turn, is +to bear me to the arms of my dear father, and you to those of the lover +who adores you. How beautiful does that fabric appear to me now! Never +did I feel half the pleasure in surveying it I do at this moment." +</P> + +<P> +"Dear, dear girl!" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar,—and she pressed her +closer and in silence to her heart: then, after a slight pause, during +which the mantling glow upon her brow told how deeply she desired the +reunion alluded to by her cousin—"that, indeed, will be an hour of +happiness to us both, Clara; for irrevocably as our affections have +been pledged, it would be silly in the extreme to deny that I long most +ardently to be restored to him who is already my husband. But, tell +me," she concluded, with an archness of expression that caused the +long-lashed eyes of her companion to sink beneath her own, "are you +quite sincere in your own case? I know how deeply you love your father +and your brothers, but do these alone occupy your attention? Is there +not a certain friend of Charles whom you have some little curiosity to +see also?" +</P> + +<P> +"How silly, Madeline!" and the cheek of the young girl became suffused +with a deeper glow; "you know I have never seen this friend of my +brother, how then can I possibly feel more than the most ordinary +interest in him? I am disposed to like him, certainly, for the mere +reason that Charles does; but this is all." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Clara, I will not pretend to decide; but certain it is, this is +the last letter you received from Charles, and that it contains the +strongest recommendations of his friend to your notice. Equally certain +is it, that scarcely a day has passed, since we have been shut up here, +that you have not perused and re-perused it half a dozen times. Now, as +I am confessedly one who should know something of these matters, I must +be suffered to pronounce these are strong symptoms, to say the very +least. Ah! Clara, that blush declares you guilty.—But, who have we +here? Middleton and Baynton." +</P> + +<P> +The eyes of the cousins now fell upon the ramparts immediately under +the window. Two officers, one apparently on duty for the day, were +passing at the moment; and, as they heard their names pronounced, +stopped, looked up, and saluted the young ladies with that easy freedom +of manner, which, unmixed with either disrespect or effrontery, so +usually characterises the address of military men. +</P> + +<P> +"What a contrast, by heaven!" exclaimed he who wore the badge of duty +suspended over his chest, throwing himself playfully into a theatrical +attitude, expressive at once of admiration and surprise, while his eye +glanced intelligently over the fair but dissimilar forms of the +cousins. "Venus and Psyche in the land of the Pottowatamies by all that +is magnificent! Come, Middleton, quick, out with that eternal pencil of +yours, and perform your promise." +</P> + +<P> +"And what may that promise be?" asked Clara, laughingly, and without +adverting to the hyperbolical compliment of the dark-eyed officer who +had just spoken. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall hear," pursued the lively captain of the guard. "While +making the tour of the ramparts just now, to visit my sentries, I saw +Middleton leaning most sentimentally against one of the boxes in front, +his notebook in one hand and his pencil in the other. Curious to +discover the subject of his abstraction, I stole cautiously behind him, +and saw that he was sketching the head of a tall and rather handsome +squaw, who, in the midst of a hundred others, was standing close to the +gateway watching the preparations of the Indian ball-players. I at once +taxed him with having lost his heart; and rallying him on his bad taste +in devoting his pencil to any thing that had a red skin, never combed +its hair, and turned its toes in while walking, pronounced his sketch +to be an absolute fright. Well, will you believe what I have to add? +The man absolutely flew into a tremendous passion with me, and swore +that she was a Venus, a Juno, a Minerva, a beauty of the first water in +short; and finished by promising, that when I could point out any woman +who was superior to her in personal attraction, he would on the instant +write no less than a dozen consecutive sonnets in her praise. I now +call upon him to fulfil his promise, or maintain the superiority of his +Indian beauty." +</P> + +<P> +Before the laughing Middleton could find time to reply to the light and +unmeaning rattle of his friend, the quick low roll of a drum was heard +from the front. The signal was understood by both officers, and they +prepared to depart. +</P> + +<P> +"This is the hour appointed for the council," said Captain Baynton, +looking at his watch, "and I must be with my guard, to receive the +chiefs with becoming honour. How I pity you, Middleton, who will have +the infliction of one of their great big talks, as Murphy would call +it, dinned into your ear for the next two hours at least! Thank heaven, +my tour of duty exempts me from that; and by way of killing an hour, I +think I shall go and carry on a flirtation with your Indian Minerva, +alias Venus, alias Juno, while you are discussing the affairs of the +nation with closed doors. But hark! there is the assembly drum again. +We must be off. Come, Middleton, come.—Adieu!" waving his hand to the +cousins, "we shall meet at dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"What an incessant talker Baynton is!" observed Miss de Haldimar, as +the young men now disappeared round an angle of the rampart; "but he +has reminded me of what I had nearly forgotten, and that is to give +orders for dinner. My father has invited all the officers to dine with +him to day, in commemoration of the peace which is being concluded. It +will be the first time we shall have all met together since the +commencement of this cruel war, and we must endeavour, Clara, to do +honour to the feast." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope," timidly observed her cousin, shuddering as she spoke, "that +none of those horrid chiefs will be present, Madeline; for, without any +affectation of fear whatever, I feel that I could not so far overcome +my disgust as to sit at the same table with them. There was a time, it +is true, when I thought nothing of these things; but, since the war, I +have witnessed and heard so much of their horrid deeds, that I shall +never be able to endure the sight of an Indian face again. Ah!" she +concluded, turning her eyes upon the lake, while she clung more closely +to the embrace of her companion; "would to Heaven, Madeline, that we +were both at this moment gliding in yonder vessel, and in sight of my +father's fort!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0211"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<P> +The eyes of Miss de Haldimar followed those of her cousin, and rested +on the dark hull of the schooner, with which so many recollections of +the past and anticipations of the future were associated in their +minds. When they had last looked upon it, all appearance of human life +had vanished from its decks; but now there was strong evidence of +unusual bustle and activity. Numerous persons could be seen moving +hastily to and fro, their heads just peering above the bulwarks; and +presently they beheld a small boat move from the ship's side, and shoot +rapidly ahead, in a direct line with the well-known bearings of the +Sinclair's source. While they continued to gaze on this point, +following the course of the light vessel, and forming a variety of +conjectures as to the cause of a movement, especially remarkable from +the circumstance of the commander being at that moment in the fort, +whither he had been summoned to attend the council, another and +scarcely perceptible object was dimly seen, at the distance of about +half a mile in front of the boat. With the aid of a telescope, which +had formed one of the principal resources of the cousins during their +long imprisonment, Miss de Haldimar now perceived a dark and shapeless +mass moving somewhat heavily along the lake, and in a line with the +schooner and the boat. This was evidently approaching; for each moment +it loomed larger upon the hazy water, increasing in bulk in the same +proportion that the departing skiff became less distinct: still, it was +impossible to discover, at that distance, in what manner it was +propelled. Wind there was none, not as much as would have changed the +course of a feather dropping through space; and, except where the +dividing oars of the boatmen had agitated the waters, the whole surface +of the lake was like a sea of pale and liquid gold. +</P> + +<P> +At length the two dark bodies met, and the men in the boat were seen to +lie upon their oars, while one in the stem seemed to be in the act of +attaching a rope to the formless matter. For a few moments there was a +cessation of all movement; and then again the active and sturdy rowing +of the boatmen was renewed, and with an exertion of strength even more +vigorous than that they had previously exhibited. Their course was now +directed towards the vessel; and, as it gradually neared that fabric, +the rope by which the strange-looking object was secured, could be +distinctly though faintly seen with the telescope. It was impossible to +say whether the latter, whatever it might be, was urged by some +invisible means, or merely floated in the wake of the boat; for, +although the waters through which it passed ran rippling and foaming +from their course, this effect might have been produced by the boat +which preceded it. As it now approached the vessel, it presented the +appearance of a dense wood of evergreens, the overhanging branches of +which descended close to the water's edge, and baffled every attempt of +the cousins to discover its true character. The boat had now arrived +within a hundred yards of the schooner, when a man was seen to rise +from its bows, and, putting both his hands to his mouth, after the +manner of sailors in hailing, to continue in that position for some +moments, apparently conversing with those who were grouped along the +nearest gangway. Then were observed rapid movements on the decks; and +men were seen hastening aloft, and standing out upon the foremast +yards. This, however, had offered no interruption to the exertions of +the boatmen, who still kept plying with a vigour that set even the +sail-less vessel in motion, as the foaming water, thrown from their +bending oar-blades, dashed angrily against her prow. Soon afterwards +both the boat and her prize disappeared on the opposite side of the +schooner, which, now lying with her broadside immediately on a line +with the shore, completely hid them from the further view of the +cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!—Look!" said Clara, clinging sensitively and with alarm to the +almost maternal bosom against which she reposed, while she pointed with +her finger to another dark mass that was moving through the lake in a +circular sweep from the point of wood terminating the clearing on the +right of the fort. +</P> + +<P> +Miss de Haldimar threw the glass on the object to which her attention +was now directed. It was evidently some furred animal, and presented +all the appearance either of a large water-rat or a beaver, the latter +of which it was pronounced to be as a nearer approach rendered its +shape more distinct. Ever and anon, too, it disappeared altogether +under the water; and, when it again came in sight, it was always +several yards nearer. Its course, at first circuitous, at length took a +direct line with the stern of the boat, where the sailor who was in +charge still lay extended at his drowsy length, his tarpaulin hat +shading his eyes, and his arms folded over his uncovered and heaving +chest, while he continued to sleep as profoundly as if he had been +comfortably berthed in his hammock in the middle of the Atlantic. +</P> + +<P> +"What a large bold animal it is," remarked Clara, in die tone of one +who wishes to be confirmed in an impression but indifferently +entertained. "See how close it approaches the boat! Mad that lazy +sailor but his wits about him, he might easily knock it on the head +with his oar. It is—it is a beaver, Madeline; I can distinguish its +head even with the naked eye." +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven grant it may be a beaver," answered Miss de Haldimar, in a +voice so deep and full of meaning, that it made her cousin startle and +turn paler even than before. "Nay, Clara, dearest, command yourself, +nor give way to what may, after all, prove a groundless cause of alarm. +Yet, I know not how it is, my heart misgives me sadly; for I like not +the motions of this animal, which are strangely and unusually bold. But +this is not all: a beaver or a rat might ruffle the mere surface of the +water, yet this leaves behind it a deep and gurgling furrow, as if the +element had been ploughed to its very bottom. Observe how the lake is +agitated and discoloured wherever it has passed. Moreover, I dislike +this sudden bustle on board the schooner, knowing, as I do, there is +not an officer present to order the movements now visibly going +forward. The men are evidently getting up the anchor; and see how her +sails are loosened, apparently courting the breeze, as if she would fly +to avoid some threatened danger. Would to Heaven this council scene +were over; for I do, as much as yourself, dearest Clara, distrust these +cruel Indians!" +</P> + +<P> +A significant gesture from her trembling cousin again drew her +attention from the vessel to the boat. The animal, which now exhibited +the delicate and glossy fur of the beaver, had gained the stern, and +remained stationary within a foot of her quarter. Presently the sailor +made a sluggish movement, turning himself heavily on his side, and with +his face towards his curious and daring visitant. In the act the +tarpaulin hat had fallen from his eyes, but still he awoke not. +Scarcely had he settled himself in his new position, when, to the +infinite horror of the excited cousins, a naked human hand was raised +from beneath the surface of the lake, and placed upon the gunwale of +the boat Then rose slowly, and still covered with its ingenious +disguise, first the neck, then the shoulders, and finally the form, +even to the midwaist, of a dark and swarthy Indian, who, stooping low +and cautiously over the sailor, now reposed the hand that had quitted +the gunwale upon his form, while the other was thrust searchingly into +the belt encircling his waist. +</P> + +<P> +Miss de Haldimar would have called out, to apprise the unhappy man of +his danger; but her voice refused its office, and her cousin was even +less capable of exertion than herself. The deep throbbings of their +hearts were now audible to each; for the dreadful interest they took in +the scene, had excited their feelings to the most intense stretch of +agony. At the very moment, however, when, with almost suspended +animation, they expected to see the knife of the savage driven into the +chest of the sleeping and unsuspecting sailor, the latter suddenly +started up, and, instinct with the full sense of the danger by which he +was menaced, in less time than we take to describe it, seized the +tiller of his rudder, the only available instrument within his reach, +and directing a powerful blow at the head of his amphibious enemy, laid +him, without apparent life or motion, across the boat. +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty God! what can this mean?" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar, as soon +as she could recover her presence of mind. "There is some fearful +treachery in agitation; and a cloud now hangs over all, that will soon +burst with irresistible fury on our devoted heads. Clara, my love," and +she conducted the almost fainting girl to a seat, "wait here until I +return. The moment is critical, and my father must be apprised of what +we have seen. Unless the gates of the fort be instantly closed, we are +lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Madeline, leave me not alone," entreated the sinking Clara. "We +will go together. Perhaps I may be of service to you below." +</P> + +<P> +"The thought is good; but have you strength and courage to face the +dark chiefs in the council-room. If so, hasten there, and put my father +on his guard, while I fly across the parade, and warn Captain Baynton +of the danger." +</P> + +<P> +With these words she drew the arm of her agitated cousin within her +own, and, rapidly traversing the apartment, gained the bed-room which +opened close upon the head of the principal staircase. Already were +they descending the first steps, when a loud cry, that sent a thrill of +terror through their blood, was heard from without the fort. For a +moment Miss de Haldimar continued irresolute; and leaning against the +rude balustrade for support, passed her hand rapidly across her brow, +as if to collect her scattered energies. The necessity for prompt and +immediate action was, however, evident; and she alone was capable of +exertion. Speechless with alarm, and trembling in every joint, the +unhappy Clara had now lost all command of her limbs; and, clinging +close to the side of her cousin, by her wild looks alone betrayed +consciousness had not wholly deserted her. The energy of despair lent +more than woman's strength to Miss de Haldimar. She caught the fainting +girl in her arms, retraced her way to the chamber, and depositing her +burden on the bed, emphatically enjoined her on no account to move +until her return. She then quitted the room, and rapidly descended the +staircase. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments all was still and hushed as the waveless air; and then +again a loud chorus of shouts was heard from the ramparts of the fort. +The choked breathing of the young girl became more free, and the blood +rushed once more from her oppressed heart to the extremities. Never did +tones of the human voice fall more gratefully on the ear of mariner +cast on some desert island, than did those on that of the highly +excited Clara. It was the loud laugh of the soldiery, who, collected +along the line of rampart in front, were watching the progress of the +ball-players. Cheered by the welcome sounds, she raised herself from +the bed to satisfy her eye her ear had not deceived her. The windows of +both bed-chambers looked immediately on the barrack square, and +commanded a full view of the principal entrance. From that at which she +now stood, the revived but still anxious girl could distinctly see all +that was passing in front. The ramparts were covered with soldiers, +who, armed merely with their bayonets, stood grouped in careless +attitudes—some with their wives leaning on their arms—others with +their children upraised, that they might the better observe the +enlivening sports without—some lay indolently with their legs +overhanging the works—others, assuming pugilistic attitudes, dealt +their harmless blows at each other,—and all were blended together, +men, women, and children, with that heedlessness of thought that told +how little of distrust existed within their breasts. The soldiers of +the guard, too, exhibited the same air of calm and unsuspecting +confidence; some walking to and fro within the square, while the +greater portion either mixed with their comrades above, or, with arms +folded, legs carelessly crossed, and pipe in mouth, leant lazily +against the gate, and gazed beyond the lowered drawbridge on the Indian +games. +</P> + +<P> +A mountain weight seemed to have been removed from the breast of Clara +at this sight, as she now dropped upon her knees before the window, and +raised her hands in pious acknowledgment to Heaven. +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty God, I thank thee," she fervently exclaimed, her eye once +more lighting up, and her cheek half suffused with blushes at her late +vague and idle fears; while she embraced, at a single glance, the whole +of the gladdening and inspiriting scene. +</P> + +<P> +While her soul was yet upturned whither her words had gone before, her +ears were again assailed by sounds that curdled her blood, and made her +spring to her feet as if stricken by a bullet through the heart; or +powerfully touched by some electric fluid. It was the well-known and +devilish war-cry of the savages, startling the very air through which +it passed, and falling like a deadly blight upon the spirit. With a +mechanical and desperate effort at courage, the unhappy girl turned her +eyes below, and there met images of death in their most appalling +shapes. Hurry and confusion and despair were every where visible; for a +band of Indians were already in the fort, and these, fast succeeded by +others, rushed like a torrent into the square, and commenced their +dreadful work of butchery. Many of the terrified soldiers, without +thinking of drawing their bayonets, flew down the ramparts in order to +gain their respective block-houses for their muskets: but these every +where met death from the crashing tomahawk, short rifle, or gleaming +knife;—others who had presence of mind sufficient to avail themselves +of their only weapons of defence, rushed down in the fury of +desperation on the yelling fiends, resolved to sell their lives as +dearly as possible; and for some minutes an obstinate contest was +maintained: but the vast superiority of the Indian numbers triumphed; +and although the men fought with all the fierceness of despair, forcing +their way to the block-houses, their mangled corpses strewed the area +in every direction. Neither was the horrid butchery confined to these. +Women clinging to their husbands for protection, and, in the +recklessness of their despair, impeding the efforts of the latter in +their self-defence—children screaming in terror, or supplicating mercy +on their bonded knees—infants clasped to their parents' breasts,—all +alike sunk under the unpitying steel of the blood-thirsty savages. At +the guard-house the principal stand had been made; for at the first +rush into the fort, the men on duty had gained their station, and, +having made fast the barricades, opened their fire upon the enemy. +Mixed pele-mele as they were with the Indians, many of the English were +shot by their own comrades, who, in the confusion of the moment, were +incapable of taking a cool and discriminating aim. These, however, were +finally overcome. A band of desperate Indians rushed upon the main +door, and with repeated blows from their tomahawks and massive +war-clubs, succeeded in demolishing it, while others diverted the fire +of those within. The door once forced, the struggle was soon over. +Every man of the guard perished; and their scalpless and disfigured +forms were thrown out to swell the number of those that already deluged +the square with their blood. +</P> + +<P> +Even amid all the horrors of this terrific scene, the agonised Clara +preserved her consciousness. The very imminence of the danger endued +her with strength to embrace it under all its most disheartening +aspects; and she, whose mind had been wrought up to the highest pitch +of powerful excitement by the mere preliminary threatenings, was +comparatively collected under the catastrophe itself. Death, certain +death, to all, she saw was inevitable; and while her perception at once +embraced the futility of all attempts at escape from the general doom, +she snatched from despair the power to follow its gloomy details +without being annihilated under their weight. +</P> + +<P> +The confusion of the garrison had now reached its acme of horror. The +shrieks of women and the shrill cries of children, as they severally +and fruitlessly fled from the death certain to overtake them in the +end,—the cursings of the soldiers, the yellings of the Indians, the +reports of rifles, and the crashings of tomahawks;—these, with the +stamping of human feet in the death struggle maintained in the +council-room below between the chiefs and the officers, and which shook +the block-house to its very foundation, all mixed up in terrible chorus +together, might have called up a not inapt image of hell to the +bewildered and confounding brain. And yet the sun shone in yellow +lustre, and all Nature smiled, and wore an air of calm, as if the +accursed deed had had the sanction of Heaven, and the spirits of light +loved to look upon the frightful atrocities then in perpetration. +</P> + +<P> +In the first distraction of her spirit, Clara had utterly lost all +recollection of her cousin; but now that she had, with unnatural +desperation, brought her mind to bear upon the fiercest points of the +grim reality, she turned her eye every where amid the scene of death in +search of the form of her beloved Madeline, whom she did not remember +to have seen cross the parade in pursuance of the purpose she had +named. While she yet gazed fearfully from the window, loud bursts of +mingled anguish and rage, that were almost drowned in the fiercer yells +with which they were blended, ascended from the ground floor of the +block-house. These had hitherto been suppressed, as if the desperate +attack of the chiefs on the officers had been made with closed doors. +Now, however, there was an evident outburst of all parties into the +passage; and there the struggle appeared to be desperately and +fearfully maintained. In the midst of that chaotic scene, the loud and +piercing shriek of a female rose far above the discordant yell even of +the savages. There was an instant of pause, and then the crashing of a +skull was heard, and the confusion was greater than before, and +shrieks, and groans, and curses, and supplications rent the air. +</P> + +<P> +The first single shriek came from Madeline de Haldimar, and vibrated +through every chord of the heart on which it sank. Scarcely conscious +of what she did, Clara, quitting the window, once more gained the top +of the staircase, and at the extremity of her voice called on the name +of her cousin in the most piteous accents. She was answered by a loud +shout from the yelling band; and presently bounding feet and screaming +voices were heard ascending the stairs. The terrified girl fancied at +the moment she heard a door open on the floor immediately below her, +and some one dart suddenly up the flight communicating with the spot on +which she stood. Without waiting to satisfy herself, she rushed with +all the mechanical instinct of self-preservation back into her own +apartment. As she passed the bed-room window, she glanced once more +hastily into the area below, and there beheld a sight that, filling her +soul with despair, paralysed all further exertion. A tall savage was +bearing off the apparently lifeless form of her cousin through the +combatants in the square, her white dress stained all over with blood, +and her beautiful hair loosened and trailing on the ground. She +followed with her burning eyes until they passed the drawbridge, and +finally disappeared behind the intervening rampart, and then bowing her +head between her hands, and sinking upon her knees, she reposed her +forehead against the sill of the window, and awaited unshrinkingly, yet +in a state of inconceivable agony, the consummation of her own unhappy +destiny. +</P> + +<P> +The sounds of ascending feet were now heard in the passage without; and +presently, while the clangour of a thousand demons seemed to ring +throughout the upper part of the building, a man rushed furiously into +the room. The blood of the young girl curdled in her veins. She +mechanically grasped the ledge of the window on which her aching head +still reposed, and with her eyes firmly closed, to shut out from view +the fiend whose sight she dreaded, even more than the death which +threatened her, quietly awaited the blow that was to terminate at once +her misery and her life. Scarcely, however, had the feet of the +intruder pressed the sanctuary of her bedchamber, when the heavy door, +strongly studded with nails, was pushed rapidly to, and bolt and lock +were heard sliding into their several sockets. Before Clara could raise +her head to discover the cause of this movement, she felt herself +firmly secured in the grasp of an encircling arm, and borne hastily +through the room. An instinctive sense of something worse even than +death now flashed across the mind of the unhappy girl; and while she +feared to unclose her eyes, she struggled violently to disengage +herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Clara! dear Miss de Haldimar, do you not know me?" exclaimed her +supporter, while, placing her for a moment on a seat, he proceeded to +secure the fastenings of the second door, that led from the bed-chamber +into the larger apartment. +</P> + +<P> +Re-assured by the tones of a voice which, even in that dreadful moment +of trial and destruction, were familiar to her ear, the trembling girl +opened her eyes wildly upon her protector. A slight scream of terror +marked her painful sense of the recognition. It was Captain Baynton +whom she beheld: but how unlike the officer who a few minutes before +had been conversing with her from the ramparts. His fine hair, matted +with blood, now hung loosely and disfiguringly over his eyes, and his +pallid face and brow were covered with gore spots, the evident +spatterings from the wounds of others; while a stream that issued from +one side of his head attested he himself had not escaped unhurt in the +cruel melee. A skirt and a lappel had been torn from his uniform, +which, together with other portions of his dress, were now stained in +various parts by the blood continually flowing from his wound. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Captain Baynton," murmured the fainting girl, her whole soul +sinking within her, as she gazed shudderingly on his person, "is there +no hope for us? must we die?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, by Heaven, not while I have strength to save you," returned the +officer, with energy. "If the savages have not penetrated to the rear, +we may yet escape. I saw the postern open just now, on my passage round +the rampart, and the boat of the schooner upon the strand. Ha!" he +exclaimed, as he flew to the window, and cast his eye rapidly below, +"we are lost! The gate is still clear, and not an Indian to be seen; +but the coward sailor is pulling for his life towards the vessel. But +hold! another boat is now quitting the ship's side. See, how manfully +they give themselves to the oars: in a few minutes they will be here. +Come, Clara, let us fly!" and again he caught her in his arms, and bore +her across the room. "Hark, hear you not the exulting yellings of the +monsters? They are forcing the outer door: mark how they redouble their +efforts to break it open! That passed, but one more barrier remains +between us and inevitable and instant death." +</P> + +<P> +"And my cousin, my uncle!" shrieked the unhappy girl, as the officer +now bore her rapidly down the back staircase. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, ask me not!" exclaimed Baynton: "were I to linger again on all I +have witnessed, I should go mad. All, all have perished! but, hark!" +</P> + +<P> +A tremendous yell now bursting from the passage, announced at once, the +triumph of the savages in having effected an entrance into the +bed-room, and their disappointment at finding their pursuit baulked by +a second door. Presently afterwards their heavy weapons were to be +heard thundering at this new obstacle, in the most furious manner. This +gave new stimulus to the exertions of the generous officer. Each +winding of the staircase was familiar to him, and he now descended it +with a rapidity which, considering the burden that reposed against his +chest, could only have been inspired by his despair. The flight +terminated at a door that led directly upon the rampart, without +communicating with any of the passages of the building; and in this +consisted the principal facility of escape: for, in order to reach +them, the savages must either make the circuit of the block-house, or +overtake them in the course they were now following. In this trying +emergency, the presence of mind of the young officer, wounded and +bleeding as he was, did not desert him. On quitting the larger +apartment above, he had secured the outside fastenings of a small door +at the top of the stairs, and having now gained the bottom, he took a +similar precaution. All that remained was to unclose the bolts of the +ponderous door that opened upon their final chance of escape: this was +speedily done, but here the feelings of the officer were put to a +severe test. A rude partition divided him from the fatal council-room; +and while he undid the fastenings, the faint and dying groans of his +butchered brother officers rung in his ears, even at the moment that he +felt his feet dabbling in the blood that oozed through the imperfectly +closed planks of which the partition was composed. As for Clara, she +was insensible to all that was passing. From the moment of the Indian +yell, announcing their entry into the bed-room, she had fainted. +</P> + +<P> +The huge door came now creaking back upon its hinges, when the sounds +of the yet unfinished conflict in front, which had hitherto been +deadened in their descent through the remote staircase, rang once more +fiercely and startlingly upon the ear. A single glance satisfied +Captain Baynton the moment for exertion was come, and that the way to +the lake shore, which, by some strange oversight, both the Indians and +the men had overlooked, was perfectly clear. He clasped his unconscious +burden closer to his chest, and then, setting his life upon the cast, +hastened down the few steps that led to the rampart, and dashed rapidly +through the postern; in the next minute he stood on the uttermost verge +of the sands, unharmed and onfollowed. He cast his eyes anxiously along +the surface of the lake; but such was the excitement and confusion of +his mind, produced by the horrid recollection of the past scene, it was +not until he had been abruptly hailed from it, he could see a boat, at +the distance of about two hundred yards, the crew of which were lying +on their oars. It was the long boat of the schooner, which, prevented +from a nearer approach by a sand bar that ran along the lake to a +considerable extent, had taken her station there to receive the +fugitives. Two tall young men in the dress, yet having little the mien, +of common sailors, were standing up in her stern; and one of these, +with evident anxiety in his manner, called on Baynton by name to make +the best of his way to the boat. At that moment a loud and frantic yell +came from the block-house the latter had just quitted. In the wild +impulse of his excited feelings, he answered with a cheer of defiance, +as he turned to discover the precise point whence it proceeded. The +windows of the apartment so recently occupied by the unhappy cousins, +were darkened with savage forms, who now pealed forth their mingled +fury and disappointment in the most terrific manner. +</P> + +<P> +"Fly, fly, Baynton, or you are lost!" exclaimed the same voice from the +boat; "the devils are levelling from the windows." +</P> + +<P> +While he yet spake several shots came whizzing along the waters, and a +spent ball even struck the now rapidly fleeing officer in the back; but +the distance was too great for serious injury. The guns of the savages +had been cut so short for their desperate enterprise, that they carried +little further than a horse pistol. +</P> + +<P> +Again, in the desperation of his feelings, and heedless of the danger +he was drawing on himself and charge, the officer turned fiercely round +and shouted, at his utmost lungs, a peal of triumph in the ears of his +enemies. Scarcely, however, had the sounds escaped his lips, when two +hideously painted Indians sprang through the postern, and, silent as +the spectres they resembled, rushed down the sands, and thence into the +lake. Loud shouts from the windows above were again pealed forth, and +from the consternation visible on the features of those within the +boat, the nearly exhausted Baynton learnt all the risk he incurred. +Summoning all his strength, he now made the most desperate efforts to +reach his friends. The lake was little more than knee deep from the +shore to the bar, but, encumbered as he was, the difficulty opposed to +his movements was immeasurably against him, and yet he seemed +generously resolved rather to perish than relinquish his charge. +Already were his pursuers, now closely followed by a numerous band, +within twenty yards of him, when the two young men, each armed with a +cutlass and pistol, sprang from the boat upon the sand bar: as the +Indians came on they fired deliberately at them, but both missed their +aim. Encouraged by this failure, the fearless devils dashed eagerly on, +brandishing their gleaming tomahawks, but littering not a sound. +Already was the unfortunate Baynton within a few feet of the bar, when +he felt that the savages were immediately upon him. +</P> + +<P> +"Take, take, for God's sake take her!" he cried, as with a desperate +effort he threw the light form of the still unconscious girl into the +arms of one of the young men. "My strength is quite exhausted, and I +can do no more." +</P> + +<P> +For the first time a yell burst from the lips of the pursuing savages, +as they saw him, to whom the guardianship of the wretched Clara was now +confided, suddenly spring from the sand bar into the lake, and in a few +rapid strokes gain the side of the boat. Leaving the hapless Baynton to +be disposed of by his companion, the foremost darted upon the bank, +burning with disappointment, and resolved to immolate another victim. +For a moment he balanced his tomahawk, and then, with the rapidity of +thought, darted it at the covered head of the youth who still lingered +on the bar. A well-timed movement of the latter averted the blow, and +the whizzing steel passed harmlessly on. A gutteral "Ugh!" marked the +disappointment of the Indian, now reduced to his scalping-knife; but +before he could determine whether to advance or to retreat, his +opponent had darted upon him, and, with a single blow from his cutlass, +cleft his skull nearly asunder. The next instantaneous purpose of the +victor was to advance to the rescue of the exhausted Baynton; but, when +he turned to look for him, he saw the mangled form of what had once +been that gallant and handsome officer floating, without life or +motion, on the blood-stained surface of the Huron, while his fiendish +murderer, calmly awaiting the approach of his companions, held up the +reeking scalp, in triumph, to the view of the still yelling groups +within the block-house. +</P> + +<P> +"Noble, generous, self-devoted fellow!" exclaimed the youth, as he +fixed his burning tearless eye for a moment on the unfortunate victim; +"even you, then, are not spared to tell the horrid story of this +butchery; yet is the fate of the fallen far, far more enviable than +that of those who have survived this day." He then committed his +cutlass to its sheath; and, leaping into the deep water that lay beyond +the bar, was, in a few seconds, once more in the stern of the boat. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, the numerous band, who followed their two first fierce +comrades into the lake, bounded rapidly forward; and, so active were +their movements, that, at almost the same moment when the second of the +youths had gained his temporary place of refuge, they stood yelling and +screaming on the sand bar he had just quitted. Two or three, excited to +desperation by the blood they had seen spilt, plunged unhesitatingly +into the opposite depths of the lake; and the foremost of these was the +destroyer of the ill-fated Baynton. With his bloody scalping-knife +closely clutched between his teeth, and his tomahawk in his right hand, +this fierce warrior buffeted the waves lustily with one arm, and, +noiselessly as in the early part of his pursuit, urged his way towards +the boat. In the stern of this a few planks from the schooner had been +firmly lashed, to serve as a shield against the weapons of the savages, +and was so arranged as to conceal all within while retiring from the +shore. A small aperture had, however, been bored for the purpose of +observing the movements of the enemy without risk. Through this an eye +was now directed, while only the blades of the oars were to be seen +projecting from the boat's sides as they reposed in their rowlocks. +Encouraged by the seeming apathy and inertness of the crew, the +swimming savages paused not to consider of consequences, but continued +their daring course as if they had apprehended neither risk nor +resistance. Presently a desperate splash was heard near the stern of +the boat, and the sinuous form of the first savage was raised above the +gunwale, his grim face looking devilish in its war-paint, and his +fierce eyes gleaming and rolling like fire-balls in their sockets. +Scarcely was he seen, however, when he had again disappeared. A blow +from the cutlass that had destroyed his companion descended like +lightning on his naked and hairless head; and, in the agony of death, +he might be seen grinding his teeth against the knife which the +instinctive ferocity of his nature forbade his relinquishing. A yell of +fury burst from the savages on the bar, and presently a shower of +bullets ran whistling through the air. Several were heard striking the +rude rampart in the stem; but, although the boat was scarcely out of +pistol-shot, the thickness of the wood prevented all injury to those +within. Another fierce yell followed this volley; and then nearly a +score of warriors, giving their guns in charge to their companions, +plunged furiously into the water; and, with an air of the most +infuriated determination, leaped rather than swam along its surface. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, then, my lads, give way," said he at the look-out; "there are +more than a dozen of the devils in full cry; and our only chance is in +flight! Ha! another here!" as, turning to issue these directions, he +chanced to see the dark hand of a savage at that moment grasping the +gunwale of the boat, as if with a view to retard her movements until +the arrival of his companions. +</P> + +<P> +A heavy blow from his cutlass accompanied these words. The fingers, +divided at their very roots, rolled to the bottom of the boat, and the +carcase of the savage dropped, with a yell of anguish, far in the rear. +The heavy oar-blades of the seamen now made play, dashing the lake away +in sheets of foam; and, in less than five minutes, the heads of the +swimming savages were seen mingling like so many rats upon the water, +as they returned once more in disappointment from their fruitless +pursuit. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0212"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<P> +The sun had gone down, as he had risen, in all the gloriousness of his +autumnal splendour, and twilight was now fast descending on the waters +of the Huron. A slight breeze was just beginning to make itself felt +from the land, the gradual rising of which was hailed by many an +anxious heart, as the schooner, which had been making vain attempts to +quit her anchorage during the day, now urged her light bows through the +slightly curling element. A death-like silence, interrupted only by the +low gruff voice of a veteran seaman, as he issued, in technical +language, the necessary orders for the management of the vessel, +prevailed every where along her decks. The dress and general appearance +of this individual announced him for a petty officer of the royal +service; and it was evident, from the tone of authority with which he +spoke, he was now in the enjoyment of a temporary command. The crew, +consisting of about thirty souls, and chiefly veterans of the same +class, were assembled along the gangways, each man wearing a brace of +pistols in the belt, which, moreover, secured a naked cutlass around +his loins; and these now lingered near the several guns that were +thrown out from their gloomy looking ports, as if ready for some active +service. But, although the arming of these men indicated hostile +preparation, there was none of that buoyancy of movement and animation +of feature to be observed, which so usually characterise the +indomitable daring of the British sailor. Some stood leaning their +heads pensively on their hands against the rigging and hammocks that +were stowed away along the bulwarks, after the fashion of war ships in +boarding; others, with arms tightly folded across their chests, spirted +the tobacco juice thoughtfully from their closed teeth into the +receding waters; while not a few gazed earnestly and despondingly on +the burning fort in the distance, amid the rolling volumes of smoke and +flame from which, ever and anon, arose the fiendish yell of those who, +having already sacked, were now reducing it to ashes. Nor was this the +only object of their attention. On the sand bank alluded to in our last +chapter were to be dimly seen through the growing dusk, the dark +outlines of many of the savages, who, frantic with rage at their +inability to devote them to the same doom, were still unwilling to quit +a spot which approached them nearest to the last surviving objects of +their enmity. Around this point, were collected numerous canoes, filled +also with warriors; and, at the moment when the vessel, obeying the +impulse given by her flowing sails, glided from her anchorage, these +followed, scudding in her wake, and made a show of attacking her in the +stern. The sudden yawing of the schooner, however, in bringing her tier +of bristling ports into view, had checked the ardour of the pursuing +fleet; and the discharge of a single gun, destroying in its course +three of their canoes, and carrying death among those who directed +them, had driven them back, in the greatest hurry and confusion, to +their yelling and disappointed comrades. +</P> + +<P> +The after-deck of the schooner presented a different, though not less +sombre and discouraging, scene. On a pile of mattresses lay the light +and almost inanimate form of Clara de Haldimar; her fair and redundant +hair overshadowing her pallid brow and cheek, and the dress she had +worn at the moment of her escape from the fort still spotted with the +blood of her generous but unfortunate preserver. Close at her side, +with her hands clasped in his, while he watched the expression of deep +suffering reflected from each set feature, and yet with the air of one +pre-occupied with some other subject of painful interest, sat, on an +empty shot-box, the young man in sailor's attire, whose cutlass had +performed the double service of destroying his own immediate opponent, +and avenging the death of the devoted Baynton. At the head of the rude +couch, and leaning against a portion of the schooner's stern-work, +stood his companion, who from delicacy appeared to have turned away his +eyes from the group below, merely to cast them vacantly on the dark +waters through which the vessel was now beginning to urge her course. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the immediate position of this little party, when the gun +fired at the Indians was heard booming heavily along the lake. The loud +report, in exciting new sources of alarm, seemed to have dissipated the +spell that had hitherto chained the energies and perception of the +still weak, but now highly excited girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Captain Baynton, where are we?" she exclaimed, starting up +suddenly in terror, and throwing her arms around him, who sat at her +side, as if she would have clung to him for protection. "Is the horrid +massacre not finished yet? Where is Madeline? where is my cousin? Oh, I +cannot leave the fort without her." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! where indeed is she?" exclaimed the youth, as he clasped his +trembling and scarcely conscious burden to his chest, "Almighty God, +where is she?" Then, after a short pause, and in a voice of tender but +exquisite anguish, "Clara, my beloved sister, do you not know me? It is +not Baynton but your brother, who now clasps you to his breaking heart." +</P> + +<P> +A deluge of tears was the only answer of the wretched girl. They were +the first she had shed,—the first marks of consciousness she had +exhibited. Hitherto her heart had been oppressed; every fibre of her +brain racked almost to bursting, and filled only with ghastly flitting +visions of the dreadful horrors she had seen perpetrated, she had +continued, since the moment of her fainting in the block-house, as one +bereft of all memory of the past, or apprehension of the present. But +now, the full outpouring of her grief relieved her overcharged brain +and heart, even while the confused images floating before her +recollection acquired a more tangible and painful character. She raised +herself a moment from the chest on which her burning head reposed, +looked steadfastly in the face that hung anxiously over her own, and +saw indeed that it was her brother. She tried to speak, but she could +not utter a word, for the memory of all that had occurred that fatal +morning rushed with mountain weight upon her fainting spirit, and again +she wept, and more bitterly than before. +</P> + +<P> +The young man pressed her in silence to his chest; nor was it until she +had given full vent to her grief, that he ventured to address her on +the subject of his own immediate sorrows. At length, when she appeared +somewhat more calm, he observed, in a voice broken by emotion,— +</P> + +<P> +"Clara, dearest, what account have you to give me of Madeline? Has she +shared the fate of all? or have you reason to suppose her life has been +spared?" +</P> + +<P> +Another burst of tears succeeded to these questions, for coupled with +the name of her cousin arose all the horrid associations connected with +her loss. As soon, however, as she could compose herself, she briefly +stated all she had witnessed of the affair, from the moment when the +boat of the schooner was seen to meet the strange looking object on the +water, to that when she had beheld her ill-fated cousin borne away +apparently lifeless in the arms of the tall Indian by whom she had been +captured. +</P> + +<P> +During this recital, the heart of Captain de Haldimar,—for it was +he,—beat audibly against the cheek that still reposed on his breast; +but when his sister had, in a faint voice, closed her melancholy +narrative with the manner of her cousin's disappearance, he gave a +sudden start, uttering at the same time an exclamation of joy. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God, she still lives!" he cried, pressing his sister once more +in fondness to his heart; then turning to his companion, who, although +seemingly abstracted, had been a silent and attentive witness of the +scene,—"By Heaven! Valletort, there is yet a hope. She it was indeed +whom we saw borne out of the fort, and subsequently made to walk by the +cruel Indian who had charge of her." +</P> + +<P> +"Valletort, Valletort," murmured Clara unconsciously, her sick heart +throbbing with she knew not what. "How is this, Frederick?—Where, +then, is Captain Baynton? and how came you here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Alas! Clara, poor Baynton is no more. Even at the moment when he +confided the unconscious burden, preserved at the peril of his own +life, to the arms of Sir Everard here, he fell beneath the tomahawk of +a pursuing savage. Poor, noble, generous Baynton," he continued, +mournfully; "to him, indeed, Clara, are you indebted for your life; yet +was it purchased at the price of his own." +</P> + +<P> +Again the pained and affectionate girl wept bitterly, and her brother +proceeded:— +</P> + +<P> +"The strange object you saw on the lake, my love, was nothing more than +a canoe disguised with leafy boughs, in which Sir Everard Valletort and +myself, under the guidance of old Francois of the Fleur de lis, whom +you must recollect, have made the dangerous passage of the Sinclair in +the garb of duck hunters,—which latter we had only discarded on +reaching the schooner, in order to assume another we conceived better +suited to our purpose. Alas!" and he struck his hand violently against +his brow, "had we made directly for the shore without touching the +vessel at all, there might have been time to save those we came to +apprise of their danger. Do you not think there was, Valletort?" +</P> + +<P> +"Most assuredly not," returned his companion, anxious to remove the +impression of self-blame that existed in the mind of Captain de +Haldimar. "From the moment of our reaching the schooner, which lay +immediately in our route, to that when the shout was raised by the +savages as they rushed into the fort, there was scarcely an interval of +three minutes; and it would have required a longer period to have +enabled us even to gain the shore." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank, thank you for that!" exclaimed the officer, drawing himself up +with the air of one who breathes more freely. "I would not, for the +wealth and honours of the united world, that such a cause for +self-reproach should linger on my mind. By Heaven! it would break my +heart to think we had been in time to save them, and yet had lost the +opportunity through even one moment of neglect." Then turning once more +to his sister,—"Now, Clara, that I see you in safety, I have another +sacred duty to perform. I must leave you, but not alone." +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, Frederick?" exclaimed his agitated sister, clinging +more closely to his embrace. "Scarce have we met, and you talk of +leaving me. Oh, whither would you go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Surely, my love," and he spoke half reproachfully, although with +tenderness of accent, "my meaning must be obvious. But what do I say? +You know it not. Madeline still lives. We saw her, as we pulled towards +the shore, led across the clearing in the direction of Chabouiga. Hear +me, then: the canoe in which we came is still towing from the vessel's +stern, and in this do I mean to embark, without further loss of time, +in search of her who is dearer to me than existence. I know," he +pursued with emotion, "I have but little hope of rescuing, even if I do +succeed in finding her; but at least I shall not have to suffer under +the self-reproach of having neglected the only chance that now lies +within my reach. If she be doomed to die, I shall then have nothing +left to live for—except you, Clara," he concluded, after a pause, +pressing the weeping girl to his heart, as he remarked how much she +seemed pained by the declaration. +</P> + +<P> +Having placed his sister once more on the couch, and covered her with a +cloak that had been brought from the cabin of the unfortunate +commander, Captain de Haldimar now rose from his humble seat, and +grasping the hand of his friend,— +</P> + +<P> +"Valletort," he said, "I commit this dear girl to your keeping. +Hitherto we have been equal sharers in an enterprise having for its +object the preservation of our mutual companions and friends. At +present, interests of a more personal nature occupy my attention; and +to these must I devote myself alone. I trust you will reach Detroit in +safety; and when you have delivered my unfortunate sister into the arms +of her father, you will say to him from me, I could not survive the +loss of that being to whom I had sworn eternal fidelity and affection. +Francois must be my only companion on this occasion. Nay," he +continued, pointing to his sister, in answer to the rising remonstrance +of the baronet, "will you desert the precious charge I have confided to +your keeping? Recollect, Valletort," in a more subdued tone, "that +besides yourself, there will be none near her but rude and uneducated +sailors;—honest men enough in their way, it is true; but not the sort +of people to whom I should like to confide my poor sister." +</P> + +<P> +The warm and silent pressure by Sir Everard of his hand announced his +participation in the sentiment; and Captain de Haldimar now hastened +forward to apprise the Canadian of his purpose. He found mine host of +the Fleur de lis seated in the forecastle of the schooner; and with an +air of the most perfect unconcern discussing a substantial meal, +consisting of dried uncooked venison, raw onions, and Indian corn +bread, the contents of a large bag or wallet that lay at his feet. No +sooner, however, had the impatient officer communicated his design, +asking at the same time if he might expect his assistance in the +enterprise, than the unfinished meal of the Canadian was discontinued, +the wallet refilled, and the large greasy clasp-knife with which the +portions had been separated, closed and thrust into a pocket of his +blanket coat. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall go to de devils for you, capitaine, if we must," he said, as +he raised his portly form, not without effort, from the deck, slapping +the shoulder of the officer at the same time somewhat rudely with his +hand. There was nothing, however, offensively familiar in this action. +It expressed merely the devotedness of heart with which the man lent +himself to the service to which he had pledged himself, and was rather +complimentary than otherwise to him to whom it was directed. Captain de +Haldimar took it in the light in which we have just shown it, and he +grasped and shook the rough hand of the Canadian with an earnestness +highly gratifying to the latter. +</P> + +<P> +Every thing was now in readiness for their departure. The canoe, still +covered with its streaming boughs, was drawn close up to the gangway, +and a few hasty necessaries thrown in. While this was passing, the +officer had again assumed his disguise of a duck-hunter; and he now +appeared in the blanket costume in which we introduced Sir Everard and +himself at the opening of this volume. +</P> + +<P> +"If I may be so bold as to put in my oar, your honour,"—said the +veteran boatswain, on whom the command of the schooner had fallen, as +he now advanced, rolling his quid in his mouth, and dropping his hat on +his shoulder, while the fingers of the hand which clutched it were +busily occupied in scratching his bald head,—"if I may be so bold, +there is another chap here as might better sarve your honour's purpose +than that 'ere fat Canadian, who seems to think only of stuffing while +his betters are fasting." +</P> + +<P> +"And who is he, my good Mullins?" asked Captain de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that 'ere Ingian, your honour, as began the butchery in the fort, +yonder, by trying to kill Jack Fuller while he laid asleep this +morning, waiting for the captain in the jolly boat. Jack never seed him +coming, until he felt his black hands upon his throat, and then he ups +with the tiller at his noddle, and sends him floundering across the +boat's thwarts like a flat-fish. I thought, your honour, seeing as how +I have got the command of the schooner, of tying him up to the +mainmast, and giving him two or three round dozen or so, and then +sending him to swim among the mascannungy with a twenty-four pound shot +in his neckcloth; but, seeing as how your honour is going among them +savages agin, I thought as how some good might be done with him, if +your honour could contrive to keep him in tow, and close under your lee +quarter, to prevent his escape." +</P> + +<P> +"At all events," returned the officer, after a pause of some moments, +during which he appeared to be deliberating on his course of action, +"it may be dangerous to keep him in the vessel; and yet, if we take him +ashore, he may be the means of our more immediate destruction; unless, +indeed, as you observe, he can be so secured as to prevent the +possibility of escape: but that I very much doubt indeed. Where is he, +Mullins? I should like to see and question him." +</P> + +<P> +"He shall be up, your honour, in no time," replied the sailor, once +more resuming his hat, and moving a pace or two forward. Then +addressing two or three men in the starboard gangway in the +authoritative tone of command:—"Bear a hand there, my men, and cast +off the lashings of that black Ingian, and send him aft, here, to the +officer." +</P> + +<P> +The order was speedily executed. In a few minutes the Indian stood on +the quarter-deck, his hands firmly secured behind, and his head sunk +upon his chest in sullen despondency. In the increasing gloom in which +objects were now gradually becoming more and more indistinct, it was +impossible for Captain de Haldimar to distinguish his features; but +there was something in the outline of the Indian's form that impressed +him with the conviction he had seen it before. Advancing a pace or two +forward, he pronounced, in an emphatic and audible whisper, the name of +"Oucanasta!" +</P> + +<P> +The Indian gave an involuntary start,—uttered a deep interjectional +"Ugh!"—and, raising his head from his chest, fixed his eye heavily on +the officer. +</P> + +<P> +"Hookynaster!—Hookynaster!" growled Jack Fuller, who had followed to +hear the examination of his immediate captive: "why, your honour, that +jaw-breaking name reminds me as how the chap had a bit of a paper when +I chucked him into the jolly boat, stuck in his girdle. It was covered +over with pencil-marks, as writing like; but all was rubbed out agin, +except some such sort of a name as that." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is it?—what have you done with it?" hastily asked Captain de +Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, in my backy-box, your honour. I kept it safe, thinking as how it +might sarve to let us know all about it afterwards." +</P> + +<P> +The sailor now drew from the receptacle just named a dirty piece of +folded paper, deeply impregnated with the perfume of stale and oft +rechewed quids of coarse tobacco; and then, with the air of one +conscious of having "rendered the state some service," hitched up his +trowsers with one hand, while with the other he extended the important +document. +</P> + +<P> +To glance his eye hurriedly over the paper by the light of a dark +lanthorn that had meanwhile been brought upon deck, unclasp his +hunting-knife, and divide the ligatures of the captive, and then warmly +press his liberated hands within his own, were, with Captain de +Haldimar, but the work of a minute. +</P> + +<P> +"Hilloa! which the devil way does the wind blow now?" muttered Fuller, +the leer of self-satisfaction that had hitherto played in his eye +rapidly giving place to an air of seriousness and surprise; an +expression that was not at all diminished by an observation from his +new commander. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you what it is, Jack," said the latter, impressively; "I don't +pretend to have more gumption (qu. discernment?) than my messmates; but +I can see through a millstone as clear as any man as ever heaved a lead +in these here lakes; and may I never pipe boatswain's whistle again, if +you 'ar'n't, some how or other, in the wrong box. That 'ere Ingian's +one of us!" +</P> + +<P> +The feelings of Captain de Haldimar may easily be comprehended by our +readers, when, on glancing at the paper, he found himself confirmed in +the impression previously made on him by the outline of the captive's +form. The writing, nearly obliterated by damp, had been rudely traced +by his own pencil on a leaf torn from his pocket-book. In the night of +his visit to the Indian encampment, and at the moment when, seated on +the fatal log, Oucanasta had generously promised her assistance in at +least rescuing his betrothed bride. They were addressed to Major de +Haldimar, and briefly stated that a treacherous plan was in +contemplation by the enemy to surprise the fort, which the bearer, +Oucanasta (the latter word strongly marked), would fully explain, if +she could possibly obtain access within. From the narrative entered +into by Clara, who had particularly dwelt on the emotions of fear that +had sprung up in her own and cousin's heart by the sudden +transformation of a supposed harmless beaver into a fierce and +threatening savage, he had no difficulty in solving the enigma. +</P> + +<P> +The Indian, in whom he had recognised the young chief who had saved him +from the fury of Wacousta, had evidently been won upon by his sister to +perform a service which offered so much less difficulty to a warrior +than to a woman; and it was clear, that, finding all other means of +communication with the fort, undiscovered by his own people, +impracticable, he had availed himself of the opportunity, when he saw +the boat waiting on the strand, to assume a disguise so well adapted to +insure success. It was no remarkable thing in these countries, to see +both the beaver and the otter moving on the calm surface of the waters +in the vicinity of the forts, even at mid-day; and occupied as the +Indians were, to a man, at that moment with their cruel projects, it +was by no means likely that their attention should have been called off +from these to so apparently unimportant a circumstance. The act that +had principally alarmed the cousins, and terminated, as we have seen, +in the sudden attack of the sailor, had evidently been misconceived. +The hand supposed to be feeling for the heart of the sluggard, had, in +all probability, been placed on his chest with a view to arouse him +from his slumber; while that which was believed to have been dropped to +the handle of his knife, was, in reality, merely seeking the paper that +contained the announcement, which, if then delivered, might have saved +the garrison. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the tram of conjecture that now passed through the mind of the +officer; but, although he thus placed the conduct of the Indian in the +most favourable light, his impression received no confirmation from the +lips of the latter. Sullen and doggedly, notwithstanding the release +from his bonds, the Ottawa hung his head upon his chest, with his eyes +riveted on the deck, and obstinately refused to answer every question +put to him by his deliverer. This, however, did not the less tend to +confirm Captain de Haldimar in his belief. He knew enough of the Indian +character, to understand the indignant and even revengeful spirit +likely to be aroused by the treatment the savage had met with in return +for his intended services. He was aware that, without pausing to +reflect on the fact, that the sailor, ignorant of his actual purpose, +could merely have seen in him an enemy in the act of attempting his +life, the chief would only consider and inflame himself over the +recollection of the blow inflicted; and that, with the true obstinacy +of his race, he would rather suffer captivity or death itself, than +humble the haughty pride of his nature, by condescending to an +explanation with those by whom he felt himself so deeply injured. +Still, even amid all his own personal griefs,—griefs that rendered the +boon in some degree at present valueless,—Captain de Haldimar could +not forget that the youth, no matter by what motive induced, had +rescued him from a dreadful death on a previous occasion. With the +generous warmth, therefore, of a grateful mind, he now sought to +impress on the Indian the deep sense of obligation under which he +laboured; explaining at the same time the very natural error into which +the sailor had fallen, and concluding with a declaration that he was +free to quit the vessel in the canoe in which he himself was about to +take his departure for the shore, in search of her whom his sister had +pledged herself, at all hazards, to save. +</P> + +<P> +The address of the officer, touching and impressive as language ever is +that comes from the heart, was not altogether without effect on the +Indian. Several times he interrupted him with a short, quick, approving +"Ugh!" and when he at length received the assurance that he was no +longer a prisoner, he raised his eyes rapidly, although without moving +his head, to the countenance of his deliverer. Already were his lips +opening to speak for the first time, when the attention of the group +around him was arrested by his giving a sudden start of surprise. At +the same moment he raised his head, stretched his neck, threw forward +his right ear, and, uttering a loud and emphatic "Waugh!" pointed with +his finger over the bows of the vessel. +</P> + +<P> +All listened for upwards of a minute in mute suspense; and then a faint +and scarcely distinguishable sound was heard in the direction in which +he pointed. Scarcely had it floated on the air, when a shrill, loud, +and prolonged cry, of peculiar tendency, burst hurriedly and eagerly +from the lips of the captive; and, spreading over the broad expanse of +water, seemed to be re-echoed back from every point of the surrounding +shore. +</P> + +<P> +Great was the confusion that followed this startling yell on the decks +of the schooner. "Cut the hell-fiend down!"—"Chuck him +overboard!"—"We are betrayed!"—"Every man to his gun!"—"Put the +craft about!" were among the numerous exclamations that now rose +simultaneously from at least twenty lips, and almost drowned the loud +shriek that burst again from the wretched Clara de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop, Mullins!—Stop, men!" shouted Captain de Haldimar, firmly, as +the excited boatswain, with two or three of his companions,—now +advanced with the intention of laying violent hands on the Indian. "I +will answer for his fidelity with my life. If he be false, it will be +time enough to punish him afterwards; but let us calmly await the issue +like men. Hear me," he proceeded, as he remarked their incredulous, +uncertain, and still threatening air;—"this Indian saved me from the +tomahawks of his tribe not a week ago; and, even now, he has become our +captive in the act of taking a note from me to the garrison, to warn +them of their danger. But for that slumbering fool," he added, +bitterly, pointing to Fuller, who slept when he should have watched, +"your fort would not now have been what it is,—a mass of smoking +ruins. He has an ocean of blood upon his soul, that all the waters of +the Huron can never wash out!" +</P> + +<P> +Struck by the vehement manner of the officer, and the disclosure he had +just made, the sailors sunk once more into inaction and silence. The +boatswain alone spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought, your honour, as how Jack Fuller, who sartainly is a better +hand at a snooze than a watch, had got into a bit of a mess; but, +shiver my topsails, if I think it's quite fair to blame him, neither, +for clapping a stopper on the Indian's cable, seeing as how he was +expecting a shot between wind and water. Still, as the chap turns out +to be an honest chap, and has saved your honour's life above all, I +don't much care if I give him a grip. Here, old fellow, tip us your +fist!" +</P> + +<P> +Without seeming to understand that his cry had been productive of +general and intense alarm throughout the vessel, the Indian had viewed +the sudden rushing of the crew towards him as an act of gratuitous +hostility; and, without shrinking from the attack, had once more +resumed his original air of dogged sullenness. It was evident to him, +from the discussion going on, that some violence, about to be offered +to his person, had only been prevented by the interference of the +officer. With the natural haughtiness of his savage nature, he +therefore rejected the overtures of the sailor, whose hand he had +observed among the first that were raised against him. +</P> + +<P> +While the angry boatswain was yet rolling his quid within his capacious +jaws, racking his brain for the strongest language wherein to give vent +to his indignation, his ears were suddenly saluted by a low but clear +"Hilloa!" from the bows of the schooner. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, ay!" was the brief response. +</P> + +<P> +"There's something approaching us ahead, on the weather fore quarter," +continued the same voice, which was that of the man on the look-out. +</P> + +<P> +The most profound silence now pervaded the deck. Every individual, +including Captain de Haldimar and the boatswain, had flown to the +gangway of the quarter indicated, which was on the side occupied by the +couch of the unfortunate Clara. Presently a noise like that produced by +a single paddle rapidly dividing the water, was heard by every anxious +ear. Night had long since thrown her mantle over the surrounding waste; +and all that was to be seen reflected from the bosom of the gradually +darkening river, scarcely ruffled by the yet incipient breeze, were a +few straggling stars, that here and there appeared in the overcast +heavens. Hitherto no object could be discovered by those who strained +their eyes eagerly and painfully through the gloom, although the sounds +became at each moment more distinct. It was evident the party, guided +by the noise of the rippling waves that fell from the bows of the +schooner, was enabled to follow up a course, the direct clue to which +had been indicated by the cry of the captive. Every man stood near his +gun on the starboard battery, and the burning matches hanging over +their respective buckets ready to be seized at a moment's notice. +Still, but little room for apprehension existed; for the practised ear +of the mariners could easily tell that a solitary bark alone +approached; and of one, or even ten, they entertained no fear. +Suddenly, as the course of the vessel was now changed a point to +windward,—a movement that brought her bows more off the adjacent +shore,—the sound, in which all were more or less interested, was heard +not more than twenty yards off, and in a line with the gangway at which +the principal of the crew were assembled. In the next minute the low +hull of a canoe came in sight, and then a tall and solitary human +figure was seen in the stern, bending alternately to the right and to +the left, as the paddle was rapidly and successively changed from side +to side. +</P> + +<P> +Another deep and exulting "Ugh!" was now heaved from the chest of the +Indian, who stood calmly on the spot on which he had first rested, +while Fuller prepared a coil of rope to throw to the active steersman. +</P> + +<P> +"Avast there, Jack!" growled the boatswain, addressing the sailor; "how +can the stranger keep the bow of his craft on, and grapple at the same +time? Just pass one end of the coil round your waist, and swing +yourself gently into her." +</P> + +<P> +The head of the canoe was now near enough for the purpose. The sailor +did as he was desired, having previously divested himself of his shoes, +and leaping forward, alighted on what appeared to be a bundle of +blankets stowed away in her bows. No sooner, however, had he secured +his footing, when with another desperate leap, and greatly to the +astonishment of all around, he bounded once more to the deck of the +schooner, his countenance exhibiting every mark of superstitious alarm. +In the act of quitting the canoe he had spurned her violently several +feet from the vessel, which the silent steersman was again making every +effort to reach. +</P> + +<P> +"Why what the devil's the matter with you now?" exclaimed the rough +boatswain, who, as well as Captain de Haldimar and the rest of the +crew, had quitted the gangway to learn the cause of this extraordinary +conduct. "Damn my eyes, if you ar'n't worse scared than when the Ingian +stood over you in the jolly boat." +</P> + +<P> +"Scared, ay, to be sure I am; and so would you be scared too, if you'd +a see'd what I did. May I never touch the point at Portsmouth, if I +a'n't seen her ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?—whose ghost?—what ghost?—what do you mean, Jack?" exclaimed +several of the startled men in the same breath, while the superstitious +dread so common to mariners drew them still closer in the group that +encircled their companion. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, as I am a miserable sinner," returned the man, +impressively, and in a low tone, "I see'd in the bows of the +canoe,—and the hand that steered it was not made of flesh and blood +like ours,—what do you think?—the ghost of—" +</P> + +<P> +Captain de Haldimar heard no more. At a single bound he had gained the +ship's side. He strained his eyes anxiously over the gangway in search +of the canoe, but it was gone. A death-like silence throughout the deck +followed the communication of the sailor, and in that pause the sound +of the receding boat could be heard, not urged, as it had approached, +by one paddle, but by two. The heart of the officer throbbed almost to +suffocation; and his firmness, hitherto supported by the manly energies +of his nature, now failed him quite. Heedless of appearances, +regardless of being overlooked, he tottered like a drunken man for +support against the mainmast. For a moment or two he leant his head +upon his hand, with the air of one immersed in the most profound +abstraction; while the crew, at once alarmed and touched by the deep +distress into which this mysterious circumstance had plunged him, stood +silently and respectfully watching his emotion. Suddenly he started +from his attitude of painful repose, like one awaking from a dream, and +demanded what had become of the Indian. +</P> + +<P> +Every one looked around, but the captive was nowhere to be seen. Search +was made below, both in the cabin and in the fore decks, and men were +sent up aloft to see if he had secreted himself in the rigging; but all +returned, stating he was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared from +the vessel altogether, yet no one knew how; for he had not been +observed to stir from the spot on which he had first planted himself. +It was plain, however, he had joined the mysterious party in the canoe, +from the fact of the second paddle having been detected; and all +attempts at pursuit, without endangering the vessel on the shallows, +whither the course of the fugitives was now directed, was declared by +the boatswain utterly impracticable. +</P> + +<P> +The announcement of the Indian's disappearance seemed to put the climax +to the despair of the unfortunate officer.—"Then is our every hope +lost!" he groaned aloud, as, quitting the centre of the vessel, he +slowly traversed the deck, and once more stood at the side of his no +less unhappy and excited sister. For a moment or two he remained with +his arms folded across his chest, gazing on the dark outline of her +form; and then, in a wild paroxysm of silent tearless grief, threw +himself suddenly on the edge of the couch, and clasping her in a long +close embrace to his audibly beating heart, lay like one bereft of all +sense and consciousness of surrounding objects. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="vol3"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WACOUSTA; +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + or +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PROPHECY. +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Volume Three of Three +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +John Richardson +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="50%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0301">I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0302">II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0303">III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0304">IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0305">V</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0306">VI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0307">VII</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0308">VIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0309">IX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0310">X</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0311">XI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0312">XII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0313">XIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0314">XIV</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0301"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<P> +The night passed away without further event on board the schooner, yet +in all the anxiety that might be supposed incident to men so perilously +situated. Habits of long-since acquired superstition, too powerful to +be easily shaken off, moreover contributed to the dejection of the +mariners, among whom there were not wanting those who believed the +silent steersman was in reality what their comrade had represented,—an +immaterial being, sent from the world of spirits to warn them of some +impending evil. What principally gave weight to this impression were +the repeated asseverations of Fuller, during the sleepless night passed +by all on deck, that what he had seen was no other, could be no other, +than a ghost! exhibiting in its hueless, fleshless cheek, the +well-known lineaments of one who was supposed to be no more: and, if +the story of their comrade had needed confirmation among men in whom +faith in, rather than love for, the marvellous was a constitutional +ingredient, the terrible effect that seemed to have been produced on +Captain de Haldimar by the same mysterious visitation would have been +more than conclusive. The very appearance of the night, too, favoured +the delusion. The heavens, comparatively clear at the moment when the +canoe approached the vessel, became suddenly enveloped in the deepest +gloom at its departure, as if to enshroud the course of those who, +having so mysteriously approached, had also so unaccountably +disappeared. Nor had this threatening state of the atmosphere the +counterbalancing advantage of storm and tempest to drive them onward +through the narrow waters of the Sinclair, and enable them, by +anticipating the pursuit of their enemies, to shun the Scylla and +Charybdis that awaited their more leisure advance. The wind increased +not; and the disappointed seamen remarked, with dismay, that their +craft scarcely made more progress than at the moment when she first +quitted her anchorage. +</P> + +<P> +It was now near the first hours of day; and although, perhaps, none +slept, there were few who were not apparently at rest, and plunged in +the most painful reflections. Still occupying her humble couch, and +shielded from the night air merely by the cloak that covered her own +blood-stained garments, lay the unhappy Clara, her deep groans and +stifled sobs bursting occasionally from her pent-up heart, and falling +on the ears of the mariners like sounds of fearful import, produced by +the mysterious agency that already bore such undivided power over their +thoughts. On the bare deck, at her side, lay her brother, his face +turned upon the planks, as if to shut out all objects from eyes he had +not the power to close; and, with one arm supporting his heavy brow, +while the other, cast around the restless form of his beloved sister, +seemed to offer protection and to impart confidence, even while his +lips denied the accents of consolation. Seated on an empty hen-coop at +their head, was Sir Everard Valletort, his back reposing against the +bulwarks of the vessel, his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes +bent mechanically on the man at the helm, who stood within a few paces +of him,—an attitude of absorption, which he, ever and anon, changed to +one of anxious and enquiring interest, whenever the agitation of Clara +was manifested in the manner already shown. +</P> + +<P> +The main deck and forecastle of the vessel presented a similar picture +of mingled unquietness and repose. Many of the seamen might be seen +seated on the gun-carriages, with their cheeks pressing the rude metal +that served them for a pillow. Others lay along the decks, with their +heads resting on the elevated hatches; while not a few, squatted on +their haunches with their knees doubled up to their very chins, +supported in that position the aching head that rested between their +rough and horny palms. A first glance might have induced the belief +that all were buried in the most profound slumber; but the quick +jerking of a limb,—the fitful, sudden shifting of a position,—the +utter absence of that deep breathing which indicates the +unconsciousness of repose, and the occasional spirting of tobacco juice +upon the deck,—all these symptoms only required to be noticed, to +prove the living silence that reigned throughout was not born either of +apathy or sleep. +</P> + +<P> +At the gangway at which the canoe had approached now stood the +individual already introduced to our readers as Jack Fuller. The same +superstitious terror that caused his flight had once more attracted him +to the spot where the subject of his alarm first appeared to him; and, +without seeming to reflect that the vessel, in her slow but certain +progress, had left all vestige of the mysterious visitant behind, he +continued gazing over the bulwarks on the dark waters, as if he +expected at each moment to find his sight stricken by the same +appalling vision. It was at the moment when he had worked up his +naturally dull imagination to its highest perception of the +supernatural, that he was joined by the rugged boatswain, who had +passed the greater part of the night in pacing up and down the decks, +watching the aspect of the heavens, and occasionally tauting a rope or +squaring a light yard, unassisted, as the fluttering of the canvass in +the wind rendered the alteration necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Jack!" bluntly observed the latter in a gruff whisper that +resembled the suppressed growling of a mastiff, "what the hell are ye +thinking of now?—Not got over your flumbustification yet, that ye +stand here, looking as sanctified as an old parson!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell ye what it is, Mr. Mullins," returned the sailor, in the +same key; "you may make as much game on me as you like; but these here +strange sort of doings are somehow quizzical; and, though I fears +nothing in the shape of flesh and blood, still, when it comes to having +to do with those as is gone to Davy Jones's locker like, it gives a +fellow an all-overishness as isn't quite the thing. You understand me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm damned if I do!" was the brief but energetic rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then," continued Fuller, "if I must out with it, I must. I think +that 'ere Ingian must have been the devil, or how could he come so +sudden and unbeknownst upon me, with the head of a 'possum: and then, +agin, how could he get away from the craft without our seeing him? and +how came the ghost on board of the canoe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Avast there, old fellow; you means not the head of a 'possum, but a +beaver: but that 'ere's all nat'r'l enough, and easily 'counted for; +but you hav'n't told us whose ghost it was, after all." +</P> + +<P> +"No; the captain made such a spring to the gunwale, as frighted it all +out of my head: but come closer, Mr. Mullins, and I'll whisper it in +your ear.—Hark! what was that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hears nothing," said the boatswain, after a pause. +</P> + +<P> +"It's very odd," continued Fuller; "but I thought as how I heard it +several times afore you came." +</P> + +<P> +"There's something wrong, I take it, in your upper story, Jack Fuller," +coolly observed his companion; "that 'ere ghost has quite capsized you." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, again!" repeated the sailor. "Didn't you hear it then? A sort of +a groan like." +</P> + +<P> +"Where, in what part?" calmly demanded the boatswain, though in the +same suppressed tone in which the dialogue had been, carried on. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, from the canoe that lies alongside there. I heard it several +times afore." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, damn my eyes, if you a'rn't turned a real coward at last," +politely remarked Mr. Mullins. "Can't the poor fat devil of a Canadian +snooze a bit in his hammock, without putting you so completely out of +your reckoning?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Canadian—the Canadian!" hurriedly returned Fuller: "why, don't +you see him there, leaning with his back to the main-mast, and as fast +asleep as if the devil himself couldn't wake him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then it was the devil, you heard, if you like," quaintly retorted +Mullins: "but bear a hand, and tell us all about this here ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, again! what was that?" once more enquired the excited sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"Only a gust of wind passing through the dried boughs of the canoe," +said the boatswain: "but since we can get nothing out of that crazed +noddle of yours, see if you can't do something with your hands. That +'ere canoe running alongside, takes half a knot off the ship's way. +Bear a hand then, and cast off the painter, and let her drop astarn, +that she may follow in our wake. Hilloa! what the hell's the matter +with the man now?" +</P> + +<P> +And well might he ask. With his eyeballs staring, his teeth chattering, +his body half bent, and his arms thrown forward, yet pendent as if +suddenly arrested in that position while in the act of reaching the +rope, the terrified sailor stood gazing on the stern of the canoe; in +which, by the faint light of the dawning day, was to be seen an object +well calculated to fill the least superstitious heart with terror and +dismay. Through an opening in the foliage peered the pale and spectral +face of a human being, with its dull eyes bent fixedly and mechanically +upon the vessel. In the centre of the wan forehead was a dark +incrustation, as of blood covering the superficies of a newly closed +wound. The pallid mouth was partially unclosed, so as to display a row +of white and apparently lipless teeth; and the features were otherwise +set and drawn, as those of one who is no longer of earth. Around the +head was bound a covering so close, as to conceal every part save the +face; and once or twice a hand was slowly raised, and pressed upon the +blood spot that dimmed the passing fairness of the brow. Every other +portion of the form was invisible. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the boatswain, in a voice that, +now elevated to more than its natural tone, sounded startlingly on the +stillness of the scene; "sure enough it is, indeed, a ghost!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! do you believe me now?" returned Fuller, gaining confidence from +the admission of his companion, and in the same elevated key. "It is, +as I hope to be saved, the ghost I see'd afore." +</P> + +<P> +The commotion on deck was now every where universal. The sailors +started to their feet, and, with horror and alarm visibly imprinted on +their countenances, rushed tumultuously towards the dreaded gangway. +</P> + +<P> +"Make way—room, fellows!" exclaimed a hurried voice; and presently +Captain de Haldimar, who had bounded like lightning from the deck, +appeared with eager eye and excited cheek among them. To leap into the +bows of the canoe, and disappear under the foliage, was the work of a +single instant. All listened breathlessly for the slightest sound; and +then every heart throbbed with the most undefinable emotions, as his +lips were heard giving utterance to the deep emotion of his own +spirit,— +</P> + +<P> +"Madeline, oh, my own lost Madeline!" he exclaimed with almost frantic +energy of passion: "do I then press you once more in madness to my +doting heart? Speak, speak to me—for God's sake speak, or I shall go +mad! Air, air,—she wants air only—she cannot be dead." +</P> + +<P> +These last words were succeeded by the furious rending asunder of the +fastenings that secured the boughs, and presently the whole went +overboard, leaving revealed the tall and picturesque figure of the +officer; whose left arm encircled while it supported the reclining and +powerless form of one who well resembled, indeed, the spectre for which +she had been mistaken, while his right hand was busied in detaching the +string that secured a portion of the covering round her throat. At +length it fell from her shoulders; and the well known form of Madeline +de Haldimar, clad even in the vestments in which they had been wont to +see her, met the astonished gaze of the excited seamen. Still there +were some who doubted it was the corporeal woman whom they beheld; and +several of the crew who were catholics even made the sign of the cross +as the supposed spirit was now borne up the gangway in the arms of the +pained yet gratified De Haldimar: nor was it until her feet were seen +finally resting on the deck, that Jack Fuller could persuade himself it +was indeed Miss de Haldimar, and not her ghost, that lay clasped to the +heart of the officer. +</P> + +<P> +With the keen rush of the morning air upon her brow returned the +suspended consciousness of the bewildered Madeline. The blood came +slowly and imperceptibly to her cheek; and her eyes, hitherto glazed, +fixed, and inexpressive, looked enquiringly, yet with stupid +wonderment, around. She started from the embrace of her lover, gazed +alternately at his disguise, at himself, and at Clara; and then passing +her hand several times rapidly across her brow, uttered an hysteric +scream, and threw herself impetuously forward on the bosom of the +sobbing girl; who, with extended arms, parted lips, and heaving bosom, +sat breathlessly awaiting the first dawn of the returning reason of her +more than sister. +</P> + +<P> +We should vainly attempt to paint all the heart-rending misery of the +scene exhibited in the gradual restoration of Miss de Haldimar to her +senses. From a state of torpor, produced by the freezing of every +faculty into almost idiocy, she was suddenly awakened to all the +terrors of the past and the deep intonations of her rich voice were +heard only in expressions of agony, that entered into the most +iron-hearted of the assembled seamen; while they drew from the bosom of +her gentle and sympathising cousin fresh bursts of desolating grief. +Imagination itself would find difficulty in supplying the harrowing +effect upon all, when, with upraised hands, and on her bended knees, +her large eyes turned wildly up to heaven, she invoked in deep and +startling accents the terrible retribution of a just God on the inhuman +murderers of her father, with whose life-blood her garments were +profusely saturated; and then, with hysteric laughter, demanded why she +alone had been singled out to survive the bloody tragedy. Love and +affection, hitherto the first principles of her existence, then found +no entrance into her mind. Stricken, broken-hearted, stultified to all +feeling save that of her immediate wretchedness, she thought only of +the horrible scenes through which she had passed; and even he, whom at +another moment she could have clasped in an agony of fond tenderness to +her beating bosom,—he to whom she had pledged her virgin faith, and +was bound by the dearest of human ties,—he whom she had so often +longed to behold once more, and had thought of, the preceding day, with +all the tenderness of her impassioned and devoted soul,—even he did +not, in the first hours of her terrible consciousness, so much as +command a single passing regard. All the affections were for a period +blighted in her bosom. She seemed as one devoted, without the power of +resistance, to a grief which calcined and preyed upon all other +feelings of the mind. One stunning and annihilating reflection seemed +to engross every principle of her being; nor was it for hours after she +had been restored to life and recollection that a deluge of burning +tears, giving relief to her heart and a new direction to her feelings, +enabled her at length to separate the past from, and in some degree +devote herself to, the present. Then, indeed, for the first time did +she perceive and take pleasure in the presence of her lover; and +clasping her beloved and weeping Clara to her heart, thank her God, in +all the fervour of true piety, that she at least had been spared to +shed a ray of comfort on her distracted spirit. But we will not pain +the reader by dwelling on a scene that drew tears even from the rugged +and flint-nerved boatswain himself; for, although we should linger on +it with minute anatomical detail, no powers of language we possess +could convey the transcript as it should be. Pass we on, therefore, to +the more immediate incidents of our narrative. +</P> + +<P> +The day now rapidly developing, full opportunity was afforded the +mariners to survey the strict nature of their position. To all +appearance they were yet in the middle of the lake, for around them lay +the belting sweep of forest that bounded the perspective of the +equidistant circle, of which their bark was the focus or immediate +centre. The wind was dying gradually away, and when at length the sun +rose, in all his splendour, there was scarce air enough in the heavens +to keep the sails from flapping against the masts, or to enable the +vessel to obey her helm. In vain was the low and peculiar whistle of +the seamen heard, ever and anon, in invocation of the departing breeze. +Another day, calm and breathless as the preceding, had been chartered +from the world of light; and their hearts failed them, as they foresaw +the difficulty of their position, and the almost certainty of their +retreat being cut off. It was while labouring under the disheartening +consciousness of danger, peculiar to all, that the anxious boatswain +summoned Captain de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort, by a +significant beck of the finger, to the side of the deck opposite to +that on which still lay the suffering and nearly broken-hearted girls. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Mullins, what now?" enquired the former, as he narrowly scanned +the expression of the old man's features: "that clouded brow of yours, +I fear me, bodes no agreeable information." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, your honour, I scarcely knows what to say about it; but seeing as +I'm the only officer in the ship, now our poor captain is killed, God +bless him! I thought I might take the liberty to consult with your +honours as to the best way of getting out of the jaws of them sharks of +Ingians; and two heads, as the saying is, is always better than one." +</P> + +<P> +"And now you have the advantage of three," observed the officer, with a +sickly smile; "but I fear, Mullins, that if your own be not sufficient +for the purpose, ours will be of little service. You must take counsel +from your own experience and knowledge of nautical matters." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, to be sure, your honour," and the sailor rolled his quid from one +cheek to the other, "I think I may say as how I'll venture to steer the +craft with any man on the Canada lakes, and bring her safe into port +too; but seeing as how I'm only a petty officer, and not yet +recommended by his worship the governor for the full command, I thought +it but right to consult with my superiors, not as to the management of +the craft, but the best as is to be done. What does your honour think +of making for the high land over the larboard bow yonder, and waiting +for the chance of the night-breeze to take us through the Sinclair?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do whatever you think best," returned the officer. "For my part, I +scarcely can give an opinion. Yet how are we to get there? There does +not appear to be a breath of wind." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's easily managed; we have only to brail and furl up a little, +to hide our cloth from the Ingians, and then send the boats a-head to +tow the craft, while some of us lend a hand at her own sweeps. We shall +get close under the lee of the land afore night, and then we must pull +up agin along shore, until we get within a mile or so of the head of +the river." +</P> + +<P> +"But shall we not be seen by our enemies?" asked Sir Everard; "and will +they not be on the watch for our movements, and intercept our retreat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Now that's just the thing, your honour, as they're not likely to do, +if so be as we bears away for yon headlands. I knows every nook and +sounding round the lake; and odd enough if I didn't, seeing as how the +craft circumnavigated it, at least, a dozen times since we have been +cooped up here. Poor Captain Danvers! (may the devil damn his +murderers, I say, though it does make a commander of me for once;) he +used always to make for that 'ere point, whenever he wished to lie +quiet; for never once did we see so much as a single Ingian on the +headland. No, your honour, they keeps all at t'other side of the lake, +seeing as how that is the main road from Mackina' to Detroit." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, by all means, do so," eagerly returned Captain de Haldimar. "Oh, +Mullins! take us but safely through, and if the interest of my father +can procure you a king's commission, you shall not want it, believe me." +</P> + +<P> +"And if half my fortune can give additional stimulus to exertion, it +shall be shared, with pleasure, between yourself and crew," observed +Sir Everard. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank your honours,—thank your honours," said the boatswain, somewhat +electrified by these brilliant offers. "The lads may take the money, if +they like; all I cares about is the king's commission. Give me but a +swab on my shoulder, and the money will come fast enough of itself. +But, still, shiver my topsails, if I wants any bribery to make me do my +duty; besides, if 'twas only for them poor girls alone, I would go +through fire and water to sarve them. I'm not very chicken-hearted in +my old age, your honours, but I don't recollect the time when I +blubbered so much as I did when Miss Madeline come aboard. But I can't +bear to think of it; and now let us see and get all ready for towing." +</P> + +<P> +Every thing now became bustle and activity on board the schooner. The +matches, no longer required for the moment, were extinguished, and the +heavy cutlasses and pistols unbuckled from the loins of the men, and +deposited near their respective guns. Light forms flew aloft, and, +standing out upon the yards, loosely furled the sails that had +previously been hauled and clewed up; but, as this was an operation +requiring little time in so small a vessel, those who were engaged in +it speedily glided to the deck again, ready for a more arduous service. +The boats had, meanwhile, been got forward, and into these the sailors +sprang, with an alacrity that could scarcely have been expected from +men who had passed not only the preceding night, but many before it, in +utter sleeplessness and despair. But the imminence of the danger, and +the evident necessity existing for exertion, aroused them to new +energy; and the hitherto motionless vessel was now made to obey the +impulse given by the tow ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved +their crews to have entered on their toil with the determination of +men, resolved to devote themselves in earnest to their task. Nor was +the spirit of action confined to these. The long sweeps of the schooner +had been shipped, and such of the crew as remained on board laboured +effectually at them,—a service, in which they were essentially aided, +not only by mine host of the Fleur de lis, but by the young officers +themselves. +</P> + +<P> +At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in the distance, +while the immediate shores of the ill-fated fortress were momentarily, +and in the same proportion, disappearing under the dim line of horizon +in the rear. More than half their course, from the spot whence they +commenced towing, had been completed, when the harassed men were made +to quit their oars, in order to partake of the scanty fare of the +vessel, consisting chiefly of dried bear's meat and venison. Spirit of +any description they had none; but, unlike their brethren of the +Atlantic, when driven to extremities in food, they knew not what it was +to poison the nutritious properties of the latter by sipping the putrid +dregs of the water-cask, in quantities scarce sufficient to quench the +fire of their parched palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to +the mariners of these lakes: it was but to cast their buckets deep into +the tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, and grateful as any that +ever bubbled from the moss-clad fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and +refreshing to their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of +the coarsest food. It was to this inestimable advantage the crew of the +schooner had been principally indebted for their health, during the +long series of privation, as far as related to fresh provisions and +rest, to which they had been subjected. All appeared as vigorous in +frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when they had last +quitted the waters of the Detroit; and but for the inward sinking of +the spirit, reflected in many a bronzed and furrowed brow, there was +little to show they had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials. +</P> + +<P> +Their meal having been hastily dispatched, and sweetened by a draught +from the depths of the Huron, the seamen once more sprang into their +boats, and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the completion of +their task, pulling with a vigour that operated on each and all with a +tendency to encouragement and hope. At length the vessel, still +impelled by her own sweeps, gradually approached the land; and at +rather more than an hour before sunset was so near that the moment was +deemed arrived when, without danger of being perceived, she might be +run up along the shore to the point alluded to by the boatswain. Little +more than another hour was occupied in bringing her to her station; and +the red tints of departing day were still visible in the direction of +the ill-fated fortress of Michilimackinac, when the sullen rumbling of +the cable, following the heavy splash of the anchor, announced the +place of momentary concealment had been gained. +</P> + +<P> +The anchorage lay between two projecting headlands; to the outermost +extremities of which were to be seen, overhanging the lake, the stately +birch and pine, connected at their base by an impenetrable brushwood, +extending to the very shore, and affording the amplest concealment, +except from the lake side and the banks under which the schooner was +moored. From the first quarter, however, little danger was incurred, as +any canoes the savages might send in discovery of their course, must +unavoidably be seen the moment they appeared over the line of the +horizon, while, on the contrary, their own vessel, although much +larger, resting on and identified with the land, must be invisible, +except on a very near approach. In the opposite direction they were +equally safe; for, as Mullins had truly remarked, none, save a few +wandering hunters, whom chance occasionally led to the spot, were to be +met with in a part of the country that lay so completely out of the +track of communication between the fortresses. It was, however, but to +double the second headland in their front, and they came within view of +the Sinclair, the head of which was situated little more than a league +beyond the spot where they now lay. Thus secure for the present, and +waiting only for the rising of the breeze, of which the setting sun had +given promise, the sailors once more snatched their hasty refreshment, +while two of their number were sent aloft to keep a vigilant look-out +along the circuit embraced by the enshrouding headlands. +</P> + +<P> +During the whole of the day the cousins had continued on deck clasped +in each other's arms, and shedding tears of bitterness, and heaving the +most heart-rending sobs at intervals, yet but rarely conversing. The +feelings of both were too much oppressed to admit of the utterance of +their grief. The vampire of despair had banqueted on their hearts. +Their vitality had been sucked, as it were, by its cold and bloodless +lips; and little more than the withered rind, that had contained the +seeds of so many affections, had been left. Often had Sir Everard and +De Haldimar paused momentarily from the labour of their oars, to cast +an eye of anxious solicitude on the scarcely conscious girls, wishing, +rather than expecting, to find the violence of their desolation abated, +and that, in the full expansion of unreserved communication, they were +relieving their sick hearts from the terrible and crushing weight of +woe that bore them down. Captain de Haldimar had even once or twice +essayed to introduce the subject himself, in the hope that some fresh +paroxysm, following their disclosures, would remove the horrible +stupefaction of their senses; but the wild look and excited manner of +Madeline, whenever he touched on the chord of her affliction, had as +often caused him to desist. +</P> + +<P> +Towards the evening, however, her natural strength of character came in +aid of his quiescent efforts to soothe her; and she appeared not only +more composed, but more sensible of the impression produced by +surrounding objects. As the last rays of the sun were tinging the +horizon, she drew up her form in a sitting position against the +bulwarks, and, raising her clasped hands to heaven, while her eyes were +bent long and fixedly on the distant west, appeared for some minutes +wholly lost in that attitude of absorption. Then she closed her eyes; +and through the swollen lids came coursing, one by one, over her +quivering cheek, large tears, that seemed to scald a furrow where they +passed. After this she became more calm—her respiration more free; and +she even consented to taste the humble meal which the young man now +offered for the third time. Neither Clara nor herself had eaten food +since the preceding morning; and the weakness of their frames +contributed not a little to the increasing despondency of their +spirits; but, notwithstanding several attempts previously made, they +had rejected what was offered them, with insurmountable loathing. When +they had now swallowed a few morsels of the sliced venison ham, +prepared with all the delicacy the nearly exhausted resources of the +vessel could supply, accompanied by a small portion of the cornbread of +the Canadian, Captain de Haldimar prevailed on them to swallow a few +drops of the spirit that still remained in the canteen given them by +Erskine on their departure from Detroit. The genial liquid sent a +kindling glow to their chilled hearts, and for a moment deadened the +pungency of their anguish; and then it was that Miss de Haldimar +entered briefly on the horrors she had witnessed, while Clara, with her +arm encircling her waist, fixed her dim and swollen eyes, from which a +tear ever and anon rolled heavily to her lap, on those of her beloved +cousin. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0302"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<P> +Without borrowing the affecting language of the unhappy girl—a +language rendered even more touching by the peculiar pathos of her +tones, and the searching agony of spirit that burst at intervals +through her narrative—we will merely present our readers with a brief +summary of what was gleaned from her melancholy disclosure. On bearing +her cousin to the bedroom, after the terrifying yell first heard from +without the fort, she had flown down the front stairs of the +blockhouse, in the hope of reaching the guardroom in time to acquaint +Captain Baynton with what she and Clara had witnessed from their +window. Scarcely, however, had she gained the exterior of the building, +when she saw that officer descending from a point of the rampart +immediately on her left, and almost in a line with the block-house. He +was running to overtake and return the ball of the Indian players, +which had, at that moment, fallen into the centre of the fort, and was +now rolling rapidly away from the spot on which Miss de Haldimar stood. +The course of the ball led the pursuing officer out of the reach of her +voice; and it was not until he had overtaken and thrown it again over +the rampart, she could succeed in claiming his attention. No sooner, +however, had he heard her hurried statement, than, without waiting to +take the orders of his commanding officer, he prepared to join his +guard, and give directions for the immediate closing of the gates. But +the opportunity was now lost. The delay occasioned by the chase and +recovery of the ball had given the Indians time to approach the gates +in a body, while the unsuspicious soldiery looked on without so much as +dreaming to prevent them; and Captain Baynton had scarcely moved +forward in execution of his purpose, when the yelling fiends were seen +already possessing themselves of the drawbridge, and exhibiting every +appearance of fierce hostility. Wild, maddened at the sight, the almost +frantic Madeline, alive only to her father's danger, rushed back +towards the council-room, whence the startling yell from without had +already been echoed, and where the tramp of feet, and the clashing of +weapons, were distinguishable. +</P> + +<P> +Cut off from his guard, by the rapid inundation of warriors, Captain +Baynton had at once seen the futility of all attempts to join the men, +and his first impression evidently had been to devote himself to the +preservation of the cousins. With this view he turned hastily to Miss +de Haldimar, and hurriedly naming the back staircase of the +block-house, urged her to direct her flight to that quarter. But the +excited girl had neither consideration nor fear for herself; she +thought only of her father: and, even while the fierceness of contest +was at its height within, she suddenly burst into the council-room. The +confusion and horror of the scene that met her eyes no language can +render: blood was flowing in every direction, and dying and dead +officers, already stripped of their scalps, were lying strewed about +the room. Still the survivors fought with all the obstinacy of despair, +and many of the Indians had shared the fate of their victims. Miss de +Haldimar attempted to reach her father, then vigorously combating with +one of the most desperate of the chiefs; but, before she could dart +through the intervening crowd, a savage seized her by the hair, and +brandished a tomahawk rapidly over her neck. At that moment Captain +Baynton sent his glittering blade deep into the heart of the Indian, +who, relinquishing his grasp, fell dead at the feet of his intended +victim. The devoted officer then threw his left arm round her waist, +and, parrying with his sword-arm the blows of those who sought to +intercept his flight, dragged his reluctant burden towards the door. +Hotly pressed by the remaining officers, nearly equal in number, the +Indians were now compelled to turn and defend themselves in front, when +Captain Baynton took that opportunity of getting once more into the +corridor, not, however, without having received a severe wound +immediately behind the right ear, and leaving a skirt and lappel of his +uniform in the hands of two savages who had successively essayed to +detain him. At that moment the band without had succeeded in forcing +open the door of the guard-room; and the officer saw, at a glance, +there was little time left for decision. In hurried and imploring +accents he besought Miss de Haldimar to forget every thing but her own +danger, and to summon resolution to tear herself from the scene: but +prayer and entreaty, and even force, were alike employed in vain. +Clinging firmly to the rude balustrades, she refused to be led up the +staircase, and wildly resisting all his efforts to detach her hands, +declared she would again return to the scene of death, in which her +beloved parent was so conspicuous an actor. While he was yet engaged in +this fruitless attempt to force her from the spot, the door of the +council-room was suddenly burst open, and a group of bleeding officers, +among whom was Major de Haldimar, followed by their yelling enemies, +rushed wildly into the passage, and, at the very foot of the stairs +where they yet stood, the combat was renewed. From that moment Miss de +Haldimar lost sight of her generous protector. Meanwhile the tumult of +execrations, and groans, and yells, was at its height; and one by one +she saw the unhappy officers sink beneath weapons yet reeking with the +blood of their comrades, until not more than three or four, including +her father and the commander of the schooner, were left. At length +Major de Haldimar, overcome by exertion, and faint from wounds, while +his wild eye darted despairingly on his daughter, had his sword-arm +desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to the earth, and a dozen +weapons glittered above his head. The wild shriek that had startled +Clara then burst from the agonised heart of her maddened cousin, and +she darted forward to cover her father's head with her arms. But her +senses failed her in the attempt; and the last thing she recollected +was falling over the weltering form of Middleton, who pressed her, as +she lay there, in the convulsive energy of death, to his almost +pulseless heart. +</P> + +<P> +A vague consciousness of being raised from the earth, and borne rapidly +through the air, came over her even in the midst of her insensibility, +but without any definite perception of the present, or recollection of +the past, until she suddenly, when about midway between the fort and +the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, opened her eyes, and found +herself in the firm grasp of an Indian, whose features, even in the +hasty and fearful glance she cast at the countenance, she fancied were +not unfamiliar to her. Not another human being was to be seen in the +clearing at that moment; for all the savages, including even the women +assembled outside, were now within the fort assisting in the complex +horrors of murder, fire, and spoliation. In the wild energy of +returning reason and despair, the wretched girl struggled violently to +free herself; and so far with success, that the Indian, whose strength +was evidently fast failing him, was compelled to quit his hold, and +suffer her to walk. No sooner did Miss de Haldimar feel her feet +touching the ground, when she again renewed her exertions to free +herself, and return to the fort; but the Indian held her firmly secured +by a leathern thong he now attached to her waist, and every attempt +proved abortive. He was evidently much disconcerted at her resistance; +and more than once she expected, and almost hoped, the tomahawk at his +side would be made to revenge him for the test to which his patience +was subjected; but Miss de Haldimar looked in vain for the expression +of ferocity and impatience that might have been expected from him at +such a moment. There was an air of mournfulness, and even kindness, +mingled with severity, on his smooth brow that harmonised ill with the +horrible atrocities in which he had, to all appearance, covered as he +was with blood, been so recent and prominent an actor. The Indian +remarked her surprise; and then looking hurriedly, yet keenly, around, +and finding no living being near them, suddenly tore the shirt from his +chest, and emphatically pronouncing the names "Oucanasta," "De +Haldimar," disclosed to the still struggling captive the bosom of a +woman. After which, pointing in the direction of the wood, and finally +towards Detroit, she gave Miss de Haldimar to understand that was the +course intended to be pursued. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment the resistance of the latter ceased. She at once recognised +the young Indian woman whom her cousin had rescued from death: and +aware, as she was, of the strong attachment that had subsequently bound +her to her preserver, she was at no loss to understand how she might +have been led to devote herself to the rescue of one whom, it was +probable, she knew to be his affianced wife. Once, indeed, a suspicion +of a different nature crossed her mind; for the thought occurred to her +she had only been saved from the general doom to be made the victim of +private revenge—that it was only to glut the jealous vengeance of the +woman at a more deliberative hour, she had been made a temporary +captive. The apprehension, however, was no sooner formed than +extinguished. Bitterly, deeply as she had reason to abhor the treachery +and cunning of the dark race to which her captor belonged, there was an +expression of openness and sincerity, and even imploringness, in the +countenance of Oucanasta, which, added to her former knowledge of the +woman, at once set this fear at rest, inducing her to look upon her +rather in the character of a disinterested saviour, than in that of a +cruel and vindictive enemy, goaded on to the indulgence of malignant +hate by a spirit of rivalry and revenge. Besides, even were her +cruellest fears to be realised, what could await her worse than the +past? If she could even succeed in getting away, it would only be to +return upon certain death; and death only could await her, however +refined the tortures accompanying its infliction, in the event of her +quietly following and yielding herself up to the guidance of one who +offered this slight consolation, at least, that she was of her own sex. +But Miss de Haldimar was willing to attribute more generous motives to +the Indian; and fortified in her first impression, she signified by +signs, that seemed to be perfectly intelligible to her companion, she +appreciated her friendly intentions, and confided wholly in her. +</P> + +<P> +No longer checked in her efforts, Oucanasta now directed her course +towards the wood, still holding the thong that remained attached to +Miss de Haldimar's waist, probably with a view to deceive any +individuals from the villages on whom they might chance to fall, into a +belief that the English girl was in reality her prisoner. No sooner, +however, had they entered the depths of the forest, when, instead of +following the path that led to Chabouiga, Oucanasta took a direction to +the left, and then moving nearly on a parallel line with the course of +the lake, continued her flight as rapidly as the rude nature of the +underwood, and the unpractised feet of her companion, would permit. +They had travelled in this manner for upwards of four hours, without +meeting a breathing thing, or even so much as exchanging a sound +between themselves, when, at length, the Indian stopped at the edge of +a deep cavern-like excavation in the earth, produced by the tearing up, +by the wild tempest, of an enormous pine. Into this she descended, and +presently reappeared with several blankets, and two light painted +paddles. Then unloosing the thong from the waist of the exhausted girl, +she proceeded to disguise her in one of the blankets in the manner +already shown, securing it over the head, throat, and shoulders with +the badge of captivity, now no longer necessary for her purpose. She +then struck off at right angles from the course they had previously +pursued; and in less than twenty minutes both stood on the lake shore, +apparently at a great distance from the point whence they had +originally set out. The Indian gazed for a moment anxiously before her; +and then, with an exclamation, evidently meant to convey a sense of +pleasure and satisfaction, pointed forward upon the lake. Miss de +Haldimar followed, with eager and aching eyes, the direction of her +finger, and beheld the well-known schooner evidently urging her flight +towards the entrance of the Sinclair. Oh, how her sick heart seemed +ready to burst at that moment! When she had last gazed upon it was from +the window of her favourite apartment; and even while she held her +beloved Clara clasped fondly in her almost maternal embrace, she had +dared to indulge the fairest images that ever sprung into being at the +creative call of woman's fancy. How bitter had been the reverse! and +what incidents to fill up the sad volume of the longest life of sorrow +and bereavement had not Heaven awarded her in lieu! In one short hour +the weight of a thousand worlds had fallen on and crushed her heart; +and when and how was the panacea to be obtained to restore one moment's +cessation from suffering to her agonised spirit? Alas! she felt at that +moment, that, although she should live a thousand years, the bitterness +and desolation of her grief must remain. From the vessel she turned her +eyes away upon the distant shore, which it was fast quitting, and +beheld a column of mingled flame and smoke towering far above the +horizon, and attesting the universal wreck of what had so long been +endeared to her as her home. And she had witnessed all this, and yet +had strength to survive it! +</P> + +<P> +The courage of the unhappy girl had hitherto been sustained by no +effort of volition of her own. From the moment when, discovering a +friend in Oucanasta, she had yielded herself unresistingly to the +guidance of that generous creature, her feelings had been characterised +by an obtuseness strongly in contrast with the high excitement that had +distinguished her previous manner. A dreamy recollection of some past +horror, it is true, pursued her during her rapid and speechless flight; +but any analysis of the causes conducing to that horror, her subjugated +faculties were unable to enter upon. Even as one who, under the +influence of incipient slumber, rejects the fantastic images that rise +successively and indistinctly to the slothful brain, until, at length, +they weaken, fade, and gradually die away, leaving nothing but a +formless and confused picture of the whole; so was it with Miss de +Haldimar. Had she been throughout alive to the keen recollections +associated with her flight, she could not have stirred a foot in +furtherance of her own safety, even if she would. The mere instinct of +self-preservation would never have won one so truly devoted to the +generous purpose of her deliverer, had not the temporary stupefaction +of her mind prevented all desire of opposition. It is true, in the +moment of her discovery of the sex of Oucanasta, she had been able to +exercise her reflecting powers; but they were only in connection with +the present, and wholly abstract and separate from the past. She had +followed her conductor almost without consciousness, and with such deep +absorption of spirit, that she neither once conjectured whither they +were going, nor what was to be the final issue of their flight. But +now, when she stood on the lake shore, suddenly awakened, as if by some +startling spell, to every harrowing recollection, and with her +attention assisted by objects long endeared, and rendered familiar to +her gaze—when she beheld the vessel that had last borne her across the +still bosom of the Huron, fleeing for ever from the fortress where her +arrival had been so joyously hailed—when she saw that fortress itself +presenting the hideous spectacle of a blackened mass of ruins fast +crumbling into nothingness—when, in short, she saw nothing but what +reminded her of the terrific past, the madness of reason returned, and +the desolation of her heart was complete. And then, again, when she +thought of her generous, her brave, her beloved, and too unfortunate +father, whom she had seen perish at her feet—when she thought of her +own gentle Clara, and the sufferings and brutalities to which, if she +yet lived, she must inevitably be exposed, and of the dreadful fate of +the garrison altogether, the most menial of whom was familiar to her +memory, brought up, as she had been, among them from her +childhood—when she dwelt on all these things, a faintness, as of +death, came over her, and she sank without life on the beach. Of what +passed afterwards she had no recollection. She neither knew how she had +got into the canoe, nor what means the Indian had taken to secure her +approach to the schooner. She had no consciousness of having been +removed to the bark of the Canadian, nor did she even remember having +risen and gazed through the foliage on the vessel at her side; but she +presumed, the chill air of morning having partially restored pulsation, +she had moved instinctively from her recumbent position to the spot in +which her spectre-like countenance had been perceived by Fuller. The +first moment of her returning reason was that when, standing on the +deck of the schooner, she found herself so unexpectedly clasped to the +heart of her lover. +</P> + +<P> +Twilight had entirely passed away when Miss de Haldimar completed her +sad narrative; and already the crew, roused to exertion by the swelling +breeze, were once more engaged in weighing the anchor, and setting and +trimming the sails of the schooner, which latter soon began to shoot +round the concealing headland into the opening of the Sinclair. A +deathlike silence prevailed throughout the decks of the little bark, as +her bows, dividing the waters of the basin that formed its source, +gradually immerged into the current of that deep but narrow river; so +narrow, indeed, that from its centre the least active of the mariners +might have leaped without difficulty to either shore. This was the most +critical part of the dangerous navigation. With a wide sea-board, and +full command of their helm, they had nothing to fear; but so limited +was the passage of this river, it was with difficulty the yards and +masts of the schooner could be kept disengaged from the projecting +boughs of the dense forest that lined the adjacent shores to their very +junction with the water. The darkness of the night, moreover, while it +promised to shield them from the observation of the savages, +contributed greatly to perplex their movements; for such was the +abruptness with which the river wound itself round in various +directions, that it required a man constantly on the alert at the bows +to apprise the helmsman of the course he should steer, to avoid +collision with the shores. Canopies of weaving branches met in various +directions far above their heads, and through these the schooner glided +with a silence that might have called up the idea of a Stygian freight. +Meanwhile, the men stood anxiously to their guns, concealing the +matches in their water-buckets as before; and, while they strained both +ear and eye through the surrounding; gloom to discover the slightest +evidence of danger, grasped the handles of their cutlasses with a firm +hand, ready to unsheathe them at the first intimation of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +At the suggestion of the boatswain, who hinted at the necessity of +having cleared decks, Captain de Haldimar had prevailed on his +unfortunate relatives to retire to the small cabin arranged for their +reception; and here they were attended by an aged female, who had long +followed the fortunes of the crew, and acted in the twofold character +of laundress and sempstress. He himself, with Sir Everard, continued on +deck watching the progress of the vessel with an anxiety that became +more intense at each succeeding hour. Hitherto their course had been +unimpeded, save by the obstacles already enumerated; and they had now, +at about an hour before dawn, gained a point that promised a speedy +termination to their dangers and perplexities. Before them lay a reach +in the river, enveloped in more than ordinary gloom, produced by the +continuous weaving of the tops of the overhanging trees; and in the +perspective, a gleam of relieving light, denoting the near vicinity of +the lake that lay at the opposite extremity of the Sinclair, whose name +it also bore. This was the narrowest part of the river; and so +approximate were its shores, that the vessel in her course could not +fail to come in contact both with the obtruding foliage of the forest +and the dense bullrushes skirting the edge of either bank. +</P> + +<P> +"If we get safe through this here place," said the boatswain, in a +rough whisper to his anxious and attentive auditors, "I think as how +I'll venture to answer for the craft. I can see daylight dancing upon +the lake already. Ten minutes more and she will be there." Then turning +to the man at the helm,—"Keep her in the centre of the stream, Jim. +Don't you see you're hugging the weather shore?" +</P> + +<P> +"It would take the devil himself to tell which is the centre," growled +the sailor, in the same suppressed tone. "One might steer with one's +eyes shut in such a queer place as this and never be no worser off than +with them open." +</P> + +<P> +"Steady her helm, steady," rejoined Mullins, "it's as dark as pitch, to +be sure, but the passage is straight as an arrow, and with a steady +helm you can't miss it. Make for the light ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"Abaft there!" hurriedly and loudly shouted the man on the look-out at +the bows, "there's a tree lying across the river, and we're just upon +it." +</P> + +<P> +While he yet spoke, and before the boatswain could give such +instructions as the emergency required, the vessel suddenly struck +against the obstacle in question; but the concussion was not of the +violent nature that might have been anticipated. The course of the +schooner, at no one period particularly rapid, had been considerably +checked since her entrance into the gloomy arch, in the centre of which +her present accident had occurred; so that it was without immediate +injury to her hull and spars she had been thus suddenly brought to. But +this was not the most alarming part of the affair. Captain de Haldimar +and Sir Everard both recollected, that, in making the same passage, not +forty-eight hours previously, they had encountered no obstacle of the +kind, and a misgiving of danger rose simultaneously to the hearts of +each. It was, however, a thing of too common occurrence in these +countries, where storm and tempest were so prevalent and partial, to +create more than a mere temporary alarm; for it was quite as probable +the barrier had been interposed by some fitful outburst of Nature, as +that it arose from design on the part of their enemies: and when the +vessel had continued stationary for some minutes, without the prepared +and expectant crew discovering the slightest indication of attack, the +former impression was preserved by the officers—at least avowedly to +those around. +</P> + +<P> +"Bear a hand, my lads, and cut away," at length ordered the boatswain, +in a low but clear tone; "half a dozen at each end of the stick, and we +shall soon clear a passage for the craft." +</P> + +<P> +A dozen sailors grasped their axes, and hastened forward to execute the +command. They sprang lightly from the entangled bows of the schooner, +and diverging in equal numbers moved to either extremity of the fallen +tree. +</P> + +<P> +"This is sailing through the heart of the American forest with a +vengeance," muttered Mullins, whose annoyance at their detention was +strongly manifested as he paced up and down the deck. "Shiver my +topsails, if it isn't bad enough to clear the Sinclair at any time, +much more so when one's running for one's life, and not a whisper's +length from one's enemies. Do you know, Captain," abruptly checking his +movement, and familiarly placing his hand on the shoulder of De +Haldimar, "the last time we sailed through this very reach I couldn't +help telling poor Captain Danvers, God rest his soul, what a nice spot +it was for an Ingian ambuscade, if they had only gumption enough to +think of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" said the officer, whose heart, eye, and ear were painfully on +the alert, "what rustling is that we hear overhead?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's Jack Fuller, no doubt, your honour; I sent him up to clear away +the branches from the main topmast rigging." Then raising his head, and +elevating his voice, "Hilloa! aloft there!" +</P> + +<P> +The only answer was a groan, followed by a deeper commotion among the +rustling foliage. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what the devil's the matter with you now, Jack?" pursued the +boatswain, in a voice of angry vehemence. "Are ye scared at another +ghost, and be damned to you, that ye keep groaning there after that +fashion?" +</P> + +<P> +At that moment a heavy dull mass was heard tumbling through the upper +rigging of the schooner towards the deck, and presently a human form +fell at the very feet of the small group, composed of the two officers +and the individual who had last spoken. +</P> + +<P> +"A light, a light!" shouted the boatswain; "the foolish chap has lost +his hold through fear, and ten to one if he hasn't cracked his +skull-piece for his pains. Quick there with a light, and let's see what +we can do for him." +</P> + +<P> +The attention of all had been arrested by the sound of the falling +weight, and as one of the sailors now advanced, bearing a dark lantern +from below, the whole of the crew, with the exception of those employed +on the fallen tree, gathered themselves in a knot round the motionless +form of the prostrate man. But no sooner had their eyes encountered the +object of their interest, when each individual started suddenly and +involuntarily back, baring his cutlass, and drawing forth his pistol, +the whole presenting a group of countenances strongly marked by various +shades of consternation and alarm, even while their attitudes were +those of men prepared for some fierce and desperate danger. It was +indeed Fuller whom they had beheld, but not labouring, as the boatswain +had imagined, under the mere influence of superstitious fear. He was +dead, and the blood flowing from a deep wound, inflicted by a sharp +instrument in his chest, and the scalped head, too plainly told the +manner of his death, and the danger that awaited them all. +</P> + +<P> +A pause ensued, but it was short. Before any one could find words to +remark on the horrible circumstance, the appalling war-cry of the +savages burst loudly from every quarter upon the ears of the devoted +crew. In the desperation of the moment, several of the men clutched +their cutlasses between their teeth, and seizing the concealed matches, +rushed to their respective stations at the guns. It was in vain the +boatswain called out to them, in a voice of stern authority, to desist, +intimating that their only protection lay in the reservation of the +fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, beyond the power of +resistance, to an impulse that set all subordination at defiance, they +applied the matches, and almost at the same instant the terrific +discharge of both broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the +water's edge, and reverberating, throughout, the confined space in +which she lay, like the deadly explosion of some deeply excavated mine. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became sensible of +their imprudence. The echoes were yet struggling to force a passage +through the dense forest, when a second yell of the Indians announced +the fiercest joy and triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and +then the quick leaping of many forms could be heard, as they divided +the crashing underwood, and rushed forward to close with their prey. It +was evident, from the difference of sound, their first cry had been +pealed forth while lying prostrate on the ground, and secure from the +bullets, whose harmless discharge that cry was intended to provoke; for +now the voices seemed to rise progressively from the earth, until they +reached the level of each individual height, and were already almost +hotly breathing in the ears of those they were destined to fill with +illimitable dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Shiver my topsails, but this comes of disobeying orders," roared the +boatswain, in a voice of mingled anger and vexation. "The Ingians are +quite as cunning as ourselves, and arn't to be frighted that way. +Quick, every cutlass and pistol to his gangway, and let's do our best. +Pass the word forward for the axemen to return to quarters." +</P> + +<P> +Recovered from their first paroxysm of alarm, the men at length became +sensible of the presence of a directing power, which, humble as it was, +their long habits of discipline had taught them to respect, and, headed +on the one side by Captain de Haldimar, and on the other by Sir Everard +Valletort, neither of whom, however, entertained the most remote chance +of success, flew, as commanded, to their respective gangways. The yell +of the Indians had again ceased, and all was hushed into stillness; but +as the anxious and quicksighted officers gazed over the bulwarks, they +fancied they could perceive, even through the deep gloom that every +where prevailed, the forms of men,—resting in cautious and eager +attitudes, on the very verge of the banks, and at a distance of little +more than half pistol shot. Every heart beat with expectancy,—every +eye was riveted intently in front, to watch and meet the first +movements of their foes, but not a sound of approach was audible to the +equally attentive ear. In this state of aching suspense they might have +continued about five minutes, when suddenly their hearts were made to +quail by a third cry, that came, not as previously, from the banks of +the river, but from the very centre of their own decks, and from the +top-mast and riggings of the schooner. So sudden and unexpected too was +this fresh danger, that before the two parties had time to turn, and +assume a new posture of defence, several of them had already fallen +under the butchering blades of their enemies. Then commenced a +desperate but short conflict, mingled with yellings, that again were +answered from every point; and rapidly gliding down the pendant ropes, +were to be seen the active and dusky forms of men, swelling the number +of the assailants, who had gained the deck in the same noiseless +manner, until resistance became almost hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I hear the footsteps of our lads at last," exclaimed Mullins +exultingly to his comrades, as he finished despatching a third savage +with his sturdy weapon. "Quick, men, quick, up with hatchet and +cutlass, and take them in the rear. If we are to die, let's die—" +game, he would perhaps have added, but death arrested the word upon his +lips; and his corpse rolled along the deck, until its further progress +was stopped by the stiffened body of the unhappy Fuller. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding the fall of their brave leader, and the whoopings of +their enemies, the flagging spirits of the men were for a moment +excited by the announcement of the return even of the small force of +the axemen, and they defended themselves with a courage and +determination worthy of a better result; but when, by the lurid light +of the torches, now lying burning about the decks, they turned and +beheld not their companions, but a fresh band of Indians, at whose +pouch-belts dangled the reeking scalps of their murdered friends, they +at once relinquished the combat as hopeless, and gave themselves +unresistingly up to be bound by their captors. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the cousins experienced a renewal of all those horrors from +which their distracted minds had been temporarily relieved; and, +petrified with alarm, as they lay in the solitary berth that contained +them both, endured sufferings infinitely more terrible than death +itself. The early part of the tumult they had noticed almost without +comprehending its cause, and but for the terrific cry of the Indians +that had preceded them, would have mistaken the deafening broadsides +for the blowing up of the vessel, so tremendous and violent bad been +the concussion. Nay, there was a moment when Miss de Haldimar felt a +pang of deep disappointment and regret at the misconception; for, with +the fearful recollection of past events, so strongly impressed on her +bleeding heart, she could not but acknowledge, that to be engulfed in +one general and disastrous explosion, was mercy compared with the +alternative of falling into the hands of those to whom her loathing +spirit bad been too fatally taught to deny even the commonest +attributes of humanity. As for Clara, she had not the power to think, +or to form a conjecture on the subject:—she was merely sensible of a +repetition of the horrible scenes from which she had so recently been +snatched, and with a pale cheek, a fixed eye, and an almost pulseless +heart, lay without motion in the inner side of the berth. The piteous +spectacle of her cousin's alarm lent a forced activity to the despair +of Miss de Haldimar, in whom apprehension produced that strong energy +of excitement that sometimes gives to helplessness the character of +true courage. With the increasing clamour of appalling conflict on +deck, this excitement grew at every moment stronger, until it finally +became irrepressible, so that at length, when through the cabin windows +there suddenly streamed a flood of yellow light, extinguishing that of +the lamp that threw its flickering beams around the cabin, she flung +herself impetuously from the berth, and, despite of the aged and +trembling female who attempted to detain her, burst open the narrow +entrance to the cabin, and rushed up the steps communicating with the +deck. +</P> + +<P> +The picture that here met her eyes was at once graphic and fearful in +the extreme. On either side of the river lines of streaming torches +were waved by dusky warriors high above their heads, reflecting the +grim countenances, not only of those who bore them, but of dense groups +in their rear, whose numbers were alone concealed by the foliage of the +forest in which they stood. From the branches that wove themselves +across the centre of the river, and the topmast and rigging of the +vessel, the same strong yellow light, produced by the bark of the birch +tree steeped in gum, streamed down upon the decks below, rendering each +line and block of the schooner as distinctly visible as if it had been +noon on the sunniest of those far distant lakes. The deck itself was +covered with the bodies of slain men—sailors, and savages mixed +together; and amid these were to be seen fierce warriors, reclining +triumphantly and indolently on their rifles, while others were occupied +in securing the arms of their captives with leathern thongs behind +their backs. The silence that now prevailed was strongly in contrast +with, and even more fearful than, the horrid shouts by which it had +been preceded; and, but for the ghastly countenances of the captives, +and the quick rolling eyes of the savages, Miss de Haldimar might have +imagined herself the sport of some extraordinary and exciting illusion. +Her glance over these prominent features in the tragedy had been +cursory, yet accurate. It now rested on one that had more immediate and +terrifying interest for herself. At a few paces in front of the +companion ladder, and with their backs turned towards her, stood two +individuals, whose attitudes denoted the purpose of men resolved to +sell with their lives alone a passage to a tall fierce-looking savage, +whose countenance betrayed every mark of triumphant and deadly passion, +while he apparently hesitated whether his uplifted arm should stay the +weapon it wielded. These individuals were Captain de Haldimar and Sir +Everard Valletort; and to the former of these the attention of the +savage was more immediately and exultingly directed; so much so, +indeed, that Miss de Haldimar thought she could read in the ferocious +expression of his features the death-warrant of her cousin. In the wild +terror of the moment she gave a piercing scream that was answered by a +hundred yelling voices, and rushing between her lover and his enemy, +threw herself wildly and supplicatingly at the feet of the latter. +Uttering a savage laugh, the monster spurned her from him with his +foot, when, quick as thought, a pistol was discharged within a few +inches of his face; but with a rapidity equal to that of his assailant, +he bent aside his head, and the ball passed harmlessly on. The yell +that followed was terrific; and while it was yet swelling into fulness, +Captain de Haldimar felt an iron hand furiously grappling his throat, +and, ere the grasp was relinquished, he again stood the bound and +passive victim of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0303"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<P> +The interval that succeeded to the last council-scene of the Indians +was passed by the officers of Detroit in a state of inexpressible +anxiety and doubt. The fears entertained for the fate of their +companions, who had set out in the perilous and almost forlorn hope of +reaching Michilimackinac, in time to prevent the consummation of the +threatened treachery, had, in some degree, if not wholly, been allayed +by the story narrated by the Ottawa chief. It was evident, from his +statement, the party had again met, and been engaged in fearful +struggle with the gigantic warrior they had all so much reason to +recollect; and it was equally apparent, that in that struggle they had +been successful. But still, so many obstacles were likely to be opposed +to their navigation of the several lakes and rivers over which lay +their course, it was almost feared, even if they eventually escaped +unharmed themselves, they could not possibly reach the fort in time to +communicate the danger that awaited their friends. It is true, the time +gained by Governor de Haldimar on the first occasion had afforded a +considerable interval, of which advantage might be taken; but it was +also, on the other hand, uncertain whether Ponteac had commanded the +same delay in the council of the chiefs investing Michilimackinac, to +which he had himself assented. Three days were sufficient to enable an +Indian warrior to perform the journey by land; and it was chiefly on +this vague and uncertain ground they based whatever little of hope was +entertained on the subject. +</P> + +<P> +It had been settled at the departure of the adventurers, that the +instant they effected a communication with the schooner on Lake Huron, +Francois should be immediately sent back, with instructions so to +contrive the period of his return, that his canoe should make its +appearance soon after daybreak at the nearest extremity of Hog Island, +the position of which has been described in our introductory chapter. +From this point a certain signal, that could be easily distinguished +with the aid of a telescope, was to be made from the canoe, which, +without being of a nature to attract the attention of the savages, was +yet to be such as could not well be mistaken by the garrison. This was +a precaution adopted, not only with the view of giving the earliest +intimation of the result of the enterprise, but lest the Canadian +should be prevented, by any closer investment on the part of the +Indians, from communicating personally with the fort in the way he had +been accustomed. +</P> + +<P> +It will easily be comprehended therefore, that, as the period +approached when they might reasonably look for the return of Francois, +if he should return at all, the nervous anxiety of the officers became +more and more developed. Upwards of a week had elapsed since the +departure of their friends; and already, for the last day or two, their +impatience had led them, at early dawn, and with beating hearts, to +that quarter of the rampart which overlooked the eastern extremity of +Hog Island. Hitherto, however, their eager watching had been in vain. +As far as our recollection of the Canadian tradition of this story +serves us, it must have been on the fourth night after the final +discomfiture of the plans of Ponteac, and the tenth from the departure +of the adventurers, that the officers were assembled in the mess-room, +partaking of the scanty and frugal supper to which their long +confinement had reduced them. The subject of their conversation, as it +was ever of their thoughts, was the probable fate of their companions; +and many and various, although all equally melancholy, were the +conjectures offered as to the result. There was on the countenance of +each, that deep and fixed expression of gloom, which, if it did not +indicate any unmanliness of despair, told at least that hope was nearly +extinct: but more especially was this remarkable in the young but sadly +altered Charles de Haldimar, who, with a vacant eye and a pre-occupied +manner, seemed wholly abstracted from the scene before him. +</P> + +<P> +All was silence in the body of the fort. The men off duty had long +since retired to rest in their clothes, and only the "All's well!" of +the sentinels was heard at intervals of a quarter of an hour, as the +cry echoed from mouth to mouth in the line of circuit. Suddenly, +however, between two of those intervals, and during a pause in the +languid conversation of the officers, the sharp challenge of a sentinel +was heard, and then quick steps on the rampart, as of men hastening to +the point whence the challenge had been given. The officers, whom this +new excitement seemed to arouse into fresh activity, hurriedly quitted +the room; and, with as little noise as possible, gained the spot where +the voice had been heard. Several men were bending eagerly over the +rampart, and, with their muskets at the recover, riveting their gaze on +a dark and motionless object that lay on the verge of the ditch +immediately beneath them. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you here, Mitchell?" asked Captain Blessington, who was in +command of the guard, and who had recognised the gruff voice of the +veteran in the challenge just given. +</P> + +<P> +"An American burnt log, your honour," muttered the soldier, "if one was +to judge from its stillness; but if it is, it must have rolled there +within the last minute; for I'll take my affidavy it wasn't here when I +passed last in my beat." +</P> + +<P> +"An American burnt log, indeed! it's some damned rascal of a spy, +rather," remarked Captain Erskine. "Who knows but it may be our big +friend, come to pay us a visit again? And yet he is not half long +enough for him, either. Can't you try and tickle him with the bayonet, +any of you fellows, and see whether he is made of flesh and blood?" +</P> + +<P> +Although this observation was made almost without object, it being +totally impossible for any musket, even with the addition of its +bayonet, to reach more than half way across the ditch, the several +sentinels threw themselves on their chests, and, stretching over the +rampart as far as possible, made the attempt to reach the suspicious +looking object that lay beyond. No sooner, however, had their arms been +extended in such a manner as to be utterly powerless, when the dark +mass was seen to roll away in an opposite direction, and with such +rapidity that, before the men could regain their feet and level their +muskets, it had entirely disappeared from their view. +</P> + +<P> +"Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half laughingly +observed Captain Erskine, while his brother officers continued to fix +their eyes in astonishment on the spot so recently occupied by the +strange object; "but what the devil could be his motive for lying there +so long? Not playing the eaves-dropper, surely; and yet, if he meant to +have picked off a sentinel, what was to have prevented him from doing +it sooner?" +</P> + +<P> +"He had evidently no arms," said Ensign Delme. +</P> + +<P> +"No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the literal Erskine. +"Curse me if I ever saw any thing in the shape of a human form bundled +together in that manner." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean he had no fire-arms—no rifle," pursued Delme. +</P> + +<P> +"And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us of a life," +continued the captain, laughing at his own conceit. "But come, the bird +is flown, and we have only to thank ourselves for having been so +egregiously duped. Had Valletort been here, he would have given a +different account of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Hist! listen!" exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone, calling the attention +of the party to a peculiar and low sound in the direction in which the +supposed Indian had departed. +</P> + +<P> +It was repeated, and in a plaintive tone, indicating a desire to +propitiate. Soon afterwards a human form was seen advancing slowly, but +without show either of concealment or hostility in its movements. It +finally remained stationary on the spot where the dark and shapeless +mass had been first perceived. +</P> + +<P> +"Another Oucanasta for De Haldimar, no doubt," observed Captain +Erskine, after a moment's pause. "These grenadiers carry every thing +before them as well in love as in war." +</P> + +<P> +The error of the good-natured officer was, however, obvious to all but +himself. The figure, which was now distinctly traced in outline for +that of a warrior, stood boldly and fearlessly on the brink of the +ditch, holding up its left arm, in the hand of which dangled something +that was visible in the starlight, and pointing energetically to this +pendant object with the other. +</P> + +<P> +A voice from one of the party now addressed the Indian in two several +dialects, but without eliciting a reply. He either understood not, or +would not answer the question proposed, but continued pointing +significantly to the indistinct object which he still held forth in an +elevated position. +</P> + +<P> +"The governor must be apprised of this," observed Captain Blessington +to De Haldimar, who was his subaltern of the guard. "Hasten, Charles, +to acquaint your father, and receive his orders." +</P> + +<P> +The young officer willingly obeyed the injunction of his superior. A +secret and indefinable hope rushed through his mind, that as the Indian +came not in hostility, he might be the bearer of some communication +from their friends; and he moved rapidly towards that part of the +building occupied by his father. +</P> + +<P> +The light of a lamp suspended over the piazza leading to the governor's +rooms reflecting strongly on his regimentals, he passed unchallenged by +the sentinels posted there, and uninterruptedly gained a door that +opened on a narrow passage, at the further extremity of which was the +sitting-room usually occupied by his parent. This again was entered +from the same passage by a second door, the upper part of which was of +common glass, enabling any one on the outside to trace with facility +every object within when the place was lighted up. +</P> + +<P> +A glance was sufficient to satisfy the youth his father was not in the +room; although there was strong evidence he had not retired for the +night. In the middle of the floor stood an oaken table, and on this lay +an open writing desk, with a candle on each side, the wicks of which +had burnt so long as to throw a partial gloom over the surrounding +wainscotting. Scattered about the table and desk were a number of +letters that had apparently been just looked at or read; and in the +midst of these an open case of red morocco, containing a miniature. The +appearance of these letters, thus left scattered about by one who was +scrupulously exact in the arrangement of his papers, added to the +circumstance of the neglected and burning candles, confirmed the young +officer in an impression that his father, overcome by fatigue, had +retired into his bed-room, and fallen unconsciously asleep. Imagining, +therefore, he could not, without difficulty, succeed in making himself +heard, and deeming the urgency of the case required it, he determined +to wave the usual ceremony of knocking, and penetrate to his father's +bedroom unannounced. The glass door being without fastening within, +easily yielded to his pressure of the latch; but as he passed by the +table, a strong and natural feeling of curiosity induced him to cast +his eye upon the miniature. To his infinite surprise, nay, almost +terror, he discovered it was that of his mother—the identical portrait +which his sister Clara had worn in her bosom from infancy, and which he +had seen clasped round her neck on the very deck of the schooner in +which she sailed for Michilimackinac. He felt there could be no +mistake, for only one miniature of the sort had ever been in possession +of the family, and that the one just accounted for. Almost stupified at +what he saw, and scarcely crediting the evidence of his senses, the +young officer glanced his eye hurriedly along one of the open letters +that lay around. It was in the well remembered hand-writing of his +mother, and commenced, "Dear, dearest Reginald." After this followed +expressions of endearment no woman might address except to an affianced +lover, or the husband of her choice; and his heart sickened while he +read. Scarcely, however, had he scanned half a dozen lines, when it +occurred to him he was violating some secret of his parents; and, +discontinuing the perusal with an effort, he prepared to acquit himself +of his mission. +</P> + +<P> +On raising his eyes from the paper he was startled by the appearance of +his father, who, with a stern brow and a quivering lip, stood a few +paces from the table, apparently too much overcome by his indignation +to be able to utter a sentence. +</P> + +<P> +Charles de Haldimar felt all the awkwardness of his position. Some +explanation of his conduct, however, was necessary; and he stammered +forth the fact of the portrait having riveted his attention, from its +striking resemblance to that in his sister's possession. +</P> + +<P> +"And to what do these letters bear resemblance?" demanded the governor, +in a voice that trembled in its attempt to be calm, while he fixed his +penetrating eye on that of his son. "THEY, it appears, were equally +objects of attraction with you." +</P> + +<P> +"The letters were in the hand-writing of my mother; and I was +irresistibly led to glance at one of them," replied the youth, with the +humility of conscious wrong. "The action was involuntary, and no sooner +committed than repented of. I am here, my father, on a mission of +importance, which must account for my presence." +</P> + +<P> +"A mission of importance!" repeated the governor, with more of sorrow +than of anger in the tone in which he now spoke. "On what mission are +you here, if it be not to intrude unwarrantably on a parent's privacy?" +</P> + +<P> +The young officer's cheek flushed high, as he proudly answered:—"I was +sent by Captain Blessington, sir, to take your orders in regard to an +Indian who is now without the fort under somewhat extraordinary +circumstances, yet evidently without intention of hostility. It is +supposed he bears some message from my brother." +</P> + +<P> +The tone of candour and offended pride in which this formal +announcement of duty was made seemed to banish all suspicion from the +mind of the governor; and he remarked, in a voice that had more of the +kindness that had latterly distinguished his address to his son, "Was +this, then, Charles, the only motive for your abrupt intrusion at this +hour? Are you sure no inducement of private curiosity was mixed up with +the discharge of your duty, that you entered thus unannounced? You must +admit, at least, I found you employed in a manner different from what +the urgency of your mission would seem to justify." +</P> + +<P> +There was lurking irony in this speech; yet the softened accents of his +father, in some measure, disarmed the youth of the bitterness he would +have flung into his observation,—"That no man on earth, his parent +excepted, should have dared to insinuate such a doubt with impunity." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment Colonel de Haldimar seemed to regard his son with a +surprised but satisfied air, as if he had not expected the +manifestation of so much spirit, in one whom he had been accustomed +greatly to undervalue. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you, Charles," he at length observed; "forgive the +justifiable doubt, and think no more of the subject. Yet, one word," as +the youth was preparing to depart; "you have read that letter" (and he +pointed to that which had principally arrested the attention of the +officer): "what impression has it given you of your mother? Answer me +sincerely. MY name," and his faint smile wore something of the +character of triumph, "is not REGINALD, you know." +</P> + +<P> +The pallid cheek of the young man flushed at this question. His own +undisguised impression was, that his mother had cherished a guilty love +for another than her husband. He felt the almost impiety of such a +belief, but he could not resist the conviction that forced itself on +his mind; the letter in her handwriting spoke for itself; and though +the idea was full of wretchedness, he was unable to conquer it. +Whatever his own inference might be, however, he could not endure the +thought of imparting it to his father; he, therefore, answered +evasively. +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless my mother had some dear relative of the name, and to him was +this letter addressed; perhaps a brother, or an uncle. But I never +knew," he pursued, with a look of appeal to his father, "that a second +portrait of my mother existed. This is the very counterpart of Clara's." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be the same," remarked the governor, but in a tone of +indecision, that dented his faith in what he uttered. +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible, my father. I accompanied Clara, if you recollect, as far +as Lake Sinclair; and when I quitted the deck of the schooner to +return, I particularly remarked my sister wore her mother's portrait, +as usual, round her neck." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, no matter about the portrait," hurriedly rejoined the governor; +"yet, whatever your impression, Charles," and he spoke with a warmth +that was far from habitual to him, "dare not to sully the memory of +your mother by a doubt of her purity. An accident has given this letter +to your inspection, but breathe not its contents to a human creature; +above all, respect the being who gave you birth. Go, tell Captain +Blessington to detain the Indian; I will join you immediately." +</P> + +<P> +Strongly, yet confusedly, impressed with the singularity of the scene +altogether, and more particularly with his father's strange admonition, +the young officer quitted the room, and hastened to rejoin his +companions. On reaching the rampart he found that the Indian, during +his long absence, had departed; yet not without depositing, on the +outer edge of the ditch, the substance to which he had previously +directed their attention. At the moment of De Haldimar's approach, the +officers were bending over the rampart, and, with straining eyes, +endeavouring to make out what it was, but in vain; something was just +perceptible in the withered turf, but what that something was no one +could succeed in discovering. +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever this be, we must possess ourselves of it," said Captain +Blessington: "it is evident, from the energetic manner of him who left +it, it is of importance. I think I know who is the best swimmer and +climber of our party." +</P> + +<P> +Several voices unanimously pronounced the name of "Johnstone." +</P> + +<P> +"Any thing for a dash of enterprise," said that officer, whose slight +wound had been perfectly healed. "But what do you propose that the +swimmer and climber should do, Blessington?" +</P> + +<P> +"Secure yon parcel, without lowering the drawbridge." +</P> + +<P> +"What! and be scalped in the act? Who knows if it be not a trick after +all, and that the rascal who placed it there is not lying within a few +feet, ready to pounce upon me the instant I reach the bank." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind," said Erskine, laughingly, "we will revenge your death, my +boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Besides, consider the nunquam non paratus, Johnstone," slily remarked +Lieutenant Leslie. +</P> + +<P> +"What, again, Leslie?" energetically responded the young Scotsman. "Yet +think not I hesitate, for I did but jest: make fast a rope round my +loins, and I think I will answer for the result." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar now made his appearance. Having heard a brief +statement of the facts, and approving of the suggestion of Captain +Blessington, a rope was procured, and made fast under the shoulders of +the young officer, who had previously stripped himself of his uniform +and shoes. He then suffered himself to drop gently over the edge of the +rampart, his companions gradually lowering the rope, until a deep and +gasping aspiration, such as is usually wrung from one coming suddenly +in contact with cold water, announced he had gained the surface of the +ditch. The rope was then slackened, to give him the unrestrained +command of his limbs; and in the next instant he was seen clambering up +the opposite elevation. +</P> + +<P> +Although the officers, indulging in a forced levity, in a great degree +meant to encourage their companion, had treated his enterprise with +indifference, they were far from being without serious anxiety for the +result. They had laughed at the idea, suggested by him, of being +scalped; whereas, in truth, they entertained the apprehension far more +powerfully than he did himself. The artifices resorted to by the +savages, to secure an isolated victim, were so many and so various, +that suspicion could not but attach to the mysterious occurrence they +had just witnessed. Willing even as they were to believe their present +visitor, whoever he was, came not in a spirit of enmity, they could not +altogether divest themselves of a fear that it was only a subtle +artifice to decoy one of them within the reach of their traitorous +weapons. They, therefore, watched the movements of their companion with +quickening pulses; and it was with a lively satisfaction they saw him, +at length, after a momentary search, descend once more into the ditch, +and, with a single powerful impulsion of his limbs, urge himself back +to the foot of the rampart. Neither feet nor hands were of much +service, in enabling him to scale the smooth and slanting logs that +composed the exterior surface of the works; but a slight jerk of the +well secured rope, serving as a signal to his friends, he was soon +dragged once more to the summit of the rampart, without other injury +than a couple of slight bruises. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what success?" eagerly asked Leslie and Captain Erskine in the +same breath, as the dripping Johnstone buried himself in the folds of a +capacious cloak procured during his absence. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall hear," was the reply; "but first, gentlemen, allow me, if +you please, to enjoy, with yourselves, the luxury of dry clothes. I +have no particular ambition to contract an American ague fit just now; +yet, unless you take pity on me, and reserve my examination for a +future moment, there is every probability I shall not have a tooth left +by to-morrow morning." +</P> + +<P> +No one could deny the justice of the remark, for the teeth of the young +man were chattering as he spoke. It was not, therefore, until after he +had changed his dress, and swallowed a couple of glasses of Captain +Erskine's never failing spirit, that they all repaired once more to the +mess-room, when Johnstone anticipated all questions, by the production +of the mysterious packet. +</P> + +<P> +After removing several wrappers of bark, each of which was secured by a +thong of deerskin, Colonel de Haldimar, to whom the successful officer +had handed his prize, at length came to a small oval case of red +morocco, precisely similar, in size and form, to that which had so +recently attracted the notice of his son. For a moment he hesitated, +and his cheek was observed to turn pale, and his hand to tremble; but +quickly subduing his indecision, he hurriedly unfastened the clasp, and +disclosed to the astonished view of the officers the portrait of a +young and lovely woman, habited in the Highland garb. +</P> + +<P> +Exclamations of various kinds burst from the lips of the group of +officers. Several knew it to be the portrait of Mrs. de Haldimar; +others recognised it from the striking likeness it bore to Clara and to +Charles; all knew it had never been absent from the possession of the +former since her mother's death; and feeling satisfied as they did that +its extraordinary appearance among them, at the present moment, was an +announcement of some dreadful disaster, their countenances wore an +impress of dismay little inferior to that of the wretched Charles, who, +agonized beyond all attempt at description, had thrown himself into a +seat in the rear of the group, and sat like one bewildered, with his +head buried in his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," at length observed Colonel de Haldimar, in a voice that +proved how vainly his natural emotion was sought to be subdued by his +pride, "this, I fear me, is an unwelcome token. It comes to announce to +a father the murder of his child; to us all, the destruction of our +last remaining friends and comrades." +</P> + +<P> +"God forbid!" solemnly aspirated Captain Blessington. After a pause of +a moment or two he pursued: "I know not why, sir; but my impression is, +the appearance of this portrait, which we all recognise for that worn +by Miss de Haldimar, bears another interpretation." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar shook his head.—"I have but too much reason to +believe," he observed, smiling in mournful bitterness, "it has been +conveyed to us not in mercy but in revenge." +</P> + +<P> +No one ventured to question why; for notwithstanding all were aware +that in the mysterious ravisher of the wife of Halloway Colonel de +Haldimar had a fierce and inexorable private enemy, no allusion had +ever been made by that officer himself to the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you permit me to examine the portrait and envelopes, Colonel?" +resumed Captain Blessington: "I feel almost confident, although I +confess I have no other motive for it than what springs from a +recollection of the manner of the Indian, that the result will bear me +out in my belief the bearer came not in hostility but in friendship." +</P> + +<P> +"By my faith, I quite agree with Blessington," said Captain Erskine; +"for, in addition to the manner of the Indian, there is another +evidence in favour of his position. Was it merely intended in the light +in which you consider it, Colonel, the case or the miniature itself +might have been returned, but certainly not the metal in which it is +set. The savages are fully aware of the value of gold, and would not so +easily let it slip through their fingers." +</P> + +<P> +"And wherefore thus carefully wrapped up?" remarked Lieutenant +Johnstone, "unless it had been intended it should meet with no injury +on the way. I certainly think the portrait never would have been +conveyed, in its present perfect state, by an enemy." +</P> + +<P> +"The fellow seemed to feel, too, that he came in the character of one +whose intentions claimed all immunity from harm," remarked Captain +Wentworth. "He surely never would have stood so fearlessly on the brink +of the ditch, and within pistol shot, had he not been conscious of +rendering some service to those connected with us." +</P> + +<P> +To these several observations of his officers, Colonel de Haldimar +listened attentively; and although he made no reply, it was evident he +felt gratified at the eagerness with which each sought to remove the +horrible impression he had stated to have existed in his own mind. +Meanwhile, Captain Blessington had turned and examined the miniature in +fifty different ways, but without succeeding in discovering any thing +that could confirm him in his original impression. Vexed and +disappointed, he at length flung it from him on the table, and sinking +into a seat at the side of the unfortunate Charles, pressed the hand of +the youth in significant silence. +</P> + +<P> +Finding his worst fears now confirmed. Colonel de Haldimar, for the +first time, cast a glance towards his son, whose drooping head, and +sorrowing attitude, spoke volumes to his heart. For a moment his own +cheek blanched, and his eye was seen to glisten with the first tear +ever witnessed there by those around him. Subduing his emotion, +however, he drew up his person to its lordly height, as if that act +reminded him the commander was not to be lost in the father, and +quitting the room with a heavy brow and step, recommended to his +officers the repose of which they appeared to stand so much in need. +But not one was there who felt inclined to court the solitude of his +pillow. No sooner were the footsteps of the governor heard dying away +in the distance, when fresh lights were ordered, and several logs of +wood heaped on the slackening fire. Around this the officers now +grouped, and throwing themselves back in their chairs, assumed the +attitudes of men seeking to indulge rather in private reflection than +in personal converse. +</P> + +<P> +The grief of the wretched Charles de Haldimar, hitherto restrained by +the presence of his father, and encouraged by the touching evidences of +interest afforded him by the ever-considerate Blessington, now burst +forth audibly. No attempt was made by the latter officer to check the +emotion of his young friend. Knowing his passionate fondness for his +sister, he was not without fear that the sudden shock produced by the +appearance of her miniature might destroy his reason, even if it +affected not his life; and as the moment was now come when tears might +be shed without exciting invidious remark in the only individual who +was likely to make it, he sought to promote them as much as possible. +Too much occupied in their own mournful reflections to bestow more than +a passing notice on the weakness of their friend, the group round the +fireplace scarcely seemed to have regarded his emotion. +</P> + +<P> +This violent paroxysm past, De Haldimar breathed more freely; and, +after listening to several earnest observations of Captain Blessington, +who still held out the possibility of something favourable turning up, +on a re-examination of the portrait by daylight, he was so far composed +as to be able to attend to the summons of the sergeant of the guard, +who came to say the relief were ready, and waiting to be inspected +before they were finally marched off. Clasping the extended hand of his +captain between his own, with a pressure indicative of his deep +gratitude, De Haldimar now proceeded to the discharge of his duty; and +having caught up the portrait, which still lay on the table, and thrust +it into the breast of his uniform, he repaired hurriedly to rejoin his +guard, from which circumstances alone had induced his unusually long +absence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0304"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<P> +The remainder of that night was passed by the unhappy De Haldimar in a +state of indescribable wretchedness. After inspecting the relief, he +had thrown himself on his rude guard-bed; and, drawing his cloak over +his eyes, given full rein to the wanderings of his excited imagination. +It was in vain the faithful old Morrison, who never suffered his master +to mount a guard without finding some one with whom to exchange his +tour of duty, when he happened not to be in orders himself, repeatedly +essayed, as he sat stirring the embers of the fire, to enter into +conversation with him. The soul of the young officer was sick, past the +endurance even of that kind voice; and, more than once, he impetuously +bade him be silent, if he wished to continue where he was; or, if not, +to join his comrades in the next guard-room. A sigh was the only +respectful but pained answer to these sharp remonstrances; and De +Haldimar, all absorbed even as he was in his own grief, felt it deeply; +for he knew the old man loved him, and he could not bear the idea of +appearing to repay with slight the well-intentioned efforts of one whom +he had always looked upon more as a dependant on his family than as the +mere rude soldier. Still he could not summon courage to disclose the +true nature of his grief, which the other merely ascribed to general +causes and vague apprehensions of a yet unaccomplished evil. Morrison +had ever loved his sister with an affection in no way inferior to that +which he bore towards himself. He had also nursed her in childhood; and +his memory was ever faithful to trace, as his tongue was to dwell on, +those gentle and amiable qualities, which, strongly marked at an +earlier period of her existence, had only undergone change, inasmuch as +they had become matured and more forcibly developed in womanhood. +Often, latterly, had the grey-haired veteran been in the habit of +alluding to her; for he saw the subject was one that imparted a +mournful satisfaction to the youth; and, with a tact that years, more +than deep reading of the human heart, had given him, he ever made a +point of adverting to their re-union as an event admitting not of doubt. +</P> + +<P> +Hitherto the affectionate De Haldimar had loved to listen to these +sounds of comfort; for, although they carried no conviction to his +mind, impressed as he was with the terrible curse of Ellen Halloway, +and the consequent belief that his family were devoted to some fearful +doom, still they came soothingly and unctuously to his sick soul; and, +all deceptive even as he felt them to be, he found they created a hope +which, while certain to be dispelled by calm after-reflection, carried +a momentary solace to his afflicted spirit. But, now that he had every +evidence his adored sister was no more, and that the illusion of hope +was past for ever, to have heard her name even mentioned by one who, +ignorant of the fearful truth the events of that night had elucidated, +was still ready to renew a strain every chord of which had lost its +power of harmony, was repugnant beyond bearing to his heart. At one +moment he resolved briefly to acquaint the old man with the dreadful +fact, but unwillingness to give pain prevented him; and, moreover, he +felt the grief the communication would draw from the faithful servitor +of his family must be of so unchecked a nature as to render his own +sufferings even more poignant than they were. Neither had he +(independently of all other considerations) resolution enough to forego +the existence of hope in another, even although it had passed entirely +away from himself. It was for these reasons he had so harshly and (for +him) unkindly checked, the attempt of the old man at a conversation +which he, at every moment, felt would be made to turn on the ill-fated +Clara. +</P> + +<P> +Miserable as he felt his position to be, it was not without +satisfaction he again heard the voice of his sergeant summoning him to +the inspection of another relief. This duty performed, and anxious to +avoid the paining presence of his servant, he determined, instead of +returning to his guard-room, to consume the hour that remained before +day in pacing the ramparts. Leaving word with his subordinate, that, in +the event of his being required, he might be found without difficulty, +he ascended to that quarter of the works where the Indian had been +first seen who had so mysteriously conveyed the sad token he still +retained in his breast. It was on the same side with that particular +point whence we have already stated a full view of the bridge with its +surrounding scenery, together with the waters of the Detroit, where +they were intersected by Hog Island, were distinctly commanded. At +either of those points was stationed a sentinel, whose duty it was to +extend his beat between the boxes used now rather as lines of +demarcation than as places of temporary shelter, until each gained that +of his next comrade, when they again returned to their own, crossing +each other about half way: a system of precaution pursued by the whole +of the sentinels in the circuit of the rampart. +</P> + +<P> +The ostensible motive of the officer in ascending the works, was to +visit his several posts; but no sooner had he found himself between the +points alluded to, which happened to be the first in his course, than +he seemed to be riveted there by a species of fascination. Not that +there was any external influence to produce this effect, for the utmost +stillness reigned both within and around the fort; and, but for the +howling of some Indian wolf-dog in the distance, or the low and +monotonous beat of their drums in the death-dance, there was nought +that gave evidence of the existence of the dreadful enemy by whom they +were beset. But the whole being of the acutely suffering De Haldimar +was absorbed in recollections connected with the spot on which he +stood. At one extremity was the point whence he had witnessed the +dreadful tragedy of Halloway's death; at the other, that on which had +been deposited the but too unerring record of the partial realisation +of the horrors threatened at the termination of that tragedy; and +whenever he attempted to pass each of these boundaries, he felt as if +his limbs repugned the effort. +</P> + +<P> +In the sentinels, his appearance among them excited but little +surprise; for it was no uncommon thing for the officers of the guard to +spend the greatest part of the night in visiting, in turn, the several +more exposed points of the ramparts; and that it was now confined to +one particular part, seemed not even to attract their notice. It was, +therefore, almost wholly unremarked by his men, that the heart-stricken +De Haldimar paced his quick and uncertain walk with an imagination +filled with the most fearful forebodings, and with a heart throbbing +with the most painful excitement. Hitherto, since the discovery of the +contents of the packet, his mind had been so exclusively absorbed in +stupifying grief for his sister, that his perception seemed utterly +incapable of outstepping the limited sphere drawn around it; but now, +other remembrances, connected with the localities, forced themselves +upon his attention; and although, in all these, there was nothing that +was not equally calculated to carry dismay and sorrow to his heart, +still, in dividing his thoughts with the one supreme agony that bowed +him down, they were rather welcomed than discarded. His mind was as a +wheel, embracing grief within grief, multiplied to infinitude; and the +wider and more diffusive the circle, the less powerful was the +concentration of sickening heart and brain on that which was the more +immediate axis of the whole. +</P> + +<P> +Reminded, for the first time, as he pursued his measured but aimless +walk, by the fatal portrait which he more than once pressed with +feverish energy to his lips, of the singular discovery he had made that +night in the apartments of his father, he was naturally led, by a chain +of consecutive thought, into a review of the whole of the extraordinary +scene. The fact of the existence of a second likeness of his mother was +one that did not now fail to reawaken all the unqualified surprise he +had experienced at the first discovery. So far from having ever heard +his father make the slightest allusion to this memorial of his departed +mother, he perfectly recollected his repeatedly recommending to Clara +the safe custody of a treasure, which, if lost, could never be +replaced. What could be the motive for this mystery?—and why had he +sought to impress him with the belief it was the identical portrait +worn by his sister which had so unintentionally been exposed to his +view? Why, too, had he evinced so much anxiety to remove from his mind +all unfavourable impressions in regard to his mother? Why have been so +energetic in his caution not to suffer a taint of impurity to attach to +her memory? Why should he have supposed the possibility of such +impression, unless there had been sufficient cause for it? In what, +moreover, originated his triumphant expression of feature, when, on +that occasion, he reminded him that HIS name was not Reginald? Who, +then, was this Reginald? Then came the recollection of what had been +repeated to him of the parting scene between Halloway and his wife. In +addressing her ill-fated husband, she had named him Reginald. Could it +be possible this was the same being alluded to by his father? But no; +his youth forbade the supposition, being but two years older than his +brother Frederick; yet might he not, in some way or other, be connected +with the Reginald of the letter? Why, too, had his father shown such +unrelenting severity in the case of this unfortunate victim?—a +severity which had induced more than one remark from his officers, that +it looked as if he entertained some personal feeling of enmity towards +a man who had done so much for his family, and stood so high in the +esteem of all who knew him. +</P> + +<P> +Then came another thought. At the moment of his execution, Halloway had +deposited a packet in the hands of Captain Blessington;—could these +letters—could that portrait be the same? Certain it was, by whatever +means obtained, his father could not have had them long in his +possession; for it was improbable letters of so old a date should have +occupied his attention NOW, when many years had rolled over the memory +of his mother. And then, again, what was the meaning of the language +used by the implacable enemy of his father, that uncouth and ferocious +warrior of the Fleur de lis, not only on the occasion of the execution +of Halloway, but afterwards to his brother, during his short captivity; +and, subsequently, when, disguised as a black, he penetrated, with the +band of Ponteac, into the fort, and aimed his murderous weapon at his +father's head. What had made him the enemy of his family? and where and +how had originated his father's connection with so extraordinary and so +savage a being? Could he, in any way, be implicated with his mother? +But no; there was something revolting, monstrous, in the thought: +besides, had not his father stood forward the champion of her +innocence?—had he not declared, with an energy carrying conviction +with every word, that she was untainted by guilt? And would he have +done this, had he had reason to believe in the existence of a criminal +love for him who evidently was his mortal foe? Impossible. +</P> + +<P> +Such were the questions and solutions that crowded on and distracted +the mind of the unhappy De Haldimar, who, after all, could arrive at no +satisfactory conclusion. It was evident there was a secret,—yet, +whatever its nature, it was one likely to go down with his father to +the grave; for, however humiliating the reflection to a haughty parent, +compelled to vindicate the honour of a mother to her son, and in direct +opposition to evidence that scarcely bore a shadow of +misinterpretation, it was clear he had motives for consigning the +circumstance to oblivion, which far outweighed any necessity he felt of +adducing other proofs of her innocence than those which rested on his +own simple yet impressive assertion. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of these bewildering doubts, De Haldimar heard some one +approaching in his rear, whose footsteps he distinguished from the +heavy pace of the sentinels. He turned, stopped, and was presently +joined by Captain Blessington. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, dearest Charles," almost querulously asked the kind officer, as +he passed his arm through that of his subaltern,—"why will you persist +in feeding this love of solitude? What possible result can it produce, +but an utter prostration of every moral and physical energy? Come, +come, summon a little fortitude; all may not yet be so hopeless as you +apprehend. For my own part, I feel convinced the day will dawn upon +some satisfactory solution of the mystery of that packet." +</P> + +<P> +"Blessington, my dear Blessington!"—and De Haldimar spoke with +mournful energy,—"you have known me from my boyhood, and, I believe, +have ever loved me; seek not, therefore, to draw me from the present +temper of my mind; deprive me not of an indulgence which, melancholy as +it is, now constitutes the sole satisfaction I take in existence." +</P> + +<P> +"By Heaven! Charles, I will not listen to such language. You absolutely +put my patience to the rack." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, then, I will urge no more," pursued the young officer. "To +revert, therefore, to a different subject. Answer me one question with +sincerity. What were the contents of the packet you received from poor +Halloway previous to his execution? and in whose possession are they +now?" +</P> + +<P> +Pleased to find the attention of his young friend diverted for the +moment from his sister, Captain Blessington quickly rejoiced, he +believed the packet contained letters which Halloway had stated to him +were of a nature to throw some light on his family connections. He had, +however, transferred it, with the seal unbroken, as desired by the +unhappy man, to Colonel de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +An exclamation of surprise burst involuntarily from the lips of the +youth. "Has my father ever made any allusion to that packet since?" he +asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Never," returned Captain Blessington; "and, I confess, his failing to +do so has often excited my astonishment. But why do you ask?" +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar energetically pressed the arm of his captain, while a heavy +sigh burst from his oppressed heart "This very night, Blessington, on +entering my father's apartment to apprise him of what was going on +here, I saw,—I can scarcely tell you what, but certainly enough to +convince me, from what you have now stated, Halloway was, in some +degree or other, connected with our family. Tell me," he anxiously +pursued, "was there a portrait enclosed with the letters?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot state with confidence, Charles," replied his friend; "but if +I might judge from the peculiar form and weight of the packet, I should +be inclined to say not. Have you seen the letters, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen certain letters which, I have reason to believe, are the +same," returned De Haldimar. "They were addressed to 'Reginald;' and +Halloway, I think you have told me, was so called by his unhappy wife." +</P> + +<P> +"There can be little doubt they are the same," said Captain +Blessington; "but what were their contents, and by whom written, that +you deem they prove a connection between the unhappy soldier and your +family?" +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar felt the blood rise into his cheek, at this natural but +unexpected demand. "I am sure, Blessington," he replied, after a pause, +"you will not think me capable of unworthy mystery towards yourself but +the contents of these letters are sacred, inasmuch as they relate only +to circumstances connected with my father's family." +</P> + +<P> +"This is singular indeed," exclaimed Captain Blessington, in a tone +that marked his utter and unqualified astonishment at what had now been +disclosed to him; "but surely, Charles," he pursued, "if the packet +handed me by Halloway were the same you allude to, he would have caused +the transfer to have been made before the period chosen by him for that +purpose." +</P> + +<P> +"But the name," pursued De Haldimar; "how are we to separate the +identity of the packets, when we recur to that name of 'Reginald?'" +</P> + +<P> +"True," rejoined the musing Blessington; "there is a mystery in this +that baffles all my powers of penetration. Were I in possession of the +contents of the letters, I might find some clue to solve the enigma: +but—" +</P> + +<P> +"You surely do not mean this as a reproach, Blessington?" fervently +interrupted the youth. "More I dare not, cannot say, for the secret is +not my own; and feelings, which it would be dishonour to outrage, alone +bind me to silence. What little I have revealed to you even now, has +been uttered in confidence. I hope you have so understood it." +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly, Charles. What you have stated, goes no further; but we have +been too long absent from our guard, and I confess I have no particular +fancy for remaining in this chill night-air. Let us return." +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar made no opposition, and they both prepared to quit the +rampart. As they passed the sentinel stationed at that point where the +Indian had been first seen, their attention was directed by him to a +fire that now suddenly rose, apparently at a great distance, and +rapidly increased in volume. The singularity of this occurrence riveted +the officers for a moment in silent observation; until Captain +Blessington at length ventured a remark, that, judging from the +direction, and the deceptive nature of the element at night, he should +incline to think it was the hut of the Canadian burning. +</P> + +<P> +"Which is another additional proof, were any such wanting, that every +thing is lost," mournfully urged the ever apprehensive De Haldimar. +"Francois has been detected in rendering aid to our friends; and the +Indians, in all probability, after having immolated their victim, are +sacrificing his property to their rage." +</P> + +<P> +During this exchange of opinions, the officers had again moved to the +opposite point of the limited walk of the younger. Scarcely had they +reached it, and before Captain Blessington could find time to reply to +the fears of his friend, when a loud and distant booming like that of a +cannon was heard in the direction of the fire. The alarm was given +hastily by the sentinels, and sounds of preparation and arming were +audible in the course of a minute or two every where throughout the +fort. Startled by the report, which they had half inclined to imagine +produced by the discharge of one of their own guns, the half slumbering +officers had quitted the chairs in which they had passed the night in +the mess-room, and were soon at the side of their more watchful +companions, then anxiously listening for a repetition of the sound. +</P> + +<P> +The day was just beginning to dawn, and as the atmosphere cleared +gradually away, it was perceived the fire rose not from the hut of the +Canadian, but at a point considerably beyond it. Unusual as it was to +see a large fire of this description, its appearance became an object +of minor consideration, since it might be attributed to some caprice or +desire on the part of the Indians to excite apprehension in their +enemies. But how was the report which had reached their ears to be +accounted for? It evidently could only have been produced by the +discharge of a cannon; and if so, where could the Indians have procured +it? No such arm had recently been in their possession; and if it were, +they were totally unacquainted with the manner of serving it. +</P> + +<P> +As the day became more developed, the mystery was resolved. Every +telescope in the fort had been called into requisition; and as they +were now levelled in the direction of the fire, sweeping the line of +horizon around, exclamations of surprise escaped the lips of several. +</P> + +<P> +"The fire is at the near extremity of the wood on Hog Island," +exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone. "I can distinctly see the forms of a +multitude of savages dancing round it with hideous gestures and +menacing attitudes." +</P> + +<P> +"They are dancing their infernal war dance," said Captain Wentworth. +"How I should like to be able to discharge a twenty-four pound battery, +loaded with grape, into the very heart of the devilish throng." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see any prisoners?—Are any of our friends among them?" eagerly +and tremblingly enquired De Haldimar of the officer who had last spoken. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Wentworth made a sweep of his glass along the shores of the +island; but apparently without success. He announced that he could +discover nothing but a vast number of bark canoes lying dry and +upturned on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +"It is an unusual hour for their war dance," observed Captain +Blessington. "My experience furnishes me with no one instance in which +it has not been danced previous to their retiring to rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless," said Lieutenant Boyce, "they should have been thus engaged +all night; in which case the singularity may be explained." +</P> + +<P> +"Look, look," eagerly remarked Lieutenant Johnstone—"see how they are +flying to their canoes, bounding and leaping like so many devils broke +loose from their chains. The fire is nearly deserted already." +</P> + +<P> +"The schooner—the schooner!" shouted Captain Erskine. "By Heaven, our +own gallant schooner! see how beautifully she drives past the island. +It was her gun we heard, intended as a signal to prepare us for her +appearance." +</P> + +<P> +A thrill of wild and indescribable emotion passed through every heart. +Every eye was turned upon the point to which attention was now +directed. The graceful vessel, with every stitch of canvass set, was +shooting rapidly past the low bushes skirting the sands that still +concealed her hull; and in a moment or two she loomed largely and +proudly on the bosom of the Detroit, the surface of which was slightly +curled with a north-western breeze. +</P> + +<P> +"Safe, by Jupiter!" exclaimed the delighted Erskine, dropping the glass +upon the rampart, and rubbing his hands together with every +manifestation of joy. +</P> + +<P> +"The Indians are in chase," said Lieutenant Boyce; "upwards of fifty +canoes are following in the schooner's wake. But Danvers will soon give +us an account of their Lilliputian fleet." +</P> + +<P> +"Let the troops be held in readiness for a sortie, Mr. Lawson," said +the governor, who had joined his officers just as the schooner cleared +the island; "we must cover their landing, or, with this host of savages +in pursuit, they will never effect it alive." +</P> + +<P> +During the whole of this brief but exciting scene, the heart of Charles +de Haldimar beat audibly. A thousand hopes and fears rushed confusedly +on his mind, and he was as one bewildered by, and scarcely crediting +what he saw. Could Clara,—could his cousin—could his brother—could +his friend be on board? He scarcely dared to ask himself these +questions; still it was with a fluttering heart, in which hope, +however, predominated, that he hastened to execute an order of his +captain, that bore immediate reference to his duty as subaltern of the +guard. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0305"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<P> +Meanwhile the schooner dashed rapidly along, her hull occasionally hid +from the view of those assembled on the ramparts by some intervening +orchard or cluster of houses, but her tall spars glittering in their +covering of white canvass, and marking the direction of her course. At +length she came to a point in the river that offered no other +interruption to the eye than what arose from the presence of almost all +the inhabitants of the village, who, urged by curiosity and surprise, +were to be seen crowding the intervening bank. Here the schooner was +suddenly put about, and the English colours, hitherto concealed by the +folds of the canvass, were at length discovered proudly floating in the +breeze. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately over the gateway of the fort there was an elevated +platform, approached by the rampart, of which it formed a part, by some +half dozen rude steps on either side; and on this platform was placed a +long eighteen pounder, that commanded the whole extent of road leading +from the drawbridge to the river. Hither the officers had all repaired, +while the schooner was in the act of passing the town; and now that, +suddenly brought up in the wind's eye, she rode leisurely in the +offing, every movement on her decks was plainly discernible with the +telescope. +</P> + +<P> +"Where the devil can Danvers have hid all his crew?" first spoke +Captain Erskine; "I count but half a dozen hands altogether on deck, +and these are barely sufficient to work her." +</P> + +<P> +"Lying concealed, and ready, no doubt, to give the canoes a warm +reception," observed Lieutenant Johnstone; "but where can our friends +be? Surely, if there, they would show themselves to us." +</P> + +<P> +There was truth in this remark; and each felt discouraged and +disappointed that they did not appear. +</P> + +<P> +"There come the whooping hell fiends," said Major Blackwater. "By +Heaven! the very water is darkened with the shadows of their canoes." +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had he spoken, when the vessel was suddenly surrounded by a +multitude of savages, whose fierce shouts rent the air, while their +dripping paddles, gleaming like silver in the rays of the rising sun, +were alternately waved aloft in triumph, and then plunged into the +troubled element, which they spurned in fury from their blades. +</P> + +<P> +"What can Danvers be about? Why does he not either open his fire, or +crowd sail and away from them?" exclaimed several voices. +</P> + +<P> +"The detachment is in readiness, sir," said Mr. Lawson, ascending the +platform, and addressing Major Blackwater. +</P> + +<P> +"The deck, the deck!" shouted Erskine. +</P> + +<P> +Already the eyes of several were bent in the direction alluded to by +the last speaker, while those whose attention had been diverted by the +approaching canoes glanced rapidly to the same point. To the surprise +and consternation of all, the tall and well-remembered form of the +warrior of the Fleur de lis was seen towering far above the bulwarks of +the schooner; and with an expression in the attitude he had assumed, +which no one could mistake for other than that of triumphant defiance. +Presently he drew from the bosom of his hunting coat a dark parcel, and +springing into the rigging of the main-mast, ascended with incredible +activity to the point where the English ensign was faintly floating in +the breeze. This he tore furiously away, and rending it into many +pieces, cast the fragments into the silver element beneath him, on +whose bosom they were seen to float among the canoes of the savages, +many of whom possessed themselves, with eagerness, of the gaudy +coloured trophies. The dark parcel was now unfolded by the active +warrior, who, after having waved it several times round his head, +commenced attaching it to the lines whence the English ensign had so +recently been torn. It was a large black flag, the purport of which was +too readily comprehended by the excited officers. +</P> + +<P> +"D—n the ruffian! can we not manage to make that, flag serve as his +own winding sheet?" exclaimed Captain Erskine. "Come, Wentworth, give +us a second edition of the sortie firing; I know no man who understands +pointing a gun better than yourself, and this eighteen pounder might do +some mischief." +</P> + +<P> +The idea was instantly caught at by the officer of artillery, who read +his consent in the eye of Colonel de Haldimar. His companions made way +on either side; and several gunners, who were already at their +stations, having advanced to work the piece at the command of their +captain, it was speedily brought to bear upon the schooner. +</P> + +<P> +"This will do, I think," said Wentworth, as, glancing his experienced +eye carefully along the gun, he found it pointed immediately on the +gigantic frame of the warrior. "If this chain-shot miss him, it will be +through no fault of mine." +</P> + +<P> +Every eye was now riveted on the main-mast of the schooner, where the +warrior was still engaged in attaching the portentous flag. The gunner, +who held the match, obeyed the silent signal of his captain; and the +massive iron was heard rushing past the officers, bound on its +murderous mission. A moment or two of intense anxiety elapsed; and when +at length the rolling volumes of smoke gradually floated away, to the +dismay and disappointment of all, the fierce warrior was seen standing +apparently unharmed on the same spot in the rigging. The shot had, +however, been well aimed, for a large rent in the outstretched canvass, +close at his side, and about mid-height of his person, marked the +direction it had taken. Again he tore away, and triumphantly waved the +black flag around his head, while from his capacious lungs there burst +yells of defiance and scorn, that could be distinguished for his own +even at that distance. This done, he again secured the death symbol to +its place; and gliding to the deck by a single rope, appeared to give +orders to the few men of the crew who were to be seen; for every stitch +of canvass was again made to fill, and the vessel, bounding forward +before the breeze then blowing upon her quarter, shot rapidly behind +the town, and was finally seen to cast anchor in the navigable channel +that divides Hog Island from the shores of Canada. +</P> + +<P> +At the discharge of the eighteen pounder, the river had been suddenly +cleared, as if by magic, of every canoe; while, warned by the same +danger, the groups of inhabitants, assembled on the bank, had rushed +for shelter to their respective homes; so that, when the schooner +disappeared, not a vestige of human life was to be seen along that +vista so recently peopled with human forms. An order from Colonel de +Haldimar to the adjutant, countermanding the sortie, was the first +interruption to the silence that had continued to pervade the little +band of officers; and two or three of these having hastened to the +western front of the rampart, in order to obtain a more distinct view +of the movements of the schooner, their example was speedily followed +by the remainder, all of whom now quitted the platform, and repaired to +the same point. +</P> + +<P> +Here, with the aid of their telescopes, they again distinctly commanded +a view of the vessel, which lay motionless close under the sandy beach +of the island, and exhibiting all the technicalities of skill in the +disposition of sails and yards peculiar to the profession. In vain, +however, was every eye strained to discover, among the multitude of +savages that kept momentarily leaping to her deck, the forms of those +in whom they were most interested. A group of some half dozen men, +apparently common sailors, and those, in all probability, whose +services had been compelled in the working of the vessel, were the only +evidences that civilised man formed a portion of that grotesque +assemblage. These, with their arms evidently bound behind their backs, +and placed on one of the gangways, were only visible at intervals, as +the band of savages that surrounded them, brandishing their tomahawks +around their heads, occasionally left an opening in their circle. The +formidable warrior of the Fleur de lis was no longer to be seen, +although the flag which he had hoisted still fluttered in the breeze. +</P> + +<P> +"All is lost, then," ejaculated the governor, with a mournfulness of +voice and manner that caused many of his officers to turn and regard +him with surprise. "That black flag announces the triumph of my foe in +the too certain destruction of my children. Now, indeed," he concluded +in a lower tone, "for the first time, does the curse of Ellen Halloway +sit heavily on my soul." +</P> + +<P> +A deep sigh burst from one immediately behind him. The governor turned +suddenly round, and beheld his son. Never did human countenance wear a +character of more poignant misery than that of the unhappy Charles at +the moment. Attracted by the report of the cannon, he had flown to the +rampart to ascertain the cause, and had reached his companions only to +learn the strong hope so recently kindled in his breast was fled for +ever. His cheek, over which hung his neglected hair, was now pale as +marble, and his lips bloodless and parted; yet, notwithstanding this +intensity of personal sorrow, a tear had started to his eye, apparently +wrung from him by this unusual expression of dismay in his father. +</P> + +<P> +"Charles—my son—my only now remaining child," murmured the governor +with emotion, as he remarked, and started at the death-like image of +the youth; "look not thus, or you will utterly unman me." +</P> + +<P> +A sudden and involuntary impulse caused him to extend his arms. The +young officer sprang forward into the proffered embrace, and sank his +head upon the cheek of his father. It was the first time he had enjoyed +that privilege since his childhood; and even overwhelmed as he was by +his affliction, he felt it deeply. +</P> + +<P> +This short but touching scene was witnessed by their companions, +without levity in any, and with emotion by several. None felt more +gratified at this demonstration of parental affection for the sensitive +boy, than Blessington and Erskine. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot yet persuade myself," observed the former officer, as the +colonel again assumed that dignity of demeanour which had been +momentarily lost sight of in the ebullition of his feelings,—"I cannot +yet persuade myself things are altogether so bad as they appear. It is +true the schooner is in the possession of the enemy, but there is +nothing to prove our friends are on board." +</P> + +<P> +"If you had reason to know HIM into whose hands she has fallen, as I +do, you would think differently, Captain Blessington," returned the +governor. "That mysterious being," he pursued, after a short pause, +"would never have made this parade of his conquest, had it related +merely to a few lives, which to him are of utter insignificance. The +very substitution of yon black flag, in his insolent triumph, was the +pledge of redemption of a threat breathed in my ear within this very +fort: on what occasion I need not state, since the events connected +with that unhappy night are still fresh in the recollections of us all. +That he is my personal enemy, gentlemen, it would be vain to disguise +from you; although who he is, or of what nature his enmity, it imports +not now to enter upon Suffice it, I have little doubt my children are +in his power; but whether the black flag indicates they are no more, or +that the tragedy is only in preparation, I confess I am at a loss to +understand." +</P> + +<P> +Deeply affected by the evident despondency that had dictated these +unusual admissions on the part of their chief, the officers were +forward to combat the inferences he had drawn: several coinciding in +the opinion now expressed by Captain Wentworth, that the fact of the +schooner having fallen into the hands of the savages by no means +implied the capture of the fort whence she came; since it was not at +all unlikely she had been chased during a calm by the numerous canoes +into the Sinclair, where, owing to the extreme narrowness of the river, +she had fallen an easy prey. +</P> + +<P> +"Moreover," observed Captain Blessington, "it is highly improbable the +ferocious warrior could have succeeded in capturing any others than the +unfortunate crew of the schooner; for had this been the case, he would +not have lost the opportunity of crowning his triumph by exhibiting his +victims to our view in some conspicuous part of the vessel." +</P> + +<P> +"This, I grant you," rejoined the governor, "to be one solitary +circumstance in our favour; but may it not, after all, merely prove +that our worst apprehensions are already realised?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is not one, methinks, since vengeance seems his aim, to exercise it +in so summary, and therefore merciful, a manner. Depend upon it, +colonel, had any of those in whom we are more immediately interested, +fallen into his hands, he would not have failed to insult and agonize +us by an exhibition of his prisoners." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right, Blessington," exclaimed Charles de Haldimar, in a voice +that his choking feelings rendered almost sepulchral; "he is not one to +exercise his vengeance in a summary, and merciful manner. The deed is +yet unaccomplished, for even now the curse of Ellen Halloway rings +again in my ear, and tells me the atoning blood must be spilt on the +grave of her husband." +</P> + +<P> +The peculiar tone in which these words were uttered, caused every one +present to turn and regard the speaker, for they recalled the prophetic +language of the unhappy woman. There was now a wildness of expression +in his handsome features, marking the mind utterly dead to hope, yet +struggling to work itself up to passive endurance of the worst. Colonel +de Haldimar sighed painfully, as he bent his eye half reproachfully on +the dull and attenuated features of his son; and although he spoke not, +his look betrayed the anguish that allusion had called up to his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, my father," exclaimed the youth, grasping a hand that was +reluctantly extended. "I meant it not in unkindness; but indeed I have +ever had the conviction strongly impressed on my spirit. I know I +appear weak, childish, unsoldierlike; yet can it be wondered at, when I +have been so often latterly deceived by false hopes, that now my heart +has room for no other tenant than despair. I am very wretched," he +pursued, with affecting despondency; "in the presence of my companions +do I admit it, but they all know how I loved my sister. Can they then +feel surprise, that having lost not only her, but my brother and my +friend, I should be the miserable thing I am." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar turned away, much affected; and throwing his back +against the sentry box near him, passed his hand over his eyes, and +remained for a few moments motionless. +</P> + +<P> +"Charles, Charles, is this your promise to me?" whispered Captain +Blessington, as he approached and took the hand of his unhappy friend. +"Is this the self-command you pledged yourself to exercise? For +Heaven's sake, agitate not your father thus, by the indulgence of a +grief that can have no other tendency than to render him equally +wretched. Be advised by me, and quit the rampart. Return to your guard, +and endeavour to compose yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! what new movement is that on the part of the savages?" exclaimed +Captain Erskine, who had kept his glass to his eye mechanically, and +chiefly with a view of hiding the emotion produced in him by the almost +infantine despair of the younger De Haldimar: "surely it is—yet, no, +it cannot be—yes, see how they are dragging several prisoners from the +wood to the beach. I can distinctly see a man in a blanket coat, and +two others considerably taller, and apparently sailors. But look, +behind them are two females in European dress. Almighty Heaven! there +can be no doubt." +</P> + +<P> +A painful pause ensued. Every other glass and eye was levelled in the +same direction; and, even as Erskine had described it, a party of +Indians were seen, by those who had the telescopes, conducting five +prisoners towards a canoe that lay in the channel communicating from +the island with the main land on the Detroit shore. Into the bottom of +these they were presently huddled, so that only their heads and +shoulders were visible above the gunwale of the frail bark. Presently a +tall warrior was seen bounding from the wood towards the beach. The +crowd of gesticulating Indians made way, and the warrior was seen to +stoop and apply his shoulder to the canoe, one half of which was high +and dry upon the sands. The heavily laden vessel obeyed the impetus +with a rapidity that proved the muscular power of him who gave it. Like +some wild animal, instinct with life, it lashed the foaming waters from +its bows, and left a deep and gurgling furrow where it passed. As it +quitted the shore, the warrior sprang lightly in, taking his station at +the stern; and while his tall and remarkable figure bent nimbly to the +movement, he dashed his paddle from right to left alternately in the +stream, with a quickness that rendered it almost invisible to the eye. +Presently the canoe disappeared round an intervening headland, and the +officers lost sight of it altogether. +</P> + +<P> +"The portrait, Charles; what have you done with the portrait?" +exclaimed Captain Blessington, actuated by a sudden recollection, and +with a trepidation in his voice and manner that spoke volumes of +despair to the younger De Haldimar. "This is our only hope of solving +the mystery. Quick, give me the portrait, if you have it." +</P> + +<P> +The young officer hurriedly tore the miniature from the breast of his +uniform, and pitched it through the interval that separated him from +his captain, who stood a few feet off; but with so uncertain and +trembling an aim, it missed the hand extended to secure it, and fell +upon the very stone the youth had formerly pointed out to Blessington, +as marking the particular spot on which he stood during the execution +of Halloway. The violence of the fall separated the back of the frame +from the picture itself, when suddenly a piece of white and crumpled +paper, apparently part of the back of a letter, yet cut to the size and +shape of the miniature, was exhibited to the view of all. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" resumed the gratified Blessington, as he stooped to possess +himself of the prize; "I knew the miniature would be found to contain +some intelligence from our friends. It is only this moment it occurred +to me to take it to pieces, but accident has anticipated my purpose. +May the omen prove a good one! But what have we here?" +</P> + +<P> +With some difficulty, the anxious officer now succeeded in making out +the characters, which, in default of pen or pencil, had been formed by +the pricking of a fine pin on the paper. The broken sentences, on which +the whole of the group now hung with greedy ear, ran nearly as +follows:—"All is lost. Michilimackinac is taken. We are prisoners, and +doomed to die within eight and forty hours. Alas! Clara and Madeline +are of our number. Still there is a hope, if my father deem it prudent +to incur the risk. A surprise, well managed, may do much; but it must +be tomorrow night; forty-eight hours more, and it will be of no avail. +He who will deliver this is our friend, and the enemy of my father's +enemy. He will be in the same spot at the same hour to-morrow night, +and will conduct the detachment to wherever we may chance to be. If you +fail in your enterprise, receive our last prayers for a less disastrous +fate. God bless you all!" +</P> + +<P> +The blood ran coldly through every vein during the perusal of these +important sentences, but not one word of comment was offered by an +individual of the group. No explanation was necessary. The captives in +the canoe, the tall warrior in its stern, all sufficiently betrayed the +horrible truth. +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar at length turned an enquiring look at his two +captains, and then addressing the adjutant, asked— +</P> + +<P> +"What companies are off duty to-day, Mr. Lawson?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mine," said Blessington, with an energy that denoted how deeply +rejoiced he felt at the fact, and without giving the adjutant time to +reply. +</P> + +<P> +"And mine," impetuously added Captain Erskine; "and, by G—! I will +answer for them; they never embarked on a duty of the sort with greater +zeal than they will on this occasion." +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen, I thank you," said Colonel de Haldimar, with deep emotion, +as he stepped forward and grasped in turn the hands of the +generous-hearted officers. "To Heaven, and to your exertions, do I +commit my children." +</P> + +<P> +"Any artillery, colonel?" enquired the officer of that corps. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Wentworth, no artillery. Whatever remains to be done, must be +achieved by the bayonet alone, and under favour of the darkness. +Gentlemen, again I thank you for this generous interest in my +children—this forwardness in an enterprise on which depend the lives +of so many dear friends. I am not one given to express warm emotion, +but I do, indeed, appreciate this conduct deeply." He then moved away, +desiring Mr. Lawson, as he quitted the rampart, to cause the men for +this service to be got in instant readiness. +</P> + +<P> +Following the example of their colonel, Captains Blessington and +Erskine quitted the rampart also, hastening to satisfy themselves by +personal inspection of the efficiency in all respects of their several +companies; and in a few minutes, the only individual to be seen in that +quarter of the works was the sentinel, who had been a silent and pained +witness of all that had passed among his officers. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0306"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<P> +Doubtless, many of our readers are prepared to expect that the doom of +the unfortunate Frank Halloway was, as an officer of his regiment had +already hinted, the fruit of some personal pique and concealed motive +of vengeance; and that the denouement of our melancholy story will +afford evidence of the governor's knowledge of the true character of +him, who, under an assumed name, excited such general interest at his +trial and death, not only among his military superiors, but those with +whom his adverse destiny had more immediately associated him. It has +already been urged to us, by one or two of our critical friends to whom +we have submitted what has been thus far written in our tale, that, to +explain satisfactorily and consistently the extreme severity of the +governor, some secret and personally influencing motive must be +assigned; but to these we have intimated, what we now repeat,—namely, +that we hope to bear out our story, by natural explanation and simple +deduction. Who Frank Halloway really was, or what the connection +existing between him and the mysterious enemy of the family of De +Haldimar, the sequel of our narrative will show; but whatever its +nature, and however well founded the apprehension of the governor of +the formidable being hitherto known as the warrior of the Fleur de lis, +and however strong his conviction that the devoted Halloway and his +enemy were in secret correspondence, certain it is, that, to the very +hour of the death of the former, he knew him as no other than the +simple private soldier. +</P> + +<P> +To have ascribed to Colonel de Haldimar motives that would have induced +his eagerly seeking the condemnation of an innocent man, either to +gratify a thirst of vengeance, or to secure immunity against personal +danger, would have been to have painted him, not only as a villain, but +a coward. Colonel de Haldimar was neither; but, on the contrary, what +is understood in worldly parlance and the generally received +acceptation of the terms, a man of strict integrity and honour, as well +as of the most undisputed courage. Still, he was a severe and a haughty +man,—one whose military education had been based on the principles of +the old school—and to whom the command of a regiment afforded a field +for the exercise of an orthodox despotism, that could not be passed +over without the immolation of many a victim on its rugged surface. +Without ever having possessed any thing like acute feeling, his heart, +as nature had formed it, was moulded to receive the ordinary +impressions of humanity; and had he been doomed to move in the sphere +of private life, if he had not been distinguished by any remarkable +sensibilities, he would not, in all probability, have been conspicuous +for any extraordinary cruelties. Sent into the army, however, at an +early age, and with a blood not remarkable for its mercurial aptitudes, +he had calmly and deliberately imbibed all the starched theories and +standard prejudices which a mind by no means naturally gifted was but +too well predisposed to receive; and he was among the number of those +(many of whom are indigenous to our soil even at the present day) who +look down from a rank obtained, upon that which has been just quitted, +with a contempt, and coldness, and consciousness of elevation, +commensurate only with the respect paid to those still above them, and +which it belongs only to the little-minded to indulge in. +</P> + +<P> +As a subaltern, M. de Haldimar had ever been considered a pattern of +rigid propriety and decorum of conduct. Not the shadow of military +crime had ever been laid to his charge. He was punctual at all parades +and drills; kept the company to which he was attached in a perfect hot +water of discipline; never missed his distance in marching past, or +failed in a military manoeuvre; paid his mess-bill regularly to the +hour, nay, minute, of the settling day; and was never, on any one +occasion, known to enter the paymaster's office, except on the +well-remembered 24th of each month; and, to crown all, he had never +asked, consequently never obtained, a day's leave from his regiment, +although he had served in it so long, that there was now but one man +living who had entered it with him. With all these qualities, Ensign de +Haldimar promised to make an excellent soldier; and, as such, was +encouraged by the field-officers of the corps, who unhesitatingly +pronounced him a lad of discernment and talent, who would one day rival +them in all the glorious privileges of martinetism. It was even +remarked, as an evidence of his worth, that, when promoted to a +lieutenancy, he looked down upon the ensigns with that becoming +condescension which befitted his new rank; and up to the captains with +the deferential respect he felt to be due to that third step in the +five-barred gate of regimental promotion, on which his aspiring but +chained foot had not yet succeeded in reposing. What, therefore, he +became when he had succeeded in clambering to the top, and looked down +from the lordly height he had after many years of plodding service +obtained, we must leave it to the imaginations of our readers to +determine. We reserve it to a future page, to relate more interesting +particulars. +</P> + +<P> +Sufficient has been shown, however, from this outline of his character, +as well as from the conversations among his officers, elsewhere +transcribed, to account for the governor's conduct in the case of +Halloway. That the recommendation of his son, Captain de Haldimar, had +not been attended to, arose not from any particular ill-will towards +the unhappy man, but simply because he had always been in the habit of +making his own selections from the ranks, and that the present +recommendation had been warmly urged by one who he fancied pretended to +a discrimination superior to his own, in pointing out merits that had +escaped his observation. It might be, too, that there was a latent +pride about the manner of Halloway that displeased and dissatisfied one +who looked upon his subordinates as things that were amenable to the +haughtiness of his glance,—not enough of deference in his demeanour, +or of supplicating obsequiousness in his speech, to entitle him to the +promotion prayed for. Whatever the motive, there was nothing of +personality to influence him in the rejection of the appeal made in +favour of one who had never injured him; but who, on the contrary, as +the whole of the regiment could attest, had saved the life of his son. +</P> + +<P> +Rigid disciplinarian as he was, and holding himself responsible for the +safety of the garrison it was but natural, when the discovery had been +made of the unaccountable unfastening of the gate of the fort, +suspicion of no ordinary kind should attach to the sentinel posted +there; and that he should steadily refuse all credence to a story +wearing so much appearance of improbability. Proud, and inflexible, and +bigoted to first impressions, his mind was closed against those +palliating circumstances, which, adduced by Halloway in his defence, +had so mainly contributed to stamp the conviction of his moral +innocence on the minds of his judges and the attentive auditory; and +could he even have conquered his pride so far as to have admitted the +belief of that innocence, still the military crime of which he had been +guilty, in infringing a positive order of the garrison, was in itself +sufficient to call forth all the unrelenting severity of his nature. +Throughout the whole of the proceedings subsequently instituted, he had +acted and spoken from a perfect conviction of the treason of the +unfortunate soldier, and with the fullest impression of the falsehood +of all that had been offered in his defence. The considerations that +influenced the minds of his officers, found no entrance into his proud +breast, which was closed against every thing but his own dignified +sense of superior judgment. Could he, like them, have given credence to +the tale of Halloway, or really have believed that Captain de Haldimar, +educated under his own military eye, could have been so wanting in +subordination, as not merely to have infringed a positive order of the +garrison, but to have made a private soldier of that garrison accessary +to his delinquency, it is more than probable his stern habits of +military discipline would have caused him to overlook the offence of +the soldier, in deeper indignation at the conduct of the infinitely +more culpable officer; but not one word did he credit of a statement, +which he assumed to have been got up by the prisoner with the mere view +of shielding himself from punishment: and when to these suspicions of +his fidelity was attached the fact of the introduction of his alarming +visitor, it must be confessed his motives for indulging in this belief +were not without foundation. +</P> + +<P> +The impatience manifested during the trial of Halloway was not a result +of any desire of systematic persecution, but of a sense of wounded +dignity. It was a thing unheard of, and unpardonable in his eyes, for a +private soldier to assert, in his presence, his honour and his +respectability in extenuation, even while admitting the justice of a +specific charge; and when he remarked the Court listening with that +profound attention, which the peculiar history of the prisoner had +excited, he could not repress the manifestation of his anger. In +justice to him, however, it must be acknowledged that, in causing the +charge, to which the unfortunate man pleaded guilty, to be framed, he +had only acted from the conviction that, on the two first, there was +not sufficient evidence to condemn one whose crime was as clearly +established, to his judgment, as if he had been an eye-witness of the +treason. It is true, he availed himself of Halloway's voluntary +confession, to effect his condemnation; but estimating him as a +traitor, he felt little delicacy was necessary to be observed on that +score. +</P> + +<P> +Much of the despotic military character of Colonel de Haldimar had been +communicated to his private life; so much, indeed, that his sons,—both +of whom, it has been seen, were of natures that belied their origin +from so stern a stock,—were kept at nearly as great a distance from +him as any other subordinates of his regiment. But although he seldom +indulged in manifestations of parental regard towards those whom he +looked upon rather as inferiors in military rank, than as beings +connected with him by the ties of blood, Colonel de Haldimar was not +without that instinctive love for his children, which every animal in +the creation feels for its offspring. He, also, valued and took a pride +in, because they reflected a certain degree of lustre upon himself, the +talents and accomplishments of his eldest son, who, moreover, was a +brave, enterprising officer, and, only wanted, in his father's +estimation, that severity of carriage and hauteur of deportment, +befitting HIS son, to render him perfect. As for Charles,—the gentle, +bland, winning, universally conciliating Charles,—he looked upon him +as a mere weak boy, who could never hope to arrive at any post of +distinction, if only by reason of the extreme delicacy of his physical +organisation; and to have shown any thing like respect for his +character, or indulged in any expression of tenderness for one so far +below his estimate of what a soldier, a child of his, ought to be, +would have been a concession of which his proud nature was incapable. +In his daughter Clara, however, the gentleness of sex claimed that +warmer affection which was denied to him, who resembled her in almost +every attribute of mind and person. Colonel de Haldimar doated on his +daughter with a tenderness, for which few, who were familiar with his +harsh and unbending nature, ever gave him credit. She was the image of +one on whom all of love that he had ever known had been centered; and +he had continued in Clara an affection, that seemed in itself to form a +portion, distinct and apart, of his existence. +</P> + +<P> +We have already seen, as stated by Charles de Haldimar to the +unfortunate wife of Halloway, with what little success he had pleaded +in the interview he had requested of his father, for the preserver of +his gallant brother's life; and we have also seen how equally +inefficient was the lowly and supplicating anguish of that wretched +being, when, on quitting the apartment of his son, Colonel de Haldimar +had so unexpectedly found himself clasped in her despairing embrace. +There was little to be expected from an intercession on the part of one +claiming so little ascendancy over his father's heart, as the +universally esteemed young officer; still less from one who, in her +shriek of agony, had exposed the haughty chief to the observation both +of men and officers, and under circumstances that caused his position +to border on the ludicrous. But however these considerations might have +failed in effect, there was another which, as a soldier, he could not +wholly overlook. Although he had offered no comment on the +extraordinary recommendation to mercy annexed to the sentence of the +prisoner, it had had a certain weight with him; and he felt, all +absolute even as he was, he could not, without exciting strong +dissatisfaction among his troops, refuse attention to a document so +powerfully worded, and bearing the signature and approval of so old and +valued an officer as Captain Blessington. His determination, therefore, +had been formed, even before his visit to his son, to act as +circumstances might require; and, in the mean while, he commanded every +preparation for the execution to be made. +</P> + +<P> +In causing a strong detachment to be marched to the conspicuous point +chosen for his purpose, he had acted from a conviction of the necessity +of showing the enemy the treason of the soldier had been detected; +reserving to himself the determination of carrying the sentence into +full effect, or pardoning the condemned, as the event might warrant. +Not one moment, meanwhile, did he doubt the guilt of Halloway, whose +description of the person of his enemy was, in itself, to him, +confirmatory evidence of his treason. It is doubtful whether he would, +in any way, have been influenced by the recommendation of the Court, +had the first charges been substantiated; but as there was nothing but +conjecture to bear out these, and as the prisoner had been convicted +only on the ground of suffering Captain de Haldimar to quit the fort +contrary to orders, he felt he might possibly go too far in carrying +the capital punishment into effect, in decided opposition to the +general feeling of the garrison,—both of officers and men. +</P> + +<P> +When the shot was subsequently fired from the hut of the Canadian, and +the daring rifleman recognised as the same fearful individual who had +gained access to his apartment the preceding night, conviction of the +guilt of Halloway came even deeper home to the mind of the governor. It +was through Francois alone that a communication was kept up secretly +between the garrison and several of the Canadians without the fort; and +the very fact of the mysterious warrior having been there so recently +after his daring enterprise, bore evidence that whatever treason was in +operation, had been carried on through the instrumentality of mine host +of the Fleur de lis. In proof, moreover, there was the hat of Donellan, +and the very rope Halloway had stated to be that by which the +unfortunate officer had effected his exit. Colonel de Haldimar was not +one given to indulge in the mysterious or to believe in the romantic. +Every thing was plain matter of fact, as it now appeared before him; +and he thought it evident, as though it had been written in words of +fire, that if his son and his unfortunate servant had quitted the fort +in the manner represented, it was no less certain they had been forced +off by a party, at the head of whom was his vindictive enemy, and with +the connivance of Halloway. We have seen, that after the discovery of +the sex of the supposed drummer-boy when the prisoners were confronted +together, Colonel de Haldimar had closely watched the expression of +their countenances, but failed in discovering any thing that could be +traced into evidence of a guilty recognition. Still he conceived his +original impression to have been too forcibly borne out, even by the +events of the last half hour, to allow this to have much weight with +him; and his determination to carry the thing through all its fearful +preliminary stages became more and more confirmed. +</P> + +<P> +In adopting this resolution in the first instance, he was not without a +hope that Halloway, standing, as he must feel himself to be, on the +verge of the grave, might be induced to make confession of his guilt, +and communicate whatever particulars might prove essential not only to +the safety of the garrison generally, but to himself individually, as +far as his personal enemy was concerned. With this view, he had charged +Captain Blessington, in the course of their march from the hut to the +fatal bridge, to promise a full pardon, provided he should make such +confession of his crime as would lead to a just appreciation of the +evils likely to result from the treason that had in part been +accomplished. Even in making this provision, however, which was met by +the prisoner with solemn yet dignified reiteration of his innocence, +Colonel de Haldimar had not made the refusal of pardon altogether +conclusive in his own mind: still, in adopting this plan, there was a +chance of obtaining a confession; and not until there was no longer a +prospect of the unhappy man being led into that confession, did he feel +it imperative on him to stay the progress of the tragedy. +</P> + +<P> +What the result would have been, had not Halloway, in the strong +excitement of his feelings, sprung to his feet upon the coffin, +uttering the exclamation of triumph recorded in the last pages of our +first volume, is scarcely doubtful. However much the governor might +have contemned and slighted a credulity in which he in no way +participated himself, he had too much discrimination not to perceive, +that to have persevered in the capital punishment would have been to +have rendered himself personally obnoxious to the comrades of the +condemned, whose dispirited air and sullen mien, he clearly saw, +denounced the punishment as one of unnecessary rigour. The haughty +commander was not one to be intimidated by manifestations of +discontent; neither was he one to brook a spirit of insubordination, +however forcibly supported; but he had too much experience and military +judgment, not to determine that this was riot a moment, by foregoing an +act of compulsory clemency, to instil divisions in the garrison, when +the safety of all so much depended on the cheerfulness and unanimity +with which they lent themselves to the arduous duties of defence. +</P> + +<P> +However originating in policy, the lenity he might have been induced to +have shown, all idea of the kind was chased from his mind by the +unfortunate action of the prisoner. At the moment when the distant +heights resounded with the fierce yells of the savages, and leaping +forms came bounding down the slope, the remarkable warrior of the Fleur +de lis—the fearful enemy who had whispered the most demoniac vengeance +in his ears the preceding night—was the only one that met and riveted +the gaze of the governor. He paused not to observe or to think who the +flying man could be of whom the mysterious warrior was in +pursuit,—neither did it, indeed, occur to him that it was a pursuit at +all. But one idea suggested itself to his mind, and that was an attempt +at rescue of the condemned on the part of his accomplice; and when at +length Halloway, who had at once, as if by instinct, recognised his +captain in the fugitive, shouted forth his gratitude to Heaven that "he +at length approached who alone had the power to save him," every shadow +of mercy was banished from the mind of the governor, who, labouring +under a natural misconception of the causes of his exulting shout, felt +that justice imperatively demanded her victim, and no longer hesitated +in awarding the doom that became the supposed traitor. It was under +this impression that he sternly gave and repeated the fatal order to +fire; and by this misjudged and severe, although not absolutely cruel +act, not only destroyed one of the noblest beings that ever wore a +soldier's uniform, but entailed upon himself and family that terrific +curse of his maniac wife, which rang like a prophetic warning in the +ears of all, and was often heard in the fitful starlings of his own +ever-after troubled slumbers. +</P> + +<P> +What his feelings were, when subsequently he discovered, in the +wretched fugitive, the son whom he already believed to have been +numbered with the dead, and heard from his lips a confirmation of all +that had been advanced by the unhappy Halloway, we shall leave it to +our readers to imagine. Still, even amid his first regret, the rigid +disciplinarian was strong within him; and no sooner had the detachment +regained the fort, after performing the last offices of interment over +their ill-fated comrade, than Captain de Haldimar received an +intimation, through the adjutant, to consider himself under close +arrest for disobedience of orders. Finally, however, he succeeded in +procuring an interview with his father; in the course of which, +disclosing the plot of the Indians, and the short period allotted for +its being carried into execution, he painted in the most gloomy colours +the alarming, dangers which threatened them all, and finished by +urgently imploring his father to suffer him to make the attempt to +reach their unsuspecting friends at Michilimackinac. Fully impressed +with the difficulties attendant on a scheme that offered so few +feasible chances of success, Colonel de Haldimar for a period denied +his concurrence; but when at length the excited young man dwelt on the +horrors that would inevitably await his sister and betrothed cousin, +were they to fall into the hands of the savages, these considerations +were found to be effective. An after-arrangement included Sir Everard +Valletort, who had expressed a strong desire to share his danger in the +enterprise; and the services of the Canadian, who had been brought back +a prisoner to the fort, and on whom promises and threats were bestowed +in an equally lavish manner, were rendered available. In fact, without +the assistance of Francois, there was little chance of their effecting +in safety the navigation of the waters through which they were to pass +to arrive at the fort. He it was, who, when summoned to attend a +conference among the officers, bearing on the means to be adopted, +suggested the propriety of their disguising themselves as Canadian duck +hunters; in which character they might expect to pass unmolested, even +if encountered by any outlying parties of the savages. With the doubts +that had previously been entertained of the fidelity of Francois, there +was an air of forlorn hope given to the enterprise; still, as the man +expressed sincere earnestness of desire to repay the clemency accorded +him, by a faithful exercise of his services, and as the object sought +was one that justified the risk, there was, notwithstanding, a latent +hope cherished by all parties, that the event would prove successful. +We have already seen to what extent their anticipations were realised. +</P> + +<P> +Whether it was that he secretly acknowledged the too excessive +sternness of his justice in regard to Halloway (who still, in the true +acceptation of facts, had been guilty of a crime that entailed the +penalty he had paid), or that the apprehensions that arose to his heart +in regard to her on whom he yearned with all a father's fondness +governed his conduct, certain it is, that, from the hour of the +disclosure made by his son, Colonel de Haldimar became an altered man. +Without losing any thing of that dignity of manner, which had hitherto +been confounded with the most repellent haughtiness of bearing, his +demeanour towards his officers became more courteous; and although, as +heretofore, he kept himself entirely aloof, except when occasions of +duty brought them together, still, when they did meet, there was more +of conciliation in his manner, and less of austerity in his speech. +There was, moreover, a dejection in his eye, strongly in contrast with +his former imperious glance; and more than one officer remarked, that, +if his days were devoted to the customary practical arrangements for +defence, his pallid countenance betokened that his nights were nights +rather of vigil than of repose. +</P> + +<P> +However natural and deep the alarm entertained for the fate of the +sister fort, there could be no apprehension on the mind of Colonel de +Haldimar in regard to his own; since, furnished with the means of +foiling his enemies with their own weapons of cunning and deceit, a few +extraordinary precautions alone were necessary to secure all immunity +from danger. Whatever might be the stern peculiarities of his +character,—and these had originated chiefly in an education purely +military,—Colonel de Haldimar was an officer well calculated to the +important trust reposed in him; for, combining experience with judgment +in all matters relating to the diplomacy of war, and being fully +conversant with the character and habits of the enemy opposed to him, +he possessed singular aptitude to seize whatever advantages might +present themselves. +</P> + +<P> +The prudence and caution of his policy have already been made manifest +in the two several council scenes with the chiefs recorded in our +second volume. It may appear singular, that, with the opportunity thus +afforded him of retaining the formidable Ponteac,—the strength and +sinew of that long protracted and ferocious war,—in his power, he +should have waved his advantage; but here Colonel de Haldimar gave +evidence of the tact which so eminently distinguished his public +conduct throughout. He well knew the noble, fearless character of the +chief; and felt, if any hold was to be secured over him, it was by +grappling with his generosity, and not by the exercise of intimidation. +Even admitting that Ponteac continued his prisoner, and that the +troops, pouring their destructive fire upon the mass of enemies so +suddenly arrested on the drawbridge, had swept away the whole, still +they were but as a mite among the numerous nations that were leagued +against the English; and to these nations, it was evident, they must, +sooner or later, succumb. +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar knew enough of the proud but generous nature of the +Ottawa, to deem that the policy he proposed to pursue in the last +council scene would not prove altogether without effect on that +warrior. It was well known to him, that much pains had been taken to +instil into the minds of the Indians the belief that the English were +resolved on their final extirpation; and as certain slights, offered to +them at various periods, had given a colouring of truth to this +assertion, the formidable league which had already accomplished the +downfall of so many of the forts had been the consequence of these +artful representations. Although well aware that the French had +numerous emissaries distributed among the fierce tribes, it was not +until after the disclosure made by the haughty Ponteac, at the close of +the first council scene, that he became apprised of the alarming +influence exercised over the mind of that warrior himself by his own +terrible and vindictive enemy. The necessity of counteracting that +influence was obvious; and he felt this was only to be done (if at all) +by some marked and extraordinary evidence of the peaceful disposition +of the English. Hence his determination to suffer the faithless chiefs +and their followers to depart unharmed from the fort, even at the +moment when the attitude assumed by the prepared garrison fully proved +to the assailants their designs had been penetrated and their schemes +rendered abortive. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0307"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<P> +With the general position of the encampment of the investing Indians, +the reader has been made acquainted through the narrative of Captain de +Haldimar. It was, as has been shown, situate in a sort of oasis close +within the verge of the forest, and (girt by an intervening underwood +which Nature, in her caprice, had fashioned after the manner of a +defensive barrier) embraced a space sufficient to contain the tents of +the fighting men, together with their women and children. This, +however, included only the warriors and inferior chiefs. The tents of +the leaders were without the belt of underwood, and principally +distributed at long intervals on that side of the forest which skirted +the open country towards the river; forming, as it were, a chain of +external defences, and sweeping in a semicircular direction round the +more dense encampment of their followers. At its highest elevation the +forest shot out suddenly into a point, naturally enough rendered an +object of attraction from whatever part it was commanded. +</P> + +<P> +Darkness was already beginning to spread her mantle over the +intervening space, and the night fires of the Indians were kindling +into brightness, glimmering occasionally through the wood with that +pale and lambent light peculiar to the fire-fly, of which they offered +a not inapt representation, when suddenly a lofty tent, the brilliant +whiteness of which was thrown into strong relief by the dark field on +which it reposed, was seen to rise at a few paces from the abrupt point +in the forest just described, and on the extreme summit of a ridge, +beyond which lay only the western horizon in golden perspective. +</P> + +<P> +The opening of this tent looked eastward and towards the fort; and on +its extreme summit floated a dark flag, which at intervals spread +itself before the slight evening breeze, but oftener hung drooping and +heavily over the glittering canvass. One solitary pine, whose trunk +exceeded not the ordinary thickness of a man's waist, and standing out +as a landmark on the ridge, rose at the distance of a few feet from the +spot on which the tent had been erected; and to this was bound the tall +and elegant figure of one dressed in the coarse garb of a sailor. The +arms and legs of this individual were perfectly free; but a strong +rope, rendered doubly secure after the manner of what is termed +"whipping" among seamen, after having been tightly drawn several times +around his waist, and then firmly knotted behind, was again passed +round the tree, to which the back of the prisoner was closely lashed; +thus enabling, or rather compelling, him to be a spectator of every +object within the tent. +</P> + +<P> +Layers of bark, over which were spread the dressed skins of the bear +and the buffalo, formed the floor and carpet of the latter; and on +these, in various parts, and in characteristic attitudes, reposed the +forms of three human beings;—one, the formidable warrior of the Fleur +de lis. Attired in the garb in which we first introduced him to our +readers, and with the same weapons reposing at his side, the haughty +savage lay at his lazy length; his feet reaching beyond the opening of +the tent, and his head reposing on a rude pillow formed of a closely +compressed pack of skins of wild animals, over which was spread a sort +of mantle or blanket. One hand was introduced between the pillow and +his head, the other grasped the pipe tomahawk he was smoking; and while +the mechanical play of his right foot indicated pre-occupation of +thought, his quick and meaning eye glanced frequently and alternately +upon the furthest of his companions, the prisoner without, and the +distant fort. +</P> + +<P> +Within a few feet of the warrior lay, extended on a buffalo skin, the +delicate figure of a female, whose hair, complexion, and hands, denoted +her European extraction. Her dress was entirely Indian, however; +consisting of a machecoti with leggings, mocassins, and shirt of +printed cotton studded with silver brooches,—all of which were of a +quality and texture to mark the wearer as the wife of a chief; and her +fair hair, done up in a club behind, reposed on a neck of dazzling +whiteness. Her eyes were large, blue, but wild and unmeaning; her +countenance vacant; and her movements altogether mechanical. A wooden +bowl filled with hominy,—a preparation of Indian corn,—was at her +side; and from this she was now in the act of feeding herself with a +spoon of the same material, but with a negligence and slovenliness that +betrayed her almost utter unconsciousness of the action. +</P> + +<P> +At the further side of the tent there was another woman, even more +delicate in appearance than the one last mentioned. She, too, was +blue-eyed, and of surpassing fairness of skin. Her attitude denoted a +mind too powerfully absorbed in grief to be heedful of appearances; for +she sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, and rocking her body to +and fro with an undulating motion that seemed to have its origin in no +effort of volition of her own. Her long fair hair hung negligently over +her shoulders; and a blanket drawn over the top of her head like a +veil, and extending partly over the person, disclosed here and there +portions of an apparel which was strictly European, although rent, and +exhibiting in various places stains of blood. A bowl similar to that of +her companion, and filled with the same food, was at her side; but this +was untasted. +</P> + +<P> +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" asked the warrior of her next him, +as he fiercely rolled a volume of smoke from his lips. "Make her eat, +for I would speak to her afterwards." +</P> + +<P> +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" responded the woman in the same +tone, dropping her spoon as she spoke, and turning to the object of +remark with a vacant look. "It is good," she pursued, as she rudely +shook the arm of the heedless sufferer. "Come, girl, eat." +</P> + +<P> +A shriek burst from the lips of the unhappy girl, as, apparently roused +from her abstraction, she suffered the blanket to fall from her head, +and staring wildly at her questioner, faintly demanded,— +</P> + +<P> +"Who, in the name of mercy, are you, who address me in this horrid +place in my own tongue? Speak; who are you? Surely I should know that +voice for that of Ellen, the wife of Frank Halloway!" +</P> + +<P> +A maniac laugh was uttered by the wretched woman. This continued +offensively for a moment; and she observed, in an infuriated tone and +with a searching eye,—"No, I am not the wife of Halloway. It is false. +I am the wife of Wacousta. This is my husband!" and as she spoke she +sprang nimbly to her feet, and was in the next instant lying prostrate +on the form of the warrior; her arms thrown wildly around him, and her +lips imprinting kisses on his cheek. +</P> + +<P> +But Wacousta was in no mood to suffer her endearments. He for the first +time seemed alive to the presence of her who lay beyond, and, to whose +whole appearance a character of animation had been imparted by the +temporary excitement of her feelings. He gazed at her a moment, with +the air of one endeavouring to recall the memory of days long gone by; +and as he continued to do so, his eye dilated, his chest heaved, and +his countenance alternately flushed and paled. At length he threw the +form that reposed upon his own, violently, and even savagely, from him; +sprang eagerly to his feet; and clearing the space that divided him +from the object of his attention at a single step, bore her from the +earth in his arms with as much ease as if she had been an infant, and +then returning to his own rude couch, placed his horror-stricken victim +at his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, nay," he urged sarcastically, as she vainly struggled to free +herself; "let the De Haldimar portion of your blood rise up in anger if +it will; but that of Clara Beverley, at least—." +</P> + +<P> +"Gracious Providence! where am I, that I hear the name of my sainted +mother thus familiarly pronounced?" interrupted the startled girl; "and +who are you,"—turning her eyes wildly on the swarthy countenance of +the warrior,—"who are you, I ask, who, with the mien and in the garb +of a savage of these forests, appear thus acquainted with her name?" +</P> + +<P> +The warrior passed his hand across his brow for a moment, as if some +painful and intolerable reflection had been called up by the question; +but he speedily recovered his self-possession, and, with an expression +of feature that almost petrified his auditor, vehemently observed,— +</P> + +<P> +"You ask who I am! One who knew your mother long before the accursed +name of De Haldimar had even been whispered in her ear; and whom love +for the one and hatred for the other has rendered the savage you now +behold! But," he continued, while a fierce and hideous smile lighted up +every feature, "I overlook my past sufferings in my present happiness. +The image of Clara Beverley, even such as my soul loved her in its +youth, is once more before me in her child; THAT child shall be my +wife!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife! monster;—never!" shrieked the unhappy girl, again vainly +attempting to disengage herself from the encircling arm of the savage. +"But," she pursued, in a tone of supplication, while the tears coursed +each other down her cheek, "if you ever loved my mother as you say you +have, restore her children to their home; and, if saints may be +permitted to look down from heaven in approval of the acts of men, she +whom you have loved will bless you for the deed." +</P> + +<P> +A deep groan burst from the vast chest of Wacousta; but, for a moment, +he answered not. At length he observed, pointing at the same time with +his finger towards the cloudless vault above their heads,—"Do you +behold yon blue sky, Clara de Haldimar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do;—what mean you?" demanded the trembling girl, in whom a +momentary hope had been excited by the subdued manner of the savage. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," he coolly rejoined; "only that were your mother to appear +there at this moment, clad in all the attributes ascribed to angels, +her prayer would not alter the destiny that awaits you. Nay, nay; look +not thus sorrowfully," he pursued, as, in despite of her efforts to +prevent him, he imprinted a burning kiss upon her lips. "Even thus was +I once wont to linger on the lips of your mother; but hers ever pouted +to be pressed by mine; and not with tears, but with sunniest smiles, +did she court them." He paused; bent his head over the face of the +shuddering girl; and gazing fixedly for a few minutes on her +countenance, while he pressed her struggling form more closely to his +own, exultingly pursued, as if to himself,—"Even as her mother was, so +is she. Ye powers of hell! who would have ever thought a time would +come when both my vengeance and my love would be gratified to the +utmost? How strange it never should have occurred to me he had a +daughter!" +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, fierce, unpitying man?" exclaimed the terrified Clara, +to whom a full sense of the horror of her position had lent unusual +energy of character. "Surely you will not detain a poor defenceless +woman in your hands,—the child of her you say you have loved. But it +is false!—you never knew her, or you would not now reject my prayer." +</P> + +<P> +"Never knew her!" fiercely repeated Wacousta. Again he paused. "Would I +had never known her! and I should not now be the outcast wretch I am," +he added, slowly and impressively. Then once more elevating his +voice,—"Clara de Haldimar, I have loved your mother as man never loved +woman; and I have hated your father" (grinding his teeth with fury as +he spoke) "as man never hated man. That love, that hatred are +unquenched—unquenchable. Before me I see at once the image of her who, +even in death, has lived enshrined in my heart, and the child of him +who is my bitterest foe. Clara de Haldimar, do you understand me now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Providence! is there no one to save me?—can nothing touch +your stubborn heart?" exclaimed the affrighted girl; and she turned her +swimming eyes on those of the warrior, in appeal; but his glance caused +her own to sink in confusion. "Ellen Halloway," she pursued, after a +moment's pause, and in the wild accents of despair, "if you are indeed +the wife of this man, as you say you are, oh! plead for me with him; +and in the name of that kindness, which I once extended to yourself, +prevail on him to restore me to my father!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ellen Halloway!—who calls Ellen Halloway?" said the wretched woman, +who had again resumed her slovenly meal on the rude couch, apparently +without consciousness of the scene enacting at her side. "I am not +Ellen Halloway: they said so; but it is not true. My husband was +Reginald Morton: but he went for a soldier, and was killed; and I never +saw him more." +</P> + +<P> +"Reginald Morton! What mean you, woman?—What know you of Reginald +Morton?" demanded Wacousta, with frightful energy, as, leaning over the +shrinking form of Clara, he violently grasped and shook the shoulder of +the unhappy maniac. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop; do not hurt me, and I will tell you all, sir," she almost +screamed. "Oh, sir, Reginald Morton was my husband once; but he was +kinder than you are. He did not look so fiercely at me; nor did he +pinch me so." +</P> + +<P> +"What of him?—who was he?" furiously repeated Wacousta, as he again +impatiently shook the arm of the wretched Ellen. "Where did you know +him?—Whence came he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, you must not be jealous of poor Reginald:" and, as she uttered +these words in a softening and conciliating tone, her eye was turned +upon those of the warrior with a mingled expression of fear and +cunning. "But he was very good and very handsome, and generous; and we +lived near each other, and we loved each other at first sight. But his +family were very proud, and they quarrelled with him because he married +me; and then we became very poor, and Reginald went for a soldier, +and—; but I forget the rest, it is so long ago." She pressed her hand +to her brow, and sank her head upon her chest. +</P> + +<P> +"Ellen, woman, again I ask you where he came from? this Reginald Morton +that you have named. To what county did he belong?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we were both Cornish," she answered, with a vivacity singularly in +contrast with her recent low and monotonous tone; "but, as I said +before, he was of a great family, and I only a poor clergyman's +daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Cornish!—Cornish, did you say?" fiercely repeated the dark Wacousta, +while an expression of loathing and disgust seemed for a moment to +convulse his features; "then is it as I had feared. One word more. Was +the family seat called Morton Castle?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was," unhesitatingly returned the poor woman, yet with the air of +one wondering to hear a name repeated, long forgotten even by herself. +"It was a beautiful castle too, on a lovely ridge of hills; and it +commanded such a nice view of the sea, close to the little port of +——; and the parsonage stood in such a sweet valley, close under the +castle; and we were all so happy." She paused, again put her hand to +her brow, and pressed it with force, as if endeavouring to pursue the +chain of connection in her memory, but evidently without success. +</P> + +<P> +"And your father's name was Clayton?" said the warrior, enquiringly; +"Henry Clayton, if I recollect aright?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! who names my father?" shrieked the wretched woman. "Yes, sir, it +was Clayton—Henry Clayton—the kindest, the noblest of human beings. +But the affliction of his child, and the persecutions of the Morton +family, broke his heart. He is dead, sir, and Reginald is dead too; and +I am a poor lone widow in the world, and have no one to love me." Here +the tears coursed each other rapidly down her faded cheek, although her +eyes were staring and motionless. +</P> + +<P> +"It is false!" vociferated the warrior, who, now he had gained all that +was essential to the elucidation of his doubts, quitted the shoulder he +had continued to press with violence in his nervous hand, and once more +extended himself at his length; "in me you behold the uncle of your +husband. Yes, Ellen Clayton, you have been the wife of two Reginald +Mortons. Both," he pursued with unutterable bitterness, while he again +started up and shook his tomahawk menacingly in the direction of the +fort,—"both have been the victims of yon cold-blooded governor; but +the hour of our reckoning is at hand. Ellen," he fiercely added, "do +you recollect the curse you pronounced on the family of that haughty +man, when he slaughtered your Reginald. By Heaven! it shall be +fulfilled; but first shall the love I have so long borne the mother be +transferred to the child." +</P> + +<P> +Again he sought to encircle the waist of her whom, in the strong +excitement of his rage, he had momentarily quitted; but the unutterable +disgust and horror produced in the mind of the unhappy Clara lent an +almost supernatural activity to her despair. She dexterously eluded his +grasp, gained her feet, and with tottering steps and outstretched arms +darted through the opening of the tent, and piteously exclaiming, "Save +me! oh, for God's sake, save me!" sank exhausted, and apparently +lifeless, on the chest of the prisoner without. +</P> + +<P> +To such of our readers as, deceived by the romantic nature of the +attachment stated to have been originally entertained by Sir Everard +Valletort for the unseen sister of his friend, have been led to expect +a tale abounding in manifestations of its progress when the parties had +actually met, we at once announce disappointment. Neither the lover of +amorous adventure, nor the admirer of witty dialogue, should dive into +these pages. Room for the exercise of the invention might, it is true, +be found; but ours is a tale of sad reality, and our heroes and +heroines figure under circumstances that would render wit a satire upon +the understanding, and love a reflection upon the heart. Within the +bounds of probability have we, therefore, confined ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +What the feelings of the young Baronet must have been, from the first +moment when he received from the hands of the unfortunate Captain +Baynton (who, although an officer of his own corps, was personally a +stranger to him,) that cherished sister of his friend, on whose ideal +form his excited imagination had so often latterly loved to linger, up +to the present hour, we should vainly attempt to paint. There are +emotions of the heart, it would be mockery in the pen to trace. From +the instant of his first contributing to preserve her life, on that +dreadful day of blood, to that when the schooner fell into the hands of +the savages, few words had passed between them, and these had reference +merely to the position in which they found themselves, and whenever Sir +Everard felt he could, without indelicacy or intrusion, render himself +in the slightest way serviceable to her. The very circumstances under +which they had met, conduced to the suppression, if not utter +extinction, of all of passion attached to the sentiment with which he +had been inspired. A new feeling had quickened in his breast; and it +was with emotions more assimilated to friendship than to love that he +now regarded the beautiful but sorrow-stricken sister of his bosom +friend. Still there was a softness, a purity, a delicacy and tenderness +in this new feeling, in which the influence of sex secretly though +unacknowledgedly predominated; and even while sensible it would have +been a profanation of every thing most sacred and delicate in nature to +have admitted a thought of love within his breast at such a moment, he +also felt he could have entertained a voluptuous joy in making any +sacrifice, even to the surrender of life itself, provided the +tranquillity of that gentle and suffering being could be by it ensured. +</P> + +<P> +Clara, in her turn, had been in no condition to admit so exclusive a +power as that of love within her soul. She had, it is true, even amid +the desolation of her shattered spirit, recognised in the young officer +the original of a portrait so frequently drawn by her brother, and +dwelt on by herself. She acknowledged, moreover, the fidelity of the +painting: but however she might have felt and acted under different +circumstances, absorbed as was her heart, and paralysed her +imagination, by the harrowing scenes she had gone through, she, too, +had room but for one sentiment in her fainting soul, and that was +friendship for the friend of her brother; on whom, moreover, she +bestowed that woman's gratitude, which could not fail to be awakened by +a recollection of the risks he had encountered, conjointly with +Frederick, to save her from destruction. During their passage across +lake Huron, Sir Everard had usually taken his seat on the deck, at that +respectful distance which he conceived the delicacy of the position of +the unfortunate cousins demanded; but in such a manner that, while he +seemed wholly abstracted from them, his eye had more than once been +detected by Clara fixed on hers, with an affectionateness of interest +she could not avoid repaying with a glance of recognition and approval. +These, however, were the only indications of regard that had passed +between them. +</P> + +<P> +If, however, a momentary and irrepressible flashing of that sentiment, +which had, at an earlier period, formed a portion of their imaginings, +did occasionally steal over their hearts while there was a prospect of +reaching their friends in safety, all manifestation of its power was +again finally suppressed when the schooner fell into the hands of the +savages. Become the immediate prisoners of Wacousta, they had been +surrendered to that ferocious chief to be dealt with as he might think +proper; and, on disembarking from the canoe in which their transit to +the main land had been descried that morning from the fort, had been +separated from their equally unfortunate and suffering companions. +Captain de Haldimar, Madeline, and the Canadian, were delivered over to +the custody of several choice warriors of the tribe in which Wacousta +was adopted; and, bound hand and foot, were, at that moment, in the war +tent of the fierce savage, which, as Ponteac had once boasted to the +governor, was every where hung around with human scalps, both of men, +of women, and of children. The object of this mysterious man, in +removing Clara to the spot we have described, was one well worthy of +his ferocious nature. His vengeance had already devoted her to +destruction; and it was within view of the fort, which contained the +father whom he loathed, he had resolved his purpose should be +accomplished. A refinement of cruelty, such as could scarcely have been +supposed to enter the breast even of such a remorseless savage as +himself, had caused him to convey to the same spot, him whom he rather +suspected than knew to be the lover of the young girl. It was with the +view of harrowing up the soul of one whom he had recognised as the +officer who had disabled him on the night of the rencontre on the +bridge, that he had bound Sir Everard to the tree, whence, as we have +already stated, he was a compelled spectator of every thing that passed +within the tent; and yet with that free action of limb which only +tended to tantalize him the more amid his unavailable efforts to rid +himself of his bonds,—a fact that proved not only the dire extent to +which the revenge of Wacousta could be carried, but the actual and +gratuitous cruelty of his nature. +</P> + +<P> +One must have been similarly circumstanced, to understand all the agony +of the young man during this odious scene, and particularly at the +fierce and repeated declaration of the savage that Clara should be his +bride. More than once had he essayed to remove the ligatures which +confined his waist; but his unsuccessful attempts only drew an +occasional smile of derision from his enemy, as he glanced his eye +rapidly towards him. Conscious at length of the inutility of efforts, +which, without benefiting her for whom they were principally prompted, +rendered him in some degree ridiculous even in his own eyes, the +wretched Valletort desisted altogether, and with his head sunk upon his +chest, and his eyes closed, sought at least to shut out a scene which +blasted his sight, and harrowed up his very soul. +</P> + +<P> +But when Clara, uttering her wild cry for protection, and rushing forth +from the tent, sank almost unconsciously in his embrace, a thrill of +inexplicable joy ran through each awakened fibre of his frame. Bending +eagerly forward, he had extended his arms to receive her; and when he +felt her light and graceful form pressing upon his own as its last +refuge—when he felt her heart beating against his—when he saw her +head drooping on his shoulder, in the wild recklessness of +despair,—even amid that scene of desolation and grief he could not +help enfolding her in tumultuous ecstasy to his breast. Every horrible +danger was for an instant forgotten in the soothing consciousness that +he at length encircled the form of her, whom in many an hour of +solitude he had thus pictured, although under far different +circumstances, reposing confidingly on him. There was delight mingled +with agony in his sensation of the wild throb of her bosom against his +own; and even while his soul fainted within him, as he reflected on the +fate that awaited her, he felt as if he could himself now die more +happily. +</P> + +<P> +Momentary, however, was the duration of this scene. Furious with anger +at the evident disgust of his victim, Wacousta no sooner saw her sink +into the arms of her lover, than with that agility for which he was +remarkable he was again on his feet, and stood in the next instant at +her side. Uniting to the generous strength of his manhood all that was +wrung from his mingled love and despair, the officer clasped his hands +round the waist of the drooping Clara; and with clenched teeth, and +feet firmly set, seemed resolved to defy every effort of the warrior to +remove her. Not a word was uttered on either side; but in the fierce +smile that curled the lip of the savage, there spoke a language even +more terrible than the words that smile implied. Sir Everard could not +suppress an involuntary shudder; and when at length Wacousta, after a +short but violent struggle, succeeded in again securing and bearing off +his prize, the wretchedness of soul of the former was indescribable. +</P> + +<P> +"You see 'tis vain to struggle against your destiny, Clara de +Haldimar," sneered the warrior. "Ours is but a rude nuptial couch, it +is true; but the wife of an Indian chief must not expect the luxuries +of Europe in the heart of an American wilderness." +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Heaven! where am I?" exclaimed the wretched girl, again +unclosing her eyes to all the horror of her position; for again she lay +at the side, and within the encircling arm, of her enemy. "Oh, Sir +Everard Valletort, I thought I was with you, and that you had saved me +from this monster. Where is my brother?—Where are Frederick and +Madeline?—Why have they deserted me?—Ah! my heart will break. I +cannot endure this longer, and live." +</P> + +<P> +"Clara, Miss de Haldimar," groaned Sir Everard, in a voice of searching +agony; "could I lay down my life for you, I would; but you see these +bonds. Oh God! oh God! have pity on the innocent; and for once incline +the heart of yon fierce monster to the whisperings of mercy." As he +uttered the last sentence, he attempted to sink on his knees in +supplication to Him he addressed, but the tension of the cord prevented +him; yet were his hands clasped, and his eyes upraised to heaven, while +his countenance beamed with an expression of fervent enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Peace, babbler! or, by Heaven! that prayer shall be your last," +vociferated Wacousta. "But no," he pursued to himself, dropping at the +same time the point of his upraised tomahawk; "these are but the +natural writhings of the crushed worm; and the longer protracted they +are, the more complete will be my vengeance." Then turning to the +terrified girl,—"You ask, Clara de Haldimar, where you are? In the +tent of your mother's lover, I reply,—at the side of him who once +pressed her to his heart, even as I now press you, and with a fondness +that was only equalled by her own. Come, dear Clara," and his voice +assumed a tone of tenderness that was even more revolting than his +natural ferocity, "let me woo you to the affection she once possessed. +It was a heart of fire in which her image stood enshrined,—it is a +heart of fire still, and well worthy of her child." +</P> + +<P> +"Never, never!" shrieked the agonised girl. "Kill me, murder me, if you +will; but oh! if you have pity, pollute not my ear with the avowal of +your detested love. But again I repeat, it is false that my mother ever +knew you. She never could have loved so fierce, so vindictive a being +as yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! do you doubt me still?" sternly demanded the savage. Then drawing +the shuddering girl still closer to his vast chest,—"Come hither, +Clara, while to convince you I unfold the sad history of my life, and +tell you more of your parents than you have ever known. When," he +pursued solemnly, "you have learnt the extent of my love for the one, +and of my hatred for the other, and the wrongs I have endured from +both, you will no longer wonder at the spirit of mingled love and +vengeance that dictates my conduct towards yourself. Listen, girl," he +continued fiercely, "and judge whether mine are injuries to be tamely +pardoned, when a whole life has been devoted to the pursuit of the +means of avenging them." +</P> + +<P> +Irresistibly led by a desire to know what possible connection could +have existed between her parents and this singular and ferocious man, +the wretched girl gave her passive assent. She even hoped that, in the +course of his narrative, some softening recollections would pass over +his mind, the effect of which might be to predispose him to mercy. +Wacousta buried his face for a few moments in his large hand, as if +endeavouring to collect and concentrate the remembrances of past years. +His countenance, meanwhile, had undergone a change; for there was now a +shade of melancholy mixed with the fierceness of expression usually +observable there. This, however, was dispelled in the course of his +narrative, and as various opposite passions were in turn powerfully and +severally developed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0308"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<P> +"It is now four and twenty years," commenced Wacousta, "since your +father and myself first met as subalterns in the regiment he now +commands, when, unnatural to say, an intimacy suddenly sprang up +between us which, as it was then to our brother officers, has since +been a source of utter astonishment to myself. Unnatural, I repeat, for +fire and ice are not more opposite than were the elements of which our +natures were composed. He, all coldness, prudence, obsequiousness, and +forethought. I, all enthusiasm, carelessness, impetuosity, and +independence. Whether this incongruous friendship—friendship! no, I +will not so far sully the sacred name as thus to term the unnatural +union that subsisted between us;—whether this intimacy, then, sprang +from the adventitious circumstance of our being more frequently thrown +together as officers of the same company,—for we were both attached to +the grenadiers,—or that my wild spirit was soothed by the bland +amenity of his manners, I know not. The latter, however, is not +improbable; for proud, and haughty, and dignified, as the colonel NOW +is, such was not THEN the character of the ensign; who seemed thrown +out of one of Nature's supplest moulds, to fawn, and cringe, and worm +his way to favour by the wily speciousness of his manners. Oh God!" +pursued Wacousta, after a momentary pause, and striking his palm +against his forehead, "that I ever should have been the dupe of such a +cold-blooded hypocrite! +</P> + +<P> +"I have said our intimacy excited surprise among our brother officers. +It did; for all understood and read the character of your father, who +was as much disliked and distrusted for the speciousness of his false +nature, as I was generally esteemed for the frankness and warmth of +mine. No one openly censured the evident preference I gave him in my +friendship; but we were often sarcastically termed the Pylades and +Orestes of the regiment, until my heart was ready to leap into my +throat with impatience at the bitterness in which the taunt was +conceived; and frequently in my presence was allusion made to the blind +folly of him, who should take a cold and slimy serpent to his bosom +only to feel its fangs darted into it at the moment when most fostered +by its genial heat. All, however, was in vain. On a nature like mine, +innuendo was likely to produce an effect directly opposite to that +intended; and the more I found them inclined to be severe on him I +called my friend, the more marked became my preference. I even fancied +that because I was rich, generous, and heir to a title, their +observations were prompted by jealousy of the influence he possessed +over me, and a desire to supplant him only for their interests' sake. +Bitterly have I been punished for the illiberality of such an opinion. +Those to whom I principally allude were the subalterns of the regiment, +most of whom were nearly of our own age. One or two of the junior +captains were also of this number; but, by the elders (as we termed the +seniors of that rank) and field officers, Ensign de Haldimar was always +regarded as a most prudent and promising young officer. +</P> + +<P> +"What conduced, in a great degree, to the establishment of our intimacy +was the assistance I always received from my brother subaltern in +whatever related to my military duties. As the lieutenant of the +company, the more immediate responsibility attached to myself; but +being naturally of a careless habit, or perhaps considering all duty +irksome to my impatient nature that was not duty in the field, I was +but too often guilty of neglecting it. On these occasions my absence +was ever carefully supplied by your father, who, in all the minutiae of +regimental economy, was surpassed by no other officer in the corps; so +that credit was given to me, when, at the ordinary inspections, the +grenadiers were acknowledged to be the company the most perfect in +equipment and skilful in manoeuvre. Deeply, deeply," again mused +Wacousta, "have these services been repaid. +</P> + +<P> +"As you have just learnt, Cornwall is the country of my birth. I was +the eldest of the only two surviving children of a large family; and, +as heir to the baronetcy of the proud Mortons, was looked up to by lord +and vassal as the future perpetuator of the family name. My brother had +been designed for the army; but as this was a profession to which I had +attached my inclinations, the point was waved in my favour, and at the +age of eighteen I first joined the —— regiment, then quartered in the +Highlands of Scotland. During my boyhood I had ever accustomed myself +to athletic exercises, and loved to excite myself by encountering +danger in its most terrific forms. Often had I passed whole days in +climbing the steep and precipitous crags which overhang the sea in the +neighbourhood of Morton Castle, ostensibly in the pursuit of the heron +or the seagull, but self-acknowledgedly for the mere pleasure of +grappling with the difficulties they opposed to me. Often, too, in the +most terrific tempests, when sea and sky have met in one black and +threatening mass, and when the startled fishermen have in vain +attempted to dissuade me from my purpose, have I ventured, in sheer +bravado, out of sight of land, and unaccompanied by a human soul. Then, +when wind and tide have been against me on my return, have I, with my +simple sculls alone, caused my faithful bark to leap through the +foaming brine as though a press of canvass had impelled her on. Oh, +that this spirit of adventure had never grown with my growth and +strengthened with my strength!" sorrowfully added the warrior, again +apostrophising himself: "then had I never been the wretch I am. +</P> + +<P> +"The wild daring by which my boyhood had been marked was again +powerfully awakened by the bold and romantic scenery of the Scottish +Highlands; and as the regiment was at that time quartered in a part of +these mountainous districts, where, from the disturbed nature of the +times, society was difficult of attainment, many of the officers were +driven from necessity, as I was from choice, to indulge in the sports +of the chase. On one occasion a party of four of us set out early in +the morning in pursuit of deer, numbers of which we knew were to be met +with in the mountainous tracts of Bute and Argyleshire. The course we +happened to take lay through a succession of dark deep glens, and over +frowning rocks; the difficulties of access to which only stirred up my +dormant spirit of enterprise the more. We had continued in this course +for many hours, overcoming one difficulty only to be encountered by +another, and yet without meeting a single deer; when, at length, the +faint blast of a horn was heard far above our heads in the distance, +and presently a noble stag was seen to ascend a ledge of rocks +immediately in front of us. To raise my gun to my shoulder and fire was +the work of a moment, after which we all followed in pursuit. On +reaching the spot where the deer had first been seen, we observed +traces of blood, satisfying us he had been wounded; but the course +taken in his flight was one that seemed to defy every human effort to +follow in. It was a narrow pointed ledge, ascending boldly towards a +huge cliff that projected frowningly from the extreme summit, and on +either side lay a dark, deep, and apparently fathomless ravine; to look +even on which was sufficient to appal the stoutest heart, and unnerve +the steadiest brain. For me, however, long accustomed to dangers of the +sort, it had no terror. This was a position in which I had often wished +once more to find myself placed, and I felt buoyant and free as the +deer itself I intended to pursue. In vain did my companions (and your +father was one) implore me to abandon a project so wild and hazardous. +I bounded forward, and they turned shuddering away, that their eyes +might not witness the destruction that awaited me. Meanwhile, balancing +my long gun in my upraised hands, I trod the dangerous path with a +buoyancy and elasticity of limb, a lightness of heart, and a +fearlessness of consequences, that surprised even myself. Perhaps it +was to the latter circumstance I owed my safety, for a single doubt of +my security might have impelled a movement that would not have failed +to have precipitated me into the yawning gulf below. I had proceeded in +this manner about five hundred yards, when I came to the termination of +the ledge, from the equally narrow transverse extremity of which +branched out three others; the whole contributing to form a figure +resembling that of a trident. Pausing here for a moment, I applied the +hunting horn, with which I was provided, to my lips. This signal, +announcing my safety, was speedily returned by my friends below in a +cheering and lively strain, that seemed to express at once surprise and +satisfaction; and inspirited by the sound, I prepared to follow up my +perilous chase. Along the ledge I had quitted I had remarked occasional +traces where the stricken deer had passed; and the same blood-spots now +directed me at a point where, but for these, I must have been utterly +at fault. The centre of these new ridges, and the narrowest, was that +taken by the animal, and on that I once more renewed my pursuit. As I +continued to advance I found the ascent became more precipitous, and +the difficulties opposed to my progress momentarily more multiplied. +Still, nothing daunted, I continued my course towards the main body of +rock that now rose within a hundred yards. How this was to be gained I +knew not; for it shelved out abruptly from the extreme summit, +overhanging the abyss, and presenting an appearance which I cannot more +properly render than by comparing it to the sounding-boards placed over +the pulpits of our English churches. Still I was resolved to persevere +to the close, and I but too unhappily succeeded." Again Wacousta +paused. A tear started to his eye, but this he impatiently brushed away +with his swarthy hand. +</P> + +<P> +"It was evident to me," he again resumed, "that there must be some +opening through which the deer had effected his escape to the +precipitous height above; and I felt a wild and fearful triumph in +following him to his cover, over passes which it was my pleasure to +think none of the hardy mountaineers themselves would have dared to +venture upon with impunity. I paused not to consider of the difficulty +of bearing away my prize, even if I succeeded in overtaking it. At +every step my excitement and determination became stronger, and I felt +every fibre of my frame to dilate, as when, in my more boyish days, I +used to brave, in my gallant skiff, the mingled fury of the warring +elements of sea and storm. Suddenly, while my mind was intent only on +the dangers I used then to hold in such light estimation, I found my +further progress intercepted by a fissure in the crag. It was not the +width of this opening that disconcerted me, for it exceeded not ten +feet; but I came upon it so unadvisedly, that, in attempting to check +my forward motion, I had nearly lost my equipoise, and fallen into the +abyss that now yawned before and on either side of me. To pause upon +the danger, would, I felt, be to ensure it. Summoning all my dexterity +into a single bound, I cleared the chasm; and with one buskined foot +(for my hunting costume was strictly Highland) clung firmly to the +ledge, while I secured my balance with the other. At this point the +rock became gradually broader, so that I now trod the remainder of the +rude path in perfect security, until I at length found myself close to +the vast mass of which these ledges were merely ramifications or veins: +but still I could discover no outlet by which the wounded deer could +have escaped. While I lingered, thoughtfully, for a moment, half in +disappointment, half in anger, and with my back leaning against the +rock, I fancied I heard a rustling, as of the leaves and branches of +underwood, on that part which projected like a canopy, far above the +abyss. I bent my eye eagerly and fixedly on the spot whence the sound +proceeded, and presently could distinguish the blue sky appearing +through an aperture, to which was, the instant afterwards, applied what +I conceived to be a human face. No sooner, however, was it seen than +withdrawn; and then the rustling of leaves was heard again, and all was +still as before. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did my evil genius so will it," resumed Wacousta, after another +pause, during which he manifested deep emotion, "that I should have +heard those sounds and seen that face? But for these I should have +returned to my companions, and my life might have been the life—the +plodding life—of the multitude; things that are born merely to crawl +through existence and die, knowing not at the moment of death why or +how they have lived at all. But who may resist the destiny that +presides over him from the cradle to the grave? for, although the mass +may be, and are, unworthy of the influencing agency of that Unseen +Power, who will presume to deny there are those on whom it stamps its +iron seal, even from the moment of their birth to that which sees all +that is mortal of them consigned to the tomb? What was it but destiny +that whispered to me what I had seen was the face of a woman? I had not +traced a feature, nor could I distinctly state that it was a human +countenance I had beheld; but mine was ever an imagination into which +the wildest improbability was scarce admitted that it did not grow into +conviction in the instant. +</P> + +<P> +"A new direction was now given to my feelings. I felt a presentiment +that my adventure, if prosecuted, would terminate in some extraordinary +and characteristic manner; and obeying, as I ever did, the first +impulse of my heart, I prepared to grapple once more with the +difficulties that yet remained to be surmounted. In order to do this, +it was necessary that my feet and hands should be utterly without +incumbrance; for it was only by dint of climbing that I could expect to +reach that part of the projecting rock to which my attention had been +directed. Securing my gun between some twisted roots that grew out of +and adhered to the main body of the rock, I commenced the difficult +ascent; and, after considerable effort, found myself at length +immediately under the aperture. My progress along the lower superficies +of this projection was like that of a crawling reptile. My back hung +suspended over the chasm, into which one false movement of hand or +foot, one yielding of the roots entwined in the rock, must inevitably +have precipitated me; and, while my toes wormed themselves into the +tortuous fibres of the latter, I passed hand over hand beyond my head, +until I had arrived within a foot or two of the point I desired to +reach. Here, however, a new difficulty occurred. A slight projection of +the rock, close to the aperture, impeded my further progress in the +manner hitherto pursued; and, to pass this, I was compelled to drop my +whole weight, suspended by one vigorous arm, while, with the other, I +separated the bushes that concealed the opening. A violent exertion of +every muscle now impelled me upward, until at length I had so far +succeeded as to introduce my head and shoulders through the aperture; +after which my final success was no longer doubtful. If I have been +thus minute in the detail of the dangerous nature of this passage," +continued Wacousta, gloomily, "it is not without reason. I would have +you to impress the whole of the localities upon your imagination, that +you may the better comprehend, from a knowledge of the risks I +incurred, how little I have merited the injuries under which I have +writhed for years." +</P> + +<P> +Again one of those painful pauses with which his narrative was so often +broken, occurred; and, with an energy that terrified her whom he +addressed, Wacousta pursued—"Clara de Haldimar, it was here—in this +garden—this paradise—this oasis of the rocks in which I now found +myself, that I first saw and loved your mother. Ha! you start: you +believe me now.—Loved her!" he continued, after another short +pause—"oh, what a feeble word is love to express the concentration of +mighty feelings that flowed like burning lava through my veins! Who +shall pretend to give a name to the emotion that ran thrillingly—madly +through my excited frame, when first I gazed on her, who, in every +attribute of womanly beauty, realised all my fondest fancy ever +painted?—Listen to me, Clara," he pursued, in a fiercer tone, and with +a convulsive pressure of the form he still encircled:—"If, in my +younger days, my mind was alive to enterprise, and loved to contemplate +danger in its most appalling forms, this was far from being the master +passion of my soul; nay, it was the strong necessity I felt of pouring +into some devoted bosom the overflowing fulness of my heart, that made +me court in solitude those positions of danger with which the image of +woman was ever associated. How often, while tossed by the raging +elements, now into the blue vault of heaven, now into the lowest gulfs +of the sea, have I madly wished to press to my bounding bosom the being +of my fancy's creation, who, all enamoured and given to her love, +should, even amid the danger that environed her, be alive but to one +consciousness,—that of being with him on whom her life's hope alone +reposed! How often, too, while bending over some dark and threatening +precipice, or standing on the utmost verge of some tall projecting +cliff, my aching head (aching with the intenseness of its own +conceptions) bared to the angry storm, and my eye fixed unshrinkingly +on the boiling ocean far beneath my feet, has my whole soul—my every +faculty, been bent on that ideal beauty which controlled every sense! +Oh, imagination, how tyrannical is thy sway—how exclusive thy +power—how insatiable thy thirst! Surrounded by living beauty, I was +insensible to its influence; for, with all the perfection that reality +can attain on earth, there was ever to be found some deficiency, either +physical or moral, that defaced the symmetry and destroyed the +loveliness of the whole; but, no sooner didst thou, with magic wand, +conjure up one of thy embodiments, than my heart became a sea of flame, +and was consumed in the vastness of its own fires. +</P> + +<P> +"It was in vain that my family sought to awaken me to a sense of the +acknowledged loveliness of the daughters of more than one ancient house +in the county, with one of whom an alliance was, in many respects, +considered desirable. Their beauty, or rather their whole, was +insufficient to stir up into madness the dormant passions of my nature; +and although my breast was like a glowing furnace, in which fancy cast +all the more exciting images of her coinage to secure the last impress +of the heart's approval, my outward deportment to some of the fairest +and loveliest of earth's realities was that of one on whom the +influence of woman's beauty could have no power. From my earliest +boyhood I had loved to give the rein to these feelings, until they at +length rendered me their slave. Woman was the idol that lay enshrined +within my inmost heart; but it was woman such as I had not yet met +with, yet felt must somewhere exist in the creation. For her I could +have resigned title, fortune, family, every thing that is dear to man, +save the life, through which alone the reward of such sacrifice could +have been tasted, and to this phantom I had already yielded up all the +manlier energies of my nature; but, deeply as I felt the necessity of +loving something less unreal, up to the moment of my joining the +regiment, my heart had never once throbbed for created woman. +</P> + +<P> +"I have already said that, on gaining the summit of the rock, I found +myself in a sort of oasis of the mountains. It was so. Belted on every +hand by bold and precipitous crags, that seemed to defy the approach +even of the wildest animals, and putting utterly at fault the +penetration and curiosity of man, was spread a carpet of verdure, a +luxuriance of vegetation, that might have put to shame the fertility of +the soft breeze-nourished valleys of Italy and Southern France. Time, +however, is not given me to dwell on the mingled beauty and wildness of +a scene, so consonant with my ideas of the romantic and the +picturesque. Let me rather recur to her (although my heart be lacerated +once more in the recollection) who was the presiding deity of the +whole,—the being after whom, had I had the fabled power of Prometheus, +I should have formed and animated the sharer of that sweet wild +solitude, nor once felt that fancy, to whom I was so largely a debtor, +had in aught been cheated of what she had, for a series of years, so +rigidly claimed. +</P> + +<P> +"At about twenty yards from the aperture, and on a bank, formed of +turf, covered with moss, and interspersed with roses and honeysuckles, +sat this divinity of the oasis. She, too, was clad in the Highland +dress, which gave an air of wildness and elegance to her figure that +was in classic harmony with the surrounding scenery. At the moment of +my appearance she was in the act of dressing the wounded shoulder of a +stag, that had recently been shot; and from the broad tartan riband I +perceived attached to its neck, added to the fact of the tameness of +the animal, I presumed that this stag, evidently a favourite of its +mistress, was the same I had fired at and wounded. The rustling I made +among the bushes had attracted her attention; she raised her eyes from +the deer, and, beholding me, started to her feet, uttering a cry of +terror and surprise. Fearing to speak, as if the sound of my own voice +were sufficient to dispel the illusion that fascinated both eye and +heart into delicious tension on her form, yet with my soul kindled into +all that wild uncontrollable love which had been the accumulation of +years of passionate imagining, I stood for some moments as motionless +as the rock out of which I appeared to grow. It seemed as though I had +not the power to think or act, so fully was every faculty of my being +filled with the consciousness that I at length gazed upon her I was +destined to love for ever. +</P> + +<P> +"It was this utter immobility on my own part, that ensured me a +continuance of the exquisite happiness I then enjoyed. The first +movement of the startled girl had been to fly towards her dwelling, +which stood at a short distance, half imbedded in the same clustering +roses and honey-suckles that adorned her bank of moss; but when she +remarked my utter stillness, and apparent absence of purpose, she +checked the impulse that would have directed her departure, and +stopped, half in curiosity, half in fear, to examine me once more. At +that moment all my energies appeared to be restored; I threw myself +into an attitude expressive of deep contrition for the intrusion of +which I had been unconsciously guilty, and dropping on one knee, and +raising my clasped hands, inclined them towards her in token of mingled +deprecation of her anger, and respectful homage to herself. At first +she hesitated,—then gradually and timidly retrod her way to the seat +she had so abruptly quitted in her alarm. Emboldened by this movement, +I made a step or two in advance, but no sooner had I done so than she +again took to flight. Once more, however, she turned to behold me, and +again I had dropped on my knee, and was conjuring her, with the same +signs, to remain and bless me with her presence. Again she returned to +her seat, and again I advanced. Scarcely less timid, however, than the +deer, which followed her every movement, she fled a third time,—a +third time looked back, and was again induced, by my supplicating +manner, to return. Frequently was this repeated, before I finally found +myself at the feet, and pressing the hand—(oh God! what torture in the +recollection!)—yes, pressing the hand of her for whose smile I would, +even at that moment, have sacrificed my soul; and every time she fled, +the classic disposition of her graceful limbs, and her whole natural +attitude of alarm, could only be compared with those of one of the +huntresses of Diana, intruded on in her woodland privacy by the +unhallowed presence of some daring mortal. Such was your mother, Clara +de Haldimar; yes, even such as I have described her was Clara Beverley." +</P> + +<P> +Again Wacousta paused, and his pause was longer than usual, as, with +his large hand again covering his face, he seemed endeavouring to +master the feelings which these recollections had called up. Clara +scarcely breathed. Unmindful of her own desolate position, her soul was +intent only on a history that related so immediately to her beloved +mother, of whom all that she had hitherto known was, that she was a +native of Scotland, and that her father had married her while quartered +in that country. The deep emotion of the terrible being before her, so +often manifested in the course of what he had already given of his +recital, added to her knowledge of the facts just named, scarcely left +a doubt of the truth of his statement on her mind. Her ear was now bent +achingly towards him, in expectation of a continuance of his history, +but he still remained in the same attitude of absorption. An +irresistible impulse caused her to extend her hand, and remove his own +from his eyes: they were filled with tears; and even while her mind +rapidly embraced the hope that this manifestation of tenderness was but +the dawning of mercy towards the children of her he had once loved, her +kind nature could not avoid sympathizing with him, whose uncouthness of +appearance and savageness of nature was, in some measure, lost sight of +in the fact of the powerful love he yet apparently acknowledged. +</P> + +<P> +But no sooner did Wacousta feel the soft pressure of her hand, and meet +her eyes turned on his with an expression of interest, than the most +rapid transition was effected in his feelings. He drew the form of the +weakly resisting girl closer to his heart; again imprinted a kiss upon +her lips; and then, while every muscle in his iron frame seemed +quivering with emotion, exclaimed,—"By Heaven! that touch, that +glance, were Clara Beverley's all over! Oh, let me linger on the +recollection, even such as they were, when her arms first opened to +receive me in that sweet oasis of the Highlands. Yes, Clara," he +proceeded more deliberately, as he scanned her form with an eye that +made her shudder, "such as your mother was, so are you; the same +delicacy of proportion; the same graceful curvature of limb, only less +rounded, less womanly. But you must be younger by about two years than +she then was. Your age cannot exceed seventeen; and time will supply +what your mere girlhood renders you deficient in." +</P> + +<P> +There was a cool licence of speech—a startling freedom of manner—in +the latter part of this address, that disappointed not less than it +pained and offended the unhappy Clara. It seemed to her as if the +illusion she had just created, were already dispelled by his language, +even as her own momentary interest in the fierce man had also been +destroyed from the same cause. She shuddered; and sighing bitterly, +suffered her tears to force themselves through her closed lids upon her +pallid cheek. This change in her appearance seemed to act as a check on +the temporary excitement of Wacousta. Again obeying one of these rapid +transitions of feeling, for which he was remarkable, he once more +assumed an expression of seriousness, and thus continued his narrative. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0309"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<P> +"It boots not now, Clara, to enter upon all that succeeded to my first +introduction to your mother. It would take long to relate, not the +gradations of our passion, for that was like the whirlwind of the +desert, sudden and devastating from the first; but the burning vow, the +plighted faith, the reposing confidence, the unchecked abandonment that +flew from the lips, and filled the heart of each, sealed, as they were, +with kisses, long, deep, enervating, even such as I had ever pictured +that divine pledge of human affection should be. Yes, Clara de +Haldimar, your mother was the child of nature THEN. Unspoiled by the +forms, unvitiated by the sophistries of a world with which she had +never mixed, her intelligent innocence made the most artless avowals to +my enraptured ear,—avowals that the more profligate minded woman of +society would have blushed to whisper even to herself. And for these I +loved her to my own undoing. +</P> + +<P> +"Blind vanity, inconceivable folly!" continued Wacousta, again pressing +his forehead with force; "how could I be so infatuated as not to +perceive, that although her heart was filled with a new and delicious +passion, it was less the individual than the man she loved. And how +could it be otherwise, since I was the first, beside her father, she +had ever seen or recollected to have seen? Still, Clara de Haldimar," +he pursued, with haughty energy, "I was not always the rugged being I +now appear. Of surpassing strength I had ever been, and fleet of foot, +but not then had I attained to my present gigantic stature; neither was +my form endowed with the same Herculean rudeness; nor did my complexion +wear the swarthy hue of the savage; nor had my features been rendered +repulsive, from the perpetual action of those fierce passions which +have since assailed my soul. My physical faculties had not yet been +developed to their present grossness of maturity, neither had my moral +energies acquired that tone of ferocity which often renders me hideous, +even in my own eyes. In a word, the milk of my nature (for, with all my +impetuosity of character, I was generous-hearted and kind) had not yet +been turned to gall by villainy and deceit. My form had then all that +might attract—my manners all that might win—my enthusiasm of speech +all that might persuade—and my heart all that might interest a girl +fashioned after nature's manner, and tutored in nature's school. In the +regiment, I was called the handsome grenadier; but there was another +handsomer than I,—a sly, insidious, wheedling, false, remorseless +villain. That villain, Clara de Haldimar, was your father. +</P> + +<P> +"But wherefore," continued Wacousta, chafing with the recollection, +"wherefore do I, like a vain and puling schoolboy, enter into this +abasing contrast of personal advantages? The proud eagle soars not more +above the craven kite, than did my soul, in all that was manly and +generous, above that of yon false governor; and who should have prized +those qualities, if it were not the woman who, bred in solitude, and +taught by fancy to love all that was generous and noble in the heart of +man, should have considered mere beauty of feature as dust in the +scale, when opposed to sentiments which can invest even deformity with +loveliness? In all this I may appear vain; I am only just. +</P> + +<P> +"I have said that your mother had been brought up in solitude, and +without having seen the face of another man than her father. Such was +the case;—Colonel Beverley, of English name, but Scottish connections, +was an old gentleman of considerable eccentricity of character. He had +taken a part in the rebellion of 1715; but sick and disgusted with an +issue by which his fortunes had been affected, and heart-broken by the +loss of a beloved wife, whose death had been accelerated by +circumstances connected with the disturbed nature of the times, he had +resolved to bury himself and child in some wild, where the face of man, +whom he loathed, might no more offend his sight. This oasis of the +mountains was the spot selected for his purpose; for he had discovered +it some years previously, on an occasion, when, closely pursued by some +of the English troops, and separated from his followers, he had only +effected his escape by venturing on the ledges of rock I have already +described. After minute subsequent search, at the opposite extremity of +the oblong belt of rocks that shut it in on every hand, he had +discovered an opening, through which the transport of such necessaries +as were essential to his object might be effected; and, causing one of +his dwelling houses to be pulled down, he had the materials carried +across the rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect them +in his chosen solitude. A few months served to complete these +arrangements, which included a garden abounding in every fruit and +flower that could possibly live in so elevated a region; and; this, in +time, under his own culture, and that of his daughter, became the Eden +it first appeared to me. +</P> + +<P> +"Previous to their entering on this employment, the workmen had been +severally sworn to secrecy; and when all was declared ready for his +reception, the colonel summoned them a second time to his presence; +when, after making a handsome present to each, in addition to his hire, +he found no difficulty in prevailing on them to renew their oath that +they would preserve the most scrupulous silence in regard to the place +of his retreat. He then took advantage of a dark and tempestuous night +to execute his project; and, attended only by an old woman and her +daughter, faithful dependants of the family, set out in quest of his +new abode, leaving all his neighbours to discuss and marvel at the +singularity of his disappearance. True to his text, however, not even a +boy was admitted into his household: and here they had continued to +live, unseeing and unseen by man, except when a solitary and distant +mountaineer occasionally flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of +his game. Fruits and vegetables composed their principal diet; but once +a fortnight the old woman was dispatched through the opening already +mentioned, which was at other times so secured by her master, that no +hand but his own could remove the intricate fastenings. This expedition +had for its object the purchase of bread and animal food at the nearest +market; and every time she sallied forth an oath was administered to +the crone, the purport of which was, not only that she would return, +unless prevented by violence or death, but that she would not answer +any questions put to her, as to who she was, whence she came, or for +whom the fruits of her marketing were intended. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly classic +authors, or writers on abstruse sciences, the misanthropical colonel +paid little or no attention to the cultivation of the intellect of his +daughter, whom he had merely instructed in the elementary branches of +education; in all which, however, she evinced an aptitude and +perfectability that indicated quickness of genius and a capability of +far higher attainments. Books he principally withheld from her, because +they brought the image of man, whom he hated, and wished she should +also hate, too often in flattering colours before her; and had any work +treating of love been found to have crept accidentally into his own +collection, it would instantly and indignantly have been committed to +the flames. +</P> + +<P> +"Thus left to the action of her own heart—the guidance of her own +feelings—it was but natural your mother should have suffered her +imagination to repose on an ideal happiness, which, although in some +degree destitute of shape and character, was still powerfully felt. +Nature is too imperious a law-giver to be thwarted in her dictates; and +however we may seek to stifle it, her inextinguishable voice will make +itself heard, whether it be in the lonely desert or in the crowded +capital. Possessed of a glowing heart and warm sensibilities, Clara +Beverley felt the energies of her being had not been given to her to be +wasted on herself. In her dreams by night, and her thoughts by day, she +had pictured a being endowed with those attributes which were the fruit +of her own fertility of conception. If she plucked a flower, (and all +this she admitted at our first interview," groaned Wacousta,) "she was +sensible of the absence of one to whom that flower might be given. If +she gazed at the star-studded canopy of heaven, or bent her head over +the frowning precipices by which she was every where surrounded, she +felt the absence of him with whom she could share the enthusiasm +excited by the contemplation of the one, and to whom she could impart +the mingled terror and admiration produced by the dizzying depths of +the other. What dear acknowledgments (alas! too deceitful,) flowed from +her guileless lips, even during that first interview. With a candour +and unreservedness that spring alone from unsophisticated manners and +an untainted heart, she admitted, that the instant she beheld me, she +felt she had found the being her fancy had been so long tutored to +linger on, and her heart to love. She was sure I was come to be her +husband (for she had understood from her aged attendant that a man who +loved a woman wished to be her husband); and she was glad her pet stag +had been wounded, since it had been the means of procuring her such +happiness. She was not cruel enough to take pleasure in the sufferings +of the poor animal; for she would nurse it, and it would soon be well +again; but she could not help rejoicing in its disaster, since that +circumstance had been the cause of my finding her out, and loving her +even as she loved me. And all this was said with her head reclining on +my chest, and her beautiful countenance irradiated with a glow that had +something divine in the simplicity of purpose it expressed. +</P> + +<P> +"On my demanding to know whether it was not her face I had seen at the +opening in the cliff, she replied that it was. Her stag often played +the truant, and passed whole hours away from her, rambling beyond the +precincts of the solitude that contained its mistress; but no sooner +was the small silver bugle, which she wore across her shoulder, applied +to her lips, than 'Fidelity' (thus she had named him) was certain to +obey the call, and to come bounding up the line of cliff to the main +rock, into which it effected its entrance at a point that had escaped +my notice. It was her bugle I had heard in the course of my pursuit of +the animal; and, from the aperture through which I had effected my +entrance, she had looked out to see who was the audacious hunter she +had previously observed threading a passage, along which her stag +itself never appeared without exciting terror in her bosom. The first +glimpse she had caught of my form was at the moment when, after having +sounded my own bugle, I cleared the chasm; and this was a leap she had +so often trembled to see taken by 'Fidelity,' that she turned away and +shuddered when she saw it fearlessly adventured on by a human being. A +feeling of curiosity had afterwards induced her to return and see if +the bold hunter had cleared the gulf, or perished in his mad attempt; +but when she looked outward from the highest pinnacle of her rocky +prison, she could discover no traces of him whatever. It then occurred +to her, that, if successful in his leap, his progress must have been +finally arrested by the impassable rock that terminated the ridge; in +which case she might perchance obtain a nearer sight of his person. +With this view she had removed the bushes enshrouding the aperture; +and, bending low to the earth, thrust her head partially through it. +Scarcely had she done so, however, when she beheld me immediately, +though far beneath her, with my back reposing against the rock, and my +eyes apparently fixed on hers. +</P> + +<P> +"Filled with a variety of opposite sentiments, among which unfeigned +alarm was predominant, she had instantaneously removed her head; and, +closing the aperture as noiselessly as possible, returned to the +moss-covered seat on which I had first surprised her; where, while she +applied dressings of herbs to the wound of her favourite, she suffered +her mind to ruminate on the singularity of the appearance of a man so +immediately in the vicinity of their retreat. The supposed +impracticability of the ascent I had accomplished, satisfied, even +while (as she admitted) it disappointed her. I must of necessity +retrace my way over the dangerous ridge. Great, therefore, was her +surprise, when, after having been attracted by the rustling noise of +the bushes over the aperture, she presently saw the figure of the same +hunter emerge from the abyss it overhung. Terror had winged her flight; +but it was terror mingled with a delicious emotion entirely new to her. +It was that emotion, momentarily increasing in power, that induced her +to pause, look back, hesitate in her course, and finally be won, by my +supplicating manner, to return and bless me with her presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Two long and delicious hours," pursued Wacousta, after another painful +pause of some moments, "did we pass in this manner; exchanging thought, +and speech, and heart, as if the term of our acquaintance had been +coeval with the first dawn of our intellectual life; when suddenly a +small silver toned bell was heard from the direction of the house, hid +from the spot—on which we sat by the luxuriant foliage of an +intervening laburnum. This sound seemed to dissipate the dreamy calm +that had wrapped the soul of your mother into forgetfulness. She +started suddenly up, and bade me, if I loved her, begone; as that bell +announced her required attendance on her father, who, now awakened from +the mid-day slumber in which he ever indulged, was about to take his +accustomed walk around the grounds; which was little else, in fact, +than a close inspection of the walls of his natural castle. I rose to +obey her; our eyes met, and she threw herself into my extended arms. We +whispered anew our vows of eternal love. She called me her husband, and +I pronounced the endearing name of wife. A burning kiss sealed the +compact; and, on her archly observing that the sleep of her father +continued about two hours at noon, and that the old woman and her +daughter were always occupied within doors, I promised to repeat my +visit every second day until she finally quitted her retreat to be my +own for life. Again the bell was rung; and this time with a violence +that indicated impatience of delay. I tore myself from her arms, darted +to the aperture, and kissing my hand in reply to the graceful waving of +her scarf as she half turned in her own flight, sunk finally from her +view; and at length, after making the same efforts, and mastering the +same obstacles that had marked and opposed my advance, once more found +myself at the point whence I had set out in pursuit of the wounded deer. +</P> + +<P> +"Many were the congratulations I received from my companions, whom I +found waiting my return. They had endured the three hours of my absence +with intolerable anxiety and alarm; until, almost despairing of +beholding me again, they had resolved on going back without me. They +said they had repeatedly sounded their horns; but meeting with no +answer from mine, had been compelled to infer either that I had strayed +to a point whence return to them was impracticable, or that I must have +perished in the abyss. I readily gave in to the former idea; stating I +had been led by the traces of the wounded deer to a considerable +distance, and over passes which it had proved a work of time and +difficulty to surmount, yet without securing my spoil. All this time +there was a glow of animation on my cheek, and a buoyancy of spirit in +my speech, that accorded ill, the first, with the fatigue one might +have been supposed to experience in so perilous a chase; the second, +with the disappointment attending its result. Your father, ever cool +and quick of penetration, was the first to observe this; and when he +significantly remarked, that, to judge from my satisfied countenance, +my time had been devoted to the pursuit of more interesting game, I +felt for a moment as if he was actually master of my secret, and was +sensible my features underwent a change. I, however, parried the +attack, by replying indifferently, that if he should have the hardihood +to encounter the same dangers, he would, if successful, require no +other prompter than the joy of self-preservation to lend the same glow +of satisfaction to his own features. Nothing further was said on the +subject; but conversing on indifferent topics, we again threaded the +mazes of rock and underwood we had passed at an early hour, and finally +gained the town in which we were quartered. +</P> + +<P> +"During dinner, as on our way home, although my voice occasionally +mixed with the voices of my companions, my heart was far away, and full +of the wild but innocent happiness in which it had luxuriated. At +length, the more freely to indulge in the recollection, I stole at an +early hour from the mess-room, and repaired to my own apartments. In +the course of the morning, I had hastily sketched an outline of your +mother's features in pencil, with a view to assist me in the design of +a miniature I purposed painting from memory. This was an amusement of +which I was extremely and in which I had attained considerable +excellence; being enabled, from memory alone, to give a most correct +representation of any object that particularly fixed my attention. She +had declared utter ignorance of the art herself, her father having +studiously avoided instructing her in it from some unexplained motive; +yet as she expressed the most unbounded admiration of those who +possessed it, it was my intention to surprise her with a highly +finished likeness of herself at my next visit. With this view I now set +to work; and made such progress, that before I retired to rest I had +completed all but the finishing touches, to which I purposed devoting a +leisure hour or two by daylight on the morrow. +</P> + +<P> +"While occupied the second day in its completion, it occurred to me I +was in orders for duty on the following, which was that of my promised +visit to the oasis; and I despatched my servant with my compliments to +your father, and a request that he would be so obliging as to take my +guard for me on the morrow, and I would perform his duty when next his +name appeared on the roster. Some time afterwards I heard the door of +the room in which I sat open, and some one enter. Presuming it to be my +servant, returned from the execution of the message with which he had +just been charged, I paid no attention to the circumstance; but +finding, presently, he did not speak, I turned round with a view of +demanding what answer he had brought. To my surprise, however, I beheld +not my servant, but your father. He was standing looking over my +shoulder at the work on which I was engaged; and notwithstanding in the +instant he resumed the cold, quiet, smirking look that usually +distinguished him, I thought I could trace the evidence of some deep +emotion which my action had suddenly dispelled. He apologised for his +intrusion, although we were on those terms that rendered apology +unnecessary, but said he had just received my message, and preferred +coming in person to assure me how happy he should feel to take my duty, +or to render me any other service in his power. I thought he laid +unusual emphasis on the last sentence; yet I thanked him warmly, +stating that the only service I should now exact of him would be to +take my guard, as I was compelled to be absent nearly the whole of the +following morning. He observed, with a smile, he hoped I was not going +to venture my neck on those dangerous precipices a second time, after +the narrow escape I had had on the preceding day. As he spoke, I +thought his eye met mine with a sly yet scrutinizing glance; and, not +wishing to reply immediately to his question, I asked him what he +thought of the work with which I was endeavouring to beguile an idle +hour. He took it up, and I watched the expression of his handsome +countenance with the anxiety of a lover who wishes that all should +think his mistress beautiful as he does himself. It betrayed a very +indefinite sort of admiration; and yet it struck me there was an +eagerness in his dilating eye that contrasted strongly with the calm +and unconcern of his other features. At length I asked him, laughingly, +what he thought of my Cornish cousin. He replied, cautiously enough, +that since it was the likeness of a cousin, and he dwelt emphatically +on the word, he could not fail to admire it. Candour, however, +compelled him to admit, that had I not declared the original to be one +so closely connected with me, he should have said the talent of so +perfect an artist might have been better employed. Whatever, however, +his opinion of the lady might be, there could be no question that the +painting was exquisite; yet, he confessed, he could not but be struck +with the singularity of the fact of a Cornish girl appearing in the +full costume of a female Highlander. This, I replied, was mere matter +of fancy and association, arising from my having been so much latterly +in the habit of seeing that dress principally worn. He smiled one of +his then damnable soft smiles of assent, and here the conversation +terminated, and he left me. +</P> + +<P> +"The next day saw me again at the side of your mother, who received me +with the same artless demonstrations of affection. There was a mellowed +softness in her countenance, and a tender languor in her eye, I had not +remarked the preceding day. Then there was more of the vivacity and +playfulness of the young girl; now, more of the deep fervour and the +composed serenity of the thoughtful woman. This change was too +consonant to my taste—too flattering to my self-love—not to be +rejoiced in; and as I pressed her yielding form in silent rapture to my +own, I more than ever felt she was indeed the being for whom my glowing +heart had so long yearned. After the first full and unreserved +interchange of our souls' best feelings, our conversation turned upon +lighter topics; and I took an opportunity to produce the fruit of my +application since we had parted. Never shall I forget the surprise and +delight that animated her beautiful countenance when first she gazed +upon the miniature. The likeness was perfect, even to the minutest +shading of her costume; and so forcibly and even childishly did this +strike her, that it was with difficulty I could persuade her she was +not gazing on some peculiar description of mirror that reflected back +her living image. She expressed a strong desire to retain it; and to +this I readily assented: stipulating only to retain it until my next +visit, in order that I might take an exact copy for myself. With a look +of the fondest love, accompanied by a pressure on mine of lips that +distilled dewy fragrance where they rested, she thanked me for a gift +which she said would remind her, in absence, of the fidelity with which +her features had been engraven on my heart. She admitted, moreover, +with a sweet blush, that she herself had not been idle. Although her +pencil could not call up my image in the same manner, her pen had +better repaid her exertions; and, in return for the portrait, she would +give me a letter she had written to beguile her loneliness on the +preceding day. As she spoke she drew a sealed packet from the bosom of +her dress, and placing it in my hand, desired me not to read it until I +had returned to my home. But there was an expression of sweet confusion +in her lovely countenance, and a trepidation in her manner, that, half +disclosing the truth, rendered me utterly impatient of the delay +imposed; and eagerly breaking the seal, I devoured rather than read its +contents. +</P> + +<P> +"Accursed madness of recollection!" pursued Wacousta, again striking +his brow violently with his hand,—"why is it that I ever feel thus +unmanned while recurring to those letters? Oh! Clara de Haldimar, never +did woman pen to man such declarations of tenderness and attachment as +that too dear but faithless letter of your mother contained. Words of +fire, emanating from the guilelessness of innocence, glowed in every +line; and yet every sentence breathed an utter unconsciousness of the +effect those words were likely to produce. Mad, wild, intoxicated, I +read the letter but half through; and, as it fell from my trembling +hand, my eye turned, beaming with the fires of a thousand emotions, +upon that of the worshipped writer. That glance was more than her own +could meet. A new consciousness seemed to be stirred up in her soul. +Her eye dropped beneath its long and silken fringe—her cheek became +crimson—her bosom heaved—and, all confidingness, she sank her head +upon my chest, which heaved scarcely less wildly than her own. +</P> + +<P> +"Had I been a cold-blooded villain—a selfish and remorseless seducer," +continued Wacousta with vehemence—"what was to have prevented my +triumph at that moment? But I came not to blight the flower that had +long been nurtured, though unseen, with the life-blood of my own being. +Whatever I may be NOW, I was THEN the soul of disinterestedness and +honour; and had she reposed on the bosom of her own father, that +devoted and unresisting girl could not have been pressed there with +holier tenderness. But even to this there was too soon a term. The hour +of parting at length arrived, announced, as before, by the small bell +of her father, and I again tore myself from her arms; not, however, +without first securing the treasured letter, and obtaining a promise +from your mother that I should receive another at each succeeding +visit." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0310"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<P> +"Nearly a month passed away in this manner; and at each interview our +affection seemed to increase. The days of our meeting were ever days of +pure and unalloyed happiness; while the alternate ones of absence were, +on my part, occupied chiefly with reading the glowing letters given me +at each parting by your mother. Of all these, however, there was not +one so impassioned, so natural, so every way devoted, as the first. Not +that she who wrote them felt less, but that the emotion excited in her +bosom by the manifestation of mine on that occasion, had imparted a +diffidence to her style of expression, plainly indicating the source +whence it sprung. +</P> + +<P> +"One day, while preparing to set out on my customary excursion, a +report suddenly reached me that the route had arrived for the regiment, +who were to march from —— within three days. This intelligence I +received with inconceivable delight; for it had been settled between +your mother and myself, that this should be the moment chosen for her +departure. It was not to be supposed (and I should have been both +pained and disappointed had it been otherwise,) that she would consent +to abandon her parent without some degree of regret; but, having +foreseen this objection from the first, I had gradually prepared her +for the sacrifice. This was the less difficult, as he appeared never to +have treated her with affection,—seldom with the marked favour that +might have been presumed to distinguish the manner of a father towards +a lovely and only daughter. Living for himself and the indulgence of +his misanthropy alone, he cared little for the immolation of his +child's happiness on its unhallowed shrine; and this was an act of +injustice I had particularly dwelt upon; upheld in truth, as it was, by +the knowledge she herself possessed, that no consideration could induce +him to bestow her hand on any one individual of a race he so cordially +detested; and this was not without considerable weight in her decision. +</P> + +<P> +"With a glowing cheek, and a countenance radiant with happiness, did +your mother receive my proposal to prepare for her departure on the +following day. She was sufficiently aware, even through what I had +stated myself, that there were certain ceremonies of the Church to be +performed, in order to give sanctity to our union, and ensure her own +personal respectability in the world; and these, I told her, would be +solemnised by the chaplain of the regiment. She implicitly confided in +me; and she was right; for I loved her too well to make her my +mistress, while no barrier existed to her claim to a dearer title. And +had she been the daughter of a peasant, instead of a high-born +gentleman, finding her as I had found her, and loving her as I did love +her, I should have acted precisely in the same way. +</P> + +<P> +"The only difficulty that now occurred was the manner of her flight. +The opening before alluded to as being the point whence the old woman +made her weekly sally to the market town, was of so intricate and +labyrinthian a character that none but the colonel understood the +secret of its fastenings; and the bare thought of my venturing with her +on the route by which I had hitherto made my entry into the oasis, was +one that curdled my blood with fear. I could absolutely feel my flesh +to contract whenever I painted the terrible risk that would be incurred +in adopting a plan I had once conceived,—namely, that of lashing your +mother to my back, while I again effected my descent to the ledge +beneath, in the manner I had hitherto done. I felt that, once on the +ridge, I might, without much effort, attain the passage of the fissure +already described; for the habit of accomplishing this leap had +rendered it so perfectly familiar to me, that I now performed it with +the utmost security and ease; but to imagine our united weight +suspended over the abyss, as it necessarily must be in the first stage +of our flight, when even the dislodgment of a single root or fragment +of the rock was sufficient to ensure the horrible destruction of her +whom I loved better than my own life, had something too appalling in it +to suffer me to dwell on the idea for more than a moment. I had +proposed, as the most feasible and rational plan, that the colonel +should be compelled to give us egress through the secret passage, when +we might command the services of the old woman to guide us through the +passes that led to the town; but to this your mother most urgently +objected, declaring that she would rather encounter any personal peril +that might attend her escape, in a different manner, than appear to be +a participator in an act of violence against her parent whose obstinacy +of character she moreover knew too well to leave a hope of his being +intimidated into the accomplishment of our object, even by a threat of +death itself. This plan I was therefore compelled to abandon; and as +neither of us were able to discover the passage by which the deer +always effected its entrance, I was obliged to fix upon one, which it +was agreed should be put in practice on the following day. +</P> + +<P> +"On my return, I occupied myself with preparations for the reception of +her who was so speedily to become my wife. Unwilling that she should be +seen by any of my companions, until the ceremony was finally performed, +I engaged apartments in a small retired cottage, distant about half a +mile from the furthest extremity of the town, where I purposed she +should remain until the regiment finally quitted the station. This +point secured, I hastened to the quarters of the chaplain, to engage +his services for the following evening; but he was from home at the +time, and I repaired to my own rooms, to prepare the means of escape +for your mother. These occupied me until a very late hour; and when at +length I retired to rest, it was only to indulge in the fondest +imaginings that ever filled the heart of a devoted lover. Alas! (and +the dark warrior again sighed heavily) the day-dream of my happiness +was already fast drawing to a close. +</P> + +<P> +"At half an hour before noon, I was again in the oasis; your mother was +at the wonted spot; and although she received me with her sunniest +smiles, there were traces of tears upon her cheek. I kissed them +eagerly away, and sought to dissipate the partial gloom that was again +clouding her brow. She observed it pained me to see her thus, and she +made a greater effort to rally. She implored me to forgive her +weakness; but it was the first time she was to be separated from her +parent; and conscious as she was that it was to be for ever, she could +not repress the feeling that rose, despite of herself, to her heart. +She had, however, prepared a letter, at my suggestion, to be left on +her favourite moss seat, where it was likely she would first be sought +by her father, to assure him of her safety, and of her prospects of +future happiness; and the consciousness that he would labour under no +harrowing uncertainty in regard to her fate, seemed, at length, to +soothe and satisfy her heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I now led her to the aperture, where I had left the apparatus provided +for my purpose: this consisted of a close netting, about four feet in +depth, with a board for a footstool at the bottom, and furnished at +intervals with hoops, so as to keep it full and open. The top of this +netting was provided with two handles, to which were attached the ends +of a cord many fathoms in length; the whole of such durability, as to +have borne weights equal to those of three ordinary sized men, with +which I had proved it prior to my setting out. My first care was to +bandage the eyes of your mother, (who willingly and fearlessly +submitted to all I proposed,) that she might not see, and become faint +with seeing, the terrible chasm over which she was about to be +suspended. I then placed her within the netting, which, fitting closely +to her person, and reaching under her arms, completely secured her; and +my next urgent request was, that she would not, on any account, remove +the bandage, or make the slightest movement, when she found herself +stationary below, until I had joined her. I then dropped her gently +through the aperture, lowering fathom after fathom of the rope, the +ends of which I had firmly secured round the trunk of a tree, as an +additional safeguard, until she finally came on a level with that part +of the cliff on which I had reposed when first she beheld me. As she +still hung immediately over the abyss, it was necessary to give a +gradual impetus to her weight, to enable her to gain the landing-place. +I now, therefore, commenced swinging her to and fro, until she at +length came so near the point desired, that I clearly saw the principal +difficulty was surmounted. The necessary motion having been given to +the balance, with one vigorous and final impulsion I dexterously +contrived to deposit her several feet from the edge of the lower rock, +when, slackening the rope on the instant, I had the inexpressible +satisfaction to see that she remained firm and stationary. The waving +of her scarf immediately afterwards (a signal previously agreed upon), +announced she had sustained no injury in this rather rude collision +with the rock, and I in turn commenced my descent. +</P> + +<P> +"Fearing to cast away the ends of the rope, lest their weight should by +any chance effect the balance of the footing your mother had obtained, +I now secured them around my loins, and accomplishing my descent in the +customary manner, speedily found myself once more at the side of my +heart's dearest treasure. Here the transport of my joy was too great to +be controlled; I felt that NOW my prize was indeed secured to me for +ever; and I burst forth into the most passionate exclamations of +tenderness, and falling on my knees, raised my hands to Heaven in +fervent gratitude for the success with which my enterprise had been +crowned. Another would have been discouraged at the difficulties still +remaining; but with these I was become too familiar, not to feel the +utmost confidence in encountering them, even with the treasure that was +equally perilled with myself. For a moment I removed the bandage from +the eyes of your mother, that she might behold not only the far distant +point whence she had descended, but the frowning precipice I had daily +been in the habit of climbing to be blest with her presence. She did +so,—and her cheek paled, for the first time, with a sense of the +danger I had incurred; then turning her soft and beautiful eyes on +mine, she smiled a smile that seemed to express how much her love would +repay me. Again our lips met, and we were happy even in that lonely +spot, beyond all language to describe. Once more, at length, I prepared +to execute the remainder of my task; and I again applied the bandage to +her eyes, saying that, although the principal danger was over, still +there was another I could not bear she should look upon. Again she +smiled, and with a touching sweetness of expression that fired my +blood, observing at the same time she feared no danger while she was +with me, but that if my object was to prevent her from looking at me, +the most efficient way certainly was to apply a bandage to her eyes. +Oh! woman, woman!" groaned Wacousta, in fierce anguish of spirit, "who +shall expound the complex riddle of thy versatile nature? +</P> + +<P> +"Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to +these a broad leathern belt taken from the pouches of two of my men, +and stooping with my back to the cherished burden with which I was +about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, +much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian women carry their +infant children. As an additional precaution, I had secured the netting +round my waist by a strong lacing of cord, and then raising myself to +my full height, and satisfying myself of the perfect freedom of action +of my limbs, seized a long balancing pole I had left suspended against +the rock at my last visit, and commenced my descent of the sloping +ridge. On approaching the horrible chasm, a feeling of faintness came +over me, despite of the confidence with which I had previously armed +myself. This, however, was but momentary. Sensible that every thing +depended on rapidity of movement, I paused not in my course; but, +quickening my pace as I gradually drew nearer, gave the necessary +impetus to my motion, and cleared the gap with a facility far exceeding +what had distinguished my first passage, and which was the fruit of +constant practice alone. Here my balance was sustained by the pole; and +at length I had the inexpressible satisfaction to find myself at the +very extremity of the ridge, and immediately at the point where I had +left my companions in my first memorable pursuit. Alas!" continued the +warrior, again interrupting himself with one of those fierce +exclamations of impatient anguish that so frequently occurred in his +narrative, "what subject for rejoicing was there in this? Better far we +had been dashed to pieces in the abyss, than I should have lived to +curse the hour when first my spirit of adventure led me to traverse +it." Again he resumed:— +</P> + +<P> +"In the deep transport of my joy, I once more threw myself on my knees +in speechless thanksgiving to Providence for the complete success of my +undertaking. Your mother, whom I had previously released from her +confinement, did the same; and at that moment the union of our hearts +seemed to be cemented by a divine influence, manifested in the fulness +of the gratitude of each. I then raised her from the earth, imprinting +a kiss upon her fair brow, that was hallowed by the purity of the +feeling I had so recently indulged in; and throwing over her shoulders +the mantle of a youth, which I had secreted near the spot, enjoined her +to follow me closely in the path I was about to pursue. As she had +hitherto encountered no fatigue, and was, moreover, well provided with +strong buskins I had brought for the purpose, I thought it advisable to +discontinue the use of the netting, which must attract notice, and +cause us, perhaps, to be followed, in the event of our being met by any +of the hunters that usually traversed these parts. To carry her in my +arms, as I should have preferred, might have excited the same +curiosity, and I was therefore compelled to decide upon her walking; +reserving to myself, however, the sweet task of bearing her in my +embrace over the more difficult parts of our course. +</P> + +<P> +"I have not hitherto found it necessary to state," continued Wacousta, +his brow lowering with fierce and gloomy thought, "that more than once, +latterly, on my return from the oasis, which was usually at a stated +hour, I had observed a hunter hovering near the end of the ledge, yet +quickly retreating as I advanced. There was something in the figure of +this man that recalled to my recollection the form of your father; but +ever, on my return to quarters, I found him in uniform, and exhibiting +any thing but the appearance of one who had recently been threading his +weary way among rocks and fastnesses. Besides, the improbability of +this fact was so great, that it occupied not my attention beyond the +passing moment. On the present occasion, however, I saw the same +hunter, and was more forcibly than ever struck by the resemblance to my +friend. Prior to my quitting the point where I had liberated your +mother from the netting, I had, in addition to the disguise of the +cloak, found it necessary to make some alteration in the arrangement of +her hair; the redundancy of which, as it floated gracefully over her +polished neck, was in itself sufficient to betray her sex. With this +view I had removed her plumed bonnet. It was the first time I had seen +her without it; and so deeply impressed was I by the angel-like +character of the extreme feminine beauty she, more than ever, then +exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for some moments at her +feet, my eyes and countenance alone expressing the fervent and almost +holy emotion of my enraptured soul. Had she been a divinity, I could +not have worshipped her with a purer feeling. While I yet knelt, I +fancied I heard a sound behind me; and, turning quickly, beheld the +head of a man peering above a point of rock at some little distance. He +immediately, on witnessing my action, sank again beneath it, but not in +sufficient time to prevent my almost assuring myself that it was the +face of your father I had beheld. My first impulse was to bound +forward, and satisfy myself who it really was who seemed thus ever on +the watch to intercept my movements; but a second rapid reflection +convinced me, that, having been discovered, it was most likely the +intruder had already effected his retreat, and that any attempt at +pursuit might not only alarm your mother, but compromise her safety. I +determined, however, to tax your father with the fact on my return to +quarters; and, from the manner in which he met the charge, to form my +own conclusion. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanwhile we pursued our course; and after an hour's rather laborious +exertion, at length emerged from the succession of glens and rocks that +lay in our way; when, skirting the valley in which the town was +situated, we finally reached the cottage where I had secured my +lodging. Previous to entering it, I had told your mother, that for the +few hours that would intervene before the marriage ceremony could be +performed, I should, by way of lulling the curiosity of her hostess, +introduce her as a near relative of my own. This I did accordingly; +and, having seen that every thing was comfortably arranged for her +convenience, and recommending her strongly to the care of the old +woman, I set off once more in search of the chaplain of the regiment +Before I could reach his residence, however, I was met by a sergeant of +my company, who came running towards me, evidently with some +intelligence of moment. He stated, that my presence was required +without delay. The grenadiers, with the senior subaltern, were in +orders for detachment for an important service; and considerable +displeasure had been manifested by the colonel at my absence, +especially as of late I had greatly neglected my military duties. He +had been looking for me every where, he said, but without success, when +Ensign de Haldimar had pointed out to him in what direction it was +likely I might be found. +</P> + +<P> +"At a calmer moment, I should have been startled at the last +observation; but my mind was too much engrossed with the principal +subject of my regret, to pay any attention to the circumstance. It was +said the detachment would be occupied in this duty a week or ten days, +at least; and how was I to absent myself from her whom I so fondly +loved for this period, without even being permitted first to see and +account to her for my absence? There was torture in the very thought; +and in the height of my impatience, I told the sergeant he might give +my compliments to the colonel, and say I would see the service d—d +rather than inconvenience myself by going out on this duty at so short +a notice; that I had private business of the highest importance to +myself to transact, and could not absent myself. As the man, however, +prepared coolly to depart, it suddenly occurred to me, that I might +prevail on your father to take my duty now, as on former occasions he +had willingly done, and I countermanded my message to the colonel; +desiring him, however, to find out Ensign de Haldimar, and say that I +requested to see him immediately at my quarters, whither I was now +proceeding to change my dress. +</P> + +<P> +"With a beating heart did I assume an uniform that appeared, at that +moment, hideous in my eyes; yet I was not without a hope I might yet +get off this ill-timed duty. Before I had completed my equipment, your +father entered; and when I first glanced my eye full upon his, I +thought his countenance exhibited evidences of confusion. This +immediately reminded me of the unknown hunter, and I asked him if he +was not the person I described. His answer was not a positive denial, +but a mixture of raillery and surprise that lulled my doubts, enfeebled +as they were by the restored calm of his features. I then told him that +I had a particular favour to ask of him, which, in consideration of our +friendship, I trusted he would not refuse; and that was, to take my +duty in the expedition about to set forth. His manner implied concern; +and he asked, with a look that had much deliberate expression in it, +'if I was aware that it was a duty in which blood was expected to be +shed? He could not suppose that any consideration would induce me to +resign my duty to another officer, when apprised of this fact.' All +this was said with the air of one really interested in my honour; but +in my increasing impatience, I told him I wanted none of his cant; I +simply asked him a favour, which he would grant or decline as he +thought proper. This was a harshness of language I had never indulged +in; but my mind was sore under the existing causes of my annoyance, and +I could not bear to have my motives reflected on at a moment when my +heart was torn with all the agonies attendant on the position in which +I found myself placed. His cheek paled and flushed more than once, +before he replied, 'that in spite of my unkindness his friendship might +induce him to do much for me, even as he had hitherto done, but that on +the present occasion it rested not with him. In order to justify +himself he would no longer disguise the fact from me, that the colonel +had declared, in the presence of the whole regiment, I should take my +duty regularly in future, and not be suffered to make a convenience of +the service any longer. If, however, he could do any thing for me +during my absence, I had but to command him. +</P> + +<P> +"While I was yet giving vent, in no very measured terms, to the +indignation I felt at being made the subject of public censure by the +colonel, the same sergeant came into the room, announcing that the +company were only waiting for me to march, and that the colonel desired +my instant presence. In the agitation of my feelings, I scarcely knew +what I did, putting several portions of my regimental equipment on so +completely awry, that your father noticed and rectified the errors I +had committed; while again, in the presence of the sergeant, I +expressed the deepest regret he could not relieve me from a duty that +was hateful to the last degree. +</P> + +<P> +"Torn with agony at the thought of the uncertainty in which I was +compelled to leave her, whom I so fondly adored, I had now no other +alternative than to make a partial confidant of your father. I told him +that in the cottage which I pointed out he would find the original of +the portrait he had seen me painting on a former occasion,—the Cornish +cousin, whose beauty he professed to hold so cheaply. More he should +know of her on my return; but at present I confided her to his honour, +and begged he would prove his friendship for me by rendering her +whatever attention she might require in her humble abode. With these +hurried injunctions he promised to comply; and it has often occurred to +me since, although I did not remark it at the time, that while his +voice and manner were calm, there was a burning glow upon his handsome +cheek, and a suppressed exultation in his eye, that I had never +observed on either before. I then quitted the room; and hastening to my +company with a gloom on—my brow that indicated the wretchedness of my +inward spirit, was soon afterwards on the march from ——." +</P> + +<P> +Again the warrior seemed agitated with the most violent emotion; he +buried his face in his hands; and the silence that ensued was longer +than any he had previously indulged in. At length he made an effort to +arouse himself; and again exhibiting his swarthy features, disclosed a +brow, not clouded, as before, by grief, but animated with the fiercest +and most appalling passions, while he thus impetuously resumed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0311"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<P> +"If, hitherto, Clara de Haldimar, I have been minute in the detail of +all that attended my connection with your mother, it has been with a +view to prove to you how deeply I have been injured; but I have now +arrived at a part of my history, when to linger on the past would goad +me into madness, and render me unfit for the purpose to which I have +devoted myself. Brief must be the probing of wounds, that nearly five +lustres have been insufficient to heal; brief the tale that reveals the +infamy of those who have given you birth, and the utter blighting of +the fairest hopes of one whose only fault was that of loving, "not too +wisely, but too well." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you credit the monstrous truth," he added, in a fierce but +composed whisper, while he bent eagerly over the form of the trembling +yet attentive girl, "when I tell you that, on my return from that fatal +expedition, during my continuance on which her image had never once +been absent from my mind, I found Clara Beverley the wife of De +Haldimar? Yes," continued Wacousta, his wounded feeling and mortified +pride chafing, by the bitter recollection, into increasing fury, while +his countenance paled in its swarthiness, "the wife, the wedded wife of +yon false and traitorous governor! Well may you look surprised, Clara +de Haldimar: such damnable treachery as this may startle his own blood +in the veins of another, nor find its justification even in the +devotedness of woman's filial piety. To what satanic arts so +calculating a villain could have had recourse to effect his object I +know not; but it is not the less true, that she, from whom my previous +history must have taught you to expect the purity of intention and +conduct of an angel, became his wife,—and I a being accursed among +men. Even as our common mother is said to have fallen in the garden of +Eden, tempted by the wily beauty of the devil, so did your mother fall, +seduced by that of the cold, false, traitorous De Haldimar." Here the +agitation of Wacousta became terrific. The labouring of his chest was +like that of one convulsed with some racking agony and the swollen +veins and arteries of his head seemed to threaten the extinction of +life in some fearful paroxysm. At length he burst into a violent fit of +tears, more appalling, in one of his iron nature, than the fury which +had preceded it,—and it was many minutes before he could so far +compose himself as to resume. +</P> + +<P> +"Think not, Clara de Haldimar, I speak without the proof. Her own words +confessed, her own lips avowed it, and yet I neither slew her, nor her +paramour, nor myself. On my return to the regiment I had flown to the +cottage, on the wings of the most impatient and tender love that ever +filled the bosom of man for woman. To my enquiries the landlady +replied, that my cousin had been married two days previously, by the +military chaplain, to a handsome young officer, who had visited her +soon after my departure, and was constantly with her from that moment; +and that immediately after the ceremony they had left, but she knew not +whither. Wild, desperate, almost bereft of reason, and with a heart +bounding against my bosom, as if each agonising throb were to be its +last, I ran like a maniac back into the town, nor paused till I found +myself in the presence of your father. My mind was a volcano, but still +I attempted to be calm, even while I charged him, in the most +outrageous terms, with his villainy. Deny it he could not; but, far +from excusing it, he boldly avowed and justified the step he had taken, +intimating, with a smile full of meaning, there was nothing in a +connection with the family of De Haldimar to reflect disgrace on the +cousin of Sir Reginald Morton; and that; the highest compliment he +could pay his friend was to attach himself to one whom that friend had +declared to be so near a relative of his own. There was a coldness of +taunt in these remarks, that implied his sense of the deception I had +practised on him, in regard to the true nature of the relationship; and +for a moment, while my hand firmly grasped the hilt of my sword, I +hesitated whether I should not cut him down at my feet: I had +self-command, however, to abstain from the outrage, and I have often +since regretted I had. My own blood could have been but spilt in +atonement for my just revenge; and as for the obloquy attached to the +memory of the assassin, it could not have been more bitter than that +which has followed me through life. But what do I say?" fiercely +continued the warrior, an exulting ferocity sparkling in his eye, and +animating his countenance; "had he fallen, then my vengeance were but +half complete. No; it is now he shall feel the deadly venom in his +heart, that has so long banqueted on mine. +</P> + +<P> +"Determined to know from her own lips," he pursued, to the shuddering +Clara, whose hopes, hitherto strongly excited, now, began again to fade +beneath the new aspect given to the strange history of this terrible +man;—"determined to satisfy myself from her own acknowledgment, +whether all I had heard was not an imposition, I summoned calmness +enough to desire that your mother might confirm in person the +alienation of her affection, as nothing short of that could convince me +of the truth. He left the room, and presently re-appeared, conducting +her in from another: I thought she looked more beautiful than ever, +but, alas! I had the inexpressible horror to discover, before a word +was uttered, that all the fondness of her nature was indeed transferred +to your father. How I endured the humiliation of that scene has often +been a source of utter astonishment to myself; but I did endure it. To +my wild demand, how she could so soon have forgotten her vows, and +falsified her plighted engagements, she replied, timidly and +confusedly, she had not yet known her own heart; but if she had pained +me by her conduct, she was sorry for it, and hoped I would forgive her. +She would always be happy to esteem me as a friend, but she loved her +Charles far, far better than she had ever loved me. This damning +admission, couched in the same language of simplicity that had first +touched and won my affection, was like boiling lead upon my brain. In a +transport of madness I sprang towards her, caught her in my arms, and +swore she should accompany me back to the oasis—when I had taken her +there, to be regained by my detested rival, if he could; but that he +should not eat the fruit I had plucked at so much peril to myself. She +struggled to disengage herself, calling on your father by the most +endearing epithets to free her from my embrace. He attempted it, and I +struck him senseless to the floor at a single blow with the flat of my +sabre, which in my extreme fury I had unsheathed. Instead, however, of +profiting by the opportunity thus afforded to execute my threat, a +feeling of disgust and contempt came over me, for the woman, whose +inconstancy had been the cause of my committing myself in this +ungentlemanly manner; and bestowing deep but silent curses on her head, +I rushed from the house in a state of frenzy. How often since have I +regretted that I had not pursued my first impulse, and borne her to +some wild, where, forgetting one by whose beauty of person her eye +alone had been seduced, her heart might have returned to its allegiance +to him who had first awakened the sympathies of her soul, and would +have loved her with a love blending the fiercest fires of the eagle +with the gentlest devotedness of the dove. But destiny had differently +ordained. +</P> + +<P> +"Did my injuries end here?" pursued the dark warrior, as his eye +kindled with rage. "No: for weeks I was insensible to any thing but the +dreadful shock my soul had sustained. A heavy stupor weighed me down, +and for a period it was supposed my reason was overthrown: no such +mercy was reserved for me. The regiment had quitted the Highlands, and +were now stationary in ——, whither I had accompanied it in arrest. +The restoration of my faculties was the signal for new persecutions. +Scarcely had the medical officers reported me fit to sustain the +ordeal, when a court-martial was assembled to try me on a variety of +charges. Who was my prosecutor? Listen, Clara," and he shook her +violently by the arm. "He who had robbed me of all that gave value to +life, and incentive to honour,—he who, under the guise of friendship, +had stolen into the Eden of my love, and left it barren of affection. +In a word, yon detested governor, to whose inhuman cruelty even the son +of my brother has, by some strange fatality of coincidence, so recently +fallen a second sacrifice. Curses, curses on him," he pursued, with +frightful vehemence, half rising as he spoke, and holding forth his +right arm in a menacing attitude; "but the hour of retribution is at +hand, and revenge, the exclusive passion of the gods, shall at length +be mine. In no other country in the world—under no other circumstances +than the present—could I have so secured it. +</P> + +<P> +"What were the charges preferred against me?" he continued, with a +violence that almost petrified the unhappy girl. "Hear them, and judge +whether I have not cause for the inextinguishable hate that rankles at +my heart. Every trifling disobedience of orders—every partial neglect +of duty that could be raked up—was tortured into a specific charge; +and, as I have already admitted I had latterly transgressed not a +little in this respect, these were numerous enough. Yet they were but +preparatory to others of greater magnitude. Next succeeded one that +referred to the message I had given, and countermanded, to the sergeant +of my company, when in the impatience of my disappointment I had +desired him to tell the colonel I would see the service d—d rather +than inconvenience myself at that moment for it. This was unsupported +by other evidence, however, and therefore failed in the proof. But the +web was too closely woven around to admit of my escaping.—Will you, +can you believe any thing half so atrocious, as that your father should +have called on this same man not only to prove the violent and +insubordinate language I had used in reference to the commanding +officer in my own rooms, but also to substantiate a charge of +cowardice, grounded on the unwillingness I had expressed to accompany +the expedition, and the extraordinary trepidation I had evinced, while +preparing for the duty, manifested, as it was stated to be, by the +various errors he had rectified in my equipment with his own hand? Yes, +even this pitiful charge was one of the many preferred; but the +severest was that which he had the unblushing effrontery to make the +subject of public investigation, rather than of private redress—the +blow I had struck him in his own apartments. And who was his witness in +this monstrous charge?—your mother, Clara. Yea, I stood as a criminal +in her presence; and yet she came forward to tender an evidence that +was to consign me to a disgraceful sentence. My vile prosecutor had, +moreover, the encouragement, the sanction of his colonel throughout, +and by him he was upheld in every contemptible charge his ingenuity +could devise. Do you not anticipate the result?—I was found guilty, +and dismissed the service. +</P> + +<P> +"How acted my brother officers, when, previously to the trial, I +alluded to the damnable treachery of your father? Did they condemn his +conduct, or sympathise with me in my misfortune?—No; they shrugged +their shoulders, and coldly observed, I ought to have known better than +to trust one against whom they had so often cautioned me; but that as I +had selected him for my friend, I should have bestowed a whole, and not +a half confidence upon him. He had had the hypocrisy to pretend to them +he had violated no trust, since he had honourably espoused a lady whom +I had introduced to him as a cousin, and in whom I appeared to have no +other interest than that of relationship. Not, they said, that they +believed he actually did entertain that impression; but still the +excuse was too plausible, and had been too well studied by my cunning +rival, to be openly refuted. As for the mere fact of his supplanting +me, they thought it an excellent thing,—a ruse d'amour for which they +never would have given him credit; and although they admitted it was +provoking enough to be ousted out of one's mistress in that cool sort +of way, still I should not so far have forgotten myself as to have +struck him while he was unarmed, when it was so easy to have otherwise +fastened an insult on him. Such," bitterly pursued Wacousta, "was the +consolation I received from men, who, a few short weeks before, had +been sedulous to gain and cultivate my friendship,—but even this was +only vouchsafed antecedent to my trial. When the sentence was +promulgated, announcing my dismissal from the service, every back was +turned upon me, as though I had been found guilty of some dishonourable +action or some disgraceful crime; and, on the evening of the same day, +when I threw from me for ever an uniform that I now loathed from my +inmost soul, there was not one among those who had often banqueted at +my expense, who had the humanity to come to me and say, 'Sir Reginald +Morton, farewell.' +</P> + +<P> +"What agonies of mind I endured,—what burning tears I nightly shed +upon a pillow I was destined to press in freezing loneliness,—what +hours of solitude I passed, far from the haunts of my fellow-men, and +forming plans of vengeance,—it would take much longer time to relate +than I have actually bestowed on my unhappy history. To comprehend +their extent and force, you must understand the heart of fire in which +the deep sense of injury had taken root; but the night wears away, and +briefly told must be the remainder of my tale. The rebellion of +forty-five saw me in arms in the Scottish ranks; and, in one instance, +opposed to the regiment from which I had been so ignominiously +expelled. Never did revenge glow like a living fire in the heart of man +as it did in mine; for the effect of my long brooding in solitude had +been to inspire me with a detestation, not merely for those who had +been most rancorous in their enmity, but for every thing that wore the +uniform, from the commanding officer down to the meanest private. Every +blow that I dealt, every life that I sacrificed, was an insult washed +away from my attainted honour; but him whom I most sought in the melee +I never could reach. At length the corps to which I had attached myself +was repulsed; and I saw, with rage in my heart, that my enemy still +lived to triumph in the fruit of his villainy. +</P> + +<P> +"Although I was grown considerably in stature at this period, and was +otherwise greatly altered in appearance, I had been recognised in the +action by numbers of the regiment; and, indeed, more than once I had, +in the intoxication of my rage, accompanied the blow that slew or +maimed one of my former associates with a declaration of the name of +him who inflicted it. The consequence was, I was denounced as a rebel +and an outlaw, and a price was put upon my head. Accustomed, however, +as I had ever been, to rocks and fastnesses, I had no difficulty in +eluding the vigilance of those who were sent in pursuit of me; and thus +compelled to live wholly apart from my species, I at length learned to +hate them, and to know that man is the only enemy of man upon earth. +</P> + +<P> +"A change now came ever the spirit of my vengeance; for about this +period your mother died. I had never ceased to love, even while I +despised her; and notwithstanding, had she, after her flagrant +inconstancy, thrown herself into my arms, I should have rejected her +with scorn, still I was sensible no other woman could ever supply her +place in my affection. She was, in truth, the only being I had ever +looked upon with fondness; and deeply even as I had been injured by +her, I wept her memory with many a scalding tear. This, however, only +increased my hatred for him who had rioted in her beauty, and +supplanted me in her devotedness. I had the means of learning, +occasionally, all that passed in the regiment; and the same account +that brought me the news of your mother's death also gave me the +intelligence that three children had been the fruit of her union with +De Haldimar. How," pursued Wacousta, with bitter energy, "shall I +express the deep loathing I felt for those children? It seemed to me as +if their existence had stamped a seal of infamy on my own brow; and I +hated them, even in their childhood, as the offspring of an abhorred, +and, as it appeared to me, an unnatural union. I heard, moreover (and +this gave me pleasure), that their father doated on them; and from that +moment I resolved to turn his cup of joy into bitterness, even as he +had turned mine. I no longer sought his life; for the jealousy that had +half impelled that thirst existed no longer: but, deeming his cold +nature at least accessible through his parental affection, I was +resolved that in his children he should suffer a portion of the agonies +he had inflicted on me. I waited, however, until they should be grown +up to an age when the heart of the parent would be more likely to mourn +their loss; and then I was determined my vengeance should be complete. +</P> + +<P> +"Circumstances singularly favoured my design. Many years afterwards, +the regiment formed one of the expedition against Quebec under General +Wolfe. They were commanded by your father, who, in the course of +promotion, had obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy; and I observed by the +army list, that a subaltern of the same name, whom I presumed to be his +eldest son, was in the corps. Here was a field for my vengeance beyond +any I could have hoped for. I contrived to pass over into Cornwall, the +ban of outlawry being still unrepealed; and having procured from my +brother a sum sufficient for my necessities, and bade him an eternal +farewell, embarked in a fishing-boat for the coast of France, whence I +subsequently took a passage to this country. At Montreal I found the +French general, who gladly received my allegiance as a subject of +France, and gave me a commission in one of the provincial corps that +usually served in concert with our Indian allies. With the general I +soon became a favourite; and, as a mark of his confidence at the attack +on Quebec, he entrusted me with the command of a detached irregular +force, consisting partly of Canadians and partly of Indians, intended +to harass the flanks of the British army. This gave me an opportunity +of being at whatever point of the field I might think most favourable +to my design; and I was too familiar with the detested uniform of the +regiment not to be able to distinguish it from afar. In a word, Clara, +for I am weary of my own tale, in that engagement I had an opportunity +of recognising your brother. He struck me by his martial appearance as +he encouraged his grenadiers to the attack of the French columns; and, +as I turned my eye upon him in admiration, I was stung to the soul by +his resemblance to his father. Vengeance thrilled throughout every +fibre of my frame at that moment. The opportunity I had long sought was +at length arrived; and already, in anticipation, I enjoyed the conquest +his fall would occasion to my enemy. I rushed within a few feet of my +victim; but the bullet aimed at his heart was received in the breast of +a faithful soldier, who had flown to intercept it. How I cursed the +meddler for his officiousness!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that soldier was your nephew," eagerly interrupted Clara, pointing +towards her companion, who had fallen into a profound slumber, "the +husband of this unfortunate woman. Frank Halloway (for by that name was +he alone known in the regiment) loved my brother as though he had been +of the same blood. He it was who flew to receive the ball that was +destined for another. But I nursed him on his couch of suffering, and +with my own hands prepared his food and dressed his wound. Oh, if pity +can touch your heart (and I will not believe that a heart that once +felt as you say yours has felt can be inaccessible to pity), let the +recollection of your nephew's devotedness to my mother's child disarm +you of vengeance, and induce you to restore us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" thundered Wacousta,—"never! The very circumstance you have +now named is an additional incentive to my vengeance. My nephew saved +the life of your brother at the hazard of his own; and how has he been +rewarded for the generous deed? By an ignominious death, inflicted, +perhaps, for some offence not more dishonouring than those which have +thrown me an outcast upon these wilds; and that at the command and in +the presence of the father of him whose life he was fool enough to +preserve. Yet, what but ingratitude of the grossest nature could a +Morton expect at the hands of the false family of De Haldimar! They +were destined to be our bane, and well have they fulfilled the end for +which they were created." +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Providence!" aspirated the sinking Clara, as she turned her +streaming eyes to heaven; "can it be that the human heart can undergo +such change? Can this be the being who once loved my mother with a +purity and tenderness of affection that angels themselves might hallow +with approval; or is all that I have heard but a bewildering dream?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Clara," calmly and even solemnly returned the warrior; "it is no +dream, but a reality—a sad, dreadful, heart-rending reality; yet, if I +am that altered being, to whom is the change to be ascribed? Who turned +the generous current of my blood into a river of overflowing gall? Who, +when my cup was mantling with the only bliss I coveted upon earth, +traitorously emptied it, and substituted a heart-corroding poison in +its stead? Who blighted my fair name, and cast me forth an alien in the +land of my forefathers? Who, in a word, cut me off from every joy that +existence can impart to man? Who did all this? Your father! But these +are idle words. What I have been, you know; what I now am, and through +what agency I have been rendered what I now am, you know also. Not more +fixed is fate than my purpose. Your brother dies even on the spot on +which my nephew died; and you, Clara, shall be my bride; and the first +thing your children shall be taught to lisp shall be curses on the vile +name of De Haldimar!" +</P> + +<P> +"Once more, in the name of my sainted mother, I implore you to have +mercy," shrieked the unhappy Clara. "Oh!" she continued, with vehement +supplication, "let the days of your early love be brought back to' your +memory, that your heart may be softened; and cut yourself not wholly +off from your God, by the commission of such dreadful outrages. Again I +conjure you, restore us to my father." +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" savagely repeated Wacousta. "I have passed years of torture in +the hope of such an hour as this; and now that fruition is within my +grasp, may I perish if I forego it! Ha, sir!" turning from the almost +fainting Clara to Sir Everard, who had listened with deep attention to +the history of this extraordinary man;—"for this," and he thrust aside +the breast of his hunting coat, exhibiting the scar of a long but +superficial wound,—"for this do you owe me a severe reckoning. I would +recommend you, however,"—and he spoke in mockery,—"when next you +drive a weapon into the chest of an unresisting enemy, to be more +certain of your aim. Had that been as true as the blow from the butt of +your rifle, I should not have lived to triumph in this hour. I little +deemed," he pursued, still addressing the nearly heart-broken officer +in the same insolent strain, "that my intrigue with that dark-eyed +daughter of the old Canadian would have been the means of throwing your +companion so speedily into my power, after his first narrow escape. +Your disguise was well managed, I confess; and but that there is an +instinct about me, enabling me to discover a De Haldimar, as a hound +does the deer, by scent, you might have succeeded in passing for what +you appeared. But" (and his tone suddenly changed its irony for +fierceness) "to the point, sir. That you are the lover of this girl I +clearly perceive, and death were preferable to a life embittered by the +recollection that she whom we love reposes in the arms of another. No +such kindness is meant you, however. To-morrow you shall return to the +fort; and, when there, you may tell your colonel, that, in exchange for +a certain miniature and letters, which, in the hurry of departure, I +dropped in his apartment, some ten days since, Sir Reginald Morton, the +outlaw, has taken his daughter Clara to wife, but without the +solemnisation of those tedious forms that bound himself in accursed +union with her mother. Oh! what would I not give," he continued, +bitterly, "to witness the pang inflicted on his false heart, when first +the damning truth arrests his ear. Never did I know the triumph of my +power until now; for what revenge can be half so sweet as that which +attains a loathed enemy through the dishonour of his child? But, hark! +what mean those sounds?" +</P> + +<P> +A loud yelling was now heard at some distance in rear of the tent. +Presently the bounding of many feet on the turf was distinguishable; +and then, at intervals, the peculiar cry that announces the escape of a +prisoner. Wacousta started to his feet, and fiercely grasping his +tomahawk, advanced to the front of the tent, where he seemed to listen +for a moment attentively, as if endeavouring to catch the direction of +the pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! by Heaven!" he exclaimed, "there must be treachery in this, or yon +slippery captain would not so soon be at his flight again, bound as I +had bound him." Then uttering a deafening yell, and rushing past Sir +Everard, near whom he paused an instant, as if undecided whether he +should not first dispose of him, as a precautionary measure, he flew +with the speed of an antelope in the direction in which he was guided +by the gradually receding sounds. +</P> + +<P> +"The knife, Miss de Haldimar," exclaimed Sir Everard, after a few +moments of breathless and intense anxiety. "See, there is one in the +belt that Ellen Halloway has girt around her loins. Quick, for Heaven's +sake, quick; our only chance of safety is in this." +</P> + +<P> +With an activity arising from her despair, the unhappy Clara sprang +from the rude couch on which she had been left by Wacousta, and, +stooping over the form of the maniac, extended her hand to remove the +weapon from her side; but Ellen, who had been awakened from her long +slumber by the yells just uttered, seemed resolute to prevent it. A +struggle for its possession now ensued between these frail and delicate +beings; in which Clara, however, had the advantage, not only from the +recumbent position of her opponent, but from the greater security of +her grasp. At length, with a violent effort, she contrived to disengage +it from the sheath, around which Ellen had closely clasped both her +hands; but, with the quickness of thought, the latter were again +clenched round the naked blade, and without any other evident motive +than what originated in the obstinacy of her madness, the unfortunate +woman fiercely attempted to wrest it away. In the act of doing so, her +hands were dreadfully cut; and Clara, shocked at the sight of the blood +she had been the means of shedding, lost all the energy she had +summoned, and sunk senseless at the feet of the maniac, who now began +to utter the most piteous cries. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, God! we are lost," exclaimed Sir Everard; "the voice of that +wretched woman has alarmed our enemy, and even now I hear him +approaching. Quick, Clara, give me the knife. But no, it is now too +late; he is here." +</P> + +<P> +At that instant, the dark form of a warrior rushed noiselessly to the +spot on which he stood. The officer turned his eyes in desperation on +his enemy, but a single glance was sufficient to assure him it was not +Wacousta. The Indian paused not in his course, but passing close round +the tree to which the baronet was attached, made a circular movement, +that brought him in a line with the direction that had been taken by +his enemy; and again they were left alone. +</P> + +<P> +A new fear now oppressed the heart of the unfortunate Valletort, even +to agony: Clara still lay senseless, speechless, before him; and his +impression was, that, in the struggle, Ellen Halloway had murdered her. +The latter yet continued her cries; and, as she held up her hands, he +could see by the fire-light they were covered with blood. An +instinctive impulse caused him to bound forward to the assistance of +the motionless Clara; when, to his infinite surprise and joy, he +discovered the cord, which had bound him to the tree, to be severed. +The Indian who had just passed had evidently been his deliverer; and a +sudden flash of recollection recalled the figure of the young warrior +that had escaped from the schooner and was supposed to have leaped into +the canoe of Oucanasta at the moment when Madeline de Haldimar was +removed into that of the Canadian. +</P> + +<P> +In a transport of conflicting feelings, Sir Everard now raised the +insensible Clara from the ground; and, having satisfied himself she had +sustained no serious injury, prepared for a flight which he felt to be +desperate, if not altogether hopeless. There was not a moment to be +lost, for the cries of the wretched Ellen increased in violence, as she +seemed sensible she was about to be left utterly alone; and ever and +anon, although afar off, yet evidently drawing nearer, was to be heard +the fierce denouncing yell of Wacousta. The spot on which the officer +stood, was not far from that whence his unfortunate friend had +commenced his flight on the first memorable occasion; and as the moon +shone brightly in the cloudless heavens, there could be no mistake in +the course he was to pursue. Dashing down the steep, therefore, with +all the speed his beloved burden would enable him to attain, he made +immediately for the bridge, over which his only chance of safety lay. +</P> + +<P> +It unfortunately happened, however, that, induced either by the malice +of her insanity, or really terrified at the loneliness of her position, +the wretched Ellen Halloway had likewise quitted the tent, and now +followed close in the rear of the fugitives, still uttering the same +piercing cries of anguish. The voice of Wacousta was also again heard +in the distance; and Sir Everard had the inexpressible horror to find +that, guided by the shrieks of the maniac woman, he was now shaping his +course, not to the tent where he had left his prisoners, but in an +oblique direction towards the bridge; where he evidently hoped to +intercept them. Aware of the extreme disadvantages under which he +laboured in a competition of speed with his active enemy, the unhappy +officer would have here terminated the struggle, had he not been +partially sustained by the hope that the detachment prayed for by De +Haldimar, through the friendly young chief, to whom he owed his own +liberation, might be about this time on its way to attempt their +rescue. This thought supported his faltering resolution, although +nearly exhausted with his efforts—compelled, as he was, to sustain the +motionless form of the slowly reviving Clara; and he again braced +himself to the unequal flight The moon still shone beautifully bright, +and he could now distinctly see the bridge over which he was to pass; +but notwithstanding he strained his eyes as he advanced, no vestige of +a British uniform was to be seen in the open space that lay beyond. +Once he turned to regard his pursuers. Ellen was a few yards only in +his rear; and considerably beyond her rose, in tall relief against the +heavens, the gigantic form of the warrior. The pursuit of the latter +was now conducted with a silence that terrified even more than the +yells he had previously uttered; and he gained so rapidly on his +victims, that the tread of his large feet was now distinctly audible. +Again the officer, with despair in his heart, made the most incredible +exertions to reach the bridge, without seeming to reflect that, even +when there, no security was offered him against his enemy. Once, as he +drew nearer, he fancied he saw the dark heads of human beings peering +from under that part of the arch which had afforded cover to De +Haldimar and himself oh the memorable occasion of their departure with +the Canadian; and, convinced that the warriors of Wacousta had been +sent there to lie in ambuscade and intercept his retreat, his hopes +were utterly paralysed; and although he stopped not, his flight was +rather mechanical than the fruit of any systematic plan of escape. +</P> + +<P> +He had now gained the extremity of the bridge, with Ellen Halloway and +Wacousta close in his rear, when suddenly the heads of many men were +once more distinguishable, even in the shadow of the arch that overhung +the sands of the river. Three individuals detached themselves from the +group and leaping upon the further extremity of the bridge, moved +rapidly to meet him. Meanwhile the baronet had stopped suddenly, as if +in doubt whether to advance or to recede. His suspense was but +momentary. Although the persons of these men were disguised as Indian +warriors, the broad moonlight that beamed full on their countenances, +disclosed the well-remembered features of Blessington, Erskine, and +Charles de Haldimar. The latter sprang before his companions, and, +uttering a cry of joy, sank in speechless agony on the neck of his +still unconscious sister. +</P> + +<P> +"For God's sake, free me, De Haldimar!" exclaimed the excited baronet, +disengaging his charge from the embrace of his friend. "This is no +moment for congratulation. Erskine, Blessington, see you not who is +behind me? Be upon your guard; defend your lives!" And as he spoke, he +rushed forward with feint and tottering steps to place his companions +between the unhappy girl and the danger that threatened her. +</P> + +<P> +The swords of the officers were drawn; but instead of advancing upon +the formidable being, who stood as if paralysed at this unexpected +rencontre, the two seniors contented themselves with assuming a +defensive attitude,—retiring slowly and gradually towards the other +extremity of the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +Overcome by his emotion, Charles de Haldimar had not noticed this +action of his companions, and stood apparently riveted to the spot. The +voice of Blessington calling on him by name to retire, seemed to arouse +the dormant consciousness of the unhappy maniac. She uttered a piercing +shriek, and, springing forward, sank on her knees at his feet, +exclaiming, as she forcibly detained him by his dress,— +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Heaven! where am I? surely that was Captain Blessington's +kind voice I heard; and you—you are Charles de Haldimar. Oh! save my +husband; plead for him with your father!——but no," she continued +wildly,—"he is dead—he is murdered! Behold these hands all covered +with his blood! Oh!——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! another De Haldimar!" exclaimed Wacousta, recovering his +slumbering energies, "this spot seems indeed fated for our meeting. +More than thrice have I been balked of my just revenge, but now will I +secure it. Thus, Ellen, do I avenge your husband's and my nephew's +death. My own wrongs demand another sacrifice. But, ha! where is she? +where is Clara? where is my bride?" +</P> + +<P> +Bounding over the ill-fated De Haldimar, who lay, even in death, firmly +clasped in the embrace of the wretched Ellen, the fierce man dashed +furiously forward to renew his pursuit of the fugitives. But suddenly +the extremity of the bridge was filled with a column of armed men, that +kept issuing from the arch beneath. Sensible of his danger, he sought +to make good his retreat; but when he turned for the purpose, the same +formidable array met his view at the opposite extremity; and both +parties now rapidly advanced in double quick time, evidently with a +view of closing upon and taking him prisoner. In this dilemma, his only +hope was in the assistance that might be rendered him by his warriors. +A yell, so terrific as to be distinctly heard in the fort itself, burst +from his vast chest, and rolled in prolonged echoes through the forest. +It was faintly answered from the encampment, and met by deep but +noiseless curses from the exasperated soldiery, whom the sight of their +murdered officer was momentarily working into frenzy. +</P> + +<P> +"Kill him not, for your lives!—I command you, men, kill him not!" +muttered Captain Blessington with suppressed passion, as his troops +were preparing to immolate him on their clustering bayonets. "Such a +death were, indeed, mercy to such a villain." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha!" laughed Wacousta in bitter scorn; "who is there of all your +accursed regiment who will dare to take him alive?" Then brandishing +his tomahawk around him, to prevent their finally closing, he dealt his +blows with such astonishing velocity, that no unguarded point was left +about his person; and more than one soldier was brought to the earth in +the course of the unequal struggle. +</P> + +<P> +"By G—d!" said Captain Erskine, "are the two best companies of the +regiment to be kept at bay by a single desperado? Shame on ye, fellows! +If his hands are too many for you, lay him by the heels." +</P> + +<P> +This ruse was practised with success. In attempting to defend himself +from the attack of those who sought to throw him down, the warrior +necessarily left his upper person exposed; when advantage was taken to +close with him and deprive him of the play of his arms. It was not, +however, without considerable difficulty, that they succeeded in +disarming and binding his hands; after which a strong cord being +fastened round his waist, he was tightly lashed to a gun, which, +contrary to the original intention of the governor, had been sent out +with the expedition. The retreat of the detachment then commenced +rapidly; but it was not without being hotly pursued by the band of +warriors the yell of Wacousta had summoned in pursuit, that they +finally gained the fort: under what feelings of sorrow for the fate of +an officer so beloved, we leave it to our readers to imagine. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0312"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<P> +The morning of the next day dawned on few who had pressed their +customary couches—on none, whose feverish pulse and bloodshot eye +failed to attest the utter sleeplessness in which the night had been +passed. Numerous groups of men were to be seep assembling after the +reveille, in various parts of the barrack square—those who had borne a +part in the recent expedition commingling with those who had not, and +recounting to the latter, with mournful look and voice, the +circumstances connected with the bereavement of their universally +lamented officer. As none, however, had seen the blow struck that +deprived him of life, although each had heard the frantic exclamations +of a voice that had been recognised for Ellen Halloway's, much of the +marvellous was necessarily mixed up with truth in their +narrative,—some positively affirming Mr. de Haldimar had not once +quitted his party, and declaring that nothing short of a supernatural +agency could have transported him unnoticed to the fatal spot, where, +in their advance, they had beheld him murdered. The singular appearance +of Ellen Halloway also, at that moment, on the very bridge on which she +had pronounced her curse on the family of De Haldimar, and in company +with the terrible and mysterious being who had borne her off in triumph +on that occasion to the forest, and under circumstances calculated to +excite the most superstitious impressions, was not without its weight +in determining their rude speculations; and all concurred in opinion, +that the death of the unfortunate young officer was a judgment on their +colonel for the little mercy he had extended to the noble-hearted +Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +Then followed allusion to their captive, whose gigantic stature and +efforts at escape, tremendous even as the latter were, were duly +exaggerated by each, with the very laudable view of claiming a +proportionate share of credit for his own individual exertions; and +many and various were the opinions expressed as to the manner of death +he should be made to suffer. Among the most conspicuous of the orators +were those with whom our readers have already made slight acquaintance +in our account of the sortie by Captain Erskine's company for the +recovery of the supposed body of Frederick de Haldimar. One was for +impaling him alive, and setting him up to rot on the platform above the +gate. Another for blowing him from the muzzle of a twenty-four pounder, +into the centre of the first band of Indians that approached the fort, +that thus perceiving they had lost the strength and sinew of their +cunning war, they might be the more easily induced to propose terms of +peace. A third was of opinion he ought to be chained to the top of the +flag-staff, as a target, to be shot at with arrows only, contriving +never to touch a mortal part. A fourth would have had him tied naked +over the sharp spikes that constituted the chevaux-de-frize garnishing +the sides of the drawbridge. Each devised some new death—proposed some +new torture; but all were of opinion, that simply to be shot, or even +to be hanged, was too merciful a punishment for the wretch who had so +wantonly and inhumanly butchered the kind-hearted, gentle-mannered +officer, whom they had almost all known and loved from his very +boyhood; and they looked forward, with mingled anxiety and vengeance, +to the moment when, summoned as it was expected he shortly would be, +before the assembled garrison, he would be made to expiate the atrocity +with his blood. +</P> + +<P> +While the men thus gave indulgence to their indignation and their +grief, their officers were even mere painfully affected. The body of +the ill-fated Charles had been borne to his apartment, where, divested +of its disguise, it had again been inducted in such apparel as was +deemed suited to the purpose. Extended on the very bed on which he lay +at the moment when she, whose maniac raving, and forcible detention, +had been the immediate cause of his destruction, had preferred her wild +but fruitless supplication for mercy, he exhibited, even in death, the +same delicate beauty that had characterised him on that occasion; yet, +with a mildness and serenity of expression on his still, pale features, +strongly in contrast with the agitation and glow of excitement that +then distinguished him. Never was human loveliness in death so marked +as in Charles de Haldimar; and but for the deep wound that, dividing +his clustering locks, had entered from the very crown of the head to +the opening of his marble brow, one ignorant of his fate might have +believed he but profoundly slept. Several women of the regiment were +occupied in those offices about the corpse, which women alone are +capable of performing at such moments, and as they did so, suffered +their tears to flow silently yet abundantly over him, who was no longer +sensible either of human grief or of human joy. Close at the head of +the bed stood an old man, with his face buried in his hands; the latter +reposing against the wainscoting of the room. He, too, wept, but his +weeping was more audible, more painful, and accompanied by suffocating +sobs. It was the humble, yet almost paternally attached servant of the +defunct—the veteran Morrison. +</P> + +<P> +Around the bed were grouped nearly all the officers, standing in +attitudes indicative of anxiety and interest, and gazing mournfully on +the placid features of their ill-fated friend. All, on entering, moved +noiselessly over the rude floor, as though fearful of disturbing the +repose of one who merely slumbered; and the same precaution was +extended to the brief but heartfelt expressions of sorrow that passed, +from one to the other, as they gazed on all that remained of the gentle +De Haldimar. At length the preparations of the women having been +completed, they retired from the room, leaving one of their number +only, rather out of respect than necessity, to remain by the corpse. +When they were departed, this woman, the wife of one of Blessington's +sergeants, and the same who had been present at the scene between Ellen +Halloway and the deceased, cut off a large lock of his beautiful hair, +and separating it into small tresses, handed one to each of the +officers. This considerate action, although unsolicited on the part of +the latter, deeply touched them, as indicating a sense of the high +estimation in which the youth bad been held. It was a tribute to the +memory of him they mourned, of the purest kind; and each, as he +received his portion, acknowledged with a mournful but approving look, +or nod, or word, the motive that bad prompted the offering. Nor was it +a source of less satisfaction, melancholy even as that satisfaction +was, to perceive that, after having set aside another lock, probably +for the sister of the deceased, she selected and consigned to the bosom +of her dress a third, evidently intended for herself. The whole scene +was in striking contrast with the almost utter absence of all +preparation or concern that had preceded the interment of Murphy, on a +former occasion. In one, the rude soldier was mourned,—in the other, +the gentle friend was lamented; nor the latter alone by the companions +to whom intimacy had endeared him, but by those humbler dependants, who +knew him only through those amiable attributes of character, which were +ever equally extended to all. Gradually the officers now moved away in +the same noiseless manner in which they had approached, either in +pursuance of their several duties, or to make their toilet of the +morning. Two only of their number remained near the couch of death. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor unfortunate De Haldimar!" observed one of these, in a low tone, +as if speaking to himself; "too fatally, indeed, have your forebodings +been realised; and what I considered as the mere despondency of a mind +crashed into feebleness by an accumulation of suffering, was, after +all, but the first presentiment of a death no human power might avert. +By Heaven! I would give up half my own being to be able to reanimate +that form once more,—but the wish is vain." +</P> + +<P> +"Who shall announce the intelligence to his sister?" sighed his +companion. "Never will that already nearly heart-broken girl be able to +survive the shock of her brother's death. Blessington, you alone are +fitted to such a task; and, painful as it is, you must undertake it. Is +the colonel apprised of the dreadful truth, do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is. It was told him at the moment of our arrival last night; but +from the little outward emotion displayed by him, I should be tempted +to infer he had almost anticipated some such catastrophe." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, poor Charles!" bitterly exclaimed Sir Everard Valletort—for it +was he. "What would I not give to recall the rude manner in which I +spurned you from me last night. But, alas! what could I do, laden with +such a trust, and pursued, without the power of defence, by such an +enemy? Little, indeed, did I imagine what was so speedily to be your +doom! Blessington," he pursued, with increased emotion, "it grieves me +to wretchedness to think that he, whom I loved as though he had been my +twin brother, should have perished with his last thoughts, perhaps, +lingering on the seeming unkindness with which I had greeted him after +so anxious an absence." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, if there be blame, it must attach to me," sorrowfully observed +Captain Blessington. "Had Erskine and myself not retired before the +savage, as we did, our unfortunate friend would in all probability have +been alive at this very hour. But in our anxiety to draw the former +into the ambuscade we had prepared for him, we utterly overlooked that +Charles was not retreating with us." +</P> + +<P> +"How happened it," demanded Sir Everard, his attention naturally +directed to the subject by the preceding remarks, "that you lay thus in +ambuscade, when the object of the expedition, as solicited by Frederick +de Haldimar, was an attempt to reach us in the encampment of the +Indians?" +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly was under that impression we left the fort; but, on +coming to the spot where the friendly Indian lay waiting to conduct us, +he proposed the plan we subsequently adopted as the most likely, not +only to secure the escape of the prisoners, whom he pledged himself to +liberate, but to defend ourselves with advantage against Wacousta and +the immediate guard set over them, should they follow in pursuit. +Erskine approving, as well as myself, of the plan, we halted at the +bridge, and disposed of our men under each extremity; so that, if +attacked by the Indians in front, we might be enabled to throw them +into confusion by taking them in rear, as they flung themselves upon +the bridge. The event seemed to answer our expectations. The alarm +raised in the encampment satisfied us the young Indian had contrived to +fulfil his promise; and we momentarily looked for the appearance of +those whose flight we naturally supposed would be directed towards the +bridge. To our great surprise, however, we remarked that the sounds of +pursuit, instead of approaching us, seemed to take an opposite +direction, apparently towards the point whence we had seen the +prisoners disembarked in the morning. At length, when almost tempted to +regret we had not pushed boldly on, in conformity with our first +intention, we heard the shrill cries of a woman; and, not long +afterwards, the sounds of human feet rushing down the slope. What our +sensations were, you may imagine; for we all believed it to be either +Clara or Madeline de Haldimar fleeing alone, and pursued by our +ferocious enemies. To show ourselves would, we were sensible, be to +ensure the death of the pursued, before we could possibly come up; and, +although it was with difficulty we repressed the desire to rush forward +to the rescue, our better judgment prevailed. Finally we saw you +approach, followed closely by what appeared to be a mere boy of an +Indian, and, at a considerable distance, by the tall warrior of the +Fleur de lis. We imagined there was time enough for you to gain the +bridge; and finding your more formidable pursuer was only accompanied +by the youth already alluded to, conceived at that moment the design of +making him our prisoner. Still there were half a dozen muskets ready to +be levelled on him should he approach too near to his fugitives, or +manifest any other design than that of simply recapturing them. How +well our plan succeeded you are aware; but, alas!" and he glanced +sorrowfully at the corpse, "why was our success to be embittered by so +great a sacrifice?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, would to Heaven that he at least had been spared," sighed Sir +Everard, as he took the wan white hand of his friend in his own; "and +yet I know not: he looks so calm, so happy in death, it is almost +selfish to repine he has escaped the horrors that still await us in +this dreadful warfare. But what of Frederick and Madeline de Haldimar? +From the statement you have given, they must have been liberated by the +young Ottawa before he came to me; yet, what could have induced them to +have taken a course of flight so opposite to that which promised their +only chance of safety?" +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven only knows," returned Captain Blessington. "I fear they have +again been recaptured by the savages; in which case their doom is +scarcely doubtful; unless, indeed, our prisoner of last night be given +up in exchange for them." +</P> + +<P> +"Then will their liberty be purchased at a terrible price," remarked +the baronet. "Will you believe, Blessington, that that man, whose +enmity to our colonel seems almost devilish, was once an officer in +this very regiment?" +</P> + +<P> +"You astonish me, Valletort.—Impossible! and yet it has always been +apparent to me they were once associates." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard him relate his history only last night to Clara, whom he had +the audacity to sully with proposals to become his bride," pursued the +baronet. "His tale was a most extraordinary one. He narrated it, +however, only up to the period when the life of De Haldimar was +attempted by him at Quebec. But with his subsequent history we are all +acquainted, through the fame of his bloody atrocities in all the posts +that have fallen into the hands of Ponteac. That man, savage and even +fiendish as he now is, was once possessed of the noblest qualities. I +am sorry to say it; but Colonel de Haldimar has brought this present +affliction upon himself. At some future period I will tell you all." +</P> + +<P> +"Alas!" said Captain Blessington, "poor Charles, then, has been made to +pay the penalty of his father's errors; and, certainly, the greatest of +these was his dooming the unfortunate Halloway to death in the manner +he did." +</P> + +<P> +"What think you of the fact of Halloway being the nephew of this +extraordinary man, and both of high family?" demanded Sir Everard. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! and was the latter, then, aware of the connection?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until last night," replied Sir Everard. "Some observations made by +the wretched wife of Halloway, in the course of which she named his +true name, (which was that of the warrior also,) first indicated the +fact to the latter. But, what became of that unfortunate creature?—was +she brought in?" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand not," said Captain Blessington. "In the confusion and +hurry of securing our prisoner, and the apprehension of immediate +attack from his warriors, Ellen was entirely overlooked. Some of my men +say they left her lying, insensible, on the spot whence they had raised +the body of our unfortunate friend, which they had some difficulty in +releasing from her convulsive embrace. But, hark! there is the first +drum for parade, and I have not yet exchanged my Indian garb." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Blessington now quitted the room, and Sir Everard, relieved +from the restraining presence of his companions, gave free vent to his +emotion, throwing himself upon the body of his friend, and giving +utterance to the feelings of anguish that oppressed his heart. +</P> + +<P> +He had continued some minutes in this position, when he fancied he felt +the warm tears of a human being bedewing a hand that reposed on the +neck of his unfortunate friend. He looked up, and, to his infinite +surprise, beheld Clara de Haldimar standing before him at the opposite +side of the bed. Her likeness to her brother, at that moment, was so +striking, that, for a second or two, the irrepressible thought passed +through the mind of the officer, it was not a living being he gazed +upon, but the immaterial spirit of his friend. The whole attitude and +appearance of the wretched girl, independently of the fact of her +noiseless entrance, tended to favour the delusion. Her features, of an +ashy paleness, seemed fixed, even as those of the corpse beneath him; +and, but for the tears that coursed silently down her cheek, there was +scarcely an outward evidence of emotion. Her dress was a simple white +robe, fastened round her waist with a pale blue riband; and over her +shoulders hung her redundant hair, resembling in colour, and disposed +much in the manner of that of her brother, which had been drawn +negligently down to conceal the wound on his brow. For some moments the +baronet gazed at her in speechless agony. Her tranquil exterior was +torture to him; for he, feared it betokened some alienation of reason. +He would have preferred to witness the most hysteric convulsion of +grief, rather than that traitorous calm; and yet he had not the power +to seek to remove it. +</P> + +<P> +"You are surprised to see me here, mingling my grief with yours, Sir +Everard," she at length observed, with the same calm mien, and in tones +of touching sweetness. "I came, with my father's permission, to take a +last farewell of him whose death has broken my heart. I expected to be +alone; but—Nay, do not go," she added, perceiving that the officer was +about to depart. "Had you not been here, I should have sent for you; +for we have both a sacred duty to perform. May I not ask your hand?" +</P> + +<P> +More and more dismayed at her collected manner, the young officer gazed +at her with the deepest sorrow depicted in every line of his own +countenance. He extended his hand, and Clara, to his surprise, grasped +and pressed it firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"It was the wish of this poor boy that his Clara should be the wife of +his friend, Sir Everard. Did he ever express such to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was the fondest desire of his heart," returned the baronet, unable +to restrain the emotion of joy that mingled, despite of himself, with +his worst apprehensions. +</P> + +<P> +"I need not ask how you received his proposal," continued Clara, with +the same calmness of manner. "Last night," she pursued solemnly, "I was +the bride of the murderer of my brother, of the lover of my +mother,—tomorrow night I may be the bride of death; but to-night I am +the bride of my brother's friend. Yes, here am I come to pledge myself +to the fulfilment of his wish. If you deem a heart-broken girl not +unworthy of you, I am your wife, Sir Everard; and, recollect, it is a +solemn pledge, that which a sister gives over the lifeless body of a +brother, beloved as this has been." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Clara—dearest Clara," passionately exclaimed the excited young +man, "if a life devoted to your happiness can repay you for this, count +upon it as you would upon your eternal salvation. In you will I love +both my friend and the sister he has bequeathed to me. Clara, my +betrothed wife, summon all the energies of your nature to sustain this +cruel shock; and exert yourself for him who will be to you both a +brother and a husband." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he drew the unresisting girl towards him, and, locking her +in his embrace, pressed, for the first time, the lips, which it had +maddened him the preceding night to see polluted by the forcible kisses +of Wacousta. But Clara shared not, but merely suffered his momentary +happiness. Her cheek wore not the crimson of excitement, neither were +her tears discontinued. She seemed as one who mechanically submitted to +what she had no power of resistance to oppose; and even in the embrace +of her affianced husband, she exhibited the same deathlike calm that +had startled him at her first appearance. Religion could not hallow a +purer feeling than that which had impelled the action of the young +officer. The very consciousness of the sacred pledge having been +exchanged over the corpse of his friend, imparted a holiness of fervour +to his mind; and even while he pressed her, whom he secretly swore to +love with all the affection of a fond brother and a husband united, he +felt that if the spirit of him, who slept unconscious of the scene, +were suffered to linger near, it would be to hallow it with approval. +</P> + +<P> +"And now," said Clara at length, yet without attempting to disengage +herself,—"now that we are united, I would be alone with my brother. My +husband, leave me." +</P> + +<P> +Deeply touched at the name of husband, Sir Everard could not refrain +from imprinting another kiss on the lips that uttered it. He then +gently disengaged himself from his lovely but suffering charge, whom he +deposited with her head resting on the bed; and making a significant +motion of his hand to the woman, who, as well as old Morrison, had been +spectators of the whole scene, stole gently from the apartment, under +what mingled emotions of joy and grief it would be difficult to +describe. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0313"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<P> +It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and men, quitting +their ill-relished meal, were to be seen issuing to the parade, where +the monotonous roll of the assemblee now summoned them. Presently the +garrison was formed in the order we have described in our first volume; +that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square. The vacant +space fronted the guard-house, near one extremity of which was to be +seen a flight of steps communicating with the rampart, where the +flag-staff was erected. Several men were employed at this staff, +passing strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended from the +extreme top, while in the basement of the staff itself, to a height of +about twenty feet, were stuck at intervals strong wooden pegs, serving +as steps to the artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when +foul, the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter had been +removed; and, from the substitution of a cord considerably stronger +than that which usually appeared there, it seemed as if some far +heavier weight was about to be appended to it. Gradually the men, +having completed their unusual preparations, quitted the rampart, and +the flagstaff, which was of tapering pine, was left totally unguarded. +</P> + +<P> +The "Attention!" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who had been +hitherto standing in attitudes of expectancy that rendered the +injunction almost superfluous, announced the approach of the governor. +Soon afterwards that officer entered the area, wearing his +characteristic dignity of manner, yet exhibiting every evidence of one +who had suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head court-martial, as +in the first case of Halloway, had already been made within the square, +and the only actor wanting in the drama was he who was to be tried. +</P> + +<P> +Once Colonel de Haldimar made an effort to command his appearance, but +the huskiness of his voice choked his utterance, and he was compelled +to pause. After the lapse of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a +voice that was remarked to falter,— +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth." +</P> + +<P> +The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery and execution +of this command was painful throughout the ranks. All were penetrated +with curiosity to behold a man who had several times appeared to them +under the most appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest +feeling of indignation had been excited for his barbarous murder of +Charles de Haldimar. It was with mingled awe and anger they now awaited +his approach. At length the captive was seen advancing from the cell in +which he had been confined, his gigantic form towering far above those +of the guard of grenadiers by whom he was surrounded; and with a +haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his manner, that told he came +to confront his enemy with a spirit unsubdued by the fate that too +probably awaited him. +</P> + +<P> +Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment. He was +evidently struggling for composure to meet the scene he felt it to be +impossible to avoid; and he turned pale and paler as his enemy drew +near. +</P> + +<P> +At length the prisoner stood nearly in the same spot where his +unfortunate nephew had lingered on a former occasion. He was unchained; +but his hands were firmly secured behind his back. He threw himself +into an attitude of carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the +earth with the other; riveting his eye, at the same time, with an +expression of the most daring insolence, on the governor, while his +swarthy cheek was moreover lighted up with a smile of the deepest scorn. +</P> + +<P> +"You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length observed the +governor in an uncertain tone, that, however, acquired greater firmness +as he proceeded,—"one whose life has already been forfeited through +his treasonable practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred +the penalty of an ignominious death, by acting in this country as a spy +of the enemies of England. What say you, Reginald Morton, that you +should not be convicted in the death that awaits the traitor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha! by Heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses me," +vociferated Wacousta. "It reminds me of Ensign de Haldimar of nearly +five and twenty years back, who was then as cunning a dissembler as he +is now." Suddenly changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and +rage:—"You BELIEVE me, you say, to be Reginald Morton the outlaw. Well +do you know it. I am that Sir Reginald Morton, who became an outlaw, +not through his own crimes, but through your villainy. Ay, frown as you +may, I heed it not. You may award me death, but shall not chain my +tongue. To your whole regiment do I proclaim you for a false, +remorseless villain." Then turning his flashing eye along the +ranks:—"I was once an officer in this corps, and long before any of +you wore the accursed uniform. That man, that fiend, affected to be my +friend; and under the guise of friendship, stole into the heart I loved +better than my own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited prisoner, +stamping violently with his foot upon the earth, "he robbed me of my +affianced wife; and for that I resented an outrage that should have +banished him to some lone region, where he might never again pollute +human nature with his presence—he caused me to be tried by a +court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, indeed, I became the +outlaw he has described, but not until then. Now, Colonel de Haldimar, +that I have proclaimed your infamy, poor and inefficient as the triumph +be, do your worst—I ask no mercy. Yesterday I thought that years of +toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to be crowned +with success; but fate has turned the tables on me and I yield." +</P> + +<P> +To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this declaration was +productive of the utmost surprise. Every eye was turned upon the +colonel. He grew impatient under the scrutiny, and demanded if the +court, who meanwhile had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of +the prisoner, had come to a decision in regard to his punishment. An +affirmative answer was given, and Colonel de Haldimar proceeded. +</P> + +<P> +"Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your former life we +have nothing to do. It is the decision of this court, who are merely +met out of form, that you suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just +recompense for your double treason to your country. There," and he +pointed to the flag-staff, "will you be exhibited to the misguided +people whom your wicked artifices have stirred up into hostility +against us. When they behold your fate, they will take warning from +your example; and, finding we have heads and arms not to suffer offence +with impunity, be more readily brought to obedience." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta, glancing +earnestly at, and apparently measuring with his eye, the dimensions of +the conspicuous scaffold on which he was to suffer. "You had ever a +calculating head, De Haldimar, where any secret villainy, any thing to +promote your own selfish ends, was to be gained by it; but your +calculation seems now, methinks, at fault." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar looked at him enquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"You have STILL a son left," pursued the prisoner with the same +recklessness of manner, and in a tone denoting allusion to him who was +no more, that caused an universal shudder throughout the ranks. "He is +in the hands of the Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great +chief, inferior only in power among the tribe to himself. Think you +that he will see me hanged up like a dog, and fail to avenge my +disgraceful death?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! presumptuous renegade, is this the deep game you have in view? +Hope you then to stipulate for the preservation of a life every way +forfeited to the offended justice of your country? Dare you to cherish +the belief, that, after the horrible threats so often denounced by you, +you will again be let loose upon a career of crime and blood?" +</P> + +<P> +"None of your cant, de Haldimar, as I once observed to you before," +coolly retorted Wacousta, with bitter sarcasm. "Consult your own heart, +and ask if its catalogue of crime be not far greater than my own: yet I +ask not my life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered, and +fain would die the death of the soldier I WAS before you rendered me +the wretch I AM. Methinks the boon is not so great, if the restoration +of your son be the price." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, "that if the mere +mode of your death be changed, my son shall be restored?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," was the calm reply. +</P> + +<P> +"What pledge have we of the fact? What faith can we repose in the word +of a fiend, whose brutal vengeance has already sacrificed the gentlest +life that ever animated human clay?" Here the emotion of the governor +almost choked, his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring +were manifested in the ranks. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentle, said you?" replied the prisoner, musingly; "then did he +resemble his mother, whom I loved, even as his brother resembles you +whom I have had so much reason to hate. Had I known the boy to be what +you describe, I might have felt some touch of pity even while I delayed +not to strike his death blow; but the false moonlight deceived me, and +the detested name of De Haldimar, pronounced by the lips of my nephew's +wife—that wife whom your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven +mad—was in itself sufficient to ensure his doom." +</P> + +<P> +"Inhuman ruffian!" exclaimed the governor, with increasing indignation; +"to the point. What pledge have you to offer that my son will be +restored?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without much risk. You have only +to defer my death until your messenger return from his interview with +Ponteac. If Captain de Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have +requested; if he come not, then it is but to hang me after all." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I understand you; this is but a pretext to gain time, a device to +enable your subtle brain to plan some mode of escape." +</P> + +<P> +"As you will, Colonel de Haldimar," calmly retorted Wacousta; and again +he sank into silence, with the air of one utterly indifferent to +results. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean," resumed the colonel, "that a request from yourself to +the Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation of my son?" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless the Indian be false as yourself, I do." +</P> + +<P> +"And of the lady who is with him?" continued the colonel, colouring +with anger. +</P> + +<P> +"Of both." +</P> + +<P> +"How is the message to be conveyed?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, sir!" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to his full +height, "now are you arrived at a point that is pertinent. My wampum +belt will be the passport, and the safeguard of him you send; then for +the communication. There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, +traced on bark, answer the same purpose among the Indians with the +European language of letters. Let my hands be cast loose," he pursued, +but in a tone in which agitation and excitement might be detected, "and +if bark be brought me, and a burnt stick or coal, I will give you not +only a sample of Indian ingenuity, but a specimen of my own progress in +Indian acquirements." +</P> + +<P> +"What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of escape?" +observed the governor, doubtingly. +</P> + +<P> +Wacousta bent his stedfast gaze on him for a few moments, as if he +questioned he had heard aright. Then bursting into a wild and scornful +laugh,—"By Heaven!" he exclaimed, "this is, indeed, a high compliment +you pay me at the expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de +Haldimar afraid to liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a forest +of bayonets? This is good; gentlemen," and he bent himself in sarcastic +reverence to the astonished troops, "I beg to offer you my very best +congratulations on the high estimation in which you are held by your +colonel." +</P> + +<P> +"Peace, sirrah!" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond measure at the +insolence of him who thus held him up to contempt before his men, "or, +by Heaven, I will have your tongue cut out!—Mr. Lawson, let what this +fellow requires be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant +Boyce, who commanded the immediate guard over the prisoner,—"Let his +hands be liberated, sir, and enjoin your men to be watchful of the +movements of this supple traitor. His activity I know of old to be +great, and he seems to have doubled it since he assumed that garb." +</P> + +<P> +The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once more, free and +unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep and unbroken silence ensued; +and the return of the adjutant was momentarily expected. Suddenly a +loud scream was heard, and the slight figure of a female, clad in +white, came rushing from the piazza in which the apartment of the +deceased De Haldimar was situated. It was Clara. The guard of Wacousta +formed the fourth front of the square; but they were drawn up somewhat +in the distance, so as to leave an open space of several feet at the +angles. Through one of these the excited girl now passed into the area, +with a wildness in her air and appearance that riveted every eye in +painful interest upon her. She paused not until she had gained the side +of the captive, at whose feet she now sank in an attitude expressive of +the most profound despair. +</P> + +<P> +"Tiger!—monster!" she raved, "restore my brother!—give me back the +gentle life you have taken, or destroy my own! See, I am a weak +defenceless girl: can you not strike?—you who have no pity for the +innocent. But come," she pursued, mournfully, regaining her feet and +grasping his iron hand,—"come and see the sweet calm face of him you +have slain:—come with me, and behold the image of Clara Beverley; and, +if you ever loved her as you say you did, let your soul be touched with +remorse for your crime." +</P> + +<P> +The excitement and confusion produced by this unexpected interruption +was great. Murmurs of compassion for the unhappy Clara, and of +indignation against the prisoner, were no longer sought to be repressed +by the men; while the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, +grouped themselves indiscriminately in the foreground. One, more +impatient than his companions, sprang forward, and forcibly drew away +the delicate, hand that still grasped that of the captive. It was Sir +Everard Valletort. +</P> + +<P> +"Clara, my beloved wife!" he exclaimed, to the astonishment of all who +heard him, "pollute not your lips by further communion with such a +wretch; his heart is as inaccessible to pity as the rugged rocks on +which his spring-life was passed. For Heaven's sake,—for my +sake,—linger not within his reach. There is death in his very +presence." +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife, sir!" haughtily observed the governor, with irrepressible +astonishment and indignation in his voice; "what mean you?—Gentlemen, +resume your places in the ranks.—Clara—Miss de Haldimar, I command +you to retire instantly to your apartment.—We will discourse of this +later, Sir Everard Valletort. I trust you have not dared to offer an +indignity to my child." +</P> + +<P> +While he was yet turned to that officer, who had taken his post, as +commanded, in the inner angle of the square, and with a countenance +that denoted the conflicting emotions of his soul, he was suddenly +startled by the confused shout and rushing forward of the whole body, +both of officers and men. Before he had time to turn, a loud and +well-remembered yell burst upon his ear. The next moment, to his +infinite surprise and horror, he beheld the bold warrior rapidly +ascending the very staff that had been destined for his scaffold, and +with Clara in his arms. +</P> + +<P> +Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and surround the +flag-staff, was the immediate action of the troops. Many of the men +raised their muskets, and in the excitement of the moment, would have +fired, had they not been restrained by their officers, who pointed out +the certain destruction it would entail on the unfortunate Clara. With +the rapidity of thought, Wacousta had snatched up his victim, while the +attention of the troops was directed to the singular conversation +passing between the governor and Sir Everard Valletort, and darting +through one of the open angles already alluded to, had gained the +rampart before they had recovered from the stupor produced by his +daring action. Stepping lightly upon the pegs, he had rapidly ascended +to the utmost height of these, before any one thought of following him; +and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have served for +his execution, and holding Clara firmly against his chest, while he +embraced the smooth staff with knees and feet closely compressed around +it, accomplished the difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all +who beheld him. Gradually, as he approached the top, the tapering pine +waved to and fro; and at each moment it was expected, that, yielding to +their united weight, it would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara +and himself, either upon the rampart, or into the ditch beyond. +</P> + +<P> +More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive in his +adventurous course; but even Lieutenant Johnstone, the most active and +experienced in climbing of the party, was unable to rise more than a +few yards above the pegs that afforded a footing, add the enterprise +was abandoned as an impossibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain +the extreme summit. For a moment he turned his gaze anxiously beyond +the town, in the direction of the bridge; and, after pealing forth one +of his terrific yells, exclaimed, exultingly, as he turned his eye upon +his enemy:— +</P> + +<P> +"Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian ingenuity? Did +I not tell you," he continued, in mockery, "that, if my hands were but +free, I would give you a specimen of my progress in Indian +acquirements?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that of hanging," +shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled rage and terror, "restore +my daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha! ha!—excellent!" vociferated the savage. "You threaten +largely, my good governor; but your threats are harmless as those of a +weak besieging army before an impregnable fortress. It is for the +strongest, however, to propose his terms.—If I restore this girl to +life, will you pledge yourself to mine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual energy.—"Men, +procure axes; cut the flag-staff down, since this is the only means +left of securing yon insolent traitor! Quick to your work: and mark, +who first seizes him shall have promotion on the spot." +</P> + +<P> +Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent themselves +vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to watch these preparations +with evident anxiety; and to all it appeared as if his courage had been +paralysed by this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen +reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth over the edge +of the rampart, he shouted,— +</P> + +<P> +"One stroke more, and she perishes!" +</P> + +<P> +Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of a few moments +ensued. Every eye was turned upward,—every heart beat with terror to +see the delicate girl, held by a single arm, and apparently about to be +precipitated from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,— +</P> + +<P> +"Life for life, De Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?" +</P> + +<P> +"No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the heart of my own +fort," returned the governor. "Restore my child, and we will then +consider what mercy may be extended to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as yours," gloomily +remarked the prisoner; "but I come." +</P> + +<P> +"Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a low tone. "The +instant he descends, secure him: lash him in every limb, nor suffer +even his insolent tongue to be longer at liberty." +</P> + +<P> +"Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in readiness to +lower the drawbridge," implored Sir Everard of the officer of the +guard, and in a tone of deep emotion that was not meant to be overheard +by the governor. "I fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him +to some desperate means of escape." +</P> + +<P> +While the officer whom he addressed issued a command, the +responsibility of which he fancied he might, under the peculiar +circumstances of the moment, take upon himself, Wacousta began his +descent, not as before, by adhering to the staff, but by the rope which +he held in his left hand, while he still supported the apparently +senseless Clara against his right chest with the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Colonel de Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest," he shouted, +as he rapidly glided by the cord; "enjoy your triumph as best may suit +your pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +Every eye followed his movement with interest; every heart beat lighter +at the certainty of Clara being again restored, and without other +injury than the terror she must have experienced in such a scene. Each +congratulated himself on the favourable termination of the terrible +adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure the desperate +author of the wrong. Wacousta had now reached the centre of the +flag-staff. Pausing for a moment, he grappled it with his strong and +nervous feet, on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief +to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned his hold, +swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, and returning again, +dashed his feet against it with a force that caused the weakened mass +to vibrate to its very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the +violence of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top +gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it finally snapped +asunder, and fell with a loud crash across the ditch. +</P> + +<P> +"Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!" exclaimed the excited +governor. +</P> + +<P> +"Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the men already +stationed there ready to let loose at the first order. The heavy chains +rattled sullenly through the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge +seemed an hour descending. Before it had reached its level, it was +covered with the weight of many armed men rushing confusedly to the +front; and the foremost of these leaped to the earth before it had sunk +into its customary bed. Sir Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone +were in the front, both armed with their rifles, which had been brought +them before Wacousta commenced his descent. Without order or +combination, Erskine, Blessington, and nearly half of their respective +companies, followed as they could; and dispersing as they advanced, +sought only which could outstep his fellows in the pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the gradual rending +asunder of the staff, had obeyed the impulsion first given to his +active form, until, suddenly checking himself by the rope, he dropped +with his feet downward into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he +disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface; and in the face +of more than fifty men, who, lining the rampart with their muskets +levelled to take him at advantage the instant he should reappear, +seemed to laugh their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a +shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must pass before they +could attain him, he impelled his gigantic form with a backward +movement towards the opposite bank, which he rapidly ascended; and, +still fronting his enemies, commenced his flight in that manner with a +speed which (considering the additional weight of the drenched garments +of both) was inconceivable. The course taken by him was not through the +town, but circuitously across the common until he arrived on that +immediate line whence, as we have before stated, the bridge was +distinctly visible from the rampart; on which, nearly the whole of the +remaining troops, in defiance of the presence of their austere chief, +were now eagerly assembled, watching, with unspeakable interest, the +progress of the chase. +</P> + +<P> +Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently continued +this mode of flight from a conviction that the instant his person was +left exposed the fire-arms of his pursuers would be brought to bear +upon him, the two officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary +exertions, were rapidly gaining upon him. Already was one within fifty +yards of him, when a loud yell was heard from the bridge. This was +fiercely answered by the fleeing man, and in a manner that implied his +glad sense of coming rescue. In the wild exultation of the moment, he +raised Clara high above his head, to show her in triumph to the +governor, whose person his keen eye could easily distinguish among +those crowded upon the rampart. In the gratified vengeance of that +hour, he seemed utterly to overlook the actions of those who were so +near him. During this brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one +knee, and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his rifle at the +heart of the ravisher of his wife. An exulting shout burst from the +pursuing troops. Wacousta bounded a few feet in air, and placing his +hand to his side, uttered another yell, more appalling than any that +had hitherto escaped him. His flight was now uncertain and wavering. He +staggered as one who had received a mortal wound; and discontinuing his +unequal mode of retreat, turned his back upon his pursuers, and threw +all his remaining energies into a final effort at escape. +</P> + +<P> +Inspirited by the success of his shot, and expecting momentarily to see +him fall weakened with the loss of blood, the excited Valletort +redoubled his exertions. To his infinite joy, he found that the efforts +of the fugitive became feebler at each moment Johnstone was about +twenty paces behind him, and the pursuing party at about the same +distance from Johnstone. The baronet had now reached his enemy, and +already was the butt of his rifle raised with both hands with murderous +intent, when suddenly Wacousta, every feature distorted with rage and +pain, turned like a wounded lion at bay, and eluding the blow, +deposited the unconscious form of his victim upon the sward. Springing +upon his infinitely weaker pursuer, he grappled him furiously by the +throat, exclaiming through his clenched teeth:— +</P> + +<P> +"Nay then, since you will provoke your fate—be it so. Die like a dog, +and be d—d, for having balked me—of my just revenge!" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, he hurled the gasping officer to the earth with a violence +that betrayed the dreadful excitement of his soul, and again hastened +to assure himself of his prize. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Lieutenant Johnstone had come up, and, seeing his companion +struggling as he presumed, with advantage, with his severely wounded +enemy, made it his first care to secure the unhappy girl; for whose +recovery the pursuit had been principally instituted. Quitting his +rifle, he now essayed to raise her in his arms. She was without life or +consciousness, and the impression on his mind was that she was dead. +</P> + +<P> +While in the act of raising her, the terrible Wacousta stood at his +side, his vast chest heaving forth a laugh of mingled rage and +contempt. Before the officer could extricate, with a view of defending +himself, his arms were pinioned as though in a vice; and ere he could +recover from his surprise, he felt himself lifted up and thrown to a +considerable distance. When he opened his eyes a moment afterwards, he +was lying amid the moving feet of his own men. +</P> + +<P> +From the instant of the closing of the unfortunate Valletort with his +enemy, the Indians, hastening to the assistance of their chief, had +come up, and a desultory fire had already commenced, diverting, in a +great degree, the attention of the troops from the pursued. Emboldened +by this new aspect of things Wacousta now deliberately grasped the +rifle that had been abandoned by Johnstone; and raising it to his +shoulder, fired among the group collected on the ramparts. For a moment +he watched the result of his shot, and then, pealing forth another +fierce yell, he hurled the now useless weapon into the very heart of +his pursuers; and again raising Clara in his arms, once more commenced +his retreat, which, under cover of the fire of his party, was easily +effected. +</P> + +<P> +"Who has fallen?" demanded the governor of his adjutant, perceiving +that some one had been hit at his side, yet without taking his eyes off +his terrible enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Delme, sir," was the reply. "He has been shot through the heart, +and his men are bearing him from the rampart." +</P> + +<P> +"This must not be," resumed the governor with energy. "Private feelings +must no longer be studied at the expense of the public good. That +pursuit is hopeless; and already too many of my officers have fallen. +Desire the retreat to be sounded, Mr. Lawson. Captain Wentworth, let +one or two covering guns be brought to bear upon the savages. They are +gradually increasing hi numbers; and if we delay, the party will be +wholly cut off." +</P> + +<P> +In issuing these orders, Colonel de Haldimar evinced a composedness +that astonished all who heard him. But although his voice was calm, +despair was upon his brow. Still he continued to gaze fixedly on the +retreating form of his enemy, until he finally disappeared behind the +orchard of the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. +</P> + +<P> +Obeying the summons from the fort, the troops without now commenced +their retreat, bearing off the bodies of their fallen officers and +several of their comrades who had fallen by the Indian fire. There was +a show of harassing them on their return; but they were too near the +fort to apprehend much danger. Two or three well-directed discharges of +artillery effectually checked the onward progress of the savages; and, +in the course of a minute, they had again wholly disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +In gloomy silence, and with anger and disappointment in their hearts, +the detachment now re-entered the fort. Johnstone was only severely +bruised; Sir Everard Valletort not dead. Both were conveyed to the same +room, where they were instantly attended by the surgeon, who pronounced +the situation of the latter hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +Major Blackwater, Captains Blessington and Erskine, Lieutenants Leslie +and Boyce, and Ensigns Fortescue and Summers, were now the only +regimental officers that remained of thirteen originally comprising the +strength of the garrison. The whole of these stood grouped around their +colonel, who seemed transfixed to the spot he had first occupied on the +rampart, with his arms folded, and his gaze bent in the direction in +which he had lost sight of Wacousta and his child. +</P> + +<P> +Hitherto the morning had been cold and cheerless, and objects in the +far distance were but indistinctly seen through a humid atmosphere. At +about half an hour before mid-day the air became more rarified, and, +the murky clouds gradually disappearing, left the blue autumnal sky +without spot or blemish. Presently, as the bells of the fort struck +twelve, a yell as of a legion of devils rent the air; and, riveting +their gaze in that direction, all beheld the bridge, hitherto deserted, +suddenly covered with a multitude of savages, among whom were several +individuals attired in the European garb, and evidently prisoners. Each +officer had a telescope raised to his eye, and each prepared himself, +shudderingly, for some horrid consummation. Presently the bridge was +cleared of all but a double line of what appeared to be women, armed +with war-clubs and tomahawks. Along the line were now seen to pass, in +slow succession, the prisoners that had previously been observed. At +each step they took (and it was evident they had been compelled to run +the gauntlet), a blow was inflicted by some one or other of the line, +until the wretched victims were successively despatched. A loud yell +from the warriors, who, although hidden from view by the intervening +orchards, were evidently merely spectators in the bloody drama, +announced each death. These yells were repeated, at intervals, to about +the number of thirty, when, suddenly, the bridge was again deserted as +before. +</P> + +<P> +After the lapse of a minute, the tall figure of a warrior was seen to +advance, holding a female in his arms. No one could mistake, even at +that distance, the gigantic proportions of Wacousta,—as he stood in +the extreme centre of the bridge, in imposing relief against the flood +that glittered like a sea of glass beyond. From his chest there now +burst a single yell; but, although audible, it was fainter than any +remembered ever to have been heard from him by the garrison. He then +advanced to the extreme edge of the bridge; and, raising the form of +the female far above his head with his left hand, seemed to wave her in +vengeful triumph. A second warrior was seen upon the bridge, and +stealing cautiously to the same point. The right hand of the first +warrior was now raised and brandished in air; in the next instant it +descended upon the breast of the female, who fell from his arms into +the ravine beneath. Yells of triumph from the Indians, and shouts of +execration from the soldiers, mingled faintly together. At that moment +the arm of the second warrior was raised, and a blade was seen to +glitter in the sunshine. His arm descended, and Wacousta was observed +to stagger forward and fall heavily into the abyss into which his +victim had the instant before been precipitated. Another loud yell, but +of disappointment and anger, was heard drowning that of exultation +pealed by the triumphant warrior, who, darting to the open extremity of +the bridge, directed his flight along the margin of the river, where a +light canoe was ready to receive him. Into this he sprang, and, seizing +the paddle, sent the waters foaming from its sides; and, pursuing his +way across the river, had nearly gained the shores of Canada before a +bark was to be seen following in pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +How felt—how acted Colonel de Haldimar throughout this brief but +terrible scene? He uttered not a word. With his arms still folded +across his breast, he gazed upon the murder of his child; but he heaved +not a groan, he shed not a tear. A momentary triumph seemed to, +irradiate his pallid features, when he saw the blow struck that +annihilated his enemy; but it was again instantly shaded by an +expression of the most profound despair. +</P> + +<P> +"It is done, gentlemen," he at length remarked. "The tragedy is closed, +the curse of Ellen Halloway is fulfilled, and I +am—childless!—Blackwater," he pursued, endeavouring to stifle the +emotion produced by the last reflection, "pay every attention to the +security of the garrison, see that the drawbridge is again properly +chained up, and direct that the duties of the troops be prosecuted in +every way as heretofore." +</P> + +<P> +Leaving his officers to wonder at and pity that apathy of mind that +could mingle the mere forms of duty with the most heart-rending +associations, Colonel de Haldimar now quitted the rampart; and, with a +head that was remarked for the first time to droop over his chest, +paced his way musingly to his apartments. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0314"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<P> +Night had long since drawn her circling mantle over the western +hemisphere; and deeper, far deeper than the gloom of that night was the +despair which filled every bosom of the devoted garrison, whose +fortunes it has fallen to our lot to record. A silence, profound as +that of death, pervaded the ramparts and exterior defences of the +fortress, interrupted only, at long intervals, by the customary "All's +well!" of the several sentinels; which, after the awful events of the +day, seemed to many who now heard it as if uttered in mockery of their +hopelessness of sorrow. The lights within the barracks of the men had +been long since extinguished; and, consigned to a mere repose of limb, +in which the eye and heart shared not, the inferior soldiery pressed +their rude couches with spirits worn out by a succession of painful +excitements, and frames debilitated, by much abstinence and watching. +It was an hour at which sleep was wont to afford them the blessing of a +temporary forgetfulness of endurances that weighed the more heavily as +they were believed to be endless and without fruit; but sleep had now +apparently been banished from all; for the low and confused murmur that +met the ear from the several block-houses was continuous and general, +betraying at times, and in a louder key, words that bore reference to +the tragic occurrences of the day. +</P> + +<P> +The only lights visible in the fort proceeded from the guard-house and +a room adjoining that of the ill-fated Charles de Haldimar. Within the +latter were collected, with the exception of the governor, and grouped +around a bed on which lay one of their companions in a nearly expiring +state, the officers of the garrison, reduced nearly one third in number +since we first offered them to the notice of our readers. The dying man +was Sir Everard Valletort, who, supported by pillows, was concluding a +narrative that had chained the earnest attention of his auditory, even +amid the deep and heartfelt sympathy perceptible in each for the +forlorn and hopeless condition of the narrator. At the side of the +unhappy baronet, and enveloped in a dressing gown, as if recently out +of bed, sat, reclining in a rude elbow chair, one whose pallid +countenance denoted, that, although far less seriously injured, he, +too, had suffered severely:—it was Lieutenant Johnstone. +</P> + +<P> +The narrative was at length closed; and the officer, exhausted by the +effort he had made in his anxiety to communicate every particular to +his attentive and surprised companions, had sunk back upon his pillow, +when, suddenly, the loud and unusual "Who comes there?" of the sentinel +stationed on the rampart above the gateway, arrested every ear. A +moment of pause succeeded, when again was heard the "Stand, friend!" +evidently given in reply to the familiar answer to the original +challenge. Then were audible rapid movements in the guard-house, as of +men aroused from temporary slumber, and hastening to the point whence +the voice proceeded. +</P> + +<P> +Silently yet hurriedly the officers now quitted the bedside of the +dying man, leaving only the surgeon and the invalid Johnstone behind +them; and, flying to the rampart, stood in the next minute confounded +with the guard, who were already grouped round the challenging +sentinel, bending their gaze eagerly in the direction of the road. +</P> + +<P> +"What now, man?—whom have you challenged?" asked Major Blackwater. +</P> + +<P> +"It is I—De Haldimar," hoarsely exclaimed one of four dark figures +that, hitherto, unnoticed by the officers, stood immediately beyond the +ditch, with a burden deposited at their feet. "Quick, Blackwater, let +us in for God's sake! Each succeeding minute may bring a scouting party +on our track. Lower the drawbridge!" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" exclaimed the major: "after all that has passed, it is +more than my commission is worth to lower the bridge without +permission. Mr. Lawson, quick to the governor, and report that Captain +de Haldimar is here: with whom shall he say?" again addressing the +impatient and almost indignant officer. +</P> + +<P> +"With Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and one to whom we all +owe our lives," hurriedly returned the officer; "and you may add," he +continued gloomily, "the corpse of my sister. But while we stand in +parley here, we are lost: Lawson, fly to my father, and tell him we +wait for entrance." +</P> + +<P> +With nearly the speed enjoined the adjutant departed. Scarcely a minute +elapsed when he again stood upon the rampart, and advancing closely to +the major, whispered a few words in his ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Good God! can it be possible? When? How came this? but we will enquire +later. Open the gate; down with the bridge, Leslie," addressing the +officer of the guard. +</P> + +<P> +The command was instantly obeyed. The officers flew to receive the +fugitives; and as the latter crossed the drawbridge, the light of a +lantern, that had been brought from the guard-room, flashed full upon +the harassed countenances of Captain and Miss de Haldimar, Francois the +Canadian, and the devoted Oucanasta. +</P> + +<P> +Silent and melancholy was the greeting that took place between the +parties: the voice spoke not; the hand alone was eloquent; but it was +in the eloquence of sorrow only that it indulged. Pleasure, even in +this almost despaired of re-union, could not be expressed; and even the +eye shrank from mutual encounter, as if its very glance at such a +moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a sense of her situation by the +preparation of the men to raise the bridge, the Indian woman was the +first to break the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw is safe within his fort, and the girl of the pale faces +will lay her head upon his bosom," she remarked solemnly. "Oucanasta +will go to her solitary wigwam among the red skins." +</P> + +<P> +The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the weight of many +griefs; yet she could not see the generous preserver of her life, and +the rescuer of the body of her ill-fated cousin, depart without +emotion. Drawing a ring, of some value and great beauty, from her +finger, which she had more than once observed the Indian to admire, she +placed it on her hand; and then, throwing herself on the bosom of the +faithful creature, embraced her with deep manifestations of affection, +but without uttering a word. +</P> + +<P> +Oucanasta was sensibly gratified: she raised her large eyes to heaven +as if in thankfulness; and by the light of the lantern, which fell upon +her dark but expressive countenance, tears were to be seen starting +unbidden from their source. +</P> + +<P> +Released from the embrace of her, whose life she had twice preserved at +imminent peril to her own, the Indian again prepared to depart; but +there was another, who, like Madeline, although stricken by many +sorrows, could not forego the testimony of his heart's gratitude. +Captain de Haldimar, who, during this short scene, had despatched a +messenger to his room for the purpose, now advanced to the poor girl, +bearing a short but elegantly mounted dagger, which he begged her to +deliver as a token of his friendship to the young chief her brother. He +then dropped on one knee at her feet, and raising her hand, pressed it +fervently against his heart; an action which, even to the untutored +mind of the Indian, bore evidence only of the feeling that prompted it, +A heavy sigh escaped her labouring chest; and as the officer now rose +and quitted her hand, she turned slowly and with dignity from him, and +crossing the drawbridge, was in a few minutes lost in the surrounding +gloom. +</P> + +<P> +Our readers have, doubtless, anticipated the communication made to +Major Blackwater by the Adjutant Lawson. Bowed down to the dust by the +accomplishment of the curse of Ellen Halloway, the inflexibility of +Colonel de Haldimar's pride was not proof against the utter +annihilation wrought to his hopes as a father by the unrelenting hatred +of the enemy his early falsehood and treachery had raised up to him. +When the adjutant entered his apartment, the stony coldness of his +cheek attested he had been dead some hours. +</P> + +<P> +We pass over the few days of bitter trial that succeeded to the +restoration of Captain de Haldimar and his bride to their friends; +days, during which were consigned to the same grave the bodies of the +governor, his lamented children, and the scarcely less regretted Sir +Everard Valletort. The funeral service was attempted by Captain +Blessington; but the strong affection of that excellent officer, for +three of the defunct parties at least, was not armed against the trial. +He had undertaken a task far beyond his strength; and scarcely had +commenced, ere he was compelled to relinquish the performance of the +ritual to the adjutant. A large grave had been dug close under the +rampart, and near the fatal flag-staff, to receive the bodies of their +deceased friends; and, as they were lowered successively into their +last earthly resting place, tears fell unrestrainedly over the bronzed +cheeks of the oldest soldiers, while many a female sob blended with and +gave touching solemnity to the scene. +</P> + +<P> +On the morning of the third day from this quadruple interment, notice +was given by one of the sentinels that an Indian was approaching the +fort, making signs as if in demand for a parley. The officers, headed +by Major Blackwater, now become the commandant of the place, +immediately ascended the rampart, when the stranger was at once +recognised by Captain de Haldimar for the young Ottawa, the preserver +of his life, and the avenger of the deaths of those they mourned, in +whose girdle was thrust, in seeming pride, the richly mounted dagger +that officer had caused to be conveyed to him through his no less +generous sister. A long conference ensued, in the language of the +Ottawas, between the parties just named, the purport of which was of +high moment to the garrison, now nearly reduced to the last extremity. +The young chief had come to apprise them, that, won by the noble +conduct of the English, on a late occasion, when his warriors were +wholly in their power, Ponteac had expressed a generous determination +to conclude a peace with the garrison, and henceforth to consider them +as his friends. This he had publicly declared in a large council of the +chiefs, held the preceding night; and the motive of the Ottawa's coming +was, to assure the English, that, on this occasion, their great leader +was perfectly sincere in a resolution, at which he had the more readily +arrived, now that his terrible coadjutor and vindictive adviser was no +more. He prepared them for the coming of Ponteac and the principal +chiefs of the league to demand a council on the morrow; and, with this +final communication, again withdrew. +</P> + +<P> +The Ottawa was right Within a week from that period the English were to +be seen once more issuing from their fort; and, although many months +elapsed before the wounds of their suffering hearts were healed, still +were they grateful to Providence for their final preservation from a +doom that had fallen, without exception, on every fortress on the line +of frontier in which they lay. +</P> + +<P> +Time rolled on; and, in the course of years, Oucanasta might be seen +associating with and bearing curious presents, the fruits of Indian +ingenuity, to the daughters of De Haldimar, now become the colonel of +the —— regiment; while her brother, the chief, instructed his sons in +the athletic and active exercises peculiar to his race. As for poor +Ellen Halloway, search had been made for her, but she never was heard +of afterwards. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac +Conspiracy (Complete), by John Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 4912-h.htm or 4912-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/1/4912/ + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy (Complete) + +Author: John Richardson + +Posting Date: September 6, 2009 [EBook #4912] +Release Date: January, 2004 +First Posted: March 25, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--COMPLETE *** + + + + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + + +WACOUSTA; + + or, + +THE PROPHECY. + +Volume One of Three + + +by + +John Richardson + + + + + +Preface + +It is well known to every man conversant with the earlier history of +this country that, shortly subsequent to the cession of the Canadas to +England by France, Ponteac, the great head of the Indian race of that +period, had formed a federation of the various tribes, threatening +extermination to the British posts established along the Western +frontier. These were nine in number, and the following stratagem was +resorted to by the artful chief to effect their reduction. Investing +one fort with his warriors, so as to cut off all communication with the +others, and to leave no hope of succor, his practice was to offer terms +of surrender, which never were kept in the honorable spirit in which +the far more noble and generous Tecumseh always acted with his enemies, +and thus, in turn, seven of these outposts fell victims to their +confidence in his truth. + +Detroit and Michilimackinac, or Mackinaw as it is now called, remained, +and all the ingenuity of the chieftain was directed to the possession +of these strongholds. The following plan, well worthy of his invention, +was at length determined upon. During a temporary truce, and while +Ponteac was holding forth proposals for an ultimate and durable peace, +a game of lacrosse was arranged by him to take place simultaneously on +the common or clearing on which rested the forts of Michilimackinac and +Detroit. The better to accomplish their object, the guns of the +warriors had been cut short and given to their women, who were +instructed to conceal them under their blankets, and during the game, +and seemingly without design, to approach the drawbridge of the fort. +This precaution taken, the players were to approach and throw over +their ball, permission to regain which they presumed would not be +denied. On approaching the drawbridge they were with fierce yells to +make a general rush, and, securing the arms concealed by the women, to +massacre the unprepared garrison. + +The day was fixed; the game commenced, and was proceeded with in the +manner previously arranged. The ball was dexterously hurled into the +fort, and permission asked to recover it. It was granted. The +drawbridge was lowered, and the Indians dashed forward for the +accomplishment of their work of blood. How different the results in the +two garrisons! At Detroit, Ponteac and his warriors had scarcely +crossed the drawbridge when, to their astonishment and disappointment, +they beheld the guns of the ramparts depressed--the artillerymen with +lighted matches at their posts and covering the little garrison, +composed of a few companies of the 42nd Highlanders, who were also +under arms, and so distributed as to take the enemy most at an +advantage. Suddenly they withdrew and without other indication of their +purpose than what had been expressed in their manner, and carried off +the missing ball. Their design had been discovered and made known by +means of significant warnings to the Governor by an Indian woman who +owed a debt of gratitude to his family, and was resolved, at all +hazards, to save them. + +On the same day the same artifice was resorted to at Michilimackinac, +and with the most complete success. There was no guardian angel there +to warn them of danger, and all fell beneath the rifle, the tomahawk, +the war-club, and the knife, one or two of the traders--a Mr. Henry +among the rest--alone excepted. + +It was not long after this event when the head of the military +authorities in the Colony, apprised of the fate of these captured +posts, and made acquainted with the perilous condition of Fort Detroit, +which was then reduced to the last extremity, sought an officer who +would volunteer the charge of supplies from Albany to Buffalo, and +thence across the lake to Detroit, which, if possible, he was to +relieve. That volunteer was promptly found in my maternal grandfather, +Mr. Erskine, from Strabane, in the North of Ireland, then an officer in +the Commissariat Department. The difficulty of the undertaking will be +obvious to those who understand the danger attending a journey through +the Western wilderness, beset as it was by the warriors of Ponteac, +ever on the lookout to prevent succor to the garrison, and yet the duty +was successfully accomplished. He left Albany with provisions and +ammunition sufficient to fill several Schnectady boats--I think +seven--and yet conducted his charge with such prudence and foresight, +that notwithstanding the vigilance of Ponteac, he finally and after +long watching succeeded, under cover of a dark and stormy night, in +throwing into the fort the supplies of which the remnant of the +gallant "Black Watch," as the 42nd was originally named, and a company +of whom, while out reconnoitering, had been massacred at a spot in the +vicinity of the town, thereafter called the Bloody Run, stood so +greatly in need. This important service rendered, Mr. Erskine, in +compliance with the instructions he had received, returned to Albany, +where he reported the success of the expedition. + +The colonial authorities were not regardless of his interests. When the +Ponteac confederacy had been dissolved, and quiet and security restored +in that remote region, large tracts of land were granted to Mr. +Erskine, and other privileges accorded which eventually gave him the +command of nearly a hundred thousand dollars--enormous sum to have been +realized at that early period of the country. But it was not destined +that he should retain this. The great bulk of his capital was expended +on almost the first commercial shipping that ever skimmed the surface +of Lakes Huron and Erie. Shortly prior to the Revolution, he was +possessed of seven vessels of different tonnage, and the trade in which +he had embarked, and of which he was the head, was rapidly increasing +his already large fortune, when one of those autumnal hurricanes, which +even to this day continue to desolate the waters of the treacherous +lake last named, suddenly arose and buried beneath its engulfing waves +not less than six of these schooners laden with such riches, chiefly +furs, of the West as then were most an object of barter. + +Mr. Erskine, who had married the daughter of one of the earliest +settlers from France, and of a family well known in history, a lady who +had been in Detroit during the siege of the British garrison by +Ponteac, now abandoned speculation, and contenting himself with the +remnant of his fortune, established himself near the banks of the +river, within a short distance of the Bloody Run. Here he continued +throughout the Revolution. Early, however, in the present century, he +quitted Detroit and repaired to the Canadian shore, where on a property +nearly opposite, which he obtained in exchange, and which in honor of +his native country he named Strabane--known as such to this day--he +passed the autumn of his days. The last time I beheld him was a day or +two subsequent to the affair of the Thames, when General Harrison and +Colonel Johnson were temporary inmates of his dwelling. + +My father, of a younger branch of the Annandale family, the head of +which was attainted in the Scottish rebellion of 1745, was an officer +of Simcoe's well-known Rangers, in which regiment, and about the same +period, the present Lord Hardinge commenced his services in this +country. Being quartered at Fort Erie, he met and married at the house +of one of the earliest Canadian merchants a daughter of Mr. Erskine, +then on a visit to her sister, and by her had eight children, of whom I +am the oldest and only survivor. Having a few years after his marriage +been ordered to St. Joseph's, near Michilimackinac, my father thought +it expedient to leave me with Mr. Erskine at Detroit, where I received +the first rudiments of my education. But here I did not remain long, +for it was during the period of the stay of the detachment of Simcoe's +Rangers at St. Joseph that Mr. Erskine repaired with his family to the +Canadian shore, where on the more elevated and conspicuous part of his +grounds which are situated nearly opposite the foot of Hog Island, so +repeatedly alluded to in "Wacousta," he had caused a flag-staff to be +erected, from which each Sabbath day proudly floated the colors under +which he had served, and which he never could bring himself to disown. + +It was at Strabane that the old lady, with whom I was a great favorite, +used to enchain my young interest by detailing various facts connected +with the siege she so well remembered, and infused into me a longing to +grow up to manhood that I might write a book about it. The details of +the Ponteac plan for the capture of the two forts were what she most +enlarged upon, and although a long lapse of years of absence from the +scene, and ten thousand incidents of a higher and more immediate +importance might have been supposed to weaken the recollections of so +early a period of life, the impression has ever vividly remained. Hence +the first appearance of "Wacousta" in London in 1832, more than a +quarter of a century later. The story is founded solely on the artifice +of Ponteac to possess himself of those two last British forts. All else +is imaginary. + +It is not a little curious that I, only a few years subsequent to the +narration by old Mrs. Erskine of the daring and cunning feats of +Ponteac, and his vain attempt to secure the fort of Detroit, should +myself have entered it in arms. But it was so. I had ever hated school +with a most bitter hatred, and I gladly availed myself of an offer from +General Brock to obtain for me a commission in the King's service. +Meanwhile I did duty as a cadet with the gallant 41st regiment, to +which the English edition of "Wacousta" was inscribed, and was one of +the guard of honor who took possession of the fort. The duty of a +sentinel over the British colors, which had just been hoisted was +assigned to me, and I certainly felt not a little proud of the +distinction. + +Five times within half a century had the flag of that fortress been +changed. First the lily of France, then the red cross of England, and +next the stars and stripes of America had floated over its ramparts; +and then again the red cross, and lastly the stars. On my return to +this country a few years since, I visited those scenes of stirring +excitement in which my boyhood had been passed, but I looked in vain +for the ancient fortifications which had given a classical interest to +that region. The unsparing hand of utilitarianism had passed over them, +destroying almost every vestige of the past. Where had risen the only +fortress in America at all worthy to give antiquity to the scene, +streets had been laid out and made, and houses had been built, leaving +not a trace of its existence save the well that formerly supplied the +closely besieged garrison with water; and this, half imbedded in the +herbage of an enclosure of a dwelling house of mean appearance, was +rather to be guessed at than seen; while at the opposite extremity of +the city, where had been conspicuous for years the Bloody Run, +cultivation and improvement had nearly obliterated every trace of the +past. + +Two objections have been urged against "Wacousta" as a consistent +tale--the one as involving an improbability, the other a geographical +error. It has been assumed that the startling feat accomplished by that +man of deep revenge, who is not alone in his bitter hatred and contempt +for the base among those who, like spaniels, crawl and kiss the dust at +the instigation of their superiors, and yet arrogate to themselves a +claim to be considered gentlemen and men of honor and independence--it +has, I repeat, been assumed that the feat attributed to him in +connection with the flag-staff of the fort was impossible. No one who +has ever seen these erections on the small forts of that day would +pronounce the same criticism. Never very lofty, they were ascended at +least one-third of their height by means of small projections nailed to +them for footholds for the artillerymen, frequently compelled to clear +the flag lines entangled at the truck; therefore a strong and active +man, such as Wacousta is described to have been, might very well have +been supposed, in his strong anxiety for revenge and escape with his +victim, to have doubled his strength and activity on so important an +occasion, rendering that easy of attainment by himself which an +ordinary and unexcited man might deem impossible. I myself have knocked +down a gate, almost without feeling the resistance, in order to escape +the stilettos of assassins. + +The second objection is to the narrowness attributed in the tale to the +river St. Clair. This was done in the license usually accorded to a +writer of fiction, in order to give greater effect to the scene +represented as having occurred there, and, of course, in no way +intended as a geographical description of the river, nor was it +necessary. In the same spirit and for the same purpose it has been +continued. + +It will be seen that at the termination of the tragedy enacted at the +bridge, by which the Bloody Run was in those days crossed, that the +wretched wife of the condemned soldier pronounced a curse that could +not, of course, well be fulfilled in the course of the tale. Some few +years ago I published in Canada--I might as well have done so in +Kamschatka--the continuation, which was to have been dedicated to the +last King of England, but which, after the death of that monarch, was +inscribed to Sir John Harvey, whose letter, as making honorable mention +of a gallant and beloved brother, I feel it a duty to the memory of the +latter to subjoin. + + GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FREDERICTON, N.B., + + Major Richardson, Montreal. + + November 26th, 1839. + + "Dear Sir;--I am favored with your very interesting + communication of the 2nd instant, by which I learn + that you are the brother of two youths whose gallantry + and merits--and with regard to one of them, his + sufferings--during the late war, excited my warmest + admiration and sympathy. I beg you to believe that I + am far from insensible to the affecting proofs which + you have made known to me of this grateful recollection + of any little service I may have had it in my power + to render them; and I will add that the desire which + I felt to serve the father will be found to extend + itself to the son, if your nephew should ever find + himself under circumstances to require from me any + service which it may be within my power to render him." + + "With regard to your very flattering proposition to + inscribe your present work to me, I can only say that, + independent of the respect to which the author of so + very charming a production as 'Wacousta' is entitled, + the interesting facts and circumstances so unexpectedly + brought to my knowledge and recollection would ensure + a ready acquiescence on my part." + + "I remain, dear sir your very faithful servant" + + "(Signed) J. HARVEY. " + +The "Prophecy Fulfilled," which, however, has never been seen out of +the small country in which it appeared--Detroit, perhaps, alone +excepted--embraces and indeed is intimately connected with the +Beauchamp tragedy, which took place at or near Weisiger's Hotel, in +Frankfort, Kentucky, where I had been many years before confined as a +prisoner of war. While connecting it with the "Prophecy Fulfilled," and +making it subservient to the end I had in view, I had not read or even +heard of the existence of a work of the same character, which had +already appeared from the pen of an American author. Indeed, I have +reason to believe that the "Prophecy Fulfilled," although not published +until after a lapse of years, was the first written. No similarity of +treatment of the subject exists between the two versions, and this, be +it remembered, I remark without in the slightest degree impugning the +merit of the production of my fellow-laborer in the same field. + +THE AUTHOR. + +New York City, January 1st, 1851. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + +As we are about to introduce our readers to scenes with which the +European is little familiarised, some few cursory remarks, illustrative +of the general features of the country into which we have shifted our +labours, may not be deemed misplaced at the opening of this volume. + +Without entering into minute geographical detail, it may be necessary +merely to point out the outline of such portions of the vast continent +of America as still acknowledge allegiance to the English crown, in +order that the reader, understanding the localities, may enter with +deeper interest into the incidents of a tale connected with a ground +hitherto untouched by the wand of the modern novelist. + +All who have ever taken the trouble to inform themselves of the +features of a country so little interesting to the majority of +Englishmen in their individual character must be aware,--and for the +information of those who are not, we state,--that that portion of the +northern continent of America which is known as the United States is +divided from the Canadas by a continuous chain of lakes and rivers, +commencing at the ocean into which they empty themselves, and extending +in a north-western direction to the remotest parts of these wild +regions, which have never yet been pressed by other footsteps than +those of the native hunters of the soil. First we have the magnificent +St. Lawrence, fed from the lesser and tributary streams, rolling her +sweet and silver waters into the foggy seas of the Newfoundland.--But +perhaps it will better tend to impress our readers with a panoramic +picture of the country in which our scene of action is more immediately +laid, by commencing at those extreme and remote points of our Canadian +possessions to which their attention will be especially directed in the +course of our narrative. + +The most distant of the north-western settlements of America is +Michilimackinac, a name given by the Indians, and preserved by the +Americans, who possess the fort even to this hour. It is situated at +the head of the Lakes Michigan and Huron, and adjacent to the Island of +St. Joseph's, where, since the existence of the United States as an +independent republic, an English garrison has been maintained, with a +view of keeping the original fortress in check. From the lakes above +mentioned we descend into the River Sinclair, which, in turn, +disembogues itself into the lake of the same name. This again renders +tribute to the Detroit, a broad majestic river, not less than a mile in +breadth at its source, and progressively widening towards its mouth +until it is finally lost in the beautiful Lake Erie, computed at about +one hundred and sixty miles in circumference. From the embouchure of +this latter lake commences the Chippawa, better known in Europe from +the celebrity of its stupendous falls of Niagara, which form an +impassable barrier to the seaman, and, for a short space, sever the +otherwise uninterrupted chain connecting the remote fortresses we have +described with the Atlantic. At a distance of a few miles from the +falls, the Chippawa finally empties itself into the Ontario, the most +splendid of the gorgeous American lakes, on the bright bosom of which, +during the late war, frigates, seventy-fours, and even a ship of one +hundred and twelve guns, manned by a crew of one thousand men, +reflected the proud pennants of England! At the opposite extremity of +this magnificent and sea-like lake, which is upwards of two hundred +miles in circumference, the far-famed St. Lawrence takes her source; +and after passing through a vast tract of country, whose elevated banks +bear every trace of fertility and cultivation, connects itself with the +Lake Champlain, celebrated, as well as Erie, for a signal defeat of our +flotilla during the late contest with the Americans. Pushing her bold +waters through this somewhat inferior lake, the St. Lawrence pursues +her course seaward with impetuosity, until arrested near La Chine by +rock-studded shallows, which produce those strong currents and eddies, +the dangers of which are so beautifully expressed in the Canadian Boat +Song,--a composition that has rendered the "rapids" almost as familiar +to the imagination of the European as the falls of Niagara themselves. +Beyond La Chine the St. Lawrence gradually unfolds herself into greater +majesty and expanse, and rolling past the busy commercial town of +Montreal, is once more increased in volume by the insignificant lake of +St. Peter's, nearly opposite to the settlement of Three Rivers, midway +between Montreal and Quebec. From thence she pursues her course unfed, +except by a few inferior streams, and gradually widens as she rolls +past the capital of the Canadas, whose tall and precipitous +battlements, bristled with cannon, and frowning defiance from the +clouds in which they appear half imbedded, might be taken by the +imaginative enthusiast for the strong tower of the Spirit of those +stupendous scenes. From this point the St. Lawrence increases in +expanse, until, at length, after traversing a country where the traces +of civilisation become gradually less and less visible, she finally +merges in the gulf, from the centre of which the shores on either hand +are often invisible to the naked eye; and in this manner is it +imperceptibly lost in that misty ocean, so dangerous to mariners from +its deceptive and almost perpetual fogs. + +In following the links of this extensive chain of lakes and rivers, it +must be borne in recollection, that, proceeding seaward from +Michilimackinac and its contiguous district, all that tract of country +which lies to the right constitutes what is now known as the United +States of America, and all on the left the two provinces of Upper and +Lower Canada, tributary to the English government, subject to the +English laws, and garrisoned by English troops. The several forts and +harbours established along the left bank of the St. Lawrence, and +throughout that portion of our possessions which is known as Lower +Canada, are necessarily, from the improved condition and more numerous +population of that province, on a larger scale and of better +appointment; but in Upper Canada, where the traces of civilisation are +less evident throughout, and become gradually more faint as we advance +westward, the fortresses and harbours bear the same proportion In +strength and extent to the scantiness of the population they are +erected to protect. Even at the present day, along that line of remote +country we have selected for the theatre of our labours, the garrisons +are both few in number and weak in strength, and evidence of +cultivation is seldom to be found at any distance in the interior; so +that all beyond a certain extent of clearing, continued along the banks +of the lakes and rivers, is thick, impervious, rayless forest, the +limits of which have never yet been explored, perhaps, by the natives +themselves. + +Such being the general features of the country even at the present day, +it will readily be comprehended how much more wild and desolate was the +character they exhibited as far back as the middle of the last century, +about which period our story commences. At that epoch, it will be borne +in mind, what we have described as being the United States were then +the British colonies of America dependent on the mother-country; while +the Canadas, on the contrary, were, or had very recently been, under +the dominion of France, from whom they had been wrested after a long +struggle, greatly advanced in favour of England by the glorious battle +fought on the plains of Abraham, near Quebec, and celebrated for the +defeat of Montcalm and the death of Wolfe. + +The several attempts made to repossess themselves of the strong hold of +Quebec having, in every instance, been met by discomfiture and +disappointment, the French, in despair, relinquished the contest, and, +by treaty, ceded their claims to the Canadas,--an event that was +hastened by the capitulation of the garrison of Montreal, commanded by +the Marquis de Vaudreuil, to the victorious arms of General Amherst. +Still, though conquered as a people, many of the leading men in the +country, actuated by that jealousy for which they were remarkable, +contrived to oppose obstacles to the quiet possession of a conquest by +those whom they seemed to look upon as their hereditary enemies; and in +furtherance of this object, paid agents, men of artful and intriguing +character, were dispersed among the numerous tribes of savages, with a +view of exciting them to acts of hostility against their conquerors. +The long and uninterrupted possession, by the French, of those +countries immediately bordering on the hunting grounds and haunts of +the natives, with whom they carried on an extensive traffic in furs, +had established a communionship of interest between themselves and +those savage and warlike people, which failed not to turn to account +the vindictive views of the former. The whole of the province of Upper +Canada at that time possessed but a scanty population, protected in its +most flourishing and defensive points by stockade forts; the chief +object of which was to secure the garrisons, consisting each of a few +companies, from any sudden surprise on the part of the natives, who, +although apparently inclining to acknowledge the change of neighbours, +and professing amity, were, it was well known, too much in the interest +of their old friends the French, and even the French Canadians +themselves, not to be regarded with the most cautious distrust. + +These stockade forts were never, at any one period, nearer to each +other than from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles, so that, in +the event of surprise or alarm, there was little prospect of obtaining +assistance from without. Each garrison, therefore, was almost wholly +dependent on its own resources; and, when surrounded unexpectedly by +numerous bands of hostile Indians, had no other alternative than to +hold out to the death. Capitulation was out of the question; for, +although the wile and artifice of the natives might induce them to +promise mercy, the moment their enemies were in their power promises +and treaties were alike broken, and indiscriminate massacre ensued. +Communication by water was, except during a period of profound peace, +almost impracticable; for, although of late years the lakes of Canada +have been covered with vessels of war, many of them, as we have already +remarked, of vast magnitude, and been the theatres of conflicts that +would not have disgraced the salt waters of ocean itself, at the period +to which our story refers the flag of England was seen to wave only on +the solitary mast of some ill-armed and ill-manned gunboat, employed +rather for the purpose of conveying despatches from fort to fort, than +with any serious view to acts either of aggression or defence. + +In proportion as the colonies of America, now the United States, pushed +their course of civilisation westward, in the same degree did the +numerous tribes of Indians, who had hitherto dwelt more seaward, retire +upon those of their own countrymen, who, buried in vast and +impenetrable forests, had seldom yet seen the face of the European +stranger; so that, in the end, all the more central parts of those +stupendous wilds became doubly peopled. Hitherto, however, that +civilisation had not been carried beyond the state of New York; and all +those countries which have, since the American revolution, been added +to the Union under the names of Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, +&c., were, at the period embraced by our story, inhospitable and +unproductive woods, subject only to the dominion of the native, and as +yet unshorn by the axe of the cultivator. A few portions only of the +opposite shores of Michigan were occupied by emigrants from the +Canadas, who, finding no one to oppose or molest them, selected the +most fertile spots along the banks of the river; and of the existence +of these infant settlements, the English colonists, who had never +ventured so far, were not even aware until after the conquest of Canada +by the mother-country. This particular district was the centre around +which the numerous warriors, who had been driven westward by the +colonists, had finally assembled; and rude villages and encampments +rose far and near for a circuit of many miles around this infant +settlement and fort of the Canadians, to both of which they had given +the name of Detroit, after the river on whose elevated banks they +stood. Proceeding westward from this point, and along the tract of +country that diverged from the banks of the Lakes Huron, Sinclair, and +Michigan, all traces of that partial civilisation were again lost in +impervious wilds, tenanted only by the fiercest of the Indian tribes, +whose homes were principally along the banks of that greatest of +American waters, the Lake Superior, and in the country surrounding the +isolated fort of Michilimackinac, the last and most remote of the +European fortresses in Canada. + +When at a later period the Canadas were ceded to us by France, those +parts of the opposite frontier which we have just described became also +tributary to the English crown, and were, by the peculiar difficulties +that existed to communication with the more central and populous +districts, rendered especially favourable to the exercise of hostile +intrigue by the numerous active French emissaries every where dispersed +among the Indian tribes. During the first few years of the conquest, +the inhabitants of Canada, who were all either European French, or +immediate descendants of that nation, were, as might naturally be +expected, more than restive under their new governors, and many of the +most impatient spirits of the country sought every opportunity of +sowing the seeds of distrust and jealousy in the hearts of the natives. +By these people it was artfully suggested to the Indians, that their +new oppressors were of the race of those who had driven them from the +sea, and were progressively advancing on their territories until scarce +a hunting ground or a village would be left to them. They described +them, moreover, as being the hereditary enemies of their great father, +the King of France, with whose governors they had buried the hatchet +for ever, and smoked the calumet of perpetual peace. Fired by these +wily suggestions, the high and jealous spirit of the Indian chiefs took +the alarm, and they beheld with impatience the "Red Coat," or +"Saganaw," [Footnote: This word thus pronounced by themselves, in +reference to the English soldiery, is, in all probability, derived from +the original English settlers in Saganaw Bay.] usurping, as they deemed +it, those possessions which had so recently acknowledged the supremacy +of the pale flag of their ancient ally. The cause of the Indians, and +that of the Canadians, became, in some degree, identified as one, and +each felt it was the interest, and it may be said the natural instinct, +of both, to hold communionship of purpose, and to indulge the same +jealousies and fears. Such was the state of things in 1763, the period +at which our story commences,--an epoch fruitful in designs of +hostility and treachery on the part of the Indians, who, too crafty and +too politic to manifest their feelings by overt acts declaratory of the +hatred carefully instilled into their breasts, sought every opportunity +to compass the destruction of the English, wherever they were most +vulnerable to the effects of stratagem. Several inferior forts situated +on the Ohio had already fallen into their hands, when they summoned all +their address and cunning to accomplish the fall of the two important +though remote posts of Detroit and Michilimackinac. For a length of +time they were baffled by the activity and vigilance of the respective +governors of these forts, who had had too much fatal experience in the +fate of their companions not to be perpetually on the alert against +their guile; but when they had at length, in some degree, succeeded in +lulling the suspicions of the English, they determined on a scheme, +suggested by a leading chief, a man of more than ordinary character, +which promised fair to rid them altogether of a race they so cordially +detested. We will not, however, mar the interest of our tale, by +anticipating, at this early stage, either the nature or the success of +a stratagem which forms the essential groundwork of our story. + +While giving, for the information of the many, what, we trust, will not +be considered a too compendious outline of the Canadas, and the events +connected with them, we are led to remark, that, powerful as was the +feeling of hostility cherished by the French Canadians towards the +English when the yoke of early conquest yet hung heavily on them, this +feeling eventually died away under the mild influence of a government +that preserved to them the exercise of all their customary privileges, +and abolished all invidious distinctions between the descendants of +France and those of the mother-country. So universally, too, has this +system of conciliation been pursued, we believe we may with safety +aver, of all the numerous colonies that have succumbed to the genius +and power of England, there are none whose inhabitants entertain +stronger feelings of attachment and loyalty to her than those of +Canada; and whatever may be the transient differences,--differences +growing entirely out of circumstances and interests of a local +character, and in no way tending to impeach the acknowledged fidelity +of the mass of French Canadians,--whatever, we repeat, may be the +ephemeral differences that occasionally spring up between the governors +of those provinces and individual members of the Houses of Assembly, +they must, in no way, be construed into a general feeling of +disaffection towards the English crown. + +In proportion also as the Canadians have felt and acknowledged the +beneficent effects arising from a change of rulers, so have the Indian +tribes been gradually weaned from their first fierce principle of +hostility, until they have subsequently become as much distinguished by +their attachment to, as they were three quarters of a century ago +remarkable for their untameable aversion for, every thing that bore the +English name, or assumed the English character. Indeed, the hatred +which they bore to the original colonists has been continued to their +descendants, the subjects of the United States; and the same spirit of +union subsisted between the natives and British troops, and people of +Canada, during the late American war, that at an earlier period of the +history of that country prevailed so powerfully to the disadvantage of +England. + +And now we have explained a course of events which were in some measure +necessary to the full understanding of the country by the majority of +our readers, we shall, in furtherance of the same object, proceed to +sketch a few of the most prominent scenes more immediately before us. + +The fort of Detroit, as it was originally constructed by the French, +stands in the middle of a common, or description of small prairie, +bounded by woods, which, though now partially thinned in their +outskirts, were at that period untouched by the hand of civilisation. +Erected at a distance of about half a mile from the banks of the river, +which at that particular point are high and precipitous, it stood then +just far enough from the woods that swept round it in a semicircular +form to be secure from the rifle of the Indian; while from its +batteries it commanded a range of country on every hand, which no enemy +unsupported by cannon could traverse with impunity. Immediately in the +rear, and on the skirt of the wood, the French had constructed a sort +of bomb-proof, possibly intended to serve as a cover to the workmen +originally employed in clearing the woods, but long since suffered to +fall into decay. Without the fortification rose a strong and triple +line of pickets, each of about two feet and a half in circumference, +and so fitted into each other as to leave no other interstices than +those which were perforated for the discharge of musketry. They were +formed of the hardest and most knotted pines that could be procured; +the sharp points of which were seasoned by fire until they acquired +nearly the durability and consistency of iron. Beyond these firmly +imbedded pickets was a ditch, encircling the fort, of about twenty feet +in width, and of proportionate depth, the only communication over which +to and from the garrison was by means of a drawbridge, protected by a +strong chevaux-de-frise. The only gate with which the fortress was +provided faced the river; on the more immediate banks of which, and to +the left of the fort, rose the yet infant and straggling village that +bore the name of both. Numerous farm-houses, however, almost joining +each other, contributed to form a continuity of many miles along the +borders of the river, both on the right and on the left; while the +opposite shores of Canada, distinctly seen in the distance, presented, +as far as the eye could reach, the same enlivening character of +fertility. The banks, covered with verdure on either shore, were more +or less undulating at intervals; but in general they were high without +being abrupt, and picturesque without being bold, presenting, in their +partial cultivation, a striking contrast to the dark, tall, and +frowning forests bounding every point of the perspective. + +At a distance of about five miles on the left of the town the course of +the river was interrupted by a small and thickly wooded island, along +whose sandy beach occasionally rose the low cabin or wigwam which the +birch canoe, carefully upturned and left to dry upon the sands, +attested to be the temporary habitation of the wandering Indian. That +branch of the river which swept by the shores of Canada was (as at this +day) the only navigable one for vessels of burden, while that on the +opposite coast abounded in shallows and bars, affording passage merely +to the light barks of the natives, which seemed literally to skim the +very surface of its waves. Midway, between that point of the continent +which immediately faced the eastern extremity of the island we have +just named and the town of Detroit, flowed a small tributary river, the +approaches to which, on either hand, were over a slightly sloping +ground, the view of which could be entirely commanded from the fort. +The depth of this river, now nearly dried up, at that period varied +from three to ten or twelve feet; and over this, at a distance of about +twenty yards from the Detroit, into which it emptied itself, rose, +communicating with the high road, a bridge, which will more than once +be noticed in the course of our tale. Even to the present hour it +retains the name given to it during these disastrous times; and there +are few modern Canadians, or even Americans, who traverse the "Bloody +Bridge," especially at the still hours of advanced night, without +recalling to memory the tragic events of those days, (handed down as +they have been by their fathers, who were eye-witnesses of the +transaction,) and peopling the surrounding gloom with the shades of +those whose life-blood erst crimsoned the once pure waters of that now +nearly exhausted stream; and whose mangled and headless corpses were +slowly borne by its tranquil current into the bosom of the parent +river, where all traces of them finally disappeared. + +These are the minuter features of the scene we have brought more +immediately under the province of our pen. What Detroit was in 1763 it +nearly is at the present day, with this difference, however, that many +of those points which were then in a great degree isolated and rude are +now redolent with the beneficent effects of improved cultivation; and +in the immediate vicinity of that memorable bridge, where formerly +stood merely the occasional encampment of the Indian warrior, are now +to be seen flourishing farms and crops, and other marks of agricultural +industry. Of the fort of Detroit itself we will give the following +brief history:--It was, as we have already stated, erected by the +French while in the occupancy of the country by which it is more +immediately environed; subsequently, and at the final cession of the +Canadas, it was delivered over to England, with whom it remained until +the acknowledgement of the independence of the colonists by the +mother-country, when it hoisted the colours of the republic; the +British garrison marching out, and crossing over into Canada, followed +by such of the loyalists as still retained their attachment to the +English crown. At the commencement of the late war with America it was +the first and more immediate theatre of conflict, and was remarkable, +as well as Michilimackinac, for being one of the first posts of the +Americans that fell into our hands. The gallant daring, and promptness +of decision, for which the lamented general, Sir Isaac Brock, was so +eminently distinguished, achieved the conquest almost as soon as the +American declaration of war had been made known in Canada; and on this +occasion we ourselves had the good fortune to be selected as part of +the guard of honour, whose duty it was to lower the flag of America, +and substitute that of England in its place. On the approach, however, +of an overwhelming army of the enemy in the autumn of the ensuing year +it was abandoned by our troops, after having been dismantled and +reduced, in its more combustible parts, to ashes. The Americans, who +have erected new fortifications on the site of the old, still retain +possession of a post to which they attach considerable importance, from +the circumstance of its being a key to the more western portions of the +Union. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +It was during the midnight watch, late in September, 1763, that the +English garrison of Detroit, in North America, was thrown into the +utmost consternation by the sudden and mysterious introduction of a +stranger within its walls. The circumstance at this moment was +particularly remarkable; for the period was so fearful and pregnant +with events of danger, the fort being assailed on every side by a +powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution and vigilance of no common +kind were unceasingly exercised by the prudent governor for the safety +of those committed to his charge. A long series of hostilities had been +pursued by the North-American Indians against the subjects of England, +within the few years that had succeeded to the final subjection of the +Canadas to her victorious arms; and many and sanguinary were the +conflicts in which the devoted soldiery were made to succumb to the +cunning and numbers of their savage enemies. In those lone regions, +both officers and men, in their respective ranks, were, by a +communionship of suffering, isolation, and peculiarity of duty, drawn +towards each other with feelings of almost fraternal affection; and the +fates of those who fell were lamented with sincerity of soul, and +avenged, when opportunity offered, with a determination prompted +equally by indignation and despair. This sentiment of union, existing +even between men and officers of different corps, was, with occasional +exceptions, of course doubly strengthened among those who fought under +the same colours, and acknowledged the same head; and, as it often +happened in Canada, during this interesting period, that a single +regiment was distributed into two or three fortresses, each so far +removed from the other that communication could with the utmost +facility be cut off, the anxiety and uncertainty of these detachments +became proportioned to the danger with which they knew themselves to be +more immediately beset. The garrison of Detroit, at the date above +named, consisted of a third of the ---- regiment, the remainder of +which occupied the forts of Michilimackinac and Niagara, and to each +division of this regiment was attached an officer's command of +artillery. It is true that no immediate overt act of hostility had for +some time been perpetrated by the Indians, who were assembled in force +around the former garrison; but the experienced officer to whom the +command had been intrusted was too sensible of the craftiness of the +surrounding hordes to be deceived, by any outward semblance of amity, +into neglect of those measures of precaution which were so +indispensable to the surety of his trust. + +In this he pursued a line of policy happily adapted to the delicate +nature of his position. Unwilling to excite the anger or wound the +pride of the chiefs, by any outward manifestation of distrust, he +affected to confide in the sincerity of their professions, and, by +inducing his officers to mix occasionally in their councils, and his +men in the amusements of the inferior warriors, contrived to impress +the conviction that he reposed altogether on their faith. But, although +these acts were in some degree coerced by the necessity of the times, +and a perfect knowledge of all the misery that must accrue to them in +the event of their provoking the Indians into acts of open hostility, +the prudent governor took such precautions as were deemed efficient to +defeat any treacherous attempt at violation of the tacit treaty on the +part of the natives. The officers never ventured out, unless escorted +by a portion of their men, who, although appearing to be dispersed +among the warriors, still kept sufficiently together to be enabled, in +a moment of emergency, to afford succour not only to each other but to +their superiors. On these occasions, as a further security against +surprise, the troops left within were instructed to be in readiness, at +a moment's warning, to render assistance, if necessary, to their +companions, who seldom, on any occasion, ventured out of reach of the +cannon of the fort, the gate of which was hermetically closed, while +numerous supernumerary sentinels were posted along the ramparts, with a +view to give the alarm if any thing extraordinary was observed to occur +without. + +Painful and harassing as were the precautions it was found necessary to +adopt on these occasions, and little desirous as were the garrison to +mingle with the natives on such terms, still the plan was pursued by +the Governor from the policy already named: nay, it was absolutely +essential to the future interests of England that the Indians should be +won over by acts of confidence and kindness; and so little disposition +had hitherto been manifested by the English to conciliate, that every +thing was to be apprehended from the untameable rancour with which +these people were but too well disposed to repay a neglect at once +galling to their pride and injurious to their interests. + +Such, for a term of many months, had been the trying and painful duty +that had devolved on the governor of Detroit; when, in the summer of +1763, the whole of the western tribes of Indians, as if actuated by one +common impulse, suddenly threw off the mask, and commenced a series of +the most savage trespasses upon the English settlers in the vicinity of +the several garrisons, who were cut off in detail, without mercy, and +without reference to either age or sex. On the first alarm the weak +bodies of troops, as a last measure of security, shut themselves up in +their respective forts, where they were as incapable of rendering +assistance to others as of receiving it themselves. In this emergency +the prudence and forethought of the governor of Detroit were eminently +conspicuous; for, having long foreseen the possibility of such a +crisis, he had caused a plentiful supply of all that was necessary to +the subsistence and defence of the garrison to be provided at an +earlier period, so that, if foiled in their attempts at stratagem, +there was little chance that the Indians would speedily reduce them by +famine. To guard against the former, a vigilant watch was constantly +kept by the garrison both day and night, while the sentinels, doubled +in number, were constantly on the alert. Strict attention, moreover, +was paid to such parts of the ramparts as were considered most +assailable by a cunning and midnight enemy; and, in order to prevent +any imprudence on the part of the garrison, all egress or ingress was +prohibited that had not the immediate sanction of the chief. With this +view the keys of the gate were given in trust to the officer of the +guard; to whom, however, it was interdicted to use them unless by +direct and positive order of the Governor. In addition to this +precaution, the sentinels on duty at the gate had strict private +instructions not to suffer any one to pass either in or out unless +conducted by the governor in person; and this restriction extended even +to the officer of the guard. + +Such being the cautious discipline established in the fort, the +appearance of a stranger within its walls at the still hour of midnight +could not fail to be regarded as an extraordinary event, and to excite +an apprehension which could scarcely have been surpassed had a numerous +and armed band of savages suddenly appeared among them. The first +intimation of this fact was given by the violent ringing of an alarm +bell; a rope communicating with which was suspended in the Governor's +apartments, for the purpose of arousing the slumbering soldiers in any +case of pressing emergency. Soon afterwards the Governor himself was +seen to issue from his rooms into the open area of the parade, clad in +his dressing-gown, and bearing a lamp in one hand and a naked sword in +the other. His countenance was pale; and his features, violently +agitated, betrayed a source of alarm which those who were familiar with +his usual haughtiness of manner were ill able to comprehend. + +"Which way did he go?--why stand ye here?--follow--pursue him +quickly--let him not escape, on your lives!" + +These sentences, hurriedly and impatiently uttered, were addressed to +the two sentinels who, stationed in front of his apartments, had, on +the first sound of alarm from the portentous bell, lowered their +muskets to the charge, and now stood immovable in that position. + +"Who does your honour mane?" replied one of the men, startled, yet +bringing his arms to the recover, in salutation of his chief. + +"Why, the man--the stranger--the fellow who has just passed you." + +"Not a living soul has passed us since our watch commenced, your +honour," observed the second sentinel; "and we have now been here +upwards of an hour." + +"Impossible, sirs: ye have been asleep on your posts, or ye must have +seen him. He passed this way, and could not have escaped your +observation had ye been attentive to your duty." + +"Well, sure, and your honour knows bist," rejoined the first sentinel; +"but so hilp me St. Patrick, as I have sirved man and boy in your +honour's rigimint this twilve years, not even the fitch of a man has +passed me this blissed night. And here's my comrade, Jack Halford, who +will take his Bible oath to the same, with all due difirince to your +honour." + +The pithy reply to this eloquent attempt at exculpation was a brief +"Silence, sirrah, walk about!" + +The men brought their muskets once more, and in silence, to the +shoulder, and, in obedience to the command of their chief, resumed the +limited walk allotted to them; crossing each other at regular intervals +in the semicircular course that enfiladed, as it were, the only +entrance to the Governor's apartments. + +Meanwhile every thing was bustle and commotion among the garrison, who, +roused from sleep by the appalling sound of the alarm bell at that late +hour, were hastily arming. Throughout the obscurity might be seen the +flitting forms of men, whose already fully accoutred persons proclaimed +them to be of the guard; while in the lofty barracks, numerous lights +flashing to and fro, and moving with rapidity, attested the alacrity +with which the troops off duty were equipping themselves for some +service of more than ordinary interest. So noiseless, too, was this +preparation, as far as speech was concerned, that the occasional +opening and shutting of pans, and ringing of ramrods to ascertain the +efficiency of the muskets, might be heard distinctly in the stillness +of the night at a distance of many furlongs. + +HE, however, who had touched the secret spring of all this picturesque +movement, whatever might be his gratification and approval of the +promptitude with which the summons to arms had been answered by his +brave troops, was far from being wholly satisfied with the scene he had +conjured up. Recovered from the first and irrepressible agitation which +had driven him to sound the tocsin of alarm, he felt how derogatory to +his military dignity and proverbial coolness of character it might be +considered, to have awakened a whole garrison from their slumbers, when +a few files of the guard would have answered his purpose equally well. +Besides, so much time had been suffered to elapse, that the stranger +might have escaped; and if so, how many might be disposed to ridicule +his alarm, and consider it as emanating from an imagination disturbed +by sleep, rather than caused by the actual presence of one endowed like +themselves with the faculties of speech and motion. For a moment he +hesitated whether he should not countermand the summons to arms which +had been so precipitately given; but when he recollected the harrowing +threat that had been breathed in his ear by his midnight visiter,--when +he reflected, moreover, that even now it was probable he was lurking +within the precincts of the fort with a view to the destruction of all +that it contained,--when, in short, he thought of the imminent danger +that must attend them should he be suffered to escape,--he felt the +necessity of precaution, and determined on his measures, even at the +risk of manifesting a prudence which might be construed unfavourably. +On re-entering his apartments, he found his orderly, who, roused by the +midnight tumult, stood waiting to receive the commands of his chief. + +"Desire Major Blackwater to come to me immediately." + +The mandate was quickly obeyed. In a few seconds a short, thick-set, +and elderly officer made his appearance in a grey military undress +frock. + +"Blackwater, we have traitors within the fort. Let diligent search be +made in every part of the barracks for a stranger, an enemy, who has +managed to procure admittance among us: let every nook and cranny, +every empty cask, be examined forthwith; and cause a number of +additional sentinels to be stationed along the ramparts, in order to +intercept his escape." + +"Good Heaven, is it possible?" said the Major, wiping the perspiration +from his brows, though the night was unusually chilly for the season of +the year:--"how could he contrive to enter a place so vigilantly +guarded?" + +"Ask me not HOW, Blackwater," returned the Governor seriously; "let it +suffice that he has been in this very room, and that ten minutes since +he stood where you now stand." + +The Major looked aghast.--"God bless me, how singular! How could the +savage contrive to obtain admission? or was he in reality an Indian?" + +"No more questions, MAJOR Blackwater. Hasten to distribute the men, and +let diligent search be made every where; and recollect, neither officer +nor man courts his pillow until dawn." + +The "Major" emphatically prefixed to his name was a sufficient hint to +the stout officer that the doubts thus familiarly expressed were here +to cease, and that he was now addressed in the language of authority by +his superior, who expected a direct and prompt compliance with his +orders. He therefore slightly touched his hat in salutation, and +withdrew to make the dispositions that had been enjoined by his Colonel. + +On regaining the parade, he caused the men, already forming into +companies and answering to the roll-call of their respective +non-commissioned officers, to be wheeled into square, and then in a low +but distinct voice stated the cause of alarm; and, having communicated +the orders of the Governor, finished by recommending to each the +exercise of the most scrutinising vigilance; as on the discovery of the +individual in question, and the means by which he had contrived to +procure admission, the safety of the whole garrison, it was evident, +must depend. + +The soldiers now dispersed in small parties throughout the interior of +the fort, while a select body were conducted to the ramparts by the +officers themselves, and distributed between the sentinels already +posted there, in such numbers, and at such distances, that it appeared +impossible any thing wearing the human form could pass them +unperceived, even in the obscurity that reigned around. + +When this duty was accomplished, the officers proceeded to the posts of +the several sentinels who had been planted since the last relief, to +ascertain if any or either of them had observed aught to justify the +belief that an enemy had succeeded in scaling the works. To all their +enquiries, however, they received a negative reply, accompanied by a +declaration, more or less positive with each, that such had been their +vigilance during the watch, had any person come within their beat, +detection must have been inevitable. The first question was put to the +sentinel stationed at the gate of the fort, at which point the whole of +the officers of the garrison were, with one or two exceptions, now +assembled. The man at first evinced a good deal of confusion; but this +might arise from the singular fact of the alarm that had been given, +and the equally singular circumstance of his being thus closely +interrogated by the collective body of his officers: he, however, +persisted in declaring that he had been in no wise inattentive to his +duty, and that no cause for alarm or suspicion had occurred near his +post. The officers then, in order to save time, separated into two +parties, pursuing opposite circuits, and arranging to meet at that +point of the ramparts which was immediately in the rear, and +overlooking the centre of the semicircular sweep of wild forest we have +described as circumventing the fort. + +"Well, Blessington, I know not what you think of this sort of work," +observed Sir Everard Valletort, a young lieutenant of the ---- +regiment, recently arrived from England, and one of the party who now +traversed the rampart to the right; "but confound me if I would not +rather be a barber's apprentice in London, upon nothing, and find +myself, than continue a life of this kind much longer. It positively +quite knocks me up; for what with early risings, and watchings (I had +almost added prayings), I am but the shadow of my former self." + +"Hist, Valletort, hist! speak lower," said Captain Blessington, the +senior officer present, "or our search must be in vain. Poor fellow!" +he pursued, laughing low and good humouredly at the picture of miseries +thus solemnly enumerated by his subaltern;--"how much, in truth, are +you to be pitied, who have so recently basked in all the sunshine of +enjoyment at home. For our parts, we have lived so long amid these +savage scenes, that we have almost forgotten what luxury, or even +comfort, means. Doubt not, my friend, that in time you will, like us, +be reconciled to the change." + +"Confound me for an idiot, then, if I give myself time," replied Sir +Everard affectedly. "It was only five minutes before that cursed alarm +bell was sounded in my ears, that I had made up my mind fully to resign +or exchange the instant I could do so with credit to myself; and, I am +sure, to be called out of a warm bed at this unseasonable hour offers +little inducement for me to change my opinion." + +"Resign or exchange with credit to yourself!" sullenly observed a stout +tall officer of about fifty, whose spleen might well be accounted for +in his rank of "Ensign" Delme. "Methinks there can be little credit in +exchanging or resigning, when one's companions are left behind, and in +a post of danger." + +"By Jasus, and ye may say that with your own pritty mouth," remarked +another veteran, who answered to the name of Lieutenant Murphy; "for it +isn't now, while we are surrounded and bediviled by the savages, that +any man of the ---- rigimint should be after talking of bating a +retrate." + +"I scarcely understand you, gentlemen," warmly and quickly retorted Sir +Everard, who, with all his dandyism and effeminacy of manner, was of a +high and resolute spirit. "Do either of you fancy that I want courage +to face a positive danger, because I may not happen to have any +particular vulgar predilection for early rising?" + +"Nonsense, Valletort, nonsense," interrupted, in accents of almost +feminine sweetness, his friend Lieutenant Charles de Haldimar, the +youngest son of the Governor: "Murphy is an eternal echo of the +opinions of those who look forward to promotion; and as for Delme--do +you not see the drift of his observation? Should you retire, as you +have threatened, of course another lieutenant will be appointed in your +stead; but, should you chance to lose your scalp during the struggle +with the savages, the step goes in the regiment, and he, being the +senior ensign, obtains promotion in consequence." + +"Ah!" observed Captain Blessington, "this is indeed the greatest curse +attached to the profession of a soldier. Even among those who most +esteem, and are drawn towards each other as well by fellowship in +pleasure as companionship in danger, this vile and debasing +principle--this insatiable desire for personal advancement--is certain +to intrude itself; since we feel that over the mangled bodies of our +dearest friends and companions, we can alone hope to attain preferment +and distinction." + +A moment or two of silence ensued, in the course of which each +individual appeared to be bringing home to his own heart the +application of the remark just uttered; and which, however they might +seek to disguise the truth from themselves, was too forcible to find +contradiction from the secret monitor within. And yet of those +assembled there was not one, perhaps, who would not, in the hour of +glory and of danger, have generously interposed his own frame between +that of his companion and the steel or bullet of an enemy. Such are the +contradictory elements which compose a soldier's life. + +This conversation, interrupted only by occasional questioning of the +sentinels whom they passed in their circuit, was carried on in an +audible whisper, which the close approximation of the parties to each +other, and the profound stillness of the night, enabled them to hear +with distinctness. + +"Nay, nay, De Haldimar," at length observed Sir Everard, in reply to +the observation of his friend, "do not imagine I intend to gratify Mr. +Delme by any such exhibition as that of a scalpless head; but, if such +be his hope, I trust that the hour which sees my love-locks dangling at +the top of an Indian pole may also let daylight into his own carcass +from a rifle bullet or a tomahawk." + +"And yit, Captin, it sames to me," observed Lieutenant Murphy, in +allusion to the remark of Blessington rather than in reply to the last +speaker,--"it sames to me, I say, that promotion in ony way is all fair +and honourable in times of hardship like thase; and though we may drop +a tare over our suparior when the luck of war, in the shape of a +tommyhawk, knocks him over, still there can be no rason why we +shouldn't stip into his shoes the viry nixt instant; and it's that, we +all know, that we fight for. And the divil a bitter chance any man of +us all has of promotion thin yoursilf, Captin: for it'll be mighty +strange if our fat Major doesn't git riddlid like a cullinder through +and through with the bullits from the Ingians' rifles before we have +quite done with this business, and thin you will have the rigimintal +majority, Captin; and it may be that one Liftinint Murphy, who is now +the sanior of his rank, may come in for the vacant captincy." + +"And Delme for the lieutenancy," said Charles de Haldimar +significantly. "Well, Murphy, I am happy to find that you, at least, +have hit on another than Sir Everard Valletort: one, in fact, who will +render the promotion more general than it would otherwise have been. +Seriously, I should be sorry if any thing happened to our worthy Major, +who, with all his bustling and grotesque manner, is as good an officer +and as brave a soldier as any his Majesty's army in Canada can boast. +For my part, I say, perish all promotion for ever, if it is only to be +obtained over the dead bodies of those with whom I have lived so long +and shared so many dangers!" + +"Nobly uttered, Charles," said Captain Blessington: "the sentiment is, +indeed, one well worthy of our present position; and God knows we are +few enough in number already, without looking forward to each other's +death as a means of our own more immediate personal advancement. With +you, therefore, I repeat, perish all my hopes of promotion, if it is +only to be obtained over the corpses of my companions! And let those +who are most sanguine in their expectations beware lest they prove the +first to be cut off, and that even before they have yet enjoyed the +advantages of the promotion they so eagerly covet." + +This observation, uttered without acrimony, had yet enough of delicate +reproach in it to satisfy Lieutenant Murphy that the speaker was far +from approving the expression of such selfish anticipations at a moment +like the present, when danger, in its most mysterious guise, lurked +around, and threatened the safety of all most dear to them. + +The conversation now dropped, and the party pursued their course in +silence. They had just passed the last sentinel posted in their line of +circuit, and were within a few yards of the immediate rear of the +fortress, when a sharp "Hist!" and sudden halt of their leader, Captain +Blessington, threw them all into an attitude of the most profound +attention. + +"Did you hear?" he asked in a subdued whisper, after a few seconds of +silence, in which he had vainly sought to catch a repetition of the +sound. + +"Assuredly," he pursued, finding that no one answered, "I distinctly +heard a human groan." + +"Where?--in what direction?" asked Sir Everard and De Haldimar in the +same breath. + +"Immediately opposite to us on the common. But see, here are the +remainder of the party stationary, and listening also." + +They now stole gently forward a few paces, and were soon at the side of +their companions, all of whom were straining their necks and bending +their heads in the attitude of men listening attentively. + +"Have you heard any thing, Erskine?" asked Captain Blessington in the +same low whisper, and addressing the officer who led the opposite party. + +"Not a sound ourselves, but here is Sir Everard's black servant, Sambo, +who has just riveted our attention, by declaring that he distinctly +heard a groan towards the skirt of the common." + +"He is right," hastily rejoined Blessington; "I heard it also." + +Again a death-like silence ensued, during which the eyes of the party +were strained eagerly in the direction of the common. The night was +clear and starry, yet the dark shadow of the broad belt of forest threw +all that part of the waste which came within its immediate range into +impenetrable obscurity. + +"Do you see any thing?" whispered Valletort to his friend, who stood +next him: "look--look!" and he pointed with his finger. + +"Nothing," returned De Haldimar, after an anxious gaze of a minute, +"but that dilapidated old bomb-proof." + +"See you not something dark, and slightly moving immediately in a line +with the left angle of the bomb-proof?" + +De Haldimar looked again.--"I do begin to fancy I see something," he +replied; "but so confusedly and indistinctly, that I know not whether +it be not merely an illusion of my imagination. Perhaps it is a stray +Indian dog devouring the carcass of the wolf you shot yesterday." + +"Be it dog or devil, here is for a trial of his vulnerability.--Sambo, +quick, my rifle." + +The young negro handed to his master one of those long heavy rifles, +which the Indians usually make choice of for killing the buffalo, elk, +and other animals whose wildness renders them difficult of approach. He +then, unbidden, and as if tutored to the task, placed himself in a +stiff upright position in front of his master, with every nerve and +muscle braced to the most inflexible steadiness. The young officer next +threw the rifle on the right shoulder of the boy for a rest, and +prepared to take his aim on the object that had first attracted his +attention. + +"Make haste, massa,--him go directly,--Sambo see him get up." + +All was breathless attention among the group of officers; and when the +sharp ticking sound produced by the cocking of the rifle of their +companion fell on their ears, they bent their gaze upon the point +towards which the murderous weapon was levelled with the most aching +and intense interest. + +"Quick, quick, massa,--him quite up," again whispered the boy. + +The words had scarcely passed his lips, when the crack of the rifle, +followed by a bright blaze of light, sounded throughout the stillness +of the night with exciting sharpness. For an instant all was hushed; +but scarcely had the distant woods ceased to reverberate the +spirit-stirring echoes, when the anxious group of officers were +surprised and startled by a sudden flash, the report of a second rifle +from the common, and the whizzing of a bullet past their ears. This was +instantly succeeded by a fierce, wild, and prolonged cry, expressive at +once of triumph and revenge. It was that peculiar cry which an Indian +utters when the reeking scalp has been wrested from his murdered victim. + +"Missed him, as I am a sinner," exclaimed Sir Everard, springing to his +feet, and knocking the butt of his rifle on the ground with a movement +of impatience. "Sambo, you young scoundrel, it was all your fault,--you +moved your shoulder as I pulled the trigger. Thank Heaven, however, the +aim of the Indian appears to have been no better, although the sharp +whistling of his ball proves his piece to have been well levelled for a +random shot." + +"His aim has been too true," faintly pronounced the voice of one +somewhat in the rear of his companions. "The ball of the villain has +found a lodgment in my breast. God bless ye all, my boys; may your +fates be more lucky than mine!" While he yet spoke, Lieutenant Murphy +sank into the arms of Blessington and De Haldimar, who had flown to him +at the first intimation of his wound, and was in the next instant a +corpse. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"To your companies, gentlemen, to your companies on the instant. There +is treason in the fort, and we had need of all our diligence and +caution. Captain de Haldimar is missing, and the gate has been found +unlocked. Quick, gentlemen, quick; even now the savages may be around +us, though unseen." + +"Captain de Haldimar missing!--the gate unlocked!" exclaimed a number +of voices. "Impossible!--surely we are not betrayed by our own men." + +"The sentinel has been relieved, and is now in irons," resumed the +communicator of this startling piece of intelligence. It was the +adjutant of the regiment. + +"Away, gentlemen, to your posts immediately," said Captain Blessington, +who, aided by De Haldimar, hastened to deposit the stiffening body of +the unfortunate Murphy, which they still supported, upon the rampart. +Then addressing the adjutant, "Mr. Lawson, let a couple of files be +sent immediately to remove the body of their officer." + +"That shot which I heard from the common, as I approached, was not +fired at random, then, I find," observed the adjutant, as they all now +hastily descended to join their men.--"Who has fallen?" + +"Murphy, of the grenadiers," was the reply of one near him. + +"Poor fellow! our work commences badly," resumed Mr. Lawson: "Murphy +killed, and Captain de Haldimar missing. We had few officers enough to +spare before, and their loss will be severely felt; I greatly fear, +too, these casualties may have a tendency to discourage the men." + +"Nothing more easy than to supply their place, by promoting some of our +oldest sergeants," observed Ensign Delme, who, as well as the ill-fated +Murphy, had risen from the ranks. "If they behave themselves well, the +King will confirm their appointments." + +"But my poor brother, what of him, Lawson? what have you learnt +connected with his disappearance?" asked Charles de Haldimar with deep +emotion. + +"Nothing satisfactory, I am sorry to say," returned the adjutant; "in +fact, the whole affair is a mystery which no one can unravel; even at +this moment the sentinel, Frank Halloway, who is strongly suspected of +being privy to his disappearance, is undergoing a private examination +by your father the governor." + +"Frank Halloway!" repeated the youth with a start of astonishment; +"surely Halloway could never prove a traitor,--and especially to my +brother, whose life he once saved at the peril of his own." + +The officers had now gained the parade, when the "Fall in, gentlemen, +fall in," quickly pronounced by Major Blackwater, prevented all further +questioning on the part of the younger De Haldimar. + +The scene, though circumscribed in limit, was picturesque in effect, +and might have been happily illustrated by the pencil of the painter. +The immediate area of the parade was filled with armed men, distributed +into three divisions, and forming, with their respective ranks facing +outwards, as many sides of a hollow square, the mode of defence +invariably adopted by the Governor in all cases of sudden alarm. The +vacant space, which communicated with the powder magazine, was left +open to the movements of three three-pounders, which were to support +each face in the event of its being broken by numbers. Close to these, +and within the square, stood the number of gunners necessary to the +duty of the field-pieces, each of which was commanded by a bombardier. +At the foot of the ramparts, outside the square, and immediately +opposite to their several embrasures, were stationed the gunners +required for the batteries, under a non-commissioned officer also, and +the whole under the direction of a superior officer of that arm, who +now walked to and fro, conversing in a low voice with Major Blackwater. +One gunner at each of these divisions of the artillery held in his hand +a blazing torch, reflecting with picturesque yet gloomy effect the +bright bayonets and equipment of the soldiers, and the anxious +countenances of the women and invalids, who, bending eagerly through +the windows of the surrounding barracks, appeared to await the issue of +these preparations with an anxiety increased by the very consciousness +of having no other parts than those of spectators to play in the scene +that was momentarily expected. + +In a few minutes from the falling in of the officers with their +respective companies, the clank of irons was heard in the direction of +the guard-room, and several forms were seen slowly advancing into the +area already occupied as we have described. This party was preceded by +the Adjutant Lawson, who, advancing towards Major Blackwater, +communicated a message, that was followed by the command of the latter +officer for the three divisions to face inwards. The officer of +artillery also gave the word to his men to form lines of single files +immediately in the rear of their respective guns, leaving space enough +for the entrance of the approaching party, which consisted of half a +dozen files of the guard, under a non-commissioned officer, and one +whose manacled limbs, rather than his unaccoutred uniform, attested him +to be not merely a prisoner, but a prisoner confined for some serious +and flagrant offence. + +This party now advanced through the vacant quarter of the square, and +took their stations immediately in the centre. Here the countenances of +each, and particularly that of the prisoner, who was, if we may so term +it, the centre of that centre, were thrown into strong relief by the +bright glare of the torches as they were occasionally waved in air, to +disencumber them of their dross, so that the features of the prisoner +stood revealed to those around as plainly as if it had been noonday. +Not a sound, not a murmur, escaped from the ranks: but, though the +etiquette and strict laws of military discipline chained all speech, +the workings of the inward mind remained unchecked; and as they +recognised in the prisoner Frank Halloway, one of the bravest and +boldest in the field, and, as all had hitherto imagined, one of the +most devoted to his duty, an irrepressible thrill of amazement and +dismay crept throughout the frames, and for a moment blanched the +cheeks of those especially who belonged to the same company. On being +summoned from their fruitless search after the stranger, to fall in +without delay, it had been whispered among the men that treason had +crept into the fort, and a traitor, partly detected in his crime, had +been arrested and thrown into irons; but the idea of Frank Halloway +being that traitor was the last that could have entered into their +thoughts, and yet they now beheld him covered with every mark of +ignominy, and about to answer his high offence, in all human +probability, with his life. + +With the officers the reputation of Halloway for courage and fidelity +stood no less high; but, while they secretly lamented the circumstance +of his defalcation, they could not disguise from themselves the almost +certainty of his guilt, for each, as he now gazed upon the prisoner, +recollected the confusion and hesitation of manner he had evinced when +questioned by them preparatory to their ascending to the ramparts. + +Once more the suspense of the moment was interrupted by the entrance of +other forms into the area. They were those of the Adjutant, followed by +a drummer, bearing his instrument, and the Governor's orderly, charged +with pens, ink, paper, and a book which, from its peculiar form and +colour, every one present knew to be a copy of the Articles of War. A +variety of contending emotions passed through the breasts of many, as +they witnessed the silent progress of these preparations, rendered +painfully interesting by the peculiarity of their position, and the +wildness of the hour at which they thus found themselves assembled +together. The prisoner himself was unmoved: he stood proud, calm, and +fearless amid the guard, of whom he had so recently formed one; and +though his countenance was pale, as much, perhaps, from a sense of the +ignominious character in which he appeared as from more private +considerations, still there was nothing to denote either the abjectness +of fear or the consciousness of merited disgrace. Once or twice a low +sobbing, that proceeded at intervals from one of the barrack windows, +caught his ear, and he turned his glance in that direction with a +restless anxiety, which he exerted himself in the instant afterwards to +repress; but this was the only mark of emotion he betrayed. + +The above dispositions having been hastily made, the adjutant and his +assistants once more retired. After the lapse of a minute, a tall +martial-looking man, habited in a blue military frock, and of handsome, +though stern, haughty, and inflexible features, entered the area. He +was followed by Major Blackwater, the captain of artillery, and +Adjutant Lawson. + +"Are the garrison all present, Mr. Lawson? are the officers all +present?" + +"All except those of the guard, sir," replied the Adjutant, touching +his hat with a submission that was scrupulously exacted on all +occasions of duty by his superior. + +The Governor passed his hand for a moment over his brows. It seemed to +those around him as if the mention of that guard had called up +recollections which gave him pain; and it might be so, for his eldest +son, Captain Frederick de Haldimar, had commanded the guard. Whither he +had disappeared, or in what manner, no one knew. + +"Are the artillery all present, Captain Wentworth?" again demanded the +Governor, after a moment of silence, and in his wonted firm +authoritative voice. + +"All present, sir," rejoined the officer, following the example of the +Adjutant, and saluting his chief. + +"Then let a drum-head court-martial be assembled immediately, Mr. +Lawson, and without reference to the roster let the senior officers be +selected." + +The Adjutant went round to the respective divisions, and in a low voice +warned Captain Blessington, and the four senior subalterns, for that +duty. One by one the officers, as they were severally called upon, left +their places in the square, and sheathing their swords, stepped into +that part of the area appointed as their temporary court. They were now +all assembled, and Captain Blessington, the senior of his rank in the +garrison, was preparing to administer the customary oaths, when the +prisoner Halloway advanced a pace or two in front of his escort, and +removing his cap, in a clear, firm, but respectful voice, thus +addressed the Governor:-- + +"Colonel de Haldimar, that I am no traitor, as I have already told you, +the Almighty God, before whom I swore allegiance to his Majesty, can +bear me witness. Appearances, I own, are against me; but, so far from +being a traitor, I would have shed my last drop of blood in defence of +the garrison and your family.--Colonel de Haldimar," he pursued, after +a momentary pause, in which he seemed to be struggling to subdue the +emotion which rose, despite of himself, to his throat, "I repeat, I am +no traitor, and I scorn the imputation--but here is my best answer to +the charge. This wound, (and he unbuttoned his jacket, opened his +shirt, and disclosed a deep scar upon his white chest,) this wound I +received in defence of my captain's life at Quebec. Had I not loved +him, I should not so have exposed myself, neither but for that should I +now stand in the situation of shame and danger, in which my comrades +behold me." + +Every heart was touched by this appeal--this bold and manly appeal to +the consideration of the Governor. The officers, especially, who were +fully conversant with the general merit of Halloway, were deeply +affected, and Charles de Haldimar--the young, the generous, the feeling +Charles de Haldimar,--even shed tears. + +"What mean you, prisoner?" interrogated the Governor, after a short +pause, during which he appeared to be weighing and deducing inferences +from the expressions just uttered. "What mean you, by stating, but for +that (alluding to your regard for Captain de Haldimar) you would not +now be in this situation of shame and danger?" + +The prisoner hesitated a moment; and then rejoined, but in a tone that +had less of firmness in it than before,--"Colonel de Haldimar, I am not +at liberty to state my meaning; for, though a private soldier, I +respect my word, and have pledged myself to secrecy." + +"You respect your word, and have pledged yourself to secrecy! What mean +you, man, by this rhodomontade? To whom can you have pledged yourself, +and for what, unless it be to some secret enemy without the walls? +Gentlemen, proceed to your duty: it is evident that the man is a +traitor, even from his own admission.--On my life," he pursued, more +hurriedly, and speaking in an under tone, as if to himself, "the fellow +has been bribed by, and is connected with--." The name escaped not his +lips; for, aware of the emotion he was betraying, he suddenly checked +himself, and assumed his wonted stern and authoritative bearing. + +Once more the prisoner addressed the Governor in the same clear firm +voice in which he had opened his appeal. + +"Colonel de Haldimar, I have no connection with any living soul without +the fort; and again I repeat, I am no traitor, but a true and loyal +British soldier, as my services in this war, and my comrades, can well +attest. Still, I seek not to shun that death which I have braved a +dozen times at least in the ---- regiment. All that I ask is, that I +may not be tried--that I may not have the shame of hearing sentence +pronounced against me YET; but if nothing should occur before eight +o'clock to vindicate my character from this disgrace, I will offer up +no further prayer for mercy. In the name of that life, therefore, which +I once preserved to Captain de Haldimar, at the price of my own blood, +I entreat a respite from trial until then." + +"In the name of God and all his angels, let mercy reach your soul, and +grant his prayer!" + +Every ear was startled--every heart touched by the plaintive, +melancholy, silver tones of the voice that faintly pronounced the last +appeal, and all recognised it for that of the young, interesting, and +attached wife of the prisoner. Again the latter turned his gaze towards +the window whence the sounds proceeded, and by the glare of the torches +a tear was distinctly seen by many coursing down his manly cheek. The +weakness was momentary. In the next instant he closed his shirt and +coat, and resuming his cap, stepped back once more amid his guard, +where he remained stationary, with the air of one who, having nothing +further to hope, has resolved to endure the worst that can happen with +resignation and fortitude. + +After the lapse of a few moments, again devoted to much apparent deep +thought and conjecture, the Governor once more, and rather hurriedly, +resumed,-- + +"In the event, prisoner, of this delay in your trial being granted, +will you pledge yourself to disclose the secret to which you have +alluded? Recollect, there is nothing but that which can save your +memory from being consigned to infamy for ever; for who, among your +comrades, will believe the idle denial of your treachery, when there is +the most direct proof against you? If your secret die with you, +moreover, every honest man will consider it as having been one so +infamous and injurious to your character, that you were ashamed to +reveal it." + +These suggestions of the Colonel were not without their effect; for, in +the sudden swelling of the prisoner's chest, as allusion was made to +the disgrace that would attach to his memory, there was evidence of a +high and generous spirit, to whom obloquy was far more hateful than +even death itself. + +"I do promise," he at length replied, stepping forward, and uncovering +himself as before,--"if no one appear to justify my conduct at the hour +I have named, a full disclosure of all I know touching this affair +shall be made. And may God, of his infinite mercy, grant, for Captain +de Haldimar's sake, as well as mine, I may not then be wholly deserted!" + +There was something so peculiarly solemn and impressive in the manner +in which the unhappy man now expressed himself, that a feeling of the +utmost awe crept into the bosoms of the surrounding throng; and more +than one veteran of the grenadiers, the company to which Halloway +belonged, was heard to relieve his chest of the long pent-up sigh that +struggled for release. + +"Enough, prisoner," rejoined the Governor; "on this condition do I +grant your request; but recollect,--your disclosure ensures no hope of +pardon, unless, indeed, you have the fullest proof to offer in your +defence. Do you perfectly understand me?" + +"I do," replied the soldier firmly; and again he placed his cap on his +head, and retired a step or two back among the guard. + +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be removed, and conducted to one of the +private cells. Who is the subaltern of the guard?" + +"Ensign Fortescue," was the answer. + +"Then let Ensign Fortescue keep the key of the cell himself. Tell him, +moreover, I shall hold him individually responsible for his charge." + +Once more the prisoner was marched out of the area; and, as the +clanking sound of his chains became gradually fainter in the distance, +the same voice that had before interrupted the proceedings, pronounced +a "God be praised!--God be praised!" with such melody of sorrow in its +intonations that no one could listen to it unmoved. Both officers and +men were more or less affected, and all hoped--they scarcely knew why +or what--but all hoped something favourable would occur to save the +life of the brave and unhappy Frank Halloway. + +Of the first interruption by the wife of the prisoner the Governor had +taken no notice; but on this repetition of the expression of her +feelings he briefly summoned, in the absence of the Adjutant, the +sergeant-major of the regiment to his side. + +"Sergeant-major Bletson, I desire that, in future, on all occasions of +this kind, the women of the regiment may be kept out of the way. Look +to it, sir!" + +The sergeant-major, who had stood erect as his own halbert, which he +held before him in a saluting position, during this brief admonition of +his colonel, acknowledged, by a certain air of deferential respect and +dropping of the eyes, unaccompanied by speech of any kind, that he felt +the reproof, and would, in future, take care to avoid all similar cause +for complaint. He then stalked stiffly away, and resumed, in a few +hasty strides, his position in rear of the troops. + +"Hard-hearted man!" pursued the same voice: "if my prayers of gratitude +to Heaven give offence, may the hour never come when my lips shall +pronounce their bitterest curse upon your severity!" + +There was something so painfully wild--so solemnly prophetic--in these +sounds of sorrow as they fell faintly upon the ear, and especially +under the extraordinary circumstances of the night, that they might +have been taken for the warnings of some supernatural agency. During +their utterance, not even the breathing of human life was to be heard +in the ranks. In the next instant, however, Sergeant-major Bletson was +seen repairing, with long and hasty strides, to the barrack whence the +voice proceeded, and the interruption was heard no more. + +Meanwhile the officers, who had been summoned from the ranks for the +purpose of forming the court-martial, still lingered in the centre of +the square, apparently waiting for the order of their superior, before +they should resume their respective stations. As the quick and +comprehensive glance of Colonel de Haldimar now embraced the group, he +at once became sensible of the absence of one of the seniors, all of +whom he had desired should be selected for the court-martial. + +"Mr. Lawson," he remarked, somewhat sternly, as the Adjutant now +returned from delivering over his prisoner to Ensign Fortescue, "I +thought I understood from your report the officers were all present!" + +"I believe, sir, my report will be found perfectly correct," returned +the Adjutant, in a tone which, without being disrespectful, marked his +offended sense of the implication. + +"And Lieutenant Murphy--" + +"Is here, sir," said the Adjutant, pointing to a couple of files of the +guard, who were bearing a heavy burden, and following into the square. +"Lieutenant Murphy," he pursued, "has been shot on the ramparts; and I +have, as directed by Captain Blessington, caused the body to be brought +here, that I may receive your orders respecting the interment." As he +spoke, he removed a long military grey cloak, which completely +enshrouded the corpse, and disclosed, by the light of the still +brightly flaming torches of the gunners, the features of the +unfortunate Murphy. + +"How did he meet his death?" enquired the governor; without, however, +manifesting the slightest surprise, or appearing at all moved at the +discovery. + +"By a rifle shot fired from the common, near the old bomb proof," +observed Captain Blessington, as the adjutant looked to him for the +particular explanation he could not render himself. + +"Ah! this reminds me," pursued the austere commandant,--"there was a +shot fired also from the ramparts. By whom, and at what?" + +"By me, sir," said Lieutenant Valletort, coming forward from the ranks, +"and at what I conceived to be an Indian, lurking as a spy upon the +common." + +"Then, Lieutenant Sir Everard Valletort, no repetition of these +firings, if you please; and let it be borne in mind by all, that +although, from the peculiar nature of the service in which we are +engaged, I so far depart from the established regulations of the army +as to permit my officers to arm themselves with rifles, they are to be +used only as occasion may require in the hour of conflict, and not for +the purpose of throwing a whole garrison into alarm by trials of skill +and dexterity upon shadows at this unseasonable hour." + +"I was not aware, sir," returned Sir Everard proudly, and secretly +galled at being thus addressed before the men, "it could be deemed a +military crime to destroy an enemy at whatever hour he might present +himself, and especially on such an occasion as the present. As for my +firing at a shadow, those who heard the yell that followed the second +shot, can determine that it came from no shadow, but from a fierce and +vindictive enemy. The cry denoted even something more than the ordinary +defiance of an Indian: it seemed to express a fiendish sentiment of +personal triumph and revenge." + +The governor started involuntarily. "Do you imagine, Sir Everard +Valletort, the aim of your rifle was true--that you hit him?" + +This question was asked so hurriedly, and in a tone so different from +that in which he had hitherto spoken, that the officers around +simultaneously raised their eyes to those of their colonel with an +expression of undissembled surprise. He observed it, and instantly +resumed his habitual sternness of look and manner. + +"I rather fear not, sir," replied Sir Everard, who had principally +remarked the emotion; "but may I hope (and this was said with +emphasis), in the evident disappointment you experience at my want of +success, my offence may be overlooked?" + +The governor fixed his penetrating eyes on the speaker, as if he would +have read his inmost mind; and then calmly, and even impressively, +observed,-- + +"Sir Everard Valletort, I do overlook the offence, and hope you may as +easily forgive yourself. It were well, however, that your indiscretion, +which can only find its excuse in your being so young an officer, had +not been altogether without some good result. Had you killed or +disabled the--the savage, there might have been a decent palliative +offered; but what must be your feelings, sir, when you reflect, the +death of yon officer," and he pointed to the corpse of the unhappy +Murphy, "is, in a great degree, attributable to yourself? Had you not +provoked the anger of the savage, and given a direction to his aim by +the impotent and wanton discharge of your own rifle, this accident +would never have happened." + +This severe reproving of an officer, who had acted from the most +praiseworthy of motives, and who could not possibly have anticipated +the unfortunate catastrophe that had occurred, was considered +especially harsh and unkind by every one present; and a low and almost +inaudible murmur passed through the company to which Sir Everard was +attached. For a minute or two that officer also appeared deeply pained, +not more from the reproof itself than from the new light in which the +observation of his chief had taught him to view, for the first time, +the causes that had led to the fall of Murphy. Finding, however, that +the governor had no further remark to address to him, he once more +returned to his station in the ranks. + +"Mr. Lawson," resumed the commandant, turning to the adjutant, "let +this victim be carried to the spot on which he fell, and there +interred. I know no better grave for a soldier than beneath the sod +that has been moistened with his blood. Recollect," he continued, as +the adjutant once more led the party out of the area,--"no firing, Mr. +Lawson. The duty must be silently performed, and without the risk of +provoking a forest of arrows, or a shower of bullets from the savages. +Major Blackwater," he pursued, as soon as the corpse had been removed, +"let the men pile their arms even as they now stand, and remain ready +to fall in at a minute's notice. Should any thing extraordinary happen +before the morning, you will, of course, apprise me." He then strode +out of the area with the same haughty and measured step that had +characterised his entrance. + +"Our colonel does not appear to be in one of his most amiable moods +to-night," observed Captain Blessington, as the officers, after having +disposed of their respective companies, now proceeded along the +ramparts to assist at the last funeral offices of their unhappy +associate. "He was disposed to be severe, and must have put you, in +some measure, out of conceit with your favourite rifle, Valletort." + +"True," rejoined the Baronet, who had already rallied from the +momentary depression of his spirits, "he hit me devilish hard, I +confess, and was disposed to display more of the commanding officer +than quite suits my ideas of the service. His words were as caustic as +his looks; and could both have pierced me to the quick, there was no +inclination on his part wanting. By my soul I could .... but I forgive +him. He is the father of my friend: and for that reason will I chew the +cud of my mortification, nor suffer, if possible, a sense of his +unkindness to rankle at my heart. At all events, Blessington, my mind +is made up, and resign or exchange I certainly shall the instant I can +find a decent loop-hole to creep out of." + +Sir Everard fancied the ear of his captain was alone listening to these +expressions of his feeling, or in all probability he would not have +uttered them. As he concluded the last sentence, however, he felt his +arm gently grasped by one who walked a pace or two silently in their +rear. He turned, and recognised Charles de Haldimar. + +"I am sure, Valletort, you will believe how much pained I have been at +the severity of my father; but, indeed, there was nothing personally +offensive intended. Blessington can tell you as well as myself it is +his manner altogether. Nay, that although he is the first in seniority +after Blackwater, the governor treats him with the same distance and +hauteur he would use towards the youngest ensign in the service. Such +are the effects of his long military habits, and his ideas of the +absolutism of command. Am I not right, Blessington?" + +"Quite right, Charles. Sir Everard may satisfy himself his is no +solitary instance of the stern severity of your father. Still, I +confess, notwithstanding the rigidity of manner which he seems, on all +occasions, to think so indispensable to the maintenance of authority in +a commanding officer, I never knew him so inclined to find fault as he +is to-night." + +"Perhaps," observed Valletort, good humouredly, "his conscience is +rather restless; and he is willing to get rid of it and his spleen +together. I would wager my rifle against the worthless scalp of the +rascal I fired at to-night, that this same stranger, whose asserted +appearance has called us from our comfortable beds, is but the creation +of his disturbed dreams. Indeed, how is it possible any thing formed of +flesh and blood could have escaped us with the vigilant watch that has +been kept on the ramparts? The old gentleman certainly had that +illusion strongly impressed on his mind when he so sapiently spoke of +my firing at a shadow." + +"But the gate," interrupted Charles de Haldimar, with something of mild +reproach in his tones,--"you forget, Valletort, the gate was found +unlocked, and that my brother is missing. HE, at least, was flesh and +blood, as you say, and yet he has disappeared. What more probable, +therefore, than that this stranger is at once the cause and the agent +of his abduction?" + +"Impossible, Charles," observed Captain Blessington; "Frederick was in +the midst of his guard. How, therefore, could he be conveyed away +without the alarm being given? Numbers only could have succeeded in so +desperate an enterprise; and yet there is no evidence, or even +suspicion, of more than one individual having been here." + +"It is a singular affair altogether," returned Sir Everard, musingly. +"Of two things, however, I am satisfied. The first is, that the +stranger, whoever he may be, and if he really has been here, is no +Indian; the second, that he is personally known to the governor, who +has been, or I mistake much, more alarmed at his individual presence +than if Ponteac and his whole band had suddenly broken in upon us. Did +you remark his emotion, when I dwelt on the peculiar character of +personal triumph and revenge which the cry of the lurking villain +outside seemed to express? and did you notice the eagerness with which +he enquired if I thought I had hit him? Depend upon it, there is more +in all this than is dreamt of in our philosophy." + +"And it was your undisguised perception of that emotion," remarked +Captain Blessington, "that drew down his severity upon your own head. +It was, however, too palpable not to be noticed by all; and I dare say +conjecture is as busily and as vaguely at work among our companions as +it is with us. The clue to the mystery, in a great degree, now dwells +with Frank Halloway; and to him we must look for its elucidation. His +disclosure will be one, I apprehend, full of ignominy to himself, but +of the highest interest and importance to us all. And yet I know not +how to believe the man the traitor he appears." + +"Did you remark that last harrowing exclamation of his wife?" observed +Charles de Haldimar, in a tone of unspeakable melancholy. "How +fearfully prophetic it sounded in my ears. I know not how it is," he +pursued, "but I wish I had not heard those sounds; for since that +moment I have had a sad strange presentiment of evil at my heart. +Heaven grant my poor brother may make his appearance, as I still trust +he will, at the hour Halloway seems to expect, for if not, the latter +most assuredly dies. I know my father well; and, if convicted by a +court martial, no human power can alter the destiny that awaits Frank +Halloway." + +"Rally, my dear Charles, rally," said Sir Everard, affecting a +confidence he did not feel himself; "indulge not in these idle and +superstitious fancies. I pity Halloway from my soul, and feel the +deepest interest in his pretty and unhappy wife; but that is no reason +why one should attach importance to the incoherent expressions wrung +from her in the agony of grief." + +"It is kind of you, Valletort, to endeavour to cheer my spirits, when, +if the truth were confessed, you acknowledge the influence of the same +feelings. I thank you for the attempt, but time alone can show how far +I shall have reason, or otherwise, to lament the occurrences of this +night." + +They had now reached that part of the ramparts whence the shot from Sir +Everard's rifle had been fired. Several men were occupied in digging a +grave in the precise spot on which the unfortunate Murphy had stood +when he received his death-wound; and into this, when completed, the +body, enshrouded in the cloak already alluded to, was deposited by his +companions. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +While the adjutant was yet reading, in a low and solemn voice, the +service for the dead, a fierce and distant yell, as if from a legion of +devils, burst suddenly from the forest, and brought the hands of the +startled officers instinctively to their swords. This appalling cry +lasted, without interruption, for many minutes, and was then as +abruptly checked as it had been unexpectedly delivered. A considerable +pause succeeded, and then again it rose with even more startling +vehemence than before. By one unaccustomed to those devilish sounds, no +distinction could have been made in the two several yells that had been +thus savagely pealed forth; but those to whom practice and long +experience in the warlike habits and customs of the Indians had +rendered their shouts familiar, at once divined, or fancied they +divined, the cause. The first was, to their conception, a yell +expressive at once of vengeance and disappointment in pursuit,--perhaps +of some prisoner who had escaped from their toils; the second, of +triumph and success,--in all probability, indicative of the recapture +of that prisoner. For many minutes afterwards the officers continued to +listen, with the most aching attention, for a repetition of the cry, or +even fainter sounds, that might denote either a nearer approach to the +fort, or the final departure of the Indians. After the second yell, +however, the woods, in the heart of which it appeared to have been +uttered, were buried in as profound a silence as if they had never yet +echoed back the voice of man; and all at length became satisfied that +the Indians, having accomplished some particular purpose, had retired +once more to their distant encampments for the night. Captain Erskine +was the first who broke the almost breathless silence that prevailed +among themselves. + +"On my life De Haldimar is a prisoner with the Indians. He has been +attempting his escape,--has been detected,--followed, and again fallen +into their hands. I know their infernal yells but too well. The last +expressed their savage joy at the capture of a prisoner; and there is +no one of us missing but De Haldimar." + +"Not a doubt of it," said Captain Blessington; "the cry was certainly +what you describe it, and Heaven only knows what will be the fate of +our poor friend." + +No other officer spoke, for all were oppressed by the weight of their +own feelings, and sought rather to give indulgence to speculation in +secret, than to share their impressions with their companions. Charles +de Haldimar stood a little in the rear, leaning his head upon his hand +against the box of the sentry, (who was silently, though anxiously, +pacing his walk,) and in an attitude expressive of the deepest +dejection and sorrow. + +"I suppose I must finish Lawson's work, although I am but a poor hand +at this sort of thing," resumed Captain Erskine, taking up the prayer +book the adjutant had, in hastening on the first alarm to get the men +under arms, carelessly thrown on the grave of the now unconscious +Murphy. + +He then commenced the service at the point where Mr. Lawson had so +abruptly broken off, and went through the remainder of the prayers. A +very few minutes sufficed for the performance of this solemn duty, +which was effected by the faint dim light of the at length dawning day, +and the men in attendance proceeded to fill up the grave of their +officer. + +Gradually the mists, that had fallen during the latter hours of the +night, began to ascend from the common, and disperse themselves in air, +conveying the appearance of a rolling sheet of vapour retiring Back +upon itself, and disclosing objects in succession, until the eye could +embrace all that came within its extent of vision. As the officers yet +lingered near the rude grave of their companion, watching with +abstracted air the languid and almost mechanical action of their jaded +men, as they emptied shovel after shovel of the damp earth over the +body of its new tenant, they were suddenly startled by an expression of +exultation from Sir Everard Valletort. + +"By Jupiter, I have pinked him," he exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew my +rifle could not err; and as for my sight, I have carried away too many +prizes in target-shooting to have been deceived in that. How delighted +the old governor will be, Charles, to hear this. No more lecturing, I +am sure, for the next six months at least;" and the young officer +rubbed his hands together, at the success of his shot, with as much +satisfaction and unconcern for the future, as if he had been in his own +native England; in the midst of a prize-ring. + +Roused by the observation of his friend, De Haldimar quitted his +position near the sentry box, and advanced to the outer edge of the +rampart. To him, as to his companions, the outline of the old bomb +proof was now distinctly visible, but it was sometime before they could +discover, in the direction in which Valletort pointed, a dark speck +upon the common; and this so indistinctly, they could scarcely +distinguish it with the naked eye. + +"Your sight is quite equal to your aim, Sir Everard," remarked +Lieutenant Johnstone, one of Erskine's subalterns, "and both are +decidedly superior to mine; yet I used to be thought a good rifleman +too, and have credit for an eye no less keen than that of an Indian. +You have the advantage of me, however; for I honestly admit I never +could have picked off yon fellow in the dark as you have done." + +As the dawn increased, the dark shadow of a human form, stretched at +its length upon the ground, became perceptible; and the officers, with +one unanimous voice, bore loud testimony to the skill and dexterity of +him who had, under such extreme disadvantages, accomplished the death +of their skulking enemy. + +"Bravo, Valletort," said Charles de Haldimar, recovering his spirits, +as much from the idea, now occurring to him, that this might indeed be +the stranger whose appearance had so greatly disturbed his father, as +from the gratification he felt in the praises bestowed on his friend. +"Bravo, my dear fellow;" then approaching, and in a half whisper, "when +next I write to Clara, I shall request her, with my cousin's +assistance, to prepare a chaplet of bays, wherewith I shall myself +crown you as their proxy. But what is the matter now, Valletort? Why +stand you there gazing upon the common, as if the victim of your +murderous aim was rising from his bloody couch, to reproach you with +his death? Tell me, shall I write to Clara for the prize, or will you +receive it from her own hands?" + +"Bid her rather pour her curses on my head; and to those, De Haldimar, +add your own," exclaimed Sir Everard, at length raising himself from +the statue-like position he had assumed. "Almighty God," he pursued, in +the same tone of deep agony, "what have I done? Where, where shall I +hide myself?" + +As he spoke he turned away from his companions, and covering his eyes +with his hand, with quick and unequal steps, even like those of a +drunken man, walked, or rather ran, along the rampart, as if fearful of +being overtaken. + +The whole group of officers, and Charles de Haldimar in particular, +were struck with dismay at the language and action of Sir Everard; and +for a moment they fancied that fatigue, and watching, and excitement, +had partially affected his brain. But when, after the lapse of a minute +or two, they again looked out upon the common, the secret of his +agitation was too faithfully and too painfully explained. + +What had at first the dusky and dingy hue of a half-naked Indian, was +now perceived, by the bright beams of light just gathering in the east, +to be the gay and striking uniform of a British officer. Doubt as to +who that officer was there could be none, for the white sword-belt +suspended over the right shoulder, and thrown into strong relief by the +field of scarlet on which it reposed, denoted the wearer of this +distinguishing badge of duty to be one of the guard. + +To comprehend effectually the feelings of the officers, it would be +necessary that one should have been not merely a soldier, but a soldier +under the same circumstances. Surrounded on every hand by a fierce and +cruel enemy--prepared at every moment to witness scenes of barbarity +and bloodshed in their most appalling shapes--isolated from all society +beyond the gates of their own fortress, and by consequence reposing on +and regarding each other as vital links in the chain of their wild and +adventurous existence,--it can easily be understood with what sincere +and unaffected grief they lamented the sudden cutting off even of those +who least assimilated in spirit and character with themselves. Such, in +a great degree, had been the case in the instance of the officer over +whose grave they were now met to render the last offices of +companionship, if not of friendship. Indeed Murphy--a rude, vulgar, and +illiterate, though brave Irishman--having risen from the ranks, the +coarseness of which he had never been able to shake off, was little +calculated, either by habits or education, to awaken feelings, except +of the most ordinary description, in his favour; and he and Ensign +Delme were the only exceptions to those disinterested and tacit +friendships that had grown up out of circumstances in common among the +majority. If, therefore, they could regret the loss of such a companion +as Murphy, how deep and heartfelt must have been the sorrow they +experienced when they beheld the brave, generous, manly, amiable, and +highly-talented Frederick de Haldimar--the pride of the garrison, and +the idol of his family--lying extended, a cold, senseless corpse, slain +by the hand of the bosom friend of his own brother!--Notwithstanding +the stern severity and distance of the governor, whom few +circumstances, however critical or exciting, could surprise into +relaxation of his habitual stateliness, it would have been difficult to +name two young men more universally liked and esteemed by their brother +officers than were the De Haldimars--the first for the qualities +already named--the second, for those retiring, mild, winning manners, +and gentle affections, added to extreme and almost feminine beauty of +countenance for which he was remarkable. Alas, what a gloomy picture +was now exhibited to the minds of all!--Frederick de Haldimar a corpse, +and slain by the hand of Sir Everard Valletort! What but disunion could +follow this melancholy catastrophe? and how could Charles de Haldimar, +even if his bland nature should survive the shock, ever bear to look +again upon the man who had, however innocently or unintentionally, +deprived him of a brother whom he adored? + +These were the impressions that passed through the minds of the +compassionating officers, as they directed their glance alternately +from the common to the pale and marble-like features of the younger De +Haldimar, who, with parted lips and stupid gaze, continued to fix his +eyes upon the inanimate form of his ill-fated brother, as if the very +faculty of life itself had been for a period suspended. At length, +however, while his companions watched in silence the mining workings of +that grief which they feared to interrupt by ill-timed observations, +even of condolence, the death-like hue, which had hitherto suffused the +usually blooming cheek of the young officer, was succeeded by a flush +of the deepest dye, while his eyes, swollen by the tide of blood now +rushing violently to his face, appeared to be bursting from their +sockets. The shock was more than his delicate frame, exhausted as it +was by watching and fatigue, could bear. He tottered, reeled, pressed +his hand upon his head, and before any one could render him assistance, +fell senseless on the ramparts. + +During the interval between Sir Everard Valletort's exclamation, and +the fall of Charles de Haldimar, the men employed at the grave had +performed their duty, and were gazing with mingled astonishment and +concern, both on the body of their murdered officer, and on the dumb +scene acting around them. Two of these were now despatched for a +litter, with which they speedily re-appeared. On this Charles de +Haldimar, already delirious with the fever of intense excitement, was +carefully placed, and, followed by Captain Blessington and Lieutenant +Johnstone, borne to his apartment in the small range of buildings +constituting the officers' barracks. Captain Erskine undertook the +disagreeable office of communicating these distressing events to the +governor; and the remainder of the officers once more hastened to join +or linger near their respective companies, in readiness for the order +which it was expected would be given to despatch a numerous party of +the garrison to secure the body of Captain de Haldimar. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The sun was just rising above the horizon, in all that peculiar +softness of splendour which characterises the early days of autumn in +America, as Captain Erskine led his company across the drawbridge that +communicated with the fort. It was the first time it had been lowered +since the investment of the garrison by the Indians; and as the dull +and rusty chains performed their service with a harsh and grating +sound, it seemed as if an earnest were given of melancholy boding. +Although the distance to be traversed was small, the risk the party +incurred was great; for it was probable the savages, ever on the alert, +would not suffer them to effect their object unmolested. It was perhaps +singular, and certainly contradictory, that an officer of the +acknowledged prudence and forethought ascribed to the +governor--qualities which in a great degree neutralised his excessive +severity in the eyes of his troops--should have hazarded the chance of +having his garrison enfeebled by the destruction of a part, if not of +the whole, of the company appointed to this dangerous duty; but with +all his severity, Colonel de Haldimar was not without strong affection +for his children. The feelings of the father, therefore, in a great +degree triumphed over the prudence of the commander; and to shield the +corpse of his son from the indignities which he well knew would be +inflicted on it by Indian barbarity, he had been induced to accede to +the earnest prayer of Captain Erskine, that he might be permitted to +lead out his company for the purpose of securing the body. Every means +were, however, taken to cover the advance, and ensure the retreat of +the detachment. The remainder of the troops were distributed along the +rear of the ramparts, with instructions to lie flat on their faces +until summoned by their officers from that position; which was to be +done only in the event of close pursuit from the savages. Artillerymen +were also stationed at the several guns that flanked the rear of the +fort, and necessarily commanded both the common and the outskirt of the +forest, with orders to fire with grape-shot at a given signal. Captain +Erskine's instructions were, moreover, if attacked, to retreat back +under the guns of the fort slowly and in good order, and without +turning his back upon the enemy. + +Thus confident of support, the party, after traversing the drawbridge +with fixed bayonets, inclined to the right, and following the winding +of the ditch by which it was surrounded, made the semi-circuit of the +rampart until they gained the immediate centre of the rear, and in a +direct line with the bomb-proof. Here their mode of advance was +altered, to guard more effectually against the enemy with whom they +might possibly have to contend. The front and rear ranks of the +company, consisting in all of ninety men, were so placed as to leave +space in the event of attack, of a portion of each wheeling inwards so +as to present in an instant three equal faces of a square. As the rear +was sufficiently covered by the cannon of the fort to defeat any +attempt to turn their flanks, the manoeuvre was one that enabled them +to present a fuller front in whatever other quarter they might be +attacked; and had this additional advantage, that in the advance by +single files a narrower front was given to the aim of the Indians, who, +unless they fired in an oblique direction, could only, of necessity, +bring down two men (the leading files) at a time. + +In this order, and anxiously overlooked by their comrades, whose eyes +alone peered from above the surface of the rampart on which they lay +prostrate, the detachment crossed the common; one rank headed by +Captain Erskine, the other by Lieutenant Johnstone. They had now +approached within a few yards of the unfortunate victim, when Captain +Erskine commanded a halt of his party; and two files were detached from +the rear of each rank, to place the body on a litter with which they +had provided themselves. He and Johnstone also moved in the same +direction in advance of the men, prepared to render assistance if +required. The corpse lay on its face, and in no way despoiled of any of +its glittering habiliments; a circumstance that too well confirmed the +fact of De Haldimar's death having been accomplished by the ball from +Sir Everard Valletort's rifle. It appeared, however, the ill-fated +officer had struggled much in the agonies of death; for the left leg +was drawn Up into an unnatural state of contraction, and the right +hand, closely compressed, grasped a quantity of grass and soil, which +had evidently been torn up in a paroxysm of suffering and despair. + +The men placed the litter at the side of the body, which they now +proceeded to raise. As they were in the act of depositing it on this +temporary bier, the plumed hat fell from the head, and disclosed, to +the astonishment of all, the scalpless crown completely saturated in +its own clotted blood and oozing brains. + +An exclamation of horror and disgust escaped at the same moment from +the lips of the two officers, and the men started back from their +charge as if a basilisk had suddenly appeared before them. Captain +Erskine pursued:--"What the devil is the meaning of all this, +Johnstone?" + +"What, indeed!" rejoined his lieutenant, with a shrug of the shoulders, +that was intended to express his inability to form any opinion on the +subject. + +"Unless it should prove," continued Erskine, "as I sincerely trust it +may, that poor Valletort is not, after all, the murderer of his friend. +It must be so. De Haldimar has been slain by the same Indian who killed +Murphy.--Do you recollect his scalp cry? He was in the act of +despoiling his victim of this trophy of success, when Sir Everard +fired. Examine the body well, Mitchell, and discover where the wound +lies." + +The old soldier to whom this order was addressed now prepared, with the +assistance of his comrades, to turn the body upon its back, when +suddenly the air was rent with terrific yells, that seemed to be +uttered in their very ears, and in the next instant more than a hundred +dark and hideous savages sprang simultaneously to their feet within the +bomb-proof, while every tree along the skirt of the forest gave back +the towering form of a warrior. Each of these, in addition to his +rifle, was armed with all those destructive implements of warfare which +render the Indians of America so formidable and so terrible an enemy. + +"Stand to your arms, men," shouted Captain Erskine, recovering from his +first and unavoidable, though but momentary, surprise. "First and +fourth sections, on your right and left backwards wheel:--Quick, men, +within the square, for your lives." As he spoke, he and Lieutenant +Johnstone sprang hastily back, and in time to obtain admittance within +the troops, who had rapidly executed the manoeuvre commanded. Not so +with Mitchell and his companions. On the first alarm they had quitted +the body of the mutilated officer, and flown to secure their arms, but +even while in the act of stooping to take them up, they had been +grappled by a powerful and vindictive foe; and the first thing they +beheld on regaining their upright position was a dusky Indian at the +side, and a gleaming tomahawk flashing rapidly round the head of each. + +"Fire not, on your lives," exclaimed Captain Erskine hastily, as he saw +several of the men in front levelling, in the excitement of the moment, +their muskets at the threatening savages. "Prepare for attack," he +pursued; and in the next instant each man dropped on his right knee, +and a barrier of bristling bayonets seemed to rise from the very bowels +of the earth. Attracted by the novelty of the sight, the bold and +daring warriors, although still retaining their firm grasp of the +unhappy soldiers, were for a moment diverted from their bloody purpose, +and temporarily suspended the quick and rotatory motion of their +weapons. Captain Erskine took advantage of this pause to seize the +halbert of one of his sergeants, to the extreme point of which he +hastily attached a white pocket handkerchief, that was loosely thrust +into the breast of his uniform; this he waved on high three several +times, and then relinquishing the halbert, dropped also on his knee +within the square. + +"The dog of a Saganaw asks for mercy," said a voice from within the +bomb-proof, and speaking in the dialect of the Ottawas. "His pale flag +bespeaks the quailing of his heart, and his attitude denotes the +timidity of the hind. His warriors are like himself, and even now upon +their knees they call upon their Manitou to preserve them from the +vengeance of the red-skins. But mercy is not for dogs like these. Now +is the time to make our tomahawks warm in their blood; and every head +that we count shall be a scalp upon our war poles." + +As he ceased, one universal and portentous yell burst from the +fiend-like band; and again the weapons of death were fiercely +brandished around the heads of the stupified soldiers who had fallen +into their power. + +"What can they be about?" anxiously exclaimed Captain Erskine, in the +midst of this deafening clamour, to his subaltern.--"Quiet, man; damn +you, quiet, or I'll cut you down," he pursued, addressing one of his +soldiers, whose impatience caused him to bring his musket half up to +the shoulder. And again he turned his head in the direction of the +fort:--"Thank God, here it comes at last,--I feared my signal had not +been noticed." + +While he yet spoke, the loud roaring of a cannon from the ramparts was +heard, and a shower of grape-shot passed over the heads of the +detachment, and was seen tearing up the earth around the bomb-proof, +and scattering fragments of stone and wood into the air. The men +simultaneously and unbidden gave three cheers. + +In an instant the scene was changed. As if moved by some mechanical +impulse, the fierce band that lined the bomb-proof sank below the +surface, and were no longer visible, while the warriors in the forest +again sought shelter behind the trees. The captured soldiers were also +liberated without injury, so sudden and startling had been the terror +produced in the savages by the lightning flash that announced its heavy +messengers of destruction. Discharge after discharge succeeded without +intermission; but the guns had been levelled so high, to prevent injury +to their own men, they had little other effect than to keep the Indians +from the attack. The rush of bullets through the close forest, and the +crashing of trees and branches as they fell with startling force upon +each other, were, with the peals of artillery, the only noises now to +be heard; for not a yell, not a word was uttered by the Indians after +the first discharge; and but for the certainty that existed in every +mind, it might have been supposed the whole of them had retired. + +"Now is your time," cried Captain Erskine; "bring in the litter to the +rear, and stoop as much as possible to avoid the shot." + +The poor half-strangled fellows, however, instead of obeying the order +of their captain, looked round in every direction for the enemy by whom +they had been so rudely handled, and who had glided from them almost as +imperceptibly and swiftly as they had first approached. It seemed as if +they apprehended that any attempt to remove the body would be visited +by those fierce devils with the same appalling and ferocious +threatenings. + +"Why stand ye there, ye dolts," continued their captain, "looking +around as if ye were bewitched? Bring the litter in to the +rear.--Mitchell, you old fool, are you grown a coward in your age? Are +you not ashamed to set such an example to your comrades?" + +The doubt thus implied of the courage of his men, who, in fact, were +merely stupified with the scene they had gone through, had, as Captain +Erskine expected, the desired effect. They now bent themselves to the +litter, on which they had previously deposited their muskets, and with +a self-possession that contrasted singularly with their recent air of +wild astonishment, bore it to the rear at the risk of being cut in two +at every moment by the fire from the fort. + +One fierce yell, instinctively proffered by several of the lurking band +in the forest, marked their disappointment and rage at the escape of +their victims; but all attempt at uncovering themselves, so as to be +enabled to fire, was prevented by the additional showers of grape which +that yell immediately brought upon them. + +The position in which Captain Erskine now found himself was highly +critical. Before him, and on either flank, was a multitude of savages, +who only awaited the cessation of the fire from the fort to commence +their fierce and impetuous attack. That that fire could not long be +sustained was evident, since ammunition could ill be spared for the +present inefficient purpose, where supplies of all kinds were so +difficult to be obtained; and, if he should attempt a retreat, the +upright position of his men exposed them to the risk of being swept +away by the ponderous metal, that already fanned their cheeks with the +air it so rapidly divided. Suddenly, however, the fire from the +batteries was discontinued, and this he knew to be a signal for +himself. He gave an order in a low voice, and the detachment quitted +their recumbent and defensive position, still remaining formed in +square. At the same instant, a gun flashed from the fort; but not as +before was heard the rushing sound of the destructive shot crushing the +trees in its resistless course. The Indians took courage at this +circumstance, for they deemed the bullets of their enemies were +expended; and that they were merely discharging their powder to keep up +the apprehension originally produced. Again they showed themselves, +like so many demons, from behind their lurking places; and yells and +shouts of the most terrific and threatening character once more rent +the air, and echoed through the woods. Their cries of anticipated +triumph were, however, but of short duration. Presently, a hissing +noise was heard in the air; and close to the bomb-proof, and at the +very skirt of the forest, they beheld a huge globe of iron fall +perpendicularly to the earth, to the outer part of which was attached +what they supposed to be a reed, that spat forth innumerable sparks of +fire, without however, seeming to threaten the slightest injury. +Attracted by the novel sight, a dozen warriors sprang to the spot, and +fastened their gaze upon it with all the childish wonder and curiosity +of men in a savage state. One, more eager and restless than his +fellows, stooped over it to feel with his hand of what it was composed. +At that moment it burst, and limbs, and head, and entrails, were seen +flying in the air, with the fragments of the shell, and prostrate and +struggling forms lay writhing on every hand in the last, fierce agonies +of death. + +A yell of despair and a shout of triumph burst at the same moment from +the adverse parties. Taking advantage of the terror produced, by this +catastrophe, in the savages, Captain Erskine caused the men bearing the +corpse to retreat, with all possible expedition, under the ramparts of +the fort. He waited until they got nearly half way, and then threw +forward the wheeling sections, that had covered this movement, once +more into single file, in which order he commenced his retreat. Step by +step, and almost imperceptibly, the men paced backwards, ready, at a +moment's notice, to reform the square. Partly recovered from the terror +and surprise produced by the bursting of the shell, the Indians were +quick in perceiving this movement: filled with rage at having been so +long baulked of their aim, they threw themselves once more impetuously +from their cover; and, with stimulating yells, at length opened their +fire. Several of Captain Erskine's men were wounded by this discharge; +when, again, and furiously the cannon opened from the fort. It was then +that the superiority of the artillery was made manifest. Both right and +left of the retreating files the ponderous shot flew heavily past, +carrying death and terror to the Indians; while not a man of those who +intervened was scathed or touched in its progress. The warriors in the +forest were once more compelled to shelter themselves behind the trees; +but in the bomb-proof, where they were more secure, they were also more +bold. From this a galling fire, mingled with the most hideous yells, +was now kept up; and the detachment, in their slow retreat, suffered +considerably. Several men had been killed; and, about twenty, including +Lieutenant Johnstone, wounded, when again, one of those murderous +globes fell, hissing in the very centre of the bomb-proof. In an +instant, the Indian fire was discontinued; and their dark and pliant +forms were seen hurrying with almost incredible rapidity over the +dilapidated walls, and flying into the very heart of the forest, so +that when the shell exploded, a few seconds afterwards, not a warrior +was to be seen. From this moment the attack was not renewed, and +Captain Erskine made good his retreat without farther molestation. + +"Well, old buffers!" exclaimed one of the leading files, as the +detachment, preceded by its dead and wounded, now moved along the moat +in the direction of the draw-bridge, "how did you like the grip of them +black savages?--I say, Mitchell, old Nick will scarcely know the face +of you, it's so much altered by fright.--Did you see," turning to the +man in his rear, "how harum-scarum he looked, when the captain called +out to him to come off?" + +"Hold your clapper, you spooney, and be damned to you!" exclaimed the +angry veteran.--"Had the Ingian fastened his paw upon your ugly neck as +he did upon mine, all the pitiful life your mother ever put into you +would have been spirited away from very fear; so you needn't brag." + +"Sure, and if any of ye had a grain of spunk, ye would have fired, and +freed a fellow from the clutch of them hell thieves," muttered another +of the men at the litter. "All the time, the devil had me by the +throat, swinging his tommyhawk about my head, I saw ye dancing up and +down in the heavens, instead of being on your marrow bones on the +common." + +"And didn't I want to do it?" rejoined the first speaker. "Ask Tom +Winkler here, if the captain didn't swear he'd cut the soul out of my +body if I even offered so much as to touch the trigger of my musket." + +"Faith, and lucky he did," replied his covering man (for the ranks had +again joined), "since but for that, there wouldn't be at this moment so +much as a hair of the scalp of one of you left." + +"And how so, Mr. Wiseacre?" rejoined his comrade. + +"How so! Because the first shot that we fired would have set the devils +upon them in right earnest--and then their top-knots wouldn't have been +worth a brass farthing. They would have been scalped before they could +say Jack Robinson." + +"It was a hell of a risk," resumed another of the litter men, "to give +four men a chance of having their skull pieces cracked open like so +many egg-shells, and all to get possession of a dead officer." + +"And sure, you beast," remarked a different voice in a tone of anger, +"the dead body of the brave captain was worth a dozen such rotten +carcasses with all the life in them. What matter would it be if ye had +all been scalped?" Then with a significant half glance to the rear, +which was brought up by their commander, on whose arm leaned the +slightly wounded Johnstone, "Take care the captain doesn't hear ye +prating after that fashion, Will Burford." + +"By Jasus," said a good-humoured, quaint looking Irishman, who had been +fixing his eyes on the litter during this pithy and characteristic +colloquy; "it sames to me, my boys, that ye have caught the wrong cow +by the horns, and that all your pains has been for nothing at all, at +all. By the holy pope, ye are all wrong; it's like bringing salt butter +to Cork, or coals to your Newcastle, as ye call it. Who the divil ever +heard of the officer wearing ammunition shoes?" + +The men all turned their gaze on that part of the vestment of the +corpse to which their attention had been directed by this remark, when +it was at once perceived, although it had hitherto escaped the +observation even of the officers, that, not only the shoes were those +usually worn by the soldiers, and termed ammunition or store shoes, but +also, the trowsers were of the description of coarse grey, peculiar to +that class. + +"By the piper that played before Moses, and ye're right, Dick Doherty," +exclaimed another Irishman; "sure, and it isn't the officer at all! +Just look at the great black fist of him too, and never call me Phil +Shehan, if it ever was made for the handling of an officer's spit." + +"Well said, Shehan," observed the man who had so warmly reproved Will +Burford, and who had formerly been servant to De Haldimar; "the +captain's hand is as white and as soft as my cross-belt, or, what's +saying a great deal more, as Miss Clara's herself, heaven bless her +sweet countenance! and Lieutenant Valletort's nigger's couldn't well be +much blacker nor this." + +"What a set of hignoramuses ye must be," grunted old Mitchell, "not to +see that the captain's hand is only covered with dirt; and as for the +ammunition shoes and trowsers, why you know our officers wear any thing +since we have been cooped up in this here fort." + +"Yes, by the holy poker," (and here we must beg to refer the reader to +the soldier's vocabulary for any terms that may be, in the course of +this dialogue, incomprehensible to him or her,)--"Yes, by the holy +poker, off duty, if they like it," returned Phil Shehan; "but it isn't +even the colonel's own born son that dare to do so while officer of the +guard." + +"Ye are right, comrade," said Burford; "there would soon be hell and +tommy to pay if he did." + +At this point of their conversation, one of the leading men at the +litter, in turning to look at its subject, stumbled over the root of a +stump that lay in his way, and fell violently forward. The sudden +action destroyed the equilibrium of the corpse, which rolled off its +temporary bier upon the earth, and disclosed, for the first time, a +face begrimmed with masses of clotted blood, which had streamed forth +from the scalped brain during the night. + +"It's the divil himself," said Phil Shehan, making the sign of the +cross, half in jest, half in earnest: "for it isn't the captin at all, +and who but the divil could have managed to clap on his rigimintals?" + +"No, it's an Ingian," remarked Dick Burford, sagaciously; "it's an +Ingian that has killed the captain, and dressed himself in his clothes. +I thought he smelt strong, when I helped to pick him up." + +"And that's the reason why the bloody heathens wouldn't let us carry +him off," said another of the litter men. "I thought they wouldn't ha' +made such a rout about the officer, when they had his scalp already in +their pouch-belts." + +"What a set of prating fools ye are," interrupted the leading sergeant; +"who ever saw an Ingian with light hair? and sure this hair in the neck +is that of a Christian." + +At that moment Captain Erskine, attracted by the sudden halt produced +by the falling of the body, came quickly up to the front. + +"What is the meaning of all this, Cassidy?" he sternly demanded of the +sergeant; "why is this halt without my orders, and how comes the body +here?" + +"Carter stumbled against a root, sir, and the body rolled over upon the +ground." + +"And was the body to roll back again?" angrily rejoined his +captain.--"What mean ye, fellows, by standing there; quick, replace it +upon the litter, and mind this does not occur again." + +"They say, sir," said the sergeant, respectfully, as the men proceeded +to their duty, "that it is not Captain de Haldimar after all, but an +Ingian." + +"Not Captain de Haldimar! are ye all mad? and have the Indians, in +reality, turned your brains with fear?" + +What, however, was his own surprise, and that of Lieutenant Johnstone, +when, on a closer examination of the corpse, which the men had now +placed with its face uppermost, they discovered the bewildering fact +that it was not, indeed, Captain de Haldimar who lay before them, but a +stranger, dressed in the uniform of that officer. + +There was no time to solve, or even to dwell on the singular mystery; +for the Indians, though now retired, might be expected to rally and +renew the attack. Once more, therefore, the detachment moved forward; +the officers dropping as before to the rear, to watch any movements of +the enemy should he re-appear. Nothing, however, occurred to interrupt +their march; and in a few minutes the heavy clanking sound of the +chains of the drawbridge, as it was again raised by its strong pullies, +and the dull creaking sound of the rusty bolts and locks that secured +the ponderous gate, announced the detachment was once more safely +within the fort. + +While the wounded men were being conveyed to the hospital, a group, +comprising almost all the officers of the garrison, hastened to meet +Captain Erskine and Lieutenant Johnstone. Congratulations on the escape +of the one, and compliments, rather than condolences, on the accident +of the other, which the arm en echarpe denoted to be slight, were +hastily and warmly proffered. These felicitations were the genuine +ebullitions of the hearts of men who really felt a pride, unmixed with +jealousy, in the conduct of their fellows; and so cool and excellent +had been the manner in which Captain Erskine had accomplished his +object, that it had claimed the undivided admiration of all who had +been spectators of the affair, and had, with the aid of their +telescopes, been enabled to follow the minutest movements of the +detachment. + +"By heaven!" he at length replied, his chest swelling with gratified +pride at the warm and generous approval of his companions, "this more +than repays me for every risk. Yet, to be sincere, the credit is not +mine, but Wentworth's. But for you, my dear fellow," grasping and +shaking the hand of that officer, "we should have rendered but a +Flemish account of ourselves. How beautifully those guns covered our +retreat! and the first mortar that sent the howling devils flying in +air like so many Will-o'the-wisps, who placed that, Wentworth?" + +"I did," replied the officer, with a quickness that denoted a natural +feeling of exultation; "but Bombardier Kitson's was the most effective. +It was his shell that drove the Indians finally out of the bomb-proof, +and left the coast clear for your retreat." + +"Then Kitson, and his gunners also, merit our best thanks," pursued +Captain Erskine, whose spirits, now that his detachment was in safety, +were more than usually exhilarated by the exciting events of the last +hour; "and what will be more acceptable, perhaps, they shall each have +a glass of my best old Jamaica before they sleep,--and such stuff is +not to be met with every day in this wilderness of a country. But, +confound my stupid head! where are Charles de Haldimar and Sir Everard +Valletort?" + +"Poor Charles is in a high fever, and confined to his bed," remarked +Captain Blessington, who now came up adding his congratulations in a +low tone, that marked the despondency of his heart; "and Sir Everard I +have just left on the rampart with the company, looking, as he well +may, the very image of despair." + +"Run to them, Sumners, my dear boy," said Erskine, hastily addressing +himself to a young ensign who stood near him; "run quickly, and relieve +them of their error. Say it is not De Haldimar who has been killed, +therefore they need not make themselves any longer uneasy on that +score." + +The officers gave a start of surprise. Sumners, however, hastened to +acquit himself of the pleasing task assigned him, without waiting to +hear the explanation of the singular declaration. + +"Not De Haldimar!" eagerly and anxiously exclaimed Captain Blessington; +"who then have you brought to us in his uniform, which I clearly +distinguished from the rampart as you passed? Surely you would not +tamper with us at such a moment, Erskine?" + +"Who it is, I know not more than Adam," rejoined the other; "unless, +indeed, it be the devil himself. All I do know, is, it is not our +friend De Haldimar; although, as you observe, he most certainly wears +his uniform. But you shall see and judge for yourselves, gentlemen. +Sergeant Cassidy," he enquired of that individual, who now came to ask +if the detachment was to be dismissed, "where have you placed the +litter?" + +"Under the piazza of the guard-room, Sir," answered the sergeant. + +These words had scarcely been uttered, when a general and hasty +movement of the officers, anxious to satisfy themselves by personal +observation it was not indeed De Haldimar who had fallen, took place in +the direction alluded to, and in the next moment they were at the side +of the litter. + +A blanket had been thrown upon the corpse to conceal the loathsome +disfigurement of the face, over which masses of thick coagulated blood +were laid in patches and streaks, that set all recognition at defiance. +The formation of the head alone, which was round and short, denoted it +to be not De Haldimar's. Not a feature was left undefiled; and even the +eyes were so covered, it was impossible to say whether their lids were +closed or open. More than one officer's cheek paled with the sickness +that rose to his heart as he gazed on the hideous spectacle; yet, as +the curiosity of all was strongly excited to know who the murdered man +really was who had been so unaccountably inducted in the uniform of +their lost companion, they were resolved to satisfy themselves without +further delay. A basin of warm water and a sponge were procured from +the guard-room of Ensign Fortescue, who now joined them, and with these +Captain Blessington proceeded to remove the disguise. + +In the course of this lavation, it was discovered the extraordinary +flow of blood and brains had been produced by the infliction of a deep +wound on the back of the head, by the sharp and ponderous tomahawk of +an Indian. It was the only blow that had been given; and the +circumstance of the deceased having been found lying on his face, +accounted for the quantity of gore, that, trickling downwards, had so +completely disguised every feature. As the coat of thick encrusted +matter gave way beneath the frequent application of the moistening +sponge, the pallid hue of the countenance denoted the murdered man to +be a white. All doubt, however, was soon at an end. The ammunition +shoes, the grey trowsers, the coarse linen, and the stiff leathern +stock encircling the neck, attested the sufferer to be a soldier of the +garrison; but it was not until the face had been completely denuded of +its unsightly covering, and every feature fully exposed, that that +soldier was at length recognised to be Harry Donellan, the trusty and +attached servant of Captain de Haldimar. + +While yet the officers stood apart, gazing at the corpse, and forming a +variety of conjectures, as vague as they were unsatisfactory, in regard +to their new mystery, Sir Everard Valletort, pale and breathless with +the speed he had used, suddenly appeared among them. + +"God of heaven! can it be true--and is it really not De Haldimar whom I +have shot?" wildly asked the agitated young man. "Who is this, +Erskine?" he continued, glancing at the litter. "Explain, for pity's +sake, and quickly." + +"Compose yourself, my dear Valletort," replied the officer addressed. +"You see this is not De Haldimar, but his servant Donellan. Neither has +the latter met his death from your rifle; there is no mark of a bullet +about him. It was an Indian tomahawk that did his business; and I will +stake my head against a hickory nut the blow came from the same rascal +at whom you fired, and who gave back the shot and the scalp halloo." + +This opinion was unanimously expressed by the remainder of the +officers. Sir Everard was almost as much overpowered by his joy, as he +had previously been overwhelmed by his despair, and he grasped and +shook the hand of Captain Erskine, who had thus been the means of +relieving his conscience, with an energy of gratitude and feeling that +almost drew tears from the eyes of that blunt but gallant officer. + +"Thank God, thank God!" he fervently exclaimed: "I have not then even +the death of poor Donellan to answer for;" and hastening from the +guard-room, he pursued his course hurriedly and delightedly to the +barrack-room of his friend. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +The hour fixed for the trial of the prisoner Halloway had now arrived, +and the officers composing the court were all met in the mess-room of +the garrison, surrounding a long table covered with green cloth, over +which were distributed pens, ink, and paper for taking minutes of the +evidence, and such notes of the proceedings as the several members +might deem necessary in the course of the trial. Captain Blessington +presided; and next him, on either hand, were the first in seniority, +the two junior occupying the lowest places. The demeanour of the +several officers, serious and befitting the duty they were met to +perform, was rendered more especially solemn from the presence of the +governor, who sat a little to the right of the president, and without +the circle, remained covered, and with his arms folded across his +chest. At a signal given by the president to the orderly in waiting, +that individual disappeared from the room, and soon afterwards Frank +Halloway, strongly ironed, as on the preceding night, was ushered in by +several files of the guard, under Ensign Fortescue himself. + +The prisoner having been stationed a few paces on the left of the +president, that officer stood up to administer the customary oath. His +example was followed by the rest of the court, who now rose, and +extending each his right hand upon the prayer book, repeated, after the +president, the form of words prescribed by military law. They then, +after successively touching the sacred volume with their lips, once +more resumed their seats at the table. + +The prosecutor was the Adjutant Lawson, who now handed over to the +president a paper, from which the latter officer read, in a clear and +distinct voice, the following charges, viz.-- + +"1st. For having on the night of the --th September 1763, while on duty +at the gate of the Fortress of Detroit, either admitted a stranger into +the garrison himself, or suffered him to obtain admission, without +giving the alarm, or using the means necessary to ensure his +apprehension, such conduct being treasonable, and in breach of the +articles of war. + +"2d. For having been accessary to the abduction of Captain Frederick de +Haldimar and private Harry Donellan, the disappearance of whom from the +garrison can only be attributed to a secret understanding existing +between the prisoner and the enemy without the walls, such conduct +being treasonable, and in breach of the articles of war." + +"Private Frank Halloway," continued Captain Blessington, after having +perused these two short but important charges, "you have heard what has +been preferred against you; what say you, therefore? Are you guilty, or +not guilty?" + +"Not guilty," firmly and somewhat exultingly replied the prisoner, +laying his hand at the same time on his swelling heart. + +"Stay, sir," sternly observed the governor, addressing the president; +"you have not read ALL the charges." + +Captain Blessington took up the paper from the table, on which he had +carelessly thrown it, after reading the accusations above detailed, and +perceived, for the first time, that a portion had been doubled back. +His eye now glanced over a third charge, which had previously escaped +his attention. + +"Prisoner," he pursued, after the lapse of a minute, "there is a third +charge against you, viz. for having, on the night of the --th Sept. +1763, suffered Captain De Haldimar to unclose the gate of the fortress, +and, accompanied by his servant, private Harry Donellan, to pass your +post without the sanction of the governor, such conduct being in direct +violation of a standing order of the garrison, and punishable with +death." + +The prisoner started. "What!" he exclaimed, his cheek paling for the +first time with momentary apprehension; "is this voluntary confession +of my own to be turned into a charge that threatens my life? Colonel de +Haldimar, is the explanation which I gave you only this very hour, and +in private, to be made the public instrument of my condemnation? Am I +to die because I had not firmness to resist the prayer of my captain +and of your son, Colonel de Haldimar?" + +The president looked towards the governor, but a significant motion of +the head was the only reply; he proceeded,-- + +"Prisoner Halloway, what plead you to this charge? Guilty, or not +guilty?" + +"I see plainly," said Halloway, after the pause of a minute, during +which he appeared to be summoning all his energies to his aid; "I see +plainly that it is useless to strive against my fate. Captain de +Haldimar is not here, and I must die. Still I shall not have the +disgrace of dying as a traitor, though I own I have violated the orders +of the garrison." + +"Prisoner," interrupted Captain Blessington, "whatever you may have to +urge, you had better reserve for your defence. Meanwhile, what answer +do you make to the last charge preferred?--Are you guilty, or not +guilty?" + +"Guilty," said Halloway, in a tone of mingled pride and sorrow, "guilty +of having listened to the earnest prayer of my captain, and suffered +him, in violation of my orders, to pass my post. Of the other charges I +am innocent." + +The court listened with the most profound attention and interest to the +words of the prisoner, and they glanced at each other in a manner that +marked their sense of the truth they attached to his declaration. + +"Halloway, prisoner," resumed Captain Blessington, mildly, yet +impressively; "recollect the severe penalty which the third charge, no +less than the others, entails, and recall your admission. Be advised by +me," he pursued, observing his hesitation. "Withdraw your plea, then, +and substitute that of not guilty to the whole." + +"Captain Blessington," returned the prisoner with deep emotion, "I feel +all the kindness of your motive; and if any thing can console me in my +present situation, it is the circumstance of having presiding at my +trial an officer so universally beloved by the whole corps. Still," and +again his voice acquired its wonted firmness, and his cheek glowed with +honest pride, "still, I say, I scorn to retract my words. Of the two +first charges I am as innocent as the babe unborn. To the last I plead +guilty; and vain would it be to say otherwise, since the gate was found +open while I was on duty, and I know the penalty attached to the +disobedience of orders." + +After some further but ineffectual remonstrance on the part of the +president, the pleas of the prisoner were recorded, and the examination +commenced. Governor de Haldimar was the first witness. + +That officer, having been sworn, stated, that on the preceding night he +had been intruded upon in his apartment by a stranger, who could have +obtained admission only through the gate of the fortress, by which also +he must have made good his escape. That it was evident the prisoner had +been in correspondence with their enemies; since, on proceeding to +examine the gate it had been found unlocked, while the confusion +manifested by him on being accused, satisfied all who were present of +the enormity of his guilt. Search had been made every where for the +keys, but without success. + +The second charge was supported by presumptive evidence alone; for +although the governor swore to the disappearance of his son, and the +murder of his servant, and dwelt emphatically on the fact of their +having been forcibly carried off with the connivance of the prisoner, +still there was no other proof of this, than the deductions drawn from +the circumstances already detailed. To meet this difficulty, however, +the third charge had been framed. + +In proof of this the governor stated, that the prisoner, on being +interrogated by him immediately subsequent to his being relieved from +his post, had evinced such confusion and hesitation, as to leave no +doubt whatever of his guilt; that, influenced by the half promise of +communication, which the court had heard as well as himself, he had +suffered the trial of the prisoner to be delayed until the present +hour, strongly hoping he might then be induced to reveal the share he +had borne in these unworthy and treasonable practices; that, with a +view to obtain this disclosure, so essential to the safety of the +garrison, he had, conjointly with Major Blackwater, visited the cell of +the prisoner, to whom he related the fact of the murder of Donellan, in +the disguise of his master's uniform, conjuring him, at the same time, +if he regarded his own life, and the safety of those who were most dear +to him, to give a clue to the solution of this mysterious circumstance, +and disclose the nature and extent of his connection with the enemy +without; that the prisoner however resolutely denied, as before, the +guilt imputed to him, but having had time to concoct a plausible story, +stated, (doubtless with a view to shield himself from the severe +punishment he well knew to be attached to his offence,) that Captain de +Haldimar himself had removed the keys from the guard-room, opened the +gate of the fortress, and accompanied by his servant, dressed in a +coloured coat, had sallied forth upon the common. "And this," +emphatically pursued the governor, "the prisoner admits he permitted, +although well aware that, by an order of long standing for the security +of the garrison, such a fragrant dereliction of his duty subjected him +to the punishment of death." + +Major Blackwater was the next witness examined. His testimony went to +prove the fact of the gate having been found open, and the confusion +manifested by the prisoner. It also substantiated that part of the +governor's evidence on the third charge, which related to the +confession recently made by Halloway, on which that charge had been +framed. + +The sergeant of the guard, and the governor's orderly having severally +corroborated the first portions of Major Blackwater's evidence, the +examination on the part of the prosecution terminated; when the +president called on the prisoner Halloway for his defence. The latter, +in a clear, firm, and collected tone, and in terms that surprised his +auditory, thus addressed the Court:-- + +"Mr. President, and gentlemen,--Although, standing before you in the +capacity of a private soldier, and, oh! bitter and humiliating +reflection, in that most wretched and disgraceful of all situations, a +suspected traitor, I am not indeed what I seem to be. It is not for me +here to enter into the history of my past life; neither will I tarnish +the hitherto unsullied reputation of my family by disclosing my true +name. Suffice it to observe, I am a gentleman by birth; and although, +of late years, I have known all the hardships and privations attendant +on my fallen fortunes, I was once used to bask in the luxuries of +affluence, and to look upon those who now preside in judgment over me +as my equals. A marriage of affection,--a marriage with one who had +nothing but her own virtues and her own beauty to recommend her, drew +upon me the displeasure of my family, and the little I possessed, +independently of the pleasure of my relations, was soon dissipated. My +proud soul scorned all thought of supplication to those who had +originally spurned my wife from their presence; and yet my heart bled +for the privations of her who, alike respectable in family, was, both +from sex and the natural delicacy, of her frame, so far less +constituted to bear up against the frowns of adversity than myself. Our +extremity had now become great,--too great for human endurance; when, +through the medium of the public prints, I became acquainted with the +glorious action that had been fought in this country by the army under +General Wolfe. A new light burst suddenly upon my mind, and visions of +after prosperity constantly presented themselves to my view. The field +of honour was open before me, and there was a probability I might, by +good conduct, so far merit the approbation of my superiors, as to +obtain, in course of time, that rank among themselves to which by birth +and education I was so justly entitled to aspire. Without waiting to +consult my Ellen, whose opposition I feared to encounter until +opposition would be fruitless, I hastened to Lieutenant Walgrave, the +recruiting officer of the regiment,--tendered my services,--was +accepted and approved,--received the bounty money,--and became +definitively a soldier, under the assumed name of Frank Halloway. + +"It would be tedious and impertinent, gentlemen," resumed the prisoner, +after a short pause, "to dwell on the humiliations of spirit to which +both my wife and myself were subjected at our first introduction to our +new associates, who, although invariably kind to us, were, +nevertheless, ill suited, both by education and habit, to awaken any +thing like congeniality of feeling or similarity of pursuit. Still we +endeavoured, as much as possible, to lessen the distance that existed +between us; and from the first moment of our joining the regiment, +determined to adopt the phraseology and manners of those with whom an +adverse destiny had so singularly connected us. In this we succeeded; +for no one, up to the present moment, has imagined either my wife or +myself to be other than the simple and unpretending Frank and Ellen +Halloway. + +"On joining the regiment in this country," pursued the prisoner, after +another pause, marked by much emotion, "I had the good fortune to be +appointed to the grenadier company. Gentlemen, you all know the amiable +qualities of Captain de Haldimar. But although, unlike yourselves, I +have learnt to admire that officer only at a distance, my devotion to +his interests has been proportioned to the kindness with which I have +ever been treated by him; and may I not add, after this avowal of my +former condition, my most fervent desire has all along been to seize +the first favourable opportunity of performing some action that would +eventually elevate me to a position in which I might, without blushing +for the absence of the ennobling qualities of birth and condition, avow +myself his friend, and solicit that distinction from my equal which was +partially extended to me by my superior? The opportunity I sought was +not long wanting. At the memorable affair with the French general, +Levi, at Quebec, in which our regiment bore so conspicuous a part, I +had the good fortune to save the life of my captain. A band of Indians, +as you all, gentlemen, must recollect, had approached our right flank +unperceived, and while busily engaged with the French in front, we were +compelled to divide our fire between them and our new and fierce +assailants. The leader of that band was a French officer, who seemed +particularly to direct his attempts against the life of Captain de +Haldimar. He was a man of powerful proportions and gigantic stature--" + +"Hold!" said the governor, starting suddenly from the seat in which he +had listened with evident impatience to this long outline of the +prisoner's history. "Gentlemen," addressing the court, "that is the +very stranger who was in my apartment last night,--the being with whom +the prisoner is evidently in treacherous correspondence, and all this +absurd tale is but a blind to deceive your judgment, and mitigate his +own punishment. Who is there to prove the man he has just described was +the same who aimed at Captain de Haldimar's life at Quebec?" + +A flush of deep indignation overspread the features of the prisoner, +whose high spirit, now he had avowed his true origin, could ill brook +the affront thus put upon his veracity. + +"Colonel de Haldimar!" he proudly replied, while his chains clanked +with the energy and force with which he drew up his person into an +attitude of striking dignity; "for once I sink the private soldier, and +address you in the character of the gentleman and your equal. I have a +soul, Sir, notwithstanding my fallen fortunes, as keenly alive to +honour as your own; and not even to save my wretched life, would I be +guilty of the baseness you now attribute to me. You have asked," he +pursued, in a more solemn tone, "what proof I have to show this +individual to be the same who attempted the life of Captain de +Haldimar. To Captain de Haldimar himself, should Providence have spared +his days, I shall leave the melancholy task of bearing witness to all I +here advance, when I shall be no more. Nay, Sir," and his look partook +at once of mingled scorn and despondency, "well do I know the fate that +awaits me; for in these proceedings--in that third charge--I plainly +read my death-warrant. But what, save my poor and wretched wife, have I +to regret? Colonel de Haldimar," he continued, with a vehemence meant +to check the growing weakness which the thought of his unfortunate +companion called up to his heart, "I saved the life of your son, even +by your own admission, no matter whose the arm that threatened his +existence; and in every other action in which I have been engaged, +honourable mention has ever been made of my conduct. Now, Sir, I ask +what has been my reward? So far from attending to the repeated +recommendations of my captain for promotion, even in a subordinate +rank, have you once deemed it necessary to acknowledge my services by +even a recognition of them in any way whatever?" + +"Mr. President, Captain Blessington," interrupted the governor, +haughtily, "are we met here to listen to such language from a private +soldier? You will do well, Sir, to exercise your prerogative, and stay +such impertinent matter, which can have no reference whatever to the +defence of the prisoner." + +"Prisoner," resumed the president, who, as well as the other members of +the court, had listened with the most profound and absorbing interest +to the singular disclosure of him whom they still only knew as Frank +Halloway, "this language cannot be permitted; you must confine yourself +to your defence." + +"Pardon me, gentlemen," returned Halloway, in his usual firm but +respectful tone of voice; "pardon me, if, standing on the brink of the +grave as I do, I have so far forgotten the rules of military discipline +as to sink for a moment the soldier in the gentleman; but to be taxed +with an unworthy fabrication, and to be treated with contumely when +avowing the secret of my condition, was more than human pride and human +feeling could tolerate." + +"Confine yourself, prisoner, to your defence," again remarked Captain +Blessington, perceiving the restlessness with which the governor +listened to these bold and additional observations of Halloway. + +Again the governor interposed:--"What possible connexion can there be +between this man's life, and the crime with which he stands charged? +Captain Blessington, this is trifling with the court, who are assembled +to try the prisoner for his treason, and not to waste their time in +listening to a history utterly foreign to the subject." + +"The history of my past life--Colonel de Haldimar," proudly returned +the prisoner, "although tedious and uninteresting to you, is of the +utmost importance to myself; for on that do I ground the most essential +part of my defence. There is nothing but circumstantial evidence +against me on the two first charges; and as those alone can reflect +dishonour on my memory, it is for the wisdom of this court to determine +whether that evidence is to be credited in opposition to the solemn +declaration of him, who, in admitting one charge, equally affecting his +life with the others, repudiates as foul those only which would attaint +his honour. Gentlemen," he pursued, addressing the court, "it is for +you to determine whether my defence is to be continued or not; yet, +whatever be my fate, I would fain remove all injurious impression from +the minds of my judges; and this can only be done by a simple detail of +circumstances, which may, by the unprejudiced, be as simply believed." + +Here the prisoner paused: when, after some low and earnest conversation +among the members of the court, two or three slips of written paper +were passed to the President. He glanced his eye hurriedly over them, +and then directed Halloway to proceed with his defence. + +"I have stated," pursued the interesting soldier, "that the officer who +led the band of Indians was a man of gigantic stature, and of +apparently great strength. My attention was particularly directed to +him from this circumstance, and as I was on the extreme flank of the +grenadiers, and close to Captain de Haldimar, had every opportunity of +observing his movements principally pointed at that officer. He first +discharged a carbine, the ball of which killed a man of the company at +his (Captain de Haldimar's) side; and then, with evident rage at having +been defeated in his aim, he took a pistol from his belt, and advancing +with rapid strides to within a few paces of his intended victim, +presented it in the most deliberate manner. At that moment, gentlemen, +(and it was but the work of a moment,) a thousand confused and almost +inexplicable feelings rose to my heart. The occasion I had long sought +was at length within my reach; but even the personal considerations, +which had hitherto influenced my mind, were sunk in the anxious desire +I entertained to preserve the life of an officer so universally +beloved, and so every way worthy of the sacrifice. While yet the pistol +remained levelled, I sprang before Captain de Haldimar, received the +ball in my breast, and had just strength sufficient to fire my musket +at this formidable enemy when I sank senseless to the earth. + +"It will not be difficult for you, gentlemen, who have feeling minds, +to understand the pleasurable pride with which, on being conveyed to +Captain de Haldimar's own apartments in Quebec, I found myself almost +overwhelmed by the touching marks of gratitude showered on me by his +amiable relatives. Miss Clara de Haldimar, in particular, like a +ministering angel, visited my couch of suffering at almost every hour, +and always provided with some little delicacy, suitable to my +condition, of which I had long since tutored myself to forget even the +use. But what principally afforded me pleasure, was to remark the +consolations which she tendered to my poor drooping Ellen, who, already +more than half subdued by the melancholy change in our condition in +life, frequently spent hours together in silent grief at the side of my +couch, and watching every change in my countenance with all the intense +anxiety of one who feels the last stay on earth is about to be severed +for ever. Ah! how I then longed to disclose to this kind and +compassionating being the true position of her on whom she lavished her +attention, and to make her known, not as the inferior honored by her +notice, but as the equal alike worthy of her friendship and deserving +of her esteem; but the wide, wide barrier that divided the wife of the +private soldier from the daughter and sister of the commissioned +officer sealed my lips, and our true condition continued unrevealed. + +"Gentlemen," resumed Halloway, after a short pause, "if I dwell on +these circumstances, it is with a view to show how vile are the charges +preferred against me. Is it likely, with all the incentives to good +conduct I have named, I should have proved a traitor to my country? +And, even if so, what to gain, I would ask; and by what means was a +correspondence with the enemy to be maintained by one in my humble +station? As for the second charge, how infamous, how injurious is it to +my reputation, how unworthy to be entertained! From the moment of my +recovery from that severe wound, every mark of favour that could be +bestowed on persons in our situation had been extended to my wife and +myself, by the family of Colonel de Haldimar; and my captain, knowing +me merely as the simple and low born Frank Halloway, although still the +preserver of his life, has been unceasing in his exertions to obtain +such promotion as he thought my conduct generally, independently of my +devotedness to his person, might claim. How these applications were +met, gentlemen, I have already stated; but notwithstanding Colonel de +Haldimar has never deemed me worthy of the promotion solicited, that +circumstance could in no way weaken my regard and attachment for him +who had so often demanded it. How then, in the name of heaven, can a +charge so improbable, so extravagant, as that of having been +instrumental in the abduction of Captain de Haldimar, be entertained? +and who is there among you, gentlemen, who will for one moment believe +I could harbour a thought so absurd as that of lending myself to the +destruction of one for whom I once cheerfully offered up the sacrifice +of my blood? And now," pursued the prisoner, after another short pause, +"I come to the third charge,--that charge which most affects my life, +but impugns neither my honour nor my fidelity. That God, before whom I +know I shall shortly appear, can attest the sincerity of my statement, +and before him do I now solemnly declare what I am about to relate is +true. + +"Soon after the commencement of my watch last night, I heard a voice +distinctly on the outside of the rampart, near my post, calling in a +low and subdued tone on the name of Captain de Haldimar. The accents, +hastily and anxiously uttered, were apparently those of a female. For a +moment I continued irresolute how to act, and hesitated whether or not +I should alarm the garrison; but, at length, presuming it was some +young female of the village with whom my captain was acquainted, it +occurred to me the most prudent course would be to apprize that officer +himself. While I yet hesitated whether to leave my post for a moment +for the purpose, a man crossed the parade a few yards in my front; it +was Captain de Haldimar's servant, Donellan, then in the act of +carrying some things from his master's apartment to the guard-room. I +called to him, to say the sentinel at the gate wished to see the +captain of the guard immediately. In the course of a few minutes he +came up to my post, when I told him what I had heard. At that moment, +the voice again repeated his name, when he abruptly left me and turned +to the left of the gate, evidently on his way to the rampart. Soon +afterwards I heard Captain de Haldimar immediately above me, sharply +calling out 'Hist, hist!' as if the person on the outside, despairing +of success, was in the act of retreating. A moment or two of silence +succeeded, when a low conversation ensued between the parties. The +distance was so great I could only distinguish inarticulate sounds; yet +it seemed to me as if they spoke not in English, but in the language of +the Ottawa Indians, a tongue with which, as you are well aware, +gentlemen, Captain de Haldimar is familiar. This had continued about +ten minutes, when I again heard footsteps hastily descending the +rampart, and moving in the direction of the guard-house. Soon +afterwards Captain de Haldimar re-appeared at my post, accompanied by +his servant Donellan; the former had the keys of the gate in his hand, +and he told me that he must pass to the skirt of the forest on some +business of the last importance to the safety of the garrison. + +"At first I peremptorily refused, stating the severe penalty attached +to the infringement of an order, the observation of which had so +especially been insisted upon by the governor, whose permission, +however, I ventured respectfully to urge might, without difficulty, be +obtained, if the business was really of the importance he described it. +Captain de Haldimar, however, declared he well knew the governor would +not accord that permission, unless he was positively acquainted with +the nature and extent of the danger to be apprehended; and of these, he +said, he was not himself sufficiently aware. All argument of this +nature proving ineffectual, he attempted to enforce his authority, not +only in his capacity of officer of the guard, but also as my captain, +ordering me, on pain of confinement, not to interfere with or attempt +to impede his departure. This, however, produced no better result; for +I knew that, in this instance, I was amenable to the order of the +governor alone, and I again firmly refused to violate my duty. + +"Finding himself thwarted in his attempt to enforce my obedience, +Captain de Haldimar, who seemed much agitated and annoyed by what he +termed my obstinacy, now descended to entreaty; and in the name of that +life which I had preserved to him, and of that deep gratitude which he +had ever since borne to me, conjured me not to prevent his departure. +'Halloway,' he urged, 'your life, my life, my father's life,--the life +of my sister Clara perhaps, who nursed you in illness, and who has ever +treated your wife with attention and kindness,--all these depend upon +your compliance with my request. 'Hear me,' he pursued, following up +the impression which he clearly perceived he had produced in me by this +singular and touching language: 'I promise to be back within the hour; +there is no danger attending my departure, and here will I be before +you are relieved from your post; no one can know I have been absent, +and your secret will remain with Donellan and myself. Do you think,' he +concluded, 'I would encourage a soldier of my regiment to disobey a +standing order of the garrison, unless there was some very +extraordinary reason for my so doing? But there is no time to be lost +in parley. Halloway! I entreat you to offer no further opposition to my +departure. I pledge myself to be back before you are relieved.'" + +"Gentlemen," impressively continued the prisoner, after a pause, during +which each member of the court seemed to breathe for the first time, so +deeply had the attention of all been riveted by the latter part of this +singular declaration, "how, under these circumstances, could I be +expected to act? Assured by Captain de Haldimar, in the most solemn +manner, that the existence of those most dear to his heart hung on my +compliance with his request, how could I refuse to him, whose life I +had saved, and whose character I so much esteemed, a boon so earnestly, +nay, so imploringly solicited? I acceded to his prayer, intimating, at +the same time, if he returned not before another sentinel should +relieve me, the discovery of my breach of duty must be made, and my +punishment inevitable. His last words, however, were to assure me he +should return at the hour he had named, and when I closed the gate upon +him it was under the firm impression his absence would only prove of +the temporary nature he had stated.--Gentlemen," abruptly concluded +Halloway, "I have nothing further to add; if I have failed in my duty +as a soldier, I have, at least, fulfilled that of a man; and although +the violation of the first entail upon me the punishment of death, the +motives which impelled me to that violation will not, I trust, be +utterly lost sight of by those by whom my punishment is to be awarded." + +The candid, fearless, and manly tone in which Halloway had delivered +this long and singular statement, however little the governor appeared +to be affected by it, evidently made a deep impression on the court, +who had listened with undiverted attention to the close. Some +conversation again ensued, in a low tone, among several members, when +two slips of written paper were passed up, as before, to the president. +These elicited the following interrogatories:-- + +"You have stated, prisoner, that Captain de Haldimar left the fort +accompanied by his servant Donellan. How were they respectively +dressed?" + +"Captain de Haldimar in his uniform; Donellan, as far as I could +observe, in his regimental clothing also, with this difference, that he +wore his servant's round glazed hat and his grey great coat." + +"How then do you account for the extraordinary circumstance of Donellan +having been found murdered in his master's clothes? Was any allusion +made to a change of dress before they left the fort?" + +"Not the slightest," returned the prisoner; "nor can I in any way +account for this mysterious fact. When they quitted the garrison, each +wore the dress I have described." + +"In what manner did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan effect their +passage across the ditch?" continued the president, after glancing at +the second slip of paper. "The draw-bridge was evidently not lowered, +and there were no other means at hand to enable him to effect his +object with promptitude. How do you explain this, prisoner?" + +When this question was put, the whole body of officers, and the +governor especially, turned their eyes simultaneously on Halloway, for +on his hesitation or promptness in replying seemed to attach much of +the credit they were disposed to accord his statement. Halloway +observed it, and coloured. His reply, however, was free, unfaltering, +and unstudied. + +"A rope with which Donellan had provided himself, was secured to one of +the iron hooks that support the pullies immediately above the gate. +With this they swung themselves in succession to the opposite bank." + +The members of the court looked at each other, apparently glad that an +answer so confirmatory of the truth of the prisoner's statement, had +been thus readily given. + +"Were they to have returned in the same manner?" pursued the president, +framing his interrogatory from the contents of another slip of paper, +which, at the suggestion of the governor, had been passed to him by the +prosecutor, Mr. Lawson. + +"They were," firmly replied the prisoner. "At least I presumed they +were, for, I believe in the hurry of Captain de Haldimar's departure, +he never once made any direct allusion to the manner of his return; nor +did it occur to me until this moment how they were to regain possession +of the rope, without assistance from within." + +"Of course," observed Colonel de Haldimar, addressing the president, +"the rope still remains. Mr. Lawson, examine the gate, and report +accordingly." + +The adjutant hastened to acquit himself of this laconic order, and soon +afterwards returned, stating not only that there was no rope, but that +the hook alluded to had disappeared altogether. + +For a moment the cheek of the prisoner paled; but it was evidently less +from any fear connected with his individual existence, than from the +shame he felt at having been detected in a supposed falsehood. He +however speedily recovered his self-possession, and exhibited the same +character of unconcern by which his general bearing throughout the +trial had been distinguished. + +On this announcement of the adjutant, the governor betrayed a movement +of impatience, that was meant to convey his utter disbelief of the +whole of the prisoner's statement, and his look seemed to express to +the court it should also arrive, and without hesitation, at the same +conclusion. Even all authoritative as he was, however, he felt that +military etiquette and strict discipline prevented his interfering +further in this advanced state of the proceedings. + +"Prisoner," again remarked Captain Blessington, "your statement in +regard to the means employed by Captain de Haldimar in effecting his +departure, is, you must admit, unsupported by appearances. How happens +it the rope is no longer where you say it was placed? No one could have +removed it but yourself. Have you done so? and if so, can you produce +it, or say where it is to be found?" + +"Captain Blessington," replied Halloway, proudly, yet respectfully, "I +have already invoked that great Being, before whose tribunal I am so +shortly to appear, in testimony of the truth of my assertion; and +again, in his presence, do I repeat, every word I have uttered is true. +I did not remove the rope, neither do I know what is become of it. I +admit its disappearance is extraordinary, but a moment's reflection +must satisfy the court I would not have devised a tale, the falsehood +of which could at once have been detected on an examination such as +that which has just been instituted. When Mr. Lawson left this room +just now, I fully expected he would have found the rope lying as it had +been left. What has become of it, I repeat, I know not; but in the +manner I have stated did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan cross the +ditch. I have nothing further to add," he concluded once more, drawing +up his fine tall person, the native elegance of which could not be +wholly disguised even in the dress of a private soldier; "nothing +further to disclose. Yet do I repel with scorn the injurious +insinuation against my fidelity, suggested in these doubts. I am +prepared to meet my death as best may become a soldier, and, let me +add, as best may become a proud and well born gentleman; but humanity +and common justice should at least be accorded to my memory. I am an +unfortunate man, but no traitor." + +The members were visibly impressed by the last sentences of the +prisoner. No further question however was asked, and he was again +removed by the escort, who had been wondering spectators of the scene, +to the cell he had so recently occupied. The room was then cleared of +the witnesses and strangers, the latter comprising nearly the whole of +the officers off duty, when the court proceeded to deliberate on the +evidence, and pass sentence on the accused. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Although the young and sensitive De Haldimar had found physical relief +in the summary means resorted to by the surgeon, the moral wound at his +heart not only remained unsoothed, but was rendered more acutely +painful by the wretched reflections, which, now that he had full +leisure to review the past, and anticipate the future in all the gloom +attached to both, so violently assailed him. From the moment when his +brother's strange and mysterious disappearance had been communicated by +the adjutant in the manner we have already seen, his spirits had been +deeply and fearfully depressed. Still he had every reason to expect, +from the well-known character of Halloway, the strong hope expressed by +the latter might be realised; and that, at the hour appointed for +trial, his brother would be present to explain the cause of his +mysterious absence, justify the conduct of his subordinate, and +exonerate him from the treachery with which he now stood charged. Yet, +powerful as this hope was, it was unavoidably qualified by dispiriting +doubt; for a nature affectionate and bland, as that of Charles de +Haldimar, could not but harbour distrust, while a shadow of +uncertainty, in regard to the fate of a brother so tenderly loved, +remained. He had forced himself to believe as much as possible what he +wished, and the effort had, to a certain extent succeeded; but there +had been something so solemn and so impressive in the scene that had +passed when the prisoner was first brought up for trial, something so +fearfully prophetic in the wild language of his unhappy wife, he had +found it impossible to resist the influence of the almost superstitious +awe they had awakened in his heart. + +What the feelings of the young officer were subsequently, when in the +person of the murdered man on the common, the victim of Sir Everard +Valletort's aim, he recognised that brother, whose disappearance had +occasioned him so much inquietude, we shall not attempt to describe: +their nature is best shown in the effect they produced--the almost +overwhelming agony of body and mind, which had borne him, like a +stricken plant, unresisting to the earth. But now that, in the calm and +solitude of his chamber, he had leisure to review the fearful events +conspiring to produce this extremity, his anguish of spirit was even +deeper than when the first rude shock of conviction had flashed upon +his understanding. A tide of suffering, that overpowered, without +rendering him sensible of its positive and abstract character, had, in +the first instance, oppressed his faculties, and obscured his +perception; but now, slow, sure, stinging, and gradually succeeding +each other, came every bitter thought and reflection of which that tide +was composed; and the generous heart of Charles de Haldimar was a prey +to feelings that would have wrung the soul, and wounded the +sensibilities of one far less gentle and susceptible than himself. + +Between Sir Everard Valletort and Charles de Haldimar, who, it has +already been remarked, were lieutenants in Captain Blessington's +company, a sentiment of friendship had been suffered to spring up +almost from the moment of Sir Everard's joining. The young men were +nearly of the same age; and although the one was all gentleness, the +other all spirit and vivacity, not a shade of disunion had at any +period intervened to interrupt the almost brotherly attachment +subsisting between them, and each felt the disposition of the other was +the one most assimilated to his own. In fact, Sir Everard was far from +being the ephemeral character he was often willing to appear. Under a +semblance of affectation, and much assumed levity of manner, never, +however, personally offensive, he concealed a brave, generous, warm, +and manly heart, and talents becoming the rank he held in society, such +as would not have reflected discredit on one numbering twice his years. +He had entered the army, as most young men of rank usually did at that +period, rather for the agremens it held forth, than with any serious +view to advancement in it as a profession. Still he entertained the +praiseworthy desire of being something more than what is, among +military men, emphatically termed a feather-bed soldier; and, contrary +to the wishes of his fashionable mother, who would have preferred +seeing him exhibit his uniform in the drawing-rooms of London, had +purchased the step into his present corps from a cavalry regiment at +home. Not that we mean, however, to assert he was not a feather-bed +soldier in its more literal sense: no man that ever glittered in gold +and scarlet was fonder of a feather-bed than the young baronet; and, in +fact, his own observations, recorded in the early part of this volume, +sufficiently prove his predilection for an indulgence which, we take +it, in no way impugned his character as a soldier. Sir Everard would +have fought twenty battles in the course of the month, if necessary, +and yet not complained of the fatigue or severity of his service, +provided only he had been suffered to press his downy couch to what is +termed a decent hour in the day. But he had an innate and, perhaps, it +may be, an instinctive horror of drills and early rising; a pastime in +which the martinets and disciplinarians of the last century were very +much given to indulge. He frequently upheld an opinion that must have +been little less than treason in the eyes of a commander so strict as +Colonel de Haldimar, that an officer who rose at eight, with all his +faculties refreshed and invigorated, might evince as much of the true +bearing of the soldier in the field, as he who, having quitted his +couch at dawn, naturally felt the necessity of repose at a moment when +activity and exertion were most required. + +We need scarcely state, Sir Everard's theories on this important +subject were seldom reduced to practice; for, even long before the +Indians had broken out into open acts of hostility, when such +precautions were rendered indispensable, Colonel de Haldimar had never +suffered either officer or man to linger on his pillow after the first +faint dawn had appeared. This was a system to which Sir Everard could +never reconcile himself. He had quitted England with a view to active +service abroad, it is true, but he had never taken "active service" in +its present literal sense, and, as he frequently declared to his +companions, he preferred giving an Indian warrior a chance for his +scalp any hour after breakfast, to rising at daybreak, when, from very +stupefaction, he seldom knew whether he stood on his head or his heels. +"If the men must be drilled," he urged, "with a view to their health +and discipline, why not place them under the direction of the adjutant +or the officer of the day, whoever he might chance to be, and not +unnecessarily disturb a body of gentlemen from their comfortable +slumbers at that unconscionable hour?" Poor Sir Everard! this was the +only grievance of which he complained, and he complained bitterly. +Scarcely a morning passed without his inveighing loudly against the +barbarity of such a custom; threatening at the same time, amid the +laughter of his companions, to quit the service in disgust at what he +called so ungentlemanly and gothic a habit. All he waited for, he +protested, was to have an opportunity of bearing away the spoils of +some Indian chief, that, on his return to England, he might afford his +lady mother an opportunity of judging with her own eyes of the sort of +enemy he had relinquished the comforts of home to contend against, and +exhibiting to her very dear friends the barbarous proofs of the prowess +of her son. Though these observations were usually made half in jest +half in earnest, there was no reason to doubt the young and lively +baronet was, in truth, heartily tired of a service which seemed to +offer nothing but privations and annoyances, unmixed with even the +chances of obtaining those trophies to which he alluded; and, but for +two motives, there is every probability he would have seriously availed +himself of the earliest opportunity of retiring. The first of these was +his growing friendship for the amiable and gentle Charles de Haldimar; +the second the secret, and scarcely to himself acknowledged, interest +which had been created in his heart for his sister Clara; whom he only +knew from the glowing descriptions of his friend, and the strong +resemblance she was said to bear to him by the other officers. + +Clara de Haldimar was the constant theme of her younger brother's +praise. Her image was ever uppermost in his thoughts--her name ever +hovering on his lips; and when alone with his friend Valletort, it was +his delight to dwell on the worth and accomplishments of his amiable +and beloved sister. Then, indeed, would his usually calm blue eye +sparkle with the animation of his subject, while his colouring cheek +marked all the warmth and sincerity with which he bore attestation to +her gentleness and her goodness. The heart of Charles de Haldimar, +soldier as he was, was pure, generous, and unsophisticated as that of +the sister whom he so constantly eulogized; and, while listening to his +eloquent praises, Sir Everard learnt to feel an interest in a being +whom all had declared to be the counterpart of her brother, as well in +personal attraction as in singleness of nature. With all his affected +levity, and notwithstanding his early initiation into fashionable +life--that matter-of-fact life which strikes at the existence of our +earlier and dearer illusions--there was a dash of romance in the +character of the young baronet which tended much to increase the +pleasure he always took in the warm descriptions of his friend. The +very circumstance of her being personally unknown to him, was, with Sir +Everard, an additional motive for interest in Miss de Haldimar. + +Imagination and mystery generally work their way together; and as there +was a shade of mystery attached to Sir Everard's very ignorance of the +person of one whom he admired and esteemed from report alone, +imagination was not slow to improve the opportunity, and to endow the +object with characteristics, which perhaps a more intimate knowledge of +the party might have led him to qualify. In this manner, in early +youth, are the silken and willing fetters of the generous and the +enthusiastic forged. We invest some object, whose praises, whispered +secretly in the ear, have glided imperceptibly to the heart, with all +the attributes supplied by our own vivid and readily according +imaginations; and so accustomed do we become to linger on the picture, +we adore the semblance with an ardour which the original often fails to +excite. When, however, the high standard of our fancy's fair creation +is attained, we worship as something sacred that which was to our +hearts a source of pure and absorbing interest, hallowed by the very +secrecy in which such interest was indulged. Even where it fails, so +unwilling are we to lose sight of the illusion to which our thoughts +have fondly clung, so loth to destroy the identity of the semblance +with its original, that we throw a veil over that reason which is then +so little in unison with our wishes, and forgive much in consideration +of the very mystery which first gave a direction to our interest, and +subsequently chained our preference. How is it to be lamented, that +illusions so dear, and images so fanciful, should find their level with +time; or that intercourse with the world, which should be the means +rather of promoting than marring human happiness, should leave on the +heart so little vestige of those impressions which characterize the +fervency of youth; and which, dispassionately considered, constitute +the only true felicity of riper life! It is then that man, in all the +vigour and capacity of his intellectual nature, feels the sentiment of +love upon him in all its ennobling force. It is then that his impetuous +feelings, untinged by the romance which imposes its check upon the more +youthful, like the wild flow of the mighty torrent, seeks a channel +wherein they may empty themselves; and were he to follow the guidance +of those feelings, of which in that riper life he seems ashamed as of a +weakness unworthy his sex, in the warm and glowing bosom of Nature's +divinity--WOMAN--would he pour forth the swollen tide of his affection; +and acknowledge, in the fullness of his expanding heart, the vast +bounty of Providence, who had bestowed on him so invaluable--so +unspeakably invaluable, a blessing.--But no; in the pursuit of +ambition, in the acquisition of wealth, in the thirst after power, and +the craving after distinction, nay, nineteen times out of twenty, in +the most frivolous occupations, the most unsatisfactory amusements, do +the great mass of the maturer man sink those feelings; divested of +which, we become mere plodders on the earth, mere creatures of +materialism: nor is it until after age and infirmity have overtaken +them, they look back with regret to that real and substantial, but +unenjoyed happiness, which the occupied heart and the soul's communion +alone can bestow. Then indeed, when too late, are they ready to +acknowledge the futility of those pursuits, the inadequacy of those +mere ephemeral pleasures, to which in the full meridian of their +manhood they sacrificed, as a thing unworthy of their dignity, the +mysterious charm of woman's influence and woman's beauty. + +We do not mean to say Clara de Haldimar would have fallen short of the +high estimate formed of her worth by the friend of her brother; neither +is it to be understood, Sir Everard suffered this fair vision of his +fancy to lead him into the wild and labyrinthian paths of boyish +romance; but certain it is, the floating illusions, conjured up by his +imagination, exercised a mysterious influence over his heart, that +hourly acquired a deeper and less equivocal character. It might have +been curiosity in the first instance, or that mere repose of the fancy +upon an object of its own creation, which was natural to a young man +placed like himself for the moment out of the pale of all female +society. It has been remarked, and justly, there is nothing so +dangerous to the peace of the human heart as solitude. It is in +solitude, our thoughts, taking their colouring from our feelings, +invest themselves with the power of multiplying ideal beauty, until we +become in a measure tenants of a world of our own creation, from which +we never descend, without loathing and disgust, into the dull and +matter-of-fact routine of actual existence. Hence the misery of the +imaginative man!--hence his little sympathy with the mass, who, tame +and soulless, look upon life and the things of life, not through the +refining medium of ideality, but through the grossly magnifying optics +of mere sense and materialism. + +But, though we could, and perhaps may, at some future period, write +volumes on this subject, we return for the present from a digression +into which we have been insensibly led by the temporary excitement of +our own feelings. + +Whatever were the impressions of the young baronet, and however he +might have been inclined to suffer the fair image of the gentle Clara, +such as he was perhaps wont to paint it, to exercise its spell upon his +fancy, certain it is, he never expressed to her brother more than that +esteem and interest which it was but natural he should accord to the +sister of his friend. Neither had Charles de Haldimar, even amid all +his warmth of commendation, ever made the slightest allusion to his +sister, that could be construed into a desire she should awaken any +unusual or extraordinary sentiment of preference. Much and fervently as +he desired such an event, there was an innate sense of decorum, and it +may be secret pride, that caused him to abstain from any observation +having the remotest tendency to compromise the spotless delicacy of his +adored sister; and such he would have considered any expression of his +own hopes and wishes, where no declaration of preference had been +previously made. There was another motive for this reserve on the part +of the young officer. The baronet was an only child, and would, on +attaining his majority, of which he wanted only a few months, become +the possessor of a large fortune. His sister Clara, on the contrary, +had little beyond her own fair fame and the beauty transmitted to her +by the mother she had lost. Colonel de Haldimar was a younger son, and +had made his way through life with his sword, and an unblemished +reputation alone,--advantages he had shared with his children, for the +two eldest of whom his interest and long services had procured +commissions in his own regiment. + +But even while Charles de Haldimar abstained from all expression of his +hopes, he had fully made up his mind that Sir Everard and his sister +were so formed for each other, it was next to an impossibility they +could meet without loving. In one of his letters to the latter, he had +alluded to his friend in terms of so high and earnest panegyric, that +Clara had acknowledged, in reply, she was prepared to find in the young +baronet one whom she should regard with partiality, if it were only on +account of the friendship subsisting between him and her brother. This +admission, however, was communicated in confidence, and the young +officer had religiously preserved his sister's secret. + +These and fifty other recollections now crowded on the mind of the +sufferer, only to render the intensity of his anguish more complete; +among the bitterest of which was the certainty that the mysterious +events of the past night had raised up an insuperable barrier to this +union; for how could Clara de Haldimar become the wife of him whose +hands were, however innocently, stained with the life-blood of her +brother! To dwell on this, and the loss of that brother, was little +short of madness, and yet De Haldimar could think of nothing else; nor +for a period could the loud booming of the cannon from the ramparts, +every report of which shook his chamber to its very foundations, call +off his attention from a subject which, while it pained, engrossed +every faculty and absorbed every thought. At length, towards the close, +he called faintly to the old and faithful soldier, who, at the foot of +the bed, stood watching every change of his master's countenance, to +know the cause of the cannonade. On being informed the batteries in the +rear were covering the retreat of Captain Erskine, who, in his attempt +to obtain the body, had been surprised by the Indians, a new direction +was temporarily given to his thoughts, and he now manifested the utmost +impatience to know the result. + +In a few minutes Morrison, who, in defiance of the surgeon's strict +order not on any account to quit the room, had flown to obtain some +intelligence which he trusted might remove the anxiety of his suffering +master, again made his appearance, stating the corpse was already +secured, and close under the guns of the fort, beneath which the +detachment, though hotly assailed from the forest, were also fast +retreating. + +"And is it really my brother, Morrison? Are you quite certain that it +is Captain de Haldimar?" asked the young officer, in the eager accents +of one who, with the fullest conviction on his mind, yet grasps at the +faintest shadow of a consoling doubt. "Tell me that it is not my +brother, and half of what I possess in the world shall be yours." + +The old soldier brushed a tear from his eye. "God bless you, Mr. de +Haldimar, I would give half my grey hairs to be able to do so; but it +is, indeed, too truly the captain who has been killed. I saw the very +wings of his regimentals as he lay on his face on the litter." + +Charles de Haldimar groaned aloud. "Oh God! oh God! would I had never +lived to see this day." Then springing suddenly up in his +bed.--"Morrison, where are my clothes? I insist on seeing my +slaughtered brother myself." + +"Good Heaven, sir, consider," said the old man approaching the bed, and +attempting to replace the covering which had been spurned to its very +foot,--"consider you are in a burning fever, and the slightest cold may +kill you altogether. The doctor's orders are, you were on no account to +get up." + +The effort made by the unfortunate youth was momentary. Faint from the +blood he had lost, and giddy from the excitement of his feelings, he +sank back exhausted on his pillow, and wept like a child. + +Old Morrison shed tears also; for his heart bled for the sufferings of +one whom he had nursed and played with even in early infancy, and whom, +although his master, he regarded with the affection he would have borne +to his own child. As he had justly observed, he would have willingly +given half his remaining years to be able to remove the source of the +sorrow which so deeply oppressed him. + +When this violent paroxysm had somewhat subsided, De Haldimar became +more composed; but his was rather that composure which grows out of the +apathy produced by overwhelming grief, than the result of any relief +afforded to his suffering heart by the tears he had shed. He had +continued some time in this faint and apparently tranquil state, when +confused sounds in the barrack-yard, followed by the raising of the +heavy drawbridge, announced the return of the detachment. Again he +started up in his bed and demanded his clothes, declaring his intention +to go out and receive the corpse of his murdered brother. All +opposition on the part of the faithful Morrison was now likely to prove +fruitless, when suddenly the door opened, and an officer burst +hurriedly into the room. + +"Courage! courage! my dear De Haldimar; I am the bearer of good news. +Your brother is not the person who has been slain." + +Again De Haldimar sank back upon his pillow, overcome by a variety of +conflicting emotions. A moment afterwards, and he exclaimed +reproachfully, yet almost gasping with the eagerness of his manner,-- + +"For God's sake, Sumners--in the name of common humanity, do not trifle +with my feelings. If you would seek to lull me with false hopes, you +are wrong. I am prepared to hear and bear the worst at present; but to +be undeceived again would break my heart." + +"I swear to you by every thing I have been taught to revere as sacred," +solemnly returned Ensign Sumners, deeply touched by the affliction he +witnessed, "what I state is strictly true. Captain Erskine himself sent +me to tell you." + +"What, is he only wounded then?" and a glow of mingled hope and +satisfaction was visible even through the flush of previous excitement +on the cheek of the sufferer. "Quick, Morrison, give me my +clothes.--Where is my brother, Sumners?" and again he raised up his +debilitated frame with the intention of quitting his couch. + +"De Haldimar, my dear De Haldimar, compose yourself, and listen to me. +Your brother is still missing, and we are as much in the dark about his +fate as ever. All that is certain is, we have no positive knowledge of +his death; but surely that is a thousand times preferable to the horrid +apprehensions under which we have all hitherto laboured." + +"What mean you, Sumners? or am I so bewildered by my sufferings as not +to comprehend you clearly?--Nay, nay, forgive me; but I am almost +heart-broken at this loss, and scarcely know what I say. But what is it +you mean? I saw my unhappy brother lying on the common with my own +eyes. Poor Valletort, himself--" here a rush of bitter recollections +flashed on the memory of the young man, and the tears coursed each +other rapidly down his cheek. His emotion lasted for a few moments, and +he pursued,--"Poor Valletort himself saw him, for he was nearly as much +overwhelmed with affliction as I was; and even Morrison beheld him +also, not ten minutes since, under the very walls of the fort; nay, +distinguished the wings of his uniform: and yet you would persuade me +my brother, instead of being brought in a corpse, is still missing and +alive. This is little better than trifling with my wretchedness, +Sumners," and again he sank back exhausted on his pillow. + +"I can easily forgive your doubts, De Haldimar," returned the +sympathizing Sumners, taking the hand of his companion, and pressing it +gently in his own; "for, in truth, there is a great deal of mystery +attached to the whole affair. I have not seen the body myself; but I +distinctly heard Captain Erskine state it certainly was not your +brother, and he requested me to apprise both Sir Everard Valletort and +yourself of the fact." + +"Who is the murdered man, then? and how comes he to be clad in the +uniform of one of our officers? Pshaw! it is too absurd to be credited. +Erskine is mistaken--he must be mistaken--it can be no other than my +poor brother Frederick. Sumners, I am sick, faint, with this cruel +uncertainty: go, my dear fellow, at once, and examine the body; then +return to me, and satisfy my doubts, if possible." + +"Most willingly, if you desire it," returned Sumners, moving towards +the door; "but believe me, De Haldimar, you may make your mind tranquil +on the subject;--Erskine spoke with certainty." + +"Have you seen Valletort?" asked De Haldimar, while an involuntary +shudder pervaded his fame. + +"I have. He flew on the instant to make further enquiries; and was in +the act of going to examine the body of the murdered man when I came +here.--But here he is himself, and his countenance is the harbinger of +any thing but a denial of my intelligence." + +"Oh, Charles, what a weight of misery has been removed from my heart!" +exclaimed that officer, now rushing to the bedside of his friend, and +seizing his extended hand,--"Your brother, let us hope, still lives." + +"Almighty God, I thank thee!" fervently ejaculated De Haldimar; and +then, overcome with joy, surprise, and gratitude, he again sank back +upon his pillow, sobbing and weeping violently. + +Sumners had, with delicate tact, retired the moment Sir Everard made +his appearance; for he, as well as the whole body of officers, was +aware of the close friendship that subsisted between the young men, and +he felt, at such a moment, the presence of a third person must be a +sort of violation of the sacredness of their interview. + +For some minutes the young baronet stood watching in silence, and with +his friend's hand closely clasped in his own, the course of those tears +which seemed to afford so much relief to the overcharged heart of the +sufferer. At length they passed gradually away; and a smile, expressive +of the altered state of his feelings, for the first time animated the +flushed but handsome features of the younger De Haldimar. + +We shall not attempt to paint all that passed between the friends +during the first interesting moments of an interview which neither had +expected to enjoy again, or the delight and satisfaction with which +they congratulated themselves on the futility of those fears, which, if +realised, must have embittered every future moment of their lives with +the most harrowing recollections. Sir Everard, particularly, felt, and +was not slow to express, his joy on this occasion; for, as he gazed +upon the countenance of his friend, he was more than ever inclined to +confess an interest in the sister he was said so much to resemble. + +With that facility with which in youth the generous and susceptible are +prone to exchange their tears for smiles, as some powerful motive for +the reaction may prompt, the invalid had already, and for the moment, +lost sight of the painful past in the pleasurable present, so that his +actual excitement was strongly in contrast with the melancholy he had +so recently exhibited. Never had Charles de Haldimar appeared so +eminently handsome; and yet his beauty resembled that of a frail and +delicate woman, rather than that of one called to the manly and arduous +profession of a soldier. It was that delicate and Medor-like beauty +which might have won the heart and fascinated the sense of a second +Angelica. The light brown hair flowing in thick and natural waves over +a high white forehead; the rich bloom of the transparent and downy +cheek; the large, blue, long, dark-lashed eye, in which a shade of +languor harmonised with the soft but animated expression of the whole +countenance,--the dimpled mouth,--the small, clear, and even +teeth,--all these now characterised Charles de Haldimar; and if to +these we add a voice rich, full, and melodious, and a smile sweet and +fascinating, we shall be at no loss to account for the readiness with +which Sir Everard suffered his imagination to draw on the brother for +those attributes he ascribed to the sister. + +It was while this impression was strong upon his fancy, he took +occasion to remark, in reply to an observation of De Haldimar's, +alluding to the despair with which his sister would have been seized, +had she known one brother had fallen by the hand of the friend of the +other. + +"The grief of my own heart, Charles, on this occasion, would have been +little inferior to her own. The truth is, my feelings during the last +three hours have let me into a secret, of the existence of which I was, +in a great degree, ignorant until then: I scarcely know how to express +myself, for the communication is so truly absurd and romantic you will +not credit it." He paused, hesitated, and then, as if determined to +anticipate the ridicule he seemed to feel would be attached to his +confession, with a forced half laugh pursued: "The fact is, Charles, I +have been so much used to listen to your warm and eloquent praises of +your sister, I have absolutely, I will not say fallen in love with +(that would be going too far), but conceived so strong an interest in +her, that my most ardent desire would be to find favour in her eyes. +What say you, my friend? are you inclined to forward my suit; and if +so, is there any chance for me, think you, with herself?" + +The breast of Charles de Haldimar, who had listened with deep and +increasing attention to this avowal, swelled high with pleasurable +excitement, and raising himself up in his bed with one hand, while he +grasped one of Sir Everard's with the other, he exclaimed with a +transport of affection too forcible to be controlled,-- + +"Oh, Valletort, Valletort! this is, indeed, all that was wanting to +complete my happiness. My sister Clara I adore with all the affection +of my nature; I love her better than my own life, which is wrapped up +in hers. She is an angel in disposition,--all that is dear, tender, and +affectionate,--all that is gentle and lovely in woman; one whose +welfare is dearer far to me than my own, and without whose presence I +could not live. Valletort, that prize,--that treasure, that dearer half +of myself, is yours,--yours for ever. I have long wished you should +love, each other, and I felt, when you met, you would. If I have +hitherto forborne from expressing this fondest wish of my heart, it has +been from delicacy--from a natural fear of compromising the purity of +my adored Clara. Now, however, you have confessed yourself interested, +by a description that falls far short of the true peril of that dear +girl, I can no longer disguise my gratification and delight. +Valletort," he concluded, impressively, "there is no other man on earth +to whom I would say so much; but you were formed for each other, and +you will, you must, be the husband of my sister." + +If the youthful and affectionate De Haldimar was happy, Sir Everard was +no less so; for already, with the enthusiasm of a young man of twenty, +he painted to himself the entire fruition of those dreams of happiness +that had so long been familiarised to his imagination. One doubt alone +crossed his mind. + +"But if your sister should have decided differently, Charles," he at +length remarked, as he gently quitted the embrace of his friend: "who +knows if her heart may not already throb for another; and even if not, +it is possible she may judge me far less flatteringly than you do." + +"Valletort, your fears are groundless. Having admitted thus far, I will +even go farther, and add, you have been the subject of one of my +letters to Clara, who, in her turn, 'confesses a strong interest in one +of whom she has heard so much.' She writes playfully, of course, but it +is quite evident to me she is prepared to like you." + +"Indeed! But, Charles, liking is many degrees removed you know from +loving; besides, I understand there are two or three handsome and +accomplished fellows among the garrison of Michilimackinac, and your +sister's visit to her cousin may not have been paid altogether with +impunity." + +"Think not thus meanly of Clara's understanding, Valletort. There must +be something more than mere beauty and accomplishment to fix the heart +of my sister. The dark eyed and elegant Baynton, and the musical and +sonnetteering Middleton, to whom you, doubtless, allude, are very +excellent fellows in their way; but handsome and accomplished as they +are, they are not exactly the men to please Clara de Haldimar." + +"But, my dear Charles, you forget also any little merit of my own is +doubly enhanced in your eyes, by the sincerity of the friendship +subsisting between us; your sister may think very differently." + +"Psha, Valletort! these difficulties are all of your own creation," +returned his friend, impatiently; "I know the heart of Clara is +disengaged. What would you more?" + +"Enough, De Haldimar; I will no longer doubt my own prospects. If she +but approve me, my whole life shall be devoted to the happiness of your +sister." + +A single knock was now heard at the door of the apartment; it was +opened, and a sergeant appeared at the entrance. + +"The company are under arms for punishment parade, Lieutenant +Valletort," said the man, touching his cap. + +In an instant, the visionary prospects of the young men gave place to +the stern realities connected with that announcement of punishment. The +treason of Halloway,--the absence of Frederick de Haldimar,--the +dangers by which they were beset,--and the little present probability +of a re-union with those who were most dear to them,--all these +recollections now flashed across their minds with the rapidity of +thought; and the conversation that had so recently passed between them +seemed to leave no other impression than what is produced from some +visionary speculation of the moment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +As the bells of the fort tolled the tenth hour of morning, the groups +of dispersed soldiery, warned by the rolling of the assembly drum, once +more fell into their respective ranks in the order described in the +opening of this volume, Soon afterwards the prisoner Halloway was +reconducted into the square by a strong escort, who took their stations +as before in the immediate centre, where the former stood principally +conspicuous to the observation of his comrades. His countenance was +paler, and had less, perhaps, of the indifference he had previously +manifested; but to supply this there was a certain subdued air of calm +dignity, and a composure that sprang, doubtless, from the consciousness +of the new character in which he now appeared before his superiors. +Colonel de Haldimar almost immediately followed, and with him were the +principal staff of the garrison, all of whom, with the exception of the +sick and wounded and their attendants, were present to a man. The +former took from the hands of the governor, Lawson, a large packet, +consisting of several sheets of folded paper closely written upon. +These were the proceedings of the court martial. + +After enumerating the several charges, and detailing the evidence of +the witnesses examined, the adjutant came at length to the finding and +sentence of the court, which were as follows:-- + + +"The court having duly considered the evidence adduced against the +prisoner private Frank Halloway, together with what he has urged in his +defence, are of opinion,--" + +"That with regard to the first charge, it is not proved." + +"That with regard to the second charge, it is not proved." + +"That with regard to the third charge, even by his own voluntary +confession, the prisoner is guilty." + +"The court having found the prisoner private Frank Halloway guilty of +the third charge preferred against him, which is hi direct violation of +a standing order of the garrison, entailing capital punishment, do +hereby sentence him, the said prisoner, private Frank Halloway, to be +shot to death at such time and place as the officer commanding may deem +fit to appoint." + +Although the utmost order pervaded the ranks, every breath had been +suspended, every ear stretched during the reading of the sentence; and +now that it came arrayed in terror and in blood, every glance was +turned in pity on its unhappy victim. But Halloway heard it with the +ears of one who has made up his mind to suffer; and the faint half +smile that played upon his lip spoke more in scorn than in sorrow. +Colonel de Haldimar pursued:-- + +"The court having found it imperatively incumbent on them to award the +punishment of death to the prisoner, private Frank Halloway, at the +same time gladly avail themselves of their privilege by strongly +recommending him to mercy. The court cannot, in justice to the +character of the prisoner, refrain from expressing their unanimous +conviction, that notwithstanding the mysterious circumstances which +have led to his confinement and trial, he is entirely innocent of the +treachery ascribed to him. The court have founded this conviction on +the excellent character, both on duty and in the field, hitherto borne +by the prisoner,--his well-known attachment to the officer with whose +abduction be stands charged,--and the manly, open, and (as the court +are satisfied) correct history given of his former life. It is, +moreover, the impression of the court, that, as stated by the prisoner, +his guilt on the third charge has been the result only of his +attachment for Captain de Haldimar. And for this, and the reasons above +assigned, do they strongly recommend the prisoner to mercy." + + (Signed) + + NOEL BLESSINGTON, + Captain and President. + + Sentence approved and confirmed. + + CHARLES DE HALDIMAR, + Colonel Commandant. + + +While these concluding remarks of the court were being read, the +prisoner manifested the deepest emotion. If a smile of scorn had +previously played upon his lip, it was because he fancied the court, +before whom he had sought to vindicate his fame, had judged him with a +severity not inferior to his colonel's; but now that, in the presence +of his companions, he heard the flattering attestation of his services, +coupled even as it was with the sentence that condemned him to die, +tears of gratitude and pleasure rose despite of himself to his eyes; +and it required all his self-command to enable him to abstain from +giving expression to his feelings towards those who had so generously +interpreted the motives of his dereliction from duty. But when the +melancholy and startling fact of the approval and confirmation of the +sentence met his ear, without the slightest allusion to that mercy +which had been so urgently recommended, he again overcame his weakness, +and exhibited his wonted air of calm and unconcern. + +"Let the prisoner be removed, Mr. Lawson," ordered the governor, whose +stern and somewhat dissatisfied expression of countenance was the only +comment on the recommendation for mercy. + +The order was promptly executed. Once more Halloway left the square, +and was reconducted to the cell he had occupied since the preceding +night. + +"Major Blackwater," pursued the governor, "let a detachment consisting +of one half the garrison be got in readiness to leave the fort within +the hour. Captain Wentworth, three pieces of field artillery will be +required. Let them be got ready also." He then retired from the area +with the forbidding dignity and stately haughtiness of manner that was +habitual to him; while the officers, who had just received his +commands, prepared to fulfil the respective duties assigned them. + +Since the first alarm of the garrison no opportunity had hitherto been +afforded the officers to snatch the slightest refreshment. Advantage +was now taken of the short interval allowed by the governor, and they +all repaired to the mess-room, where their breakfast had long since +been provided. + +"Well, Blessington," remarked Captain Erskine, as he filled his plate +for the third time from a large haunch of smoke-dried venison, for +which his recent skirmish with the Indians had given him an unusual +relish, "so it appears your recommendation of poor Halloway to mercy is +little likely to be attended to. Did you remark how displeased the +colonel looked as he bungled through it? One might almost be tempted to +think he had an interest in the man's death, so determined does he +appear to carry his point." + +Although several of his companions, perhaps, felt and thought the same, +still there was no one who would have ventured to avow his real +sentiments in so unqualified a manner. Indeed such an observation +proceeding from the lips of any other officer would have excited the +utmost surprise; but Captain Erskine, a brave, bold, frank, and +somewhat thoughtless soldier, was one of those beings who are +privileged to say any thing. His opinions were usually expressed +without ceremony; and his speech was not the most circumspect NOW, as +since his return to the fort he had swallowed, fasting, two or three +glasses of a favourite spirit, which, without intoxicating, had greatly +excited him. + +"I remarked enough," said Captain Blessington, who sat leaning his head +on one hand, while with the other he occasionally, and almost +mechanically, raised a cup filled with a liquid of a pale blood colour +to his lips,--"quite enough to make me regret from my very soul I +should have been his principal judge. Poor Halloway, I pity him much; +for, on my honour, I believe him to be the gentleman he represents +himself." + +"A finer fellow does not live," remarked the last remaining officer of +the grenadiers. "But surely Colonel de Haldimar cannot mean to carry +the sentence into effect. The recommendation of a court, couched in +such terms as these, ought alone to have some weight with him." + +"It is quite clear, from the fact of his having been remanded to his +cell, the execution of the poor fellow will be deferred at least," +observed one of Captain Erskine's subalterns. "If the governor had +intended he should suffer immediately, he would have had him shot the +moment after his sentence was read. But what is the meaning and object +of this new sortie? and whither are we now going? Do you know, Captain +Erskine, our company is again ordered for this duty?" + +"Know it, Leslie! of course I do; and for that reason am I paying my +court to the more substantial part of the breakfast. Come, Blessington, +my dear fellow, you have quite lost your appetite, and we may have +sharp work before we get back. Follow my example: throw that nasty +blood-thickening sassafras away, and lay a foundation from this +venison. None sweeter is to be found in the forests of America. A few +slices of that, and then a glass each of my best Jamaica, and we shall +have strength to go through the expedition, if its object be the +capture of the bold Ponteac himself." + +"I presume the object is rather to seek for Captain de Haldimar," said +Lieutenant Boyce, the officer of grenadiers; "but in that case why not +send out his own company?" + +"Because the Colonel prefers trusting to cooler heads and more +experienced arms," good-humouredly observed Captain Erskine. +"Blessington is our senior, and his men are all old stagers. My lads, +too, have had their mettle up already this morning, and there is +nothing like that to prepare men for a dash of enterprise. It is with +them as with blood horses, the more you put them on their speed the +less anxious are they to quit the course. Well, Johnstone, my brave +Scot, ready for another skirmish?" he asked, as that officer now +entered to satisfy the cravings of an appetite little inferior to that +of his captain. + +"With 'Nunquam non paratus' for my motto," gaily returned the young +man, "it were odd, indeed, if a mere scratch like this should prevent +me from establishing my claim to it by following wherever my gallant +captain leads." + +"Most courteously spoken, and little in the spirit of a man yet +smarting under the infliction of a rifle wound, it must be confessed," +remarked Lieutenant Leslie. "But, Johnstone, you should bear in mind a +too close adherence to that motto has been, in some degree, fatal to +your family." + +"No reflections, Leslie, if you please," returned his brother +subaltern, slightly reddening. "If the head of our family was +unfortunate enough to be considered a traitor to England, he was not +so, at least, to Scotland; and Scotland was the land of his birth. But +let his political errors be forgotten. Though the winged spur no longer +adorn the booted heel of an Earl of Annandale, the time may not be far +distant when some liberal and popular monarch of England shall restore +a title forfeited neither through cowardice nor dishonour, but from an +erroneous sense of duty." + +"That is to say," muttered Ensign Delme, looking round for approval as +he spoke, "that our present king is neither liberal nor popular. Well, +Mr. Johnstone, were such an observation to reach the ears of Colonel de +Haldimar you would stand a very fair chance of being brought to a court +martial." + +"That is to say nothing of the kind, sir," somewhat fiercely retorted +the young Scot; "but any thing I do say you are at liberty to repeat to +Colonel de Haldimar, or whom you will. I cannot understand, Leslie, why +you should have made any allusion to the misfortunes of my family at +this particular moment, and in this public manner. I trust it was not +with a view to offend me;" and he fixed his large black eyes upon his +brother subaltern, as if he would have read every thought of his mind. + +"Upon my honour, Johnstone, I meant nothing of the kind," frankly +returned Leslie. "I merely meant to hint that as you had had your share +of service this morning, you might, at least, have suffered me to +borrow your spurs, while you reposed for the present on your laurels." + +"There are my gay and gallant Scots," exclaimed Captain Erskine, as he +swallowed off a glass of the old Jamaica which lay before him, and with +which he usually neutralised the acidities of a meat breakfast, +"Settled like gentlemen and lads of spirit as ye are," he pursued, as +the young men cordially shook each other's hand across the table. "What +an enviable command is mine, to have a company of brave fellows who +would face the devil himself were it necessary; and two hot and +impatient subs., who are ready to cut each other's throat for the +pleasure of accompanying me against a set of savages that are little +better than so many devils. Come, Johnstone, you know the Colonel +allows us but one sub. at a time, in consequence of our scarcity of +officers, therefore it is but fair Leslie should have his turn. It will +not be long, I dare say, before we shall have another brush with the +rascals." + +"In my opinion," observed Captain Blessington, who had been a silent +and thoughtful witness of what was passing around him, "neither Leslie +nor Johnstone would evince so much anxiety, were they aware of the +true-nature of the duty for which our companies have been ordered. +Depend upon it, it is no search after Captain de Haldimar in which we +are about to be engaged; for much as the colonel loves his son, he +would on no account compromise the safety of the garrison, by sending a +party into the forest, where poor De Haldimar, if alive, is at all +likely to be found." + +"Faith you are right, Blessington; the governor is not one to run these +sort of risks on every occasion. My chief surprise, indeed, is, that he +suffered me to venture even upon the common; but if we are not designed +for some hostile expedition, why leave the fort at all?" + +"The question will need no answer, if Halloway be found to accompany +us." + +"Psha! why should Halloway be taken out for the purpose? If he be shot +at all, he will be shot on the ramparts, in the presence of, and as an +example to, the whole garrison. Still, on reflection, I cannot but +think it impossible the sentence should be carried into full effect, +after the strong, nay, the almost unprecedented recommendation to mercy +recorded on the face of the proceedings." + +Captain Blessington shook his head despondingly. "What think you, +Erskine, of the policy of making an example, which may be witnessed by +the enemy as well as the garrison? It is evident, from his demeanour +throughout, nothing will convince the colonel that Halloway is not a +traitor, and he may think it advisable to strike terror in the minds of +the savages, by an execution which will have the effect of showing the +treason of the soldier to have been discovered." + +In this opinion many of the officers now concurred; and as the fate of +the unfortunate Halloway began to assume a character of almost +certainty, even the spirit of the gallant Erskine, the least subdued by +the recent distressing events, was overclouded; and all sank, as if by +one consent, into silent communion with their thoughts, as they almost +mechanically completed the meal, at which habit rather than appetite +still continued them. Before any of them had yet risen from the table, +a loud and piercing scream met their ears from without; and so quick +and universal was the movement it produced, that its echo had scarcely +yet died away in distance, when the whole of the breakfast party had +issued from the room, and were already spectators of the cause. + +The barracks of the officers, consisting of a range of low buildings, +occupied the two contiguous sides of a square, and in the front of +these ran a narrow and covered piazza, somewhat similar to those +attached to the guardhouses in England, which description of building +the barracks themselves most resembled. On the other two faces of the +square stood several block-houses, a style of structure which, from +their adaptation to purposes of defence as well as of accommodation, +were every where at that period in use in America, and are even now +continued along the more exposed parts of the frontier. These, capable +of containing each a company of men, were, as their name implies, +formed of huge masses of roughly-shapen timber, fitted into each other +at the extremities by rude incisions from the axe, and filled in with +smaller wedges of wood. The upper part of these block-houses projected +on every side several feet beyond the ground floor, and over the whole +was a sheathing of planks, which, as well as those covering the +barracks of the officers, were painted of a brick-red colour. Unlike +the latter, they rose considerably above the surface of the ramparts; +and, in addition to the small window to be seen on each side of each +story of the block-house, were numerous smaller square holes, +perforated for the discharge of musketry. Between both these barracks +and the ramparts there was just space sufficient to admit of the +passage of artillery of a heavy calibre; and at each of the four +angles, composing the lines of the fort, was an opening of several feet +in extent, not only to afford the gunners room to work their batteries, +but to enable them to reach their posts with greater expedition in the +event of any sudden emergency. On the right, on entering the fort over +the drawbridge, were the block-houses of the men; and immediately in +front, and on the left, the barracks of the officers, terminated at the +outer extremity by the guard-house, and at the inner by the quarters of +the commanding officer. + +As the officers now issued from the mess-room nearly opposite to the +gate, they observed, at that part of the barracks which ran at right +angles with it, and immediately in front of the apartment of the +younger De Haldimar, whence he had apparently just issued, the +governor, struggling, though gently, to disengage himself from a +female, who, with disordered hair and dress, lay almost prostrate upon +the piazza, and clasping his booted leg with an energy evidently +borrowed from the most rooted despair. The quick eye of the haughty man +had already rested on the group of officers drawn by the scream of the +supplicant. Numbers, too, of the men, attracted by the same cause, were +collected in front of their respective block-houses, and looking from +the windows of the rooms in which they were also breakfasting, +preparatory to the expedition. Vexed and irritated beyond measure, at +being thus made a conspicuous object of observation to his inferiors, +the unbending governor made a violent and successful effort to +disengage his leg; and then, without uttering a word, or otherwise +noticing the unhappy being who lay extended at his feet, he stalked +across the parade to his apartments at the opposite angle, without +appearing to manifest the slightest consciousness of the scene that had +awakened such universal attention. + +Several of the officers, among whom was Captain Blessington, now +hastened to the assistance of the female, whom all had recognised, from +the first, to be the interesting and unhappy wife of Halloway. Many of +the comrades of the latter, who had been pained and pitying spectators +of the scene, also advanced for the same purpose; but, on perceiving +their object anticipated by their superiors, they withdrew to the +blocks-houses, whence they had issued. Never was grief more forcibly +depicted, than in the whole appearance of this unfortunate woman; never +did anguish assume a character more fitted to touch the soul, or to +command respect. Her long fair hair, that had hitherto been hid under +the coarse mob-cap, usually worn by the wives of the soldiers, was now +divested of all fastening, and lay shadowing a white and polished +bosom, which, in her violent struggles to detain the governor, had +burst from its rude but modest confinement, and was now displayed in +all the dazzling delicacy of youth and sex. If the officers gazed for a +moment with excited look upon charms that had long been strangers to +their sight, and of an order they had little deemed to find in Ellen +Halloway, it was but the involuntary tribute rendered by nature unto +beauty. The depth and sacredness of that sorrow, which had left the +wretched woman unconscious of her exposure, in the instant afterwards +imposed a check upon admiration, which each felt to be a violation of +the first principles of human delicacy, and the feeling was repressed +almost in the moment that gave it birth. + +They were immediately in front of the room occupied by Charles de +Haldimar, in the piazza of which were a few old chairs, on which the +officers were in the habit of throwing themselves during the heat of +the day. On one of these Captain Blessington, assisted by the officer +of grenadiers, now seated the suffering and sobbing wife of Halloway. +His first care was to repair the disorder of her dress; and never was +the same office performed by man with greater delicacy, or absence of +levity by those who witnessed it. This was the first moment of her +consciousness. The inviolability of modesty for a moment rose paramount +even to the desolation of her heart, and putting rudely aside the hand +that reposed unavoidably upon her person, the poor woman started from +her seat, and looked wildly about her, as if endeavouring to identify +those by whom she was surrounded. But when she observed the pitying +gaze of the officers fixed upon her, in earnestness and commiseration, +and heard the benevolent accents of the ever kind Blessington exhorting +her to composure, her weeping became more violent, and her sobs more +convulsive. Captain Blessington threw an arm round her waist to prevent +her from falling; and then motioning to two or three women of the +company to which her husband was attached, who stood at a little +distance, in front of one of the block-houses, prepared to deliver her +over to their charge. + +"No, no, not yet!" burst at length from the lips of the agonised woman, +as she shrank from the rude but well-intentioned touch of the +sympathising assistants, who had promptly answered the signal; then, as +if obeying some new direction of her feelings, some new impulse of her +grief, she liberated herself from the slight grasp of Captain +Blessington, turned suddenly round, and, before any one could +anticipate the movement, entered an opening on the piazza, raised the +latch of a door situated at its extremity, and was, in the next +instant, in the apartment of the younger De Haldimar. + +The scene that met the eyes of the officers, who now followed close +after her, was one well calculated to make an impression on the hearts +even of the most insensible. In the despair and recklessness of her +extreme sorrow, the young wife of Halloway had already thrown herself +upon her knees at the bedside of the sick officer; and, with her hands +upraised and firmly clasped together, was now supplicating him in +tones, contrasting singularly in their gentleness with the depth of the +sorrow that had rendered her thus regardless of appearances, and +insensible to observation. + +"Oh, Mr. de Haldimar!" she implored, "in the name of God and of our +blessed Saviour, if you would save me from madness, intercede for my +unhappy husband, and preserve him from the horrid fate that awaits him. +You are too good, too gentle, too amiable, to reject the prayer of a +heart-broken woman. Moreover, Mr. de Haldimar," she proceeded, with +deeper energy, while she caught and pressed, between her own white and +bloodless hands, one nearly as delicate that lay extended near her, +"consider all my dear but unfortunate husband has done for your family. +Think of the blood he once spilt in the defence of your brother's life; +that brother, through whom alone, oh God! he is now condemned to die. +Call to mind the days and nights of anguish I passed near his couch of +suffering, when yet writhing beneath the wound aimed at the life of +Captain de Haldimar. Almighty Providence!" she pursued, in the same +impassioned yet plaintive voice, "why is not Miss Clara here to plead +the cause of the innocent, and to touch the stubborn heart of her +merciless father? She would, indeed, move heaven and earth to save the +life of him to whom she so often vowed eternal gratitude and +acknowledgment. Ah, she little dreams of his danger now; or, if prayer +and intercession could avail, my husband should yet live, and this +terrible struggle at my heart would be no more." + +Overcome by her emotion, the unfortunate woman suffered her aching head +to droop upon the edge of the bed, and her sobbing became so painfully +violent, that all who heard her expected, at every moment, some fatal +termination to her immoderate grief. Charles de Haldimar was little +less affected; and his sorrow was the more bitter, as he had just +proved the utter inefficacy of any thing in the shape of appeal to his +inflexible father. + +"Mrs. Halloway, my dear Mrs. Halloway, compose yourself," said Captain +Blessington, now approaching, and endeavouring to raise her gently from +the floor, on which she still knelt, while her hands even more firmly +grasped that of De Haldimar. "You are ill, very ill, and the +consequences of this dreadful excitement may be fatal. Be advised by +me, and retire. I have desired my room to be prepared for you, and +Sergeant Wilmot's wife shall remain with you as long as you may require +it." + +"No, no, no!" she again exclaimed with energy; "what care I for my own +wretched life--my beloved and unhappy husband is to die. Oh God! to die +without guilt--to be cut off in his youth--to be shot as a traitor--and +that simply for obeying the wishes of the officer whom he loved!--the +son of the man who now spurns all supplication from his presence. It is +inhuman--it is unjust--and Heaven will punish the hard-hearted man who +murders him--yes, murders him! for such a punishment for such an +offence is nothing less than murder." Again she wept bitterly, and as +Captain Blessington still essayed to soothe and raise her:--"No, no! I +will not leave this spot," she continued; "I will not quit the side of +Mr. de Haldimar, until he pledges himself to intercede for my poor +husband. It is his duty to save the life of him who saved his brother's +life; and God and human justice are with my appeal. Oh, tell me, then, +Mr. de Haldimar,--if you would save my wretched heart from +breaking,--tell me you will intercede for, and obtain the pardon of, my +husband!" + +As she concluded this last sentence in passionate appeal, she had risen +from her knees; and, conscious only of the importance of the boon +solicited, now threw herself upon the breast of the highly pained and +agitated young officer. Her long and beautiful hair fell floating over +his face, and mingled with his own, while her arms were wildly clasped +around him, in all the energy of frantic and hopeless adjuration. + +"Almighty God!" exclaimed the agitated young man, as he made a feeble +and fruitless effort to raise the form of the unhappy woman; "what +shall I say to impart comfort to this suffering being? Oh, Mrs. +Halloway," he pursued, "I would willingly give all I possess in this +world to be the means of saving your unfortunate husband,--and as much +for his own sake as for yours would I do this; but, alas! I have not +the power. Do not think I speak without conviction. My father has just +been with me, and I have pleaded the cause of your husband with an +earnestness I should scarcely have used had my own life been at stake. +But all my entreaties have been in vain. He is obstinate in the belief +my brother's strange absence, and Donellan's death, are attributable +only to the treason of Halloway. Still there is a hope. A detachment is +to leave the fort within the hour, and Halloway is to accompany them. +It may be, my father intends this measure only with a view to terrify +him into a confession of guilt; and that he deems it politic to make +him undergo all the fearful preliminaries without carrying the sentence +itself into effect." + +The unfortunate woman said no more. When she raised her heaving chest +from that of the young officer, her eyes, though red and shrunk to half +their usual size with weeping, were tearless; but on her countenance +there was an expression of wild woe, infinitely more distressing to +behold, in consequence of the almost unnatural check so suddenly +imposed upon her feelings. She tottered, rather than walked, through +the group of officers, who gave way on either hand to let her pass; and +rejecting all assistance from the women who had followed into the room, +and who now, in obedience to another signal from Captain Blessington, +hastened to her support, finally gained the door, and quitted the +apartment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The sun was high in the meridian, as the second detachment, commanded +by Colonel de Haldimar in person, issued from the fort of Detroit. It +was that soft and hazy season, peculiar to the bland and beautiful +autumns of Canada, when the golden light of Heaven seems as if +transmitted through a veil of tissue, and all of animate and inanimate +nature, expanding and fructifying beneath its fostering influence, +breathes the most delicious languor and voluptuous repose. It was one +of those still, calm, warm, and genial days, which in those regions +come under the vulgar designation of the Indian summer; a season that +is ever hailed by the Canadian with a satisfaction proportioned to the +extreme sultriness of the summer, and the equally oppressive rigour of +the winter, by which it is immediately preceded and followed. It is +then that Nature, who seems from the creation to have bestowed all of +grandeur and sublimity on the stupendous Americas, looks gladly and +complacently on her work; and, staying the course of parching suns and +desolating frosts, loves to luxuriate for a period in the broad and +teeming bosom of her gigantic offspring. It is then that the +forest-leaves, alike free from the influence of the howling hurricane +of summer, and the paralysing and unfathomable snows of winter, cleave, +tame and stirless in their varying tints, to the parent branch; while +the broad rivers and majestic lakes exhibit a surface resembling rather +the incrustation of the polished mirror than the resistless, viewless +particles of which the golden element is composed. It is then that, +casting its satisfied glance across those magnificent rivers, the eye +beholds, as if reflected from a mirror (so similar in production and +appearance are the contiguous shores), both the fertility of cultivated +and the rudeness of uncultivated nature, that every where surround and +diversify the view. The tall and sloping banks, covered with verdure to +the very sands, that unite with the waters lying motionless at their +base; the continuous chain of neat farm-houses (we speak principally of +Detroit and its opposite shores); the luxuriant and bending orchards, +teeming with fruits of every kind and of every colour; the ripe and +yellow corn vying in hue with the soft atmosphere, which reflects and +gives full effect to its abundance and its richness,--these, with the +intervening waters unruffled, save by the lazy skiff, or the light bark +canoe urged with the rapidity of thought along its surface by the +slight and elegantly ornamented paddle of the Indian; or by the sudden +leaping of the large salmon, the unwieldy sturgeon, the bearded +cat-fish, or the delicately flavoured maskinonge, and fifty other +tenants of their bosom;--all these contribute to form the foreground of +a picture bounded in perspective by no less interesting, though perhaps +ruder marks of the magnificence of that great architect--Nature, on +which the eye never lingers without calm; while feelings, at once +voluptuous and tender, creep insensibly over the heart, and raise the +mind in adoration to the one great and sole Cause by which the +stupendous whole has been produced. + +Such a day as that we have just described was the ---- of September, +1763, when the chief portion of the English garrison of Detroit issued +forth from the fortifications in which they had so long been cooped up, +and in the presumed execution of a duty undeniably the most trying and +painful that ever fell to the lot of soldier to perform. The heavy dull +movement of the guns, as they traversed the drawbridge resembled in +that confined atmosphere the rumbling of low and distant thunder; and +as they shook the rude and hollow sounding planks, over which they were +slowly dragged, called up to every heart the sad recollection of the +service for which they had been required. Even the tramp of the men, as +they moved heavily and measuredly across the yielding bridge, seemed to +wear the character of the reluctance with which they proceeded on so +hateful a duty; and more than one individual, as he momentarily turned +his eye upon the ramparts, where many of his comrades were grouped +together watching the departure of the detachment, testified by the +significant and mournful movement of his head how much he envied their +exemption from the task. + +The direct military road runs in a straight line from the fort to the +banks of the Detroit, and the eastern extremity of the town. Here it is +intersected by the highway running parallel with the river, and +branching off at right angles on either hand; the right, leading in the +direction of the more populous states; the left, through the town, and +thence towards the more remote and western parts, where European +influence has yet been but partially extended. The only difference +between its present and former character is, that what is now a +flourishing commercial town was then a mere village; while the adjacent +country, at present teeming with every mark of vegetation, bore no +other evidence of fertility than what was afforded by a few scattered +farm-houses, many of which skirted various parts of the forest. Along +this road the detachment now wended its slow and solemn course, and +with a mournful pageantry of preparation that gave fearful earnest of +the tragedy expected to be enacted. + +In front, and dragged by the hands of the gunners, moved two of the +three three-pounders, that had been ordered for the duty. Behind these +came Captain Blessington's company, and in their rear, the prisoner +Halloway, divested of his uniform, and clad in a white cotton jacket, +and cap of the same material. Six rank and file of the grenadiers +followed, under the command of a corporal, and behind these again, came +eight men of the same company; four of whom bore on their shoulders a +coffin, covered with a coarse black pall that had perhaps already +assisted at fifty interments; while the other four carried, in addition +to their own, the muskets of their burdened comrades. After these, +marched a solitary drummer-boy; whose tall bear-skin cap attested him +to be of the grenadiers also, while his muffled instrument marked the +duty for which he had been selected. Like his comrades, none of whom +exhibited their scarlet uniforms, he wore the collar of his great coat +closely buttoned beneath his chin, which was only partially visible +above the stiff leathern stock that encircled his neck. Although his +features were half buried in his huge cap and the high collar of his +coat, there was an air of delicacy about his person that seemed to +render him unsuited to such an office; and more than once was Captain +Erskine, who followed immediately behind him at the head of his +company, compelled to call sharply to the urchin, threatening him with +a week's drill unless he mended his feeble and unequal pace, and kept +from under the feet of his men. The remaining gun brought up the rear +of the detachment, who marched with fixed bayonets and two balls in +each musket; the whole presenting a front of sections, that completely +filled up the road along which they passed. Colonel de Haldimar, +Captain Wentworth, and the Adjutant Lawson followed in the extreme rear. + +An event so singular as that of the appearance of the English without +their fort, beset as they were by a host of fierce and dangerous +enemies, was not likely to pass unnoticed by a single individual in the +little village of Detroit. We have already observed, that most of the +colonist settlers had been cruelly massacred at the very onset of +hostilities. Not so, however, with the Canadians, who, from their +anterior relations with the natives, and the mutual and tacit good +understanding that subsisted between both parties, were suffered to +continue in quiet and unmolested possession of their homes, where they +preserved an avowed neutrality, never otherwise infringed than by the +assistance secretly and occasionally rendered to the English troops, +whose gold they were glad to receive in exchange for the necessaries of +life. + +Every dwelling of the infant town had commenced giving up its tenants, +from the moment when the head of the detachment was seen traversing the +drawbridge; so that, by the time it reached the highway, and took its +direction to the left, the whole population of Detroit were already +assembled in groups, and giving expression to their several +conjectures, with a vivacity of language and energy of gesticulation +that would not have disgraced the parent land itself. As the troops +drew nearer, however, they all sank at once into a silence, as much the +result of certain unacknowledged and undefined fears, as of the respect +the English had ever been accustomed to exact. The men removed their +short dingy clay pipes from their mouths with one hand, and uncovered +themselves with the other, while the women made their hasty reverence +with the air of people who seek to propitiate by an act of civility; +even the very children scraped and bowed, as if they feared the +omission might be fatal to them, and, clinging to the hands and dress +of their parents, looked up occasionally to their countenances to +discover whether the apprehensions of their own fluttering and timid +hearts were likely to be realised. Still there was sufficient of +curiosity with all to render them attentive spectators of the passing +troop. Hitherto, it had been imagined, the object of the English was an +attack on the encampments of their enemies; but when the gaze of each +adult inhabitant fell on the unaccoutred form of the lone soldier, who, +calm though pale, now moved among his comrades in the ignominious garb +of death, they could no longer doubt its true destination. + +The aged made the sign of the cross, and mumbled over a short prayer +for the repose of his soul, while the more youthful indulged in +half-breathed ejaculations of pity and concern that so fine and +interesting a man should be doomed to so dreadful a fate. + +At the farther extremity of the town, and at a bend in the road, which +branched off more immediately towards the river, stood a small public +house, whose creaking sign bore three ill executed fleurs-de-lis, +apologetic emblems of the arms of France. The building itself was +little more than a rude log hut, along the front of which ran a plank, +supported by two stumps of trees, and serving as a temporary +accommodation both for the traveller and the inmate. On this bench +three persons, apparently attracted by the beauty of the day and the +mildness of the autumnal sun, were now seated, two of whom were +leisurely puffing their pipes, while the third, a female, was employed +in carding wool, a quantity of which lay in a basket at her feet, while +she warbled, in a low tone, one of the simple airs of her native land. +The elder of the two men, whose age might be about fifty, offered +nothing particularly remarkable in his appearance: he was dressed in +one of those thick coats made of the common white blanket, which, even +to this day, are so generally worn by the Canadians, while his hair, +cut square upon the forehead, and tied into a club of nearly a foot +long, fell into the cape, or hood, attached to it: his face was ruddy +and shining as that of any rival Boniface among the race of the +hereditary enemies of his forefathers; and his thick short neck, and +round fat person, attested he was no more an enemy to the good things +of this world than themselves, while he was as little oppressed by its +cares: his nether garments were of a coarse blue homespun, and his feet +were protected by that rudest of all rude coverings, the Canadian +shoe-pack. This was composed of a single piece of stiff brown leather, +curved and puckered round the sides and front, where it was met by a +tongue of softer material, which helped to confine it in that position, +and to form the shoe. A bandana handkerchief fell from his neck upon +his chest; the covering of which was so imperfectly drawn, as to +disclose a quantity of long, coarse, black, and grisly hair. + +His companion was habited in a still more extraordinary manner. His +lower limbs were cased, up to the mid-thigh, in leathern leggings, the +seam of which was on the outside, leaving a margin, or border, of about +an inch wide, which had been slit into innumerable small fringes, +giving them an air of elegance and lightness: a garter of leather, +curiously wrought, with the stained quills of the porcupine, encircled +each leg, immediately under the knee, where it was tied in a bow, and +then suffered to hang pendant half way down the limb; to the fringes of +the leggings, moreover, were attached numerous dark-coloured horny +substances, emitting, as they rattled against each other, at the +slightest movement of the wearer, a tinkling sound, resembling that +produced by a number of small thin delicate brass bells; these were the +tender hoofs of the wild deer, dried, scraped, and otherwise prepared +for this ornamental purpose. Upon his large feet he wore mocassins, +made of the same pliant material with his leggings, and differing in +shape from the foot-gear of his companion in this particular only, that +they had no tongue introduced into the front: they were puckered +together by a strong sinew of the deer, until they met along the instep +in a seam concealed by the same ornamental quill-work that decorated +the garters: a sort of flap, fringed like the leggings, was folded back +from the ankle, upon the sides of the foot, and the whole was confined +by a strong though neat leathern thong, made of smoked deer-skin also, +which, after passing once or twice under the foot, was then tightly +drawn several times round the ankle, where it was finally secured. Two +strips of leather, about an inch and a half in width, attached to the +outer side of each legging, were made fast at their opposite +extremities to a strong girdle, encircling the loins, and supporting a +piece of coarse blue cloth, which, after passing completely under the +body, fell in short flaps both before and behind. The remainder of the +dress consisted of a cotton shirt, figured and sprigged on a dark +ground, that fell unconfined over the person; a close deer-skin +hunting-coat, fringed also at its edges; and a coarse common felt hat, +in the string of which (for there was no band) were twisted a number of +variegated feathers, furnished by the most beautiful and rare of the +American autumnal birds. Outside this hunting-coat, and across the +right shoulder, was flung an ornamented belt, to which were appended, +on the left side, and in a line with the elbow, a shot-pouch, made of +the untanned hide of some wild animal, and a flask for powder, formed +of the horn of the buffalo; on which, highly polished for this purpose, +were inscribed, with singular accuracy of proportion, a variety of +figures, both of men, and birds, and beasts, and fishes; two or three +small horn measures for powder, and a long thin wire, intended to serve +as a pricker for the rifle that reclined against the outside of the +hut, were also attached to this belt by strips of deer-skin of about +six inches in length. Into another broad leathern belt, that confined +the hunting coat, was thrust a tomahawk, the glittering head of which +was uppermost, and unsheathed: while at the opposite side, and half +supporting the powder-horn, the huge handle of a knife, whose blade was +buried in a strong leathern sheath, was distinctly visible. + +The form and face of this individual were in perfect keeping with the +style of his costume, and the formidable character of his equipment. +His stature was considerably beyond that of the ordinary race of men, +and his athletic and muscular limbs united the extremes of strength and +activity in a singular degree. His features, marked and prominent, wore +a cast of habitual thought, strangely tinctured with ferocity; and the +general expression of his otherwise not unhandsome countenance was +repellent and disdainful. At the first glance he might have been taken +for one of the swarthy natives of the soil; but though time and +constant exposure to scorching suns had given to his complexion a dusky +hue, still there were wanting the quick, black, penetrating eye; the +high cheek-bone; the straight, coarse, shining, black hair; the small +bony hand and foot; and the placidly proud and serious air, by which +the former is distinguished. His own eye was of a deep bluish grey; his +hair short, dark, and wavy; his hands large and muscular; and so far +from exhibiting any of the self-command of the Indian, the constant +play of his features betrayed each passing thought with the same +rapidity with which it was conceived. But if any doubt could have +existed in the mind of him who beheld this strangely accoutred figure, +it would have been instantly dispelled by a glance at his lower limbs. +We have already stated the upper part of his leggings terminated about +mid-thigh; from this to the hip, that portion of the limb was +completely bare, and disclosed, at each movement of the garment that +was suffered to fall loosely over it, not the swarthy and +copper-coloured flesh of the Indian, but the pale though sun-burnt skin +of one of a more temperate clime. His age might be about forty-five. + +At the moment when the English detachment approached the bend in the +road, these two individuals were conversing earnestly together, pausing +only to puff at intervals thick and wreathing volumes of smoke from +their pipes, which were filled with a mixture of tobacco and +odoriferous herbs. Presently, however, sounds that appeared familiar to +his ear arrested the attention of the wildly accoutred being we have +last described. It was the heavy roll of the artillery carriages +already advancing along the road, and somewhat in the rear of the hut. +To dash his pipe to the ground, seize and cock and raise his rifle to +his shoulder, and throw himself forward in the eager attitude of one +waiting until the object of his aim should appear in sight, was but the +work of a moment. Startled by the suddenness of the action, his male +companion moved a few paces also from his seat, to discover the cause +of this singular movement. The female, on the contrary, stirred not, +but ceasing for a moment the occupation in which she had been engaged, +fixed her dark and brilliant eyes upon the tall and picturesque form of +the rifleman, whose active and athletic limbs, thrown into powerful +relief by the distention of each nerve and muscle, appeared to engross +her whole admiration and interest, without any reference to the cause +that had produced this abrupt and hostile change in his movements. It +was evident that, unlike the other inhabitants of the town, this group +had been taken by surprise, and were utterly unprepared to expect any +thing in the shape of interruption. + +For upwards of a minute, during which the march of the men became +audible even to the ears of the female, the formidable warrior, for +such his garb denoted him to be, continued motionless in the attitude +he had at first assumed--his right cheek reposing on the ornamented +stock of his rifle, and his quick and steady eye fixed in one +undeviating line with the sight near the breech, and that which +surmounted the extreme end of the deadly weapon. No sooner, however, +had the head of the advancing column come within sight, than the +trigger was pulled, and the small and ragged bullet sped hissing from +the grooved and delicate barrel. A triumphant cry was next pealed from +the lips of the warrior,--a cry produced by the quickly repeated +application and removal of one hand to and from the mouth, while the +other suffered the butt end of the now harmless weapon to fall loosely +upon the earth. He then slowly and deliberately withdrew within the +cover of the hut. + +This daring action, which had been viewed by the leading troops with +astonishment not unmingled with alarm, occasioned a temporary confusion +in the ranks, for all believed they had fallen into an ambuscade of the +Indians. A halt was instantly commanded by Captain Blessington, in +order to give time to the governor to come up from the rear, while he +proceeded with one of the leading sections to reconnoitre the front of +the hut. To his infinite surprise, however, he found neither enemy, nor +evidence that an enemy had been there. The only individuals visible +were the Canadian already alluded to, and the dark-eyed female. Both +were seated on the bench;--the one smoking his pipe with a well assumed +appearance of unconcern--the other carding her wool, but with a hand +that by a close observer might be seen to tremble in its office, and a +cheek that was paler considerably than at the moment when we first +placed her before the imagination of the reader. Both, however, started +with unaffected surprise on seeing Captain Blessington and his little +force turn the corner of the house from the main road; and certain +looks of recognition passed between all parties, that proved them to be +no strangers to each other. + +"Ah, monsieur," said the Canadian, in a mingled dialect, neither French +nor English, but partaking in some degree of the idiom of both, while +he attempted an ease and freedom of manner that was too miserably +affected to pass current with the mild but observant officer whom he +addressed, "how much surprise I am, and glad to see you. It is a long +times since you came out of de fort. I hope de governeur and de officir +be all very well. I was tinking to go to-day to see if you want any +ting. I have got some nice rum of the Jamaique for Capitaine Erskine. +Will you please to try some?" While speaking, the voluble host of the +Fleur de lis had risen from his seat, laid aside his pipe, and now +stood with his hands thrust into the pockets of his blanket coat. + +"It is, indeed, a long time since we have been here, master Francois," +somewhat sarcastically and drily replied Captain Blessington; "and you +have not visited us quite so often latterly yourself, though well aware +we were in want of fresh provisions. I give you all due credit, +however, for your intention of coming to-day, but you see we have +anticipated you. Still this is not the point. Where is the Indian who +fired at us just now? and how is it we find you leagued with our +enemies?" + +"What, sir, is it you say?" asked the Canadian, holding up his hands +with feigned astonishment "Me league myself with de savage. Upon my +honour I did not see nobody fire, or I should tell you. I love de +English too well to do dem harms." + +"Come, come, Francois, no nonsense. If I cannot make you confess, there +is one not far from me who will. You know Colonel de Haldimar too well +to imagine he will be trifled with in this manner: if he detects you in +a falsehood, he will certainly cause you to be hanged up at the first +tree. Take my advice, therefore, and say where you have secreted this +Indian; and recollect, if we fall into an ambuscade, your life will be +forfeited at the first shot we hear fired." + +At this moment the governor, followed by his adjutant, came rapidly up +to the spot. Captain Blessington communicated the ill success of his +queries, when the former cast on the terrified Canadian one of those +severe and searching looks which he so well knew how to assume. + +"Where is the rascal who fired at us, sirrah? tell me instantly, or you +have not five minutes to live." + +The heart of mine host of the Fleur de lis quailed within him at this +formidable threat; and the usually ruddy hue of his countenance had now +given place to an ashy paleness. Still, as he had positively denied all +knowledge of the matter on which he was questioned, he appeared to feel +his safety lay in adhering to his original statement. Again, therefore, +he assured the governor, on his honour (laying his hand upon his heart +as he spoke), that what he had already stated was the fact. + +"Your honour--you pitiful trading scoundrel--how dare you talk to me of +your honour? Come, sir, confess at once where you have secreted this +fellow, or prepare to die." + +"If I may be so bold, your Honour," said one of Captain Blessington's +men, "the Frenchman lies. When the Ingian fired among us, this fellow +was peeping under his shoulder and watching us also. If I had not seen +him too often at the fort to be mistaken in his person, I should have +known him, at all events, by his blanket coat and red handkerchief." + +This blunt statement of the soldier, confirmed as it was the instant +afterwards by one of his comrades, was damning proof against the +Canadian, even if the fact of the rifle being discharged from the front +of the hut had not already satisfied all parties of the falsehood of +his assertion. + +"Come forward, a couple of files, and seize this villain," resumed the +governor with his wonted sternness of manner. "Mr. Lawson, see if his +hut does not afford a rope strong enough to hang the traitor from one +of his own apple trees." + +Both parties proceeded at the same moment to execute the two distinct +orders of their chief. The Canadian was now firmly secured in the grasp +of the two men who had given evidence against him, when, seeing all the +horror of the summary and dreadful fate that awaited him, he confessed +the individual who had fired had been sitting with him the instant +previously, but that he knew no more of him than of any other savage +occasionally calling at the Fleur de lis. He added, that on discharging +the rifle he had bounded across the palings of the orchard, and fled in +the direction of the forest. He denied, on interrogation, all knowledge +or belief of an enemy waiting in ambush; stating, moreover, even the +individual in question had not been aware of the sortie of the +detachment until apprised of their near approach by the heavy sound of +the gun-carriages. + +"Here are undeniable proofs of the man's villany, sir," said the +adjutant, returning from the hut and exhibiting objects of new and +fearful interest to the governor. "This hat and rope I found secreted +in one of the bed-rooms of the auberge. The first is evidently +Donellan's; and from the hook attached to the latter, I apprehend it to +be the same stated to have been used by Captain de Haldimar in crossing +the ditch." + +The governor took the hat and rope from the hands of his subordinate, +examined them attentively, and after a few moments of deep musing, +during which his countenance underwent several rapid though scarcely +perceptible changes, turned suddenly and eagerly to the soldier who had +first convicted the Canadian in his falsehood, and demanded if he had +seen enough of the man who had fired to be able to give even a general +description of his person. + +"Why yes, your Honour, I think I can; for the fellow stood long enough +after firing his piece, for a painter to have taken him off from head +to foot. He was a taller and larger man by far than our biggest +grenadier, and that is poor Harry Donellan, as your Honour knows. But +as for his dress, though I could see it all, I scarcely can tell how to +describe it. All I know is, he was covered with smoked deer-skin, in +some such fashion as the great chief Ponteac, only, instead of having +his head bare and shaved, he wore a strange outlandish sort of a hat, +covered over with wild birds' feathers in front." + +"Enough," interrupted the governor, motioning the man to silence; then, +in an undertone to himself,--"By Heaven, the very same." A shade of +disappointment, not unmingled with suppressed alarm, passed rapidly +across his brow; it was but momentary. "Captain Blessington," he +ordered quickly and impatiently, "search the hut and grounds for this +lurking Indian, who is, no doubt, secreted in the neighbourhood. Quick, +quick, sir; there is no time to be lost." Then in an angry and +intimidating tone to the Canadian, who had already dropped on his +knees, supplicating mercy, and vociferating his innocence in the same +breath,--"So, you infernal scoundrel, this is the manner in which you +have repaid our confidence. Where is my son, sir? or have you already +murdered him, as you did his servant? Tell me, you villain, what have +you to say to these proofs of your treachery? But stay, I shall take +another and fitter opportunity to question you. Mr. Lawson, secure this +traitor properly, and let him be conveyed to the centre of the +detachment." + +The mandate was promptly obeyed; and, in despite of his own unceasing +prayers and protestations of innocence, and the tears and entreaties of +his dark-eyed daughter Babette, who had thrown herself on her knees at +his side, the stout arms of mine host of the Fleur de lis were soon +firmly secured behind his back with the strong rope that had been found +under such suspicious circumstances in his possession. Before he was +marched off, however, two of the men who had been sent in pursuit, +returned from the orchard, stating that further search was now +fruitless. They had penetrated through a small thicket at the extremity +of the grounds, and had distinctly seen a man answering the description +given by their comrades, in full flight towards the forest skirting the +heights in front. + +The governor was evidently far from being satisfied with the result of +a search too late instituted to leave even a prospect of success. +"Where are the Indians principally encamped, sirrah?" he sternly +demanded of his captive; "answer me truly, or I will carry off this +wench as well, and if a single hair of a man of mine be even singed by +a shot from a skulking enemy, you may expect to see her bayoneted +before your eyes." + +"Ah, my God! Monsieur le Gouverneur," exclaimed the affrighted +aubergiste, "as I am an honest man, I shall tell de truth, but spare my +child. They are all in de forest, and half a mile from de little river +dat runs between dis and de Pork Island." + +"Hog Island, I suppose you mean." + +"Yes sir, de Hog Island is de one I means." + +"Conduct him to the centre, and let him be confronted with the +prisoner," directed the governor, addressing his adjutant; "Captain +Blessington, your men may resume their stations in the ranks." + +The order was obeyed; and notwithstanding the tears and supplications +of the now highly excited Babette, who flung herself upon his neck, and +was only removed by force, the terrified Canadian was borne off from +his premises by the troops. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +While this scene was enacting in front of the Fleur de lis, one of a +far more touching and painful nature was passing in the very heart of +the detachment itself. At the moment when the halt was ordered by +Captain Blessington, a rumour ran through the ranks that they had +reached the spot destined for the execution of their ill-fated comrade. +Those only in the immediate front were aware of the true cause; but +although the report of the rifle had been distinctly heard by all, it +had been attributed by those in the rear to the accidental discharge of +one of their own muskets. A low murmur, expressive of the opinion +generally entertained, passed gradually from rear to front, until it at +length reached the ears of the delicate drummer boy who marched behind +the coffin. His face was still buried in the collar of his coat; and +what was left uncovered of his features by the cap, was in some degree +hidden by the forward drooping of his head upon his chest. Hitherto he +had moved almost mechanically along, tottering and embarrassing himself +at every step under the cumbrous drum that was suspended from a belt +round his neck over the left thigh; but now there was a certain +indescribable drawing up of the frame, and tension of the whole person, +denoting a concentration of all the moral and physical energies,--a +sudden working up, as it were, of the intellectual and corporeal being +to some determined and momentous purpose. + +At the first halt of the detachment, the weary supporters of the coffin +had deposited their rude and sombre burden upon the earth, preparatory +to its being resumed by those appointed to relieve them. The dull sound +emitted by the hollow fabric, as it touched the ground, caught the ear +of him for whom it was destined, and he turned to gaze upon the sad and +lonely tenement so shortly to become his final resting place. There was +an air of calm composure and dignified sorrow upon his brow, that +infused respect into the hearts of all who beheld him; and even the men +selected to do the duty of executioners sought to evade his glance, as +his steady eye wandered from right to left of the fatal rank. His +attention, however, was principally directed towards the coffin, which +lay before him; on this he gazed fixedly for upwards of a minute. He +then turned his eyes in the direction of the fort, shuddered, heaved a +profound sigh, and looking up to heaven with the apparent fervour that +became his situation, seemed to pray for a moment or two inwardly and +devoutly. The thick and almost suffocating breathing of one immediately +beyond the coffin, was now distinctly heard by all. Halloway started +from his attitude of devotion, gazed earnestly on the form whence it +proceeded, and then wildly extending his arms, suffered a smile of +satisfaction to illumine his pale features. All eyes were now turned +upon the drummer boy, who, evidently labouring under convulsive +excitement of feeling, suddenly dashed his cap and instrument to the +earth, and flew as fast as his tottering and uncertain steps would +admit across the coffin, and into the arms extended to receive him. + +"My Ellen! oh, my own devoted, but too unhappy Ellen!" passionately +exclaimed the soldier, as he clasped the slight and agitated form of +his disguised wife to his throbbing heart. "This, this, indeed, is joy +even in death. I thought I could have died more happily without you, +but nature tugs powerfully at my heart; and to see you once more, to +feel you once more HERE" (and he pressed her wildly to his chest) "is +indeed a bliss that robs my approaching fate of half its terror." + +"Oh Reginald! my dearly beloved Reginald! my murdered husband!" +shrieked the unhappy woman; "your Ellen will not survive you. Her heart +is already broken, though she cannot weep; but the same grave shall +contain us both. Reginald, do you believe me? I swear it; the same +grave shall contain us both." + +Exhausted with the fatigue and excitement she had undergone, the +faithful and affectionate creature now lay, without sense or motion, in +the arms of her wretched husband. Halloway bore her, unopposed, a pace +or two in advance, and deposited her unconscious form on the fatal +coffin. + +No language of ours can render justice to the trying character of the +scene. All who witnessed it were painfully affected, and over the +bronzed cheek of many a veteran coursed a tear, that, like that of +Sterne's recording angel, might have blotted out a catalogue of sins. +Although each was prepared to expect a reprimand from the governor, for +suffering the prisoner to quit his station in the ranks, humanity and +nature pleaded too powerfully in his behalf, and neither officer nor +man attempted to interfere, unless with a view to render assistance. +Captain Erskine, in particular, was deeply pained, and would have given +any thing to recall the harsh language he had used towards the supposed +idle and inattentive drummer boy. Taking from a pocket in his uniform a +small flask of brandy, which he had provided against casualties, the +compassionating officer slightly raised the head of the pale and +unconscious woman with one hand, while with the other he introduced a +few drops between her parted lips. Halloway knelt at the opposite side +of the coffin; one hand searching, but in vain, the suspended pulse of +his inanimate wife; the other, unbuttoning the breast of the drum-boy's +jacket, which, with every other part of the equipment, she wore beneath +the loose great coat so effectually accomplishing her disguise. + +Such was the position of the chief actors in this truly distressing +drama, at the moment when Colonel de Haldimar came up with his new +prisoner, to mark what effect would be produced on Halloway by his +unexpected appearance. His own surprise and disappointment may be +easily conceived, when, in the form of the recumbent being who seemed +to engross universal attention, he recognised, by the fair and +streaming hair, and half exposed bosom, the unfortunate being whom, +only two hours previously, he had spurned from his feet in the costume +of her own sex, and reduced, by the violence of her grief, to almost +infantine debility. Question succeeded question to those around, but +without eliciting any clue to the means by which this mysterious +disguise had been effected. No one had been aware, until the truth was +so singularly and suddenly revealed, the supposed drummer was any other +than one of the lads attached to the grenadiers; and as for the other +facts, they spoke too plainly to the comprehension of the governor to +need explanation. Once more, however, the detachment was called to +order. Halloway struck his hand violently upon his brow, kissed the wan +lips of his still unconscious wife, breathing, as he did so, a half +murmured hope she might indeed be the corpse she appeared. He then +raised himself from the earth with a light and elastic vet firm +movement, and resumed the place he had previously occupied, where, to +his surprise, he beheld a second victim bound, and, apparently, devoted +to the same death. When the eyes of the two unhappy men met, the +governor closely watched the expression of the countenance of each; but +although the Canadian started on beholding the soldier, it might be +merely because he saw the latter arrayed in the garb of death, and +followed by the most unequivocal demonstrations of a doom to which he +himself was, in all probability, devoted. As for Halloway, his look +betrayed neither consciousness nor recognition; and though too proud to +express complaint or to give vent to the feelings of his heart, his +whole soul appeared to be absorbed in the unhappy partner of his +luckless destiny. Presently he saw her borne, and in the same state of +insensibility, in the arms of Captain Erskine and Lieutenant Leslie, +towards the hut of his fellow prisoner, and he heard the former officer +enjoin the weeping girl, Babette, to whose charge they delivered her +over, to pay every attention to her her situation might require. The +detachment then proceeded. + +The narrow but deep and rapid river alluded to by the Canadian, as +running midway between the town and Hog Island, derived its source far +within the forest, and formed the bed of one of those wild, dark, and +thickly wooded ravines so common in America. As it neared the Detroit, +however, the abruptness of its banks was so considerably lessened, as +to render the approach to it on the town side over an almost +imperceptible slope. Within a few yards of its mouth, as we have +already observed in our introductory chapter, a rude but strong wooden +bridge, over which lay the high road, had been constructed by the +French; and from the centre of this, all the circuit of intermediate +clearing, even to the very skirt of the forest, was distinctly +commanded by the naked eye. To the right, on approaching it from the +town, lay the adjacent shores of Canada, washed by the broad waters of +the Detroit, on which it was thrown into strong relief, and which, at +the distance of about a mile in front, was seen to diverge into two +distinct channels, pursuing each a separate course, until they again +met at the western extremity of Hog Island. On the left, and in the +front, rose a succession of slightly undulating hills, which, at a +distance of little more than half a mile, terminated in an elevation +considerably above the immediate level of the Detroit side of the +ravine. That, again, was crowned with thick and overhanging forest, +taking its circular sweep, as we have elsewhere shown, around the fort. +The intermediate ground was studded over with rude stumps of trees, and +bore, in various directions, distinct proofs of the spoliation wrought +among the infant possessions of the murdered English settlers. The view +to the rear was less open; the town being partially hidden by the +fruit-laden orchards that lined the intervening high road, and hung +principally on its left. This was not the case with the fort. Between +these orchards and the distant forest lay a line of open country, fully +commanded by its cannon, even to the ravine we have described, and in a +sweep that embraced every thing from the bridge itself to the forest, +in which all traces of its source was lost. + +When the detachment had arrived within twenty yards of the bridge, they +were made to file off to the left, until the last gun had come up. They +were then fronted; the rear section of Captain Erskine's company +resting on the road, and the left flank, covered by the two first guns +pointed obliquely, both in front and rear, to guard against surprise, +in the event of any of the Indians stealing round to the cover of the +orchards. The route by which they had approached this spot was upwards +of two miles in extent; but, as they now filed off into the open +ground, the leading sections observed, in a direct line over the +cleared country, and at the distance of little more than three quarters +of a mile, the dark ramparts of the fortress that contained their +comrades, and could even distinguish the uniforms of the officers and +men drawn up in line along the works, where they were evidently +assembled to witness the execution of the sentence on Halloway. + +Such a sight as that of the English so far from their fort, was not +likely to escape the notice of the Indians. Their encampment, as the +Canadian had truly stated, lay within the forest, and beyond the +elevated ground already alluded to; and to have crossed the ravine, or +ventured out of reach of the cannon of the fort, would have been to +have sealed the destruction of the detachment. But the officer to whom +their security was entrusted, although he had his own particular views +for venturing thus far, knew also at what point to stop; and such was +the confidence of his men in his skill and prudence, they would have +fearlessly followed wherever he might have chosen to lead. Still, even +amid all the solemnity of preparation attendant on the duty they were +out to perform, there was a natural and secret apprehensiveness about +each, that caused him to cast his eyes frequently and fixedly on that +part of the forest which was known to afford cover to their merciless +foes. At times they fancied they beheld the dark and flitting forms of +men gliding from tree to tree along the skirt of the wood; but when +they gazed again, nothing of the kind was to be seen, and the illusion +was at once ascribed to the heavy state of the atmosphere, and the +action of their own precautionary instincts. + +Meanwhile the solemn tragedy of death was preparing in mournful +silence. On the centre of the bridge, and visible to those even within +the fort, was placed the coffin of Halloway, and at twelve paces in +front were drawn up the six rank and file on whom had devolved, by lot, +the cruel duty of the day. With calm and fearless eye the prisoner +surveyed the preparations for his approaching end; and whatever might +be the inward workings of his mind, there was not among the assembled +soldiery one individual whose countenance betrayed so little of sorrow +and emotion as his own. With a firm step, when summoned, he moved +towards the fatal coffin, dashing his cap to the earth as he advanced, +and baring his chest with the characteristic contempt of death of the +soldier. When he had reached the centre of the bridge, he turned facing +his comrades, and knelt upon the coffin. Captain Blessington, who, +permitted by the governor, had followed him with a sad heart and heavy +step, now drew a Prayer-book from his pocket, and read from it in a low +voice. He then closed the volume, listened to something the prisoner +earnestly communicated to him, received a small packet which he drew +from the bosom of his shirt, shook him long and cordially by the hand, +and then hastily resumed his post at the head of the detachment. + +The principal inhabitants of the village, led by curiosity, had +followed at a distance to witness the execution of the condemned +soldier: and above the heads of the line, and crowning the slope, were +collected groups of both sexes and of all ages, that gave a still more +imposing character to the scene. Every eye was now turned upon the +firing party, who only awaited the signal to execute their melancholy +office, when suddenly, in the direction of the forest, and upon the +extreme height, there burst the tremendous and deafening yells of +upwards of a thousand savages. For an instant Halloway was forgotten in +the instinctive sense of individual danger, and all gazed eagerly to +ascertain the movements of their enemy. Presently a man, naked to the +waist, his body and face besmeared with streaks of black and red paint, +and his whole attitude expressing despair and horror, was seen flying +down the height with a rapidity proportioned to the extreme peril in +which he stood. At about fifty paces in his rear followed a dozen +bounding, screaming Indians, armed with uplifted tomahawks, whose +anxiety in pursuit lent them a speed that even surpassed the efforts of +flight itself. It was evident the object of the pursued was to reach +the detachment, that of the pursuers to prevent him. The struggle was +maintained for a few moments with equality, but in the end the latter +were triumphant, and at each step the distance that separated them +became less. At the first alarm, the detachment, with the exception of +the firing party, who still occupied their ground, had been thrown into +square, and, with a gun planted in each angle, awaited the attack +momentarily expected. But although the heights were now alive with the +dusky forms of naked warriors, who, from the skirt of the forest, +watched the exertions of their fellows, the pursuit of the wretched +fugitive was confined to these alone. Foremost of the latter, and +distinguished by his violent exertions and fiendish cries, was the tall +and wildly attired warrior of the Fleur de lis. At every bound he took +he increased the space that divided him from his companions, and +lessened that which kept him from his panting and nearly exhausted +victim. Already were they descending the nearest of the undulating +hills, and both now became conspicuous objects to all around; but +principally the pursuer, whose gigantic frame and extraordinary speed +riveted every eye, even while the interest of all was excited for the +wretched fugitive alone. + +At that moment Halloway, who had been gazing on the scene with an +astonishment little inferior to that of his comrades, sprang suddenly +to his feet upon the coffin, and waving his hand in the direction of +the pursuing enemy, shouted aloud in a voice of mingled joy and +triumph,-- + +"Ha! Almighty God, I thank thee! Here, here comes one who alone has the +power to snatch me from my impending doom." + +"By Heaven, the traitor confesses, and presumes to triumph in his +guilt," exclaimed the voice of one, who, while closely attending to +every movement of the Indians, was also vigilantly watching the effect +likely to be produced on the prisoner by this unexpected interruption. +"Corporal, do your duty." + +"Stay, stay--one moment stay!" implored Halloway with uplifted hands. + +"Do your duty, sir," fiercely repeated the governor. + +"Oh stop--for God's sake, stop! Another moment and he will be here, and +I--" + +He said no more--a dozen bullets penetrated his body--one passed +directly through his heart. He leaped several feet in the air, and then +fell heavily, a lifeless bleeding corpse, across the coffin. + +Meanwhile the pursuit of the fugitive was continued, but by the warrior +of the Fleur de lis alone. Aware of their inefficiency to keep pace +with this singular being, his companions had relinquished the chace, +and now stood resting on the brow of the hill where the wretched +Halloway had first recognised his supposed deliverer, watching eagerly, +though within musket shot of the detachment, the result of a race on +which so much apparently depended. Neither party, however, attempted to +interfere with the other, for all eyes were now turned on the flying +man and his pursuer with an interest that denoted the extraordinary +efforts of the one to evade and the other to attain the accomplishment +of his object. Although the exertions of the former had been +stupendous, such was the eagerness and determination of the latter, +that at each step he gained perceptibly on his victim. The immediate +course taken was in a direct line for the ravine, which it evidently +was the object of the fugitive to clear at its nearest point. Already +had he approached within a few paces of its brink, and every eye was +fastened on the point where it was expected the doubtful leap would be +taken, when suddenly, as if despairing to accomplish it at a bound, he +turned to the left, and winding along its bank, renewed his efforts in +the direction of the bridge. This movement occasioned a change in the +position of the parties which was favourable to the pursued. Hitherto +they had been so immediately on a line with each other, it was +impossible for the detachment to bring a musket to bear upon the +warrior, without endangering him whose life they were anxious to +preserve. For a moment or two his body was fairly exposed, and a dozen +muskets were discharged at intervals from the square, but all without +success. Recovering his lost ground, he soon brought the pursued again +in a line between himself and the detachment, edging rapidly nearer to +him as he advanced, and uttering terrific yells, that were echoed back +from his companions on the brow of the hill. It was evident, however, +his object was the recapture, not the destruction, of the flying man, +for more than once did he brandish his menacing tomahawk in rapid +sweeps around his head, as if preparing to dart it, and as often did he +check the movement. The scene at each succeeding moment became more +critical and intensely interesting. The strength of the pursued was now +nearly exhausted, while that of his formidable enemy seemed to suffer +no diminution. Leap after leap he took with fearful superiority, +sideling as he advanced. Already had he closed upon his victim, while +with a springing effort a large and bony hand was extended to secure +his shoulder in his grasp. The effort was fatal to him; for in reaching +too far he lost his balance, and fell heavily upon the sward. A shout +of exultation burst from the English troops, and numerous voices now +encouraged the pursued to renew his exertions. The advice was not lost; +and although only a few seconds had elapsed between the fall and +recovery of his pursuer, the wretched fugitive had already greatly +increased the distance that separated them. A cry of savage rage and +disappointment burst from the lips of the gigantic warrior; and +concentrating all his remaining strength and speed into one final +effort, he bounded and leapt like a deer of the forest whence he came. +The opportunity for recapture, however, had been lost in his fall, for +already the pursued was within a few feet of the high road, and on the +point of turning the extremity of the bridge. One only resource was now +left: the warrior suddenly checked himself in his course, and remained +stationary; then raising and dropping his glittering weapon several +times in a balancing position, he waited until the pursued had gained +the highest point of the open bridge. At that moment the glittering +steel, aimed with singular accuracy and precision, ran whistling +through the air, and with such velocity of movement as to be almost +invisible to the eyes of those who attempted to follow it in its +threatening course. All expected to see it enter into the brain against +which it had been directed; but the fugitive had marked the movement in +time to save himself by stooping low to the earth, while the weapon, +passing over him, entered with a deadly and crashing sound into the +brain of the weltering corpse. This danger passed, he sprang once more +to his feet, nor paused again in his flight, until, faint and +exhausted, he sank without motion under the very bayonets of the firing +party. + +A new direction was now given to the interest of the assembled and +distinct crowds that had witnessed these startling incidents. Scarcely +had the wretched man gained the protection of the soldiery, when a +shriek divided the air, so wild, so piercing, and so unearthly, that +even the warrior of the Fleur de lis seemed to lose sight of his +victim, in the harrowing interest produced by that dreadful scream. All +turned their eyes for a moment in the quarter whence it proceeded; when +presently, from behind the groups of Canadians crowning the slope, was +seen flying, with the rapidity of thought, one who resembled rather a +spectre than a being of earth;--it was the wife of Halloway. Her long +fair hair was wild and streaming--her feet, and legs, and arms were +naked--and one solitary and scanty garment displayed rather than +concealed the symmetry of her delicate person. She flew to the fatal +bridge, threw herself on the body of her bleeding husband, and +imprinting her warm kisses on his bloody lips, for a moment or two +presented the image of one whose reason has fled for ever. Suddenly she +started from the earth; her face, her hands, and her garment so +saturated with the blood of her husband, that a feeling of horror crept +throughout the veins of all who beheld her. She stood upon the coffin, +and across the corpse--raised her eyes and hands imploringly to +Heaven--and then, in accents wilder even than her words, uttered an +imprecation that sounded like the prophetic warning of some unholy +spirit. + +"Inhuman murderer!" she exclaimed, in tones that almost paralysed the +ears on which it fell, "if there be a God of justice and of truth, he +will avenge this devilish deed. Yes, Colonel de Haldimar, a prophetic +voice whispers to my soul, that even as I have seen perish before my +eyes all I loved on earth, without mercy and without hope, so even +shall you witness the destruction of your accursed race. +Here--here--here," and she pointed downwards, with singular energy of +action, to the corpse of her husband, "here shall their blood flow till +every vestige of his own is washed away; and oh, if there be spared one +branch of thy detested family, may it only be that they may be reserved +for some death too horrible to be conceived!" + +Overcome by the frantic energy with which she had uttered these +appalling words, she sank backwards, and fell, uttering another shriek, +into the arms of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. + +"Hear you this, Colonel de Haldimar?" shouted the latter in a fierce +and powerful voice, and in the purest English accent; "hear you the +curse and prophecy of this heart-broken woman? You have slain her +husband, but she has found another. Ay, she shall be my bride, if only +for her detestation of yourself. When next you see us here," he +thundered, "tremble for your race. Ha, ha, ha! no doubt this is another +victim of your cold and calculating guile; but it shall be the last. By +Heaven, my very heart leaps upward in anticipation of thy coming hour. +Woman, thy hatred to this man has made me love thee; yes, thou shall be +my bride, and with my plans of vengeance will I woo thee. By this kiss +I swear it." + +As he spoke, he bent his face over that of the pale and inanimate +woman, and pressed his lips to hers, yet red and moist with blood spots +from the wounds of her husband. Then wresting, with a violent effort, +his reeking tomahawk from the cranched brain of the unfortunate +soldier, and before any one could recover sufficiently from the effect +of the scene altogether to think even of interfering, he bore off his +prize in triumph, and fled, with nearly the same expedition he had +previously manifested, in the direction of the forest. + + + + +END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + * * * * * * * * * + + + + + + + + + +WACOUSTA; + + or + +THE PROPHECY. + +Volume Two of Three + + +by + +John Richardson + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +It was on the evening of that day, so fertile in melancholy incident, +to which our first volume has been devoted, that the drawbridge of +Detroit was, for the third time since the investment of the garrison, +lowered; not, as previously, with a disregard of the intimation that +might be given to those without by the sullen and echoing rattle of its +ponderous chains, but with a caution attesting how much secrecy of +purpose was sought to be preserved. There was, however, no array of +armed men within the walls, that denoted an expedition of a hostile +character. Overcome with the harassing duties of the day, the chief +portion of the troops had retired to rest, and a few groups of the +guard alone were to be seen walking up and down in front of their post, +apparently with a view to check the influence of midnight drowsiness, +but, in reality, to witness the result of certain preparations going on +by torchlight in the centre of the barrack square. + +In the midst of an anxious group of officers, comprising nearly all of +that rank within the fort, stood two individuals, attired in a costume +having nothing in common with the gay and martial habiliments of the +former. They were tall, handsome young men, whose native elegance of +carriage was but imperfectly hidden under an equipment evidently +adopted for, and otherwise fully answering, the purpose of disguise. A +blue cotton shell jacket, closely fitting to the person, trowsers of +the same material, a pair of strong deer-skin mocassins, and a coloured +handkerchief tied loosely round the collar of a checked shirt, the +whole surmounted by one of those rough blanket coats, elsewhere +described, formed the principal portion of their garb. Each, moreover, +wore a false queue of about nine inches in length, the effect of which +was completely to change the character of the countenance, and lend to +the features a Canadian-like expression. A red worsted cap, resembling +a bonnet de nuit, was thrown carelessly over the side of the head, +which could, at any moment, when deeper disguise should be deemed +necessary, command the additional protection of the rude hood that fell +back upon the shoulders from the collar of the coat to which it was +attached. They were both well armed. Into a broad belt, that encircled +the jacket of each, were thrust a brace of pistols and a strong dagger; +the whole so disposed, however, as to be invisible when the outer +garment was closed: this, again, was confined by a rude sash of worsted +of different colours, not unlike, in texture and quality, what is worn +by our sergeants at the present day. They were otherwise armed, +however, and in a less secret manner. Across the right shoulder of each +was thrown a belt of worsted also, to which were attached a rude powder +horn and shot pouch, with a few straggling bullets, placed there as if +rather by accident than design. Each held carelessly in his left hand, +and with its butt resting on the earth, a long gun; completing an +appearance, the attainment of which had, in all probability, been +sedulously sought,--that of a Canadian duck-hunter. + +A metamorphosis so ludicrously operated in the usually elegant costume +of two young English officers,--for such they were,--might have been +expected to afford scope to the pleasantry of their companions, and to +call forth those sallies which the intimacy of friendship and the +freemasonry of the profession would have fully justified. But the +events that had occurred in such rapid succession, since the preceding +midnight, were still painfully impressed on the recollection of all, +and some there were who looked as if they never would smile again; +neither laugh nor jeering, therefore, escaped the lips of one of the +surrounding group. Every countenance wore a cast of thought,--a +character of abstraction, ill suited to the indulgence of levity; and +the little conversation that passed between them was in a low and +serious tone. It was evident some powerful and absorbing dread existed +in the mind of each, inducing him rather to indulge in communion with +his own thoughts and impressions, than to communicate them to others. +Even the governor himself had, for a moment, put off the dignity and +distance of his usually unapproachable nature, to assume an air of +unfeigned concern, and it might be dejection, contrasting strongly with +his habitual haughtiness. Hitherto he had been walking to and fro, a +little apart from the group, and with a hurriedness and indecision of +movement that betrayed to all the extreme agitation of his mind. For +once, however, he appeared to be insensible to observation, or, if not +insensible, indifferent to whatever comments might be formed or +expressed by those who witnessed his undissembled emotion. He was at +length interrupted by the adjutant, who communicated something in a low +voice. + +"Let him be brought up, Mr. Lawson," was the reply. Then advancing into +the heart of the group, and addressing the two adventurers, he +enquired, in a tone that startled from its singular mildness, "if they +were provided with every thing they required." + +An affirmative reply was given, when the governor, taking the taller of +the young men aside, conversed with him earnestly, and in a tone of +affection strangely blended with despondency. The interview, however, +was short, for Mr. Lawson now made his appearance, conducting an +individual who has already been introduced to our readers. It was the +Canadian of the Fleur de lis. The adjutant placed a small wooden +crucifix in the hands of the governor. + +"Francois," said the latter, impressively, "you know the terms on which +I have consented to spare your life. Swear, then, by this cross; that +you will be faithful to your trust; that neither treachery nor evasion +shall be practised; and that you will, to the utmost of your power, aid +in conveying these gentlemen to their destination. Kneel and swear it." + +"I do swear it!" fervently repeated the aubergiste, kneeling and +imprinting his lips with becoming reverence on the symbol of martyrdom. +"I swear to do dat I shall engage, and may de bon Dieu have mercy to my +soul as I shall fulfil my oat." + +"Amen," pronounced the governor, "and may Heaven deal by you even as +you deal by us. Bear in mind, moreover, that as your treachery will be +punished, so also shall your fidelity be rewarded. But the night wears +apace, and ye have much to do." Then turning to the young officers who +were to be his companions,--"God bless you both; may your enterprise be +successful! I fear," offering his hand to the younger, "I have spoken +harshly to you, but at a moment like the present you will no longer +cherish a recollection of the unpleasant past." + +The only answer was a cordial return of his own pressure. The Canadian +in his turn now announced the necessity for instant departure, when the +young men, following his example, threw their long guns carelessly over +the left shoulder. Low, rapid, and fervent adieus were uttered on both +sides; and although the hands of the separating parties met only in a +short and hurried grasp, there was an expression in the touch of each +that spoke to their several hearts long after the separation had +actually taken place. + +"Stay one moment!" exclaimed a voice, as the little party now moved +towards the gateway; "ye are both gallantly enough provided without, +but have forgotten there is something quite as necessary to sustain the +inward man. Duck shooting, you know, is wet work. The last lips that +were moistened from this," he proceeded, as the younger of the +disguised men threw the strap of the proffered canteen over his +shoulder, "were those of poor Ellen Halloway." + +The mention of that name, so heedlessly pronounced by the brave but +inconsiderate Erskine, produced a startling effect on the taller of the +departing officers. He struck his brow violently with his hand, uttered +a faint groan, and bending his head upon his chest, stood in an +attitude expressive of the deep suffering of his mind. The governor, +too, appeared agitated; and sounds like those of suppressed sobs came +from one who lingered at the side of him who had accepted the offer of +the canteen. The remainder of the officers preserved a deep and +mournful silence. + +"It is times dat we should start," again observed the Canadian, "or we +shall be taken by de daylight before we can clear de river." + +This intimation once more aroused the slumbering energies of the taller +officer. Again he drew up his commanding figure, extended his hand to +the governor in silence, and turning abruptly round, hastened to follow +close in the footsteps of his conductor. + +"You will not forget all I have said to you," whispered the voice of +one who had reserved his parting for the last, and who now held the +hand of the younger adventurer closely clasped in his own. "Think, oh, +think how much depends on the event of your dangerous enterprise." + +"When you behold me again," was the reply, "it will be with smiles on +my lip and gladness in my heart; for if we fail, there is that within +me, which whispers I shall never see you more. But keep up your +spirits, and hope for the best. We embark under cheerless auspices, it +is true; but let us trust to Providence for success in so good a +cause,--God bless you!" + +In the next minute he had joined his companions; who, with light and +noiseless tread, were already pursuing their way along the military +road that led to the eastern extremity of the town. Soon afterwards, +the heavy chains of the drawbridge were heard grating on the ear, in +despite of the evident caution used in restoring it to its wonted +position, and all again was still. + +It had at first been suggested their course should be held in an +angular direction across the cleared country alluded to in our last +chapter, in order to avoid all chance of recognition in the town; but +as this might have led them into more dangerous contact with some of +the outlying parties of Indians, who were known to prowl around the +fort at night, this plan had been abandoned for the more circuitous and +safe passage by the village. Through this our little party now pursued +their way, and without encountering aught to impede their progress. The +simple mannered inhabitants had long since retired to rest, and neither +light nor sound denoted the existence of man or beast within its +precincts. At length they reached that part of the road which turned +off abruptly in the direction of the Fleur de lis. The rude hut threw +its dark shadows across their path, but all was still and deathlike as +in the village they had just quitted. Presently, however, as they drew +nearer, they beheld, reflected from one of the upper windows, a faint +light that fell upon the ground immediately in front of the auberge; +and, at intervals, the figure of a human being approaching and receding +from it as if in the act of pacing the apartment. + +An instinctive feeling of danger rose at the same moment to the hearts +of the young officers; and each, obeying the same impulse, unfastened +one of the large horn buttons of his blanket coat, and thrust his right +hand into the opening. + +"Francois, recollect your oath," hastily aspirated the elder, as he +grasped the hand of their conductor rather in supplication than in +threat; "if there be aught to harm us here, your own life will most +assuredly pay the forfeit of your faith." + +"It is noting but a womans," calmly returned the Canadian; "it is my +Babette who is sorry at my loss. But I shall come and tell you +directly." + +He then stole gently round the corner of the hut, leaving his anxious +companions in the rear of the little building, and completely veiled in +the obscurity produced by the mingling shadows of the hut itself, and a +few tall pear trees that overhung the paling of the orchard at some +yards from the spot on which they stood. + +They waited some minutes to hear the result of the Canadian's +admittance into his dwelling; but although each with suppressed +breathing sought to catch those sounds of welcome with which a daughter +might be supposed to greet a parent so unexpectedly restored, they +listened in vain. At length, however, while the ears of both were on +the rack to drink in the tones of a human voice, a faint scream floated +on the hushed air, and all again was still. + +"Good!" whispered the elder of the officers; "that scream is sweeter to +my ear than the softest accents of woman's love. It is evident the +ordinary tones of speech cannot find their way to us here from the +front of the hut. The faintness of yon cry, which was unquestionably +that of a female, is a convincing proof of it." + +"Hist!" urged his companion, in the same almost inaudible whisper, +"what sound was that?" + +Both again listened attentively, when the noise was repeated. It came +from the orchard, and resembled the sound produced by the faint crash +of rotten sticks and leaves under the cautious but unavoidably rending +tread of a human foot. At intervals it ceased, as if the person +treading, alarmed at his own noise, was apprehensive of betraying his +approach; and then recommenced, only to be checked in the same manner. +Finally it ceased altogether. + +For upwards of five minutes the young men continued to listen for a +renewal of the sound, but nothing was now audible, save the short and +fitful gusts of a rising wind among the trees of the orchard. + +"It must have been some wild animal in search of its prey," again +whispered the younger officer; "had it been a man, we should have heard +him leap the paling before this." + +"By Heaven, we are betrayed,--here he is," quickly rejoined the other, +in the same low tone. "Keep close to the hut, and stand behind me. If +my dagger fail, you must try your own. But fire not, on your life, +unless there be more than two, for the report of a pistol will be the +destruction of ourselves and all that are dear to us." + +Each with uplifted arm now stood ready to strike, even while his heart +throbbed with a sense of danger, that had far more than the mere dread +of personal suffering or death to stimulate to exertion in +self-defence. Footsteps were now distinctly heard stealing round that +part of the hut which bordered on the road; and the young men turned +from the orchard, to which their attention had previously been +directed, towards the new quarter whence they were intruded upon. + +It was fortunate this mode of approach had been selected. That part of +the hut which rested on the road was so exposed as to throw the outline +of objects into strong relief, whereas in the direction of the thickly +wooded orchard all was impenetrable gloom. Had the intruder stolen +unannounced upon the alarmed but determined officers by the latter +route, the dagger of the first would in all probability have been +plunged to its hilt in his bosom. As it was, each had sufficient +presence of mind to distinguish, as it now doubled the corner of the +hut, and reposed upon the road, the stout square-set figure of the +Canadian. The daggers were instantly restored to their sheaths, and +each, for the first time since the departure of their companion, +respired freely. + +"It is quite well," whispered the latter as he approached. "It was my +poor Babette, who tought I was gone to be kill. She scream so loud, as +if she had seen my ghost. But we must wait a few minute in de house, +and you shall see how glad my girl is to see me once again." + +"Why this delay, Francois? why not start directly?" urged the taller +officer; "we shall never clear the river in time; and if the dawn +catches us in the waters of the Detroit, we are lost for ever." + +"But you see I am not quite prepare yet," was the answer. "I have many +tings to get ready for de canoe, which I have not use for a long times. +But you shall not wait ten minute, if you do not like. Dere is a good +fire, and Babette shall give you some ting to eat while I get it all +ready." + +The young men hesitated. The delay of the Canadian, who had so +repeatedly urged the necessity for expedition while in the fort, had, +to say the least of it, an appearance of incongruity. Still it was +evident, if disposed to harm them, he had full opportunity to do so +without much risk of effectual opposition from themselves. Under all +circumstances, therefore, it was advisable rather to appear to confide +implicitly in his truth, than, by manifesting suspicion, to pique his +self-love, and neutralize whatever favourable intentions he might +cherish in their behalf. In this mode of conduct they were confirmed, +by a recollection of the sacredness attached by the religion of their +conductor to the oath so solemnly pledged on the symbol of the cross, +and by a conviction of the danger of observation to which they stood +exposed, if, as they had apprehended, it was actually a human footstep +they had heard in the orchard. This last recollection suggested a +remark. + +"We heard a strange sound within the orchard, while waiting here for +your return," said the taller officer; "it was like the footstep of a +man treading cautiously over rotten leaves and branches. How do you +account for it?" + +"Oh, it was my pigs," replied the Canadian, without manifesting the +slightest uneasiness at the information. "They run about in de orchard +for de apples what blows down wid de wind." + +"It could not be a pig we heard," pursued his questioner; "but another +thing, Francois, before we consent to enter the hut,--how will you +account to your daughter for our presence? and what suspicion may she +not form at seeing two armed strangers in company with you at this +unseasonable hour." + +"I have tell her," replied the Canadian, "dat I have bring two friends, +who go wid me in de canoe to shoot de ducks for two tree days. You +know, sir, I go always in de fall to kill de ducks wid my friends, and +she will not tink it strange." + +"You have managed well, my brave fellow; and now we follow you in +confidence. But in the name of Heaven, use all possible despatch, and +if money will lend a spur to your actions, you shall have plenty of it +when our enterprise has been accomplished." + +Our adventurers followed their conductor in the track by which he had +so recently rejoined them. As they turned the corner of the hut, the +younger, who brought up the rear, fancied he again heard a sound in the +direction of the orchard, resembling that of one lightly leaping to the +ground. A gust of wind, however, passing rapidly at the moment through +the dense foliage, led him to believe it might have been produced by +the sullen fall of one of the heavy fruits it had detached in its +course. Unwilling to excite new and unnecessary suspicion in his +companion, he confined the circumstance to his own breast, and followed +into the hut. + +After ascending a flight of about a dozen rude steps, they found +themselves in a small room, furnished with no other ceiling than the +sloping roof itself, and lighted by an unwieldy iron lamp, placed on a +heavy oak table, near the only window with which the apartment was +provided. This latter had suffered much from the influence of time and +tempest; and owing to the difficulty of procuring glass in so remote a +region, had been patched with slips of paper in various parts. The two +corner and lower panes of the bottom sash were out altogether, and pine +shingles, such as are used even at the present day for covering the +roofs of dwelling houses, had been fitted into the squares, excluding +air and light at the same time. The centre pane of this tier was, +however, clear and free from flaw of every description. Opposite to the +window blazed a cheerful wood fire, recently supplied with fuel; and at +one of the inner corners of the room was placed a low uncurtained bed, +that exhibited marks of having been lain in since it was last made. On +a chair at its side were heaped a few dark-looking garments, the +precise nature of which were not distinguishable at a cursory and +distant glance. + +Such were the more remarkable features of the apartment into which our +adventurers were now ushered. Both looked cautiously around on +entering, as if expecting to find it tenanted by spirits as daring as +their own; but, with the exception of the daughter of their conductor, +whose moist black eyes expressed, as much by tears as by smiles, the +joy she felt at this unexpected return of her parent, no living object +met their enquiring glance. The Canadian placed a couple of +rush-bottomed chairs near the fire, invited his companions to seat +themselves until he had completed his preparation for departure, and +then, desiring Babette to hasten supper for the young hunters, quitted +the room and descended the stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The position of the young men was one of embarrassment; for while the +daughter, who was busied in executing the command of her father, +remained in the room, it was impossible they could converse together +without betraying the secret of their country, and, as a result of +this, the falsehood of the character under which they appeared. Long +residence in the country had, it is true, rendered the patois of that +class of people whom they personated familiar to one, but the other +spoke only the pure and native language of which it was a corruption. +It might have occurred to them at a cooler moment, and under less +critical circumstances, that, even if their disguise had been +penetrated, it was unlikely a female, manifesting so much lively +affection for her parent, would have done aught to injure those with +whom he had evidently connected himself. But the importance attached to +their entire security from danger left them but little room for +reflections of a calming character, while a doubt of that security +remained. + +One singularity struck them both. They had expected the young woman, +urged by a natural curiosity, would have commenced a conversation, even +if they did not; and he who spoke the patois was prepared to sustain it +as well as his anxious and overcharged spirit would enable him; and as +he was aware the morning had furnished sufficient incident of fearful +interest, he had naturally looked for a verbal re-enactment of the +harrowing and dreadful scene. To their surprise, however, they both +remarked that, far from evincing a desire to enter into conversation, +the young woman scarcely ever looked at them, but lingered constantly +near the table, and facing the window. Still, to avoid an appearance of +singularity on their own parts as far as possible, the elder of the +officers motioned to his companion, who, following his example, took a +small pipe and some tobacco from a compartment in his shot pouch, and +commenced puffing the wreathing smoke from his lips,--an occupation, +more than any other, seeming to justify their silence. + +The elder officer sat with his back to the window, and immediately in +front of the fire; his companion, at a corner of the rude hearth, and +in such a manner that, without turning his head, he could command every +part of the room at a glance. In the corner facing him stood the bed +already described. A faint ray of the fire-light fell on some minute +object glittering in the chair, the contents of which were heaped up in +disorder. Urged by that wayward curiosity, which is sometimes excited, +even under circumstances of the greatest danger and otherwise absorbing +interest, the young man kicked the hickory log that lay nearest to it +with his mocassined foot, and produced a bright crackling flame, the +reflection of which was thrown entirely upon the object of his gaze; it +was a large metal button, on which the number of his regiment was +distinctly visible. Unable to check his desire to know further, he left +his seat, to examine the contents of the chair. As he moved across the +room, he fancied he heard a light sound from without; his companion, +also, seemed to manifest a similar impression by an almost +imperceptible start; but the noise was so momentary, and so fanciful, +neither felt it worth his while to pause upon the circumstance. The +young officer now raised the garments from the chair: they consisted of +a small grey great-coat, and trowsers, a waistcoat of coarse white +cloth, a pair of worsted stockings, and the half-boots of a boy; the +whole forming the drum-boy's equipment, worn by the wretched wife of +Halloway when borne senseless into the hut on that fatal morning. +Hastily quitting a dress that called up so many dreadful recollections, +and turning to his companion with a look that denoted apprehension, +lest he too should have beheld these melancholy remembrances of the +harrowing scene, the young officer hastened to resume his seat. In the +act of so doing, his eye fell upon the window, at which the female +still lingered. Had a blast from Heaven struck his sight, the terror of +his soul could not have been greater. He felt his cheek to pale, and +his hair to bristle beneath his cap, while the checked blood crept +slowly and coldly, as if its very function had been paralysed; still he +had presence of mind sufficient not to falter in his step, or to +betray, by any extraordinary movement, that his eye had rested on any +thing hateful to behold. + +His companion had emptied his first pipe, and was in the act of +refilling it, when he resumed his seat. He was evidently impatient at +the delay of the Canadian, and already were his lips opening to give +utterance to his disappointment, when he felt his foot significantly +pressed by that of his friend. An instinctive sense of something +fearful that was to ensue, but still demanding caution on his part, +prevented him from turning hastily round to know the cause. Satisfied, +however, there was danger, though not of an instantaneous character, he +put his pipe gently by, and stealing his hand under his coat, again +grasped the hilt of his dagger. At length he slowly and partially +turned his head, while his eyes inquiringly demanded of his friend the +cause of his alarm. + +Partly to aid in concealing his increasing paleness, and partly with a +view to render it a medium for the conveyance of subdued sound, the +hand of the latter was raised to his face in such a manner that the +motion of his lips could not be distinguished from behind. + +"We are betrayed," he scarcely breathed. "If you can command yourself, +turn and look at the window; but for God's sake arm yourself with +resolution, or look not at all: first draw the hood over your head, and +without any appearance of design. Our only chance of safety lies in +this,--that the Canadian may still be true, and that our disguise may +not be penetrated." + +In despite of his native courage,--and this had often been put to +honourable proof,--he, thus mysteriously addressed, felt his heart to +throb violently. There was something so appalled in the countenance of +his friend--something so alarming in the very caution he had +recommended--that a vague dread of the horrible reality rushed at once +to his mind, and for a moment his own cheek became ashy pale, and his +breathing painfully oppressed. It was the natural weakness of the +physical man, over which the moral faculties had, for an instant, lost +their directing power. Speedily recovering himself, the young man +prepared to encounter the alarming object which had already so greatly +intimidated his friend. Carefully drawing the blanket hood over his +head, he rose from his seat, and, with the energetic movement of one +who has formed some desperate determination, turned his back to the +fire-place, and threw his eyes rapidly and eagerly upon the window. +They fell only on the rude patchwork of which it was principally +composed. The female had quitted the room. + +"You must have been deceived," he whispered, keeping his eye still bent +upon the window, and with so imperceptible a movement of the lips that +sound alone could have betrayed he was speaking,--"I see nothing to +justify your alarm. Look again." + +The younger officer once more directed his glance towards the window, +and with a shuddering of the whole person, as he recollected what had +met his eye when he last looked upon it. "It is no longer there, +indeed," he returned in the same scarcely audible tone. "Yet I could +not be mistaken; it was between those two corner squares of wood in the +lower sash." + +"Perhaps it was merely a reflection produced by the lamp on the centre +pane," rejoined his friend, still keeping his eye riveted on the +suspicious point. + +"Impossible! but I will examine the window from the spot on which I +stood when I first beheld it." + +Again he quitted his seat, and carelessly crossed the room. As he +returned he threw his glance upon the pane, when, to his infinite +horror and surprise, the same frightful vision presented itself. + +"God of Heaven!" he exclaimed aloud, and unable longer to check the +ebullition of his feelings,--"what means this?--Is my brain turned? and +am I the sport of my own delusive fancy?--Do you not see it NOW?" + +No answer was returned. His friend stood mute and motionless, with his +left hand grasping his gun, and his right thrust into the waist of his +coat. His eye grew upon the window, and his chest heaved, and his cheek +paled and flushed alternately with the subdued emotion of his heart. A +human face was placed close to the unblemished glass, and every feature +was distinctly revealed by the lamp that still lay upon the table. The +glaring eye was fixed on the taller of the officers; but though the +expression was unfathomably guileful, there was nothing that denoted +any thing like a recognition of the party. The brightness of the wood +fire had so far subsided as to throw the interior of the room into +partial obscurity, and under the disguise of his hood it was impossible +for one without to distinguish the features of the taller officer. The +younger, who was scarcely an object of attention, passed comparatively +unnoticed. + +Fatigued and dimmed with the long and eager tension of its nerves, the +eye of the latter now began to fail him. For a moment he closed it; and +when again it fell upon the window; it encountered nothing but the +clear and glittering pane. For upwards of a minute he and his friend +still continued to rivet their gaze, but the face was no longer visible. + +Why is it that what is called the "human face divine" is sometimes +gifted with a power to paralyse, that the most loathsome reptile in the +creation cannot attain? Had a hyena or cougar of the American forest, +roaring for prey, appeared at that window, ready to burst the fragile +barrier, and fasten its talons in their hearts, its presence would not +have struck such sickness to the soul of our adventurers as did that +human face. It is that man, naturally fierce and inexorable, is alone +the enemy of his own species. The solution of this problem--this +glorious paradox in nature, we leave to profounder philosophers to +resolve. Sufficient for us be it to know, and to deplore that it is so. + +Footsteps were now heard upon the stairs; and the officers, aroused to +a full sense of their danger, hastily and silently prepared themselves +for the encounter. + +"Drop a bullet into your gun," whispered the elder, setting the example +himself. "We may be obliged to have recourse to it at last. Yet make no +show of hostility unless circumstances satisfy us we are betrayed; +then, indeed, all that remains for us will be to sell our lives as +dearly as we can. Hist! he is here." + +The door opened; and at the entrance, which was already filled up in +the imaginations of the young men with a terrible and alarming figure, +appeared one whose return had been anxiously and long desired. It was a +relief, indeed, to their gallant but excited hearts to behold another +than the form they had expected; and although, for the moment, they +knew not whether the Canadian came in hostility or in friendship, each +quitted the attitude of caution into which he had thrown himself, and +met him midway in his passage through the room. There was nothing in +the expression of his naturally open and good-humoured countenance to +denote he was at all aware of the causes for alarm that had operated so +powerfully on themselves. He announced with a frank look and +unfaltering voice every thing was in readiness for their departure. + +The officers hesitated; and the taller fixed his eyes upon those of +mine host, as if his gaze would have penetrated to the innermost +recesses of his heart. Could this be a refinement of his treachery? and +was he really ignorant of the existence of the danger which threatened +them? Was it not more probable his object was to disarm their fears, +that they might be given unprepared and, therefore, unresisting victims +to the ferocity of their enemies? Aware as he was, that they were both +well provided with arms, and fully determined to use them with effect, +might not his aim be to decoy them to destruction without, lest the +blood spilt under his roof, in the desperation of their defence, should +hereafter attest against him, and expose him to the punishment he would +so richly merit? Distracted by these doubts, the young men scarcely +knew what to think or how to act; and anxious as they had previously +been to quit the hut, they now considered the moment of their doing so +would be that of their destruction. The importance of the enterprise on +which they were embarked was such as to sink all personal +considerations. If they had felt the influence of intimidation on their +spirits, it arose less from any apprehension of consequences to +themselves, than from the recollection of the dearer interests involved +in their perfect security from discovery. + +"Francois," feelingly urged the taller officer, again adverting to his +vow, "you recollect the oath you so solemnly pledged upon the cross of +your Saviour. Tell me, then, as you hope for mercy, have you taken that +oath only that you might the more securely betray us to our enemies? +What connection have you with them at this moment? and who is HE who +stood looking through that window not ten minutes since?" + +"As I shall hope for mercy in my God," exclaimed the Canadian with +unfeigned astonishment, "I have not see nobody. But what for do you +tink so? It is not just. I have given my oat to serve you, and I shall +do it." + +There was candour both in the tone and countenance of the man as he +uttered these words, half in reproach, half in justification; and the +officers no longer doubted. + +"You must forgive our suspicions at a moment like the present," +soothingly observed the younger; "yet, Francois, your daughter saw and +exchanged signals with the person we mean. She left the room soon after +he made his appearance. What has become of her?" + +The Canadian gave a sudden start, looked hastily round, and seemed to +perceive for the first time the girl was absent. He then put a finger +to his lip to enjoin silence, advanced to the table, and extinguished +the light. Desiring his companions, in a low whisper, to tread +cautiously and follow, he now led the way with almost noiseless step to +the entrance of the hut. At the threshold of the door were placed a +large well-filled sack, a light mast and sail, and half a dozen +paddles. The latter burden he divided between the officers, on whose +shoulders he carefully balanced them. The sack he threw across his own; +and, without expressing even a regret that an opportunity of bidding +adieu to his child was denied him, hastily skirted the paling of the +orchard until, at the further extremity, he had gained the high road. + +The heavens were obscured by passing clouds driven rapidly by the wind, +during the short pauses of which our adventurers anxiously and +frequently turned to listen if they were pursued. Save the rustling of +the trees that lined the road, and the slight dashing of the waters on +the beach, however, no sound was distinguishable. At length they gained +the point whence they were to start. It was the fatal bridge, the +events connected with which were yet so painfully fresh in their +recollection. + +"Stop one minutes here," whispered the Canadian, throwing his sack upon +the sand near the mouth of the lesser river; "my canoe is chain about +twenty yards up de bridge. I shall come to you directly." Then +cautioning the officers to keep themselves concealed under the bridge, +he moved hastily under the arch, and disappeared in the dark shadow +which it threw across the rivulet. + +The extremities of the bridge rested on the banks of the little river +in such a manner as to leave a narrow passage along the sands +immediately under the declination of the arch. In accordance with the +caution of their conductor, the officers had placed themselves under +it; and with their backs slightly bent forward to meet the curvature of +the bridge, so that no ray of light could pass between their bodies and +the fabric itself, now awaited the arrival of the vessel on which their +only hope depended. We shall not attempt to describe their feelings on +finding themselves, at that lone hour of the night, immediately under a +spot rendered fearfully memorable by the tragic occurrences of the +morning. The terrible pursuit of the fugitive, the execution of the +soldier, the curse and prophecy of his maniac wife, and, above all, the +forcible abduction and threatened espousal of that unhappy woman by the +formidable being who seemed to have identified himself with the evils +with which they stood menaced,--all rushed with rapid tracery on the +mind, and excited the imagination, until each, filled with a sentiment +not unallied to superstitious awe, feared to whisper forth his +thoughts, lest in so doing he should invoke the presence of those who +had principally figured in the harrowing and revolting scene. + +"Did you not hear a noise?" at length whispered the elder, as he leaned +himself forward, and bent his head to the sand, to catch more +distinctly a repetition of the sound. + +"I did; there again! It is upon the bridge, and not unlike the step of +one endeavouring to tread lightly. It may be some wild beast, however." + +"We must not be taken by surprise," returned his companion. "If it be a +man, the wary tread indicates consciousness of our presence. If an +animal, there can be no harm in setting our fears at rest." + +Cautiously stealing from his lurking-place, the young officer emerged +into the open sands, and in a few measured noiseless strides gained the +extremity of the bridge. The dark shadow of something upon its centre +caught his eye, and a low sound like that of a dog lapping met his ear. +While his gaze yet lingered on the shapeless object, endeavouring to +give it a character, the clouds which had so long obscured it passed +momentarily from before the moon, and disclosed the appalling truth. It +was a wolf-dog lapping up from the earth, in which they were encrusted, +the blood and brains of the unfortunate Frank Halloway. + +Sick and faint at the disgusting sight, the young man rested his elbow +on the railing that passed along the edge of the bridge, and, leaning +his head on his hand for a moment, forgot the risk of exposure he +incurred, in the intenseness of the sorrow that assailed his soul. His +heart and imagination were already far from the spot on which he stood, +when he felt an iron hand upon his shoulder. He turned, shuddering with +an instinctive knowledge of his yet unseen visitant, and beheld +standing over him the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the savage in a low triumphant tone, "the place +of our meeting is well timed, though somewhat singular, it must be +confessed. Nay," he fiercely added, grasping as in a vice the arm that +was already lifted to strike him, "force me not to annihilate you on +the spot. Ha! hear you the cry of my wolf-dog?" as that animal now set +up a low but fearful howl; "it is for your blood he asks, but your hour +is not yet come." + +"No, by Heaven, is it not!" exclaimed a voice; a rapid and rushing +sweep was heard through the air for an instant, and then a report like +a stunning blow. The warrior released his grasp--placed his hand upon +his tomahawk, but without strength to remove it from his belt tottered +a pace or two backwards--and then fell, uttering a cry of mingled pain +and disappointment, at his length upon the earth. + +"Quick, quick to our cover!" exclaimed the younger officer, as a loud +shout was now heard from the forest in reply to the yell of the fallen +warrior. "If Francois come not, we are lost; the howl of that wolf-dog +alone will betray us, even if his master should be beyond all chance of +recovery." + +"Desperate diseases require desperate remedies," was the reply; "there +is little glory in destroying a helpless enemy, but the necessity is +urgent, and we must leave nothing to chance." As he spoke, he knelt +upon the huge form of the senseless warrior, whose scalping knife he +drew from its sheath, and striking a firm and steady blow, quitted not +the weapon until he felt his hand reposing on the chest of his enemy. + +The howl of the wolf-dog, whose eyes glared like two burning coals +through the surrounding gloom, was now exchanged to a fierce and +snappish bark. He made a leap at the officer while in the act of rising +from the body; but his fangs fastened only in the chest of the shaggy +coat, which he wrung with the strength and fury characteristic of his +peculiar species. This new and ferocious attack was fraught with danger +little inferior to that which they had just escaped, and required the +utmost promptitude of action. The young man seized the brute behind the +neck in a firm and vigorous grasp, while he stooped upon the motionless +form over which this novel struggle was maintained, and succeeded in +making himself once more master of the scalping knife. Half choked by +the hand that unflinchingly grappled with him, the savage animal +quitted his hold and struggled violently to free himself. This was the +critical moment. The officer drew the heavy sharp blade, from the +handle to the point, across the throat of the infuriated beast, with a +force that divided the principal artery. He made a desperate leap +upwards, spouting his blood over his destroyer, and then fell gasping +across the body of his master. A low growl, intermingled with faint +attempts to bark, which the rapidly oozing life rendered more and more +indistinct, succeeded; and at length nothing but a gurgling sound was +distinguishable. + +Meanwhile the anxious and harassed officers had regained their place of +concealment under the bridge, where they listened with suppressed +breathing for the slightest sound to indicate the approach of the +canoe. At intervals they fancied they could hear a noise resembling the +rippling of water against the prow of a light vessel, but the swelling +cries of the rushing band, becoming at every instant more distinct, +were too unceasingly kept up to admit of their judging with accuracy. + +They now began to give themselves up for lost, and many and bitter were +the curses they inwardly bestowed on the Canadian, when the outline of +a human form was seen advancing along the sands, and a dark object upon +the water. It was their conductor, dragging the canoe along, with all +the strength and activity of which he was capable. + +"What the devil have you been about all this time, Francois?" exclaimed +the taller officer, as he bounded to meet him. "Quick, quick, or we +shall be too late. Hear you not the blood-hounds on their scent?" Then +seizing the chain in his hand, with a powerful effort he sent the canoe +flying through the arch to the very entrance of the river. The burdens +that had been deposited on the sands were hastily flung in, the +officers stepping lightly after. The Canadian took the helm, directing +the frail vessel almost noiselessly through the water, and with such +velocity, that when the cry of the disappointed savages was heard +resounding from the bridge, it had already gained the centre of the +Detroit. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Two days had succeeded to the departure of the officers from the fort, +but unproductive of any event of importance. About daybreak, however, +on the morning of the third, the harassed garrison were once more +summoned to arms, by an alarm from the sentinels planted in rear of the +works; a body of Indians they had traced and lost at intervals, as they +wound along the skirt of the forest, in their progress from their +encampment, were at length developing themselves in force near the bomb +proof. With a readiness which long experience and watchfulness had +rendered in some degree habitual to them, the troops flew to their +respective posts; while a few of the senior officers, among whom was +the governor, hastened to the ramparts to reconnoitre the strength and +purpose of their enemies. It was evident the views of these latter were +not immediately hostile; for neither were they in their war paint, nor +were their arms of a description to carry intimidation to a disciplined +and fortified soldiery. Bows, arrows, tomahawks, war clubs, spears, and +scalping knives, constituted their warlike equipments, but neither +rifle nor fire-arms of any kind were discernible. Several of their +leaders, distinguishable by a certain haughty carriage and commanding +gesticulation, were collected within the elevated bomb-proof, +apparently holding a short but important conference apart from their +people, most of whom stood or lay in picturesque attitudes around the +ruin. These also had a directing spirit. A tall and noble looking +warrior, wearing a deer-skin hunting frock closely girded around his +loins, appeared to command the deference of his colleagues, claiming +profound attention when he spoke himself, and manifesting his assent or +dissent to the apparently expressed opinions of the lesser chiefs +merely by a slight movement of the head. + +"There he is indeed!" exclaimed Captain Erskine, speaking as one who +communes with his own thoughts, while he kept his telescope levelled on +the form of the last warrior; "looking just as noble as when, three +years ago, he opposed himself to the progress of the first English +detachment that had ever penetrated to this part of the world. What a +pity such a fine fellow should be so desperate and determined an enemy!" + +"True; you were with Major Rogers on that expedition," observed the +governor, in a tone now completely divested of the haughtiness which +formerly characterised his address to his officers. "I have often heard +him speak of it. You had many difficulties to contend against, if I +recollect." + +"We had indeed, sir," returned the frank-hearted Erskine, dropping the +glass from his eye. "So many, in fact, that more than once, in the +course of our progress through the wilderness, did I wish myself at +head-quarters with my company. Never shall I forget the proud and +determined expression of Ponteac's countenance, when he told Rogers, in +his figurative language, 'he stood in the path in which he travelled.'" + +"Thank Heaven, he at least stands not in the path in which OTHERS +travel," musingly rejoined the governor. "But what sudden movement is +that within the ruin?" + +"The Indians are preparing to show a white flag," shouted an +artillery-man from his station in one of the embrasures below. + +The governor and his officers received this intelligence without +surprise: the former took the glass from Captain Erskine, and coolly +raised it to his eye. The consultation had ceased; and the several +chiefs, with the exception of their leader and two others, were now +seen quitting the bomb-proof to join their respective tribes. One of +those who remained, sprang upon an elevated fragment of the ruin, and +uttered a prolonged cry, the purport of which,--and it was fully +understood from its peculiar nature,--was to claim attention from the +fort. He then received from the hands of the other chief a long spear, +to the end of which was attached a piece of white linen. This he waved +several times above his head; then stuck the barb of the spear firmly +into the projecting fragment. Quitting his elevated station, he next +stood at the side of the Ottawa chief, who had already assumed the air +and attitude of one waiting to observe in what manner his signal would +be received. + +"A flag of truce in all its bearings, by Jupiter!" remarked Captain +Erskine. "Ponteac seems to have acquired a few lessons since we first +met." + +"This is evidently the suggestion of some European," observed Major +Blackwater; "for how should he understand any thing of the nature of a +white flag? Some of those vile spies have put him up to this." + +"True enough, Blackwater; and they appear to have found an intelligent +pupil," observed Captain Wentworth. "I was curious to know how he would +make the attempt to approach us; but certainly never once dreamt of his +having recourse to so civilised a method. Their plot works well, no +doubt; still we have the counter-plot to oppose to it." + +"We must foil them with their own weapons," remarked the governor, +"even if it be only with a view to gain time. Wentworth, desire one of +your bombardiers to hoist the large French flag on the staff." + +The order was promptly obeyed. The Indians made a simultaneous movement +expressive of their satisfaction; and in the course of a minute, the +tall warrior, accompanied by nearly a dozen inferior chiefs, was seen +slowly advancing across the common, towards the group of officers. + +"What generous confidence the fellow has, for an Indian!" observed +Captain Erskine, who could not dissemble his admiration of the warrior. +"He steps as firmly and as proudly within reach of our muskets, as if +he was leading in the war-dance." + +"How strange," mused Captain Blessington, "that one who meditates so +deep a treachery, should have no apprehension of it in others!" + +"It is a compliment to the honour of our flag," observed the governor, +"which it must be our interest to encourage. If, as you say, Erskine, +the man is really endowed with generosity, the result of this affair +will assuredly call it forth." + +"If it prove otherwise, sir," was the reply, "we must only attribute +his perseverance to the influence which that terrible warrior of the +Fleur de lis is said to exercise over his better feelings. By the by, I +see nothing of him among this flag of truce party. It could scarcely be +called a violation of faith to cut off such a rascally renegade. Were +he of the number of those advancing, and Valletort's rifle within my +reach, I know not what use I might not be tempted to make of the last." + +Poor Erskine was singularly infelicitous in touching, and ever +unconsciously, on a subject sure to give pain to more than one of his +brother officers. A cloud passed over the brow of the governor, but it +was one that originated more in sorrow than in anger. Neither had he +time to linger on the painful recollections hastily and confusedly +called up by the allusion made to this formidable and mysterious being, +for the attention of all was now absorbed by the approaching Indians. +With a bold and confiding carriage the fierce Ponteac moved at the head +of his little party, nor hesitated one moment in his course, until he +got near the brink of the ditch, and stood face to face with the +governor, at a distance that gave both parties not only the facility of +tracing the expression of each other's features, but of conversing +without effort. There he made a sudden stand, and thrusting his spear +into the earth, assumed an attitude as devoid of apprehension as if he +had been in the heart of his own encampment. + +"My father has understood my sign," said the haughty chief. "The +warriors of a dozen tribes are far behind the path the Ottawa has just +travelled; but when the red skin comes unarmed, the hand of the Saganaw +is tied behind his back." + +"The strong hold of the Saganaw is his safeguard," replied the +governor, adopting the language of the Indian. "When the enemies of his +great father come in strength, he knows how to disperse them; but when +a warrior throws himself unarmed into his power, he respects his +confidence, and his arms hang rusting at his side." + +"The talk of my father is big," replied the warrior, with a scornful +expression that seemed to doubt the fact of so much indifference as to +himself; "but when it is a great chief who directs the nations, and +that chief his sworn enemy, the temptation to the Saganaw may be +strong." + +"The Saganaw is without fear," emphatically rejoined the governor; "he +is strong in his own honour; and he would rather die under the tomahawk +of the red skin, than procure a peace by an act of treachery." + +The Indian paused; cold, calm looks of intelligence passed between him +and his followers, and a few indistinct and guttural sentences were +exchanged among themselves. + +"But our father asks not why our mocassins have brushed the dew from +off the common," resumed the chief; "and yet it is long since the +Saganaw and the red skin have spoken to each other, except through the +war whoop. My father must wonder to see the great chief of the Ottawas +without the hatchet in his hand." + +"The hatchet often wounds those who use it unskilfully," calmly +returned the governor. "The Saganaw is not blind. The Ottawas, and the +other tribes, find the war paint heavy on their skins. They see that my +young men are not to be conquered, and they have sent the great head of +all the nations to sue for peace." + +In spite of the habitual reserve and self-possession of his race, the +haughty warrior could not repress a movement of impatience at the bold +and taunting language of his enemy, and for a moment there was a fire +in his eye that told how willingly he would have washed away the insult +in his blood. The same low guttural exclamations that had previously +escaped their lips, marked the sense entertained of the remark by his +companions. + +"My father is right," pursued the chief, resuming his self-command; +"the Ottawas, and the other tribes, ask for peace, but not because they +are afraid of war. When they strike the hatchet into the war post, they +leave it there until their enemies ask them to take it out." + +"Why come they now, then, to ask for peace?" was the cool demand. + +The warrior hesitated, evidently at a loss to give a reply that could +reconcile the palpable contradiction of his words. + +"The rich furs of our forests have become many," he at length observed, +"since we first took up the hatchet against the Saganaw; and every +bullet we keep for our enemies is a loss to our trade. We once +exchanged furs with the children of our father of the pale flag. They +gave us, in return, guns, blankets, powder, ball, and all that the red +man requires in the hunting season. These are all expended; and my +young men would deal with the Saganaw as they did with the French." + +"Good; the red skins would make peace; and although the arm of the +Saganaw is strong, he will not turn a deaf ear to their desire." + +"All the strong holds of the Saganaw, except two, have fallen before +the great chief of the Ottawas!" proudly returned the Indian, with a +look of mingled scorn and defiance. "They, too, thought themselves +beyond the reach of our tomahawks; but they were deceived. In less than +a single moon nine of them have fallen, and the tents of my young +warriors are darkened with their scalps; but this is past. If the red +skin asks for peace, it is because he is tired of seeing the blood of +the Saganaw on his tomahawk. Does my father hear?" + +"We will listen to the great chief of the Ottawas, and hear what he has +to say," returned the governor, who, as well as the officers at his +side, could with difficulty conceal their disgust and sorrow at the +dreadful intelligence thus imparted of the fates of their companions. +"But peace," he pursued with dignity, "can only be made in the council +room, and under the sacred pledge of the calumet. The great chief has a +wampum belt on his shoulder, and a calumet in his hand. His aged +warriors, too, are at his side. What says the Ottawa? Will he enter? If +so, the gate of the Saganaw shall be open to him." + +The warrior started; and for a moment the confidence that had hitherto +distinguished him seemed to give place to an apprehension of meditated +treachery. He, however, speedily recovered himself, and observed +emphatically, "It is the great head of all the nations whom my father +invites to the council seat. Were he to remain in the hands of the +Saganaw, his young men would lose their strength. They would bury the +hatchet for ever in despair, and hide their faces in the laps of their +women." + +"Does the Ottawa chief see the pale flag on the strong hold of his +enemies. While that continues to fly, he is safe as if he were under +the cover of his own wigwam. If the Saganaw could use guile like the +fox" (and this was said with marked emphasis), "what should prevent him +from cutting off the Ottawa and his chiefs, even where they now stand?" + +A half smile of derision passed over the dark cheek of the Indian. "If +the arm of an Ottawa is strong," he said, "his foot is not less swift. +The short guns of the chiefs of the Saganaw" (pointing to the pistols +of the officers) "could not reach us; and before the voice of our +father could be raised, or his eye turned, to call his warriors to his +side, the Ottawa would be already far on his way to the forest." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas shall judge better of the Saganaw," +returned the governor.--"He shall see that his young men are ever +watchful at their posts:--Up, men, and show yourselves." + +A second or two sufficed to bring the whole, of Captain Erskine's +company, who had been lying flat on their faces, to their feet on the +rampart. The Indians were evidently taken by surprise, though they +evinced no fear. The low and guttural "Ugh!" was the only expression +they gave to their astonishment, not unmingled with admiration. + +But, although the chiefs preserved their presence of mind, the sudden +appearance of the soldiers had excited alarm among their warriors, who, +grouped in and around the bomb-proof, were watching every movement of +the conferring parties, with an interest proportioned to the risk they +conceived their head men had incurred in venturing under the very walls +of their enemies. Fierce yells were uttered; and more than a hundred +dusky warriors, brandishing their tomahawks in air, leaped along the +skirt of the common, evidently only awaiting the signal of their great +chief, to advance and cover his retreat. At the command of the +governor, however, the men had again suddenly disappeared from the +surface of the rampart; so that when the Indians finally perceived +their leader stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot he had +previously occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more +assumed their attitude of profound attention. + +"What thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked the +governor;--"did he imagine that the young white men lie sleeping like +beavers in their dams, when the hunter sets his traps to catch +them?--did he imagine that they foresee not the designs of their +enemies? and that they are not always on the watch to prevent them?" + +"My father is a great warrior," returned the Indian; "and if his arm is +full of strength, his head is fall of wisdom. The chiefs will no longer +hesitate;--they will enter the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sit with +him in the council." + +He next addressed a few words, and in a language not understood by +those upon the walls, to one of the younger of the Indians. The latter +acknowledged his sense and approbation of what was said to him by an +assentient and expressive "Ugh!" which came from his chest without any +apparent emotion of the lips, much in the manner of a modern +ventriloquist. He then hastened, with rapid and lengthened boundings, +across the common towards his band. After the lapse of a minute or two +from reaching them, another simultaneous cry arose, differing in +expression from any that had hitherto been heard. It was one denoting +submission to the will, and compliance with some conveyed desire, of +their superior. + +"Is the gate of the Saganaw open?" asked the latter, as soon as his ear +had been greeted with the cry we have just named. "The Ottawa and the +other great chiefs are ready;--their hearts are bold, and they throw +themselves into the hands of the Saganaw without fear." + +"The Ottawa chief knows the path," drily rejoined the governor: "when +he comes in peace, it is ever open to him; but when his young men press +it with the tomahawk in their hands, the big thunder is roused to +anger, and they are scattered away like the leaves of the forest in the +storm." "Even now," he pursued, as the little band of Indians moved +slowly round the walls, "the gate of the Saganaw opens for the Ottawa +and the other chiefs." + +"Let the most vigilant caution be used every where along the works, but +especially in the rear," continued the governor, addressing Captain +Blessington, on whom the duty of the day had devolved. "We are safe, +while their chiefs are with us; but still it will be necessary to watch +the forest closely. We cannot be too much on our guard. The men had +better remain concealed, every twentieth file only standing up to form +a look-out chain. If any movement of a suspicious nature be observed, +let it be communicated by the discharge of a single musket, that the +drawbridge may be raised on the instant." With the delivery of these +brief instructions he quitted the rampart with the majority of his +officers. + +Meanwhile, hasty preparations had been made in the mess-room to receive +the chiefs. The tables had been removed, and a number of clean rush +mats, manufactured, after the Indian manner, into various figures and +devices, spread carefully upon the floor. At the further end from the +entrance was placed a small table and chair, covered with scarlet +cloth. This was considerably elevated above the surface of the floor, +and intended for the governor. On either side of the room, near these, +were ranged a number of chairs for the accommodation of the inferior +officers. + +Major Blackwater received the chiefs at the gate. With a firm, proud +step, rendered more confident by his very unwillingness to betray any +thing like fear, the tall, and, as Captain Erskine had justly +designated him, the noble-looking Ponteac trod the yielding planks that +might in the next moment cut him off from his people for ever. The +other chiefs, following the example of their leader, evinced the same +easy fearlessness of demeanour, nor glanced once behind them to see if +there was any thing to justify the apprehension of hidden danger. + +The Ottawa was evidently mortified at not being received by the +governor in person. "My father is not here!" he said fiercely to the +major:--"how is this? The Ottawa and the other chiefs are kings of all +their tribes. The head of one great people should be received only by +the head of another great people!" + +"Our father sits in the council-hall," returned the major. "He has +taken his seat, that he may receive the warriors with becoming honour. +But I am the second chief, and our father has sent me to receive them." + +To the proud spirit of the Indian this explanation scarcely sufficed. +For a moment he seemed to struggle, as if endeavouring to stifle his +keen sense of an affront put upon him. At length he nodded his head +haughtily and condescendingly, in token of assent; and gathering up his +noble form, and swelling out his chest, as if with a view to strike +terror as well as admiration into the hearts of those by whom he +expected to be surrounded, stalked majestically forward at the head of +his confederates. + +An indifferent observer, or one ignorant of these people, would have +been at fault; but those who understood the workings of an Indian's +spirit could not have been deceived by the tranquil exterior of these +men. The rapid, keen, and lively glance--the suppressed sneer of +exultation--the half start of surprise--the low, guttural, and almost +inaudible "Ugh!"--all these indicated the eagerness with which, at one +sly but compendious view, they embraced the whole interior of a fort +which it was of such vital importance to their future interests they +should become possessed of, yet which they had so long and so +unsuccessfully attempted to subdue. As they advanced into the square, +they looked around, expecting to behold the full array of their +enemies; but, to their astonishment, not a soldier was to be seen. A +few women and children only, in whom curiosity had overcome a natural +loathing and repugnance to the savages, were peeping from the windows +of the block houses. Even at a moment like the present, the fierce +instinct of these latter was not to be controlled. One of the children, +terrified at the wild appearance of the warriors, screamed violently, +and clung to the bosom of its mother for protection. Fired at the +sound, a young chief raised his hand to his lips, and was about to peal +forth his terrible war whoop in the very centre of the fort, when the +eye of the Ottawa suddenly arrested him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +There were few forms of courtesy observed by the warriors towards the +English officers on entering the council room. Ponteac, who had +collected all his native haughtiness into one proud expression of look +and figure, strode in without taking the slightest notice even of the +governor. The other chiefs imitated his example, and all took their +seats upon the matting in the order prescribed by their rank among the +tribes, and their experience in council. The Ottawa chief sat at the +near extremity of the room, and immediately facing the governor. A +profound silence was observed for some minutes after the Indians had +seated themselves, during which they proceeded to fill their pipes. The +handle of that of the Ottawa chief was decorated with numerous feathers +fancifully disposed. + +"This is well," at length observed the governor. "It is long since the +great chiefs of the nations have smoked the sweet grass in the council +hall of the Saganaw. What have they to say, that their young men may +have peace to hunt the beaver, and to leave the print of their +mocassins in the country of the Buffalo?--What says the Ottawa chief?" + +"The Ottawa chief is a great warrior," returned the other, haughtily; +and again repudiating, in the indomitableness of his pride, the very +views that a more artful policy had first led him to avow. "He has +already said that, within a single moon, nine of the strong holds of +the Saganaw have fallen into his hands, and that the scalps of the +white men fill the tents of his warriors. If the red skins wish for +peace, it is because they are sick with spilling the blood of their +enemies. Does my father hear?" + +"The Ottawa has been cunning, like the fox," calmly returned the +governor. "He went with deceit upon his lips, and said to the great +chiefs of the strong holds of the Saganaw,--'You have no more forts +upon the lakes; they have all fallen before the red skins: they gave +themselves into our hands; and we spared their lives, and sent them +down to the great towns near the salt lake.' But this was false: the +chiefs of the Saganaw, believing what was said to them, gave up their +strong holds; but their lives were not spared, and the grass of the +Canadas is yet moist with their blood. Does the Ottawa hear?" + +Amazement and stupefaction sat for a moment on the features of the +Indians. The fact was as had been stated; and yet, so completely had +the several forts been cut off from all communication, it was deemed +almost impossible one could have received tidings of the fate of the +other, unless conveyed through the Indians themselves. + +"The spies of the Saganaw have been very quick to escape the vigilance +of the red skins," at length replied the Ottawa; "yet they have +returned with a lie upon their lips. I swear by the Great Spirit, that +nine of the strong holds of the Saganaw have been destroyed. How could +the Ottawa go with deceit upon his lips, when his words were truth?" + +"When the red skins said so to the warriors of the last forts they +took, they said true; but when they went to the first, and said that +all the rest had fallen, they used deceit. A great nation should +overcome their enemies like warriors, and not seek to beguile them with +their tongues under the edge of the scalping knife!" + +"Why did the Saganaw come into the country of the red skins?" haughtily +demanded the chief. "Why did they take our hunting grounds from us? Why +have they strong places encircling the country of the Indians, like a +belt of wampum round the waist of a warrior?" + +"This is not true," rejoined the governor. "It was not the Saganaw, but +the warriors of the pale flag, who first came and took away the hunting +grounds, and built the strong places. The great father of the Saganaw +had beaten the great father of the pale flag quite out of the Canadas, +and he sent his young men to take their place and to make peace with +the red skins, and to trade with them, and to call them brothers." + +"The Saganaw was false," retorted the Indian. "When a chief of the +Saganaw came for the first time with his warriors into the country of +the Ottawas, the chief of the Ottawas stood in his path, and asked him +why, and from whom, he came? That chief was a bold warrior, and his +heart was open, and the Ottawa liked him; and when he said he came to +be friendly with the red skins, the Ottawa believed him, and he shook +him by the hand, and said to his young men, 'Touch not the life of a +Saganaw; for their chief is the friend of the Ottawa chief, and his +young men shall be the friends of the red warriors.' Look," he +proceeded, marking his sense of the discovery by another of those +ejaculatory "Ughs!" so expressive of surprise in an Indian, "at the +right hand of my father I see a chief," pointing to Captain Erskine, +"who came with those of the Saganaw who first entered the country of +the Detroit;--ask that chief if what the Ottawa says is not true. When +the Saganaw said he came only to remove the warriors of the pale flag, +that he might be friendly and trade with the red skins, the Ottawa +received the belt of wampum he offered, and smoked the pipe of peace +with him, and he made his men bring bags of parched corn to his +warriors who wanted food, and he sent to all the nations on the lakes, +and said to them, 'The Saganaw must pass unhurt to the strong hold on +the Detroit.' But for the Ottawa, not a Saganaw would have escaped; for +the nations were thirsting for their blood, and the knives of the +warriors were eager to open their scalps. Ask the chief who sits at the +right hand of my father," he again energetically repeated, "if what the +Ottawa says is not true." + +"What the Ottawa says is true," rejoined the governor; "for the chief +who sits on my right hand has often said that, but for the Ottawa, the +small number of the warriors of the Saganaw must have been cut off; and +his heart is big with kindness to the Ottawa for what he did. But if +the great chief meant to be friendly, why did he declare war after +smoking the pipe of peace with the Saganaw? Why did he destroy the +wigwams of the settlers, and carry off the scalps even of their weak +women and children? All this has the Ottawa done; and yet he says that +he wished to be friendly with my young men. But the Saganaw is not a +fool. He knows the Ottawa chief had no will of his own. On the right +hand of the Ottawa sits the great chief of the Delawares, and on his +left the great chief of the Shawanees. They have long been the sworn +enemies of the Saganaw; and they came from the rivers that run near the +salt lake to stir up the red skins of the Detroit to war. They +whispered wicked words in the ear of the Ottawa chief, and he +determined to take up the bloody hatchet. This is a shame to a great +warrior. The Ottawa was a king over all the tribes in the country of +the fresh lakes, and yet he weakly took council like a woman from +another." + +"My father lies!" fiercely retorted the warrior, half springing to his +feet, and involuntarily putting his hand upon his tomahawk. "If the +settlers of the Saganaw have fallen," he resumed in a calmer tone, +while he again sank upon his mat, "it is because they did not keep +their faith with the red skins. When they came weak, and were not yet +secure in their strong holds, their tongues were smooth and full of +soft words; but when they became strong under the protection of their +thunder, they no longer treated the red skins as their friends, and +they laughed at them for letting them come into their country." "But," +he pursued, elevating his voice, "the Ottawa is a great chief, and he +will be respected." Then adverting in bitterness to the influence +supposed to be exercised over him,--"What my father has said is false. +The Shawanees and the Delawares are great nations; but the Ottawas are +greater than any, and their chiefs are full of wisdom. The Shawanees +and the Delawares had no talk with the Ottawa chief to make him do what +his own wisdom did not tell him." + +"Then, if the talk came not from the Shawanees and the Delawares, it +came from the spies of the warriors of the pale flag. The great father +of the French was angry with the great father of the Saganaw, because +he conquered his warriors in many battles; and he sent wicked men to +whisper lies of the Saganaw into the ears of the red skins, and to make +them take up the hatchet against them. There is a tall spy at this +moment in the camp of the red skins," he pursued with earnestness, and +yet paling as he spoke. "It is said he is the bosom friend of the great +chief of the Ottawas. But I will not believe it. The head of a great +nation would not be the friend of a spy--of one who is baser than a +dog. His people would despise him; and they would say, 'Our chief is +not fit to sit in council, or to make war; for he is led by the word of +a pale face who is without honour.'" + +The swarthy cheek of the Indian reddened, and his eye kindled into +fire. "There is no spy, but a great warrior, in the camp of the +Ottawas," he fiercely replied. "Though he came from the country that +lies beyond the salt lake, he is now a chief of the red skins, and his +arm is mighty, and his heart is big. Would my father know why he has +become a chief of the Ottawas?" he pursued with scornful exultation. +"When the strong holds of the Saganaw fell, the tomahawk of the 'white +warrior' drank more blood than that of a red skin, and his tent is hung +around with poles bending under the weight of the scalps he has taken. +When the great chief of the Ottawas dies, the pale face will lead his +warriors, and take the first seat in the council. The Ottawa chief is +his friend." + +"If the pale face be the friend of the Ottawa," pursued the governor, +in the hope of obtaining some particular intelligence in regard to this +terrible and mysterious being, "why is he not here to sit in council +with the chiefs? Perhaps," he proceeded tauntingly, as he fancied he +perceived a disinclination on the part of the Indian to account for the +absence of the warrior, "the pale face is not worthy to take his place +among the head men of the council. His arm may be strong like that of a +warrior, but his head may be weak like that of a woman; or, perhaps, he +is ashamed to show himself before the pale faces, who have turned him +out of their tribe." + +"My father lies!" again unceremoniously retorted the warrior. "If the +friend of the Ottawa is not here, it is because his voice cannot speak. +Does my father recollect the bridge on which he killed his young +warrior? Does he recollect the terrible chase of the pale face by the +friend of the Ottawa? Ugh!" he continued, as his attention was now +diverted to another object of interest, "that pale face was swifter +than any runner among the red skins, and for his fleetness he deserved +to live to be a great hunter in the Canadas; but fear broke his +heart,--fear of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The red skins saw him +fall at the feet of the Saganaw without life, and they saw the young +warriors bear him off in their arms. Is not the Ottawa right?" The +Indian paused, threw his eye rapidly along the room, and then, fixing +it on the governor, seemed to wait with deep but suppressed interest +for his reply. + +"Peace to the bones of a brave warrior!" seriously and evasively +returned the governor: "the pale face is no longer in the land of the +Canadas, and the young warriors of the Saganaw are sorry for his loss; +but what would the Ottawa say of the bridge? and what has the pale +warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, to do with it?" + +A gleam of satisfaction pervaded the countenance of the Indian, as he +eagerly bent his ear to receive the assurance that the fugitive was no +more; but when allusion was again made to the strange warrior, his brow +became overcast, and he replied with mingled haughtiness and anger,-- + +"Does my father ask? He has dogs of spies among the settlers of the +pale flag, but the tomahawk of the red skins will find them out, and +they shall perish even as the Saganaw themselves. Two nights ago, when +the warriors of the Ottawas were returning from their scout upon the +common, they heard the voice of Onondato, the great wolf-dog of the +friend of the Ottawa chief. The voice came from the bridge where the +Saganaw killed his young warrior, and it called upon the red skins for +assistance. My young men gave their war cry, and ran like wild deer to +destroy the enemies of their chief; but when they came, the spies had +fled, and the voice of Onondato was low and weak as that of a new fawn; +and when the warriors came to the other end of the bridge, they found +the pale chief lying across the road and covered over with blood. They +thought he was dead, and their cry was terrible; for the pale warrior +is a great chief, and the Ottawas love him; but when they looked again, +they saw that the blood was the blood of Onondato, whose throat the +spies of the Saganaw had cut, that he might not hunt them and give them +to the tomahawk of the red skins." + +Frequent glances, expressive of their deep interest in the announcement +of this intelligence, passed between the governor and his officers. It +was clear the party who had encountered the terrible warrior of the +Fleur de lis were not spies (for none were employed by the garrison), +but their adventurous companions who had so recently quitted them. This +was put beyond all doubt by the night, the hour, and the not less +important feet of the locality; for it was from the bridge described by +the Indian, near which the Canadian had stated his canoe to be chained, +they were to embark on their perilous and uncertain enterprise. The +question of their own escape from danger in this unlooked for collision +with so powerful and ferocious an enemy, and of the fidelity of the +Canadian, still remained involved in doubt, which it might be +imprudent, if not dangerous, to seek to have resolved by any direct +remark on the subject to the keen and observant warrior. The governor +removed this difficulty by artfully observing,-- + +"The great chief of the Ottawas has said they were the spies of the +Saganaw who killed the pale warrior. His young men has found them, +then; or how could he know they were spies?" + +"Is there a warrior among the Saganaw who dares to show himself in the +path of the red skins, unless he come in strength and surrounded by his +thunder?" was the sneering demand. "But my father is wrong, if he +supposes the friend of the Ottawa is killed. No," he pursued fiercely, +"the dogs of spies could not kill him; they were afraid to face so +terrible a warrior. They came behind him in the dark, and they struck +him on the head like cowards and foxes as they were. The warrior of the +pale face, and the friend of the Ottawa chief, is sick, but not dead. +He lies without motion in his tent, and his voice cannot speak to his +friend to tell him who were his enemies, that he may bring their scalps +to hang up within his wigwam. But the great chief will soon be well, +and his arm will be stronger than ever to spill the blood of the +Saganaw as he has done before." + +"The talk of the Ottawa chief is strange," returned the governor, +emphatically and with dignity. "He says he conies to smoke the pipe of +peace with the Saganaw, and yet he talks of spilling their blood as if +it was water from the lake. What does the Ottawa mean?" + +"Ugh!" exclaimed the Indian, in his surprise. "My father is right, but +the Ottawa and the Saganaw have not yet smoked together. When they +have, the hatchet will be buried for ever. Until then, they are still +enemies." + +During this long and important colloquy of the leading parties, the +strictest silence had been preserved by the remainder of the council. +The inferior chiefs had continued deliberately puffing the smoke from +their curled lips, as they sat cross-legged on their mats, and nodding +their heads at intervals in confirmation of the occasional appeal made +by the rapid glance of the Ottawa, and uttering their guttural "Ugh!" +whenever any observation of the parlant parties touched their feelings, +or called forth their surprise. The officers had been no less silent +and attentive listeners, to a conversation on the issue of which hung +so many dear and paramount interests. A pause in the conference gave +them an opportunity of commenting in a low tone on the communication +made, in the strong excitement of his pride, by the Ottawa chief, in +regard to the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis; who, it was +evident, swayed the councils of the Indians, and consequently exercised +an influence over the ultimate destinies of the English, which it was +impossible to contemplate without alarm. It was evident to all, from +whatsoever cause it might arise, this man cherished a rancour towards +certain individuals in the fort, inducing an anxiety in its reduction +scarcely equalled by that entertained on the part of the Indians +themselves. Beyond this, however, all was mystery and doubt; nor had +any clue been given to enable them to arrive even at a well founded +apprehension of the motives which had given birth to the vindictiveness +of purpose, so universally ascribed to him even by the savages +themselves. + +The chiefs also availed themselves of this pause in the conversation of +the principals, to sustain a low and animated discussion. Those of the +Shawanee and Delaware nations were especially earnest; and, as they +spoke across the Ottawa, betrayed, by their vehemence of gesture, the +action of some strong feeling upon their minds, the precise nature of +which could not be ascertained from their speech at the opposite +extremity of the room. The Ottawa did not deign to join in their +conversation, but sat smoking his pipe in all the calm and forbidding +dignity of a proud Indian warrior conscious of his own importance. + +"Does the great chief of the Ottawas, then, seek for peace in his heart +at length?" resumed the governor; "or is he come to the strong hold of +Detroit, as he went to the other strong holds, with deceit on his lips?" + +The Indian slowly removed his pipe from his mouth, fixed his keen eye +searchingly on that of the questioner for nearly a minute, and then +briefly and haughtily said, "The Ottawa chief has spoken." + +"And do the great chiefs of the Shawanees, and the great chiefs of the +Delawares, and the great chiefs of the other nations, ask for peace +also?" demanded the governor. "If so, let them speak for themselves, +and for their warriors." + +We will not trespass on the reader, on whom we have already inflicted +too much of this scene, by a transcript of the declarations of the +inferior chiefs. Suffice it to observe, each in his turn avowed motives +similar to those of the Ottawa for wishing the hatchet might be buried +for ever, and that their young men should mingle once more in +confidence, not only with the English troops, but with the settlers, +who would again be brought into the country at the cessation of +hostilities. When each had spoken, the Ottawa passed the pipe of +ceremony, with which he was provided, to the governor. + +The latter put it to his lips, and commenced smoking. The Indians +keenly, and half furtively, watched the act; and looks of deep +intelligence, that escaped not the notice of the equally anxious and +observant officers, passed among them. + +"The pipe of the great chief of the Ottawas smokes well," calmly +remarked the governor; "but the Ottawa chief, in his hurry to come and +ask for peace, has made a mistake. The pipe and all its ornaments are +red like blood: it is the pipe of war, and not the pipe of peace. The +great chief of the Ottawas will be angry with himself; he has entered +the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sat in the council, without doing +any good for his young men. The Ottawa must come again." + +A deep but subdued expression of disappointment passed over the +features of the chiefs. They watched the countenances of the officers, +to see whether the substitution of one pipe for the other had been +attributed, in their estimation, to accident or design. There was +nothing, however, to indicate the slightest doubt of their sincerity. + +"My father is right," replied the Indian, with an appearance of +embarrassment, which, whether natural or feigned, had nothing +suspicious in it. "The great chief of the Ottawas has been foolish, +like an old woman. The young chiefs of his tribe will laugh at him for +this. But the Ottawa chief will come again, and the other chiefs with +him, for, as my father sees, they all wish for peace; and that my +father may know all the nations wish for peace, as well as their head +men, the warriors of the Ottawa, and of the Shawanee, and of the +Delaware, shall play at ball upon the common, to amuse his young men, +while the chiefs sit in council with the chiefs of the Saganaw. The red +skins shall come naked, and without their rifles and their tomahawks; +and even the squaws of the warriors shall come upon the common, to show +the Saganaw they may be without fear. Does my father hear?" + +"The Ottawa chief says well," returned the governor; "but will the pale +friend of the Ottawa come also to take his seat in the council hall? +The great chief has said the pale warrior has become the second chief +among the Ottawas; and that when he is dead, the pale warrior will lead +the Ottawas, and take the first seat in the council. He, too, should +smoke the pipe of peace with the Saganaw, that they may know he is no +longer their enemy." + +The Indian hesitated, uttering merely his quick ejaculatory "Ugh!" in +expression of his surprise at so unexpected a requisition. "The pale +warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, is very sick," he at length said; +"but if the Great Spirit should give him back his voice before the +chiefs come again to the council, the pale face will come too. If my +father does not see him then, he will know the friend of the Ottawa +chief is very sick." + +The governor deemed it prudent not to press the question too closely, +lest in so doing he should excite suspicion, and defeat his own object. +"When will the Ottawa and the other chiefs come again?" he asked; "and +when will their warriors play at ball upon the common, that the Saganaw +may see them and be amused?" + +"When the sun has travelled so many times," replied Ponteac, holding up +three fingers of his left hand. "Then will the Ottawa and the other +chiefs bring their young warriors and their women." + +"It is too soon," was the reply; "the Saganaw must have time to collect +their presents, that they may give them to the young warriors who are +swiftest in the race, and the most active at the ball. The great chief +of the Ottawas, too, must let the settlers of the pale flag, who are +the friends of the red skins, bring in food for the Saganaw, that a +great feast may be given to the chiefs, and to the warriors, and that +the Saganaw may make peace with the Ottawas and the other nations as +becomes a great people. In twice so many days," holding up three of his +fingers in imitation of the Indian, "the Saganaw will be ready to +receive the chiefs in council, that they may smoke the pipe of peace, +and bury the hatchet for ever. What says the great chief of the +Ottawas?" + +"It is good," was the reply of the Indian, his eye lighting up with +deep and exulting expression. "The settlers of the pale flag shall +bring food to the Saganaw. The Ottawa chief will send them, and he will +desire his young men not to prevent them. In so many days, then," +indicating with his fingers, "the great chiefs will sit again in +council with the Saganaw, and the Ottawa chief will not be a fool to +bring the pipe he does not want." + +With this assurance the conference terminated. Ponteac raised his tall +frame from the mat on which he had been squatted, nodded +condescendingly to the governor, and strode haughtily into the square +or area of the fort. The other chiefs followed his example; and to +Major Blackwater was again assigned the duty of accompanying them +without the works. The glance of the savages, and that of Ponteac in +particular, was less wary than at their entrance. Each seemed to +embrace every object on which the eye could rest, as if to fix its +position indelibly in his memory. The young chief, who had been so +suddenly and opportunely checked while in the very act of pealing forth +his terrible war whoop, again looked up at the windows of the block +house, in quest of those whom his savage instinct had already devoted +in intention to his tomahawk, but they were no longer there. Such was +the silence that reigned every where, the fort appeared to be tenanted +only by the few men of the guard, who lingered near their stations, +attentively watching the Indians, as they passed towards the gate. A +very few minutes sufficed to bring the latter once more in the midst of +their warriors, whom, for a few moments, they harangued earnestly, when +the whole body again moved off in the direction of their encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The week that intervened between the visit of the chiefs and the day +appointed for their second meeting in council, was passed by the +garrison in perfect freedom from alarm, although, as usual, in diligent +watchfulness and preparations for casualties. In conformity with his +promise, the Indian had despatched many of the Canadian settlers, with +such provisions as the country then afforded, to the governor, and +these, happy to obtain the gold of the troops in return for what they +could conveniently spare, were not slow in availing themselves of the +permission. Dried bears' meat, venison, and Indian corn, composed the +substance of these supplies, which were in sufficient abundance to +produce a six weeks' increase to the stock of the garrison. Hitherto +they had been subsisting, in a great degree, upon salt provisions; the +food furtively supplied by the Canadians being necessarily, from their +dread of detection, on so limited a scale, that a very small portion of +the troops had been enabled to profit by it. This, therefore, was an +important and unexpected benefit, derived from the falling in of the +garrison with the professed views of the savages; and one which, +perhaps, few officers would, like Colonel de Haldimar, have possessed +the forethought to have secured. But although it served to relieve the +animal wants of the man, there was little to remove his moral +inquietude. Discouraged by the sanguinary character of the warfare in +which they seemed doomed to be for ever engaged, and harassed by +constant watchings,--seldom taking off their clothes for weeks +together,--the men had gradually been losing their energy of spirit, in +the contemplation of the almost irremediable evils by which they were +beset; and looked forward with sad and disheartening conviction to a +fate, that all things tended to prove to them was unavoidable, however +the period of its consummation might be protracted. Among the officers, +this dejection, although proceeding from a different cause, was no less +prevalent; and notwithstanding they sought to disguise it before their +men, when left to themselves, they gave unlimited rein to a despondency +hourly acquiring strength, as the day fixed on for the second council +with the Indians drew near. + +At length it came, that terrible and eventful day, and, as if in +mockery of those who saw no beauty in its golden beams, arrayed in all +the gorgeous softness of its autumnal glory. Sad and heavy were the +hearts of many within that far distant and isolated fort, as they rose, +at the first glimmering of light above the horizon, to prepare for the +several duties assigned them. All felt the influence of a feeling that +laid prostrate the moral energies even of the boldest: but there was +one young officer in particular, who exhibited a dejection, +degenerating almost into stupefaction; and more than once, when he +received an order from his superior, hesitated as one who either heard +not, or, in attempting to perform it, mistook the purport of his +instructions, and executed some entirely different duty. The +countenance of this officer, whose attenuated person otherwise bore +traces of languor and debility, but too plainly marked the +abstractedness and terror of his mind, while the set stiff features and +contracted muscles of the face contributed to give an expression of +vacuity, that one who knew him not might have interpreted unfavourably. +Several times, during the inspection of his company at the early +parade, he was seen to raise his head, and throw forward his ear, as if +expecting to catch the echo of some horrible and appalling cry, until +the men themselves remarked, and commented, by interchange of looks, on +the singular conduct of their officer, whose thoughts had evidently no +connection with the duty he was performing, or the spot on which he +stood. + +When this customary inspection had been accomplished,--how imperfectly, +has been seen,--and the men dismissed from their ranks, the same young +officer was observed, by one who followed his every movement with +interest, to ascend that part of the rampart which commanded an +unbroken view of the country westward, from the point where the +encampment of the Indians was supposed to lie, down to the bridge on +which the terrible tragedy of Halloway's death had been so recently +enacted. Unconscious of the presence of two sentinels, who moved to and +fro near their respective posts, on either side of him, the young +officer folded his arms, and gazed in that direction for some minutes, +with his whole soul riveted on the scene. Then, as if overcome by +recollections called up by that on which he gazed, he covered his eyes +hurriedly with his hands, and betrayed, by the convulsed movement of +his slender form, he was weeping bitterly. This paroxysm past, he +uncovered his face, sank with one knee upon the ground, and upraising +his clasped hands, as if in appeal to his God, seemed to pray deeply +and fervently. In this attitude he continued for some moments, when he +became sensible of the approach of an intruder. He raised himself from +his knee, turned, and beheld one whose countenance was stamped with a +dejection scarcely inferior to his own. It was Captain Blessington. + +"Charles, my dear Charles!" exclaimed the latter hurriedly, as he laid +his hand upon the shoulder of the emaciated De Haldimar, "consider you +are not alone. For God's sake, check this weakness! There are men +observing you on every side, and your strange manner has already been +the subject of remark in the company." + +"When the heart is sick, like mine," replied the youth, in a tone of +fearful despondency, "it is alike reckless of forms, and careless of +appearances. I trust, however," and here spoke the soldier, "there are +few within this fort who will believe me less courageous, because I +have been seen to bend my knee in supplication to my God. I did not +think that YOU, Blessington, would have been the first to condemn the +act." + +"I condemn it, Charles! you mistake me, indeed you do," feelingly +returned his captain, secretly pained at the mild reproach contained in +the concluding sentence; "but there are two things to be considered. In +the first instance, the men, who are yet in ignorance of the great +evils with which we are threatened, may mistake the cause of your +agitation; you were in tears just now, Charles, and the sentinels must +have remarked it as well as myself. I would not have them to believe +that one of their officers was affected by the anticipation of coming +disaster, in a way their own hearts are incapable of estimating. You +understand me, Charles? I would not have them too much discouraged by +an example that may become infectious." + +"I DO understand you, Blessington," and a forced and sickly smile +played for a moment over the wan yet handsome features of the young +officer; "you would not have me appear a weeping coward in their eyes." + +"Nay, dear Charles, I did not say it." + +"But you meant it, Blessington; yet, think not,"--and he warmly pressed +the hand of his captain,--"think not, I repeat, I take your hint in any +other than the friendly light in which it was intended. That I have +been no coward, however, I hope I have given proof more than once +before the men, most of whom have known me from my very cradle; yet, +whatever they may think, is to me, at this moment, a matter of utter +indifference. Blessington," and again the tears rolled from his fixed +eyes over his cheek, while he pointed with his finger to the western +horizon, "I have neither thought nor feeling for myself; my whole heart +lies buried there. Oh, God of Heaven!" he pursued after a pause, and +again raising his eyes in supplication, "avert the dreadful destiny +that awaits my beloved sister." + +"Charles, Charles, if only for that sister's sake, then, calm an +agitation which, if thus indulged in, will assuredly destroy you. All +will yet be well. The delay obtained by your father has been sufficient +for the purpose proposed. Let us hope for the best: if we are deceived +in our expectation, it will then be time enough to indulge in a grief, +which could scarcely be exceeded, were the fearful misgivings of your +mind to be realised before your eyes." + +"Blessington," returned the young officer,--and his features exhibited +the liveliest image of despair,--"all hope has long since been extinct +within my breast. See you yon theatre of death?" he mournfully pursued, +pointing to the fatal bridge, which was thrown into full relief against +the placid bosom of the Detroit: "recollect you the scene that was +acted on it? As for me, it is ever present to my mind,--it haunts me in +my thoughts by day, and in my dreams by night. I shall never forget it +while memory is left to curse me with the power of retrospection. On +the very spot on which I now stand was I borne in a chair, to witness +the dreadful punishment; you see the stone at my feet, I marked it by +that. I saw you conduct Halloway to the centre of the bridge; I beheld +him kneel to receive his death; I saw, too, the terrible race for life, +that interrupted the proceedings; I marked the sudden upspring of +Halloway to his feet upon the coffin, and the exulting waving of his +hand, as he seemed to recognise the rivals for mastery in that race. +Then was heard the fatal volley, and I saw the death-struggle of him +who had saved my brother's life. I could have died, too, at that +moment; and would to Providence I had! but it was otherwise decreed. My +aching interest was, for a moment, diverted by the fearful chase now +renewed upon the height; and, in common with those around me, I watched +the efforts of the pursuer and the pursued with painful earnestness and +doubt as to the final result. Ah, Blessington, why was not this all? +The terrible shriek, uttered at the moment when the fugitive fell, +apparently dead, at the feet of the firing party, reached us even here. +I felt as if my heart must have burst, for I knew it to be the shriek +of poor Ellen Halloway,--the suffering wife,--the broken-hearted woman +who had so recently, in all the wild abandonment of her grief, wetted +my pillow, and even my cheek, with her burning tears, while +supplicating an intercession with my father for mercy, which I knew it +would be utterly fruitless to promise. Oh, Blessington," pursued the +sensitive and affectionate young officer, "I should vainly attempt to +paint all that passed in my mind at that dreadful moment. Nothing but +the depth of my despair gave me strength to support the scene +throughout. I saw the frantic and half-naked woman glide like a phantom +past the troops, dividing the air with the rapidity of thought. I knew +it to be Ellen; for the discovery of her exchange of clothes with one +of the drum boys of the grenadiers was made soon after you left the +fort. I saw her leap upon the coffin, and, standing over the body of +her unhappy husband, raise her hands to heaven in adjuration, and my +heart died within me. I recollected the words she had spoken on a +previous occasion, during the first examination of Halloway, and I felt +it to be the prophetic denunciation, then threatened, that she was now +uttering on all the race of De Haldimar. I saw no more, Blessington. +Sick, dizzy, and with every faculty of my mind annihilated, I turned +away from the horrid scene, and was again borne to my room. I tried to +give vent to my overcharged heart in tears; but the power was denied +me, and I sank at once into that stupefaction which you have since +remarked in me, and which has been increasing every hour. What +additional cause I have had for the indulgence of this confirmed +despondency you are well acquainted with. It is childish, it is +unsoldierlike, I admit: but, alas! that dreadful scene is eternally +before my eyes, and absorbs my mind, to the exclusion of every other +feeling. I have not a thought or a care but for the fate that too +certainly awaits those who are most dear to me; and if this be a +weakness, it is one I shall never have the power to shake off. In a +word, Blessington, I am heart-broken." + +Captain Blessington was deeply affected; for there was a solemnity in +the voice and manner of the young officer that carried conviction to +the heart; and it was some moments before he could so far recover +himself as to observe,-- + +"That scene, Charles, was doubtless a heart-rending one to us all; for +I well recollect, on turning to remark the impression made on my men +when the wretched Ellen Halloway pronounced her appalling curse to have +seen the large tears coursing each other over the furrowed cheeks of +some of our oldest soldiers: and if THEY could feel thus, how much more +acute must have been the grief of those immediately interested in its +application!" + +"THEIR tears were not for the denounced race of De Haldimar," returned +the youth,--"they were shed for their unhappy comrade--they were wrung +from their stubborn hearts by the agonising grief of the wife of +Halloway." + +"That this was the case in part, I admit," returned Captain +Blessington. "The feelings of the men partook of a mixed character. It +was evident that grief for Halloway, compassion for his wife, secret +indignation and, it may be, disgust at the severity of your father, and +sorrow for his innocent family, who were included in that denunciation, +predominated with equal force in their hearts at the same moment. There +was an expression that told how little they would have pitied any +anguish of mind inflicted on their colonel, provided his children, whom +they loved, were not to be sacrificed to its accomplishment." + +"You admit, then, Blessington, although indirectly," replied the young +De Haldimar in a voice of touching sorrow, "that the consummation of +the sacrifice IS to be looked for. Alas! it is that on which my mind +perpetually lingers; yet, Heaven knows, my fears are not for myself." + +"You mistake me, dearest Charles. I look upon the observations of the +unhappy woman as the ravings of a distracted mind--the last wild +outpourings of a broken heart, turning with animal instinct on the hand +that has inflicted its death-blow." + +"Ah, why did she except no one member of that family!" said the unhappy +De Haldimar, pursuing rather the chain of his reflections than replying +to the observation of his captain. "Had the weight of her malediction +fallen on all else than my adored sister, I could have borne the +infliction, and awaited the issue with resignation, if not without +apprehension. But my poor gentle and unoffending Clara,--alike innocent +of the cause, and ignorant of the effect,--what had she done to be +included in this terrible curse?--she, who, in the warm and generous +affection of her nature, had ever treated Ellen Halloway rather as a +sister than as the dependant she always appeared." Again he covered his +eyes with his hands, to conceal the starting tears. + +"De Haldimar," said Captain Blessington reprovingly, but mildly, "this +immoderate grief is wrong--it is unmanly, and should be repressed. I +can feel and understand the nature of your sorrow; but others may not +judge so favourably. We shall soon be summoned to fall in; and I would +not that Mr. Delme, in particular, should notice an emotion he is so +incapable of understanding." + +The hand of the young officer dropped from his face to the hilt of his +sword. His cheek became scarlet; and even through the tears which he +half choked himself to command, there was an unwonted flashing from his +blue eye, that told how deeply the insinuation had entered into his +heart. + +"Think you, Captain Blessington," he proudly retorted, "there is an +officer in the fort who should dare to taunt me with my feelings as you +have done? I came here, sir, in the expectation I should be alone. At a +fitting hour I shall be found where Captain Blessington's subaltern +should be--with his company." + +"De Haldimar--dear De Haldimar, forgive me!" returned his captain. +"Heaven knows I would not, on any consideration, wantonly inflict pain +on your sensitive heart. My design was to draw you out of this +desponding humour; and with this view I sought to arouse your pride, +but certainly not to wound your feelings. De Haldimar," he concluded, +with marked expression, "you must not, indeed, feel offended with one +who has known and esteemed you from very boyhood. Friendship and +interest in your deep affliction of spirit alone brought me here--the +same feelings prompted my remark. Do you not believe me?" + +"I do," impressively returned the young man, grasping the hand that was +extended to him in amity. "It is I, rather, Blessington, who should ask +you to forgive my petulance; but, indeed, indeed," and again his tone +faltered, and his eye was dimmed, "I am more wretched even than I am +willing to confess. Pardon my silly conduct--it was but the vain and +momentary flashing of the soldier's spirit impatient of an assumed +imputation, and the man less than the profession is to be taxed with +it. But it is past; and already do you behold me once more the tame and +apprehensive being I must ever continue until all is over." + +"What can I possibly urge to console one who seems so willing to nurse +into conviction all the melancholy imaginings of a diseased mind," +observed Captain Blessington, in a voice that told how deeply he felt +for the situation of his young friend. "Recollect, dearest Charles, the +time that has been afforded to our friends. More than a week has gone +by since they left the fort, and a less period was deemed sufficient +for their purpose. Before this they must have gained their destination. +In fact, it is my positive belief they have; for there could be nothing +to detect them in their disguise. Had I the famous lamp of Aladdin," he +pursued, in a livelier tone, "over the history of which Clara and +yourself used to spend so many hours in childhood, I have no doubt I +could show them to you quietly seated within the fort, recounting their +adventures to Clara and her cousin, and discoursing of their absent +friends." + +"Would I to Heaven you had the power to do so!" replied De Haldimar, +smiling faintly at the conceit, while a ray of hope beamed for a moment +upon his sick soul; "for then, indeed, would all my fears for the +present be at rest. But you forget, Blessington, the encounter stated +to have taken place between them and that terrible stranger near the +bridge. Besides, is it not highly probable the object of their +expedition was divined by that singular and mysterious being, and that +means have been taken to intercept their passage? If so, all hope is at +an end." + +"Why persevere in viewing only the more sombre side of the picture?" +returned his friend. "In your anxiety to anticipate evil, Charles, you +have overlooked one important fact. Ponteac distinctly stated that his +ruffian friend was still lying deprived of consciousness and speech +within his tent, and yet two days had elapsed since the encounter was +said to have taken place. Surely we have every reason then to infer +they were beyond all reach of pursuit, even admitting, what is by no +means probable the recovery of the wretch immediately after the return +of the chiefs from the council." + +A gleam of satisfaction, but so transient as to be scarcely noticeable, +passed over the pale features of the youthful De Haldimar. He looked +his thanks to the kind officer who was thus solicitous to tender him +consolation; and was about to reply, when the attention of both was +diverted by the report of a musket from the rear of the fort. Presently +afterwards, the word was passed along the chain of sentinels, upon the +ramparts, that the Indians were issuing in force from the forest upon +the common near the bomb-proof. Then was heard, as the sentinel at the +gate delivered the password, the heavy roll of the drum summoning to +arms. + +"Ha! here already!" said Captain Blessington, as, glancing towards the +forest, he beheld the skirt of the wood now alive with dusky human +forms: "Ponteac's visit is earlier than we had been taught to expect; +but we are as well prepared to receive him now, as later; and, in fact, +the sooner the interview is terminated, the sooner we shall know what +we have to depend upon. Come, Charles, we must join the company, and +let me entreat you to evince less despondency before the men. It is +hard, I know, to sustain an artificial character under such +disheartening circumstances; still, for example's sake, it must be +done." + +"What I can I will do, Blessington," rejoined the youth, as they both +moved from the ramparts; "but the task is, in truth, one to which I +find myself wholly unequal. How do I know that, even at this moment, my +defenceless, terrified, and innocent sister may not be invoking the +name and arm of her brother to save her from destruction." + +"Trust in Providence, Charles. Even although our worst apprehensions be +realised, as I fervently trust they will not, your sister may be +spared. The Canadian could not have been unfaithful, or we should have +learnt something of his treachery from the Indians. Another week will +confirm us in the truth or fallacy of our impressions. Until then, let +us arm our hearts with hope. Trust me, we shall yet see the laughing +eyes of Clara fill with tears of affection, as I recount to her all her +too sensitive and too desponding brother has suffered for her sake." + +De Haldimar made no reply. He deeply felt the kind intention of his +captain, but was far from cherishing the hope that had been +recommended. He sighed heavily, pressed the arm, on which he leaned, in +gratitude for the motive, and moved silently with his friend to join +their company below the rampart. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Meanwhile the white flag had again been raised by the Indians upon the +bomb-proof; and this having been readily met by a corresponding signal +from the fort, a numerous band of savages now issued from the cover +with which their dark forms had hitherto been identified, and spread +themselves far and near upon the common. On this occasion they were +without arms, offensive or defensive, of any kind, if we may except the +knife which was always carried at the girdle, and which constituted a +part rather of their necessary dress than of their warlike equipment. +These warriors might have been about five hundred in number, and were +composed chiefly of picked men from the nations of the Ottawas, the +Delawares, and the Shawanees; each race being distinctly recognisable +from the others by certain peculiarities of form and feature which +individualised, if we may so term it, the several tribes. Their only +covering was the legging before described, composed in some instances +of cloth, but principally of smoked deerskin, and the flap that passed +through the girdle around the loins, by which the straps attached to +the leggings were secured. Their bodies, necks, and arms were, with the +exception of a few slight ornaments, entirely naked; and even the +blanket, that served them as a couch by night and a covering by day, +had, with one single exception, been dispensed with, apparently with a +view to avoid any thing like encumbrance in their approaching sport. +Each individual was provided with a stout sapling of about three feet +in length, curved, and flattened at the root extremity, like that used +at the Irish hurdle; which game, in fact, the manner of ball-playing +among the Indians in every way resembled. + +Interspersed among these warriors were a nearly equal number of squaws. +These were to be seen lounging carelessly about in small groups, and +were of all ages; from the hoary-headed, shrivelled-up hag, whose eyes +still sparkled with a fire that her lank and attenuated frame denied, +to the young girl of twelve, whose dark and glowing cheek, rounded +bust, and penetrating glance, bore striking evidence of the +precociousness of Indian beauty. These latter looked with evident +interest on the sports of the younger warriors, who, throwing down +their hurdles, either vied with each other in the short but incredibly +swift foot-race, or indulged themselves in wrestling and leaping; while +their companions, abandoned to the full security they felt to be +attached to the white flag waving on the fort, lay at their lazy length +upon the sward, ostensibly following the movements of the several +competitors in these sports, but in reality with heart and eye directed +solely to the fortification that lay beyond. Each of these females, in +addition to the machecoti, or petticoat, which in one solid square of +broad-cloth was tightly wrapped around the loins, also carried a +blanket loosely thrown around the person, but closely confined over the +shoulders in front, and reaching below the knee. There was an air of +constraint in their movements, which accorded ill with the occasion of +festivity for which they were assembled; and it was remarkable, whether +it arose from deference to those to whom they were slaves, as well as +wives and daughters, or from whatever other cause it might be, none of +them ventured to recline themselves upon the sward in imitation of the +warriors. + +When it had been made known to the governor that the Indians had begun +to develop themselves in force upon the common unarmed, yet redolent +with the spirit that was to direct their meditated sports, the soldiers +were dismissed from their respective companies to the ramparts; where +they were now to be seen, not drawn up in formidable and hostile array, +but collected together in careless groups, and simply in their +side-arms. This reciprocation of confidence on the part of the garrison +was acknowledged by the Indians by marks of approbation, expressed as +much by the sudden and classic disposition of their fine forms into +attitudes strikingly illustrative of their admiration and pleasure, as +by the interjectional sounds that passed from one to the other of the +throng. From the increased alacrity with which they now lent themselves +to the preparatory and inferior amusements of the day, it was evident +their satisfaction was complete. + +Hitherto the principal chiefs had, as on the previous occasion, +occupied the bomb-proof; and now, as then, they appeared to be +deliberating among themselves, but evidently in a more energetic and +serious manner. At length they separated, when Ponteac, accompanied by +the chiefs who had attended him on the former day, once more led in the +direction of the fort. The moment of his advance was the signal for the +commencement of the principal game. In an instant those of the warriors +who lay reclining on the sward sprang to their feet, while the +wrestlers and racers resumed their hurdles, and prepared themselves for +the trial of mingled skill and swiftness. At first they formed a dense +group in the centre of the common; and then, diverging in two equal +files both to the right and to the left of the immediate centre, where +the large ball was placed, formed an open chain, extending from the +skirt of the forest to the commencement of the village. On the one side +were ranged the Delawares and the Shawanees, and on the other the more +numerous nation of the Ottawas. The women of these several tribes, +apparently much interested in the issue of an amusement in which the +manliness and activity of their respective friends were staked, had +gradually and imperceptibly gained the front of the fort, where they +were now huddled in groups at about twenty paces from the drawbridge, +and bending eagerly forward to command the movements of the +ball-players. + +In his circuit round the walls, Ponteac was seen to remark the +confiding appearance of the unarmed soldiery with a satisfaction that +was not sought to be disguised; and from the manner in which he threw +his glance along each face of the rampart, it was evident his object +was to embrace the numerical strength collected there. It was moreover +observed, when he passed the groups of squaws on his way to the gate, +he addressed some words in a strange tongue to the elder matrons of +each. + +Once more the dark warriors were received at the gate by Major +Blackwater; and, as with firm but elastic tread, they moved across the +square, each threw his fierce eyes rapidly and anxiously around, and +with less of concealment in his manner than had been manifested on the +former occasion. On every hand the same air of nakedness and desertion +met their gaze. Not even a soldier of the guard was to be seen; and +when they cast their eyes upwards to the windows of the blockhouses, +they were found to be tenantless as the area through which they passed. +A gleam of fierce satisfaction pervaded the swarthy countenances of the +Indians; and the features of Ponteac, in particular, expressed the +deepest exultation. Instead of leading his party, he now brought up the +rear; and when arrived in the centre of the fort, he, without any +visible cause for the accident, stumbled, and fell to the earth. The +other chiefs for a moment lost sight of their ordinary gravity, and +marked their sense of the circumstance by a prolonged sound, partaking +of the mingled character of a laugh and a yell. Startled at the cry, +Major Blackwater, who was in front, turned to ascertain the cause. At +that moment Ponteac sprang lightly again to his feet, responding to the +yell of his confederates by another even more startling, fierce, and +prolonged than their own. He then stalked proudly to the head of the +party, and even preceded Major Blackwater into the council room. + +In this rude theatre of conference some changes had been made since +their recent visit, which escaped not the observation of the +quick-sighted chiefs. Their mats lay in the position they had +previously occupied, and the chairs of the officers were placed as +before, but the room itself had been considerably enlarged. The slight +partition terminating the interior extremity of the mess-room, and +dividing it from that of one of the officers, had been removed; and +midway through this, extending entirely across, was drawn a curtain of +scarlet cloth, against which the imposing figure of the governor, +elevated as his seat was above those of the other officers, was thrown +into strong relief. There was another change, that escaped not the +observation of the Indians, and that was, not more than one half of the +officers who had been present at the first conference being now in the +room. Of these latter, one had, moreover, been sent away by the +governor the moment the chiefs were ushered in. + +"Ugh!" ejaculated the proud leader, as he took his seat +unceremoniously, and yet not without reluctance, upon the mat. "The +council-room of my father is bigger than when the Ottawa was here +before, yet the number of his chiefs is not so many." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the Saganaw has promised the +red skins a feast," returned the governor. "Were he to leave it to his +young warriors to provide it, he would not be able to receive the +Ottawa like a great chief, and to make peace with him as he could wish." + +"My father has a great deal of cloth, red, like the blood of a pale +face," pursued the Indian, rather in demand than in observation, as he +pointed with his finger to the opposite end of the room. "When the +Ottawa was here last, he did not see it." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the great father of the +Saganaw has a big heart to make presents to the red skins. The cloth +the Ottawa sees there is sufficient to make leggings for the chiefs of +all the nations." + +Apparently satisfied with this reply, the fierce Indian uttered one of +his strong guttural and assentient "ughs," and then commenced filling +the pipe of peace, correct on the present occasion in all its +ornaments, which was handed to him by the Delaware chief. It was +remarked by the officers this operation took up an unusually long +portion of his time, and that he frequently turned his ear, like a +horse stirred by the huntsman's horn, with quick and irrepressible +eagerness towards the door. + +"The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa chief, is not here," said +the governor, as he glanced his eye along the semicircle of Indians. +"How is this? Is his voice still sick, that he cannot come; or has the +great chief of the Ottawas forgotten to tell him?" + +"The voice of the pale warrior is still sick, and he cannot speak," +replied the Indian. "The Ottawa chief is very sorry; for the tongue of +his friend the pale face is full of wisdom." + +Scarcely had the last words escaped his lips, when a wild shrill cry +from without the fort rang on the ears of the assembled council, and +caused a momentary commotion among the officers. It arose from a single +voice, and that voice could not be mistaken by any who had heard it +once before. A second or two, during which the officers and chiefs kept +their eyes intently fixed on each other, passed anxiously away, and +then nearer to the gate, apparently on the very drawbridge itself, was +pealed forth the wild and deafening yell of a legion of devilish +voices. At that sound, the Ottawa and the other chiefs sprang to their +feet, and their own fierce cry responded to that yet vibrating on the +ears of all. Already were their gleaming tomahawks brandished wildly +over their heads, and Ponteac had even bounded a pace forward to reach +the governor with the deadly weapon, when, at the sudden stamping of +the foot of the latter upon the floor, the scarlet cloth in the rear +was thrown aside, and twenty soldiers, their eyes glancing along the +barrels of their levelled muskets, met the startled gaze of the +astonished Indians. + +An instant was enough to satisfy the keen chief of the true state of +the case. The calm composed mien of the officers, not one of whom had +even attempted to quit his seat, amid the din by which his ears were so +alarmingly assailed,--the triumphant, yet dignified, and even severe +expression of the governor's countenance; and, above all, the +unexpected presence of the prepared soldiery,--all these at once +assured him of the discovery of his treachery, and the danger that +awaited him. The necessity for an immediate attempt to join his +warriors without, was now obvious to the Ottawa; and scarcely had he +conceived the idea before it was sought to be executed. In a single +spring he gained the door of the mess-room, and, followed eagerly and +tumultuously by the other chiefs, to whose departure no opposition was +offered, in the next moment stood on the steps of the piazza that ran +along the front of the building whence he had issued. + +The surprise of the Indians on reaching this point, was now too +powerful to be dissembled; and, incapable either of advancing or +receding, they remained gazing on the scene before them with an air of +mingled stupefaction, rage, and alarm. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed +since they had proudly strode through the naked area of the fort; and +yet, even in that short space of time, its appearance had been entirely +changed. Not a part was there now of the surrounding buildings that was +not redolent with human life, and hostile preparation. Through every +window of the officers' low rooms, was to be seen the dark and frowning +muzzle of a field-piece, bearing upon the gateway; and behind these +were artillerymen, holding their lighted matches, supported again by +files of bayonets, that glittered in their rear. In the block-houses +the same formidable array of field-pieces and muskets was visible; +while from the four angles of the square, as many heavy guns, that had +been artfully masked at the entrance of the chiefs, seemed ready to +sweep away every thing that should come before them. The guard-room +near the gate presented the same hostile front. The doors of this, as +well as of the other buildings, had been firmly secured within; but +from every window affording cover to the troops, gleamed a line of +bayonets rising above the threatening field-pieces, pointed, at a +distance of little more than twelve feet, directly upon the gateway. In +addition to his musket, each man of the guard moreover held a hand +grenade, provided with a short fuze that could be ignited in a moment +from the matches of the gunners, and with immediate effect. The +soldiers in the block-houses were similarly provided. + +Almost magic as was the change thus suddenly effected in the appearance +of the garrison, it was not the most interesting feature in the +exciting scene. Choking up the gateway, in which they were completely +wedged, and crowding the drawbridge, a dense mass of dusky Indians were +to be seen casting their fierce glances around; yet paralysed in their +movements by the unlooked-for display of a resisting force, threatening +instant annihilation to those who should attempt either to advance or +to recede. Never, perhaps, were astonishment and disappointment more +forcibly depicted on the human countenance, than as they were now +exhibited by these men, who had already, in imagination, secured to +themselves an easy conquest. They were the warriors who had so recently +been engaged in the manly yet innocent exercise of the ball; but, +instead of the harmless hurdle, each now carried a short gun in one +hand and a gleaming tomahawk in the other. After the first general +yelling heard in the council-room, not a sound was uttered. Their burst +of rage and triumph had evidently been checked by the unexpected manner +of their reception, and they now stood on the spot on which the further +advance of each had been arrested, so silent and motionless, that, but +for the rolling of their dark eyes, as they keenly measured the +insurmountable barriers that were opposed to their progress, they might +almost have been taken for a wild group of statuary. + +Conspicuous at the head of these was he who wore the blanket; a tall +warrior, on whom rested the startled eye of every officer and soldier +who was so situated as to behold him. His face was painted black as +death; and as he stood under the arch of the gateway, with his white +turbaned head towering far above those of his companions, this +formidable and mysterious enemy might have been likened to the spirit +of darkness presiding over his terrible legions. + +In order to account for the extraordinary appearance of the Indians, +armed in every way for death, at a moment when neither gun nor tomahawk +was apparently within miles of their reach, it will be necessary to +revert to the first entrance of the chiefs into the fort. The fall of +Ponteac had been the effect of design; and the yell pealed forth by +him, on recovering his feet, as if in taunting reply to the laugh of +his comrades, was in reality a signal intended for the guidance of the +Indians without. These, now following up their game with increasing +spirit, at once changed the direction of their line, bringing the ball +nearer to the fort. In their eagerness to effect this object, they had +overlooked the gradual secession of the unarmed troops, spectators of +their sport from the ramparts, until scarcely more than twenty +stragglers were left. As they neared the gate, the squaws broke up +their several groups, and, forming a line on either hand of the road +leading to the drawbridge, appeared to separate solely with a view not +to impede the action of the players. For an instant a dense group +collected around the ball, which had been driven to within a hundred +yards of the gate, and fifty hurdles were crossed in their endeavours +to secure it, when the warrior, who formed the solitary exception to +the multitude, in his blanket covering, and who had been lingering in +the extreme rear of the party, came rapidly up to the spot where the +well-affected struggle was maintained. At his approach, the hurdles of +the other players were withdrawn, when, at a single blow from his +powerful arm, the ball was seen flying into the air in an oblique +direction, and was for a moment lost altogether to the view. When it +again met the eye, it was descending perpendicularly into the very +centre of the fort. + +With the fleetness of thought now commenced a race that had ostensibly +for its object the recovery of the lost ball; and in which, he who had +driven it with such resistless force outstripped them all. Their course +lay between the two lines of squaws; and scarcely had the head of the +bounding Indians reached the opposite extremity of those lines, when +the women suddenly threw back their blankets, and disclosed each a +short gun and a tomahawk. To throw away their hurdles and seize upon +these, was the work of an instant. Already, in imagination, was the +fort their own; and, such was the peculiar exultation of the black and +turbaned warrior, when he felt the planks of the drawbridge bending +beneath his feet, all the ferocious joy of his soul was pealed forth in +the terrible cry which, rapidly succeeded by that of the other Indians, +had resounded so fearfully through the council-room. What their +disappointment was, when, on gaining the interior, they found the +garrison prepared for their reception, has already been shown. + +"Secure that traitor, men!" exclaimed the governor, advancing into the +square, and pointing to the black warrior, whose quick eye was now +glancing on every side, to discover some assailable point in the +formidable defences of the troops. + +A laugh of scorn and derision escaped the lips of the warrior. "Is +there a man--are there any ten men, even with Governor de Haldimar at +their head, who will be bold enough to attempt it?" he asked. "Nay!" he +pursued, stepping boldly a pace or two in front of the wondering +savages,--"here I stand singly, and defy your whole garrison!" + +A sudden movement among the soldiers in the guard-room announced they +were preparing to execute the order of their chief. The eye of the +black warrior sparkled with ferocious pleasure; and he made a gesture +to his followers, which was replied to by the sudden tension of their +hitherto relaxed forms into attitudes of expectance and preparation. + +"Stay, men; quit not your cover for your lives!" commanded the +governor, in a loud deep voice:--"keep the barricades fast, and move +not." + +A cloud of anger and disappointment passed over the features of the +black warrior. It was evident the object of his bravado was to draw the +troops from their defences, that they might be so mingled with their +enemies as to render the cannon useless, unless friends and foes (which +was by no means probable) should alike be sacrificed. The governor had +penetrated the design in time to prevent the mischief. + +In a moment of uncontrollable rage, the savage warrior aimed his +tomahawk at the head of the governor. The latter stepped lightly aside, +and the steel sank with such force into one of the posts supporting the +piazza, that the quivering handle snapped close off at its head. At +that moment, a single shot, fired from the guard-house, was drowned in +the yell of approbation which burst from the lips of the dark crowd. +The turban of the warrior was, however, seen flying through the air, +carried away by the force of the bullet which had torn it from his +head. He himself was unharmed. + +"A narrow escape for us both, Colonel de Haldimar," he observed, as +soon as the yell had subsided, and with an air of the most perfect +unconcern. "Had my tomahawk obeyed the first impulse of my heart, I +should have cursed myself and died: as it is, I have reason to avoid +all useless exposure of my own life, at present. A second bullet may be +better directed; and to die, robbed of my revenge, would ill answer the +purpose of a life devoted to its attainment. Remember my pledge!" + +At the hasty command of the governor, a hundred muskets were raised to +the shoulders of his men; but, before a single eye could glance along +the barrel, the formidable and active warrior had bounded over the +heads of the nearest Indians into a small space that was left +unoccupied; when, stooping suddenly to the earth, he disappeared +altogether from the view of his enemies. A slight movement in the +centre of the numerous band crowding the gateway, and extending even +beyond the bridge, was now discernible: it was like the waving of a +field of standing corn, through which some animal rapidly winds its +tortuous course, bending aside as the object advances, and closing +again when it has passed. After the lapse of a minute, the terrible +warrior was seen to spring again to his feet, far in the rear of the +band; and then, uttering a fierce shout of exultation, to make good his +retreat towards the forest. + +Meanwhile, Ponteac and the other chiefs of the council continued rooted +to the piazza on which they had rushed at the unexpected display of the +armed men behind the scarlet curtain. The loud "Waugh" that burst from +the lips of all, on finding themselves thus foiled in their schemes of +massacre, had been succeeded, the instant afterwards, by feelings of +personal apprehension, which each, however, had collectedness enough to +disguise. Once the Ottawa made a movement as if he would have cleared +the space that kept him from his warriors; but the emphatical pointing +of the finger of Colonel de Haldimar to the levelled muskets of the men +in the block-houses prevented him, and the attempt was not repeated. It +was remarked by the officers, who also stood on the piazza, close +behind the chiefs, when the black warrior threw his tomahawk at the +governor, a shade of displeasure passed over the features of the +Ottawa; and that, when he found the daring attempt was not retaliated +on his people, his countenance had been momentarily lighted up with a +satisfied expression, apparently marking his sense of the forbearance +so unexpectedly shown. + +"What says the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked the governor +calmly, and breaking a profound silence that had succeeded to the last +fierce yell of the formidable being just departed. "Was the Saganaw not +right, when he said the Ottawa came with guile in his heart, and with a +lie upon his lips? But the Saganaw is not a fool, and he can read the +thoughts of his enemies upon their faces, and long before their lips +have spoken." + +"Ugh!" ejaculated the Indian; "my father is a great chief, and his head +is full of wisdom. Had he been feeble, like the other chiefs of the +Saganaw, the strong-hold of the Detroit must have fallen, and the red +skins would have danced their war-dance round the scalps of his young +men, even in the council-room where they came to talk of peace." + +"Does the great chief of the Ottawas see the big thunder of the +Saganaw?" pursued the governor: "if not, let him open his eyes and +look. The Saganaw has but to move his lips, and swifter than the +lightning would the pale faces sweep away the warriors of the Ottawa, +even where they now stand: in less time than the Saganaw is now +speaking, would they mow them down like the grass of the Prairie." + +"Ugh!" again exclaimed the chief, with mixed doggedness and fierceness: +"if what my father says is true, why does he not pour out his anger +upon the red skins?" + +"Let the great chief of the Ottawas listen," replied the governor with +dignity. "When the great chiefs of all the nations that are in league +with the Ottawas came last to the council, the Saganaw knew that they +carried deceit in their hearts, and that they never meant to smoke the +pipe of peace, or to bury the hatchet in the ground. The Saganaw might +have kept them prisoners, that their warriors might be without a head; +but he had given his word to the great chief of the Ottawas, and the +word of a Saganaw is never broken. Even now, while both the chiefs and +the warriors are in his power,--he will not slay them, for he wishes to +show the Ottawa the desire of the Saganaw is to be friendly with the +red skins, and not to destroy them. Wicked men from the Canadas have +whispered lies in the ear of the Ottawa; but a great chief should judge +for himself, and take council only from the wisdom of his own heart. +The Ottawa and his warriors may go," he resumed, after a short pause; +"the path by which they came is again open to them. Let them depart in +peace; the big thunder of the Saganaw shall not harm them." + +The countenance of the Indian, who had clearly seen the danger of his +position, wore an expression of surprise which could not be dissembled: +low exclamations passed between him and his companions; and, then +pointing to the tomahawk that lay half buried in the wood, he said, +doubtingly,-- + +"It was the pale face, the friend of the great chief of the Ottawas, +who struck the hatchet at my father. The Ottawa is not a fool to +believe the Saganaw can sleep without revenge." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas shall know us better," was the reply. +"The young warriors of the Saganaw might destroy their enemies where +they now stand, but they seek not their blood. When the Ottawa chief +takes council from his own heart, and not from the lips of a cowardly +dog of a pale face, who strikes his tomahawk and then flies, his wisdom +will tell him to make peace with the Saganaw, whose warriors are +without treachery, even as they are without fear." + +Another of those deep interjectional "ughs" escaped the chest of the +proud Indian. + +"What my father says is good," he returned; "but the pale face is a +great warrior, and the Ottawa chief is his friend. The Ottawa will go." + +He then addressed a few sentences, in a tongue unknown to the officers, +to the swarthy and anxious crowd in front. These were answered by a +low, sullen, yet assentient grunt, from the united band, who now +turned, though with justifiable caution and distrust, and recrossed the +drawbridge without hinderance from the troops. Ponteac waited until the +last Indian had departed, and then making a movement to the governor, +which, with all its haughtiness, was meant to mark his sense of the +forbearance and good faith that had been manifested, once more stalked +proudly and calmly across the area, followed by the remainder of the +chiefs. The officers who were with the governor ascended to the +ramparts, to follow their movements; and it was not before their report +had been made, that the Indians were immerging once more into the heart +of the forest, the troops were withdrawn from their formidable +defences, and the gate of the fort again firmly secured. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succession of +incidents resulting from the mysterious entrance of the warrior of the +Fleur de lis into the English fort, be it our task to explain the +circumstances connected with the singular disappearance of Captain de +Haldimar, and the melancholy murder of his unfortunate servant. + +It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway, in the course of +his defence before the court-martial, distinctly stated the voice of +the individual who had approached his post, calling on the name of +Captain de Haldimar, on the night of the alarm, to have been that of a +female, and that the language in which they subsequently conversed was +that of the Ottawa Indians. This was strictly the fact; and the only +error into which the unfortunate soldier had fallen, had reference +merely to the character and motives of the party. He had naturally +imagined, as he had stated, it was some young female of the village, +whom attachment for his officer had driven to the desperate +determination of seeking an interview; nor was this impression at all +weakened by the subsequent discourse of the parties in the Indian +tongue, with which it was well known most of the Canadians, both male +and female, were more or less conversant. The subject of that short, +low, and hurried conference was, indeed, one that well warranted the +singular intrusion; and, in the declaration of Halloway, we have +already seen the importance and anxiety attached by the young officer +to the communication. Without waiting to repeat the motives assigned +for his departure, and the prayers and expostulations to which he had +recourse to overcome the determination and sense of duty of the +unfortunate sentinel, let us pass at once to the moment when, after +having cleared the ditch, conjointly with his faithful follower, in the +manner already shown, Captain de Haldimar first stood side by side with +his midnight visitant. + +The night, it has elsewhere been observed, was clear and starry, so +that objects upon the common, such as the rude stump that here and +there raised its dark low head above the surface, might be dimly seen +in the distance. To obviate the danger of discovery by the sentinels, +appeared to be the first study of the female; for, when Captain de +Haldimar, followed by his servant, had reached the spot on which she +stood, she put the forefinger of one hand to her lips, and with the +other pointed to his booted foot. A corresponding signal showed that +the lightness of the material offered little risk of betrayal. +Donellan, however, was made to doff his heavy ammunition shoes; and, +with this precaution, they all stole hastily along, under the shadows +of the projecting ramparts, until they had gained the extreme rear. +Here the female suddenly raised her tall figure from the stooping +position in which she, as well as her companions, had performed the +dangerous circuit; and, placing her finger once more significantly on +her lips, led in the direction of the bomb-proof, unperceived by the +sentinels, most of whom, it is probable, had, up to the moment of the +alarm subsequently given, been too much overcome by previous watching +and excitement to have kept the most vigilant look-out. + +Arrived at the skirt of the forest, the little party drew up within the +shadow of the ruin, and a short and earnest dialogue ensued, in Indian, +between the female and the officer. This was succeeded by a command +from the latter to his servant, who, after a momentary but respectful +expostulation, which, however, was utterly lost on him to whom it was +addressed, proceeded to divest himself of his humble apparel, assuming +in exchange the more elegant uniform of his superior. Donellan, who was +also of the grenadiers, was remarkable for the resemblance he bore, in +figure, to Captain de Haldimar; wanting, it is true, the grace and +freedom of movement of the latter, but still presenting an outline +which, in an attitude of profound repose, might, as it subsequently +did, have set even those who were most intimate with the officer at +fault. + +"This is well," observed the female, as the young man proceeded to +induct himself in the grey coat of his servant, having previously drawn +the glazed hat close over his waving and redundant hair: "if the +Saganaw is ready, Oucanasta will go." + +"Sure, and your honour does not mane to lave me behind!" exclaimed the +anxious soldier, as his captain now recommended him to stand closely +concealed near the ruin until his return. "Who knows what ambuscade the +she-divil may not lade your honour into; and thin who will you have to +bring you out of it?" + +"No, Donellan, it must not be: I first intended it, as you may perceive +by my bringing you out; but the expedition on which I am going is of +the utmost importance to us all, and too much precaution cannot be +taken. I fear no ambuscade, for I can depend on the fidelity of my +guide; but the presence of a third person would only embarrass, without +assisting me in the least. You must remain behind; the woman insists +upon it, and there is no more to be said." + +"To ould Nick with the ugly winch, for her pains!" half muttered the +disappointed soldier to himself. "I wish it may be as your honour says; +but my mind misgives me sadly that evil will come of this. Has your +honour secured the pistols?" + +"They are here," returned his captain, placing a hand on either chest. +"And now, Donellan, mark me: I know nothing that can detain me longer +than an hour; at least the woman assures me, and I believe her, that I +may be back then; but it is well to guard against accidents. You must +continue here for the hour, and for the hour only. If I come not then, +return to the fort without delay, for the rope must be removed, and the +gate secured, before Halloway is relieved. The keys you will find in +the pocket of my uniform: when you have done with them, let them be +hung up in their proper place in the guard-room. My father must not +know either that Halloway suffered me to pass the gate, or that you +accompanied me." + +"Lord love us! your honour talks as if you nivir would return, giving +such a heap of orders!" exclaimed the startled man; "but if I go back +alone, as I trust in heaven I shall not, how am I to account for being +dressed in your honour's rigimintals?" + +"I tell you, Donellan," impatiently returned the officer, "that I shall +be back; but I only wish to guard against accidents. The instant you +get into the fort, you will take off my clothes and resume your own. +Who the devil is to see you in the uniform, unless it be Halloway?" + +"If the Saganaw would not see the earth red with the blood of his race, +he will go," interrupted the female. "Oucanasta can feel the breath of +the morning fresh upon her cheek, and the council of the chiefs must be +begun." + +"The Saganaw is ready, and Oucanasta shall lead the way," hastily +returned the officer. "One word more, Donellan;" and he pressed the +hand of his domestic kindly: "should I not return, you must, without +committing Halloway or yourself, cause my father to be apprised that +the Indians meditate a deep and treacherous plan to get possession of +the fort. What that plan is, I know not yet myself, neither does this +woman know; but she says that I shall hear it discussed unseen, even in +the heart of their own encampment. All you have to do is to acquaint my +father with the existence of danger. And now be cautious: above all +things, keep close under the shadow of the bomb-proof; for there are +scouts constantly prowling about the common, and the glittering of the +uniform in the starlight may betray you." + +"But why may I not follow your honour?" again urged the faithful +soldier; "and where is the use of my remaining here to count the stars, +and hear the 'All's well!' from the fort, when I could be so much +better employed in guarding your honour from harm? What sort of +protection can that Ingian woman afford, who is of the race of our +bitterest enemies, them cursed Ottawas, and your honour venturing, too, +like a spy into the very heart of the blood-hounds? Ah, Captain de +Haldimar, for the love of God, do not trust yourself alone with her, or +I am sure I shall never see your honour again!" + +The last words (unhappily too prophetic) fell only on the ear of him +who uttered them. The female and the officer had already disappeared +round an abrupt angle of the bomb-proof; and the soldier, as directed +by his master, now drew up his tall figure against the ruin, where he +continued for a period immovable, as if he had been planted there in +his ordinary character of sentinel, listening, until they eventually +died away in distance, to the receding footsteps of his master; and +then ruminating on the several apprehensions that crowded on his mind, +in regard to the probable issue of his adventurous project. + +Meanwhile, Captain de Haldimar and his guide trod the mazes of the +forest, with an expedition that proved the latter to be well acquainted +with its bearings. On quitting the bomb-proof, she had struck into a +narrow winding path, less seen than felt in the deep gloom pervading +the wood, and with light steps bounded over obstacles that lay strewed +in their course, emitting scarcely more sound than would have been +produced by the slimy crawl of its native rattlesnake. Not so, however, +with the less experienced tread of her companion. Wanting the pliancy +of movement given to it by the light mocassin, the booted foot of the +young officer, despite of all his precaution, fell heavily to the +ground, producing such a rustling among the dried leaves, that, had an +Indian ear been lurking any where around, his approach must inevitably +have been betrayed. More than once, too, neglecting to follow the +injunction of his companion, who moved in a stooping posture, with her +head bent over her chest, his hat was caught in the closely matted +branches, and fell sullenly and heavily to the earth, evidently much to +the discomfiture of his guide. + +At length they stood on the verge of a dark and precipitous ravine, the +abrupt sides of which were studded with underwood, so completely +interwoven, that all passage appeared impracticable. What, however, +seemed an insurmountable obstacle, proved, in reality, an inestimable +advantage; for it was by clinging to this, in imitation of the example +set him by his companion, the young officer was prevented from rolling +into an abyss, the depth of which was lost in the profound obscurity +that pervaded the scene. Through the bed of this dark dell rolled a +narrow stream, so imperceptible to the eye in the "living darkness," +and so noiseless in its course, that it was not until warned by his +companion he stood on the very brink of it, Captain de Haldimar was +made sensible of its existence. Both cleared it at a single bound, in +which the activity of the female was not the least conspicuous, and, +clambering up the opposite steep, secured their footing, by the aid of +the same underwood that had assisted them in their descent. + +On gaining the other summit, which was not done without detaching +several loose stones from their sandy bed, they again, fell into the +path, which had been lost sight of in traversing the ravine. They had +proceeded along this about half a mile, when the female suddenly +stopped, and pointing to a dim and lurid atmosphere that now began to +show itself between the thin foliage, whispered that in the opening +beyond stood the encampment of the Indians. She then seated herself on +the trunk of a fallen tree, that lay at the side of the almost +invisible path they had hitherto pursued, and motioning to her +companion to unboot himself, proceeded to unlace the fastenings of her +mocassins. + +"The foot of the Saganaw must fall like the night dew on the prairie," +she observed: "the ear of the red skin is quicker than the lightning, +and he will know that a pale face is near, if he hear but his tread +upon a blade of grass." + +Gallantry in the civilised man is a sentiment that never wholly +abandons him; and in whatever clime he may be thrown, or under whatever +circumstances he may be placed,--be it called forth by white or by +blackamoor,--it is certain to influence his conduct: it is a +refinement, of that instinctive deference to the weaker sex, which +nature has implanted in him for the wisest of purposes; and which, +while it tends to exalt those to whom its influence is extended, fails +not to reflect a corresponding lustre on himself. + +The young officer had, at the first suggestion of his guide, divested +himself of his boots, prepared to perform the remainder of the journey +merely in his stockings, but his companion now threw herself on her +knees before him, and, without further ceremony, proceeded to draw over +his foot one of the mocassins she had just relinquished. + +"The feet of the Saganaw are soft as those of a young child," she +remarked, in a voice of commiseration; "but the mocassins of Oucanasta +shall protect them from the thorns of the forest." + +This was too un-European,--too much reversing the established order of +things, to be borne patiently. As if he had felt the dignity of his +manhood offended by the proposal, the officer drew his foot hastily +back, declaring, as he sprang from the log, he did not care for the +thorns, and could not think of depriving a female, who must be much +more sensible of pain than himself. + +Oucanasta, however, was not to be outdone in politeness. She calmly +reseated herself on the log, drew her right foot over her left knee, +caught one of the hands of her companion, and placing it upon the naked +sole, desired him to feel how impervious to attack of every description +was that indurated portion of the lower limb. + +This practical argument was not without its weight, and had more effect +in deciding the officer than a volume of remonstrance. Most men love to +render tribute to a delicate and pretty foot. Some, indeed, go so far +as to connect every thing feminine with these qualities, and to believe +that nothing can be feminine without them. For our parts, we confess, +that, although no enemies to a pretty foot, it is by no means a sine +qua non in our estimate of female perfection; being in no way disposed, +where the head and heart are gems, to undervalue these in consideration +of any deficiency in the heels. Captain de Haldimar probably thought +otherwise; for when he had passed his unwilling hand over the foot of +Oucanasta, which, whatever her face might have been, was certainly any +thing but delicate, and encountered numerous ragged excrescences and +raspy callosities that set all symmetry at defiance, a wonderful +revolution came over his feelings; and, secretly determining the +mocassins would be equally well placed on his own feet, he no longer +offered any opposition. + +This important point arranged, the officer once more followed his guide +in silence. Gradually the forest, as they advanced, became lighter with +the lurid atmosphere before alluded to; and at length, through the +trees, could be indistinctly seen the Indian fires from which it +proceeded. The young man was now desired by his conductress to use the +utmost circumspection in making the circuit of the wood, in order to +gain a position immediately opposite to the point where the path they +had hitherto pursued terminated in the opening. This, indeed, was the +most dangerous and critical part of the undertaking. A false step, or +the crackling of a decayed branch beneath the foot, would have been +sufficient to betray proximity, in which case his doom was sealed. + +Fortunate did he now deem himself in having yielded to the counsel of +his guide. Had he retained his unbending boot, it must have crushed +whatever it pressed; whereas, the pliant mocassin, yielding to the +obstacles it encountered, enabled him to pass noiselessly over them. +Still, while exempt from danger on this score, another, scarcely less +perplexing, became at every instant more obvious; for, as they drew +nearer to the point which the female sought to gain, the dim light of +the half-slumbering fires fell so immediately upon their path, that had +a single human eye been turned in that direction, their discovery was +inevitable. It was with a beating heart, to which mere personal fear, +however, was a stranger, that Captain de Haldimar performed this +concluding stage of his adventurous course; but, at a moment when he +considered detection unavoidable, and was arming himself with +resolution to meet the event, the female suddenly halted, placing, in +the act, the trunk of an enormous beech between her companion and the +dusky forms within, whose very breathing could be heard by the anxious +officer. Without uttering a word, she took his hand, and, drawing him +gently forward, disappeared altogether from his view. The young man +followed, and in the next moment found himself in the bowelless body of +the tree itself; into which, on the side of the encampment, both light +and sound were admitted by a small aperture formed by the natural decay +of the wood. + +The Indian pressed her lips to the ear of her companion, and rather +breathed than said,--"The Saganaw will see and hear every thing from +this in safety; and what he hears let him treasure in his heart. +Oucanasta must go. When the council is over she will return, and lead +him back to his warriors." + +With this brief intimation she departed, and so noiselessly, that the +young officer was not aware of her absence until some minutes of +silence had satisfied him she must be gone. His first care then was to +survey, through the aperture that lay in a level with his eye, the +character of the scene before him. The small plain, in which lay the +encampment of the Indians, was a sort of oasis of the forest, girt +round with a rude belt of underwood, and somewhat elevated, so as to +present the appearance of a mound, constructed on the first principles +of art. This was thickly although irregularly studded with tents, some +of which were formed of large coarse mats thrown over poles disposed in +a conical shape, while others were more rudely composed of the leafy +branches of the forest. + +Within these groups of human forms lay, wrapped in their blankets, +stretched at their lazy length. Others, with their feet placed close to +the dying embers of their fires, diverged like so many radii from their +centre, and lay motionless in sleep, as if life and consciousness were +wholly extinct. Here and there was to be seen a solitary warrior +securing, with admirable neatness, and with delicate ligatures formed +of the sinew of the deer, the guiding feather, or fashioning the bony +barb of his long arrow; while others, with the same warlike spirit in +view, employed themselves in cutting and greasing small patches of +smoked deerskin, which were to secure and give a more certain direction +to the murderous bullet. Among the warriors were interspersed many +women, some of whom might be seen supporting in their laps the heavy +heads of their unconscious helpmates, while they occupied themselves, +by the firelight, in parting the long black matted hair, and +maintaining a destructive warfare against the pigmy inhabitants of that +dark region. These signs of life and activity in the body of the camp +generally were, however, but few and occasional; but, at the spot where +Captain de Haldimar stood concealed, the scene was different. At a few +yards from the tree stood a sort of shed, composed of tall poles placed +upright in the earth, and supporting a roof formed simply of rude +boughs, the foliage of which had been withered by time. This simple +edifice might be about fifty feet in circumference. In the centre +blazed a large fire that had been newly fed, and around this were +assembled a band of swarthy warriors, some twenty or thirty in number, +who, by their proud, calm, and thoughtful bearing, might at once be +known to be chiefs. + +The faces of most of these were familiar to the young officer, who +speedily recognised them for the principals of the various tribes +Ponteac had leagued in arms against his enemies. That chief himself, +ever remarkable for his haughty eye and commanding gesture, was of the +number of those present; and, a little aloof from his inferiors, sat, +with his feet stretched towards the fire, and half reclining on his +side in an attitude of indolence; yet with his mind evidently engrossed +by deep and absorbing thought. From some observations that distinctly +met his ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party were only awaiting +the arrival of an important character, without whose presence the +leading chief was unwilling the conference should begin. The period of +the officer's concealment had just been long enough to enable him to +fix all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the faint report +of a distant rifle was heard echoing throughout the wood. This was +instantly succeeded by a second, that sounded more sharply on the ear; +and then followed a long and piercing cry, that brought every warrior, +even of those who slept, quickly to his feet. + +An anxious interval of some minutes passed away in the fixed and +listening attitudes, which the chiefs especially had assumed, when a +noise resembling that of some animal forcing its way rapidly through +the rustling branches, was faintly heard in the direction in which the +shots had been fired. This gradually increased as it evidently +approached the encampment, and then, distinctly, could be heard the +light yet unguarded boundings of a human foot. At every moment the +rustling of the underwood, rapidly divided by the approaching form, +became more audible; and so closely did the intruder press upon the +point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that that officer, +fancying he had been betrayed, turned hastily round, and, grasping one +of the pistols he had secreted in his chest, prepared himself for a +last and deadly encounter. An instant or two was sufficient to +re-assure him. The form glided hastily past, brushing the tree with its +garments in its course, and clearing, at a single bound, the belt of +underwood that divided the encampment from the tall forest, stood +suddenly among the group of anxious and expectant chiefs. + +This individual, a man of tall stature, was powerfully made. He wore a +jerkin, or hunting-coat, of leather; and his arms were, a rifle which +had every appearance of having just been discharged, a tomahawk reeking +with blood, and a scalping-knife, which, in the hurry of some recent +service it had been made to perform, had missed its sheath, and was +thrust naked into the belt that encircled his loins. His countenance +wore an expression of malignant triumph; and as his eye fell on the +assembled throng, its self-satisfied and exulting glance seemed to give +them to understand he came not without credentials to recommend him to +their notice. Captain de Haldimar was particularly struck by the air of +bold daring and almost insolent recklessness pervading every movement +of this man; and it was difficult to say whether the haughtiness of +bearing peculiar to Ponteac himself, was not exceeded by that of this +herculean warrior. + +By the body of chiefs his appearance had been greeted with a mere +general grunt of approbation; but the countenance of the leader +expressed a more personal interest. All seemed to expect he had +something of moment to communicate; but as it was not consistent with +the dignity of Indian etiquette to enquire, they waited calmly until it +should please their new associate to enter on the history of his +exploits. In pursuance of an invitation from Ponteac, he now took his +seat on the right hand of that chief, and immediately facing the tree, +from which Captain de Haldimar, strongly excited both by the reports of +the shots that had been fired, and the sight of the bloody tomahawk of +the recently arrived Indian, gazed earnestly and anxiously on the +swarthy throng. + +Glancing once more triumphantly round the circle, who sat smoking their +pipes in calm and deliberative silence, the latter now observed the eye +of a young chief, who sat opposite to him, intently riveted on his left +shoulder. He raised his hand to the part, withdrew it, looked at it, +and found it wet with blood. A slight start of surprise betrayed his +own unconsciousness of the accident; yet, secretly vexed at the +discovery which had been made, and urged probably by one of his wayward +fits, he demanded haughtily and insultingly of the young chief, if that +was the first time he had ever looked on the blood of a warrior. + +"Does my brother feel pain?" was the taunting reply. "If he is come to +us with a trophy, it is not without being dearly bought. The Saganaw +has spilt his blood." + +"The weapons of the Saganaw, like those of the smooth face of the +Ottawa, are without sting," angrily retorted the other. "They only +prick the skin like a thorn; but when Wacousta drinks the blood of his +enemy," and he glanced his eye fiercely at the young man, "it is the +blood next his heart." + +"My brother has always big words upon his lips," returned the young +chief, with a scornful sneer at the implied threat against himself. +"But where are his proofs?" + +For a moment the eye of the party thus challenged kindled into flame, +while his lips were firmly compressed together; and as he half bent +himself forward, to scan with greater earnestness the features of his +questioner, his right hand sank to his left side, tightly grasping the +handle of his scalping-knife. The action was but momentary. Again he +drew himself up, puffed the smoke deliberately from his bloody +tomahawk, and, thrusting his right hand into his bosom, drew leisurely +forth a reeking scalp, which he tossed insolently across the fire into +the lap of the young chief. A loud and general "ugh!" testified the +approbation of the assembled group, at the unequivocal answer thus +given to the demand of the youth. The eye of the huge warrior sparkled +with a deep and ferocious exultation. + +"What says the smooth face of the Ottawas now?" he demanded, in the +same insolent strain. "Does it make his heart sick to look upon the +scalp of a great chief?" + +The young man quietly turned the horrid trophy over several times in +his hand, examining it attentively in every part. Then tossing it back +with contemptuous coolness to its owner, he replied,-- + +"The eyes of my brother are weak with age. He is not cunning, like a +red skin. The Ottawa has often seen the Saganaw in their fort, and he +knows their chiefs have fine hair like women; but this is like the +bristles of the fox. My brother has not slain a great chief, but a +common warrior." + +A flush of irrepressible and threatening anger passed over the features +of the vast savage. + +"Is it for a boy," he fiercely asked, "whose eyes know not yet the +colour of blood, to judge of the enemies that fall by the tomahawk of +Wacousta? but a great warrior never boasts of actions that he does not +achieve. It is the son of the great chief of the Saganaw whom he has +slain. If the smooth face doubts it, and has courage to venture, even +at night, within a hundred yards of the fort, he will see a Saganaw +without a scalp; and he will know that Saganaw by his dress--the +dress," he pursued, with a low emphatic laugh, "that Oucanasta, the +sister of the smooth face, loved so much to look upon." + +Quicker than thought was the upspringing of the young Indian to his +feet. With a cheek glowing, an eye flashing, and his gleaming tomahawk +whirling rapidly round his head, he cleared at a single bound the fire +that separated him from his insulter. The formidable man who had thus +wantonly provoked the attack, was equally prompt in meeting it. At the +first movement of the youth, he too had leapt to his feet, and +brandished the terrible weapon that served in the double capacity of +pipe and hatchet. A fierce yell escaped the lips of each, as they thus +met in close and hostile collision, and the scene for the moment +promised to be one of the most tragic character; but before either +could find an assailable point on which to rest his formidable weapon, +Ponteac himself had thrown his person between them, and in a voice of +thunder commanded the instant abandonment of their purpose. Exasperated +even as they now mutually were, the influence of that authority, for +which the great chief of the Ottawas was well known, was not without +due effect on the combatants. His anger was principally directed +against the assailant, on whom the tones of his reproving voice +produced a change the intimidation of his powerful opponent could never +have effected. The young chief dropped the point of his tomahawk, bowed +his head in submission, and then resuming his seat, sat during the +remainder of the night with his arms folded, and his head bent in +silence over his chest. + +"Our brother has done well," said Ponteac, glancing approvingly at him +who had exhibited the reeking trophy, and whom he evidently favoured. +"He is a great chief, and his words are truth. We heard the report of +his rifle, and we also heard the cry that told he had borne away the +scalp of an enemy. But we will think of this to-morrow. Let us now +commence our talk." + +Our readers will readily imagine the feelings of Captain de Haldimar +during this short but exciting scene. From the account given by the +warrior, there could be no doubt the murdered man was the unhappy +Donellan; who, probably, neglecting the caution given him, had exposed +himself to the murderous aim of this fierce being, who was apparently a +scout sent for the purpose of watching the movements of the garrison. +The direction of the firing, the allusion made to the regimentals, nay, +the scalp itself, which he knew from the short crop to be that of a +soldier, and fancied he recognised from its colour to be that of his +servant, formed but too conclusive evidence of the fact; and, bitterly +and deeply, as he gazed on this melancholy proof of the man's sacrifice +of life to his interest, did he repent that he had made him the +companion of his adventure, or that, having done so, he had not either +brought him away altogether, or sent him instantly back to the fort. +Commiseration for the fate of the unfortunate Donellan naturally +induced a spirit of personal hostility towards his destroyer; and it +was with feelings strongly excited in favour of him whom he now +discovered to be the brother of his guide, that he saw him spring +fiercely to the attack of his gigantic opponent. There was an activity +about the young chief amply commensurate with the greater physical +power of his adversary; while the manner in which he wielded his +tomahawk, proved him to be any thing but the novice in the use of the +formidable weapon the other had represented him. It was with a feeling +of disappointment, therefore, which the peculiarity of his own position +could not overcome, he saw Ponteac interpose himself between the +parties. + +Presently, however, a subject of deeper and more absorbing interest +than even the fate of his unhappy follower engrossed every faculty of +his mind, and riveted both eye and ear in painful tension to the +aperture in his hiding-place. The chiefs had resumed their places, and +the silence of a few minutes had succeeded to the fierce affray of the +warriors, when Ponteac, in a calm and deliberate voice, proceeded to +state he had summoned all the heads of the nations together, to hear a +plan he had to offer for the reduction of the last remaining forts of +their enemies, Michilimackinac and Detroit. He pointed out the +tediousness of the warfare in which they were engaged; the desertion of +the hunting-grounds by their warriors; and their consequent deficiency +in all those articles of European traffic which they were formerly in +the habit of receiving in exchange for their furs. He dwelt on the +beneficial results that would accrue to them all in the event of the +reduction of those two important fortresses; since, in that case, they +would be enabled to make such terms with the English as would secure to +them considerable advantages; while, instead of being treated with the +indignity of a conquered people, they would be enabled to command +respect from the imposing attitude this final crowning of their +successes would enable them to assume. He stated that the prudence and +vigilance of the commanders of these two unreduced fortresses were +likely long to baffle, as had hitherto been the case, every open +attempt at their capture; and admitted he had little expectation of +terrifying them into a surrender by the same artifice that had +succeeded with the forts on the Ohio and the lower lakes. The plan, +however, which he had to propose, was one he felt assured would be +attended with success. He would disclose that plan, and the great +chiefs should give it the advantage of their deliberation. + +Captain de Haldimar was on the rack. The chief had gradually dropped +his voice as he explained his plan, until at length it became so low, +that undistinguishable sounds alone reached the ear of the excited +officer. For a moment he despaired of making himself fully master of +the important secret; but in the course of the deliberation that +ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the discourse of the leader were +abundantly filled up. It was what the reader has already seen. The +necessities of the Indians were to be urged as a motive for their being +tired of hostilities. A peace was to be solicited; a council held; a +ball-playing among the warriors proposed, as a mark of their own +sincerity and confidence during that council; and when the garrison, +lulled into security, should be thrown entirely off their guard, the +warriors were to seize their guns and tomahawks, with which (the former +cut short, for the better concealment of their purpose) their women +would be provided, rush in, under pretext of regaining their lost ball, +when a universal massacre of men, women, and children was to ensue, +until nothing wearing the garb of a Saganaw should be left. + +It would be tedious to follow the chief through all the minor +ramifications of his subtle plan. Suffice it they were of a nature to +throw the most wary off his guard; and so admirably arranged was every +part, so certain did it appear their enemies must give into the snare, +that the oldest chiefs testified their approbation with a vivacity of +manner and expression little wont to characterize the deliberative +meetings of these reserved people. But deepest of all was the approval +of the tall warrior who had so recently arrived. To him had the +discourse of the leader been principally directed, as one whose counsel +and experience were especially wanting to confirm him in his purpose. +He was the last who spoke; but, when he did, it was with a force--an +energy--that must have sunk every objection, even if the plan had not +been so perfect and unexceptionable in its concoction as to have +precluded a possibility of all negative argument. During the delivery +of his animated speech, his swarthy countenance kindled into fierce and +rapidly varying expression. A thousand dark and complicated passions +evidently struggled at his heart; and as he dwelt leisurely and +emphatically on the sacrifice of human life that must inevitably attend +the adoption of the proposed measure, his eye grew larger, his chest +expanded, nay, his very nostril appeared to dilate with unfathomably +guileful exultation. Captain de Haldimar thought he had never gazed on +any thing wearing the human shape half so atrociously savage. + +Long before the council was terminated, the inferior warriors, who had +been so suddenly aroused from their slumbering attitudes, had again +retired to their tents, and stretched their lazy length before the +embers of their fires. The weary chiefs now prepared to follow their +example. They emptied the ashes from the bowls of their pipe-tomahawks, +replaced them carefully at their side, rose, and retired to their +respective tents. Ponteac and the tall warrior alone remained. For a +time they conversed earnestly together. The former listened attentively +to some observations made to him by his companion, in the course of +which, the words "chief of the Saganaw--fort--spy--enemy," and two or +three others equally unconnected, were alone audible to the ear of him +who so attentively sought to catch the slightest sound. He then thrust +his hand under his hunting-coat, and, as if in confirmation of what he +had been stating, exhibited a coil of rope and the glossy boot of an +English officer. Ponteac uttered one of his sharp ejaculating "ughs!" +and then rising quickly from his seat, followed by his companion, soon +disappeared in the heart of the encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +How shall we attempt to paint all that passed through the mind of +Captain de Haldimar during this important conference of the fierce +chiefs?--where find language to convey the cold and thrilling horror +with which he listened to the calm discussion of a plan, the object of +which was the massacre, not only of a host of beings endeared to him by +long communionship of service, but of those who were wedded to his +heart by the dearer ties of affection and kindred? As Ponteac had +justly observed, the English garrisons, strong in their own defences, +were little likely to be speedily reduced, while their enemies confined +themselves to overt acts of hostility; but, against their insidious +professions of amity who could oppose a sufficient caution? His father, +the young officer was aware, had all along manifested a spirit of +conciliation towards the Indians, which, if followed up by the +government generally, must have had the effect of preventing the cruel +and sanguinary war that had so recently desolated this remote part of +the British possessions. How likely, therefore, was it, having this +object always in view, he should give in to the present wily stratagem, +where such plausible motives for the abandonment of their hostile +purpose were urged by the perfidious chiefs! From the few hasty hints +already given him by his guide,--that kind being, who evidently sought +to be the saviour of the devoted garrisons,--he had gathered that a +deep and artful plan was to be submitted to the chiefs by their leader; +but little did he imagine it was of the finished nature it now proved +to be. Any other than the present attempt, the vigilance and prudence +of his experienced father, he felt, would have rendered abortive; but +there was so much speciousness in the pleas that were to be advanced in +furtherance of their assumed object, he could not but admit the almost +certainty of their influence, even on him. + +Sick and discouraged as he was at the horrible perspective thus forced +on his mental view, the young officer had not, for some moments, +presence of mind to reflect that the danger of the garrison existed +only so long as he should be absent from it. At length, however, the +cheering recollection came, and with it the mantling rush of blood, to +his faint heart. But, short was the consoling hope: again he felt +dismay in every fibre of his frame; for he now reflected, that although +his opportune discovery of the meditated scheme would save one fort, +there was no guardian angel to extend, as in this instance, its +protecting influence to the other; and within that other there breathed +those who were dearer far to him than his own existence;--beings, whose +lives were far more precious to him than any even in the garrison of +which he was a member. His sister Clara, whom he loved with a love +little inferior to that of his younger brother; and one, even more +dearly loved than Clara,--Madeline de Haldimar, his cousin and +affianced bride,--were both inmates of Michilimackinac, which was +commanded by the father of the latter, a major in the ---- regiment. +With Madeline de Haldimar he had long since exchanged his vows of +affection; and their nuptials, which were to have taken place about the +period when the present war broke out, had only been suspended because +all communication between the two posts had been entirely cut off by +the enemy. + +Captain de Haldimar had none of the natural weakness and timidity of +character which belonged to the gentler and more sensitive Charles. +Sanguine and full of enterprise, he seldom met evils half way; but when +they did come, he sought to master them by the firmness and +collectedness with which he opposed his mind to their infliction. If +his heart was now racked with the most acute suffering--his reason +incapacitated from exercising its calm deliberative power, the seeming +contradiction arose not from any deficiency in his character, but was +attributable wholly to the extraordinary circumstances of the moment. + +It was a part of the profound plan of the Ottawa chief, that it should +be essayed on the two forts on the same day; and it was a suggestion of +the murderer of poor Donellan, that a parley should be obtained, +through the medium of a white flag, the nature of which he explained to +them, as it was understood among their enemies. If invited to the +council, then they were to enter, or not, as circumstances might +induce; but, in any case, they were to go unprovided with the pipe of +peace, since this could not be smoked without violating every thing +held most sacred among themselves. The red, or war-pipe, was to be +substituted as if by accident; and, for the success of the deception, +they were to presume on the ignorance of their enemies. This, however, +was not important, since the period of their first parley was to be the +moment chosen for the arrangement of a future council, and the proposal +of a ball-playing upon the common. Three days were to be named as the +interval between the first conference of Ponteac with the governor and +the definitive council which was to ensue; during which, however, it +was so arranged, that, before the lip of a red skin should touch the +pipe of peace, the ball-players should rush in and massacre the +unprepared soldiery, while the chiefs despatched the officers in +council. + +It was the proximity of the period allotted for the execution of their +cruel scheme that mainly contributed to the dismay of Captain de +Haldimar. The very next day was appointed for carrying into effect the +first part of the Indian plan: and how was it possible that a +messenger, even admitting he should elude the vigilance of the enemy, +could reach the distant post of Michilimackinac within the short period +on which hung the destiny of that devoted fortress. In the midst of the +confused and distracting images that now crowded on his brain, came at +length one thought, redolent with the brightest colourings of hope. On +his return to the garrison, the treachery of the Indians being made +known, the governor might so far, and with a view of gaining time, give +in to the plan of his enemies, as to obtain such delay as would afford +the chance of communication between the forts. The attempt, on the part +of those who should be selected for this purpose, would, it is true, be +a desperate one: still it must be made; and, with such incentives to +exertion as he had, how willingly would he propose his own services! + +The more he dwelt on this mode of defeating the subtle designs of the +enemy, the more practicable did it appear. Of his own safe return to +the fort he entertained not a doubt; for he knew and relied on the +Indian woman, who was bound to him by a tie of gratitude, which her +conduct that night evidently denoted to be superior even to the +interests of her race. Moreover, as he had approached the encampment +unnoticed while the chiefs were yet awake to every thing around them, +how little probability was there of his return being detected while all +lay wrapped in the most profound repose. It is true that, for a moment, +his confidence deserted him as he recurred to the earnest dialogue of +the two Indians, and the sudden display of the rope and boot, the +latter of which articles he had at once recognised to be one of those +he had so recently worn; but his apprehensions on that score were again +speedily set to rest, when he reflected, had any suspicion existed in +the minds of these men that an enemy was lurking near them, a general +alarm would have been spread, and hundreds of warriors despatched to +scour the forest. + +The night was now rapidly waning away, and already the cold damp air of +an autumnal morning was beginning to make itself felt. More than half +an hour had elapsed since the departure of Ponteac and his companion, +and yet Oucanasta came not. With a sense of the approach of day came +new and discouraging thoughts, and, for some minutes, the mind of the +young officer became petrified with horror, as he reflected on the bare +possibility of his escape being intercepted. The more he lingered on +this apprehension, the more bewildered were his ideas; and already, in +horrible perspective, he beheld the destruction of his nearest and +dearest friends, and the host of those who were humbler followers, and +partakers in the same destiny. Absolutely terrified with the misgivings +of his own heart, he, in the wildness and unconnectedness of his +purpose, now resolved to make the attempt to return alone, although he +knew not even the situation of the path he had so recently quitted. He +had actually moved a pace forward on his desperate enterprise, when he +felt a band touching the extended arm with which he groped to find the +entrance to his hiding-place. The unexpected collision sent a cold +shudder through his frame; and such was the excitement to which he had +worked himself up, it was not without difficulty he suppressed an +exclamation, that must inevitably have sealed his doom. The soft tones +of Oucanasta's voice re-assured him. + +"The day will soon dawn," she whispered; "the Saganaw must go." + +With the return of hope came the sense of all he owed to the +devotedness of this kind woman. He grasped the hand that still lingered +on his arm, pressed it affectionately in his own, and then placed it in +silence on his throbbing heart. The breathing of Oucanasta became +deeper, and the young officer fancied he could feel her trembling with +agitation. Again, however, and in a tone of more subdued expression, +she whispered that he must go. + +There was little urging necessary to induce a prompt compliance with +the hint. Cautiously emerging from his concealment, Captain de Haldimar +now followed close in the rear of his guide, who took the same circuit +of the forest to reach the path that led towards the fort. This they +speedily gained, and then pursued their course in silence, until they +at length arrived at the log where the exchange of mocassins had been +made. + +"Here the Saganaw may take breath," she observed, as she seated herself +on the fallen tree; "the sleep of the red skin is sound, and there is +no one upon the path but Oucanasta." + +Anxious as he felt to secure his return to the fort, there was an +implied solicitation in the tones of her to whom he owed so much, that +prevented Captain de Haldimar from offering an objection, which he +feared might be construed into slight. + +For a moment or two the Indian remained with her arms folded, and her +head bent over her chest; and then, in a low, deep, but tremulous +voice, observed,-- + +"When the Saganaw saved Oucanasta from perishing in the angry waters, +there was a girl of the pale faces with him, whose skin was like the +snows of the Canadian winter, and whose hair was black like the fur of +the squirrel. Oucanasta saw," she pursued, dropping her voice yet +lower, "that the Saganaw was loved by the pale girl, and her own heart +was very sick, for the Saganaw had saved her life, and she loved him +too. But she knew she was very foolish, and that an Indian girl could +never be the wife of a handsome chief of the Saganaw; and she prayed to +the Great Spirit of the red skins to give her strength to overcome her +feelings; but the Great Spirit was angry with her, and would not hear +her." She paused a moment, and then abruptly demanded, "Where is that +pale girl now?" + +Captain de Haldimar had often been rallied, not only by his +brother-officers, but even by his sister and Madeline de Haldimar +herself, on the conquest he had evidently made of the heart of this +Indian girl. The event to which she had alluded had taken place several +months previous to the breaking out of hostilities. Oucanasta was +directing her frail bark, one evening, along the shores of the Detroit, +when one of those sudden gusts of wind, so frequent in these countries, +upset the canoe, and left its pilot struggling amid the waves. Captain +de Haldimar, who happened to be on the bank at the moment with his +sister and cousin, was an eye-witness of her danger, and instantly flew +down the steep to her assistance. Being an excellent swimmer, he was +not long in gaining the spot, where, exhausted with the exertion she +had made, and encumbered with her awkward machecoti, the poor girl was +already on the point of perishing. But for his timely assistance, +indeed, she must have sunk to the bottom; and, since that period, the +grateful being had been remarked for the strong but unexpressed +attachment she felt for her deliverer. This, however, was the first +moment Captain de Haldimar became acquainted with the extent of +feelings, the avowal of which not a little startled and surprised, and +even annoyed him. The last question, however, suggested a thought that +kindled every fibre of his being into expectancy,--Oucanasta might be +the saviour of those he loved; and he felt that, if time were but +afforded her, she would. He rose from the log, dropped on one knee +before the Indian, seized both her hands with eagerness, and then in +tones of earnest supplication whispered,-- + +"Oucanasta is right: the pale girl with the skin like snow, and hair +like the fur of the squirrel, is the bride of the Saganaw. Long before +he saved the life of Oucanasta, he knew and loved that pale girl. She +is dearer to the Saganaw than his own blood; but she is in the fort +beyond the great lake, and the tomahawks of the red skins will destroy +her; for the warriors of that fort have no one to tell them of their +danger. What says the red girl? will she go and save the lives of the +sister and the wife of the Saganaw." + +The breathing of the Indian became deeper; and Captain de Haldimar +fancied she sighed heavily, as she replied,-- + +"Oucanasta is but a weak woman, and her feet are not swift like those +of a runner among the red skins; but what the Saganaw asks, for his +sake she will try. When she has seen him safe to his own fort, she will +go and prepare herself for the journey. The pale girl shall lay her +head on the bosom of the Saganaw, and Oucanasta will try to rejoice in +her happiness." + +In the fervour of his gratitude, the young officer caught the drooping +form of the generous Indian wildly to his heart; his lips pressed hers, +and during the kiss that followed, the heart of the latter bounded and +throbbed, as if it would have passed from her own into the bosom of her +companion. + +Never was a kiss less premeditated, less unchaste. Gratitude, not +passion, had called it forth; and had Madeline de Haldimar been near at +the moment, the feeling that had impelled the seeming infidelity to +herself would have been regarded as an additional claim on her +affection. On the whole, however, it was a most unfortunate and +ill-timed kiss, and, as is often the case under such circumstances, led +to the downfall of the woman. In the vivacity of his embrace, Captain +de Haldimar had drawn his guide so far forward upon the log, that she +lost her balance, and fell with a heavy and reverberating crash among +the leaves and dried sticks that were strewed thickly around. + +Scarcely a second elapsed when the forest was alive with human yells, +that fell achingly on the ears of both; and bounding warriors were +heard on every hand, rapidly dividing the dense underwood they +encountered in their pursuit. + +Quick as thought the Indian had regained her feet. She grasped the hand +of her companion; and hurrying, though not without caution, along the +path, again stood on the brow of the ravine through which they had +previously passed. + +"The Saganaw must go alone," she whispered. "The red skins are close +upon our trail, but they will find only an Indian woman, when they +expect a pale face. Oucanasta will save her friend." + +Captain de Haldimar did as he was desired. Clinging to the bushes that +lined the face of the precipitous descent, he managed once more to gain +the bed of the ravine. For a moment he paused to listen to the sounds +of his pursuers, whose footsteps were now audible on the eminence he +had just quitted; and then, gathering himself up for the leap that was +to enable him to clear the rivulet, he threw himself heavily forward. +His feet alighted upon an elevated and yielding substance, that gave +way with a crashing sound that echoed far and near throughout the +forest, and he felt himself secured as if in a trap. Although +despairing of escape, he groped with his hands to discover what it was +that thus detained him, and found he had fallen through a bark canoe, +the bottom of which had been turned upwards. The heart of the fugitive +now sank within him: there could be no doubt that his retreat was +intercepted. The canoe had been placed there since he last passed +through the ravine: and it was evident, from the close and triumphant +yell that followed the rending of the frail bark, such a result had +been anticipated. + +Stunned as he was by the terrific cries of the savages, and confused as +were his ideas, Captain de Haldimar had still presence of mind to +perceive the path itself offered him no further security. He therefore +quitted it altogether, and struck, in an oblique direction, up the +opposite face of the ravine. Scarcely had he gone twenty yards, when he +heard the voices of several Indians conversing earnestly near the canoe +he had just quitted; and presently afterwards he could distinctly hear +them ascending the opposite brow of the ravine by the path he recently +congratulated himself on having abandoned. To advance or to recede was +now equally impracticable; for, on every side, he was begirt by +enemies, into whose hands a single false step must inevitably betray +him. What would he not have given for the presence of Oucanasta, who +was so capable of advising him in this difficulty! but, from the moment +of his descending into the ravine, he had utterly lost sight of her. + +The spot on which he now rested was covered with thick brushwood, +closely interwoven at their tops, but affording sufficient space +beneath for a temporary close concealment; so that, unless some Indian +should touch him with his foot, there was little seeming probability of +his being discovered by the eye. Under this he crept, and lay, +breathless and motionless, with his head raised from the ground, and +his ear on the stretch for the slightest noise. For several minutes he +remained in this position, vainly seeking to catch the sound of a +voice, or the fall of a footstep; but the most deathlike silence had +succeeded to the fierce yellings that had so recently rent the forest. +At times he fancied he could distinguish faint noises in the direction +of the encampment; and so certain was he of this, he at length came to +the conclusion that the Indians, either baffled in their search, had +relinquished the pursuit, or, having encountered Oucanasta, had been +thrown on a different scent. His first intention had been to lie +concealed until the following night, when the warriors, no longer on +the alert, should leave the path once more open to him; but now that +the conviction of their return was strong on his mind, he changed his +determination, resolving to make the best of his way to the fort with +the aid of the approaching dawn. With this view he partly withdrew his +body from beneath its canopy of underwood; but, scarcely had he done +so, when a hundred tongues, like the baying of so many blood-hounds, +again rent the air with their wild cries, which seemed to rise up from +the very bowels of the earth, and close to the appalled ear of the +young officer. + +Scarcely conscious of what he did, Captain de Haldimar grasped one of +his pistols, for he fancied he felt the hot breathing of human life +upon his cheek. With a sickly sensation of fear, he turned to satisfy +himself whether it was not an illusion of his heated imagination. What, +however, was his dismay, when he beheld bending over him a dark and +heavy form, the outline of which alone was distinguishable in the deep +gloom in which the ravine remained enveloped! Desperation was in the +heart of the excited officer: he cocked his pistol; but scarcely had +the sharp ticking sound floated on the air, when he felt a powerful +hand upon his chest; and, with as much facility as if he had been a +child, was he raised by that invisible hand to his feet. A dozen +warriors now sprang to the assistance of their comrade, when the whole, +having disarmed and bound their prisoner, led him back in triumph to +their encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The fires of the Indians were nearly now extinct; but the faint light +of the fast dawning day threw a ghastly, sickly, hue over the +countenances of the savages, which rendered them even more terrific in +their war paint. The chiefs grouped themselves immediately around their +prisoner, while the inferior warriors, forming an outer circle, stood +leaning their dark forms upon their rifles, and following, with keen +and watchful eye, every movement of their captive. Hitherto the +unfortunate officer had been too much engrossed by his despair to pay +any immediate attention to the individual who had first discovered and +seized him. It was sufficient for him to know all hope of the safety of +the garrison had perished with his captivity: and, with that +recklessness of life which often springs from the very consciousness of +inability to preserve it, he now sullenly awaited the death which he +expected at each moment would be inflicted. Suddenly his ear was +startled by an interrogatory, in English, from one who stood behind him. + +With a movement of surprise, Captain de Haldimar turned to examine his +questioner. It was the dark and ferocious warrior who had exhibited the +scalp of his ill-fated servant. For a moment the officer fixed his eyes +firmly and unshrinkingly on those of the savage, seeking to reconcile +the contradiction that existed between his dress and features and the +purity of the English he had just spoken. The other saw his drift, and, +impatient of the scrutiny, again repeated, as he fiercely pulled the +strong leathern thong by which the prisoner now found himself secured +to his girdle,-- + +"Who and what are you?--whence come you?--and for what purpose are you +here?" Then, as if struck by some sudden recollection, he laid his hand +upon the shoulder of his victim; and, while his eye grew upon his +features, he pursued, in a tone of vehemence,--"Ha! by Heaven, I should +know that face!--the cursed lines of the blood of De Haldimar are +stamped upon that brow! But stay, one proof and I am satisfied." While +he yet spoke he dashed the menial hat of his captive to the earth, put +aside his hair, and then, with fiendish exultation, pursued,--"It is +even so. Do you recollect the battle of the plains of Abraham, Captain +de Haldimar?--Recollect you the French officer who aimed so desperately +at your life, and whose object was defeated by a soldier of your +regiment? I am that officer: my victim escaped me then, but not for +ever. The hour of vengeance is nearly now arrived, and your capture is +the pledge of my success. Hark, how the death-cry of all his hated race +will ring in madness on your father's ear!" + +Amazement, stupefaction, and horror, filled the mind of the wretched +officer at this extraordinary declaration. He perfectly recollected +that the individual who had evinced so much personal hostility on the +occasion alluded to, was indeed a man wearing the French uniform, +although at the head of a band of savages, and of a stature and +strength similar to those of him who now so fiercely avowed himself the +bitter and deadly foe of all his race. If this were so, and his tone +and language left little room for doubt, the doom of the ill-fated +garrison was indeed irrevocably sealed. This mysterious enemy evidently +possessed great influence in the councils of the Indians; and while the +hot breath of his hatred continued to fan the flame of fierce hostility +that had been kindled in the bosom of Ponteac, whose particular friend +he appeared to be, there would be no end to the atrocities that must +follow. Great, however, as was the dismay of Captain de Haldimar, who, +exhausted with the adventures of the night, presented a ghastly image +of anxiety and fatigue, it was impossible for him to repress the +feelings of indignation with which the language of this fierce man had +inspired him. + +"If you are in reality a French officer," he said, "and not an +Englishman, as your accent would denote, the sentiments you have now +avowed may well justify the belief, that you have been driven with +ignominy from a service which your presence must eternally have +disgraced. There is no country in Europe that would willingly claim you +for its subject. Nay, even the savage race, with whom you are now +connected, would, if apprised of your true nature, spurn you as a thing +unworthy to herd even with their wolf-dogs." + +A fierce sardonic laugh burst from the lips of the warrior, but this +was so mingled with rage as to give an almost devilish expression to +his features. + +"Ignominy--ignominy!" he repeated, while his right hand played +convulsively with the handle of his tomahawk; "is it for a De Haldimar +to taunt me with ignominy? Fool!" he pursued, after a momentary pause, +"you have sealed your doom." Then abruptly quitting the handle of his +weapon, he thrust his hand into his bosom, and again drawing forth the +reeking scalp of Donellan, he dashed it furiously in the face of his +prisoner. "Not two hours since," he exclaimed, "I cheered myself with +the thought that the scalp of a De Haldimar was in my pouch. Now, +indeed, do I glory in my mistake. The torture will be a more fitting +death for you." + +Had an arm of the insulted soldier been at liberty, the offence would +not have gone unavenged even there; for such was the desperation of his +heart, that he felt he could have hugged the death struggle with his +insolent captor, notwithstanding the fearful odds, nor quitted him +until one or both should have paid the debt of fierce enmity with life. +As it was he could only betray, by his flashing eye, excited look, and +the impatient play of his foot upon the ground, the deep indignation +that consumed his heart. + +The tall savage exulted in the mortification he had awakened, and as +his eye glanced insolently from head to foot along his enemy, its +expression told how much he laughed at the impotence of his anger. +Suddenly, however, a change passed over his features. The mocassin of +the officer had evidently attracted his attention, and he now demanded, +in a more serious and imperative tone,-- + +"Ha! what means this disguise? Who is the wretch whom I have slain, +mistaking him for a nobler victim; and how comes it that an officer of +the English garrison appears here in the garb of a servant? By heaven, +it is so! you are come as a spy into the camp of the Indians to steal +away the councils of the chiefs. Speak, what have you heard?" + +With these questions returned the calm and self-possession of the +officer. He at once saw the importance of his answer, on which hung not +merely his own last faint chance of safety, but that also of his +generous deliverer. Struggling to subdue the disgust which he felt at +holding converse with this atrocious monster, he asked in turn,-- + +"Am I then the only one whom the warriors have overtaken in their +pursuit?" + +"There was a woman, the sister of that boy," and he pointed +contemptuously to the young chief who had so recently assailed him, and +who now, in common with his followers, stood impatiently listening to a +colloquy that was unintelligible to all. "Speak truly, was SHE not the +traitress who conducted you here?" + +"Had you found me here," returned the officer, with difficulty +repressing his feelings, "there might have been some ground for the +assertion; but surely the councils of the chiefs could not be overheard +at the distant point at which you discovered me." + +"Why then were you there in this disguise?--and who is he," again +holding up the bloody scalp, "whom I have despoiled of this?" + +"There are few of the Ottawa Indians," returned Captain de Haldimar, +"who are ignorant I once saved that young woman's life. Is it then so +very extraordinary an attachment should have been the consequence? The +man whom you slew was my servant. I had brought him out with me for +protection during my interview with the woman, and I exchanged my +uniform with him for the same purpose. There is nothing in this, +however, to warrant the supposition of my being a spy." + +During the delivery of these more than equivocal sentences, which, +however, he felt were fully justified by circumstances, the young +officer had struggled to appear calm and confident; but, despite of his +exertions, his consciousness caused his cheek to colour, and his eye to +twinkle, beneath the searching glance of his ferocious enemy. The +latter thrust his hand into his chest, and slowly drew forth the rope +he had previously exhibited to Ponteac. + +"Do you think me a fool, Captain de Haldimar," he observed, sneeringly, +"that you expect so paltry a tale to be palmed successfully on my +understanding? An English officer is not very likely to run the risk of +breaking his neck by having recourse to such a means of exit from a +besieged garrison, merely to intrigue with an Indian woman, when there +are plenty of soldiers' wives within, and that too at an hour when he +knows the scouts of his enemies are prowling in the neighbourhood. +Captain de Haldimar," he concluded, slowly and deliberately, "you have +lied." + +Despite of the last insult, his prisoner remained calm. The very +observation that had just been made afforded him a final hope of +exculpation, which, if it benefited not himself, might still be of +service to the generous Oucanasta. + +"The onus of such language," he observed coolly and with dignity, +"falls not on him to whom it is addressed, but on him who utters it. +Yet one who professes to have been himself a soldier, must see in this +very circumstance a proof of my innocence. Had I been sent out as a spy +to reconnoitre the movements, and to overhear the councils of our +enemies, the gate would have been open for my egress; but that rope is +in itself an evidence I must have stolen forth unknown to the garrison." + +Whether it was that the warrior had his own particular reasons for +attaching truth to this statement, or that he merely pretended to do +so, Captain de Haldimar saw with secret satisfaction his last argument +was conclusive. + +"Well, be it so," retorted the savage, while a ferocious smile passed +over his swarthy features; "but, whether you have been here as a spy, +or have merely ventured out in prosecution of an intrigue, it matters +not. Before the sun has travelled far in the meridian you die; and the +tomahawk of your father's deadly foe--of--of--of Wacousta, as I am +called, shall be the first to drink your blood." + +The officer made a final effort at mercy. "Who or what you are, or +whence your hatred of my family, I know not," he said; "but surely I +have never injured you: wherefore, then, this insatiable thirst for my +blood? If you are, indeed, a Christian and a soldier, let your heart be +touched with humanity, and procure my restoration to my friends. You +once attempted my life in honourable combat, why not wait, then, until +a fitting opportunity shall give not a bound and defenceless victim to +your steel, but one whose resistance may render him a conquest worthy +of your arm?" + +"What! and be balked of the chance of my just revenge? Hear me, Captain +de Haldimar," he pursued, in that low, quick, deep tone that told all +the strong excitement of his heart:--"I have, it is true, no particular +enmity to yourself, further than that you are a De Haldimar; but hell +does not supply a feeling half so bitter as my enmity to your proud +father; and months, nay years, have I passed in the hope of such an +hour as this. For this have I forsworn my race, and become--what you +now behold me--a savage both in garb and character. But this matters +not," he continued, fiercely and impatiently, "your doom is sealed; and +before another sun has risen, your stern father's gaze shall be blasted +with the sight of the mangled carcase of his first born. Ha! ha! ha!" +and he laughed low and exultingly; "even now I think I see him +withering, if heart so hard can wither, beneath this proof of my +undying hate." + +"Fiend!--monster!--devil!" exclaimed the excited officer, now losing +sight of all considerations of prudence in the deep horror inspired by +his captor:--"Kill me--torture me--commit any cruelty on me, if such be +your savage will; but outrage not humanity by the fulfilment of your +last disgusting threat. Suffer not a father's heart to be agonised--a +father's eye to be blasted--with a view of the mangled remains of him +to whom he has given life." + +Again the savage rudely pulled the thong that bound his prisoner to his +girdle, and removing his tomahawk from his belt, and holding its +sullied point close under the eye of the former, exclaimed, as he bent +eagerly over him,-- + +"See you this, Captain de Haldimar? At the still hour of midnight, +while you had abandoned your guard to revel in the arms of your Indian +beauty, I stole into the fort by means of the same rope that you had +used in quitting it. Unseen by the sentinels I gained your father's +apartment. It was the first time we had met for twenty years; and I do +believe that had the very devil presented himself in my place, he would +have been received with fewer marks of horror. Oh, how that proud man's +eye twinkled beneath this glittering blade! He attempted to call out, +but my look paralysed his tongue, and cold drops of sweat stole rapidly +down his brow and cheek. Then it was that my seared heart once more +beat with the intoxication of triumph. Your father was alone and +unarmed, and throughout the fort not a sound was to be heard, save the +distant tread of the sentinels. I could have laid him dead, at my feet +at a single blow, and yet have secured my retreat. But no, that was not +my object. I came to taunt him with the promise of my revenge--to tell +him the hour of my triumph was approaching fast; and, ha!" he +concluded, laughing hideously as he passed his large rude hand through +the wavy hair of the now uncovered officer, "this is, indeed, a fair +and unexpected first earnest of the full redemption of my pledge. +No--no!" he continued, as if talking to himself, "he must not die. +Tantulus-like, he shall have death ever apparently within his grasp; +but, until all his race have perished before his eyes, he shall not +attain it." + +Hitherto the Indians had preserved an attitude of calm, listening to +the interrogatories put to the prisoner with that wonder and curiosity +with which a savage people hear a language different from their own; +and marking the several emotions that were elicited in the course of +the animated colloquy of the pale faces. Gradually, however, they +became impatient under its duration; and many of them, in the +excitement produced by the fierce manner of him who was called +Wacousta, fixed their dark eyes upon the captive, while they grasped +the handles of their tomahawks, as if they would have disputed with the +former the privilege of dying his weapon first in his blood. When they +saw the warrior hold up his menacing blade to the eye of his victim, +while he passed his hand through the redundant hair, they at once +inferred the sacrifice was about to be completed, and rushing furiously +forward, they bounded, and leaped, and yelled, and brandished their own +weapons in the most appalling manner. + +Already had the unhappy officer given himself self up for lost; fifty +bright tomahawks were playing about his head at the same instant, and +death--that death which is never without terror to the young, however +brave they may be in the hour of generous conflict--seemed to have +arrived at last. He raised his eyes to Heaven, committing his soul to +his God in the same silent prayer that he offered up for the +preservation of his friends and comrades; and then bending them upon +the earth, summoned all his collectedness and courage to sustain him +through the trial. At the very moment, however when he expected to feel +the crashing steel within his brain, he felt himself again violently +pulled by the thong that secured his hands. In the next instant he was +pressed close to the chest of his vast enemy, who, with one arm +encircling his prisoner, and the other brandishing his fierce blade in +rapid evolutions round his head, kept the yelling band at bay, with the +evident unshaken determination to maintain his sole and acknowledged +right to the disposal of his captive. + +For several moments the event appeared doubtful; but, notwithstanding +his extreme agility in the use of a weapon, in the management of which +he evinced all the dexterity of the most practised native, the odds +were fearfully against Wacousta; and while his flashing eye and +swelling chest betrayed his purpose rather to perish himself than +suffer the infringement of his claim, it was evident that numbers must, +in the end, prevail against him. On an appeal to Ponteac, however, of +which he now suddenly bethought himself, the authority of the latter +was successfully exerted, and he was again left in the full and +undisturbed possession of his prisoner. + +A low and earnest conversation now ensued among the chiefs, in which, +as before, Wacousta bore a principal part. When this was terminated, +several Indians approached the unhappy officer, and unfastening the +thong with which his hands were firmly and even painfully girt, +deprived him both of coat, waistcoat, and shirt. He was then bound a +second time in the same manner, his body besmeared with paint, and his +head so disguised as to give him the caricature semblance of an Indian +warrior. When these preparations were completed, he was led to the tree +in which he had been previously concealed, and there firmly secured. +Meanwhile Wacousta, at the head of a numerous band of warriors, had +departed once more in the direction of the fort. + +With the rising of the sun now vanished all traces of the mist that had +fallen since the early hours of morning, leaving the unfortunate +officer ample leisure to survey the difficulties of his position. He +had fancied, from the course taken by his guide the previous night, +that the plain or oasis, as we have elsewhere termed it, lay in the +very heart of the forest; but that route now proved to have been +circuitous. The tree to which he was bound was one of a slight belt, +separating the encampment from the open grounds which extended towards +the river, and which was so thin and scattered on that side as to leave +the clear silver waters of the Detroit visible at intervals. Oh, what +would he not have given, at that cheering sight, to have had his limbs +free, and his chance of life staked on the swiftness of his flight! +While he had imagined himself begirt by interminable forest, he felt as +one whose very thought to elude those who were, in some degree, the +deities of that wild scene, must be paralysed in its first conception. +But here was the vivifying, picture of civilised nature. Corn fields, +although trodden down and destroyed--dwelling houses, although burnt or +dilapidated--told of the existence of those who were of the same race +with himself; and notwithstanding these had perished even as he must +perish, still there was something in the aspect of the very ruins of +their habitations which, contrasted with the solemn gloom of the +forest, carried a momentary and indefinable consolation to his spirit. +Then there was the ripe and teeming orchard, and the low whitewashed +cabin of the Canadian peasant, to whom the offices of charity, and the +duties of humanity, were no strangers; and who, although the secret +enemies of his country, had no motive for personal hostility towards +himself. Then, on the river itself, even at that early hour, was to be +seen, fastened to the long stake driven into its bed, or secured by the +rude anchor of stone appended to a cable of twisted bark, the light +canoe or clumsy periagua of the peasant fisherman, who, ever and anon, +drew up from its deep bosom the shoal-loving pickerel or pike, or white +or black bass, or whatever other tenant of these waters might chance to +affix itself to the traitorous hook. It is true that his view of these +objects was only occasional and indistinct; but his intimate +acquaintance with the localities beyond brought every thing before +Captain de Haldimar's eye; and even while he sighed to think they were +for ever cut off from his reach, he already, in idea, followed the +course of flight he should pursue were the power but afforded him. + +From this train of painful and exciting thought the wretched captive +was aroused, by a faint but continued yelling in a distant part of the +forest, and in the direction that had been taken by Wacousta and his +warriors. Then, after a short interval, came the loud booming of the +cannon of the fort, carried on with a spirit and promptitude that told +of some pressing and dangerous emergency, and fainter afterwards the +sharp shrill reports of the rifles, bearing evidence the savages were +already in close collision with the garrison. Various were the +conjectures that passed rapidly through the mind of the young officer, +during a firing that had called almost every Indian in the encampment +away to the scene of action, save the two or three young Ottawas who +had been left to guard his own person, and who lay upon the sward near +him, with head erect and ear sharply set, listening to the startling +sounds of conflict. What the motive of the hurried departure of the +Indians was he knew not; but he had conjectured the object of the +fierce Wacousta was to possess himself of the uniform in which his +wretched servant was clothed, that no mistake might occur in his +identity, when its true owner should be exhibited in it, within view of +the fort, mangled and disfigured, in the manner that fierce and +mysterious man had already threatened. It was exceedingly probable the +body of Donellan had been mistaken for his own, and that in the anxiety +of his father to prevent the Indians from carrying it off, the cannon +had been directed to open upon them. But if this were the case, how +were the reports of the rifles, and the fierce yellings that continued, +save at intervals, to ring throughout the forest to be accounted for? +The bullets of the Indians evidently could not reach the fort, and they +were too wily, and attached too much value to their ammunition, to risk +a shot that was not certain of carrying a wound with it. For a moment +the fact itself flashed across his mind, and he attributed the fire of +small arms to the attack and defence of a party that had been sent out +for the purpose of securing the body, supposed to be his own; yet, if +so, again how was he to account for his not hearing the report of a +single musket? His ear was too well practised not to know the sharp +crack of the rifle from the heavy dull discharge of the musket, and as +yet the former only had been distinguishable, amid the intervals that +ensued between each sullen booming of the cannon. While this impression +continued on the mind of the anxious officer, he caught, with the +avidity of desperation, at the faint and improbable idea that his +companions might be able to penetrate to his place of concealment, and +procure his liberation; but when he found the firing, instead of +drawing nearer, was confined to the same spot, and even more fiercely +kept up by the Indians towards the close, he again gave way to his +despair, and resigning himself to his fate, no longer sought comfort in +vain speculation as to its cause. His ear now caught the report of the +last shell as it exploded, and then all was still and hushed, as if +what he had so recently heard was but a dream. + +The first intimation given him of the return of the savages was the +death howl, set up by the women within the encampment. Captain de +Haldimar turned his eyes, instinct with terror, towards the scene, and +beheld the warriors slowly issuing from the opposite side of the forest +into the plain, and bearing in silence the dead and stiffened forms of +those who had been cut down by the destructive fire from the fort. +Their mien was sullen and revengeful, and more than one dark and +gleaming eye did he encounter turned upon him, with an expression that +seemed to say a separate torture should avenge the death of each of +their fallen comrades. + +The early part of the morning wore away in preparation for the +interment of the slain. These were placed in rows under the council +shed, where they were attended by their female relatives, who composed +the features and confined the limbs, while the gloomy warriors dug, +within the limit of the encampment, rude graves, of a depth just +sufficient to receive the body. When these were completed, the dead +were deposited, with the usual superstitious ceremonies of these +people, in their several receptacles, after which a mound of earth was +thrown up over each, and the whole covered with round logs, so disposed +as to form a tomb of semicircular shape: at the head of each grave was +finally planted a pole, bearing various devices in paint, intended to +illustrate the warlike achievements of the defunct parties. + +Captain de Haldimar had followed the course of these proceedings with a +beating heart; for too plainly had he read in the dark and threatening +manner both of men and women, that the retribution about to be wreaked +upon himself would be terrible indeed. Much as he clung to life, and +bitterly as he mourned his early cutting off from the affections +hitherto identified with his existence, his wretchedness would have +been less, had he not been overwhelmed by the conviction that, with +him, must perish every chance of the safety of those, the bare +recollection of whom made the bitterness of death even more bitter. +Harrowing as were these reflections, he felt that immediate +destruction, since it could not be avoided, would be rather a blessing +than otherwise. But such, evidently, was not the purpose of his +relentless enemy. Every species of torment which his cruel invention +could supply would, he felt convinced, be exercised upon his frame; and +with this impression on his mind, it would have required sterner nerves +than his, not to have shrunk from the very anticipation of so dreadful +an ordeal. + +It was now noon, and yet no visible preparation was making for the +consummation of the sacrifice. This, Captain de Haldimar imputed to the +absence of the fierce Wacousta, whom he had not seen since the return +of the warriors from their skirmish. The momentary disappearance of +this extraordinary and ferocious man was, however, fraught with no +consolation to his unfortunate prisoner, who felt he was only engaged +in taking such measures as would render not only his destruction more +certain, but his preliminary sufferings more complicated and +protracted. While he was thus indulging in fruitless speculation as to +the motive for his absence, he fancied he heard the report of a rifle, +succeeded immediately afterwards by the war-whoop, at a considerable +distance, and in the direction of the river. In this impression he was +confirmed, by the sudden upstarting to their feet of the young Indians +to whose custody he had been committed, who now advanced to the outer +edge of the belt of forest, with the apparent object of obtaining a +more unconfined view of the open ground that lay beyond. The rapid +gliding of spectral forms from the interior of the encampment in the +same direction, denoted, moreover, that the Indians generally had +heard, and were attracted by the same sound. + +Presently afterwards, repeated "waughs!" and "Wacousta!--Wacousta!" +from those who had reached the extreme skirt of the forest, fell on the +dismayed ear of the young officer. It was evident, from the peculiar +tones in which these words were pronounced, that they beheld that +warrior approaching them with some communication of interest; and, sick +at heart, and filled with irrepressible dismay, Captain de Haldimar +felt his pulse to throb more violently as each moment brought his enemy +nearer to him. + +A startling interest was now created among the Indians; for, as the +savage warrior neared the forest, his lips pealed forth that peculiar +cry which is meant to announce some intelligence of alarm. Scarcely had +its echoes died away in the forest, when the whole of the warriors +rushed from the encampment towards the clearing. Directed by the sound, +Captain de Haldimar bent his eyes upon the thin skirt of wood that lay +immediately before him, and at intervals could see the towering form of +that vast warrior bounding, with incredible speed, up the sloping +ground that led from the town towards the forest. A ravine lay before +him; but this he cleared, with a prodigious effort, at a single leap; +and then, continuing his way up the slope, amid the low guttural +acclamations of the warriors at his extraordinary dexterity and +strength, finally gained the side of Ponteac, then leaning carelessly +against a tree at a short distance from the prisoner. + +A low and animated conversation now ensued between these two important +personages, which at moments assumed the character of violent +discussion. From what Captain de Haldimar could collect, the Ottawa +chief was severely reproving his friend for the inconsiderate ardour +which had led him that morning into collision with those whom it was +their object to lull into security by a careful avoidance of hostility, +and urging the possibility of their plan being defeated in consequence. +He moreover obstinately refused the pressing request of Wacousta, in +regard to some present enterprise which the latter had just suggested, +the precise nature of which, however, Captain de Haldimar could not +learn. Meanwhile, the rapid flitting of numerous forms to and from the +encampment, arrayed in all the fierce panoply of savage warfare, while +low exclamations of excitement occasionally caught his ear, led the +officer to infer, strange and unusual as such an occurrence was, that +either the detachment already engaged, or a second, was advancing on +their position. Still, this offered little chance of security for +himself; for more than once, during his long conference with Ponteac, +had the fierce Wacousta bent his eye in ferocious triumph on his +victim, as if he would have said,--"Come what will--whatever be the +result--you, at least, shall not escape me." Indeed, so confident did +the latter feel that the instant of attack would be the signal of his +own death, that, after the first momentary and instinctive cheering of +his spirit, he rather regretted the circumstance of their approach; or, +if he rejoiced at all, it was only because it afforded him the prospect +of immediate death, instead of being exposed to all the horror of a +lingering and agonising suffering from the torture. + +While the chiefs were yet earnestly conversing, the alarm cry, +previously uttered by Wacousta, was repeated, although in a low and +subdued tone, by several of the Indians who stood on the brow of the +eminence. Ponteac started suddenly to the same point; but Wacousta +continued for a moment or two rooted to the spot on which he stood, +with the air of one in doubt as to what course he should pursue. He +then abruptly raised his head, fixed his dark and menacing eye on his +captive, and was already in the act of approaching him, when the +earnest and repeated demands for his presence, by the Ottawa chief, +drew him once more to the outskirt of the wood. + +Again Captain de Haldimar breathed freely. The presence of that fierce +man had been a clog upon the vital functions of his heart; and, to be +relieved from it, even at a moment like the present, when far more +important interests might be supposed to occupy his mind, was a +gratification, of which not even the consciousness of impending death +could wholly deprive him. From the continued pressing of the Indians +towards one particular point in the clearing, he now conjectured, that, +from that point, the advance of the troops was visible. Anxious to +obtain even a momentary view of those whom he deemed himself fated +never more to mingle with in this life, he raised himself upon his +feet, and stretched his neck and bent his eager glance in the direction +by which Wacousta had approached; but, so closely were the dark +warriors grouped among the trees, he found it impossible. Once or +twice, however, he thought he could distinguish the gleaming of the +English bayonets in the bright sunshine, as they seemed to file off in +a parallel line with the ravine. Oh, how his generous heart throbbed at +that moment; and how ardently did he wish that he could have stood in +the position of the meanest soldier in those gallant ranks! Perhaps his +own brave and devoted grenadiers were of the number, burning with +enthusiasm to be led against the captors or destroyers of their +officer; and this thought added to his wretchedness still more. + +While the unfortunate prisoner, thus strongly excited, bent his whole +soul on the scene before him, he fancied he heard the approach of a +cautious footstep. He turned his head as well as his confined position +would admit, and beheld, close behind him, a dark Indian, whose eyes +alone were visible above the blanket in which his person was completely +enveloped. His right arm was uplifted, and the blade of a scalping +knife glittered in his hand. A cold shudder ran through the veins of +the young officer, and he closed his eyes, that he might not see the +blow which he felt was about to be directed at his heart. The Indian +glanced hurriedly yet cautiously around, to see if he was observed; and +then, with the rapidity of thought, divided, first the thongs that +secured the legs, and then those which confined the arms of the +defenceless captive. When Captain de Haldimar, full of astonishment at +finding himself once more at liberty, again unclosed his eyes, they +fell on the not unhandsome features of the young chief, the brother of +Oucanasta. + +"The Saganaw is the prisoner of Wacousta," said the Indian hastily; +"and Wacousta is the enemy of the young Ottawa chief. The warriors of +the pale faces are there" (and he pointed directly before him). "If the +Saganaw has a bold heart and a swift foot, he may save his life:" and, +with this intimation, he hurried away in the same cautious manner, and +was in the next instant seen making a circuit to arrive at the point at +which the principal strength of the Indians was collected. + +The position of Captain de Haldimar had now attained its acme of +interest; for on his own exertions alone depended every thing that +remained to be accomplished. With wonderful presence of mind he +surveyed all the difficulties of his course, while he availed himself +at the same moment of whatever advantages were within his grasp. On the +approach of Wacousta, the young Indians, to whose custody he had been +committed, had returned to their post; but no sooner had that warrior, +obeying the call of Ponteac, again departed, than they once more flew +to the extreme skirt of the forest, after first satisfying themselves +the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure. Either with a +view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance in their course, or through +hurry and inadvertence, they had left their blankets near the foot of +the tree. The first thought of the officer was to seize one of these; +for, in order to gain the point whence his final effort to join the +detachment must be made, it was necessary he should pass through the +body of scattered Indians who stood immediately in his way; and the +disguise of the blanket could alone afford him a reasonable chance of +moving unnoticed among them. Secretly congratulating himself on the +insulting mockery that had inducted his upper form in the disguising +warpaint of his enemies, he now drew the protecting blanket close up to +his eyes; and then, with every nerve braced up, every faculty of mind +and body called into action, commenced his dangerous enterprise. + +He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps in advance, +when, to his great discomfiture and alarm, he beheld the formidable +Wacousta approaching from a distance, evidently in search of his +prisoner. With the quickness of thought he determined on his course. To +appear to avoid him would be to excite the suspicion of the fierce +warrior; and, desperate as the alternative was, he resolved to move +undeviatingly forward. At each step that drew him nearer to his enemy, +the beating of his heart became more violent; and had it not been for +the thick coat of paint in which he was invested, the involuntary +contraction of the muscles of his face must inevitably have betrayed +him. Nay, even as it was, had the keen eye of the warrior fallen on +him, such was the agitation of the officer, he felt he must have been +discovered. Happily, however, Wacousta, who evidently took him for some +inferior warrior hastening to the point where his fellows were already +assembled, passed without deigning to look at him, and so close, their +forms almost touched. Captain de Haldimar now quickened his pace. It +was evident there was no time to be lost; for Wacousta, on finding him +gone, would at once give the alarm, when a hundred warriors would be +ready on the instant to intercept his flight. Taking the precaution to +disguise his walk by turning in his toes after the Indian manner, he +reached, with a beating heart, the first of the numerous warriors who +were collected within the belt of forest, anxiously watching the +movements of the detachment in the plain below. To his infinite joy he +found that each was too much intent on what was passing in the +distance, to heed any thing going on near themselves; and when he at +length gained the extreme opening, and stood in a line with those who +were the farthest advanced, without having excited a single suspicion +in his course, he could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses. + +Still the most difficult part of the enterprise remained to be +completed. Hitherto he had moved under the friendly cover of the +underwood, the advantage of which had been to conceal that part of his +regimental trousers which the blanket left exposed; and if he moved +forward into the clearing, the quick glance of an Indian would not be +slow in detecting the difference between these and his own ruder +leggings. There was no alternative now but to commence his flight from +the spot on which he stood; and for this he prepared himself. At one +rapid and comprehensive view he embraced the immediate localities +before him. On the other side of the ravine he could now distinctly see +the English troops, either planning, as he conceived, their own attack, +or waiting in the hope of drawing the Indians from their cover. It was +evident that to reach them the ravine must be crossed, unless the more +circuitous route by the bridge, which was hid from his view by an +intervening hillock, should be preferred; but as the former had been +cleared by Wacousta in his ascent, and was the nearest point by which +the detachment could be approached, to this did he now direct his +undivided attention. + +While he yet paused with indecision, at one moment fancying the time +for starting was not yet arrived, and at the next that he had suffered +it to pass away, the powerful and threatening voice of Wacousta was +heard proclaiming the escape of his captive. Low but expressive +exclamations from the warriors marked their sense of the importance of +the intelligence; and many of them hastily dispersed themselves in +pursuit. This was the critical moment for action: for, as the anxious +officer had rather wished than expected, those Indians who had been +immediately in front, and whose proximity he most dreaded, were among +the number of those who dashed into the heart of the forest--Captain de +Haldimar now stood alone, and full twenty paces in front of the nearest +of the savages. For a moment he played with his mocassined foot to +satisfy himself, of the power and flexibility of its muscles, and then +committing himself to his God, dashed the blanket suddenly from his +shoulders, and, with eye and heart fixed on the distant soldiery, +darted down the declivity with a speed of which he had never yet +believed himself capable. Scarcely, however, had his fleeing form +appeared in the opening, when a tremendous and deafening yell rent the +air, and a dozen wild and naked warriors followed instantly in pursuit. +Attracted by that yell, the terrible Wacousta, who had been seeking his +victim in a different quarter, bounded forward to the front with an eye +flashing fire, and a brow compressed into the fiercest hate; and so +stupendous were his efforts, so extraordinary was his speed, that had +it not been for the young Ottawa chief, who was one of the pursuing +party, and who, under the pretence of assisting in the recapture of the +prisoner, sought every opportunity of throwing himself before, and +embarrassing the movements of his enemy, it is highly probable the +latter would have succeeded. Despite of these obstacles, however, the +fierce Wacousta, who had been the last to follow, soon left the +foremost of his companions far behind him; and but for his sudden fall, +while in the very act of seizing the arm of his prisoner, his gigantic +efforts must have been crowned with the fullest success. But the reader +has already seen how miraculously Captain de Haldimar, reduced to the +last stage of debility, as much from inanition as from the unnatural +efforts of his flight, finally accomplished his return to the +detachment. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +At the western extremity of the lake Huron, and almost washed by the +waters of that pigmy ocean, stands the fort of Michilimackinac. +Constructed on a smaller scale, and garrisoned by a less numerical +force, the defences of this post, although less formidable than those +of the Detroit, were nearly similar, at the period embraced by our +story, both in matter and in manner. Unlike the latter fortress, +however, it boasted none of the advantages afforded by culture; +neither, indeed, was there a single spot in the immediate vicinity that +was not clad in the eternal forest of these regions. It is true, that +art and laborious exertion had so far supplied the deficiencies of +nature as to isolate the fort, and throw it under the protecting sweep +of its cannon; but, while this afforded security, it failed to produce +any thing like a pleasing effect to the eye. The very site on which the +fortress now stood had at one period been a portion of the wilderness +that every where around was only terminated by the sands on the lake +shore: and, although time and the axe of the pioneer had in some degree +changed its features, still there was no trace of that blended natural +scenery that so pleasingly diversified the vicinity of the sister fort. +Here and there, along the imperfect clearing, and amid the dark and +thickly studded stumps of the felled trees, which in themselves were +sufficient to give the most lugubrious character to the scene, rose the +rude log cabin of the settler; but, beyond this, cultivation appeared +to have lost her power in proportion with the difficulties she had to +encounter. Even the two Indian villages, L'Arbre-Croche and Chabouiga, +situate about a mile from the fort, with which they formed nearly an +equilateral triangle, were hid from the view of the garrison by the +dark dense forest, in the heart of which they were embedded. + +Lake ward the view was scarcely less monotonous; but it was not, as in +the rear, that monotony which is never occasionally broken in upon by +some occurrence of interest. If the eye gazed long and anxiously for +the white sail of the well known armed vessel, charged at stated +intervals with letters and tidings of those whom time, and distance, +and danger, far from estranging, rendered more dear to the memory, and +bound more closely to the heart, it was sure of being rewarded at last; +and then there was no picture on which it could love to linger so well +as that of the silver waves bearing that valued vessel in safety to its +wonted anchorage in the offing. Moreover, the light swift bark canoes +of the natives often danced joyously on its surface; and while the +sight was offended at the savage, skulking among the trees of the +forest, like some dark spirit moving cautiously in its course of secret +destruction, and watching the moment when he might pounce unnoticed on +his unprepared victim, it followed, with momentary pleasure and +excitement, the activity and skill displayed by the harmless paddler, +in the swift and meteor-like race that set the troubled surface of the +Huron in a sheet of hissing foam. Nor was this all. When the eye turned +wood-ward, it fell heavily, and without interest, upon a dim and dusky +point, known to enter upon savage scenes and unexplored countries; +whereas, whenever it reposed upon the lake, it was with an eagerness +and energy that embraced the most vivid recollections of the past, and +led the imagination buoyantly over every well-remembered scene that had +previously been traversed, and which must be traversed again before the +land of the European could be pressed once more. The forest, in a word, +formed, as it were, the gloomy and impenetrable walls of the +prison-house, and the bright lake that lay before it the only portal +through which happiness and liberty could be again secured. + +The principal entrance into the fort, which presented four equal sides +of a square, was from the forest; but, immediately opposite to this, +and behind the apartments of the commanding officer, there was another +small gate that opened upon the lake shore; but which, since the +investment of the place, had been kept bolted and locked, with a +precaution befitting the danger to which the garrison was exposed. +Still, there were periods, even now, when its sullen hinges were to be +heard moaning on the midnight breeze; for it served as a medium of +communication between the besieged and others who were no less +critically circumstanced than themselves. + +The very day before the Indians commenced their simultaneous attack on +the several posts of the English, the only armed vessel that had been +constructed on these upper lakes, serving chiefly as a medium of +communication between Detroit and Michilimackinac, had arrived with +despatches and letters from the former fort. A well-concerted plan of +the savages to seize her in her passage through the narrow waters of +the river Sinclair had only been defeated by the vigilance of her +commander; but, ever since the breaking out of the war, she had been +imprisoned within the limits of the Huron. Laborious indeed was the +duty of the devoted crew. Several attempts had been renewed by the +Indians to surprise them; but, although their little fleets stole +cautiously and noiselessly, at the still hour of midnight, to the spot +where, at the last expiring rays of twilight, they had beheld her +carelessly anchored, and apparently lulled into security, the subject +of their search was never to be met with. No sooner were objects on the +shore rendered indistinct to the eye, than the anchor was silently +weighed, and, gliding wherever the breeze might choose to carry her, +the light bark was made to traverse the lake, with every sail set, +until dawn. None, however, were suffered to slumber in the presumed +security afforded by this judicious flight. Every man was at his post; +and, while a silence so profound was preserved, that the noise of a +falling pin might have been heard upon her decks, every thing was in +readiness to repel an attack of their enemies, should the vessel, in +her course, come accidentally in collision with their pigmy fleets. +When morning broke, and no sign of their treacherous foes was visible, +the vessel was again anchored, and the majority of the crew suffered to +retire to their hammocks, while the few whose turn of duty it chanced +to be, kept a vigilant look-out, that, on the slightest appearance of +alarm, their slumbering comrades might again be aroused to energy and +action. + +Severe and harassing as had been the duty on board this vessel for many +months,--at one moment exposed to the assaults of the savages, at +another assailed by the hurricanes that are so prevalent and so +dangerous on the American lakes,--the situation of the crew was even +less enviable than that of the garrison itself. What chiefly +contributed to their disquietude, was the dreadful consciousness that, +however their present efforts might secure a temporary safety, the +period of their fall was only protracted. A few months more must bring +with them all the severity of the winter of those climes, and then, +blocked up in a sea of ice,--exposed to all the rigour of cold,--all +the miseries of hunger,--what effectual resistance could they oppose to +the numerous bands of Indians who, availing themselves of the +defenceless position of their enemies, would rush from every quarter to +their destruction. + +At the outset of these disheartening circumstances the officer had +summoned his faithful crew together, and pointing out the danger and +uncertainty of their position, stated that two chances of escape still +remained to them. The first was, by an attempt to accomplish the +passage of the river Sinclair during some dark and boisterous night, +when the Indians would be least likely to suspect such an intention: it +was at this point that the efforts of their enemies were principally to +be apprehended; but if, under cover of storm and darkness, they could +accomplish this difficult passage, they would easily gain the Detroit, +and thence pass into lake Erie, at the further extremity of which they +might, favoured by Providence, effect a landing, and penetrate to the +inhabited parts of the colony of New York. The other alternative +was,--and he left it to themselves to determine,--to sink the vessel on +the approach of winter, and throw themselves into the fort before them, +there to await and share the destiny of its gallant defenders. + +With the generous enthusiasm of their profession, the noble fellows had +determined on the latter course. With their officer they fully +coincided in opinion, that their ultimate hopes of life depended on the +safe passage of the Sinclair; for it was but too obvious, that soon or +late, unless some very extraordinary revolution should be effected in +the intentions of the Indians, the fortress must be starved into +submission. Still, as it was tolerably well supplied with provisions, +this gloomy prospect was remote, and they were willing to run all +chances with their friends on shore, rather than desert them in their +extremity. The determination expressed by them, therefore, was, that +when they could no longer keep the lake in safety, they would, if the +officer permitted it, scuttle the vessel, and attempt an entrance into +the fort, where they would share the fate of the troops, whatever it +might chance to be. + +No sooner was this resolution made known, than their young commander +sought an opportunity of communicating with the garrison, This, +however, was no very easy task; for, so closely was the fort hemmed in +by the savages, it was impossible to introduce a messenger within its +walls; and so sudden had been the cutting off of all communication +between the vessel and the shore, that the thought had not even +occurred to either commander to establish the most ordinary +intelligence by signal. In this dilemma recourse was had to an +ingenious expedient. The dispatches of the officer were enclosed in one +of the long tin tubes in which were generally deposited the maps and +charts of the schooner, and to this, after having been carefully +soldered, was attached an inch rope of several hundred fathoms in +length: the case was then put into one of the ship's guns, so placed as +to give it the elevation of a mortar; thus prepared, advantage was +taken of a temporary absence of the Indians to bring the vessel within +half a mile of the shore, and when the attention of the garrison, +naturally attracted by this unusual movement, was sufficiently +awakened, that opportunity was chosen for the discharge of the gun; and +as the quantity of powder had been proportionably reduced for the +limited range, the tube was soon safely deposited within the rampart. +The same means were adopted in replying; and one end of the rope +remaining attached to the schooner, all that was necessary was to +solder up the tube as before, and throw it over the ramparts upon the +sands, whence it was immediately pulled over her side by the watchful +mariners. + +As the dispatch conveyed to the garrison, among other subjects of +interest, bore the unwelcome intelligence that the supplies of the crew +were nearly expended, an arrangement was proposed by which, at stated +intervals, a more immediate communication with the former might be +effected. Whenever, therefore, the wind permitted, the vessel was kept +hovering in sight during the day, beneath the eyes of the savages, and +on the approach of evening an unshotted gun was discharged, with a view +of drawing their attention more immediately to her movements; every +sail was then set, and under a cloud of canvass the course of the +schooner was directed towards the source of the Sinclair, as if an +attempt to accomplish that passage was to be made during the night. No +sooner, however, had the darkness fairly set in, than the vessel was +put about, and, beating against the wind, generally contrived to reach +the offing at a stated hour, when a boat, provided with muffled oars, +was sent off to the shore. This ruse had several times deceived the +Indians, and it was on these occasions that the small gate to which we +have alluded was opened, for the purpose of conveying the necessary +supplies. + +The buildings of the fort consisted chiefly of block-houses, the +internal accommodations of which were fully in keeping with their rude +exterior, being but indifferently provided with the most ordinary +articles of comfort, and fitted up as the limited resources of that +wild and remote district could supply. The best and most agreeably +situated of these, if a choice could be made, was that of the +commanding officer. This building rose considerably above the others, +and overhanging that part of the rampart which skirted the shores of +the Huron, commanded a full view of the lake, even to its extremity of +frowning and belting forest. + +To this block-house there were two staircases; the principal leading to +the front entrance from the barrack-square, the other opening in the +rear, close under the rampart, and communicating by a few rude steps +with the small gate that led upon the sands. In the lower part of this +building, appropriated by the commanding officer to that exclusive +purpose, the official duties of his situation were usually performed; +and on the ground-floor a large room, that extended from front to rear +of the block-house on one side of the passage, had formerly been used +as a hall of council with the Indian chiefs. The floor above this +comprised both his own private apartments and those set apart for the +general use of the family; but, above all, and preferable from their +cheerful view over the lake, were others, which had been reserved for +the exclusive accommodation of Miss de Haldimar. This upper floor +consisted of two sleeping apartments, with a sitting-room, the latter +extending the whole length of the block-house and opening immediately +upon the lake, from the only two windows with which that side of the +building was provided. The principal staircase led into one of the +bed-rooms, and both of the latter communicated immediately with the +sitting-room, which again, in its turn, opened, at the opposite +extremity, on the narrow staircase that led to the rear of the +block-house. + +The furniture of this apartment, which might be taken as a fair sample +of the best the country could afford, was wild, yet simple, in the +extreme. Neat rush mats, of an oblong square, and fantastically put +together, so as to exhibit in the weaving of the several coloured reeds +both figures that were known to exist in the creation, and those which +could have no being save in the imagination of their framers, served as +excellent substitutes for carpets, while rush bottomed chairs, the +product of Indian ingenuity also, occupied those intervals around the +room that were unsupplied by the matting. Upon the walls were hung +numerous specimens both of the dress and of the equipments of the +savages, and mingled with these were many natural curiosities, the +gifts of Indian chiefs to the commandant at various periods before the +war. + +Nothing could be more unlike the embellishments of a modern European +boudoir than those of this apartment, which had, in some degree, been +made the sanctum of its present occupants. Here was to be seen the +scaly carcass of some huge serpent, extending its now harmless length +from the ceiling to the floor--there an alligator, stuffed after the +same fashion; and in various directions the skins of the beaver, the +marten, the otter, and an infinitude of others of that genus, filled up +spaces that were left unsupplied by the more ingenious specimens of +Indian art. Head-dresses tastefully wrought in the shape of the +crowning bays of the ancients, and composed of the gorgeous feathers of +the most splendid of the forest birds--bows and quivers handsomely, and +even elegantly ornamented with that most tasteful of Indian +decorations, the stained quill of the porcupine; war clubs of massive +iron wood, their handles covered with stained horsehair and feathers +curiously mingled together--machecotis, hunting coats, mocassins, and +leggings, all worked in porcupine quill, and fancifully +arranged,--these, with many others, had been called into requisition to +bedeck and relieve the otherwise rude and naked walls of the apartment. + +Nor did the walls alone reflect back the picture of savage ingenuity, +for on the various tables, the rude polish of which was hid from view +by the simple covering of green baize, which moreover constituted the +garniture of the windows, were to be seen other products of their art. +Here stood upon an elevated stand a model of a bark canoe, filled with +its complement of paddlers carved in wood and dressed in full costume; +the latter executed with such singular fidelity of feature, that +although the speaking figures sprung not from the experienced and +classic chisel of the sculptor but from the rude scalping knife of the +savage, the very tribe to which they belonged could be discovered at a +glance by the European who was conversant with the features of each: +then there were handsomely ornamented vessels made of the birch bark, +and filled with the delicate sugars which the natives extract from the +maple tree in early spring; these of all sizes, even to the most tiny +that could well be imagined, were valuable rather as exquisite +specimens of the neatness with which those slight vessels could be put +together, sewn as they were merely with strips of the same bark, than +from any intrinsic value they possessed. Covered over with fantastic +figures, done either in paint, or in quill work artfully interwoven +into the fibres of the bark, they presented, in their smooth and +polished surface, strong evidence of the address of the savages in +their preparation of this most useful and abundant produce of the +country. Interspersed with these, too, were numerous stands filled with +stuffed birds, some of which combined in themselves every variety and +shade of dazzling plumage; and numerous rude cases contained the rarest +specimens of the American butterfly, most of which were of sizes and +tints that are no where equalled in Europe. One solitary table alone +was appropriated to whatever wore a transatlantic character in this +wild and museum-like apartment. On this lay a Spanish guitar, a few +pieces of old music, a collection of English and French books, a couple +of writing-desks, and, scattered over the whole, several articles of +unfinished needle-work. + +Such was the apartment in which Madeline and Clara de Haldimar were met +at the moment we have selected for their introduction to our readers. +It was the morning of that day on which the second council of the +chiefs, the result of which has already been seen, was held at Detroit. +The sun had risen bright and gorgeously above the adjacent forest, +throwing his golden beams upon the calm glassy waters of the lake; and +now, approaching rapidly towards the meridian, gradually diminished the +tall bold shadows of the block-houses upon the shore. At the distance +of about a mile lay the armed vessel so often alluded to; her light low +hull dimly seen in the hazy atmosphere that danced upon the waters, and +her attenuated masts and sloping yards, with their slight tracery of +cordage, recalling rather the complex and delicate ramifications of the +spider's web, than the elastic yet solid machinery to which the lives +of those within had so often been committed in sea and tempest. Upon +the strand, and close opposite to the small gate which now stood ajar, +lay one of her boats, the crew of which had abandoned her with the +exception only of a single individual, apparently her cockswain, who, +with the tiller under his arm, lay half extended in the stern-sheets, +his naked chest exposed, and his tarpaulin hat shielding his eyes from +the sun while he indulged in profound repose. These were the only +objects that told of human life. Everywhere beyond the eye rested on +the faint outline of forest, that appeared like the softened tracing of +a pencil at the distant junction of the waters with the horizon. + +The windows that commanded this prospect were now open; and through +that which was nearest to the gate, half reclined the elegant, slight, +and somewhat petite form of a female, who, with one small and +delicately formed hand supporting her cheek, while the other played +almost unconsciously with an open letter, glanced her eye alternately, +and with an expression of joyousness, towards the vessel that lay +beyond, and the point in which the source of the Sinclair was known to +lie. It was Clara de Haldimar. + +Presently the vacant space at the same window was filled by another +form, but of less girlish appearance--one that embraced all the full +rich contour of the Medicean Venus, and a lazy languor in its movements +that harmonised with the speaking outlines of the form, and without +which the beauty of the whole would have been at variance and +imperfect. Neither did the face belie the general expression of the +figure. The eyes, of a light hazel, were large, full, and somewhat +prominent--the forehead broad, high, and redolent with an expression of +character--and the cheek rich in that peculiar colour which can be +likened only to the downy hues of the peach, and is, in itself, a +physical earnest of the existence of deep, but not boisterous--of +devoted, but not obtrusive affections; an impression that was not, in +the present instance, weakened by the full and pouting lip, and the +rather heavy formation of the lower face. The general expression, +moreover, of a countenance which, closely analysed, could not be termed +beautiful, marked a mind at once ardent in its conceptions, and steady +and resolute in its silent accomplishments of purpose. She was of the +middle height. + +Such was the person of Madeline de Haldimar; but attractive, or rather +winning, as were her womanly attributes, her principal power lay in her +voice,--the beauty, nay, the voluptuousness of which nothing could +surpass. It was impossible to listen to the slow, full, rich, deep, and +melodious tones that fell trembling from her lips upon the ear, and not +feel, aye shudder, under all their fascination on the soul. In such a +voice might the Madonna of Raphael have been supposed to offer up her +supplications from the gloomy precincts of the cloister. No wonder that +Frederick de Haldimar loved her, and loved her with all the intense +devotedness of his own glowing heart. His cousin was to him a divinity +whom he worshipped in the innermost recesses of his being; and his, in +return, was the only ear in which the accents of that almost superhuman +voice had breathed the thrilling confession of an attachment, which its +very tones announced could be deep and imperishable as the soul in +which it had taken root. Often in the hours that preceded the period +when they were to have been united heart and mind and thought in one +common destiny, would he start from her side, his brain whirling with +very intoxication, and then obeying another wild impulse, rush once +more into her embrace; and clasping his beloved Madeline to his heart, +entreat her again to pour forth all the melody of that confession in +his enraptured ear. Artless and unaffected as she was generous and +impassioned, the fond and noble girl never hesitated to gratify him +whom alone she loved; and deep and fervent was the joy of the soldier, +when he found that each passionate entreaty, far from being met with +caprice, only drew from the lips of his cousin warmer and more +affectionate expressions of her attachment. Such expressions, coming +from any woman, must have been rapturous and soothing in the extreme; +but, when they flowed from a voice whose very sound was melody, they +acted on the heart of Captain de Haldimar with a potency that was as +irresistible as the love itself which she inspired. + +Such was the position of things just before the commencement of the +Indian war. Madeline de Haldimar had been for some time on a visit to +Detroit, and her marriage with her cousin was to have taken place +within a few days. The unexpected arrival of intelligence from +Michilimackinac that her father was dangerously ill, however, retarded +the ceremony; and, up to the present period, their intercourse had been +completely suspended. If Madeline de Haldimar was capable of strong +attachment to her lover, the powerful ties of nature were no less +deeply rooted in her heart, and commiseration and anxiety for her +father now engrossed every faculty of her mind. She entreated her +cousin to defer the solemnisation of their nuptials until her parent +should be pronounced out of danger, and, having obtained his consent to +the delay, instantly set off for Michilimackinac, accompanied by her +cousin Clara, whom, she had prevailed on the governor to part with +until her own return. Hostilities were commenced very shortly +afterwards, and, although Major de Haldimar speedily recovered from his +illness, the fair cousins were compelled to share the common +imprisonment of the garrison. + +When Miss de Haldimar joined her more youthful cousin at the window, +through which the latter was gazing thoughtfully on the scene before +her, she flung her arm around her waist with the protecting manner of a +mother. The mild blue eyes of Clara met those that were fastened in +tenderness upon her, and a corresponding movement on her part brought +the more matronly form of her cousin into close and affectionate +contact with her own. + +"Oh, Madeline, what a day is this!" she exclaimed; "and how often on my +bended knees have I prayed to Heaven that it might arrive! Our trials +are ended at last, and happiness and joy are once more before us. There +is the boat that is to conduct us to the vessel, which, in its turn, is +to bear me to the arms of my dear father, and you to those of the lover +who adores you. How beautiful does that fabric appear to me now! Never +did I feel half the pleasure in surveying it I do at this moment." + +"Dear, dear girl!" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar,--and she pressed her +closer and in silence to her heart: then, after a slight pause, during +which the mantling glow upon her brow told how deeply she desired the +reunion alluded to by her cousin--"that, indeed, will be an hour of +happiness to us both, Clara; for irrevocably as our affections have +been pledged, it would be silly in the extreme to deny that I long most +ardently to be restored to him who is already my husband. But, tell +me," she concluded, with an archness of expression that caused the +long-lashed eyes of her companion to sink beneath her own, "are you +quite sincere in your own case? I know how deeply you love your father +and your brothers, but do these alone occupy your attention? Is there +not a certain friend of Charles whom you have some little curiosity to +see also?" + +"How silly, Madeline!" and the cheek of the young girl became suffused +with a deeper glow; "you know I have never seen this friend of my +brother, how then can I possibly feel more than the most ordinary +interest in him? I am disposed to like him, certainly, for the mere +reason that Charles does; but this is all." + +"Well, Clara, I will not pretend to decide; but certain it is, this is +the last letter you received from Charles, and that it contains the +strongest recommendations of his friend to your notice. Equally certain +is it, that scarcely a day has passed, since we have been shut up here, +that you have not perused and re-perused it half a dozen times. Now, as +I am confessedly one who should know something of these matters, I must +be suffered to pronounce these are strong symptoms, to say the very +least. Ah! Clara, that blush declares you guilty.--But, who have we +here? Middleton and Baynton." + +The eyes of the cousins now fell upon the ramparts immediately under +the window. Two officers, one apparently on duty for the day, were +passing at the moment; and, as they heard their names pronounced, +stopped, looked up, and saluted the young ladies with that easy freedom +of manner, which, unmixed with either disrespect or effrontery, so +usually characterises the address of military men. + +"What a contrast, by heaven!" exclaimed he who wore the badge of duty +suspended over his chest, throwing himself playfully into a theatrical +attitude, expressive at once of admiration and surprise, while his eye +glanced intelligently over the fair but dissimilar forms of the +cousins. "Venus and Psyche in the land of the Pottowatamies by all that +is magnificent! Come, Middleton, quick, out with that eternal pencil of +yours, and perform your promise." + +"And what may that promise be?" asked Clara, laughingly, and without +adverting to the hyperbolical compliment of the dark-eyed officer who +had just spoken. + +"You shall hear," pursued the lively captain of the guard. "While +making the tour of the ramparts just now, to visit my sentries, I saw +Middleton leaning most sentimentally against one of the boxes in front, +his notebook in one hand and his pencil in the other. Curious to +discover the subject of his abstraction, I stole cautiously behind him, +and saw that he was sketching the head of a tall and rather handsome +squaw, who, in the midst of a hundred others, was standing close to the +gateway watching the preparations of the Indian ball-players. I at once +taxed him with having lost his heart; and rallying him on his bad taste +in devoting his pencil to any thing that had a red skin, never combed +its hair, and turned its toes in while walking, pronounced his sketch +to be an absolute fright. Well, will you believe what I have to add? +The man absolutely flew into a tremendous passion with me, and swore +that she was a Venus, a Juno, a Minerva, a beauty of the first water in +short; and finished by promising, that when I could point out any woman +who was superior to her in personal attraction, he would on the instant +write no less than a dozen consecutive sonnets in her praise. I now +call upon him to fulfil his promise, or maintain the superiority of his +Indian beauty." + +Before the laughing Middleton could find time to reply to the light and +unmeaning rattle of his friend, the quick low roll of a drum was heard +from the front. The signal was understood by both officers, and they +prepared to depart. + +"This is the hour appointed for the council," said Captain Baynton, +looking at his watch, "and I must be with my guard, to receive the +chiefs with becoming honour. How I pity you, Middleton, who will have +the infliction of one of their great big talks, as Murphy would call +it, dinned into your ear for the next two hours at least! Thank heaven, +my tour of duty exempts me from that; and by way of killing an hour, I +think I shall go and carry on a flirtation with your Indian Minerva, +alias Venus, alias Juno, while you are discussing the affairs of the +nation with closed doors. But hark! there is the assembly drum again. +We must be off. Come, Middleton, come.--Adieu!" waving his hand to the +cousins, "we shall meet at dinner." + +"What an incessant talker Baynton is!" observed Miss de Haldimar, as +the young men now disappeared round an angle of the rampart; "but he +has reminded me of what I had nearly forgotten, and that is to give +orders for dinner. My father has invited all the officers to dine with +him to day, in commemoration of the peace which is being concluded. It +will be the first time we shall have all met together since the +commencement of this cruel war, and we must endeavour, Clara, to do +honour to the feast." + +"I hope," timidly observed her cousin, shuddering as she spoke, "that +none of those horrid chiefs will be present, Madeline; for, without any +affectation of fear whatever, I feel that I could not so far overcome +my disgust as to sit at the same table with them. There was a time, it +is true, when I thought nothing of these things; but, since the war, I +have witnessed and heard so much of their horrid deeds, that I shall +never be able to endure the sight of an Indian face again. Ah!" she +concluded, turning her eyes upon the lake, while she clung more closely +to the embrace of her companion; "would to Heaven, Madeline, that we +were both at this moment gliding in yonder vessel, and in sight of my +father's fort!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The eyes of Miss de Haldimar followed those of her cousin, and rested +on the dark hull of the schooner, with which so many recollections of +the past and anticipations of the future were associated in their +minds. When they had last looked upon it, all appearance of human life +had vanished from its decks; but now there was strong evidence of +unusual bustle and activity. Numerous persons could be seen moving +hastily to and fro, their heads just peering above the bulwarks; and +presently they beheld a small boat move from the ship's side, and shoot +rapidly ahead, in a direct line with the well-known bearings of the +Sinclair's source. While they continued to gaze on this point, +following the course of the light vessel, and forming a variety of +conjectures as to the cause of a movement, especially remarkable from +the circumstance of the commander being at that moment in the fort, +whither he had been summoned to attend the council, another and +scarcely perceptible object was dimly seen, at the distance of about +half a mile in front of the boat. With the aid of a telescope, which +had formed one of the principal resources of the cousins during their +long imprisonment, Miss de Haldimar now perceived a dark and shapeless +mass moving somewhat heavily along the lake, and in a line with the +schooner and the boat. This was evidently approaching; for each moment +it loomed larger upon the hazy water, increasing in bulk in the same +proportion that the departing skiff became less distinct: still, it was +impossible to discover, at that distance, in what manner it was +propelled. Wind there was none, not as much as would have changed the +course of a feather dropping through space; and, except where the +dividing oars of the boatmen had agitated the waters, the whole surface +of the lake was like a sea of pale and liquid gold. + +At length the two dark bodies met, and the men in the boat were seen to +lie upon their oars, while one in the stem seemed to be in the act of +attaching a rope to the formless matter. For a few moments there was a +cessation of all movement; and then again the active and sturdy rowing +of the boatmen was renewed, and with an exertion of strength even more +vigorous than that they had previously exhibited. Their course was now +directed towards the vessel; and, as it gradually neared that fabric, +the rope by which the strange-looking object was secured, could be +distinctly though faintly seen with the telescope. It was impossible to +say whether the latter, whatever it might be, was urged by some +invisible means, or merely floated in the wake of the boat; for, +although the waters through which it passed ran rippling and foaming +from their course, this effect might have been produced by the boat +which preceded it. As it now approached the vessel, it presented the +appearance of a dense wood of evergreens, the overhanging branches of +which descended close to the water's edge, and baffled every attempt of +the cousins to discover its true character. The boat had now arrived +within a hundred yards of the schooner, when a man was seen to rise +from its bows, and, putting both his hands to his mouth, after the +manner of sailors in hailing, to continue in that position for some +moments, apparently conversing with those who were grouped along the +nearest gangway. Then were observed rapid movements on the decks; and +men were seen hastening aloft, and standing out upon the foremast +yards. This, however, had offered no interruption to the exertions of +the boatmen, who still kept plying with a vigour that set even the +sail-less vessel in motion, as the foaming water, thrown from their +bending oar-blades, dashed angrily against her prow. Soon afterwards +both the boat and her prize disappeared on the opposite side of the +schooner, which, now lying with her broadside immediately on a line +with the shore, completely hid them from the further view of the +cousins. + +"Look!--Look!" said Clara, clinging sensitively and with alarm to the +almost maternal bosom against which she reposed, while she pointed with +her finger to another dark mass that was moving through the lake in a +circular sweep from the point of wood terminating the clearing on the +right of the fort. + +Miss de Haldimar threw the glass on the object to which her attention +was now directed. It was evidently some furred animal, and presented +all the appearance either of a large water-rat or a beaver, the latter +of which it was pronounced to be as a nearer approach rendered its +shape more distinct. Ever and anon, too, it disappeared altogether +under the water; and, when it again came in sight, it was always +several yards nearer. Its course, at first circuitous, at length took a +direct line with the stern of the boat, where the sailor who was in +charge still lay extended at his drowsy length, his tarpaulin hat +shading his eyes, and his arms folded over his uncovered and heaving +chest, while he continued to sleep as profoundly as if he had been +comfortably berthed in his hammock in the middle of the Atlantic. + +"What a large bold animal it is," remarked Clara, in die tone of one +who wishes to be confirmed in an impression but indifferently +entertained. "See how close it approaches the boat! Mad that lazy +sailor but his wits about him, he might easily knock it on the head +with his oar. It is--it is a beaver, Madeline; I can distinguish its +head even with the naked eye." + +"Heaven grant it may be a beaver," answered Miss de Haldimar, in a +voice so deep and full of meaning, that it made her cousin startle and +turn paler even than before. "Nay, Clara, dearest, command yourself, +nor give way to what may, after all, prove a groundless cause of alarm. +Yet, I know not how it is, my heart misgives me sadly; for I like not +the motions of this animal, which are strangely and unusually bold. But +this is not all: a beaver or a rat might ruffle the mere surface of the +water, yet this leaves behind it a deep and gurgling furrow, as if the +element had been ploughed to its very bottom. Observe how the lake is +agitated and discoloured wherever it has passed. Moreover, I dislike +this sudden bustle on board the schooner, knowing, as I do, there is +not an officer present to order the movements now visibly going +forward. The men are evidently getting up the anchor; and see how her +sails are loosened, apparently courting the breeze, as if she would fly +to avoid some threatened danger. Would to Heaven this council scene +were over; for I do, as much as yourself, dearest Clara, distrust these +cruel Indians!" + +A significant gesture from her trembling cousin again drew her +attention from the vessel to the boat. The animal, which now exhibited +the delicate and glossy fur of the beaver, had gained the stern, and +remained stationary within a foot of her quarter. Presently the sailor +made a sluggish movement, turning himself heavily on his side, and with +his face towards his curious and daring visitant. In the act the +tarpaulin hat had fallen from his eyes, but still he awoke not. +Scarcely had he settled himself in his new position, when, to the +infinite horror of the excited cousins, a naked human hand was raised +from beneath the surface of the lake, and placed upon the gunwale of +the boat Then rose slowly, and still covered with its ingenious +disguise, first the neck, then the shoulders, and finally the form, +even to the midwaist, of a dark and swarthy Indian, who, stooping low +and cautiously over the sailor, now reposed the hand that had quitted +the gunwale upon his form, while the other was thrust searchingly into +the belt encircling his waist. + +Miss de Haldimar would have called out, to apprise the unhappy man of +his danger; but her voice refused its office, and her cousin was even +less capable of exertion than herself. The deep throbbings of their +hearts were now audible to each; for the dreadful interest they took in +the scene, had excited their feelings to the most intense stretch of +agony. At the very moment, however, when, with almost suspended +animation, they expected to see the knife of the savage driven into the +chest of the sleeping and unsuspecting sailor, the latter suddenly +started up, and, instinct with the full sense of the danger by which he +was menaced, in less time than we take to describe it, seized the +tiller of his rudder, the only available instrument within his reach, +and directing a powerful blow at the head of his amphibious enemy, laid +him, without apparent life or motion, across the boat. + +"Almighty God! what can this mean?" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar, as soon +as she could recover her presence of mind. "There is some fearful +treachery in agitation; and a cloud now hangs over all, that will soon +burst with irresistible fury on our devoted heads. Clara, my love," and +she conducted the almost fainting girl to a seat, "wait here until I +return. The moment is critical, and my father must be apprised of what +we have seen. Unless the gates of the fort be instantly closed, we are +lost." + +"Oh, Madeline, leave me not alone," entreated the sinking Clara. "We +will go together. Perhaps I may be of service to you below." + +"The thought is good; but have you strength and courage to face the +dark chiefs in the council-room. If so, hasten there, and put my father +on his guard, while I fly across the parade, and warn Captain Baynton +of the danger." + +With these words she drew the arm of her agitated cousin within her +own, and, rapidly traversing the apartment, gained the bed-room which +opened close upon the head of the principal staircase. Already were +they descending the first steps, when a loud cry, that sent a thrill of +terror through their blood, was heard from without the fort. For a +moment Miss de Haldimar continued irresolute; and leaning against the +rude balustrade for support, passed her hand rapidly across her brow, +as if to collect her scattered energies. The necessity for prompt and +immediate action was, however, evident; and she alone was capable of +exertion. Speechless with alarm, and trembling in every joint, the +unhappy Clara had now lost all command of her limbs; and, clinging +close to the side of her cousin, by her wild looks alone betrayed +consciousness had not wholly deserted her. The energy of despair lent +more than woman's strength to Miss de Haldimar. She caught the fainting +girl in her arms, retraced her way to the chamber, and depositing her +burden on the bed, emphatically enjoined her on no account to move +until her return. She then quitted the room, and rapidly descended the +staircase. + +For some moments all was still and hushed as the waveless air; and then +again a loud chorus of shouts was heard from the ramparts of the fort. +The choked breathing of the young girl became more free, and the blood +rushed once more from her oppressed heart to the extremities. Never did +tones of the human voice fall more gratefully on the ear of mariner +cast on some desert island, than did those on that of the highly +excited Clara. It was the loud laugh of the soldiery, who, collected +along the line of rampart in front, were watching the progress of the +ball-players. Cheered by the welcome sounds, she raised herself from +the bed to satisfy her eye her ear had not deceived her. The windows of +both bed-chambers looked immediately on the barrack square, and +commanded a full view of the principal entrance. From that at which she +now stood, the revived but still anxious girl could distinctly see all +that was passing in front. The ramparts were covered with soldiers, +who, armed merely with their bayonets, stood grouped in careless +attitudes--some with their wives leaning on their arms--others with +their children upraised, that they might the better observe the +enlivening sports without--some lay indolently with their legs +overhanging the works--others, assuming pugilistic attitudes, dealt +their harmless blows at each other,--and all were blended together, +men, women, and children, with that heedlessness of thought that told +how little of distrust existed within their breasts. The soldiers of +the guard, too, exhibited the same air of calm and unsuspecting +confidence; some walking to and fro within the square, while the +greater portion either mixed with their comrades above, or, with arms +folded, legs carelessly crossed, and pipe in mouth, leant lazily +against the gate, and gazed beyond the lowered drawbridge on the Indian +games. + +A mountain weight seemed to have been removed from the breast of Clara +at this sight, as she now dropped upon her knees before the window, and +raised her hands in pious acknowledgment to Heaven. + +"Almighty God, I thank thee," she fervently exclaimed, her eye once +more lighting up, and her cheek half suffused with blushes at her late +vague and idle fears; while she embraced, at a single glance, the whole +of the gladdening and inspiriting scene. + +While her soul was yet upturned whither her words had gone before, her +ears were again assailed by sounds that curdled her blood, and made her +spring to her feet as if stricken by a bullet through the heart; or +powerfully touched by some electric fluid. It was the well-known and +devilish war-cry of the savages, startling the very air through which +it passed, and falling like a deadly blight upon the spirit. With a +mechanical and desperate effort at courage, the unhappy girl turned her +eyes below, and there met images of death in their most appalling +shapes. Hurry and confusion and despair were every where visible; for a +band of Indians were already in the fort, and these, fast succeeded by +others, rushed like a torrent into the square, and commenced their +dreadful work of butchery. Many of the terrified soldiers, without +thinking of drawing their bayonets, flew down the ramparts in order to +gain their respective block-houses for their muskets: but these every +where met death from the crashing tomahawk, short rifle, or gleaming +knife;--others who had presence of mind sufficient to avail themselves +of their only weapons of defence, rushed down in the fury of +desperation on the yelling fiends, resolved to sell their lives as +dearly as possible; and for some minutes an obstinate contest was +maintained: but the vast superiority of the Indian numbers triumphed; +and although the men fought with all the fierceness of despair, forcing +their way to the block-houses, their mangled corpses strewed the area +in every direction. Neither was the horrid butchery confined to these. +Women clinging to their husbands for protection, and, in the +recklessness of their despair, impeding the efforts of the latter in +their self-defence--children screaming in terror, or supplicating mercy +on their bonded knees--infants clasped to their parents' breasts,--all +alike sunk under the unpitying steel of the blood-thirsty savages. At +the guard-house the principal stand had been made; for at the first +rush into the fort, the men on duty had gained their station, and, +having made fast the barricades, opened their fire upon the enemy. +Mixed pele-mele as they were with the Indians, many of the English were +shot by their own comrades, who, in the confusion of the moment, were +incapable of taking a cool and discriminating aim. These, however, were +finally overcome. A band of desperate Indians rushed upon the main +door, and with repeated blows from their tomahawks and massive +war-clubs, succeeded in demolishing it, while others diverted the fire +of those within. The door once forced, the struggle was soon over. +Every man of the guard perished; and their scalpless and disfigured +forms were thrown out to swell the number of those that already deluged +the square with their blood. + +Even amid all the horrors of this terrific scene, the agonised Clara +preserved her consciousness. The very imminence of the danger endued +her with strength to embrace it under all its most disheartening +aspects; and she, whose mind had been wrought up to the highest pitch +of powerful excitement by the mere preliminary threatenings, was +comparatively collected under the catastrophe itself. Death, certain +death, to all, she saw was inevitable; and while her perception at once +embraced the futility of all attempts at escape from the general doom, +she snatched from despair the power to follow its gloomy details +without being annihilated under their weight. + +The confusion of the garrison had now reached its acme of horror. The +shrieks of women and the shrill cries of children, as they severally +and fruitlessly fled from the death certain to overtake them in the +end,--the cursings of the soldiers, the yellings of the Indians, the +reports of rifles, and the crashings of tomahawks;--these, with the +stamping of human feet in the death struggle maintained in the +council-room below between the chiefs and the officers, and which shook +the block-house to its very foundation, all mixed up in terrible chorus +together, might have called up a not inapt image of hell to the +bewildered and confounding brain. And yet the sun shone in yellow +lustre, and all Nature smiled, and wore an air of calm, as if the +accursed deed had had the sanction of Heaven, and the spirits of light +loved to look upon the frightful atrocities then in perpetration. + +In the first distraction of her spirit, Clara had utterly lost all +recollection of her cousin; but now that she had, with unnatural +desperation, brought her mind to bear upon the fiercest points of the +grim reality, she turned her eye every where amid the scene of death in +search of the form of her beloved Madeline, whom she did not remember +to have seen cross the parade in pursuance of the purpose she had +named. While she yet gazed fearfully from the window, loud bursts of +mingled anguish and rage, that were almost drowned in the fiercer yells +with which they were blended, ascended from the ground floor of the +block-house. These had hitherto been suppressed, as if the desperate +attack of the chiefs on the officers had been made with closed doors. +Now, however, there was an evident outburst of all parties into the +passage; and there the struggle appeared to be desperately and +fearfully maintained. In the midst of that chaotic scene, the loud and +piercing shriek of a female rose far above the discordant yell even of +the savages. There was an instant of pause, and then the crashing of a +skull was heard, and the confusion was greater than before, and +shrieks, and groans, and curses, and supplications rent the air. + +The first single shriek came from Madeline de Haldimar, and vibrated +through every chord of the heart on which it sank. Scarcely conscious +of what she did, Clara, quitting the window, once more gained the top +of the staircase, and at the extremity of her voice called on the name +of her cousin in the most piteous accents. She was answered by a loud +shout from the yelling band; and presently bounding feet and screaming +voices were heard ascending the stairs. The terrified girl fancied at +the moment she heard a door open on the floor immediately below her, +and some one dart suddenly up the flight communicating with the spot on +which she stood. Without waiting to satisfy herself, she rushed with +all the mechanical instinct of self-preservation back into her own +apartment. As she passed the bed-room window, she glanced once more +hastily into the area below, and there beheld a sight that, filling her +soul with despair, paralysed all further exertion. A tall savage was +bearing off the apparently lifeless form of her cousin through the +combatants in the square, her white dress stained all over with blood, +and her beautiful hair loosened and trailing on the ground. She +followed with her burning eyes until they passed the drawbridge, and +finally disappeared behind the intervening rampart, and then bowing her +head between her hands, and sinking upon her knees, she reposed her +forehead against the sill of the window, and awaited unshrinkingly, yet +in a state of inconceivable agony, the consummation of her own unhappy +destiny. + +The sounds of ascending feet were now heard in the passage without; and +presently, while the clangour of a thousand demons seemed to ring +throughout the upper part of the building, a man rushed furiously into +the room. The blood of the young girl curdled in her veins. She +mechanically grasped the ledge of the window on which her aching head +still reposed, and with her eyes firmly closed, to shut out from view +the fiend whose sight she dreaded, even more than the death which +threatened her, quietly awaited the blow that was to terminate at once +her misery and her life. Scarcely, however, had the feet of the +intruder pressed the sanctuary of her bedchamber, when the heavy door, +strongly studded with nails, was pushed rapidly to, and bolt and lock +were heard sliding into their several sockets. Before Clara could raise +her head to discover the cause of this movement, she felt herself +firmly secured in the grasp of an encircling arm, and borne hastily +through the room. An instinctive sense of something worse even than +death now flashed across the mind of the unhappy girl; and while she +feared to unclose her eyes, she struggled violently to disengage +herself. + +"Clara! dear Miss de Haldimar, do you not know me?" exclaimed her +supporter, while, placing her for a moment on a seat, he proceeded to +secure the fastenings of the second door, that led from the bed-chamber +into the larger apartment. + +Re-assured by the tones of a voice which, even in that dreadful moment +of trial and destruction, were familiar to her ear, the trembling girl +opened her eyes wildly upon her protector. A slight scream of terror +marked her painful sense of the recognition. It was Captain Baynton +whom she beheld: but how unlike the officer who a few minutes before +had been conversing with her from the ramparts. His fine hair, matted +with blood, now hung loosely and disfiguringly over his eyes, and his +pallid face and brow were covered with gore spots, the evident +spatterings from the wounds of others; while a stream that issued from +one side of his head attested he himself had not escaped unhurt in the +cruel melee. A skirt and a lappel had been torn from his uniform, +which, together with other portions of his dress, were now stained in +various parts by the blood continually flowing from his wound. + +"Oh, Captain Baynton," murmured the fainting girl, her whole soul +sinking within her, as she gazed shudderingly on his person, "is there +no hope for us? must we die?" + +"No, by Heaven, not while I have strength to save you," returned the +officer, with energy. "If the savages have not penetrated to the rear, +we may yet escape. I saw the postern open just now, on my passage round +the rampart, and the boat of the schooner upon the strand. Ha!" he +exclaimed, as he flew to the window, and cast his eye rapidly below, +"we are lost! The gate is still clear, and not an Indian to be seen; +but the coward sailor is pulling for his life towards the vessel. But +hold! another boat is now quitting the ship's side. See, how manfully +they give themselves to the oars: in a few minutes they will be here. +Come, Clara, let us fly!" and again he caught her in his arms, and bore +her across the room. "Hark, hear you not the exulting yellings of the +monsters? They are forcing the outer door: mark how they redouble their +efforts to break it open! That passed, but one more barrier remains +between us and inevitable and instant death." + +"And my cousin, my uncle!" shrieked the unhappy girl, as the officer +now bore her rapidly down the back staircase. + +"Oh, ask me not!" exclaimed Baynton: "were I to linger again on all I +have witnessed, I should go mad. All, all have perished! but, hark!" + +A tremendous yell now bursting from the passage, announced at once, the +triumph of the savages in having effected an entrance into the +bed-room, and their disappointment at finding their pursuit baulked by +a second door. Presently afterwards their heavy weapons were to be +heard thundering at this new obstacle, in the most furious manner. This +gave new stimulus to the exertions of the generous officer. Each +winding of the staircase was familiar to him, and he now descended it +with a rapidity which, considering the burden that reposed against his +chest, could only have been inspired by his despair. The flight +terminated at a door that led directly upon the rampart, without +communicating with any of the passages of the building; and in this +consisted the principal facility of escape: for, in order to reach +them, the savages must either make the circuit of the block-house, or +overtake them in the course they were now following. In this trying +emergency, the presence of mind of the young officer, wounded and +bleeding as he was, did not desert him. On quitting the larger +apartment above, he had secured the outside fastenings of a small door +at the top of the stairs, and having now gained the bottom, he took a +similar precaution. All that remained was to unclose the bolts of the +ponderous door that opened upon their final chance of escape: this was +speedily done, but here the feelings of the officer were put to a +severe test. A rude partition divided him from the fatal council-room; +and while he undid the fastenings, the faint and dying groans of his +butchered brother officers rung in his ears, even at the moment that he +felt his feet dabbling in the blood that oozed through the imperfectly +closed planks of which the partition was composed. As for Clara, she +was insensible to all that was passing. From the moment of the Indian +yell, announcing their entry into the bed-room, she had fainted. + +The huge door came now creaking back upon its hinges, when the sounds +of the yet unfinished conflict in front, which had hitherto been +deadened in their descent through the remote staircase, rang once more +fiercely and startlingly upon the ear. A single glance satisfied +Captain Baynton the moment for exertion was come, and that the way to +the lake shore, which, by some strange oversight, both the Indians and +the men had overlooked, was perfectly clear. He clasped his unconscious +burden closer to his chest, and then, setting his life upon the cast, +hastened down the few steps that led to the rampart, and dashed rapidly +through the postern; in the next minute he stood on the uttermost verge +of the sands, unharmed and onfollowed. He cast his eyes anxiously along +the surface of the lake; but such was the excitement and confusion of +his mind, produced by the horrid recollection of the past scene, it was +not until he had been abruptly hailed from it, he could see a boat, at +the distance of about two hundred yards, the crew of which were lying +on their oars. It was the long boat of the schooner, which, prevented +from a nearer approach by a sand bar that ran along the lake to a +considerable extent, had taken her station there to receive the +fugitives. Two tall young men in the dress, yet having little the mien, +of common sailors, were standing up in her stern; and one of these, +with evident anxiety in his manner, called on Baynton by name to make +the best of his way to the boat. At that moment a loud and frantic yell +came from the block-house the latter had just quitted. In the wild +impulse of his excited feelings, he answered with a cheer of defiance, +as he turned to discover the precise point whence it proceeded. The +windows of the apartment so recently occupied by the unhappy cousins, +were darkened with savage forms, who now pealed forth their mingled +fury and disappointment in the most terrific manner. + +"Fly, fly, Baynton, or you are lost!" exclaimed the same voice from the +boat; "the devils are levelling from the windows." + +While he yet spake several shots came whizzing along the waters, and a +spent ball even struck the now rapidly fleeing officer in the back; but +the distance was too great for serious injury. The guns of the savages +had been cut so short for their desperate enterprise, that they carried +little further than a horse pistol. + +Again, in the desperation of his feelings, and heedless of the danger +he was drawing on himself and charge, the officer turned fiercely round +and shouted, at his utmost lungs, a peal of triumph in the ears of his +enemies. Scarcely, however, had the sounds escaped his lips, when two +hideously painted Indians sprang through the postern, and, silent as +the spectres they resembled, rushed down the sands, and thence into the +lake. Loud shouts from the windows above were again pealed forth, and +from the consternation visible on the features of those within the +boat, the nearly exhausted Baynton learnt all the risk he incurred. +Summoning all his strength, he now made the most desperate efforts to +reach his friends. The lake was little more than knee deep from the +shore to the bar, but, encumbered as he was, the difficulty opposed to +his movements was immeasurably against him, and yet he seemed +generously resolved rather to perish than relinquish his charge. +Already were his pursuers, now closely followed by a numerous band, +within twenty yards of him, when the two young men, each armed with a +cutlass and pistol, sprang from the boat upon the sand bar: as the +Indians came on they fired deliberately at them, but both missed their +aim. Encouraged by this failure, the fearless devils dashed eagerly on, +brandishing their gleaming tomahawks, but littering not a sound. +Already was the unfortunate Baynton within a few feet of the bar, when +he felt that the savages were immediately upon him. + +"Take, take, for God's sake take her!" he cried, as with a desperate +effort he threw the light form of the still unconscious girl into the +arms of one of the young men. "My strength is quite exhausted, and I +can do no more." + +For the first time a yell burst from the lips of the pursuing savages, +as they saw him, to whom the guardianship of the wretched Clara was now +confided, suddenly spring from the sand bar into the lake, and in a few +rapid strokes gain the side of the boat. Leaving the hapless Baynton to +be disposed of by his companion, the foremost darted upon the bank, +burning with disappointment, and resolved to immolate another victim. +For a moment he balanced his tomahawk, and then, with the rapidity of +thought, darted it at the covered head of the youth who still lingered +on the bar. A well-timed movement of the latter averted the blow, and +the whizzing steel passed harmlessly on. A gutteral "Ugh!" marked the +disappointment of the Indian, now reduced to his scalping-knife; but +before he could determine whether to advance or to retreat, his +opponent had darted upon him, and, with a single blow from his cutlass, +cleft his skull nearly asunder. The next instantaneous purpose of the +victor was to advance to the rescue of the exhausted Baynton; but, when +he turned to look for him, he saw the mangled form of what had once +been that gallant and handsome officer floating, without life or +motion, on the blood-stained surface of the Huron, while his fiendish +murderer, calmly awaiting the approach of his companions, held up the +reeking scalp, in triumph, to the view of the still yelling groups +within the block-house. + +"Noble, generous, self-devoted fellow!" exclaimed the youth, as he +fixed his burning tearless eye for a moment on the unfortunate victim; +"even you, then, are not spared to tell the horrid story of this +butchery; yet is the fate of the fallen far, far more enviable than +that of those who have survived this day." He then committed his +cutlass to its sheath; and, leaping into the deep water that lay beyond +the bar, was, in a few seconds, once more in the stern of the boat. + +Meanwhile, the numerous band, who followed their two first fierce +comrades into the lake, bounded rapidly forward; and, so active were +their movements, that, at almost the same moment when the second of the +youths had gained his temporary place of refuge, they stood yelling and +screaming on the sand bar he had just quitted. Two or three, excited to +desperation by the blood they had seen spilt, plunged unhesitatingly +into the opposite depths of the lake; and the foremost of these was the +destroyer of the ill-fated Baynton. With his bloody scalping-knife +closely clutched between his teeth, and his tomahawk in his right hand, +this fierce warrior buffeted the waves lustily with one arm, and, +noiselessly as in the early part of his pursuit, urged his way towards +the boat. In the stern of this a few planks from the schooner had been +firmly lashed, to serve as a shield against the weapons of the savages, +and was so arranged as to conceal all within while retiring from the +shore. A small aperture had, however, been bored for the purpose of +observing the movements of the enemy without risk. Through this an eye +was now directed, while only the blades of the oars were to be seen +projecting from the boat's sides as they reposed in their rowlocks. +Encouraged by the seeming apathy and inertness of the crew, the +swimming savages paused not to consider of consequences, but continued +their daring course as if they had apprehended neither risk nor +resistance. Presently a desperate splash was heard near the stern of +the boat, and the sinuous form of the first savage was raised above the +gunwale, his grim face looking devilish in its war-paint, and his +fierce eyes gleaming and rolling like fire-balls in their sockets. +Scarcely was he seen, however, when he had again disappeared. A blow +from the cutlass that had destroyed his companion descended like +lightning on his naked and hairless head; and, in the agony of death, +he might be seen grinding his teeth against the knife which the +instinctive ferocity of his nature forbade his relinquishing. A yell of +fury burst from the savages on the bar, and presently a shower of +bullets ran whistling through the air. Several were heard striking the +rude rampart in the stem; but, although the boat was scarcely out of +pistol-shot, the thickness of the wood prevented all injury to those +within. Another fierce yell followed this volley; and then nearly a +score of warriors, giving their guns in charge to their companions, +plunged furiously into the water; and, with an air of the most +infuriated determination, leaped rather than swam along its surface. + +"Now, then, my lads, give way," said he at the look-out; "there are +more than a dozen of the devils in full cry; and our only chance is in +flight! Ha! another here!" as, turning to issue these directions, he +chanced to see the dark hand of a savage at that moment grasping the +gunwale of the boat, as if with a view to retard her movements until +the arrival of his companions. + +A heavy blow from his cutlass accompanied these words. The fingers, +divided at their very roots, rolled to the bottom of the boat, and the +carcase of the savage dropped, with a yell of anguish, far in the rear. +The heavy oar-blades of the seamen now made play, dashing the lake away +in sheets of foam; and, in less than five minutes, the heads of the +swimming savages were seen mingling like so many rats upon the water, +as they returned once more in disappointment from their fruitless +pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The sun had gone down, as he had risen, in all the gloriousness of his +autumnal splendour, and twilight was now fast descending on the waters +of the Huron. A slight breeze was just beginning to make itself felt +from the land, the gradual rising of which was hailed by many an +anxious heart, as the schooner, which had been making vain attempts to +quit her anchorage during the day, now urged her light bows through the +slightly curling element. A death-like silence, interrupted only by the +low gruff voice of a veteran seaman, as he issued, in technical +language, the necessary orders for the management of the vessel, +prevailed every where along her decks. The dress and general appearance +of this individual announced him for a petty officer of the royal +service; and it was evident, from the tone of authority with which he +spoke, he was now in the enjoyment of a temporary command. The crew, +consisting of about thirty souls, and chiefly veterans of the same +class, were assembled along the gangways, each man wearing a brace of +pistols in the belt, which, moreover, secured a naked cutlass around +his loins; and these now lingered near the several guns that were +thrown out from their gloomy looking ports, as if ready for some active +service. But, although the arming of these men indicated hostile +preparation, there was none of that buoyancy of movement and animation +of feature to be observed, which so usually characterise the +indomitable daring of the British sailor. Some stood leaning their +heads pensively on their hands against the rigging and hammocks that +were stowed away along the bulwarks, after the fashion of war ships in +boarding; others, with arms tightly folded across their chests, spirted +the tobacco juice thoughtfully from their closed teeth into the +receding waters; while not a few gazed earnestly and despondingly on +the burning fort in the distance, amid the rolling volumes of smoke and +flame from which, ever and anon, arose the fiendish yell of those who, +having already sacked, were now reducing it to ashes. Nor was this the +only object of their attention. On the sand bank alluded to in our last +chapter were to be dimly seen through the growing dusk, the dark +outlines of many of the savages, who, frantic with rage at their +inability to devote them to the same doom, were still unwilling to quit +a spot which approached them nearest to the last surviving objects of +their enmity. Around this point, were collected numerous canoes, filled +also with warriors; and, at the moment when the vessel, obeying the +impulse given by her flowing sails, glided from her anchorage, these +followed, scudding in her wake, and made a show of attacking her in the +stern. The sudden yawing of the schooner, however, in bringing her tier +of bristling ports into view, had checked the ardour of the pursuing +fleet; and the discharge of a single gun, destroying in its course +three of their canoes, and carrying death among those who directed +them, had driven them back, in the greatest hurry and confusion, to +their yelling and disappointed comrades. + +The after-deck of the schooner presented a different, though not less +sombre and discouraging, scene. On a pile of mattresses lay the light +and almost inanimate form of Clara de Haldimar; her fair and redundant +hair overshadowing her pallid brow and cheek, and the dress she had +worn at the moment of her escape from the fort still spotted with the +blood of her generous but unfortunate preserver. Close at her side, +with her hands clasped in his, while he watched the expression of deep +suffering reflected from each set feature, and yet with the air of one +pre-occupied with some other subject of painful interest, sat, on an +empty shot-box, the young man in sailor's attire, whose cutlass had +performed the double service of destroying his own immediate opponent, +and avenging the death of the devoted Baynton. At the head of the rude +couch, and leaning against a portion of the schooner's stern-work, +stood his companion, who from delicacy appeared to have turned away his +eyes from the group below, merely to cast them vacantly on the dark +waters through which the vessel was now beginning to urge her course. + +Such was the immediate position of this little party, when the gun +fired at the Indians was heard booming heavily along the lake. The loud +report, in exciting new sources of alarm, seemed to have dissipated the +spell that had hitherto chained the energies and perception of the +still weak, but now highly excited girl. + +"Oh, Captain Baynton, where are we?" she exclaimed, starting up +suddenly in terror, and throwing her arms around him, who sat at her +side, as if she would have clung to him for protection. "Is the horrid +massacre not finished yet? Where is Madeline? where is my cousin? Oh, I +cannot leave the fort without her." + +"Ha! where indeed is she?" exclaimed the youth, as he clasped his +trembling and scarcely conscious burden to his chest, "Almighty God, +where is she?" Then, after a short pause, and in a voice of tender but +exquisite anguish, "Clara, my beloved sister, do you not know me? It is +not Baynton but your brother, who now clasps you to his breaking heart." + +A deluge of tears was the only answer of the wretched girl. They were +the first she had shed,--the first marks of consciousness she had +exhibited. Hitherto her heart had been oppressed; every fibre of her +brain racked almost to bursting, and filled only with ghastly flitting +visions of the dreadful horrors she had seen perpetrated, she had +continued, since the moment of her fainting in the block-house, as one +bereft of all memory of the past, or apprehension of the present. But +now, the full outpouring of her grief relieved her overcharged brain +and heart, even while the confused images floating before her +recollection acquired a more tangible and painful character. She raised +herself a moment from the chest on which her burning head reposed, +looked steadfastly in the face that hung anxiously over her own, and +saw indeed that it was her brother. She tried to speak, but she could +not utter a word, for the memory of all that had occurred that fatal +morning rushed with mountain weight upon her fainting spirit, and again +she wept, and more bitterly than before. + +The young man pressed her in silence to his chest; nor was it until she +had given full vent to her grief, that he ventured to address her on +the subject of his own immediate sorrows. At length, when she appeared +somewhat more calm, he observed, in a voice broken by emotion,-- + +"Clara, dearest, what account have you to give me of Madeline? Has she +shared the fate of all? or have you reason to suppose her life has been +spared?" + +Another burst of tears succeeded to these questions, for coupled with +the name of her cousin arose all the horrid associations connected with +her loss. As soon, however, as she could compose herself, she briefly +stated all she had witnessed of the affair, from the moment when the +boat of the schooner was seen to meet the strange looking object on the +water, to that when she had beheld her ill-fated cousin borne away +apparently lifeless in the arms of the tall Indian by whom she had been +captured. + +During this recital, the heart of Captain de Haldimar,--for it was +he,--beat audibly against the cheek that still reposed on his breast; +but when his sister had, in a faint voice, closed her melancholy +narrative with the manner of her cousin's disappearance, he gave a +sudden start, uttering at the same time an exclamation of joy. + +"Thank God, she still lives!" he cried, pressing his sister once more +in fondness to his heart; then turning to his companion, who, although +seemingly abstracted, had been a silent and attentive witness of the +scene,--"By Heaven! Valletort, there is yet a hope. She it was indeed +whom we saw borne out of the fort, and subsequently made to walk by the +cruel Indian who had charge of her." + +"Valletort, Valletort," murmured Clara unconsciously, her sick heart +throbbing with she knew not what. "How is this, Frederick?--Where, +then, is Captain Baynton? and how came you here?" + +"Alas! Clara, poor Baynton is no more. Even at the moment when he +confided the unconscious burden, preserved at the peril of his own +life, to the arms of Sir Everard here, he fell beneath the tomahawk of +a pursuing savage. Poor, noble, generous Baynton," he continued, +mournfully; "to him, indeed, Clara, are you indebted for your life; yet +was it purchased at the price of his own." + +Again the pained and affectionate girl wept bitterly, and her brother +proceeded:-- + +"The strange object you saw on the lake, my love, was nothing more than +a canoe disguised with leafy boughs, in which Sir Everard Valletort and +myself, under the guidance of old Francois of the Fleur de lis, whom +you must recollect, have made the dangerous passage of the Sinclair in +the garb of duck hunters,--which latter we had only discarded on +reaching the schooner, in order to assume another we conceived better +suited to our purpose. Alas!" and he struck his hand violently against +his brow, "had we made directly for the shore without touching the +vessel at all, there might have been time to save those we came to +apprise of their danger. Do you not think there was, Valletort?" + +"Most assuredly not," returned his companion, anxious to remove the +impression of self-blame that existed in the mind of Captain de +Haldimar. "From the moment of our reaching the schooner, which lay +immediately in our route, to that when the shout was raised by the +savages as they rushed into the fort, there was scarcely an interval of +three minutes; and it would have required a longer period to have +enabled us even to gain the shore." + +"Thank, thank you for that!" exclaimed the officer, drawing himself up +with the air of one who breathes more freely. "I would not, for the +wealth and honours of the united world, that such a cause for +self-reproach should linger on my mind. By Heaven! it would break my +heart to think we had been in time to save them, and yet had lost the +opportunity through even one moment of neglect." Then turning once more +to his sister,--"Now, Clara, that I see you in safety, I have another +sacred duty to perform. I must leave you, but not alone." + +"What mean you, Frederick?" exclaimed his agitated sister, clinging +more closely to his embrace. "Scarce have we met, and you talk of +leaving me. Oh, whither would you go?" + +"Surely, my love," and he spoke half reproachfully, although with +tenderness of accent, "my meaning must be obvious. But what do I say? +You know it not. Madeline still lives. We saw her, as we pulled towards +the shore, led across the clearing in the direction of Chabouiga. Hear +me, then: the canoe in which we came is still towing from the vessel's +stern, and in this do I mean to embark, without further loss of time, +in search of her who is dearer to me than existence. I know," he +pursued with emotion, "I have but little hope of rescuing, even if I do +succeed in finding her; but at least I shall not have to suffer under +the self-reproach of having neglected the only chance that now lies +within my reach. If she be doomed to die, I shall then have nothing +left to live for--except you, Clara," he concluded, after a pause, +pressing the weeping girl to his heart, as he remarked how much she +seemed pained by the declaration. + +Having placed his sister once more on the couch, and covered her with a +cloak that had been brought from the cabin of the unfortunate +commander, Captain de Haldimar now rose from his humble seat, and +grasping the hand of his friend,-- + +"Valletort," he said, "I commit this dear girl to your keeping. +Hitherto we have been equal sharers in an enterprise having for its +object the preservation of our mutual companions and friends. At +present, interests of a more personal nature occupy my attention; and +to these must I devote myself alone. I trust you will reach Detroit in +safety; and when you have delivered my unfortunate sister into the arms +of her father, you will say to him from me, I could not survive the +loss of that being to whom I had sworn eternal fidelity and affection. +Francois must be my only companion on this occasion. Nay," he +continued, pointing to his sister, in answer to the rising remonstrance +of the baronet, "will you desert the precious charge I have confided to +your keeping? Recollect, Valletort," in a more subdued tone, "that +besides yourself, there will be none near her but rude and uneducated +sailors;--honest men enough in their way, it is true; but not the sort +of people to whom I should like to confide my poor sister." + +The warm and silent pressure by Sir Everard of his hand announced his +participation in the sentiment; and Captain de Haldimar now hastened +forward to apprise the Canadian of his purpose. He found mine host of +the Fleur de lis seated in the forecastle of the schooner; and with an +air of the most perfect unconcern discussing a substantial meal, +consisting of dried uncooked venison, raw onions, and Indian corn +bread, the contents of a large bag or wallet that lay at his feet. No +sooner, however, had the impatient officer communicated his design, +asking at the same time if he might expect his assistance in the +enterprise, than the unfinished meal of the Canadian was discontinued, +the wallet refilled, and the large greasy clasp-knife with which the +portions had been separated, closed and thrust into a pocket of his +blanket coat. + +"I shall go to de devils for you, capitaine, if we must," he said, as +he raised his portly form, not without effort, from the deck, slapping +the shoulder of the officer at the same time somewhat rudely with his +hand. There was nothing, however, offensively familiar in this action. +It expressed merely the devotedness of heart with which the man lent +himself to the service to which he had pledged himself, and was rather +complimentary than otherwise to him to whom it was directed. Captain de +Haldimar took it in the light in which we have just shown it, and he +grasped and shook the rough hand of the Canadian with an earnestness +highly gratifying to the latter. + +Every thing was now in readiness for their departure. The canoe, still +covered with its streaming boughs, was drawn close up to the gangway, +and a few hasty necessaries thrown in. While this was passing, the +officer had again assumed his disguise of a duck-hunter; and he now +appeared in the blanket costume in which we introduced Sir Everard and +himself at the opening of this volume. + +"If I may be so bold as to put in my oar, your honour,"--said the +veteran boatswain, on whom the command of the schooner had fallen, as +he now advanced, rolling his quid in his mouth, and dropping his hat on +his shoulder, while the fingers of the hand which clutched it were +busily occupied in scratching his bald head,--"if I may be so bold, +there is another chap here as might better sarve your honour's purpose +than that 'ere fat Canadian, who seems to think only of stuffing while +his betters are fasting." + +"And who is he, my good Mullins?" asked Captain de Haldimar. + +"Why, that 'ere Ingian, your honour, as began the butchery in the fort, +yonder, by trying to kill Jack Fuller while he laid asleep this +morning, waiting for the captain in the jolly boat. Jack never seed him +coming, until he felt his black hands upon his throat, and then he ups +with the tiller at his noddle, and sends him floundering across the +boat's thwarts like a flat-fish. I thought, your honour, seeing as how +I have got the command of the schooner, of tying him up to the +mainmast, and giving him two or three round dozen or so, and then +sending him to swim among the mascannungy with a twenty-four pound shot +in his neckcloth; but, seeing as how your honour is going among them +savages agin, I thought as how some good might be done with him, if +your honour could contrive to keep him in tow, and close under your lee +quarter, to prevent his escape." + +"At all events," returned the officer, after a pause of some moments, +during which he appeared to be deliberating on his course of action, +"it may be dangerous to keep him in the vessel; and yet, if we take him +ashore, he may be the means of our more immediate destruction; unless, +indeed, as you observe, he can be so secured as to prevent the +possibility of escape: but that I very much doubt indeed. Where is he, +Mullins? I should like to see and question him." + +"He shall be up, your honour, in no time," replied the sailor, once +more resuming his hat, and moving a pace or two forward. Then +addressing two or three men in the starboard gangway in the +authoritative tone of command:--"Bear a hand there, my men, and cast +off the lashings of that black Ingian, and send him aft, here, to the +officer." + +The order was speedily executed. In a few minutes the Indian stood on +the quarter-deck, his hands firmly secured behind, and his head sunk +upon his chest in sullen despondency. In the increasing gloom in which +objects were now gradually becoming more and more indistinct, it was +impossible for Captain de Haldimar to distinguish his features; but +there was something in the outline of the Indian's form that impressed +him with the conviction he had seen it before. Advancing a pace or two +forward, he pronounced, in an emphatic and audible whisper, the name of +"Oucanasta!" + +The Indian gave an involuntary start,--uttered a deep interjectional +"Ugh!"--and, raising his head from his chest, fixed his eye heavily on +the officer. + +"Hookynaster!--Hookynaster!" growled Jack Fuller, who had followed to +hear the examination of his immediate captive: "why, your honour, that +jaw-breaking name reminds me as how the chap had a bit of a paper when +I chucked him into the jolly boat, stuck in his girdle. It was covered +over with pencil-marks, as writing like; but all was rubbed out agin, +except some such sort of a name as that." + +"Where is it?--what have you done with it?" hastily asked Captain de +Haldimar. + +"Here, in my backy-box, your honour. I kept it safe, thinking as how it +might sarve to let us know all about it afterwards." + +The sailor now drew from the receptacle just named a dirty piece of +folded paper, deeply impregnated with the perfume of stale and oft +rechewed quids of coarse tobacco; and then, with the air of one +conscious of having "rendered the state some service," hitched up his +trowsers with one hand, while with the other he extended the important +document. + +To glance his eye hurriedly over the paper by the light of a dark +lanthorn that had meanwhile been brought upon deck, unclasp his +hunting-knife, and divide the ligatures of the captive, and then warmly +press his liberated hands within his own, were, with Captain de +Haldimar, but the work of a minute. + +"Hilloa! which the devil way does the wind blow now?" muttered Fuller, +the leer of self-satisfaction that had hitherto played in his eye +rapidly giving place to an air of seriousness and surprise; an +expression that was not at all diminished by an observation from his +new commander. + +"I tell you what it is, Jack," said the latter, impressively; "I don't +pretend to have more gumption (qu. discernment?) than my messmates; but +I can see through a millstone as clear as any man as ever heaved a lead +in these here lakes; and may I never pipe boatswain's whistle again, if +you 'ar'n't, some how or other, in the wrong box. That 'ere Ingian's +one of us!" + +The feelings of Captain de Haldimar may easily be comprehended by our +readers, when, on glancing at the paper, he found himself confirmed in +the impression previously made on him by the outline of the captive's +form. The writing, nearly obliterated by damp, had been rudely traced +by his own pencil on a leaf torn from his pocket-book. In the night of +his visit to the Indian encampment, and at the moment when, seated on +the fatal log, Oucanasta had generously promised her assistance in at +least rescuing his betrothed bride. They were addressed to Major de +Haldimar, and briefly stated that a treacherous plan was in +contemplation by the enemy to surprise the fort, which the bearer, +Oucanasta (the latter word strongly marked), would fully explain, if +she could possibly obtain access within. From the narrative entered +into by Clara, who had particularly dwelt on the emotions of fear that +had sprung up in her own and cousin's heart by the sudden +transformation of a supposed harmless beaver into a fierce and +threatening savage, he had no difficulty in solving the enigma. + +The Indian, in whom he had recognised the young chief who had saved him +from the fury of Wacousta, had evidently been won upon by his sister to +perform a service which offered so much less difficulty to a warrior +than to a woman; and it was clear, that, finding all other means of +communication with the fort, undiscovered by his own people, +impracticable, he had availed himself of the opportunity, when he saw +the boat waiting on the strand, to assume a disguise so well adapted to +insure success. It was no remarkable thing in these countries, to see +both the beaver and the otter moving on the calm surface of the waters +in the vicinity of the forts, even at mid-day; and occupied as the +Indians were, to a man, at that moment with their cruel projects, it +was by no means likely that their attention should have been called off +from these to so apparently unimportant a circumstance. The act that +had principally alarmed the cousins, and terminated, as we have seen, +in the sudden attack of the sailor, had evidently been misconceived. +The hand supposed to be feeling for the heart of the sluggard, had, in +all probability, been placed on his chest with a view to arouse him +from his slumber; while that which was believed to have been dropped to +the handle of his knife, was, in reality, merely seeking the paper that +contained the announcement, which, if then delivered, might have saved +the garrison. + +Such was the tram of conjecture that now passed through the mind of the +officer; but, although he thus placed the conduct of the Indian in the +most favourable light, his impression received no confirmation from the +lips of the latter. Sullen and doggedly, notwithstanding the release +from his bonds, the Ottawa hung his head upon his chest, with his eyes +riveted on the deck, and obstinately refused to answer every question +put to him by his deliverer. This, however, did not the less tend to +confirm Captain de Haldimar in his belief. He knew enough of the Indian +character, to understand the indignant and even revengeful spirit +likely to be aroused by the treatment the savage had met with in return +for his intended services. He was aware that, without pausing to +reflect on the fact, that the sailor, ignorant of his actual purpose, +could merely have seen in him an enemy in the act of attempting his +life, the chief would only consider and inflame himself over the +recollection of the blow inflicted; and that, with the true obstinacy +of his race, he would rather suffer captivity or death itself, than +humble the haughty pride of his nature, by condescending to an +explanation with those by whom he felt himself so deeply injured. +Still, even amid all his own personal griefs,--griefs that rendered the +boon in some degree at present valueless,--Captain de Haldimar could +not forget that the youth, no matter by what motive induced, had +rescued him from a dreadful death on a previous occasion. With the +generous warmth, therefore, of a grateful mind, he now sought to +impress on the Indian the deep sense of obligation under which he +laboured; explaining at the same time the very natural error into which +the sailor had fallen, and concluding with a declaration that he was +free to quit the vessel in the canoe in which he himself was about to +take his departure for the shore, in search of her whom his sister had +pledged herself, at all hazards, to save. + +The address of the officer, touching and impressive as language ever is +that comes from the heart, was not altogether without effect on the +Indian. Several times he interrupted him with a short, quick, approving +"Ugh!" and when he at length received the assurance that he was no +longer a prisoner, he raised his eyes rapidly, although without moving +his head, to the countenance of his deliverer. Already were his lips +opening to speak for the first time, when the attention of the group +around him was arrested by his giving a sudden start of surprise. At +the same moment he raised his head, stretched his neck, threw forward +his right ear, and, uttering a loud and emphatic "Waugh!" pointed with +his finger over the bows of the vessel. + +All listened for upwards of a minute in mute suspense; and then a faint +and scarcely distinguishable sound was heard in the direction in which +he pointed. Scarcely had it floated on the air, when a shrill, loud, +and prolonged cry, of peculiar tendency, burst hurriedly and eagerly +from the lips of the captive; and, spreading over the broad expanse of +water, seemed to be re-echoed back from every point of the surrounding +shore. + +Great was the confusion that followed this startling yell on the decks +of the schooner. "Cut the hell-fiend down!"--"Chuck him +overboard!"--"We are betrayed!"--"Every man to his gun!"--"Put the +craft about!" were among the numerous exclamations that now rose +simultaneously from at least twenty lips, and almost drowned the loud +shriek that burst again from the wretched Clara de Haldimar. + +"Stop, Mullins!--Stop, men!" shouted Captain de Haldimar, firmly, as +the excited boatswain, with two or three of his companions,--now +advanced with the intention of laying violent hands on the Indian. "I +will answer for his fidelity with my life. If he be false, it will be +time enough to punish him afterwards; but let us calmly await the issue +like men. Hear me," he proceeded, as he remarked their incredulous, +uncertain, and still threatening air;--"this Indian saved me from the +tomahawks of his tribe not a week ago; and, even now, he has become our +captive in the act of taking a note from me to the garrison, to warn +them of their danger. But for that slumbering fool," he added, +bitterly, pointing to Fuller, who slept when he should have watched, +"your fort would not now have been what it is,--a mass of smoking +ruins. He has an ocean of blood upon his soul, that all the waters of +the Huron can never wash out!" + +Struck by the vehement manner of the officer, and the disclosure he had +just made, the sailors sunk once more into inaction and silence. The +boatswain alone spoke. + +"I thought, your honour, as how Jack Fuller, who sartainly is a better +hand at a snooze than a watch, had got into a bit of a mess; but, +shiver my topsails, if I think it's quite fair to blame him, neither, +for clapping a stopper on the Indian's cable, seeing as how he was +expecting a shot between wind and water. Still, as the chap turns out +to be an honest chap, and has saved your honour's life above all, I +don't much care if I give him a grip. Here, old fellow, tip us your +fist!" + +Without seeming to understand that his cry had been productive of +general and intense alarm throughout the vessel, the Indian had viewed +the sudden rushing of the crew towards him as an act of gratuitous +hostility; and, without shrinking from the attack, had once more +resumed his original air of dogged sullenness. It was evident to him, +from the discussion going on, that some violence, about to be offered +to his person, had only been prevented by the interference of the +officer. With the natural haughtiness of his savage nature, he +therefore rejected the overtures of the sailor, whose hand he had +observed among the first that were raised against him. + +While the angry boatswain was yet rolling his quid within his capacious +jaws, racking his brain for the strongest language wherein to give vent +to his indignation, his ears were suddenly saluted by a low but clear +"Hilloa!" from the bows of the schooner. + +"Ay, ay!" was the brief response. + +"There's something approaching us ahead, on the weather fore quarter," +continued the same voice, which was that of the man on the look-out. + +The most profound silence now pervaded the deck. Every individual, +including Captain de Haldimar and the boatswain, had flown to the +gangway of the quarter indicated, which was on the side occupied by the +couch of the unfortunate Clara. Presently a noise like that produced by +a single paddle rapidly dividing the water, was heard by every anxious +ear. Night had long since thrown her mantle over the surrounding waste; +and all that was to be seen reflected from the bosom of the gradually +darkening river, scarcely ruffled by the yet incipient breeze, were a +few straggling stars, that here and there appeared in the overcast +heavens. Hitherto no object could be discovered by those who strained +their eyes eagerly and painfully through the gloom, although the sounds +became at each moment more distinct. It was evident the party, guided +by the noise of the rippling waves that fell from the bows of the +schooner, was enabled to follow up a course, the direct clue to which +had been indicated by the cry of the captive. Every man stood near his +gun on the starboard battery, and the burning matches hanging over +their respective buckets ready to be seized at a moment's notice. +Still, but little room for apprehension existed; for the practised ear +of the mariners could easily tell that a solitary bark alone +approached; and of one, or even ten, they entertained no fear. +Suddenly, as the course of the vessel was now changed a point to +windward,--a movement that brought her bows more off the adjacent +shore,--the sound, in which all were more or less interested, was heard +not more than twenty yards off, and in a line with the gangway at which +the principal of the crew were assembled. In the next minute the low +hull of a canoe came in sight, and then a tall and solitary human +figure was seen in the stern, bending alternately to the right and to +the left, as the paddle was rapidly and successively changed from side +to side. + +Another deep and exulting "Ugh!" was now heaved from the chest of the +Indian, who stood calmly on the spot on which he had first rested, +while Fuller prepared a coil of rope to throw to the active steersman. + +"Avast there, Jack!" growled the boatswain, addressing the sailor; "how +can the stranger keep the bow of his craft on, and grapple at the same +time? Just pass one end of the coil round your waist, and swing +yourself gently into her." + +The head of the canoe was now near enough for the purpose. The sailor +did as he was desired, having previously divested himself of his shoes, +and leaping forward, alighted on what appeared to be a bundle of +blankets stowed away in her bows. No sooner, however, had he secured +his footing, when with another desperate leap, and greatly to the +astonishment of all around, he bounded once more to the deck of the +schooner, his countenance exhibiting every mark of superstitious alarm. +In the act of quitting the canoe he had spurned her violently several +feet from the vessel, which the silent steersman was again making every +effort to reach. + +"Why what the devil's the matter with you now?" exclaimed the rough +boatswain, who, as well as Captain de Haldimar and the rest of the +crew, had quitted the gangway to learn the cause of this extraordinary +conduct. "Damn my eyes, if you ar'n't worse scared than when the Ingian +stood over you in the jolly boat." + +"Scared, ay, to be sure I am; and so would you be scared too, if you'd +a see'd what I did. May I never touch the point at Portsmouth, if I +a'n't seen her ghost." + +"Where?--whose ghost?--what ghost?--what do you mean, Jack?" exclaimed +several of the startled men in the same breath, while the superstitious +dread so common to mariners drew them still closer in the group that +encircled their companion. + +"Well, then, as I am a miserable sinner," returned the man, +impressively, and in a low tone, "I see'd in the bows of the +canoe,--and the hand that steered it was not made of flesh and blood +like ours,--what do you think?--the ghost of--" + +Captain de Haldimar heard no more. At a single bound he had gained the +ship's side. He strained his eyes anxiously over the gangway in search +of the canoe, but it was gone. A death-like silence throughout the deck +followed the communication of the sailor, and in that pause the sound +of the receding boat could be heard, not urged, as it had approached, +by one paddle, but by two. The heart of the officer throbbed almost to +suffocation; and his firmness, hitherto supported by the manly energies +of his nature, now failed him quite. Heedless of appearances, +regardless of being overlooked, he tottered like a drunken man for +support against the mainmast. For a moment or two he leant his head +upon his hand, with the air of one immersed in the most profound +abstraction; while the crew, at once alarmed and touched by the deep +distress into which this mysterious circumstance had plunged him, stood +silently and respectfully watching his emotion. Suddenly he started +from his attitude of painful repose, like one awaking from a dream, and +demanded what had become of the Indian. + +Every one looked around, but the captive was nowhere to be seen. Search +was made below, both in the cabin and in the fore decks, and men were +sent up aloft to see if he had secreted himself in the rigging; but all +returned, stating he was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared from +the vessel altogether, yet no one knew how; for he had not been +observed to stir from the spot on which he had first planted himself. +It was plain, however, he had joined the mysterious party in the canoe, +from the fact of the second paddle having been detected; and all +attempts at pursuit, without endangering the vessel on the shallows, +whither the course of the fugitives was now directed, was declared by +the boatswain utterly impracticable. + +The announcement of the Indian's disappearance seemed to put the climax +to the despair of the unfortunate officer.--"Then is our every hope +lost!" he groaned aloud, as, quitting the centre of the vessel, he +slowly traversed the deck, and once more stood at the side of his no +less unhappy and excited sister. For a moment or two he remained with +his arms folded across his chest, gazing on the dark outline of her +form; and then, in a wild paroxysm of silent tearless grief, threw +himself suddenly on the edge of the couch, and clasping her in a long +close embrace to his audibly beating heart, lay like one bereft of all +sense and consciousness of surrounding objects. + + + + +END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + + + * * * * * * * * * + + + + + + + + +WACOUSTA; + + or + +THE PROPHECY. + +Volume Three of Three + + +by + +John Richardson + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The night passed away without further event on board the schooner, yet +in all the anxiety that might be supposed incident to men so perilously +situated. Habits of long-since acquired superstition, too powerful to +be easily shaken off, moreover contributed to the dejection of the +mariners, among whom there were not wanting those who believed the +silent steersman was in reality what their comrade had represented,--an +immaterial being, sent from the world of spirits to warn them of some +impending evil. What principally gave weight to this impression were +the repeated asseverations of Fuller, during the sleepless night passed +by all on deck, that what he had seen was no other, could be no other, +than a ghost! exhibiting in its hueless, fleshless cheek, the +well-known lineaments of one who was supposed to be no more: and, if +the story of their comrade had needed confirmation among men in whom +faith in, rather than love for, the marvellous was a constitutional +ingredient, the terrible effect that seemed to have been produced on +Captain de Haldimar by the same mysterious visitation would have been +more than conclusive. The very appearance of the night, too, favoured +the delusion. The heavens, comparatively clear at the moment when the +canoe approached the vessel, became suddenly enveloped in the deepest +gloom at its departure, as if to enshroud the course of those who, +having so mysteriously approached, had also so unaccountably +disappeared. Nor had this threatening state of the atmosphere the +counterbalancing advantage of storm and tempest to drive them onward +through the narrow waters of the Sinclair, and enable them, by +anticipating the pursuit of their enemies, to shun the Scylla and +Charybdis that awaited their more leisure advance. The wind increased +not; and the disappointed seamen remarked, with dismay, that their +craft scarcely made more progress than at the moment when she first +quitted her anchorage. + +It was now near the first hours of day; and although, perhaps, none +slept, there were few who were not apparently at rest, and plunged in +the most painful reflections. Still occupying her humble couch, and +shielded from the night air merely by the cloak that covered her own +blood-stained garments, lay the unhappy Clara, her deep groans and +stifled sobs bursting occasionally from her pent-up heart, and falling +on the ears of the mariners like sounds of fearful import, produced by +the mysterious agency that already bore such undivided power over their +thoughts. On the bare deck, at her side, lay her brother, his face +turned upon the planks, as if to shut out all objects from eyes he had +not the power to close; and, with one arm supporting his heavy brow, +while the other, cast around the restless form of his beloved sister, +seemed to offer protection and to impart confidence, even while his +lips denied the accents of consolation. Seated on an empty hen-coop at +their head, was Sir Everard Valletort, his back reposing against the +bulwarks of the vessel, his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes +bent mechanically on the man at the helm, who stood within a few paces +of him,--an attitude of absorption, which he, ever and anon, changed to +one of anxious and enquiring interest, whenever the agitation of Clara +was manifested in the manner already shown. + +The main deck and forecastle of the vessel presented a similar picture +of mingled unquietness and repose. Many of the seamen might be seen +seated on the gun-carriages, with their cheeks pressing the rude metal +that served them for a pillow. Others lay along the decks, with their +heads resting on the elevated hatches; while not a few, squatted on +their haunches with their knees doubled up to their very chins, +supported in that position the aching head that rested between their +rough and horny palms. A first glance might have induced the belief +that all were buried in the most profound slumber; but the quick +jerking of a limb,--the fitful, sudden shifting of a position,--the +utter absence of that deep breathing which indicates the +unconsciousness of repose, and the occasional spirting of tobacco juice +upon the deck,--all these symptoms only required to be noticed, to +prove the living silence that reigned throughout was not born either of +apathy or sleep. + +At the gangway at which the canoe had approached now stood the +individual already introduced to our readers as Jack Fuller. The same +superstitious terror that caused his flight had once more attracted him +to the spot where the subject of his alarm first appeared to him; and, +without seeming to reflect that the vessel, in her slow but certain +progress, had left all vestige of the mysterious visitant behind, he +continued gazing over the bulwarks on the dark waters, as if he +expected at each moment to find his sight stricken by the same +appalling vision. It was at the moment when he had worked up his +naturally dull imagination to its highest perception of the +supernatural, that he was joined by the rugged boatswain, who had +passed the greater part of the night in pacing up and down the decks, +watching the aspect of the heavens, and occasionally tauting a rope or +squaring a light yard, unassisted, as the fluttering of the canvass in +the wind rendered the alteration necessary. + +"Well, Jack!" bluntly observed the latter in a gruff whisper that +resembled the suppressed growling of a mastiff, "what the hell are ye +thinking of now?--Not got over your flumbustification yet, that ye +stand here, looking as sanctified as an old parson!" + +"I'll tell ye what it is, Mr. Mullins," returned the sailor, in the +same key; "you may make as much game on me as you like; but these here +strange sort of doings are somehow quizzical; and, though I fears +nothing in the shape of flesh and blood, still, when it comes to having +to do with those as is gone to Davy Jones's locker like, it gives a +fellow an all-overishness as isn't quite the thing. You understand me?" + +"I'm damned if I do!" was the brief but energetic rejoinder. + +"Well, then," continued Fuller, "if I must out with it, I must. I think +that 'ere Ingian must have been the devil, or how could he come so +sudden and unbeknownst upon me, with the head of a 'possum: and then, +agin, how could he get away from the craft without our seeing him? and +how came the ghost on board of the canoe?" + +"Avast there, old fellow; you means not the head of a 'possum, but a +beaver: but that 'ere's all nat'r'l enough, and easily 'counted for; +but you hav'n't told us whose ghost it was, after all." + +"No; the captain made such a spring to the gunwale, as frighted it all +out of my head: but come closer, Mr. Mullins, and I'll whisper it in +your ear.--Hark! what was that?" + +"I hears nothing," said the boatswain, after a pause. + +"It's very odd," continued Fuller; "but I thought as how I heard it +several times afore you came." + +"There's something wrong, I take it, in your upper story, Jack Fuller," +coolly observed his companion; "that 'ere ghost has quite capsized you." + +"Hark, again!" repeated the sailor. "Didn't you hear it then? A sort of +a groan like." + +"Where, in what part?" calmly demanded the boatswain, though in the +same suppressed tone in which the dialogue had been, carried on. + +"Why, from the canoe that lies alongside there. I heard it several +times afore." + +"Well, damn my eyes, if you a'rn't turned a real coward at last," +politely remarked Mr. Mullins. "Can't the poor fat devil of a Canadian +snooze a bit in his hammock, without putting you so completely out of +your reckoning?" + +"The Canadian--the Canadian!" hurriedly returned Fuller: "why, don't +you see him there, leaning with his back to the main-mast, and as fast +asleep as if the devil himself couldn't wake him?" + +"Then it was the devil, you heard, if you like," quaintly retorted +Mullins: "but bear a hand, and tell us all about this here ghost." + +"Hark, again! what was that?" once more enquired the excited sailor. + +"Only a gust of wind passing through the dried boughs of the canoe," +said the boatswain: "but since we can get nothing out of that crazed +noddle of yours, see if you can't do something with your hands. That +'ere canoe running alongside, takes half a knot off the ship's way. +Bear a hand then, and cast off the painter, and let her drop astarn, +that she may follow in our wake. Hilloa! what the hell's the matter +with the man now?" + +And well might he ask. With his eyeballs staring, his teeth chattering, +his body half bent, and his arms thrown forward, yet pendent as if +suddenly arrested in that position while in the act of reaching the +rope, the terrified sailor stood gazing on the stern of the canoe; in +which, by the faint light of the dawning day, was to be seen an object +well calculated to fill the least superstitious heart with terror and +dismay. Through an opening in the foliage peered the pale and spectral +face of a human being, with its dull eyes bent fixedly and mechanically +upon the vessel. In the centre of the wan forehead was a dark +incrustation, as of blood covering the superficies of a newly closed +wound. The pallid mouth was partially unclosed, so as to display a row +of white and apparently lipless teeth; and the features were otherwise +set and drawn, as those of one who is no longer of earth. Around the +head was bound a covering so close, as to conceal every part save the +face; and once or twice a hand was slowly raised, and pressed upon the +blood spot that dimmed the passing fairness of the brow. Every other +portion of the form was invisible. + +"Lord have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the boatswain, in a voice that, +now elevated to more than its natural tone, sounded startlingly on the +stillness of the scene; "sure enough it is, indeed, a ghost!" + +"Ha! do you believe me now?" returned Fuller, gaining confidence from +the admission of his companion, and in the same elevated key. "It is, +as I hope to be saved, the ghost I see'd afore." + +The commotion on deck was now every where universal. The sailors +started to their feet, and, with horror and alarm visibly imprinted on +their countenances, rushed tumultuously towards the dreaded gangway. + +"Make way--room, fellows!" exclaimed a hurried voice; and presently +Captain de Haldimar, who had bounded like lightning from the deck, +appeared with eager eye and excited cheek among them. To leap into the +bows of the canoe, and disappear under the foliage, was the work of a +single instant. All listened breathlessly for the slightest sound; and +then every heart throbbed with the most undefinable emotions, as his +lips were heard giving utterance to the deep emotion of his own +spirit,-- + +"Madeline, oh, my own lost Madeline!" he exclaimed with almost frantic +energy of passion: "do I then press you once more in madness to my +doting heart? Speak, speak to me--for God's sake speak, or I shall go +mad! Air, air,--she wants air only--she cannot be dead." + +These last words were succeeded by the furious rending asunder of the +fastenings that secured the boughs, and presently the whole went +overboard, leaving revealed the tall and picturesque figure of the +officer; whose left arm encircled while it supported the reclining and +powerless form of one who well resembled, indeed, the spectre for which +she had been mistaken, while his right hand was busied in detaching the +string that secured a portion of the covering round her throat. At +length it fell from her shoulders; and the well known form of Madeline +de Haldimar, clad even in the vestments in which they had been wont to +see her, met the astonished gaze of the excited seamen. Still there +were some who doubted it was the corporeal woman whom they beheld; and +several of the crew who were catholics even made the sign of the cross +as the supposed spirit was now borne up the gangway in the arms of the +pained yet gratified De Haldimar: nor was it until her feet were seen +finally resting on the deck, that Jack Fuller could persuade himself it +was indeed Miss de Haldimar, and not her ghost, that lay clasped to the +heart of the officer. + +With the keen rush of the morning air upon her brow returned the +suspended consciousness of the bewildered Madeline. The blood came +slowly and imperceptibly to her cheek; and her eyes, hitherto glazed, +fixed, and inexpressive, looked enquiringly, yet with stupid +wonderment, around. She started from the embrace of her lover, gazed +alternately at his disguise, at himself, and at Clara; and then passing +her hand several times rapidly across her brow, uttered an hysteric +scream, and threw herself impetuously forward on the bosom of the +sobbing girl; who, with extended arms, parted lips, and heaving bosom, +sat breathlessly awaiting the first dawn of the returning reason of her +more than sister. + +We should vainly attempt to paint all the heart-rending misery of the +scene exhibited in the gradual restoration of Miss de Haldimar to her +senses. From a state of torpor, produced by the freezing of every +faculty into almost idiocy, she was suddenly awakened to all the +terrors of the past and the deep intonations of her rich voice were +heard only in expressions of agony, that entered into the most +iron-hearted of the assembled seamen; while they drew from the bosom of +her gentle and sympathising cousin fresh bursts of desolating grief. +Imagination itself would find difficulty in supplying the harrowing +effect upon all, when, with upraised hands, and on her bended knees, +her large eyes turned wildly up to heaven, she invoked in deep and +startling accents the terrible retribution of a just God on the inhuman +murderers of her father, with whose life-blood her garments were +profusely saturated; and then, with hysteric laughter, demanded why she +alone had been singled out to survive the bloody tragedy. Love and +affection, hitherto the first principles of her existence, then found +no entrance into her mind. Stricken, broken-hearted, stultified to all +feeling save that of her immediate wretchedness, she thought only of +the horrible scenes through which she had passed; and even he, whom at +another moment she could have clasped in an agony of fond tenderness to +her beating bosom,--he to whom she had pledged her virgin faith, and +was bound by the dearest of human ties,--he whom she had so often +longed to behold once more, and had thought of, the preceding day, with +all the tenderness of her impassioned and devoted soul,--even he did +not, in the first hours of her terrible consciousness, so much as +command a single passing regard. All the affections were for a period +blighted in her bosom. She seemed as one devoted, without the power of +resistance, to a grief which calcined and preyed upon all other +feelings of the mind. One stunning and annihilating reflection seemed +to engross every principle of her being; nor was it for hours after she +had been restored to life and recollection that a deluge of burning +tears, giving relief to her heart and a new direction to her feelings, +enabled her at length to separate the past from, and in some degree +devote herself to, the present. Then, indeed, for the first time did +she perceive and take pleasure in the presence of her lover; and +clasping her beloved and weeping Clara to her heart, thank her God, in +all the fervour of true piety, that she at least had been spared to +shed a ray of comfort on her distracted spirit. But we will not pain +the reader by dwelling on a scene that drew tears even from the rugged +and flint-nerved boatswain himself; for, although we should linger on +it with minute anatomical detail, no powers of language we possess +could convey the transcript as it should be. Pass we on, therefore, to +the more immediate incidents of our narrative. + +The day now rapidly developing, full opportunity was afforded the +mariners to survey the strict nature of their position. To all +appearance they were yet in the middle of the lake, for around them lay +the belting sweep of forest that bounded the perspective of the +equidistant circle, of which their bark was the focus or immediate +centre. The wind was dying gradually away, and when at length the sun +rose, in all his splendour, there was scarce air enough in the heavens +to keep the sails from flapping against the masts, or to enable the +vessel to obey her helm. In vain was the low and peculiar whistle of +the seamen heard, ever and anon, in invocation of the departing breeze. +Another day, calm and breathless as the preceding, had been chartered +from the world of light; and their hearts failed them, as they foresaw +the difficulty of their position, and the almost certainty of their +retreat being cut off. It was while labouring under the disheartening +consciousness of danger, peculiar to all, that the anxious boatswain +summoned Captain de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort, by a +significant beck of the finger, to the side of the deck opposite to +that on which still lay the suffering and nearly broken-hearted girls. + +"Well, Mullins, what now?" enquired the former, as he narrowly scanned +the expression of the old man's features: "that clouded brow of yours, +I fear me, bodes no agreeable information." + +"Why, your honour, I scarcely knows what to say about it; but seeing as +I'm the only officer in the ship, now our poor captain is killed, God +bless him! I thought I might take the liberty to consult with your +honours as to the best way of getting out of the jaws of them sharks of +Ingians; and two heads, as the saying is, is always better than one." + +"And now you have the advantage of three," observed the officer, with a +sickly smile; "but I fear, Mullins, that if your own be not sufficient +for the purpose, ours will be of little service. You must take counsel +from your own experience and knowledge of nautical matters." + +"Why, to be sure, your honour," and the sailor rolled his quid from one +cheek to the other, "I think I may say as how I'll venture to steer the +craft with any man on the Canada lakes, and bring her safe into port +too; but seeing as how I'm only a petty officer, and not yet +recommended by his worship the governor for the full command, I thought +it but right to consult with my superiors, not as to the management of +the craft, but the best as is to be done. What does your honour think +of making for the high land over the larboard bow yonder, and waiting +for the chance of the night-breeze to take us through the Sinclair?" + +"Do whatever you think best," returned the officer. "For my part, I +scarcely can give an opinion. Yet how are we to get there? There does +not appear to be a breath of wind." + +"Oh, that's easily managed; we have only to brail and furl up a little, +to hide our cloth from the Ingians, and then send the boats a-head to +tow the craft, while some of us lend a hand at her own sweeps. We shall +get close under the lee of the land afore night, and then we must pull +up agin along shore, until we get within a mile or so of the head of +the river." + +"But shall we not be seen by our enemies?" asked Sir Everard; "and will +they not be on the watch for our movements, and intercept our retreat?" + +"Now that's just the thing, your honour, as they're not likely to do, +if so be as we bears away for yon headlands. I knows every nook and +sounding round the lake; and odd enough if I didn't, seeing as how the +craft circumnavigated it, at least, a dozen times since we have been +cooped up here. Poor Captain Danvers! (may the devil damn his +murderers, I say, though it does make a commander of me for once;) he +used always to make for that 'ere point, whenever he wished to lie +quiet; for never once did we see so much as a single Ingian on the +headland. No, your honour, they keeps all at t'other side of the lake, +seeing as how that is the main road from Mackina' to Detroit." + +"Then, by all means, do so," eagerly returned Captain de Haldimar. "Oh, +Mullins! take us but safely through, and if the interest of my father +can procure you a king's commission, you shall not want it, believe me." + +"And if half my fortune can give additional stimulus to exertion, it +shall be shared, with pleasure, between yourself and crew," observed +Sir Everard. + +"Thank your honours,--thank your honours," said the boatswain, somewhat +electrified by these brilliant offers. "The lads may take the money, if +they like; all I cares about is the king's commission. Give me but a +swab on my shoulder, and the money will come fast enough of itself. +But, still, shiver my topsails, if I wants any bribery to make me do my +duty; besides, if 'twas only for them poor girls alone, I would go +through fire and water to sarve them. I'm not very chicken-hearted in +my old age, your honours, but I don't recollect the time when I +blubbered so much as I did when Miss Madeline come aboard. But I can't +bear to think of it; and now let us see and get all ready for towing." + +Every thing now became bustle and activity on board the schooner. The +matches, no longer required for the moment, were extinguished, and the +heavy cutlasses and pistols unbuckled from the loins of the men, and +deposited near their respective guns. Light forms flew aloft, and, +standing out upon the yards, loosely furled the sails that had +previously been hauled and clewed up; but, as this was an operation +requiring little time in so small a vessel, those who were engaged in +it speedily glided to the deck again, ready for a more arduous service. +The boats had, meanwhile, been got forward, and into these the sailors +sprang, with an alacrity that could scarcely have been expected from +men who had passed not only the preceding night, but many before it, in +utter sleeplessness and despair. But the imminence of the danger, and +the evident necessity existing for exertion, aroused them to new +energy; and the hitherto motionless vessel was now made to obey the +impulse given by the tow ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved +their crews to have entered on their toil with the determination of +men, resolved to devote themselves in earnest to their task. Nor was +the spirit of action confined to these. The long sweeps of the schooner +had been shipped, and such of the crew as remained on board laboured +effectually at them,--a service, in which they were essentially aided, +not only by mine host of the Fleur de lis, but by the young officers +themselves. + +At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in the distance, +while the immediate shores of the ill-fated fortress were momentarily, +and in the same proportion, disappearing under the dim line of horizon +in the rear. More than half their course, from the spot whence they +commenced towing, had been completed, when the harassed men were made +to quit their oars, in order to partake of the scanty fare of the +vessel, consisting chiefly of dried bear's meat and venison. Spirit of +any description they had none; but, unlike their brethren of the +Atlantic, when driven to extremities in food, they knew not what it was +to poison the nutritious properties of the latter by sipping the putrid +dregs of the water-cask, in quantities scarce sufficient to quench the +fire of their parched palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to +the mariners of these lakes: it was but to cast their buckets deep into +the tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, and grateful as any that +ever bubbled from the moss-clad fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and +refreshing to their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of +the coarsest food. It was to this inestimable advantage the crew of the +schooner had been principally indebted for their health, during the +long series of privation, as far as related to fresh provisions and +rest, to which they had been subjected. All appeared as vigorous in +frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when they had last +quitted the waters of the Detroit; and but for the inward sinking of +the spirit, reflected in many a bronzed and furrowed brow, there was +little to show they had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials. + +Their meal having been hastily dispatched, and sweetened by a draught +from the depths of the Huron, the seamen once more sprang into their +boats, and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the completion of +their task, pulling with a vigour that operated on each and all with a +tendency to encouragement and hope. At length the vessel, still +impelled by her own sweeps, gradually approached the land; and at +rather more than an hour before sunset was so near that the moment was +deemed arrived when, without danger of being perceived, she might be +run up along the shore to the point alluded to by the boatswain. Little +more than another hour was occupied in bringing her to her station; and +the red tints of departing day were still visible in the direction of +the ill-fated fortress of Michilimackinac, when the sullen rumbling of +the cable, following the heavy splash of the anchor, announced the +place of momentary concealment had been gained. + +The anchorage lay between two projecting headlands; to the outermost +extremities of which were to be seen, overhanging the lake, the stately +birch and pine, connected at their base by an impenetrable brushwood, +extending to the very shore, and affording the amplest concealment, +except from the lake side and the banks under which the schooner was +moored. From the first quarter, however, little danger was incurred, as +any canoes the savages might send in discovery of their course, must +unavoidably be seen the moment they appeared over the line of the +horizon, while, on the contrary, their own vessel, although much +larger, resting on and identified with the land, must be invisible, +except on a very near approach. In the opposite direction they were +equally safe; for, as Mullins had truly remarked, none, save a few +wandering hunters, whom chance occasionally led to the spot, were to be +met with in a part of the country that lay so completely out of the +track of communication between the fortresses. It was, however, but to +double the second headland in their front, and they came within view of +the Sinclair, the head of which was situated little more than a league +beyond the spot where they now lay. Thus secure for the present, and +waiting only for the rising of the breeze, of which the setting sun had +given promise, the sailors once more snatched their hasty refreshment, +while two of their number were sent aloft to keep a vigilant look-out +along the circuit embraced by the enshrouding headlands. + +During the whole of the day the cousins had continued on deck clasped +in each other's arms, and shedding tears of bitterness, and heaving the +most heart-rending sobs at intervals, yet but rarely conversing. The +feelings of both were too much oppressed to admit of the utterance of +their grief. The vampire of despair had banqueted on their hearts. +Their vitality had been sucked, as it were, by its cold and bloodless +lips; and little more than the withered rind, that had contained the +seeds of so many affections, had been left. Often had Sir Everard and +De Haldimar paused momentarily from the labour of their oars, to cast +an eye of anxious solicitude on the scarcely conscious girls, wishing, +rather than expecting, to find the violence of their desolation abated, +and that, in the full expansion of unreserved communication, they were +relieving their sick hearts from the terrible and crushing weight of +woe that bore them down. Captain de Haldimar had even once or twice +essayed to introduce the subject himself, in the hope that some fresh +paroxysm, following their disclosures, would remove the horrible +stupefaction of their senses; but the wild look and excited manner of +Madeline, whenever he touched on the chord of her affliction, had as +often caused him to desist. + +Towards the evening, however, her natural strength of character came in +aid of his quiescent efforts to soothe her; and she appeared not only +more composed, but more sensible of the impression produced by +surrounding objects. As the last rays of the sun were tinging the +horizon, she drew up her form in a sitting position against the +bulwarks, and, raising her clasped hands to heaven, while her eyes were +bent long and fixedly on the distant west, appeared for some minutes +wholly lost in that attitude of absorption. Then she closed her eyes; +and through the swollen lids came coursing, one by one, over her +quivering cheek, large tears, that seemed to scald a furrow where they +passed. After this she became more calm--her respiration more free; and +she even consented to taste the humble meal which the young man now +offered for the third time. Neither Clara nor herself had eaten food +since the preceding morning; and the weakness of their frames +contributed not a little to the increasing despondency of their +spirits; but, notwithstanding several attempts previously made, they +had rejected what was offered them, with insurmountable loathing. When +they had now swallowed a few morsels of the sliced venison ham, +prepared with all the delicacy the nearly exhausted resources of the +vessel could supply, accompanied by a small portion of the cornbread of +the Canadian, Captain de Haldimar prevailed on them to swallow a few +drops of the spirit that still remained in the canteen given them by +Erskine on their departure from Detroit. The genial liquid sent a +kindling glow to their chilled hearts, and for a moment deadened the +pungency of their anguish; and then it was that Miss de Haldimar +entered briefly on the horrors she had witnessed, while Clara, with her +arm encircling her waist, fixed her dim and swollen eyes, from which a +tear ever and anon rolled heavily to her lap, on those of her beloved +cousin. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Without borrowing the affecting language of the unhappy girl--a +language rendered even more touching by the peculiar pathos of her +tones, and the searching agony of spirit that burst at intervals +through her narrative--we will merely present our readers with a brief +summary of what was gleaned from her melancholy disclosure. On bearing +her cousin to the bedroom, after the terrifying yell first heard from +without the fort, she had flown down the front stairs of the +blockhouse, in the hope of reaching the guardroom in time to acquaint +Captain Baynton with what she and Clara had witnessed from their +window. Scarcely, however, had she gained the exterior of the building, +when she saw that officer descending from a point of the rampart +immediately on her left, and almost in a line with the block-house. He +was running to overtake and return the ball of the Indian players, +which had, at that moment, fallen into the centre of the fort, and was +now rolling rapidly away from the spot on which Miss de Haldimar stood. +The course of the ball led the pursuing officer out of the reach of her +voice; and it was not until he had overtaken and thrown it again over +the rampart, she could succeed in claiming his attention. No sooner, +however, had he heard her hurried statement, than, without waiting to +take the orders of his commanding officer, he prepared to join his +guard, and give directions for the immediate closing of the gates. But +the opportunity was now lost. The delay occasioned by the chase and +recovery of the ball had given the Indians time to approach the gates +in a body, while the unsuspicious soldiery looked on without so much as +dreaming to prevent them; and Captain Baynton had scarcely moved +forward in execution of his purpose, when the yelling fiends were seen +already possessing themselves of the drawbridge, and exhibiting every +appearance of fierce hostility. Wild, maddened at the sight, the almost +frantic Madeline, alive only to her father's danger, rushed back +towards the council-room, whence the startling yell from without had +already been echoed, and where the tramp of feet, and the clashing of +weapons, were distinguishable. + +Cut off from his guard, by the rapid inundation of warriors, Captain +Baynton had at once seen the futility of all attempts to join the men, +and his first impression evidently had been to devote himself to the +preservation of the cousins. With this view he turned hastily to Miss +de Haldimar, and hurriedly naming the back staircase of the +block-house, urged her to direct her flight to that quarter. But the +excited girl had neither consideration nor fear for herself; she +thought only of her father: and, even while the fierceness of contest +was at its height within, she suddenly burst into the council-room. The +confusion and horror of the scene that met her eyes no language can +render: blood was flowing in every direction, and dying and dead +officers, already stripped of their scalps, were lying strewed about +the room. Still the survivors fought with all the obstinacy of despair, +and many of the Indians had shared the fate of their victims. Miss de +Haldimar attempted to reach her father, then vigorously combating with +one of the most desperate of the chiefs; but, before she could dart +through the intervening crowd, a savage seized her by the hair, and +brandished a tomahawk rapidly over her neck. At that moment Captain +Baynton sent his glittering blade deep into the heart of the Indian, +who, relinquishing his grasp, fell dead at the feet of his intended +victim. The devoted officer then threw his left arm round her waist, +and, parrying with his sword-arm the blows of those who sought to +intercept his flight, dragged his reluctant burden towards the door. +Hotly pressed by the remaining officers, nearly equal in number, the +Indians were now compelled to turn and defend themselves in front, when +Captain Baynton took that opportunity of getting once more into the +corridor, not, however, without having received a severe wound +immediately behind the right ear, and leaving a skirt and lappel of his +uniform in the hands of two savages who had successively essayed to +detain him. At that moment the band without had succeeded in forcing +open the door of the guard-room; and the officer saw, at a glance, +there was little time left for decision. In hurried and imploring +accents he besought Miss de Haldimar to forget every thing but her own +danger, and to summon resolution to tear herself from the scene: but +prayer and entreaty, and even force, were alike employed in vain. +Clinging firmly to the rude balustrades, she refused to be led up the +staircase, and wildly resisting all his efforts to detach her hands, +declared she would again return to the scene of death, in which her +beloved parent was so conspicuous an actor. While he was yet engaged in +this fruitless attempt to force her from the spot, the door of the +council-room was suddenly burst open, and a group of bleeding officers, +among whom was Major de Haldimar, followed by their yelling enemies, +rushed wildly into the passage, and, at the very foot of the stairs +where they yet stood, the combat was renewed. From that moment Miss de +Haldimar lost sight of her generous protector. Meanwhile the tumult of +execrations, and groans, and yells, was at its height; and one by one +she saw the unhappy officers sink beneath weapons yet reeking with the +blood of their comrades, until not more than three or four, including +her father and the commander of the schooner, were left. At length +Major de Haldimar, overcome by exertion, and faint from wounds, while +his wild eye darted despairingly on his daughter, had his sword-arm +desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to the earth, and a dozen +weapons glittered above his head. The wild shriek that had startled +Clara then burst from the agonised heart of her maddened cousin, and +she darted forward to cover her father's head with her arms. But her +senses failed her in the attempt; and the last thing she recollected +was falling over the weltering form of Middleton, who pressed her, as +she lay there, in the convulsive energy of death, to his almost +pulseless heart. + +A vague consciousness of being raised from the earth, and borne rapidly +through the air, came over her even in the midst of her insensibility, +but without any definite perception of the present, or recollection of +the past, until she suddenly, when about midway between the fort and +the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, opened her eyes, and found +herself in the firm grasp of an Indian, whose features, even in the +hasty and fearful glance she cast at the countenance, she fancied were +not unfamiliar to her. Not another human being was to be seen in the +clearing at that moment; for all the savages, including even the women +assembled outside, were now within the fort assisting in the complex +horrors of murder, fire, and spoliation. In the wild energy of +returning reason and despair, the wretched girl struggled violently to +free herself; and so far with success, that the Indian, whose strength +was evidently fast failing him, was compelled to quit his hold, and +suffer her to walk. No sooner did Miss de Haldimar feel her feet +touching the ground, when she again renewed her exertions to free +herself, and return to the fort; but the Indian held her firmly secured +by a leathern thong he now attached to her waist, and every attempt +proved abortive. He was evidently much disconcerted at her resistance; +and more than once she expected, and almost hoped, the tomahawk at his +side would be made to revenge him for the test to which his patience +was subjected; but Miss de Haldimar looked in vain for the expression +of ferocity and impatience that might have been expected from him at +such a moment. There was an air of mournfulness, and even kindness, +mingled with severity, on his smooth brow that harmonised ill with the +horrible atrocities in which he had, to all appearance, covered as he +was with blood, been so recent and prominent an actor. The Indian +remarked her surprise; and then looking hurriedly, yet keenly, around, +and finding no living being near them, suddenly tore the shirt from his +chest, and emphatically pronouncing the names "Oucanasta," "De +Haldimar," disclosed to the still struggling captive the bosom of a +woman. After which, pointing in the direction of the wood, and finally +towards Detroit, she gave Miss de Haldimar to understand that was the +course intended to be pursued. + +In a moment the resistance of the latter ceased. She at once recognised +the young Indian woman whom her cousin had rescued from death: and +aware, as she was, of the strong attachment that had subsequently bound +her to her preserver, she was at no loss to understand how she might +have been led to devote herself to the rescue of one whom, it was +probable, she knew to be his affianced wife. Once, indeed, a suspicion +of a different nature crossed her mind; for the thought occurred to her +she had only been saved from the general doom to be made the victim of +private revenge--that it was only to glut the jealous vengeance of the +woman at a more deliberative hour, she had been made a temporary +captive. The apprehension, however, was no sooner formed than +extinguished. Bitterly, deeply as she had reason to abhor the treachery +and cunning of the dark race to which her captor belonged, there was an +expression of openness and sincerity, and even imploringness, in the +countenance of Oucanasta, which, added to her former knowledge of the +woman, at once set this fear at rest, inducing her to look upon her +rather in the character of a disinterested saviour, than in that of a +cruel and vindictive enemy, goaded on to the indulgence of malignant +hate by a spirit of rivalry and revenge. Besides, even were her +cruellest fears to be realised, what could await her worse than the +past? If she could even succeed in getting away, it would only be to +return upon certain death; and death only could await her, however +refined the tortures accompanying its infliction, in the event of her +quietly following and yielding herself up to the guidance of one who +offered this slight consolation, at least, that she was of her own sex. +But Miss de Haldimar was willing to attribute more generous motives to +the Indian; and fortified in her first impression, she signified by +signs, that seemed to be perfectly intelligible to her companion, she +appreciated her friendly intentions, and confided wholly in her. + +No longer checked in her efforts, Oucanasta now directed her course +towards the wood, still holding the thong that remained attached to +Miss de Haldimar's waist, probably with a view to deceive any +individuals from the villages on whom they might chance to fall, into a +belief that the English girl was in reality her prisoner. No sooner, +however, had they entered the depths of the forest, when, instead of +following the path that led to Chabouiga, Oucanasta took a direction to +the left, and then moving nearly on a parallel line with the course of +the lake, continued her flight as rapidly as the rude nature of the +underwood, and the unpractised feet of her companion, would permit. +They had travelled in this manner for upwards of four hours, without +meeting a breathing thing, or even so much as exchanging a sound +between themselves, when, at length, the Indian stopped at the edge of +a deep cavern-like excavation in the earth, produced by the tearing up, +by the wild tempest, of an enormous pine. Into this she descended, and +presently reappeared with several blankets, and two light painted +paddles. Then unloosing the thong from the waist of the exhausted girl, +she proceeded to disguise her in one of the blankets in the manner +already shown, securing it over the head, throat, and shoulders with +the badge of captivity, now no longer necessary for her purpose. She +then struck off at right angles from the course they had previously +pursued; and in less than twenty minutes both stood on the lake shore, +apparently at a great distance from the point whence they had +originally set out. The Indian gazed for a moment anxiously before her; +and then, with an exclamation, evidently meant to convey a sense of +pleasure and satisfaction, pointed forward upon the lake. Miss de +Haldimar followed, with eager and aching eyes, the direction of her +finger, and beheld the well-known schooner evidently urging her flight +towards the entrance of the Sinclair. Oh, how her sick heart seemed +ready to burst at that moment! When she had last gazed upon it was from +the window of her favourite apartment; and even while she held her +beloved Clara clasped fondly in her almost maternal embrace, she had +dared to indulge the fairest images that ever sprung into being at the +creative call of woman's fancy. How bitter had been the reverse! and +what incidents to fill up the sad volume of the longest life of sorrow +and bereavement had not Heaven awarded her in lieu! In one short hour +the weight of a thousand worlds had fallen on and crushed her heart; +and when and how was the panacea to be obtained to restore one moment's +cessation from suffering to her agonised spirit? Alas! she felt at that +moment, that, although she should live a thousand years, the bitterness +and desolation of her grief must remain. From the vessel she turned her +eyes away upon the distant shore, which it was fast quitting, and +beheld a column of mingled flame and smoke towering far above the +horizon, and attesting the universal wreck of what had so long been +endeared to her as her home. And she had witnessed all this, and yet +had strength to survive it! + +The courage of the unhappy girl had hitherto been sustained by no +effort of volition of her own. From the moment when, discovering a +friend in Oucanasta, she had yielded herself unresistingly to the +guidance of that generous creature, her feelings had been characterised +by an obtuseness strongly in contrast with the high excitement that had +distinguished her previous manner. A dreamy recollection of some past +horror, it is true, pursued her during her rapid and speechless flight; +but any analysis of the causes conducing to that horror, her subjugated +faculties were unable to enter upon. Even as one who, under the +influence of incipient slumber, rejects the fantastic images that rise +successively and indistinctly to the slothful brain, until, at length, +they weaken, fade, and gradually die away, leaving nothing but a +formless and confused picture of the whole; so was it with Miss de +Haldimar. Had she been throughout alive to the keen recollections +associated with her flight, she could not have stirred a foot in +furtherance of her own safety, even if she would. The mere instinct of +self-preservation would never have won one so truly devoted to the +generous purpose of her deliverer, had not the temporary stupefaction +of her mind prevented all desire of opposition. It is true, in the +moment of her discovery of the sex of Oucanasta, she had been able to +exercise her reflecting powers; but they were only in connection with +the present, and wholly abstract and separate from the past. She had +followed her conductor almost without consciousness, and with such deep +absorption of spirit, that she neither once conjectured whither they +were going, nor what was to be the final issue of their flight. But +now, when she stood on the lake shore, suddenly awakened, as if by some +startling spell, to every harrowing recollection, and with her +attention assisted by objects long endeared, and rendered familiar to +her gaze--when she beheld the vessel that had last borne her across the +still bosom of the Huron, fleeing for ever from the fortress where her +arrival had been so joyously hailed--when she saw that fortress itself +presenting the hideous spectacle of a blackened mass of ruins fast +crumbling into nothingness--when, in short, she saw nothing but what +reminded her of the terrific past, the madness of reason returned, and +the desolation of her heart was complete. And then, again, when she +thought of her generous, her brave, her beloved, and too unfortunate +father, whom she had seen perish at her feet--when she thought of her +own gentle Clara, and the sufferings and brutalities to which, if she +yet lived, she must inevitably be exposed, and of the dreadful fate of +the garrison altogether, the most menial of whom was familiar to her +memory, brought up, as she had been, among them from her +childhood--when she dwelt on all these things, a faintness, as of +death, came over her, and she sank without life on the beach. Of what +passed afterwards she had no recollection. She neither knew how she had +got into the canoe, nor what means the Indian had taken to secure her +approach to the schooner. She had no consciousness of having been +removed to the bark of the Canadian, nor did she even remember having +risen and gazed through the foliage on the vessel at her side; but she +presumed, the chill air of morning having partially restored pulsation, +she had moved instinctively from her recumbent position to the spot in +which her spectre-like countenance had been perceived by Fuller. The +first moment of her returning reason was that when, standing on the +deck of the schooner, she found herself so unexpectedly clasped to the +heart of her lover. + +Twilight had entirely passed away when Miss de Haldimar completed her +sad narrative; and already the crew, roused to exertion by the swelling +breeze, were once more engaged in weighing the anchor, and setting and +trimming the sails of the schooner, which latter soon began to shoot +round the concealing headland into the opening of the Sinclair. A +deathlike silence prevailed throughout the decks of the little bark, as +her bows, dividing the waters of the basin that formed its source, +gradually immerged into the current of that deep but narrow river; so +narrow, indeed, that from its centre the least active of the mariners +might have leaped without difficulty to either shore. This was the most +critical part of the dangerous navigation. With a wide sea-board, and +full command of their helm, they had nothing to fear; but so limited +was the passage of this river, it was with difficulty the yards and +masts of the schooner could be kept disengaged from the projecting +boughs of the dense forest that lined the adjacent shores to their very +junction with the water. The darkness of the night, moreover, while it +promised to shield them from the observation of the savages, +contributed greatly to perplex their movements; for such was the +abruptness with which the river wound itself round in various +directions, that it required a man constantly on the alert at the bows +to apprise the helmsman of the course he should steer, to avoid +collision with the shores. Canopies of weaving branches met in various +directions far above their heads, and through these the schooner glided +with a silence that might have called up the idea of a Stygian freight. +Meanwhile, the men stood anxiously to their guns, concealing the +matches in their water-buckets as before; and, while they strained both +ear and eye through the surrounding; gloom to discover the slightest +evidence of danger, grasped the handles of their cutlasses with a firm +hand, ready to unsheathe them at the first intimation of alarm. + +At the suggestion of the boatswain, who hinted at the necessity of +having cleared decks, Captain de Haldimar had prevailed on his +unfortunate relatives to retire to the small cabin arranged for their +reception; and here they were attended by an aged female, who had long +followed the fortunes of the crew, and acted in the twofold character +of laundress and sempstress. He himself, with Sir Everard, continued on +deck watching the progress of the vessel with an anxiety that became +more intense at each succeeding hour. Hitherto their course had been +unimpeded, save by the obstacles already enumerated; and they had now, +at about an hour before dawn, gained a point that promised a speedy +termination to their dangers and perplexities. Before them lay a reach +in the river, enveloped in more than ordinary gloom, produced by the +continuous weaving of the tops of the overhanging trees; and in the +perspective, a gleam of relieving light, denoting the near vicinity of +the lake that lay at the opposite extremity of the Sinclair, whose name +it also bore. This was the narrowest part of the river; and so +approximate were its shores, that the vessel in her course could not +fail to come in contact both with the obtruding foliage of the forest +and the dense bullrushes skirting the edge of either bank. + +"If we get safe through this here place," said the boatswain, in a +rough whisper to his anxious and attentive auditors, "I think as how +I'll venture to answer for the craft. I can see daylight dancing upon +the lake already. Ten minutes more and she will be there." Then turning +to the man at the helm,--"Keep her in the centre of the stream, Jim. +Don't you see you're hugging the weather shore?" + +"It would take the devil himself to tell which is the centre," growled +the sailor, in the same suppressed tone. "One might steer with one's +eyes shut in such a queer place as this and never be no worser off than +with them open." + +"Steady her helm, steady," rejoined Mullins, "it's as dark as pitch, to +be sure, but the passage is straight as an arrow, and with a steady +helm you can't miss it. Make for the light ahead." + +"Abaft there!" hurriedly and loudly shouted the man on the look-out at +the bows, "there's a tree lying across the river, and we're just upon +it." + +While he yet spoke, and before the boatswain could give such +instructions as the emergency required, the vessel suddenly struck +against the obstacle in question; but the concussion was not of the +violent nature that might have been anticipated. The course of the +schooner, at no one period particularly rapid, had been considerably +checked since her entrance into the gloomy arch, in the centre of which +her present accident had occurred; so that it was without immediate +injury to her hull and spars she had been thus suddenly brought to. But +this was not the most alarming part of the affair. Captain de Haldimar +and Sir Everard both recollected, that, in making the same passage, not +forty-eight hours previously, they had encountered no obstacle of the +kind, and a misgiving of danger rose simultaneously to the hearts of +each. It was, however, a thing of too common occurrence in these +countries, where storm and tempest were so prevalent and partial, to +create more than a mere temporary alarm; for it was quite as probable +the barrier had been interposed by some fitful outburst of Nature, as +that it arose from design on the part of their enemies: and when the +vessel had continued stationary for some minutes, without the prepared +and expectant crew discovering the slightest indication of attack, the +former impression was preserved by the officers--at least avowedly to +those around. + +"Bear a hand, my lads, and cut away," at length ordered the boatswain, +in a low but clear tone; "half a dozen at each end of the stick, and we +shall soon clear a passage for the craft." + +A dozen sailors grasped their axes, and hastened forward to execute the +command. They sprang lightly from the entangled bows of the schooner, +and diverging in equal numbers moved to either extremity of the fallen +tree. + +"This is sailing through the heart of the American forest with a +vengeance," muttered Mullins, whose annoyance at their detention was +strongly manifested as he paced up and down the deck. "Shiver my +topsails, if it isn't bad enough to clear the Sinclair at any time, +much more so when one's running for one's life, and not a whisper's +length from one's enemies. Do you know, Captain," abruptly checking his +movement, and familiarly placing his hand on the shoulder of De +Haldimar, "the last time we sailed through this very reach I couldn't +help telling poor Captain Danvers, God rest his soul, what a nice spot +it was for an Ingian ambuscade, if they had only gumption enough to +think of it." + +"Hark!" said the officer, whose heart, eye, and ear were painfully on +the alert, "what rustling is that we hear overhead?" + +"It's Jack Fuller, no doubt, your honour; I sent him up to clear away +the branches from the main topmast rigging." Then raising his head, and +elevating his voice, "Hilloa! aloft there!" + +The only answer was a groan, followed by a deeper commotion among the +rustling foliage. + +"Why, what the devil's the matter with you now, Jack?" pursued the +boatswain, in a voice of angry vehemence. "Are ye scared at another +ghost, and be damned to you, that ye keep groaning there after that +fashion?" + +At that moment a heavy dull mass was heard tumbling through the upper +rigging of the schooner towards the deck, and presently a human form +fell at the very feet of the small group, composed of the two officers +and the individual who had last spoken. + +"A light, a light!" shouted the boatswain; "the foolish chap has lost +his hold through fear, and ten to one if he hasn't cracked his +skull-piece for his pains. Quick there with a light, and let's see what +we can do for him." + +The attention of all had been arrested by the sound of the falling +weight, and as one of the sailors now advanced, bearing a dark lantern +from below, the whole of the crew, with the exception of those employed +on the fallen tree, gathered themselves in a knot round the motionless +form of the prostrate man. But no sooner had their eyes encountered the +object of their interest, when each individual started suddenly and +involuntarily back, baring his cutlass, and drawing forth his pistol, +the whole presenting a group of countenances strongly marked by various +shades of consternation and alarm, even while their attitudes were +those of men prepared for some fierce and desperate danger. It was +indeed Fuller whom they had beheld, but not labouring, as the boatswain +had imagined, under the mere influence of superstitious fear. He was +dead, and the blood flowing from a deep wound, inflicted by a sharp +instrument in his chest, and the scalped head, too plainly told the +manner of his death, and the danger that awaited them all. + +A pause ensued, but it was short. Before any one could find words to +remark on the horrible circumstance, the appalling war-cry of the +savages burst loudly from every quarter upon the ears of the devoted +crew. In the desperation of the moment, several of the men clutched +their cutlasses between their teeth, and seizing the concealed matches, +rushed to their respective stations at the guns. It was in vain the +boatswain called out to them, in a voice of stern authority, to desist, +intimating that their only protection lay in the reservation of the +fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, beyond the power of +resistance, to an impulse that set all subordination at defiance, they +applied the matches, and almost at the same instant the terrific +discharge of both broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the +water's edge, and reverberating, throughout, the confined space in +which she lay, like the deadly explosion of some deeply excavated mine. + +Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became sensible of +their imprudence. The echoes were yet struggling to force a passage +through the dense forest, when a second yell of the Indians announced +the fiercest joy and triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and +then the quick leaping of many forms could be heard, as they divided +the crashing underwood, and rushed forward to close with their prey. It +was evident, from the difference of sound, their first cry had been +pealed forth while lying prostrate on the ground, and secure from the +bullets, whose harmless discharge that cry was intended to provoke; for +now the voices seemed to rise progressively from the earth, until they +reached the level of each individual height, and were already almost +hotly breathing in the ears of those they were destined to fill with +illimitable dismay. + +"Shiver my topsails, but this comes of disobeying orders," roared the +boatswain, in a voice of mingled anger and vexation. "The Ingians are +quite as cunning as ourselves, and arn't to be frighted that way. +Quick, every cutlass and pistol to his gangway, and let's do our best. +Pass the word forward for the axemen to return to quarters." + +Recovered from their first paroxysm of alarm, the men at length became +sensible of the presence of a directing power, which, humble as it was, +their long habits of discipline had taught them to respect, and, headed +on the one side by Captain de Haldimar, and on the other by Sir Everard +Valletort, neither of whom, however, entertained the most remote chance +of success, flew, as commanded, to their respective gangways. The yell +of the Indians had again ceased, and all was hushed into stillness; but +as the anxious and quicksighted officers gazed over the bulwarks, they +fancied they could perceive, even through the deep gloom that every +where prevailed, the forms of men,--resting in cautious and eager +attitudes, on the very verge of the banks, and at a distance of little +more than half pistol shot. Every heart beat with expectancy,--every +eye was riveted intently in front, to watch and meet the first +movements of their foes, but not a sound of approach was audible to the +equally attentive ear. In this state of aching suspense they might have +continued about five minutes, when suddenly their hearts were made to +quail by a third cry, that came, not as previously, from the banks of +the river, but from the very centre of their own decks, and from the +top-mast and riggings of the schooner. So sudden and unexpected too was +this fresh danger, that before the two parties had time to turn, and +assume a new posture of defence, several of them had already fallen +under the butchering blades of their enemies. Then commenced a +desperate but short conflict, mingled with yellings, that again were +answered from every point; and rapidly gliding down the pendant ropes, +were to be seen the active and dusky forms of men, swelling the number +of the assailants, who had gained the deck in the same noiseless +manner, until resistance became almost hopeless. + +"Ha! I hear the footsteps of our lads at last," exclaimed Mullins +exultingly to his comrades, as he finished despatching a third savage +with his sturdy weapon. "Quick, men, quick, up with hatchet and +cutlass, and take them in the rear. If we are to die, let's die--" +game, he would perhaps have added, but death arrested the word upon his +lips; and his corpse rolled along the deck, until its further progress +was stopped by the stiffened body of the unhappy Fuller. + +Notwithstanding the fall of their brave leader, and the whoopings of +their enemies, the flagging spirits of the men were for a moment +excited by the announcement of the return even of the small force of +the axemen, and they defended themselves with a courage and +determination worthy of a better result; but when, by the lurid light +of the torches, now lying burning about the decks, they turned and +beheld not their companions, but a fresh band of Indians, at whose +pouch-belts dangled the reeking scalps of their murdered friends, they +at once relinquished the combat as hopeless, and gave themselves +unresistingly up to be bound by their captors. + +Meanwhile the cousins experienced a renewal of all those horrors from +which their distracted minds had been temporarily relieved; and, +petrified with alarm, as they lay in the solitary berth that contained +them both, endured sufferings infinitely more terrible than death +itself. The early part of the tumult they had noticed almost without +comprehending its cause, and but for the terrific cry of the Indians +that had preceded them, would have mistaken the deafening broadsides +for the blowing up of the vessel, so tremendous and violent bad been +the concussion. Nay, there was a moment when Miss de Haldimar felt a +pang of deep disappointment and regret at the misconception; for, with +the fearful recollection of past events, so strongly impressed on her +bleeding heart, she could not but acknowledge, that to be engulfed in +one general and disastrous explosion, was mercy compared with the +alternative of falling into the hands of those to whom her loathing +spirit bad been too fatally taught to deny even the commonest +attributes of humanity. As for Clara, she had not the power to think, +or to form a conjecture on the subject:--she was merely sensible of a +repetition of the horrible scenes from which she had so recently been +snatched, and with a pale cheek, a fixed eye, and an almost pulseless +heart, lay without motion in the inner side of the berth. The piteous +spectacle of her cousin's alarm lent a forced activity to the despair +of Miss de Haldimar, in whom apprehension produced that strong energy +of excitement that sometimes gives to helplessness the character of +true courage. With the increasing clamour of appalling conflict on +deck, this excitement grew at every moment stronger, until it finally +became irrepressible, so that at length, when through the cabin windows +there suddenly streamed a flood of yellow light, extinguishing that of +the lamp that threw its flickering beams around the cabin, she flung +herself impetuously from the berth, and, despite of the aged and +trembling female who attempted to detain her, burst open the narrow +entrance to the cabin, and rushed up the steps communicating with the +deck. + +The picture that here met her eyes was at once graphic and fearful in +the extreme. On either side of the river lines of streaming torches +were waved by dusky warriors high above their heads, reflecting the +grim countenances, not only of those who bore them, but of dense groups +in their rear, whose numbers were alone concealed by the foliage of the +forest in which they stood. From the branches that wove themselves +across the centre of the river, and the topmast and rigging of the +vessel, the same strong yellow light, produced by the bark of the birch +tree steeped in gum, streamed down upon the decks below, rendering each +line and block of the schooner as distinctly visible as if it had been +noon on the sunniest of those far distant lakes. The deck itself was +covered with the bodies of slain men--sailors, and savages mixed +together; and amid these were to be seen fierce warriors, reclining +triumphantly and indolently on their rifles, while others were occupied +in securing the arms of their captives with leathern thongs behind +their backs. The silence that now prevailed was strongly in contrast +with, and even more fearful than, the horrid shouts by which it had +been preceded; and, but for the ghastly countenances of the captives, +and the quick rolling eyes of the savages, Miss de Haldimar might have +imagined herself the sport of some extraordinary and exciting illusion. +Her glance over these prominent features in the tragedy had been +cursory, yet accurate. It now rested on one that had more immediate and +terrifying interest for herself. At a few paces in front of the +companion ladder, and with their backs turned towards her, stood two +individuals, whose attitudes denoted the purpose of men resolved to +sell with their lives alone a passage to a tall fierce-looking savage, +whose countenance betrayed every mark of triumphant and deadly passion, +while he apparently hesitated whether his uplifted arm should stay the +weapon it wielded. These individuals were Captain de Haldimar and Sir +Everard Valletort; and to the former of these the attention of the +savage was more immediately and exultingly directed; so much so, +indeed, that Miss de Haldimar thought she could read in the ferocious +expression of his features the death-warrant of her cousin. In the wild +terror of the moment she gave a piercing scream that was answered by a +hundred yelling voices, and rushing between her lover and his enemy, +threw herself wildly and supplicatingly at the feet of the latter. +Uttering a savage laugh, the monster spurned her from him with his +foot, when, quick as thought, a pistol was discharged within a few +inches of his face; but with a rapidity equal to that of his assailant, +he bent aside his head, and the ball passed harmlessly on. The yell +that followed was terrific; and while it was yet swelling into fulness, +Captain de Haldimar felt an iron hand furiously grappling his throat, +and, ere the grasp was relinquished, he again stood the bound and +passive victim of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The interval that succeeded to the last council-scene of the Indians +was passed by the officers of Detroit in a state of inexpressible +anxiety and doubt. The fears entertained for the fate of their +companions, who had set out in the perilous and almost forlorn hope of +reaching Michilimackinac, in time to prevent the consummation of the +threatened treachery, had, in some degree, if not wholly, been allayed +by the story narrated by the Ottawa chief. It was evident, from his +statement, the party had again met, and been engaged in fearful +struggle with the gigantic warrior they had all so much reason to +recollect; and it was equally apparent, that in that struggle they had +been successful. But still, so many obstacles were likely to be opposed +to their navigation of the several lakes and rivers over which lay +their course, it was almost feared, even if they eventually escaped +unharmed themselves, they could not possibly reach the fort in time to +communicate the danger that awaited their friends. It is true, the time +gained by Governor de Haldimar on the first occasion had afforded a +considerable interval, of which advantage might be taken; but it was +also, on the other hand, uncertain whether Ponteac had commanded the +same delay in the council of the chiefs investing Michilimackinac, to +which he had himself assented. Three days were sufficient to enable an +Indian warrior to perform the journey by land; and it was chiefly on +this vague and uncertain ground they based whatever little of hope was +entertained on the subject. + +It had been settled at the departure of the adventurers, that the +instant they effected a communication with the schooner on Lake Huron, +Francois should be immediately sent back, with instructions so to +contrive the period of his return, that his canoe should make its +appearance soon after daybreak at the nearest extremity of Hog Island, +the position of which has been described in our introductory chapter. +From this point a certain signal, that could be easily distinguished +with the aid of a telescope, was to be made from the canoe, which, +without being of a nature to attract the attention of the savages, was +yet to be such as could not well be mistaken by the garrison. This was +a precaution adopted, not only with the view of giving the earliest +intimation of the result of the enterprise, but lest the Canadian +should be prevented, by any closer investment on the part of the +Indians, from communicating personally with the fort in the way he had +been accustomed. + +It will easily be comprehended therefore, that, as the period +approached when they might reasonably look for the return of Francois, +if he should return at all, the nervous anxiety of the officers became +more and more developed. Upwards of a week had elapsed since the +departure of their friends; and already, for the last day or two, their +impatience had led them, at early dawn, and with beating hearts, to +that quarter of the rampart which overlooked the eastern extremity of +Hog Island. Hitherto, however, their eager watching had been in vain. +As far as our recollection of the Canadian tradition of this story +serves us, it must have been on the fourth night after the final +discomfiture of the plans of Ponteac, and the tenth from the departure +of the adventurers, that the officers were assembled in the mess-room, +partaking of the scanty and frugal supper to which their long +confinement had reduced them. The subject of their conversation, as it +was ever of their thoughts, was the probable fate of their companions; +and many and various, although all equally melancholy, were the +conjectures offered as to the result. There was on the countenance of +each, that deep and fixed expression of gloom, which, if it did not +indicate any unmanliness of despair, told at least that hope was nearly +extinct: but more especially was this remarkable in the young but sadly +altered Charles de Haldimar, who, with a vacant eye and a pre-occupied +manner, seemed wholly abstracted from the scene before him. + +All was silence in the body of the fort. The men off duty had long +since retired to rest in their clothes, and only the "All's well!" of +the sentinels was heard at intervals of a quarter of an hour, as the +cry echoed from mouth to mouth in the line of circuit. Suddenly, +however, between two of those intervals, and during a pause in the +languid conversation of the officers, the sharp challenge of a sentinel +was heard, and then quick steps on the rampart, as of men hastening to +the point whence the challenge had been given. The officers, whom this +new excitement seemed to arouse into fresh activity, hurriedly quitted +the room; and, with as little noise as possible, gained the spot where +the voice had been heard. Several men were bending eagerly over the +rampart, and, with their muskets at the recover, riveting their gaze on +a dark and motionless object that lay on the verge of the ditch +immediately beneath them. + +"What have you here, Mitchell?" asked Captain Blessington, who was in +command of the guard, and who had recognised the gruff voice of the +veteran in the challenge just given. + +"An American burnt log, your honour," muttered the soldier, "if one was +to judge from its stillness; but if it is, it must have rolled there +within the last minute; for I'll take my affidavy it wasn't here when I +passed last in my beat." + +"An American burnt log, indeed! it's some damned rascal of a spy, +rather," remarked Captain Erskine. "Who knows but it may be our big +friend, come to pay us a visit again? And yet he is not half long +enough for him, either. Can't you try and tickle him with the bayonet, +any of you fellows, and see whether he is made of flesh and blood?" + +Although this observation was made almost without object, it being +totally impossible for any musket, even with the addition of its +bayonet, to reach more than half way across the ditch, the several +sentinels threw themselves on their chests, and, stretching over the +rampart as far as possible, made the attempt to reach the suspicious +looking object that lay beyond. No sooner, however, had their arms been +extended in such a manner as to be utterly powerless, when the dark +mass was seen to roll away in an opposite direction, and with such +rapidity that, before the men could regain their feet and level their +muskets, it had entirely disappeared from their view. + +"Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half laughingly +observed Captain Erskine, while his brother officers continued to fix +their eyes in astonishment on the spot so recently occupied by the +strange object; "but what the devil could be his motive for lying there +so long? Not playing the eaves-dropper, surely; and yet, if he meant to +have picked off a sentinel, what was to have prevented him from doing +it sooner?" + +"He had evidently no arms," said Ensign Delme. + +"No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the literal Erskine. +"Curse me if I ever saw any thing in the shape of a human form bundled +together in that manner." + +"I mean he had no fire-arms--no rifle," pursued Delme. + +"And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us of a life," +continued the captain, laughing at his own conceit. "But come, the bird +is flown, and we have only to thank ourselves for having been so +egregiously duped. Had Valletort been here, he would have given a +different account of him." + +"Hist! listen!" exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone, calling the attention +of the party to a peculiar and low sound in the direction in which the +supposed Indian had departed. + +It was repeated, and in a plaintive tone, indicating a desire to +propitiate. Soon afterwards a human form was seen advancing slowly, but +without show either of concealment or hostility in its movements. It +finally remained stationary on the spot where the dark and shapeless +mass had been first perceived. + +"Another Oucanasta for De Haldimar, no doubt," observed Captain +Erskine, after a moment's pause. "These grenadiers carry every thing +before them as well in love as in war." + +The error of the good-natured officer was, however, obvious to all but +himself. The figure, which was now distinctly traced in outline for +that of a warrior, stood boldly and fearlessly on the brink of the +ditch, holding up its left arm, in the hand of which dangled something +that was visible in the starlight, and pointing energetically to this +pendant object with the other. + +A voice from one of the party now addressed the Indian in two several +dialects, but without eliciting a reply. He either understood not, or +would not answer the question proposed, but continued pointing +significantly to the indistinct object which he still held forth in an +elevated position. + +"The governor must be apprised of this," observed Captain Blessington +to De Haldimar, who was his subaltern of the guard. "Hasten, Charles, +to acquaint your father, and receive his orders." + +The young officer willingly obeyed the injunction of his superior. A +secret and indefinable hope rushed through his mind, that as the Indian +came not in hostility, he might be the bearer of some communication +from their friends; and he moved rapidly towards that part of the +building occupied by his father. + +The light of a lamp suspended over the piazza leading to the governor's +rooms reflecting strongly on his regimentals, he passed unchallenged by +the sentinels posted there, and uninterruptedly gained a door that +opened on a narrow passage, at the further extremity of which was the +sitting-room usually occupied by his parent. This again was entered +from the same passage by a second door, the upper part of which was of +common glass, enabling any one on the outside to trace with facility +every object within when the place was lighted up. + +A glance was sufficient to satisfy the youth his father was not in the +room; although there was strong evidence he had not retired for the +night. In the middle of the floor stood an oaken table, and on this lay +an open writing desk, with a candle on each side, the wicks of which +had burnt so long as to throw a partial gloom over the surrounding +wainscotting. Scattered about the table and desk were a number of +letters that had apparently been just looked at or read; and in the +midst of these an open case of red morocco, containing a miniature. The +appearance of these letters, thus left scattered about by one who was +scrupulously exact in the arrangement of his papers, added to the +circumstance of the neglected and burning candles, confirmed the young +officer in an impression that his father, overcome by fatigue, had +retired into his bed-room, and fallen unconsciously asleep. Imagining, +therefore, he could not, without difficulty, succeed in making himself +heard, and deeming the urgency of the case required it, he determined +to wave the usual ceremony of knocking, and penetrate to his father's +bedroom unannounced. The glass door being without fastening within, +easily yielded to his pressure of the latch; but as he passed by the +table, a strong and natural feeling of curiosity induced him to cast +his eye upon the miniature. To his infinite surprise, nay, almost +terror, he discovered it was that of his mother--the identical portrait +which his sister Clara had worn in her bosom from infancy, and which he +had seen clasped round her neck on the very deck of the schooner in +which she sailed for Michilimackinac. He felt there could be no +mistake, for only one miniature of the sort had ever been in possession +of the family, and that the one just accounted for. Almost stupified at +what he saw, and scarcely crediting the evidence of his senses, the +young officer glanced his eye hurriedly along one of the open letters +that lay around. It was in the well remembered hand-writing of his +mother, and commenced, "Dear, dearest Reginald." After this followed +expressions of endearment no woman might address except to an affianced +lover, or the husband of her choice; and his heart sickened while he +read. Scarcely, however, had he scanned half a dozen lines, when it +occurred to him he was violating some secret of his parents; and, +discontinuing the perusal with an effort, he prepared to acquit himself +of his mission. + +On raising his eyes from the paper he was startled by the appearance of +his father, who, with a stern brow and a quivering lip, stood a few +paces from the table, apparently too much overcome by his indignation +to be able to utter a sentence. + +Charles de Haldimar felt all the awkwardness of his position. Some +explanation of his conduct, however, was necessary; and he stammered +forth the fact of the portrait having riveted his attention, from its +striking resemblance to that in his sister's possession. + +"And to what do these letters bear resemblance?" demanded the governor, +in a voice that trembled in its attempt to be calm, while he fixed his +penetrating eye on that of his son. "THEY, it appears, were equally +objects of attraction with you." + +"The letters were in the hand-writing of my mother; and I was +irresistibly led to glance at one of them," replied the youth, with the +humility of conscious wrong. "The action was involuntary, and no sooner +committed than repented of. I am here, my father, on a mission of +importance, which must account for my presence." + +"A mission of importance!" repeated the governor, with more of sorrow +than of anger in the tone in which he now spoke. "On what mission are +you here, if it be not to intrude unwarrantably on a parent's privacy?" + +The young officer's cheek flushed high, as he proudly answered:--"I was +sent by Captain Blessington, sir, to take your orders in regard to an +Indian who is now without the fort under somewhat extraordinary +circumstances, yet evidently without intention of hostility. It is +supposed he bears some message from my brother." + +The tone of candour and offended pride in which this formal +announcement of duty was made seemed to banish all suspicion from the +mind of the governor; and he remarked, in a voice that had more of the +kindness that had latterly distinguished his address to his son, "Was +this, then, Charles, the only motive for your abrupt intrusion at this +hour? Are you sure no inducement of private curiosity was mixed up with +the discharge of your duty, that you entered thus unannounced? You must +admit, at least, I found you employed in a manner different from what +the urgency of your mission would seem to justify." + +There was lurking irony in this speech; yet the softened accents of his +father, in some measure, disarmed the youth of the bitterness he would +have flung into his observation,--"That no man on earth, his parent +excepted, should have dared to insinuate such a doubt with impunity." + +For a moment Colonel de Haldimar seemed to regard his son with a +surprised but satisfied air, as if he had not expected the +manifestation of so much spirit, in one whom he had been accustomed +greatly to undervalue. + +"I believe you, Charles," he at length observed; "forgive the +justifiable doubt, and think no more of the subject. Yet, one word," as +the youth was preparing to depart; "you have read that letter" (and he +pointed to that which had principally arrested the attention of the +officer): "what impression has it given you of your mother? Answer me +sincerely. MY name," and his faint smile wore something of the +character of triumph, "is not REGINALD, you know." + +The pallid cheek of the young man flushed at this question. His own +undisguised impression was, that his mother had cherished a guilty love +for another than her husband. He felt the almost impiety of such a +belief, but he could not resist the conviction that forced itself on +his mind; the letter in her handwriting spoke for itself; and though +the idea was full of wretchedness, he was unable to conquer it. +Whatever his own inference might be, however, he could not endure the +thought of imparting it to his father; he, therefore, answered +evasively. + +"Doubtless my mother had some dear relative of the name, and to him was +this letter addressed; perhaps a brother, or an uncle. But I never +knew," he pursued, with a look of appeal to his father, "that a second +portrait of my mother existed. This is the very counterpart of Clara's." + +"It may be the same," remarked the governor, but in a tone of +indecision, that dented his faith in what he uttered. + +"Impossible, my father. I accompanied Clara, if you recollect, as far +as Lake Sinclair; and when I quitted the deck of the schooner to +return, I particularly remarked my sister wore her mother's portrait, +as usual, round her neck." + +"Well, no matter about the portrait," hurriedly rejoined the governor; +"yet, whatever your impression, Charles," and he spoke with a warmth +that was far from habitual to him, "dare not to sully the memory of +your mother by a doubt of her purity. An accident has given this letter +to your inspection, but breathe not its contents to a human creature; +above all, respect the being who gave you birth. Go, tell Captain +Blessington to detain the Indian; I will join you immediately." + +Strongly, yet confusedly, impressed with the singularity of the scene +altogether, and more particularly with his father's strange admonition, +the young officer quitted the room, and hastened to rejoin his +companions. On reaching the rampart he found that the Indian, during +his long absence, had departed; yet not without depositing, on the +outer edge of the ditch, the substance to which he had previously +directed their attention. At the moment of De Haldimar's approach, the +officers were bending over the rampart, and, with straining eyes, +endeavouring to make out what it was, but in vain; something was just +perceptible in the withered turf, but what that something was no one +could succeed in discovering. + +"Whatever this be, we must possess ourselves of it," said Captain +Blessington: "it is evident, from the energetic manner of him who left +it, it is of importance. I think I know who is the best swimmer and +climber of our party." + +Several voices unanimously pronounced the name of "Johnstone." + +"Any thing for a dash of enterprise," said that officer, whose slight +wound had been perfectly healed. "But what do you propose that the +swimmer and climber should do, Blessington?" + +"Secure yon parcel, without lowering the drawbridge." + +"What! and be scalped in the act? Who knows if it be not a trick after +all, and that the rascal who placed it there is not lying within a few +feet, ready to pounce upon me the instant I reach the bank." + +"Never mind," said Erskine, laughingly, "we will revenge your death, my +boy." + +"Besides, consider the nunquam non paratus, Johnstone," slily remarked +Lieutenant Leslie. + +"What, again, Leslie?" energetically responded the young Scotsman. "Yet +think not I hesitate, for I did but jest: make fast a rope round my +loins, and I think I will answer for the result." + +Colonel de Haldimar now made his appearance. Having heard a brief +statement of the facts, and approving of the suggestion of Captain +Blessington, a rope was procured, and made fast under the shoulders of +the young officer, who had previously stripped himself of his uniform +and shoes. He then suffered himself to drop gently over the edge of the +rampart, his companions gradually lowering the rope, until a deep and +gasping aspiration, such as is usually wrung from one coming suddenly +in contact with cold water, announced he had gained the surface of the +ditch. The rope was then slackened, to give him the unrestrained +command of his limbs; and in the next instant he was seen clambering up +the opposite elevation. + +Although the officers, indulging in a forced levity, in a great degree +meant to encourage their companion, had treated his enterprise with +indifference, they were far from being without serious anxiety for the +result. They had laughed at the idea, suggested by him, of being +scalped; whereas, in truth, they entertained the apprehension far more +powerfully than he did himself. The artifices resorted to by the +savages, to secure an isolated victim, were so many and so various, +that suspicion could not but attach to the mysterious occurrence they +had just witnessed. Willing even as they were to believe their present +visitor, whoever he was, came not in a spirit of enmity, they could not +altogether divest themselves of a fear that it was only a subtle +artifice to decoy one of them within the reach of their traitorous +weapons. They, therefore, watched the movements of their companion with +quickening pulses; and it was with a lively satisfaction they saw him, +at length, after a momentary search, descend once more into the ditch, +and, with a single powerful impulsion of his limbs, urge himself back +to the foot of the rampart. Neither feet nor hands were of much +service, in enabling him to scale the smooth and slanting logs that +composed the exterior surface of the works; but a slight jerk of the +well secured rope, serving as a signal to his friends, he was soon +dragged once more to the summit of the rampart, without other injury +than a couple of slight bruises. + +"Well, what success?" eagerly asked Leslie and Captain Erskine in the +same breath, as the dripping Johnstone buried himself in the folds of a +capacious cloak procured during his absence. + +"You shall hear," was the reply; "but first, gentlemen, allow me, if +you please, to enjoy, with yourselves, the luxury of dry clothes. I +have no particular ambition to contract an American ague fit just now; +yet, unless you take pity on me, and reserve my examination for a +future moment, there is every probability I shall not have a tooth left +by to-morrow morning." + +No one could deny the justice of the remark, for the teeth of the young +man were chattering as he spoke. It was not, therefore, until after he +had changed his dress, and swallowed a couple of glasses of Captain +Erskine's never failing spirit, that they all repaired once more to the +mess-room, when Johnstone anticipated all questions, by the production +of the mysterious packet. + +After removing several wrappers of bark, each of which was secured by a +thong of deerskin, Colonel de Haldimar, to whom the successful officer +had handed his prize, at length came to a small oval case of red +morocco, precisely similar, in size and form, to that which had so +recently attracted the notice of his son. For a moment he hesitated, +and his cheek was observed to turn pale, and his hand to tremble; but +quickly subduing his indecision, he hurriedly unfastened the clasp, and +disclosed to the astonished view of the officers the portrait of a +young and lovely woman, habited in the Highland garb. + +Exclamations of various kinds burst from the lips of the group of +officers. Several knew it to be the portrait of Mrs. de Haldimar; +others recognised it from the striking likeness it bore to Clara and to +Charles; all knew it had never been absent from the possession of the +former since her mother's death; and feeling satisfied as they did that +its extraordinary appearance among them, at the present moment, was an +announcement of some dreadful disaster, their countenances wore an +impress of dismay little inferior to that of the wretched Charles, who, +agonized beyond all attempt at description, had thrown himself into a +seat in the rear of the group, and sat like one bewildered, with his +head buried in his hands. + +"Gentlemen," at length observed Colonel de Haldimar, in a voice that +proved how vainly his natural emotion was sought to be subdued by his +pride, "this, I fear me, is an unwelcome token. It comes to announce to +a father the murder of his child; to us all, the destruction of our +last remaining friends and comrades." + +"God forbid!" solemnly aspirated Captain Blessington. After a pause of +a moment or two he pursued: "I know not why, sir; but my impression is, +the appearance of this portrait, which we all recognise for that worn +by Miss de Haldimar, bears another interpretation." + +Colonel de Haldimar shook his head.--"I have but too much reason to +believe," he observed, smiling in mournful bitterness, "it has been +conveyed to us not in mercy but in revenge." + +No one ventured to question why; for notwithstanding all were aware +that in the mysterious ravisher of the wife of Halloway Colonel de +Haldimar had a fierce and inexorable private enemy, no allusion had +ever been made by that officer himself to the subject. + +"Will you permit me to examine the portrait and envelopes, Colonel?" +resumed Captain Blessington: "I feel almost confident, although I +confess I have no other motive for it than what springs from a +recollection of the manner of the Indian, that the result will bear me +out in my belief the bearer came not in hostility but in friendship." + +"By my faith, I quite agree with Blessington," said Captain Erskine; +"for, in addition to the manner of the Indian, there is another +evidence in favour of his position. Was it merely intended in the light +in which you consider it, Colonel, the case or the miniature itself +might have been returned, but certainly not the metal in which it is +set. The savages are fully aware of the value of gold, and would not so +easily let it slip through their fingers." + +"And wherefore thus carefully wrapped up?" remarked Lieutenant +Johnstone, "unless it had been intended it should meet with no injury +on the way. I certainly think the portrait never would have been +conveyed, in its present perfect state, by an enemy." + +"The fellow seemed to feel, too, that he came in the character of one +whose intentions claimed all immunity from harm," remarked Captain +Wentworth. "He surely never would have stood so fearlessly on the brink +of the ditch, and within pistol shot, had he not been conscious of +rendering some service to those connected with us." + +To these several observations of his officers, Colonel de Haldimar +listened attentively; and although he made no reply, it was evident he +felt gratified at the eagerness with which each sought to remove the +horrible impression he had stated to have existed in his own mind. +Meanwhile, Captain Blessington had turned and examined the miniature in +fifty different ways, but without succeeding in discovering any thing +that could confirm him in his original impression. Vexed and +disappointed, he at length flung it from him on the table, and sinking +into a seat at the side of the unfortunate Charles, pressed the hand of +the youth in significant silence. + +Finding his worst fears now confirmed. Colonel de Haldimar, for the +first time, cast a glance towards his son, whose drooping head, and +sorrowing attitude, spoke volumes to his heart. For a moment his own +cheek blanched, and his eye was seen to glisten with the first tear +ever witnessed there by those around him. Subduing his emotion, +however, he drew up his person to its lordly height, as if that act +reminded him the commander was not to be lost in the father, and +quitting the room with a heavy brow and step, recommended to his +officers the repose of which they appeared to stand so much in need. +But not one was there who felt inclined to court the solitude of his +pillow. No sooner were the footsteps of the governor heard dying away +in the distance, when fresh lights were ordered, and several logs of +wood heaped on the slackening fire. Around this the officers now +grouped, and throwing themselves back in their chairs, assumed the +attitudes of men seeking to indulge rather in private reflection than +in personal converse. + +The grief of the wretched Charles de Haldimar, hitherto restrained by +the presence of his father, and encouraged by the touching evidences of +interest afforded him by the ever-considerate Blessington, now burst +forth audibly. No attempt was made by the latter officer to check the +emotion of his young friend. Knowing his passionate fondness for his +sister, he was not without fear that the sudden shock produced by the +appearance of her miniature might destroy his reason, even if it +affected not his life; and as the moment was now come when tears might +be shed without exciting invidious remark in the only individual who +was likely to make it, he sought to promote them as much as possible. +Too much occupied in their own mournful reflections to bestow more than +a passing notice on the weakness of their friend, the group round the +fireplace scarcely seemed to have regarded his emotion. + +This violent paroxysm past, De Haldimar breathed more freely; and, +after listening to several earnest observations of Captain Blessington, +who still held out the possibility of something favourable turning up, +on a re-examination of the portrait by daylight, he was so far composed +as to be able to attend to the summons of the sergeant of the guard, +who came to say the relief were ready, and waiting to be inspected +before they were finally marched off. Clasping the extended hand of his +captain between his own, with a pressure indicative of his deep +gratitude, De Haldimar now proceeded to the discharge of his duty; and +having caught up the portrait, which still lay on the table, and thrust +it into the breast of his uniform, he repaired hurriedly to rejoin his +guard, from which circumstances alone had induced his unusually long +absence. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The remainder of that night was passed by the unhappy De Haldimar in a +state of indescribable wretchedness. After inspecting the relief, he +had thrown himself on his rude guard-bed; and, drawing his cloak over +his eyes, given full rein to the wanderings of his excited imagination. +It was in vain the faithful old Morrison, who never suffered his master +to mount a guard without finding some one with whom to exchange his +tour of duty, when he happened not to be in orders himself, repeatedly +essayed, as he sat stirring the embers of the fire, to enter into +conversation with him. The soul of the young officer was sick, past the +endurance even of that kind voice; and, more than once, he impetuously +bade him be silent, if he wished to continue where he was; or, if not, +to join his comrades in the next guard-room. A sigh was the only +respectful but pained answer to these sharp remonstrances; and De +Haldimar, all absorbed even as he was in his own grief, felt it deeply; +for he knew the old man loved him, and he could not bear the idea of +appearing to repay with slight the well-intentioned efforts of one whom +he had always looked upon more as a dependant on his family than as the +mere rude soldier. Still he could not summon courage to disclose the +true nature of his grief, which the other merely ascribed to general +causes and vague apprehensions of a yet unaccomplished evil. Morrison +had ever loved his sister with an affection in no way inferior to that +which he bore towards himself. He had also nursed her in childhood; and +his memory was ever faithful to trace, as his tongue was to dwell on, +those gentle and amiable qualities, which, strongly marked at an +earlier period of her existence, had only undergone change, inasmuch as +they had become matured and more forcibly developed in womanhood. +Often, latterly, had the grey-haired veteran been in the habit of +alluding to her; for he saw the subject was one that imparted a +mournful satisfaction to the youth; and, with a tact that years, more +than deep reading of the human heart, had given him, he ever made a +point of adverting to their re-union as an event admitting not of doubt. + +Hitherto the affectionate De Haldimar had loved to listen to these +sounds of comfort; for, although they carried no conviction to his +mind, impressed as he was with the terrible curse of Ellen Halloway, +and the consequent belief that his family were devoted to some fearful +doom, still they came soothingly and unctuously to his sick soul; and, +all deceptive even as he felt them to be, he found they created a hope +which, while certain to be dispelled by calm after-reflection, carried +a momentary solace to his afflicted spirit. But, now that he had every +evidence his adored sister was no more, and that the illusion of hope +was past for ever, to have heard her name even mentioned by one who, +ignorant of the fearful truth the events of that night had elucidated, +was still ready to renew a strain every chord of which had lost its +power of harmony, was repugnant beyond bearing to his heart. At one +moment he resolved briefly to acquaint the old man with the dreadful +fact, but unwillingness to give pain prevented him; and, moreover, he +felt the grief the communication would draw from the faithful servitor +of his family must be of so unchecked a nature as to render his own +sufferings even more poignant than they were. Neither had he +(independently of all other considerations) resolution enough to forego +the existence of hope in another, even although it had passed entirely +away from himself. It was for these reasons he had so harshly and (for +him) unkindly checked, the attempt of the old man at a conversation +which he, at every moment, felt would be made to turn on the ill-fated +Clara. + +Miserable as he felt his position to be, it was not without +satisfaction he again heard the voice of his sergeant summoning him to +the inspection of another relief. This duty performed, and anxious to +avoid the paining presence of his servant, he determined, instead of +returning to his guard-room, to consume the hour that remained before +day in pacing the ramparts. Leaving word with his subordinate, that, in +the event of his being required, he might be found without difficulty, +he ascended to that quarter of the works where the Indian had been +first seen who had so mysteriously conveyed the sad token he still +retained in his breast. It was on the same side with that particular +point whence we have already stated a full view of the bridge with its +surrounding scenery, together with the waters of the Detroit, where +they were intersected by Hog Island, were distinctly commanded. At +either of those points was stationed a sentinel, whose duty it was to +extend his beat between the boxes used now rather as lines of +demarcation than as places of temporary shelter, until each gained that +of his next comrade, when they again returned to their own, crossing +each other about half way: a system of precaution pursued by the whole +of the sentinels in the circuit of the rampart. + +The ostensible motive of the officer in ascending the works, was to +visit his several posts; but no sooner had he found himself between the +points alluded to, which happened to be the first in his course, than +he seemed to be riveted there by a species of fascination. Not that +there was any external influence to produce this effect, for the utmost +stillness reigned both within and around the fort; and, but for the +howling of some Indian wolf-dog in the distance, or the low and +monotonous beat of their drums in the death-dance, there was nought +that gave evidence of the existence of the dreadful enemy by whom they +were beset. But the whole being of the acutely suffering De Haldimar +was absorbed in recollections connected with the spot on which he +stood. At one extremity was the point whence he had witnessed the +dreadful tragedy of Halloway's death; at the other, that on which had +been deposited the but too unerring record of the partial realisation +of the horrors threatened at the termination of that tragedy; and +whenever he attempted to pass each of these boundaries, he felt as if +his limbs repugned the effort. + +In the sentinels, his appearance among them excited but little +surprise; for it was no uncommon thing for the officers of the guard to +spend the greatest part of the night in visiting, in turn, the several +more exposed points of the ramparts; and that it was now confined to +one particular part, seemed not even to attract their notice. It was, +therefore, almost wholly unremarked by his men, that the heart-stricken +De Haldimar paced his quick and uncertain walk with an imagination +filled with the most fearful forebodings, and with a heart throbbing +with the most painful excitement. Hitherto, since the discovery of the +contents of the packet, his mind had been so exclusively absorbed in +stupifying grief for his sister, that his perception seemed utterly +incapable of outstepping the limited sphere drawn around it; but now, +other remembrances, connected with the localities, forced themselves +upon his attention; and although, in all these, there was nothing that +was not equally calculated to carry dismay and sorrow to his heart, +still, in dividing his thoughts with the one supreme agony that bowed +him down, they were rather welcomed than discarded. His mind was as a +wheel, embracing grief within grief, multiplied to infinitude; and the +wider and more diffusive the circle, the less powerful was the +concentration of sickening heart and brain on that which was the more +immediate axis of the whole. + +Reminded, for the first time, as he pursued his measured but aimless +walk, by the fatal portrait which he more than once pressed with +feverish energy to his lips, of the singular discovery he had made that +night in the apartments of his father, he was naturally led, by a chain +of consecutive thought, into a review of the whole of the extraordinary +scene. The fact of the existence of a second likeness of his mother was +one that did not now fail to reawaken all the unqualified surprise he +had experienced at the first discovery. So far from having ever heard +his father make the slightest allusion to this memorial of his departed +mother, he perfectly recollected his repeatedly recommending to Clara +the safe custody of a treasure, which, if lost, could never be +replaced. What could be the motive for this mystery?--and why had he +sought to impress him with the belief it was the identical portrait +worn by his sister which had so unintentionally been exposed to his +view? Why, too, had he evinced so much anxiety to remove from his mind +all unfavourable impressions in regard to his mother? Why have been so +energetic in his caution not to suffer a taint of impurity to attach to +her memory? Why should he have supposed the possibility of such +impression, unless there had been sufficient cause for it? In what, +moreover, originated his triumphant expression of feature, when, on +that occasion, he reminded him that HIS name was not Reginald? Who, +then, was this Reginald? Then came the recollection of what had been +repeated to him of the parting scene between Halloway and his wife. In +addressing her ill-fated husband, she had named him Reginald. Could it +be possible this was the same being alluded to by his father? But no; +his youth forbade the supposition, being but two years older than his +brother Frederick; yet might he not, in some way or other, be connected +with the Reginald of the letter? Why, too, had his father shown such +unrelenting severity in the case of this unfortunate victim?--a +severity which had induced more than one remark from his officers, that +it looked as if he entertained some personal feeling of enmity towards +a man who had done so much for his family, and stood so high in the +esteem of all who knew him. + +Then came another thought. At the moment of his execution, Halloway had +deposited a packet in the hands of Captain Blessington;--could these +letters--could that portrait be the same? Certain it was, by whatever +means obtained, his father could not have had them long in his +possession; for it was improbable letters of so old a date should have +occupied his attention NOW, when many years had rolled over the memory +of his mother. And then, again, what was the meaning of the language +used by the implacable enemy of his father, that uncouth and ferocious +warrior of the Fleur de lis, not only on the occasion of the execution +of Halloway, but afterwards to his brother, during his short captivity; +and, subsequently, when, disguised as a black, he penetrated, with the +band of Ponteac, into the fort, and aimed his murderous weapon at his +father's head. What had made him the enemy of his family? and where and +how had originated his father's connection with so extraordinary and so +savage a being? Could he, in any way, be implicated with his mother? +But no; there was something revolting, monstrous, in the thought: +besides, had not his father stood forward the champion of her +innocence?--had he not declared, with an energy carrying conviction +with every word, that she was untainted by guilt? And would he have +done this, had he had reason to believe in the existence of a criminal +love for him who evidently was his mortal foe? Impossible. + +Such were the questions and solutions that crowded on and distracted +the mind of the unhappy De Haldimar, who, after all, could arrive at no +satisfactory conclusion. It was evident there was a secret,--yet, +whatever its nature, it was one likely to go down with his father to +the grave; for, however humiliating the reflection to a haughty parent, +compelled to vindicate the honour of a mother to her son, and in direct +opposition to evidence that scarcely bore a shadow of +misinterpretation, it was clear he had motives for consigning the +circumstance to oblivion, which far outweighed any necessity he felt of +adducing other proofs of her innocence than those which rested on his +own simple yet impressive assertion. + +In the midst of these bewildering doubts, De Haldimar heard some one +approaching in his rear, whose footsteps he distinguished from the +heavy pace of the sentinels. He turned, stopped, and was presently +joined by Captain Blessington. + +"Why, dearest Charles," almost querulously asked the kind officer, as +he passed his arm through that of his subaltern,--"why will you persist +in feeding this love of solitude? What possible result can it produce, +but an utter prostration of every moral and physical energy? Come, +come, summon a little fortitude; all may not yet be so hopeless as you +apprehend. For my own part, I feel convinced the day will dawn upon +some satisfactory solution of the mystery of that packet." + +"Blessington, my dear Blessington!"--and De Haldimar spoke with +mournful energy,--"you have known me from my boyhood, and, I believe, +have ever loved me; seek not, therefore, to draw me from the present +temper of my mind; deprive me not of an indulgence which, melancholy as +it is, now constitutes the sole satisfaction I take in existence." + +"By Heaven! Charles, I will not listen to such language. You absolutely +put my patience to the rack." + +"Nay, then, I will urge no more," pursued the young officer. "To +revert, therefore, to a different subject. Answer me one question with +sincerity. What were the contents of the packet you received from poor +Halloway previous to his execution? and in whose possession are they +now?" + +Pleased to find the attention of his young friend diverted for the +moment from his sister, Captain Blessington quickly rejoiced, he +believed the packet contained letters which Halloway had stated to him +were of a nature to throw some light on his family connections. He had, +however, transferred it, with the seal unbroken, as desired by the +unhappy man, to Colonel de Haldimar. + +An exclamation of surprise burst involuntarily from the lips of the +youth. "Has my father ever made any allusion to that packet since?" he +asked. + +"Never," returned Captain Blessington; "and, I confess, his failing to +do so has often excited my astonishment. But why do you ask?" + +De Haldimar energetically pressed the arm of his captain, while a heavy +sigh burst from his oppressed heart "This very night, Blessington, on +entering my father's apartment to apprise him of what was going on +here, I saw,--I can scarcely tell you what, but certainly enough to +convince me, from what you have now stated, Halloway was, in some +degree or other, connected with our family. Tell me," he anxiously +pursued, "was there a portrait enclosed with the letters?" + +"I cannot state with confidence, Charles," replied his friend; "but if +I might judge from the peculiar form and weight of the packet, I should +be inclined to say not. Have you seen the letters, then?" + +"I have seen certain letters which, I have reason to believe, are the +same," returned De Haldimar. "They were addressed to 'Reginald;' and +Halloway, I think you have told me, was so called by his unhappy wife." + +"There can be little doubt they are the same," said Captain +Blessington; "but what were their contents, and by whom written, that +you deem they prove a connection between the unhappy soldier and your +family?" + +De Haldimar felt the blood rise into his cheek, at this natural but +unexpected demand. "I am sure, Blessington," he replied, after a pause, +"you will not think me capable of unworthy mystery towards yourself but +the contents of these letters are sacred, inasmuch as they relate only +to circumstances connected with my father's family." + +"This is singular indeed," exclaimed Captain Blessington, in a tone +that marked his utter and unqualified astonishment at what had now been +disclosed to him; "but surely, Charles," he pursued, "if the packet +handed me by Halloway were the same you allude to, he would have caused +the transfer to have been made before the period chosen by him for that +purpose." + +"But the name," pursued De Haldimar; "how are we to separate the +identity of the packets, when we recur to that name of 'Reginald?'" + +"True," rejoined the musing Blessington; "there is a mystery in this +that baffles all my powers of penetration. Were I in possession of the +contents of the letters, I might find some clue to solve the enigma: +but--" + +"You surely do not mean this as a reproach, Blessington?" fervently +interrupted the youth. "More I dare not, cannot say, for the secret is +not my own; and feelings, which it would be dishonour to outrage, alone +bind me to silence. What little I have revealed to you even now, has +been uttered in confidence. I hope you have so understood it." + +"Perfectly, Charles. What you have stated, goes no further; but we have +been too long absent from our guard, and I confess I have no particular +fancy for remaining in this chill night-air. Let us return." + +De Haldimar made no opposition, and they both prepared to quit the +rampart. As they passed the sentinel stationed at that point where the +Indian had been first seen, their attention was directed by him to a +fire that now suddenly rose, apparently at a great distance, and +rapidly increased in volume. The singularity of this occurrence riveted +the officers for a moment in silent observation; until Captain +Blessington at length ventured a remark, that, judging from the +direction, and the deceptive nature of the element at night, he should +incline to think it was the hut of the Canadian burning. + +"Which is another additional proof, were any such wanting, that every +thing is lost," mournfully urged the ever apprehensive De Haldimar. +"Francois has been detected in rendering aid to our friends; and the +Indians, in all probability, after having immolated their victim, are +sacrificing his property to their rage." + +During this exchange of opinions, the officers had again moved to the +opposite point of the limited walk of the younger. Scarcely had they +reached it, and before Captain Blessington could find time to reply to +the fears of his friend, when a loud and distant booming like that of a +cannon was heard in the direction of the fire. The alarm was given +hastily by the sentinels, and sounds of preparation and arming were +audible in the course of a minute or two every where throughout the +fort. Startled by the report, which they had half inclined to imagine +produced by the discharge of one of their own guns, the half slumbering +officers had quitted the chairs in which they had passed the night in +the mess-room, and were soon at the side of their more watchful +companions, then anxiously listening for a repetition of the sound. + +The day was just beginning to dawn, and as the atmosphere cleared +gradually away, it was perceived the fire rose not from the hut of the +Canadian, but at a point considerably beyond it. Unusual as it was to +see a large fire of this description, its appearance became an object +of minor consideration, since it might be attributed to some caprice or +desire on the part of the Indians to excite apprehension in their +enemies. But how was the report which had reached their ears to be +accounted for? It evidently could only have been produced by the +discharge of a cannon; and if so, where could the Indians have procured +it? No such arm had recently been in their possession; and if it were, +they were totally unacquainted with the manner of serving it. + +As the day became more developed, the mystery was resolved. Every +telescope in the fort had been called into requisition; and as they +were now levelled in the direction of the fire, sweeping the line of +horizon around, exclamations of surprise escaped the lips of several. + +"The fire is at the near extremity of the wood on Hog Island," +exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone. "I can distinctly see the forms of a +multitude of savages dancing round it with hideous gestures and +menacing attitudes." + +"They are dancing their infernal war dance," said Captain Wentworth. +"How I should like to be able to discharge a twenty-four pound battery, +loaded with grape, into the very heart of the devilish throng." + +"Do you see any prisoners?--Are any of our friends among them?" eagerly +and tremblingly enquired De Haldimar of the officer who had last spoken. + +Captain Wentworth made a sweep of his glass along the shores of the +island; but apparently without success. He announced that he could +discover nothing but a vast number of bark canoes lying dry and +upturned on the beach. + +"It is an unusual hour for their war dance," observed Captain +Blessington. "My experience furnishes me with no one instance in which +it has not been danced previous to their retiring to rest." + +"Unless," said Lieutenant Boyce, "they should have been thus engaged +all night; in which case the singularity may be explained." + +"Look, look," eagerly remarked Lieutenant Johnstone--"see how they are +flying to their canoes, bounding and leaping like so many devils broke +loose from their chains. The fire is nearly deserted already." + +"The schooner--the schooner!" shouted Captain Erskine. "By Heaven, our +own gallant schooner! see how beautifully she drives past the island. +It was her gun we heard, intended as a signal to prepare us for her +appearance." + +A thrill of wild and indescribable emotion passed through every heart. +Every eye was turned upon the point to which attention was now +directed. The graceful vessel, with every stitch of canvass set, was +shooting rapidly past the low bushes skirting the sands that still +concealed her hull; and in a moment or two she loomed largely and +proudly on the bosom of the Detroit, the surface of which was slightly +curled with a north-western breeze. + +"Safe, by Jupiter!" exclaimed the delighted Erskine, dropping the glass +upon the rampart, and rubbing his hands together with every +manifestation of joy. + +"The Indians are in chase," said Lieutenant Boyce; "upwards of fifty +canoes are following in the schooner's wake. But Danvers will soon give +us an account of their Lilliputian fleet." + +"Let the troops be held in readiness for a sortie, Mr. Lawson," said +the governor, who had joined his officers just as the schooner cleared +the island; "we must cover their landing, or, with this host of savages +in pursuit, they will never effect it alive." + +During the whole of this brief but exciting scene, the heart of Charles +de Haldimar beat audibly. A thousand hopes and fears rushed confusedly +on his mind, and he was as one bewildered by, and scarcely crediting +what he saw. Could Clara,--could his cousin--could his brother--could +his friend be on board? He scarcely dared to ask himself these +questions; still it was with a fluttering heart, in which hope, +however, predominated, that he hastened to execute an order of his +captain, that bore immediate reference to his duty as subaltern of the +guard. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Meanwhile the schooner dashed rapidly along, her hull occasionally hid +from the view of those assembled on the ramparts by some intervening +orchard or cluster of houses, but her tall spars glittering in their +covering of white canvass, and marking the direction of her course. At +length she came to a point in the river that offered no other +interruption to the eye than what arose from the presence of almost all +the inhabitants of the village, who, urged by curiosity and surprise, +were to be seen crowding the intervening bank. Here the schooner was +suddenly put about, and the English colours, hitherto concealed by the +folds of the canvass, were at length discovered proudly floating in the +breeze. + +Immediately over the gateway of the fort there was an elevated +platform, approached by the rampart, of which it formed a part, by some +half dozen rude steps on either side; and on this platform was placed a +long eighteen pounder, that commanded the whole extent of road leading +from the drawbridge to the river. Hither the officers had all repaired, +while the schooner was in the act of passing the town; and now that, +suddenly brought up in the wind's eye, she rode leisurely in the +offing, every movement on her decks was plainly discernible with the +telescope. + +"Where the devil can Danvers have hid all his crew?" first spoke +Captain Erskine; "I count but half a dozen hands altogether on deck, +and these are barely sufficient to work her." + +"Lying concealed, and ready, no doubt, to give the canoes a warm +reception," observed Lieutenant Johnstone; "but where can our friends +be? Surely, if there, they would show themselves to us." + +There was truth in this remark; and each felt discouraged and +disappointed that they did not appear. + +"There come the whooping hell fiends," said Major Blackwater. "By +Heaven! the very water is darkened with the shadows of their canoes." + +Scarcely had he spoken, when the vessel was suddenly surrounded by a +multitude of savages, whose fierce shouts rent the air, while their +dripping paddles, gleaming like silver in the rays of the rising sun, +were alternately waved aloft in triumph, and then plunged into the +troubled element, which they spurned in fury from their blades. + +"What can Danvers be about? Why does he not either open his fire, or +crowd sail and away from them?" exclaimed several voices. + +"The detachment is in readiness, sir," said Mr. Lawson, ascending the +platform, and addressing Major Blackwater. + +"The deck, the deck!" shouted Erskine. + +Already the eyes of several were bent in the direction alluded to by +the last speaker, while those whose attention had been diverted by the +approaching canoes glanced rapidly to the same point. To the surprise +and consternation of all, the tall and well-remembered form of the +warrior of the Fleur de lis was seen towering far above the bulwarks of +the schooner; and with an expression in the attitude he had assumed, +which no one could mistake for other than that of triumphant defiance. +Presently he drew from the bosom of his hunting coat a dark parcel, and +springing into the rigging of the main-mast, ascended with incredible +activity to the point where the English ensign was faintly floating in +the breeze. This he tore furiously away, and rending it into many +pieces, cast the fragments into the silver element beneath him, on +whose bosom they were seen to float among the canoes of the savages, +many of whom possessed themselves, with eagerness, of the gaudy +coloured trophies. The dark parcel was now unfolded by the active +warrior, who, after having waved it several times round his head, +commenced attaching it to the lines whence the English ensign had so +recently been torn. It was a large black flag, the purport of which was +too readily comprehended by the excited officers. + +"D--n the ruffian! can we not manage to make that, flag serve as his +own winding sheet?" exclaimed Captain Erskine. "Come, Wentworth, give +us a second edition of the sortie firing; I know no man who understands +pointing a gun better than yourself, and this eighteen pounder might do +some mischief." + +The idea was instantly caught at by the officer of artillery, who read +his consent in the eye of Colonel de Haldimar. His companions made way +on either side; and several gunners, who were already at their +stations, having advanced to work the piece at the command of their +captain, it was speedily brought to bear upon the schooner. + +"This will do, I think," said Wentworth, as, glancing his experienced +eye carefully along the gun, he found it pointed immediately on the +gigantic frame of the warrior. "If this chain-shot miss him, it will be +through no fault of mine." + +Every eye was now riveted on the main-mast of the schooner, where the +warrior was still engaged in attaching the portentous flag. The gunner, +who held the match, obeyed the silent signal of his captain; and the +massive iron was heard rushing past the officers, bound on its +murderous mission. A moment or two of intense anxiety elapsed; and when +at length the rolling volumes of smoke gradually floated away, to the +dismay and disappointment of all, the fierce warrior was seen standing +apparently unharmed on the same spot in the rigging. The shot had, +however, been well aimed, for a large rent in the outstretched canvass, +close at his side, and about mid-height of his person, marked the +direction it had taken. Again he tore away, and triumphantly waved the +black flag around his head, while from his capacious lungs there burst +yells of defiance and scorn, that could be distinguished for his own +even at that distance. This done, he again secured the death symbol to +its place; and gliding to the deck by a single rope, appeared to give +orders to the few men of the crew who were to be seen; for every stitch +of canvass was again made to fill, and the vessel, bounding forward +before the breeze then blowing upon her quarter, shot rapidly behind +the town, and was finally seen to cast anchor in the navigable channel +that divides Hog Island from the shores of Canada. + +At the discharge of the eighteen pounder, the river had been suddenly +cleared, as if by magic, of every canoe; while, warned by the same +danger, the groups of inhabitants, assembled on the bank, had rushed +for shelter to their respective homes; so that, when the schooner +disappeared, not a vestige of human life was to be seen along that +vista so recently peopled with human forms. An order from Colonel de +Haldimar to the adjutant, countermanding the sortie, was the first +interruption to the silence that had continued to pervade the little +band of officers; and two or three of these having hastened to the +western front of the rampart, in order to obtain a more distinct view +of the movements of the schooner, their example was speedily followed +by the remainder, all of whom now quitted the platform, and repaired to +the same point. + +Here, with the aid of their telescopes, they again distinctly commanded +a view of the vessel, which lay motionless close under the sandy beach +of the island, and exhibiting all the technicalities of skill in the +disposition of sails and yards peculiar to the profession. In vain, +however, was every eye strained to discover, among the multitude of +savages that kept momentarily leaping to her deck, the forms of those +in whom they were most interested. A group of some half dozen men, +apparently common sailors, and those, in all probability, whose +services had been compelled in the working of the vessel, were the only +evidences that civilised man formed a portion of that grotesque +assemblage. These, with their arms evidently bound behind their backs, +and placed on one of the gangways, were only visible at intervals, as +the band of savages that surrounded them, brandishing their tomahawks +around their heads, occasionally left an opening in their circle. The +formidable warrior of the Fleur de lis was no longer to be seen, +although the flag which he had hoisted still fluttered in the breeze. + +"All is lost, then," ejaculated the governor, with a mournfulness of +voice and manner that caused many of his officers to turn and regard +him with surprise. "That black flag announces the triumph of my foe in +the too certain destruction of my children. Now, indeed," he concluded +in a lower tone, "for the first time, does the curse of Ellen Halloway +sit heavily on my soul." + +A deep sigh burst from one immediately behind him. The governor turned +suddenly round, and beheld his son. Never did human countenance wear a +character of more poignant misery than that of the unhappy Charles at +the moment. Attracted by the report of the cannon, he had flown to the +rampart to ascertain the cause, and had reached his companions only to +learn the strong hope so recently kindled in his breast was fled for +ever. His cheek, over which hung his neglected hair, was now pale as +marble, and his lips bloodless and parted; yet, notwithstanding this +intensity of personal sorrow, a tear had started to his eye, apparently +wrung from him by this unusual expression of dismay in his father. + +"Charles--my son--my only now remaining child," murmured the governor +with emotion, as he remarked, and started at the death-like image of +the youth; "look not thus, or you will utterly unman me." + +A sudden and involuntary impulse caused him to extend his arms. The +young officer sprang forward into the proffered embrace, and sank his +head upon the cheek of his father. It was the first time he had enjoyed +that privilege since his childhood; and even overwhelmed as he was by +his affliction, he felt it deeply. + +This short but touching scene was witnessed by their companions, +without levity in any, and with emotion by several. None felt more +gratified at this demonstration of parental affection for the sensitive +boy, than Blessington and Erskine. + +"I cannot yet persuade myself," observed the former officer, as the +colonel again assumed that dignity of demeanour which had been +momentarily lost sight of in the ebullition of his feelings,--"I cannot +yet persuade myself things are altogether so bad as they appear. It is +true the schooner is in the possession of the enemy, but there is +nothing to prove our friends are on board." + +"If you had reason to know HIM into whose hands she has fallen, as I +do, you would think differently, Captain Blessington," returned the +governor. "That mysterious being," he pursued, after a short pause, +"would never have made this parade of his conquest, had it related +merely to a few lives, which to him are of utter insignificance. The +very substitution of yon black flag, in his insolent triumph, was the +pledge of redemption of a threat breathed in my ear within this very +fort: on what occasion I need not state, since the events connected +with that unhappy night are still fresh in the recollections of us all. +That he is my personal enemy, gentlemen, it would be vain to disguise +from you; although who he is, or of what nature his enmity, it imports +not now to enter upon Suffice it, I have little doubt my children are +in his power; but whether the black flag indicates they are no more, or +that the tragedy is only in preparation, I confess I am at a loss to +understand." + +Deeply affected by the evident despondency that had dictated these +unusual admissions on the part of their chief, the officers were +forward to combat the inferences he had drawn: several coinciding in +the opinion now expressed by Captain Wentworth, that the fact of the +schooner having fallen into the hands of the savages by no means +implied the capture of the fort whence she came; since it was not at +all unlikely she had been chased during a calm by the numerous canoes +into the Sinclair, where, owing to the extreme narrowness of the river, +she had fallen an easy prey. + +"Moreover," observed Captain Blessington, "it is highly improbable the +ferocious warrior could have succeeded in capturing any others than the +unfortunate crew of the schooner; for had this been the case, he would +not have lost the opportunity of crowning his triumph by exhibiting his +victims to our view in some conspicuous part of the vessel." + +"This, I grant you," rejoined the governor, "to be one solitary +circumstance in our favour; but may it not, after all, merely prove +that our worst apprehensions are already realised?" + +"He is not one, methinks, since vengeance seems his aim, to exercise it +in so summary, and therefore merciful, a manner. Depend upon it, +colonel, had any of those in whom we are more immediately interested, +fallen into his hands, he would not have failed to insult and agonize +us by an exhibition of his prisoners." + +"You are right, Blessington," exclaimed Charles de Haldimar, in a voice +that his choking feelings rendered almost sepulchral; "he is not one to +exercise his vengeance in a summary, and merciful manner. The deed is +yet unaccomplished, for even now the curse of Ellen Halloway rings +again in my ear, and tells me the atoning blood must be spilt on the +grave of her husband." + +The peculiar tone in which these words were uttered, caused every one +present to turn and regard the speaker, for they recalled the prophetic +language of the unhappy woman. There was now a wildness of expression +in his handsome features, marking the mind utterly dead to hope, yet +struggling to work itself up to passive endurance of the worst. Colonel +de Haldimar sighed painfully, as he bent his eye half reproachfully on +the dull and attenuated features of his son; and although he spoke not, +his look betrayed the anguish that allusion had called up to his heart. + +"Forgive me, my father," exclaimed the youth, grasping a hand that was +reluctantly extended. "I meant it not in unkindness; but indeed I have +ever had the conviction strongly impressed on my spirit. I know I +appear weak, childish, unsoldierlike; yet can it be wondered at, when I +have been so often latterly deceived by false hopes, that now my heart +has room for no other tenant than despair. I am very wretched," he +pursued, with affecting despondency; "in the presence of my companions +do I admit it, but they all know how I loved my sister. Can they then +feel surprise, that having lost not only her, but my brother and my +friend, I should be the miserable thing I am." + +Colonel de Haldimar turned away, much affected; and throwing his back +against the sentry box near him, passed his hand over his eyes, and +remained for a few moments motionless. + +"Charles, Charles, is this your promise to me?" whispered Captain +Blessington, as he approached and took the hand of his unhappy friend. +"Is this the self-command you pledged yourself to exercise? For +Heaven's sake, agitate not your father thus, by the indulgence of a +grief that can have no other tendency than to render him equally +wretched. Be advised by me, and quit the rampart. Return to your guard, +and endeavour to compose yourself." + +"Ha! what new movement is that on the part of the savages?" exclaimed +Captain Erskine, who had kept his glass to his eye mechanically, and +chiefly with a view of hiding the emotion produced in him by the almost +infantine despair of the younger De Haldimar: "surely it is--yet, no, +it cannot be--yes, see how they are dragging several prisoners from the +wood to the beach. I can distinctly see a man in a blanket coat, and +two others considerably taller, and apparently sailors. But look, +behind them are two females in European dress. Almighty Heaven! there +can be no doubt." + +A painful pause ensued. Every other glass and eye was levelled in the +same direction; and, even as Erskine had described it, a party of +Indians were seen, by those who had the telescopes, conducting five +prisoners towards a canoe that lay in the channel communicating from +the island with the main land on the Detroit shore. Into the bottom of +these they were presently huddled, so that only their heads and +shoulders were visible above the gunwale of the frail bark. Presently a +tall warrior was seen bounding from the wood towards the beach. The +crowd of gesticulating Indians made way, and the warrior was seen to +stoop and apply his shoulder to the canoe, one half of which was high +and dry upon the sands. The heavily laden vessel obeyed the impetus +with a rapidity that proved the muscular power of him who gave it. Like +some wild animal, instinct with life, it lashed the foaming waters from +its bows, and left a deep and gurgling furrow where it passed. As it +quitted the shore, the warrior sprang lightly in, taking his station at +the stern; and while his tall and remarkable figure bent nimbly to the +movement, he dashed his paddle from right to left alternately in the +stream, with a quickness that rendered it almost invisible to the eye. +Presently the canoe disappeared round an intervening headland, and the +officers lost sight of it altogether. + +"The portrait, Charles; what have you done with the portrait?" +exclaimed Captain Blessington, actuated by a sudden recollection, and +with a trepidation in his voice and manner that spoke volumes of +despair to the younger De Haldimar. "This is our only hope of solving +the mystery. Quick, give me the portrait, if you have it." + +The young officer hurriedly tore the miniature from the breast of his +uniform, and pitched it through the interval that separated him from +his captain, who stood a few feet off; but with so uncertain and +trembling an aim, it missed the hand extended to secure it, and fell +upon the very stone the youth had formerly pointed out to Blessington, +as marking the particular spot on which he stood during the execution +of Halloway. The violence of the fall separated the back of the frame +from the picture itself, when suddenly a piece of white and crumpled +paper, apparently part of the back of a letter, yet cut to the size and +shape of the miniature, was exhibited to the view of all. + +"Ha!" resumed the gratified Blessington, as he stooped to possess +himself of the prize; "I knew the miniature would be found to contain +some intelligence from our friends. It is only this moment it occurred +to me to take it to pieces, but accident has anticipated my purpose. +May the omen prove a good one! But what have we here?" + +With some difficulty, the anxious officer now succeeded in making out +the characters, which, in default of pen or pencil, had been formed by +the pricking of a fine pin on the paper. The broken sentences, on which +the whole of the group now hung with greedy ear, ran nearly as +follows:--"All is lost. Michilimackinac is taken. We are prisoners, and +doomed to die within eight and forty hours. Alas! Clara and Madeline +are of our number. Still there is a hope, if my father deem it prudent +to incur the risk. A surprise, well managed, may do much; but it must +be tomorrow night; forty-eight hours more, and it will be of no avail. +He who will deliver this is our friend, and the enemy of my father's +enemy. He will be in the same spot at the same hour to-morrow night, +and will conduct the detachment to wherever we may chance to be. If you +fail in your enterprise, receive our last prayers for a less disastrous +fate. God bless you all!" + +The blood ran coldly through every vein during the perusal of these +important sentences, but not one word of comment was offered by an +individual of the group. No explanation was necessary. The captives in +the canoe, the tall warrior in its stern, all sufficiently betrayed the +horrible truth. + +Colonel de Haldimar at length turned an enquiring look at his two +captains, and then addressing the adjutant, asked-- + +"What companies are off duty to-day, Mr. Lawson?" + +"Mine," said Blessington, with an energy that denoted how deeply +rejoiced he felt at the fact, and without giving the adjutant time to +reply. + +"And mine," impetuously added Captain Erskine; "and, by G--! I will +answer for them; they never embarked on a duty of the sort with greater +zeal than they will on this occasion." + +"Gentlemen, I thank you," said Colonel de Haldimar, with deep emotion, +as he stepped forward and grasped in turn the hands of the +generous-hearted officers. "To Heaven, and to your exertions, do I +commit my children." + +"Any artillery, colonel?" enquired the officer of that corps. + +"No, Wentworth, no artillery. Whatever remains to be done, must be +achieved by the bayonet alone, and under favour of the darkness. +Gentlemen, again I thank you for this generous interest in my +children--this forwardness in an enterprise on which depend the lives +of so many dear friends. I am not one given to express warm emotion, +but I do, indeed, appreciate this conduct deeply." He then moved away, +desiring Mr. Lawson, as he quitted the rampart, to cause the men for +this service to be got in instant readiness. + +Following the example of their colonel, Captains Blessington and +Erskine quitted the rampart also, hastening to satisfy themselves by +personal inspection of the efficiency in all respects of their several +companies; and in a few minutes, the only individual to be seen in that +quarter of the works was the sentinel, who had been a silent and pained +witness of all that had passed among his officers. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Doubtless, many of our readers are prepared to expect that the doom of +the unfortunate Frank Halloway was, as an officer of his regiment had +already hinted, the fruit of some personal pique and concealed motive +of vengeance; and that the denouement of our melancholy story will +afford evidence of the governor's knowledge of the true character of +him, who, under an assumed name, excited such general interest at his +trial and death, not only among his military superiors, but those with +whom his adverse destiny had more immediately associated him. It has +already been urged to us, by one or two of our critical friends to whom +we have submitted what has been thus far written in our tale, that, to +explain satisfactorily and consistently the extreme severity of the +governor, some secret and personally influencing motive must be +assigned; but to these we have intimated, what we now repeat,--namely, +that we hope to bear out our story, by natural explanation and simple +deduction. Who Frank Halloway really was, or what the connection +existing between him and the mysterious enemy of the family of De +Haldimar, the sequel of our narrative will show; but whatever its +nature, and however well founded the apprehension of the governor of +the formidable being hitherto known as the warrior of the Fleur de lis, +and however strong his conviction that the devoted Halloway and his +enemy were in secret correspondence, certain it is, that, to the very +hour of the death of the former, he knew him as no other than the +simple private soldier. + +To have ascribed to Colonel de Haldimar motives that would have induced +his eagerly seeking the condemnation of an innocent man, either to +gratify a thirst of vengeance, or to secure immunity against personal +danger, would have been to have painted him, not only as a villain, but +a coward. Colonel de Haldimar was neither; but, on the contrary, what +is understood in worldly parlance and the generally received +acceptation of the terms, a man of strict integrity and honour, as well +as of the most undisputed courage. Still, he was a severe and a haughty +man,--one whose military education had been based on the principles of +the old school--and to whom the command of a regiment afforded a field +for the exercise of an orthodox despotism, that could not be passed +over without the immolation of many a victim on its rugged surface. +Without ever having possessed any thing like acute feeling, his heart, +as nature had formed it, was moulded to receive the ordinary +impressions of humanity; and had he been doomed to move in the sphere +of private life, if he had not been distinguished by any remarkable +sensibilities, he would not, in all probability, have been conspicuous +for any extraordinary cruelties. Sent into the army, however, at an +early age, and with a blood not remarkable for its mercurial aptitudes, +he had calmly and deliberately imbibed all the starched theories and +standard prejudices which a mind by no means naturally gifted was but +too well predisposed to receive; and he was among the number of those +(many of whom are indigenous to our soil even at the present day) who +look down from a rank obtained, upon that which has been just quitted, +with a contempt, and coldness, and consciousness of elevation, +commensurate only with the respect paid to those still above them, and +which it belongs only to the little-minded to indulge in. + +As a subaltern, M. de Haldimar had ever been considered a pattern of +rigid propriety and decorum of conduct. Not the shadow of military +crime had ever been laid to his charge. He was punctual at all parades +and drills; kept the company to which he was attached in a perfect hot +water of discipline; never missed his distance in marching past, or +failed in a military manoeuvre; paid his mess-bill regularly to the +hour, nay, minute, of the settling day; and was never, on any one +occasion, known to enter the paymaster's office, except on the +well-remembered 24th of each month; and, to crown all, he had never +asked, consequently never obtained, a day's leave from his regiment, +although he had served in it so long, that there was now but one man +living who had entered it with him. With all these qualities, Ensign de +Haldimar promised to make an excellent soldier; and, as such, was +encouraged by the field-officers of the corps, who unhesitatingly +pronounced him a lad of discernment and talent, who would one day rival +them in all the glorious privileges of martinetism. It was even +remarked, as an evidence of his worth, that, when promoted to a +lieutenancy, he looked down upon the ensigns with that becoming +condescension which befitted his new rank; and up to the captains with +the deferential respect he felt to be due to that third step in the +five-barred gate of regimental promotion, on which his aspiring but +chained foot had not yet succeeded in reposing. What, therefore, he +became when he had succeeded in clambering to the top, and looked down +from the lordly height he had after many years of plodding service +obtained, we must leave it to the imaginations of our readers to +determine. We reserve it to a future page, to relate more interesting +particulars. + +Sufficient has been shown, however, from this outline of his character, +as well as from the conversations among his officers, elsewhere +transcribed, to account for the governor's conduct in the case of +Halloway. That the recommendation of his son, Captain de Haldimar, had +not been attended to, arose not from any particular ill-will towards +the unhappy man, but simply because he had always been in the habit of +making his own selections from the ranks, and that the present +recommendation had been warmly urged by one who he fancied pretended to +a discrimination superior to his own, in pointing out merits that had +escaped his observation. It might be, too, that there was a latent +pride about the manner of Halloway that displeased and dissatisfied one +who looked upon his subordinates as things that were amenable to the +haughtiness of his glance,--not enough of deference in his demeanour, +or of supplicating obsequiousness in his speech, to entitle him to the +promotion prayed for. Whatever the motive, there was nothing of +personality to influence him in the rejection of the appeal made in +favour of one who had never injured him; but who, on the contrary, as +the whole of the regiment could attest, had saved the life of his son. + +Rigid disciplinarian as he was, and holding himself responsible for the +safety of the garrison it was but natural, when the discovery had been +made of the unaccountable unfastening of the gate of the fort, +suspicion of no ordinary kind should attach to the sentinel posted +there; and that he should steadily refuse all credence to a story +wearing so much appearance of improbability. Proud, and inflexible, and +bigoted to first impressions, his mind was closed against those +palliating circumstances, which, adduced by Halloway in his defence, +had so mainly contributed to stamp the conviction of his moral +innocence on the minds of his judges and the attentive auditory; and +could he even have conquered his pride so far as to have admitted the +belief of that innocence, still the military crime of which he had been +guilty, in infringing a positive order of the garrison, was in itself +sufficient to call forth all the unrelenting severity of his nature. +Throughout the whole of the proceedings subsequently instituted, he had +acted and spoken from a perfect conviction of the treason of the +unfortunate soldier, and with the fullest impression of the falsehood +of all that had been offered in his defence. The considerations that +influenced the minds of his officers, found no entrance into his proud +breast, which was closed against every thing but his own dignified +sense of superior judgment. Could he, like them, have given credence to +the tale of Halloway, or really have believed that Captain de Haldimar, +educated under his own military eye, could have been so wanting in +subordination, as not merely to have infringed a positive order of the +garrison, but to have made a private soldier of that garrison accessary +to his delinquency, it is more than probable his stern habits of +military discipline would have caused him to overlook the offence of +the soldier, in deeper indignation at the conduct of the infinitely +more culpable officer; but not one word did he credit of a statement, +which he assumed to have been got up by the prisoner with the mere view +of shielding himself from punishment: and when to these suspicions of +his fidelity was attached the fact of the introduction of his alarming +visitor, it must be confessed his motives for indulging in this belief +were not without foundation. + +The impatience manifested during the trial of Halloway was not a result +of any desire of systematic persecution, but of a sense of wounded +dignity. It was a thing unheard of, and unpardonable in his eyes, for a +private soldier to assert, in his presence, his honour and his +respectability in extenuation, even while admitting the justice of a +specific charge; and when he remarked the Court listening with that +profound attention, which the peculiar history of the prisoner had +excited, he could not repress the manifestation of his anger. In +justice to him, however, it must be acknowledged that, in causing the +charge, to which the unfortunate man pleaded guilty, to be framed, he +had only acted from the conviction that, on the two first, there was +not sufficient evidence to condemn one whose crime was as clearly +established, to his judgment, as if he had been an eye-witness of the +treason. It is true, he availed himself of Halloway's voluntary +confession, to effect his condemnation; but estimating him as a +traitor, he felt little delicacy was necessary to be observed on that +score. + +Much of the despotic military character of Colonel de Haldimar had been +communicated to his private life; so much, indeed, that his sons,--both +of whom, it has been seen, were of natures that belied their origin +from so stern a stock,--were kept at nearly as great a distance from +him as any other subordinates of his regiment. But although he seldom +indulged in manifestations of parental regard towards those whom he +looked upon rather as inferiors in military rank, than as beings +connected with him by the ties of blood, Colonel de Haldimar was not +without that instinctive love for his children, which every animal in +the creation feels for its offspring. He, also, valued and took a pride +in, because they reflected a certain degree of lustre upon himself, the +talents and accomplishments of his eldest son, who, moreover, was a +brave, enterprising officer, and, only wanted, in his father's +estimation, that severity of carriage and hauteur of deportment, +befitting HIS son, to render him perfect. As for Charles,--the gentle, +bland, winning, universally conciliating Charles,--he looked upon him +as a mere weak boy, who could never hope to arrive at any post of +distinction, if only by reason of the extreme delicacy of his physical +organisation; and to have shown any thing like respect for his +character, or indulged in any expression of tenderness for one so far +below his estimate of what a soldier, a child of his, ought to be, +would have been a concession of which his proud nature was incapable. +In his daughter Clara, however, the gentleness of sex claimed that +warmer affection which was denied to him, who resembled her in almost +every attribute of mind and person. Colonel de Haldimar doated on his +daughter with a tenderness, for which few, who were familiar with his +harsh and unbending nature, ever gave him credit. She was the image of +one on whom all of love that he had ever known had been centered; and +he had continued in Clara an affection, that seemed in itself to form a +portion, distinct and apart, of his existence. + +We have already seen, as stated by Charles de Haldimar to the +unfortunate wife of Halloway, with what little success he had pleaded +in the interview he had requested of his father, for the preserver of +his gallant brother's life; and we have also seen how equally +inefficient was the lowly and supplicating anguish of that wretched +being, when, on quitting the apartment of his son, Colonel de Haldimar +had so unexpectedly found himself clasped in her despairing embrace. +There was little to be expected from an intercession on the part of one +claiming so little ascendancy over his father's heart, as the +universally esteemed young officer; still less from one who, in her +shriek of agony, had exposed the haughty chief to the observation both +of men and officers, and under circumstances that caused his position +to border on the ludicrous. But however these considerations might have +failed in effect, there was another which, as a soldier, he could not +wholly overlook. Although he had offered no comment on the +extraordinary recommendation to mercy annexed to the sentence of the +prisoner, it had had a certain weight with him; and he felt, all +absolute even as he was, he could not, without exciting strong +dissatisfaction among his troops, refuse attention to a document so +powerfully worded, and bearing the signature and approval of so old and +valued an officer as Captain Blessington. His determination, therefore, +had been formed, even before his visit to his son, to act as +circumstances might require; and, in the mean while, he commanded every +preparation for the execution to be made. + +In causing a strong detachment to be marched to the conspicuous point +chosen for his purpose, he had acted from a conviction of the necessity +of showing the enemy the treason of the soldier had been detected; +reserving to himself the determination of carrying the sentence into +full effect, or pardoning the condemned, as the event might warrant. +Not one moment, meanwhile, did he doubt the guilt of Halloway, whose +description of the person of his enemy was, in itself, to him, +confirmatory evidence of his treason. It is doubtful whether he would, +in any way, have been influenced by the recommendation of the Court, +had the first charges been substantiated; but as there was nothing but +conjecture to bear out these, and as the prisoner had been convicted +only on the ground of suffering Captain de Haldimar to quit the fort +contrary to orders, he felt he might possibly go too far in carrying +the capital punishment into effect, in decided opposition to the +general feeling of the garrison,--both of officers and men. + +When the shot was subsequently fired from the hut of the Canadian, and +the daring rifleman recognised as the same fearful individual who had +gained access to his apartment the preceding night, conviction of the +guilt of Halloway came even deeper home to the mind of the governor. It +was through Francois alone that a communication was kept up secretly +between the garrison and several of the Canadians without the fort; and +the very fact of the mysterious warrior having been there so recently +after his daring enterprise, bore evidence that whatever treason was in +operation, had been carried on through the instrumentality of mine host +of the Fleur de lis. In proof, moreover, there was the hat of Donellan, +and the very rope Halloway had stated to be that by which the +unfortunate officer had effected his exit. Colonel de Haldimar was not +one given to indulge in the mysterious or to believe in the romantic. +Every thing was plain matter of fact, as it now appeared before him; +and he thought it evident, as though it had been written in words of +fire, that if his son and his unfortunate servant had quitted the fort +in the manner represented, it was no less certain they had been forced +off by a party, at the head of whom was his vindictive enemy, and with +the connivance of Halloway. We have seen, that after the discovery of +the sex of the supposed drummer-boy when the prisoners were confronted +together, Colonel de Haldimar had closely watched the expression of +their countenances, but failed in discovering any thing that could be +traced into evidence of a guilty recognition. Still he conceived his +original impression to have been too forcibly borne out, even by the +events of the last half hour, to allow this to have much weight with +him; and his determination to carry the thing through all its fearful +preliminary stages became more and more confirmed. + +In adopting this resolution in the first instance, he was not without a +hope that Halloway, standing, as he must feel himself to be, on the +verge of the grave, might be induced to make confession of his guilt, +and communicate whatever particulars might prove essential not only to +the safety of the garrison generally, but to himself individually, as +far as his personal enemy was concerned. With this view, he had charged +Captain Blessington, in the course of their march from the hut to the +fatal bridge, to promise a full pardon, provided he should make such +confession of his crime as would lead to a just appreciation of the +evils likely to result from the treason that had in part been +accomplished. Even in making this provision, however, which was met by +the prisoner with solemn yet dignified reiteration of his innocence, +Colonel de Haldimar had not made the refusal of pardon altogether +conclusive in his own mind: still, in adopting this plan, there was a +chance of obtaining a confession; and not until there was no longer a +prospect of the unhappy man being led into that confession, did he feel +it imperative on him to stay the progress of the tragedy. + +What the result would have been, had not Halloway, in the strong +excitement of his feelings, sprung to his feet upon the coffin, +uttering the exclamation of triumph recorded in the last pages of our +first volume, is scarcely doubtful. However much the governor might +have contemned and slighted a credulity in which he in no way +participated himself, he had too much discrimination not to perceive, +that to have persevered in the capital punishment would have been to +have rendered himself personally obnoxious to the comrades of the +condemned, whose dispirited air and sullen mien, he clearly saw, +denounced the punishment as one of unnecessary rigour. The haughty +commander was not one to be intimidated by manifestations of +discontent; neither was he one to brook a spirit of insubordination, +however forcibly supported; but he had too much experience and military +judgment, not to determine that this was riot a moment, by foregoing an +act of compulsory clemency, to instil divisions in the garrison, when +the safety of all so much depended on the cheerfulness and unanimity +with which they lent themselves to the arduous duties of defence. + +However originating in policy, the lenity he might have been induced to +have shown, all idea of the kind was chased from his mind by the +unfortunate action of the prisoner. At the moment when the distant +heights resounded with the fierce yells of the savages, and leaping +forms came bounding down the slope, the remarkable warrior of the Fleur +de lis--the fearful enemy who had whispered the most demoniac vengeance +in his ears the preceding night--was the only one that met and riveted +the gaze of the governor. He paused not to observe or to think who the +flying man could be of whom the mysterious warrior was in +pursuit,--neither did it, indeed, occur to him that it was a pursuit at +all. But one idea suggested itself to his mind, and that was an attempt +at rescue of the condemned on the part of his accomplice; and when at +length Halloway, who had at once, as if by instinct, recognised his +captain in the fugitive, shouted forth his gratitude to Heaven that "he +at length approached who alone had the power to save him," every shadow +of mercy was banished from the mind of the governor, who, labouring +under a natural misconception of the causes of his exulting shout, felt +that justice imperatively demanded her victim, and no longer hesitated +in awarding the doom that became the supposed traitor. It was under +this impression that he sternly gave and repeated the fatal order to +fire; and by this misjudged and severe, although not absolutely cruel +act, not only destroyed one of the noblest beings that ever wore a +soldier's uniform, but entailed upon himself and family that terrific +curse of his maniac wife, which rang like a prophetic warning in the +ears of all, and was often heard in the fitful starlings of his own +ever-after troubled slumbers. + +What his feelings were, when subsequently he discovered, in the +wretched fugitive, the son whom he already believed to have been +numbered with the dead, and heard from his lips a confirmation of all +that had been advanced by the unhappy Halloway, we shall leave it to +our readers to imagine. Still, even amid his first regret, the rigid +disciplinarian was strong within him; and no sooner had the detachment +regained the fort, after performing the last offices of interment over +their ill-fated comrade, than Captain de Haldimar received an +intimation, through the adjutant, to consider himself under close +arrest for disobedience of orders. Finally, however, he succeeded in +procuring an interview with his father; in the course of which, +disclosing the plot of the Indians, and the short period allotted for +its being carried into execution, he painted in the most gloomy colours +the alarming, dangers which threatened them all, and finished by +urgently imploring his father to suffer him to make the attempt to +reach their unsuspecting friends at Michilimackinac. Fully impressed +with the difficulties attendant on a scheme that offered so few +feasible chances of success, Colonel de Haldimar for a period denied +his concurrence; but when at length the excited young man dwelt on the +horrors that would inevitably await his sister and betrothed cousin, +were they to fall into the hands of the savages, these considerations +were found to be effective. An after-arrangement included Sir Everard +Valletort, who had expressed a strong desire to share his danger in the +enterprise; and the services of the Canadian, who had been brought back +a prisoner to the fort, and on whom promises and threats were bestowed +in an equally lavish manner, were rendered available. In fact, without +the assistance of Francois, there was little chance of their effecting +in safety the navigation of the waters through which they were to pass +to arrive at the fort. He it was, who, when summoned to attend a +conference among the officers, bearing on the means to be adopted, +suggested the propriety of their disguising themselves as Canadian duck +hunters; in which character they might expect to pass unmolested, even +if encountered by any outlying parties of the savages. With the doubts +that had previously been entertained of the fidelity of Francois, there +was an air of forlorn hope given to the enterprise; still, as the man +expressed sincere earnestness of desire to repay the clemency accorded +him, by a faithful exercise of his services, and as the object sought +was one that justified the risk, there was, notwithstanding, a latent +hope cherished by all parties, that the event would prove successful. +We have already seen to what extent their anticipations were realised. + +Whether it was that he secretly acknowledged the too excessive +sternness of his justice in regard to Halloway (who still, in the true +acceptation of facts, had been guilty of a crime that entailed the +penalty he had paid), or that the apprehensions that arose to his heart +in regard to her on whom he yearned with all a father's fondness +governed his conduct, certain it is, that, from the hour of the +disclosure made by his son, Colonel de Haldimar became an altered man. +Without losing any thing of that dignity of manner, which had hitherto +been confounded with the most repellent haughtiness of bearing, his +demeanour towards his officers became more courteous; and although, as +heretofore, he kept himself entirely aloof, except when occasions of +duty brought them together, still, when they did meet, there was more +of conciliation in his manner, and less of austerity in his speech. +There was, moreover, a dejection in his eye, strongly in contrast with +his former imperious glance; and more than one officer remarked, that, +if his days were devoted to the customary practical arrangements for +defence, his pallid countenance betokened that his nights were nights +rather of vigil than of repose. + +However natural and deep the alarm entertained for the fate of the +sister fort, there could be no apprehension on the mind of Colonel de +Haldimar in regard to his own; since, furnished with the means of +foiling his enemies with their own weapons of cunning and deceit, a few +extraordinary precautions alone were necessary to secure all immunity +from danger. Whatever might be the stern peculiarities of his +character,--and these had originated chiefly in an education purely +military,--Colonel de Haldimar was an officer well calculated to the +important trust reposed in him; for, combining experience with judgment +in all matters relating to the diplomacy of war, and being fully +conversant with the character and habits of the enemy opposed to him, +he possessed singular aptitude to seize whatever advantages might +present themselves. + +The prudence and caution of his policy have already been made manifest +in the two several council scenes with the chiefs recorded in our +second volume. It may appear singular, that, with the opportunity thus +afforded him of retaining the formidable Ponteac,--the strength and +sinew of that long protracted and ferocious war,--in his power, he +should have waved his advantage; but here Colonel de Haldimar gave +evidence of the tact which so eminently distinguished his public +conduct throughout. He well knew the noble, fearless character of the +chief; and felt, if any hold was to be secured over him, it was by +grappling with his generosity, and not by the exercise of intimidation. +Even admitting that Ponteac continued his prisoner, and that the +troops, pouring their destructive fire upon the mass of enemies so +suddenly arrested on the drawbridge, had swept away the whole, still +they were but as a mite among the numerous nations that were leagued +against the English; and to these nations, it was evident, they must, +sooner or later, succumb. + +Colonel de Haldimar knew enough of the proud but generous nature of the +Ottawa, to deem that the policy he proposed to pursue in the last +council scene would not prove altogether without effect on that +warrior. It was well known to him, that much pains had been taken to +instil into the minds of the Indians the belief that the English were +resolved on their final extirpation; and as certain slights, offered to +them at various periods, had given a colouring of truth to this +assertion, the formidable league which had already accomplished the +downfall of so many of the forts had been the consequence of these +artful representations. Although well aware that the French had +numerous emissaries distributed among the fierce tribes, it was not +until after the disclosure made by the haughty Ponteac, at the close of +the first council scene, that he became apprised of the alarming +influence exercised over the mind of that warrior himself by his own +terrible and vindictive enemy. The necessity of counteracting that +influence was obvious; and he felt this was only to be done (if at all) +by some marked and extraordinary evidence of the peaceful disposition +of the English. Hence his determination to suffer the faithless chiefs +and their followers to depart unharmed from the fort, even at the +moment when the attitude assumed by the prepared garrison fully proved +to the assailants their designs had been penetrated and their schemes +rendered abortive. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +With the general position of the encampment of the investing Indians, +the reader has been made acquainted through the narrative of Captain de +Haldimar. It was, as has been shown, situate in a sort of oasis close +within the verge of the forest, and (girt by an intervening underwood +which Nature, in her caprice, had fashioned after the manner of a +defensive barrier) embraced a space sufficient to contain the tents of +the fighting men, together with their women and children. This, +however, included only the warriors and inferior chiefs. The tents of +the leaders were without the belt of underwood, and principally +distributed at long intervals on that side of the forest which skirted +the open country towards the river; forming, as it were, a chain of +external defences, and sweeping in a semicircular direction round the +more dense encampment of their followers. At its highest elevation the +forest shot out suddenly into a point, naturally enough rendered an +object of attraction from whatever part it was commanded. + +Darkness was already beginning to spread her mantle over the +intervening space, and the night fires of the Indians were kindling +into brightness, glimmering occasionally through the wood with that +pale and lambent light peculiar to the fire-fly, of which they offered +a not inapt representation, when suddenly a lofty tent, the brilliant +whiteness of which was thrown into strong relief by the dark field on +which it reposed, was seen to rise at a few paces from the abrupt point +in the forest just described, and on the extreme summit of a ridge, +beyond which lay only the western horizon in golden perspective. + +The opening of this tent looked eastward and towards the fort; and on +its extreme summit floated a dark flag, which at intervals spread +itself before the slight evening breeze, but oftener hung drooping and +heavily over the glittering canvass. One solitary pine, whose trunk +exceeded not the ordinary thickness of a man's waist, and standing out +as a landmark on the ridge, rose at the distance of a few feet from the +spot on which the tent had been erected; and to this was bound the tall +and elegant figure of one dressed in the coarse garb of a sailor. The +arms and legs of this individual were perfectly free; but a strong +rope, rendered doubly secure after the manner of what is termed +"whipping" among seamen, after having been tightly drawn several times +around his waist, and then firmly knotted behind, was again passed +round the tree, to which the back of the prisoner was closely lashed; +thus enabling, or rather compelling, him to be a spectator of every +object within the tent. + +Layers of bark, over which were spread the dressed skins of the bear +and the buffalo, formed the floor and carpet of the latter; and on +these, in various parts, and in characteristic attitudes, reposed the +forms of three human beings;--one, the formidable warrior of the Fleur +de lis. Attired in the garb in which we first introduced him to our +readers, and with the same weapons reposing at his side, the haughty +savage lay at his lazy length; his feet reaching beyond the opening of +the tent, and his head reposing on a rude pillow formed of a closely +compressed pack of skins of wild animals, over which was spread a sort +of mantle or blanket. One hand was introduced between the pillow and +his head, the other grasped the pipe tomahawk he was smoking; and while +the mechanical play of his right foot indicated pre-occupation of +thought, his quick and meaning eye glanced frequently and alternately +upon the furthest of his companions, the prisoner without, and the +distant fort. + +Within a few feet of the warrior lay, extended on a buffalo skin, the +delicate figure of a female, whose hair, complexion, and hands, denoted +her European extraction. Her dress was entirely Indian, however; +consisting of a machecoti with leggings, mocassins, and shirt of +printed cotton studded with silver brooches,--all of which were of a +quality and texture to mark the wearer as the wife of a chief; and her +fair hair, done up in a club behind, reposed on a neck of dazzling +whiteness. Her eyes were large, blue, but wild and unmeaning; her +countenance vacant; and her movements altogether mechanical. A wooden +bowl filled with hominy,--a preparation of Indian corn,--was at her +side; and from this she was now in the act of feeding herself with a +spoon of the same material, but with a negligence and slovenliness that +betrayed her almost utter unconsciousness of the action. + +At the further side of the tent there was another woman, even more +delicate in appearance than the one last mentioned. She, too, was +blue-eyed, and of surpassing fairness of skin. Her attitude denoted a +mind too powerfully absorbed in grief to be heedful of appearances; for +she sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, and rocking her body to +and fro with an undulating motion that seemed to have its origin in no +effort of volition of her own. Her long fair hair hung negligently over +her shoulders; and a blanket drawn over the top of her head like a +veil, and extending partly over the person, disclosed here and there +portions of an apparel which was strictly European, although rent, and +exhibiting in various places stains of blood. A bowl similar to that of +her companion, and filled with the same food, was at her side; but this +was untasted. + +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" asked the warrior of her next him, +as he fiercely rolled a volume of smoke from his lips. "Make her eat, +for I would speak to her afterwards." + +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" responded the woman in the same +tone, dropping her spoon as she spoke, and turning to the object of +remark with a vacant look. "It is good," she pursued, as she rudely +shook the arm of the heedless sufferer. "Come, girl, eat." + +A shriek burst from the lips of the unhappy girl, as, apparently roused +from her abstraction, she suffered the blanket to fall from her head, +and staring wildly at her questioner, faintly demanded,-- + +"Who, in the name of mercy, are you, who address me in this horrid +place in my own tongue? Speak; who are you? Surely I should know that +voice for that of Ellen, the wife of Frank Halloway!" + +A maniac laugh was uttered by the wretched woman. This continued +offensively for a moment; and she observed, in an infuriated tone and +with a searching eye,--"No, I am not the wife of Halloway. It is false. +I am the wife of Wacousta. This is my husband!" and as she spoke she +sprang nimbly to her feet, and was in the next instant lying prostrate +on the form of the warrior; her arms thrown wildly around him, and her +lips imprinting kisses on his cheek. + +But Wacousta was in no mood to suffer her endearments. He for the first +time seemed alive to the presence of her who lay beyond, and, to whose +whole appearance a character of animation had been imparted by the +temporary excitement of her feelings. He gazed at her a moment, with +the air of one endeavouring to recall the memory of days long gone by; +and as he continued to do so, his eye dilated, his chest heaved, and +his countenance alternately flushed and paled. At length he threw the +form that reposed upon his own, violently, and even savagely, from him; +sprang eagerly to his feet; and clearing the space that divided him +from the object of his attention at a single step, bore her from the +earth in his arms with as much ease as if she had been an infant, and +then returning to his own rude couch, placed his horror-stricken victim +at his side. + +"Nay, nay," he urged sarcastically, as she vainly struggled to free +herself; "let the De Haldimar portion of your blood rise up in anger if +it will; but that of Clara Beverley, at least--." + +"Gracious Providence! where am I, that I hear the name of my sainted +mother thus familiarly pronounced?" interrupted the startled girl; "and +who are you,"--turning her eyes wildly on the swarthy countenance of +the warrior,--"who are you, I ask, who, with the mien and in the garb +of a savage of these forests, appear thus acquainted with her name?" + +The warrior passed his hand across his brow for a moment, as if some +painful and intolerable reflection had been called up by the question; +but he speedily recovered his self-possession, and, with an expression +of feature that almost petrified his auditor, vehemently observed,-- + +"You ask who I am! One who knew your mother long before the accursed +name of De Haldimar had even been whispered in her ear; and whom love +for the one and hatred for the other has rendered the savage you now +behold! But," he continued, while a fierce and hideous smile lighted up +every feature, "I overlook my past sufferings in my present happiness. +The image of Clara Beverley, even such as my soul loved her in its +youth, is once more before me in her child; THAT child shall be my +wife!" + +"Your wife! monster;--never!" shrieked the unhappy girl, again vainly +attempting to disengage herself from the encircling arm of the savage. +"But," she pursued, in a tone of supplication, while the tears coursed +each other down her cheek, "if you ever loved my mother as you say you +have, restore her children to their home; and, if saints may be +permitted to look down from heaven in approval of the acts of men, she +whom you have loved will bless you for the deed." + +A deep groan burst from the vast chest of Wacousta; but, for a moment, +he answered not. At length he observed, pointing at the same time with +his finger towards the cloudless vault above their heads,--"Do you +behold yon blue sky, Clara de Haldimar?" + +"I do;--what mean you?" demanded the trembling girl, in whom a +momentary hope had been excited by the subdued manner of the savage. + +"Nothing," he coolly rejoined; "only that were your mother to appear +there at this moment, clad in all the attributes ascribed to angels, +her prayer would not alter the destiny that awaits you. Nay, nay; look +not thus sorrowfully," he pursued, as, in despite of her efforts to +prevent him, he imprinted a burning kiss upon her lips. "Even thus was +I once wont to linger on the lips of your mother; but hers ever pouted +to be pressed by mine; and not with tears, but with sunniest smiles, +did she court them." He paused; bent his head over the face of the +shuddering girl; and gazing fixedly for a few minutes on her +countenance, while he pressed her struggling form more closely to his +own, exultingly pursued, as if to himself,--"Even as her mother was, so +is she. Ye powers of hell! who would have ever thought a time would +come when both my vengeance and my love would be gratified to the +utmost? How strange it never should have occurred to me he had a +daughter!" + +"What mean you, fierce, unpitying man?" exclaimed the terrified Clara, +to whom a full sense of the horror of her position had lent unusual +energy of character. "Surely you will not detain a poor defenceless +woman in your hands,--the child of her you say you have loved. But it +is false!--you never knew her, or you would not now reject my prayer." + +"Never knew her!" fiercely repeated Wacousta. Again he paused. "Would I +had never known her! and I should not now be the outcast wretch I am," +he added, slowly and impressively. Then once more elevating his +voice,--"Clara de Haldimar, I have loved your mother as man never loved +woman; and I have hated your father" (grinding his teeth with fury as +he spoke) "as man never hated man. That love, that hatred are +unquenched--unquenchable. Before me I see at once the image of her who, +even in death, has lived enshrined in my heart, and the child of him +who is my bitterest foe. Clara de Haldimar, do you understand me now?" + +"Almighty Providence! is there no one to save me?--can nothing touch +your stubborn heart?" exclaimed the affrighted girl; and she turned her +swimming eyes on those of the warrior, in appeal; but his glance caused +her own to sink in confusion. "Ellen Halloway," she pursued, after a +moment's pause, and in the wild accents of despair, "if you are indeed +the wife of this man, as you say you are, oh! plead for me with him; +and in the name of that kindness, which I once extended to yourself, +prevail on him to restore me to my father!" + +"Ellen Halloway!--who calls Ellen Halloway?" said the wretched woman, +who had again resumed her slovenly meal on the rude couch, apparently +without consciousness of the scene enacting at her side. "I am not +Ellen Halloway: they said so; but it is not true. My husband was +Reginald Morton: but he went for a soldier, and was killed; and I never +saw him more." + +"Reginald Morton! What mean you, woman?--What know you of Reginald +Morton?" demanded Wacousta, with frightful energy, as, leaning over the +shrinking form of Clara, he violently grasped and shook the shoulder of +the unhappy maniac. + +"Stop; do not hurt me, and I will tell you all, sir," she almost +screamed. "Oh, sir, Reginald Morton was my husband once; but he was +kinder than you are. He did not look so fiercely at me; nor did he +pinch me so." + +"What of him?--who was he?" furiously repeated Wacousta, as he again +impatiently shook the arm of the wretched Ellen. "Where did you know +him?--Whence came he?" + +"Nay, you must not be jealous of poor Reginald:" and, as she uttered +these words in a softening and conciliating tone, her eye was turned +upon those of the warrior with a mingled expression of fear and +cunning. "But he was very good and very handsome, and generous; and we +lived near each other, and we loved each other at first sight. But his +family were very proud, and they quarrelled with him because he married +me; and then we became very poor, and Reginald went for a soldier, +and--; but I forget the rest, it is so long ago." She pressed her hand +to her brow, and sank her head upon her chest. + +"Ellen, woman, again I ask you where he came from? this Reginald Morton +that you have named. To what county did he belong?" + +"Oh, we were both Cornish," she answered, with a vivacity singularly in +contrast with her recent low and monotonous tone; "but, as I said +before, he was of a great family, and I only a poor clergyman's +daughter." + +"Cornish!--Cornish, did you say?" fiercely repeated the dark Wacousta, +while an expression of loathing and disgust seemed for a moment to +convulse his features; "then is it as I had feared. One word more. Was +the family seat called Morton Castle?" + +"It was," unhesitatingly returned the poor woman, yet with the air of +one wondering to hear a name repeated, long forgotten even by herself. +"It was a beautiful castle too, on a lovely ridge of hills; and it +commanded such a nice view of the sea, close to the little port of +----; and the parsonage stood in such a sweet valley, close under the +castle; and we were all so happy." She paused, again put her hand to +her brow, and pressed it with force, as if endeavouring to pursue the +chain of connection in her memory, but evidently without success. + +"And your father's name was Clayton?" said the warrior, enquiringly; +"Henry Clayton, if I recollect aright?" + +"Ha! who names my father?" shrieked the wretched woman. "Yes, sir, it +was Clayton--Henry Clayton--the kindest, the noblest of human beings. +But the affliction of his child, and the persecutions of the Morton +family, broke his heart. He is dead, sir, and Reginald is dead too; and +I am a poor lone widow in the world, and have no one to love me." Here +the tears coursed each other rapidly down her faded cheek, although her +eyes were staring and motionless. + +"It is false!" vociferated the warrior, who, now he had gained all that +was essential to the elucidation of his doubts, quitted the shoulder he +had continued to press with violence in his nervous hand, and once more +extended himself at his length; "in me you behold the uncle of your +husband. Yes, Ellen Clayton, you have been the wife of two Reginald +Mortons. Both," he pursued with unutterable bitterness, while he again +started up and shook his tomahawk menacingly in the direction of the +fort,--"both have been the victims of yon cold-blooded governor; but +the hour of our reckoning is at hand. Ellen," he fiercely added, "do +you recollect the curse you pronounced on the family of that haughty +man, when he slaughtered your Reginald. By Heaven! it shall be +fulfilled; but first shall the love I have so long borne the mother be +transferred to the child." + +Again he sought to encircle the waist of her whom, in the strong +excitement of his rage, he had momentarily quitted; but the unutterable +disgust and horror produced in the mind of the unhappy Clara lent an +almost supernatural activity to her despair. She dexterously eluded his +grasp, gained her feet, and with tottering steps and outstretched arms +darted through the opening of the tent, and piteously exclaiming, "Save +me! oh, for God's sake, save me!" sank exhausted, and apparently +lifeless, on the chest of the prisoner without. + +To such of our readers as, deceived by the romantic nature of the +attachment stated to have been originally entertained by Sir Everard +Valletort for the unseen sister of his friend, have been led to expect +a tale abounding in manifestations of its progress when the parties had +actually met, we at once announce disappointment. Neither the lover of +amorous adventure, nor the admirer of witty dialogue, should dive into +these pages. Room for the exercise of the invention might, it is true, +be found; but ours is a tale of sad reality, and our heroes and +heroines figure under circumstances that would render wit a satire upon +the understanding, and love a reflection upon the heart. Within the +bounds of probability have we, therefore, confined ourselves. + +What the feelings of the young Baronet must have been, from the first +moment when he received from the hands of the unfortunate Captain +Baynton (who, although an officer of his own corps, was personally a +stranger to him,) that cherished sister of his friend, on whose ideal +form his excited imagination had so often latterly loved to linger, up +to the present hour, we should vainly attempt to paint. There are +emotions of the heart, it would be mockery in the pen to trace. From +the instant of his first contributing to preserve her life, on that +dreadful day of blood, to that when the schooner fell into the hands of +the savages, few words had passed between them, and these had reference +merely to the position in which they found themselves, and whenever Sir +Everard felt he could, without indelicacy or intrusion, render himself +in the slightest way serviceable to her. The very circumstances under +which they had met, conduced to the suppression, if not utter +extinction, of all of passion attached to the sentiment with which he +had been inspired. A new feeling had quickened in his breast; and it +was with emotions more assimilated to friendship than to love that he +now regarded the beautiful but sorrow-stricken sister of his bosom +friend. Still there was a softness, a purity, a delicacy and tenderness +in this new feeling, in which the influence of sex secretly though +unacknowledgedly predominated; and even while sensible it would have +been a profanation of every thing most sacred and delicate in nature to +have admitted a thought of love within his breast at such a moment, he +also felt he could have entertained a voluptuous joy in making any +sacrifice, even to the surrender of life itself, provided the +tranquillity of that gentle and suffering being could be by it ensured. + +Clara, in her turn, had been in no condition to admit so exclusive a +power as that of love within her soul. She had, it is true, even amid +the desolation of her shattered spirit, recognised in the young officer +the original of a portrait so frequently drawn by her brother, and +dwelt on by herself. She acknowledged, moreover, the fidelity of the +painting: but however she might have felt and acted under different +circumstances, absorbed as was her heart, and paralysed her +imagination, by the harrowing scenes she had gone through, she, too, +had room but for one sentiment in her fainting soul, and that was +friendship for the friend of her brother; on whom, moreover, she +bestowed that woman's gratitude, which could not fail to be awakened by +a recollection of the risks he had encountered, conjointly with +Frederick, to save her from destruction. During their passage across +lake Huron, Sir Everard had usually taken his seat on the deck, at that +respectful distance which he conceived the delicacy of the position of +the unfortunate cousins demanded; but in such a manner that, while he +seemed wholly abstracted from them, his eye had more than once been +detected by Clara fixed on hers, with an affectionateness of interest +she could not avoid repaying with a glance of recognition and approval. +These, however, were the only indications of regard that had passed +between them. + +If, however, a momentary and irrepressible flashing of that sentiment, +which had, at an earlier period, formed a portion of their imaginings, +did occasionally steal over their hearts while there was a prospect of +reaching their friends in safety, all manifestation of its power was +again finally suppressed when the schooner fell into the hands of the +savages. Become the immediate prisoners of Wacousta, they had been +surrendered to that ferocious chief to be dealt with as he might think +proper; and, on disembarking from the canoe in which their transit to +the main land had been descried that morning from the fort, had been +separated from their equally unfortunate and suffering companions. +Captain de Haldimar, Madeline, and the Canadian, were delivered over to +the custody of several choice warriors of the tribe in which Wacousta +was adopted; and, bound hand and foot, were, at that moment, in the war +tent of the fierce savage, which, as Ponteac had once boasted to the +governor, was every where hung around with human scalps, both of men, +of women, and of children. The object of this mysterious man, in +removing Clara to the spot we have described, was one well worthy of +his ferocious nature. His vengeance had already devoted her to +destruction; and it was within view of the fort, which contained the +father whom he loathed, he had resolved his purpose should be +accomplished. A refinement of cruelty, such as could scarcely have been +supposed to enter the breast even of such a remorseless savage as +himself, had caused him to convey to the same spot, him whom he rather +suspected than knew to be the lover of the young girl. It was with the +view of harrowing up the soul of one whom he had recognised as the +officer who had disabled him on the night of the rencontre on the +bridge, that he had bound Sir Everard to the tree, whence, as we have +already stated, he was a compelled spectator of every thing that passed +within the tent; and yet with that free action of limb which only +tended to tantalize him the more amid his unavailable efforts to rid +himself of his bonds,--a fact that proved not only the dire extent to +which the revenge of Wacousta could be carried, but the actual and +gratuitous cruelty of his nature. + +One must have been similarly circumstanced, to understand all the agony +of the young man during this odious scene, and particularly at the +fierce and repeated declaration of the savage that Clara should be his +bride. More than once had he essayed to remove the ligatures which +confined his waist; but his unsuccessful attempts only drew an +occasional smile of derision from his enemy, as he glanced his eye +rapidly towards him. Conscious at length of the inutility of efforts, +which, without benefiting her for whom they were principally prompted, +rendered him in some degree ridiculous even in his own eyes, the +wretched Valletort desisted altogether, and with his head sunk upon his +chest, and his eyes closed, sought at least to shut out a scene which +blasted his sight, and harrowed up his very soul. + +But when Clara, uttering her wild cry for protection, and rushing forth +from the tent, sank almost unconsciously in his embrace, a thrill of +inexplicable joy ran through each awakened fibre of his frame. Bending +eagerly forward, he had extended his arms to receive her; and when he +felt her light and graceful form pressing upon his own as its last +refuge--when he felt her heart beating against his--when he saw her +head drooping on his shoulder, in the wild recklessness of +despair,--even amid that scene of desolation and grief he could not +help enfolding her in tumultuous ecstasy to his breast. Every horrible +danger was for an instant forgotten in the soothing consciousness that +he at length encircled the form of her, whom in many an hour of +solitude he had thus pictured, although under far different +circumstances, reposing confidingly on him. There was delight mingled +with agony in his sensation of the wild throb of her bosom against his +own; and even while his soul fainted within him, as he reflected on the +fate that awaited her, he felt as if he could himself now die more +happily. + +Momentary, however, was the duration of this scene. Furious with anger +at the evident disgust of his victim, Wacousta no sooner saw her sink +into the arms of her lover, than with that agility for which he was +remarkable he was again on his feet, and stood in the next instant at +her side. Uniting to the generous strength of his manhood all that was +wrung from his mingled love and despair, the officer clasped his hands +round the waist of the drooping Clara; and with clenched teeth, and +feet firmly set, seemed resolved to defy every effort of the warrior to +remove her. Not a word was uttered on either side; but in the fierce +smile that curled the lip of the savage, there spoke a language even +more terrible than the words that smile implied. Sir Everard could not +suppress an involuntary shudder; and when at length Wacousta, after a +short but violent struggle, succeeded in again securing and bearing off +his prize, the wretchedness of soul of the former was indescribable. + +"You see 'tis vain to struggle against your destiny, Clara de +Haldimar," sneered the warrior. "Ours is but a rude nuptial couch, it +is true; but the wife of an Indian chief must not expect the luxuries +of Europe in the heart of an American wilderness." + +"Almighty Heaven! where am I?" exclaimed the wretched girl, again +unclosing her eyes to all the horror of her position; for again she lay +at the side, and within the encircling arm, of her enemy. "Oh, Sir +Everard Valletort, I thought I was with you, and that you had saved me +from this monster. Where is my brother?--Where are Frederick and +Madeline?--Why have they deserted me?--Ah! my heart will break. I +cannot endure this longer, and live." + +"Clara, Miss de Haldimar," groaned Sir Everard, in a voice of searching +agony; "could I lay down my life for you, I would; but you see these +bonds. Oh God! oh God! have pity on the innocent; and for once incline +the heart of yon fierce monster to the whisperings of mercy." As he +uttered the last sentence, he attempted to sink on his knees in +supplication to Him he addressed, but the tension of the cord prevented +him; yet were his hands clasped, and his eyes upraised to heaven, while +his countenance beamed with an expression of fervent enthusiasm. + +"Peace, babbler! or, by Heaven! that prayer shall be your last," +vociferated Wacousta. "But no," he pursued to himself, dropping at the +same time the point of his upraised tomahawk; "these are but the +natural writhings of the crushed worm; and the longer protracted they +are, the more complete will be my vengeance." Then turning to the +terrified girl,--"You ask, Clara de Haldimar, where you are? In the +tent of your mother's lover, I reply,--at the side of him who once +pressed her to his heart, even as I now press you, and with a fondness +that was only equalled by her own. Come, dear Clara," and his voice +assumed a tone of tenderness that was even more revolting than his +natural ferocity, "let me woo you to the affection she once possessed. +It was a heart of fire in which her image stood enshrined,--it is a +heart of fire still, and well worthy of her child." + +"Never, never!" shrieked the agonised girl. "Kill me, murder me, if you +will; but oh! if you have pity, pollute not my ear with the avowal of +your detested love. But again I repeat, it is false that my mother ever +knew you. She never could have loved so fierce, so vindictive a being +as yourself." + +"Ha! do you doubt me still?" sternly demanded the savage. Then drawing +the shuddering girl still closer to his vast chest,--"Come hither, +Clara, while to convince you I unfold the sad history of my life, and +tell you more of your parents than you have ever known. When," he +pursued solemnly, "you have learnt the extent of my love for the one, +and of my hatred for the other, and the wrongs I have endured from +both, you will no longer wonder at the spirit of mingled love and +vengeance that dictates my conduct towards yourself. Listen, girl," he +continued fiercely, "and judge whether mine are injuries to be tamely +pardoned, when a whole life has been devoted to the pursuit of the +means of avenging them." + +Irresistibly led by a desire to know what possible connection could +have existed between her parents and this singular and ferocious man, +the wretched girl gave her passive assent. She even hoped that, in the +course of his narrative, some softening recollections would pass over +his mind, the effect of which might be to predispose him to mercy. +Wacousta buried his face for a few moments in his large hand, as if +endeavouring to collect and concentrate the remembrances of past years. +His countenance, meanwhile, had undergone a change; for there was now a +shade of melancholy mixed with the fierceness of expression usually +observable there. This, however, was dispelled in the course of his +narrative, and as various opposite passions were in turn powerfully and +severally developed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"It is now four and twenty years," commenced Wacousta, "since your +father and myself first met as subalterns in the regiment he now +commands, when, unnatural to say, an intimacy suddenly sprang up +between us which, as it was then to our brother officers, has since +been a source of utter astonishment to myself. Unnatural, I repeat, for +fire and ice are not more opposite than were the elements of which our +natures were composed. He, all coldness, prudence, obsequiousness, and +forethought. I, all enthusiasm, carelessness, impetuosity, and +independence. Whether this incongruous friendship--friendship! no, I +will not so far sully the sacred name as thus to term the unnatural +union that subsisted between us;--whether this intimacy, then, sprang +from the adventitious circumstance of our being more frequently thrown +together as officers of the same company,--for we were both attached to +the grenadiers,--or that my wild spirit was soothed by the bland +amenity of his manners, I know not. The latter, however, is not +improbable; for proud, and haughty, and dignified, as the colonel NOW +is, such was not THEN the character of the ensign; who seemed thrown +out of one of Nature's supplest moulds, to fawn, and cringe, and worm +his way to favour by the wily speciousness of his manners. Oh God!" +pursued Wacousta, after a momentary pause, and striking his palm +against his forehead, "that I ever should have been the dupe of such a +cold-blooded hypocrite! + +"I have said our intimacy excited surprise among our brother officers. +It did; for all understood and read the character of your father, who +was as much disliked and distrusted for the speciousness of his false +nature, as I was generally esteemed for the frankness and warmth of +mine. No one openly censured the evident preference I gave him in my +friendship; but we were often sarcastically termed the Pylades and +Orestes of the regiment, until my heart was ready to leap into my +throat with impatience at the bitterness in which the taunt was +conceived; and frequently in my presence was allusion made to the blind +folly of him, who should take a cold and slimy serpent to his bosom +only to feel its fangs darted into it at the moment when most fostered +by its genial heat. All, however, was in vain. On a nature like mine, +innuendo was likely to produce an effect directly opposite to that +intended; and the more I found them inclined to be severe on him I +called my friend, the more marked became my preference. I even fancied +that because I was rich, generous, and heir to a title, their +observations were prompted by jealousy of the influence he possessed +over me, and a desire to supplant him only for their interests' sake. +Bitterly have I been punished for the illiberality of such an opinion. +Those to whom I principally allude were the subalterns of the regiment, +most of whom were nearly of our own age. One or two of the junior +captains were also of this number; but, by the elders (as we termed the +seniors of that rank) and field officers, Ensign de Haldimar was always +regarded as a most prudent and promising young officer. + +"What conduced, in a great degree, to the establishment of our intimacy +was the assistance I always received from my brother subaltern in +whatever related to my military duties. As the lieutenant of the +company, the more immediate responsibility attached to myself; but +being naturally of a careless habit, or perhaps considering all duty +irksome to my impatient nature that was not duty in the field, I was +but too often guilty of neglecting it. On these occasions my absence +was ever carefully supplied by your father, who, in all the minutiae of +regimental economy, was surpassed by no other officer in the corps; so +that credit was given to me, when, at the ordinary inspections, the +grenadiers were acknowledged to be the company the most perfect in +equipment and skilful in manoeuvre. Deeply, deeply," again mused +Wacousta, "have these services been repaid. + +"As you have just learnt, Cornwall is the country of my birth. I was +the eldest of the only two surviving children of a large family; and, +as heir to the baronetcy of the proud Mortons, was looked up to by lord +and vassal as the future perpetuator of the family name. My brother had +been designed for the army; but as this was a profession to which I had +attached my inclinations, the point was waved in my favour, and at the +age of eighteen I first joined the ---- regiment, then quartered in the +Highlands of Scotland. During my boyhood I had ever accustomed myself +to athletic exercises, and loved to excite myself by encountering +danger in its most terrific forms. Often had I passed whole days in +climbing the steep and precipitous crags which overhang the sea in the +neighbourhood of Morton Castle, ostensibly in the pursuit of the heron +or the seagull, but self-acknowledgedly for the mere pleasure of +grappling with the difficulties they opposed to me. Often, too, in the +most terrific tempests, when sea and sky have met in one black and +threatening mass, and when the startled fishermen have in vain +attempted to dissuade me from my purpose, have I ventured, in sheer +bravado, out of sight of land, and unaccompanied by a human soul. Then, +when wind and tide have been against me on my return, have I, with my +simple sculls alone, caused my faithful bark to leap through the +foaming brine as though a press of canvass had impelled her on. Oh, +that this spirit of adventure had never grown with my growth and +strengthened with my strength!" sorrowfully added the warrior, again +apostrophising himself: "then had I never been the wretch I am. + +"The wild daring by which my boyhood had been marked was again +powerfully awakened by the bold and romantic scenery of the Scottish +Highlands; and as the regiment was at that time quartered in a part of +these mountainous districts, where, from the disturbed nature of the +times, society was difficult of attainment, many of the officers were +driven from necessity, as I was from choice, to indulge in the sports +of the chase. On one occasion a party of four of us set out early in +the morning in pursuit of deer, numbers of which we knew were to be met +with in the mountainous tracts of Bute and Argyleshire. The course we +happened to take lay through a succession of dark deep glens, and over +frowning rocks; the difficulties of access to which only stirred up my +dormant spirit of enterprise the more. We had continued in this course +for many hours, overcoming one difficulty only to be encountered by +another, and yet without meeting a single deer; when, at length, the +faint blast of a horn was heard far above our heads in the distance, +and presently a noble stag was seen to ascend a ledge of rocks +immediately in front of us. To raise my gun to my shoulder and fire was +the work of a moment, after which we all followed in pursuit. On +reaching the spot where the deer had first been seen, we observed +traces of blood, satisfying us he had been wounded; but the course +taken in his flight was one that seemed to defy every human effort to +follow in. It was a narrow pointed ledge, ascending boldly towards a +huge cliff that projected frowningly from the extreme summit, and on +either side lay a dark, deep, and apparently fathomless ravine; to look +even on which was sufficient to appal the stoutest heart, and unnerve +the steadiest brain. For me, however, long accustomed to dangers of the +sort, it had no terror. This was a position in which I had often wished +once more to find myself placed, and I felt buoyant and free as the +deer itself I intended to pursue. In vain did my companions (and your +father was one) implore me to abandon a project so wild and hazardous. +I bounded forward, and they turned shuddering away, that their eyes +might not witness the destruction that awaited me. Meanwhile, balancing +my long gun in my upraised hands, I trod the dangerous path with a +buoyancy and elasticity of limb, a lightness of heart, and a +fearlessness of consequences, that surprised even myself. Perhaps it +was to the latter circumstance I owed my safety, for a single doubt of +my security might have impelled a movement that would not have failed +to have precipitated me into the yawning gulf below. I had proceeded in +this manner about five hundred yards, when I came to the termination of +the ledge, from the equally narrow transverse extremity of which +branched out three others; the whole contributing to form a figure +resembling that of a trident. Pausing here for a moment, I applied the +hunting horn, with which I was provided, to my lips. This signal, +announcing my safety, was speedily returned by my friends below in a +cheering and lively strain, that seemed to express at once surprise and +satisfaction; and inspirited by the sound, I prepared to follow up my +perilous chase. Along the ledge I had quitted I had remarked occasional +traces where the stricken deer had passed; and the same blood-spots now +directed me at a point where, but for these, I must have been utterly +at fault. The centre of these new ridges, and the narrowest, was that +taken by the animal, and on that I once more renewed my pursuit. As I +continued to advance I found the ascent became more precipitous, and +the difficulties opposed to my progress momentarily more multiplied. +Still, nothing daunted, I continued my course towards the main body of +rock that now rose within a hundred yards. How this was to be gained I +knew not; for it shelved out abruptly from the extreme summit, +overhanging the abyss, and presenting an appearance which I cannot more +properly render than by comparing it to the sounding-boards placed over +the pulpits of our English churches. Still I was resolved to persevere +to the close, and I but too unhappily succeeded." Again Wacousta +paused. A tear started to his eye, but this he impatiently brushed away +with his swarthy hand. + +"It was evident to me," he again resumed, "that there must be some +opening through which the deer had effected his escape to the +precipitous height above; and I felt a wild and fearful triumph in +following him to his cover, over passes which it was my pleasure to +think none of the hardy mountaineers themselves would have dared to +venture upon with impunity. I paused not to consider of the difficulty +of bearing away my prize, even if I succeeded in overtaking it. At +every step my excitement and determination became stronger, and I felt +every fibre of my frame to dilate, as when, in my more boyish days, I +used to brave, in my gallant skiff, the mingled fury of the warring +elements of sea and storm. Suddenly, while my mind was intent only on +the dangers I used then to hold in such light estimation, I found my +further progress intercepted by a fissure in the crag. It was not the +width of this opening that disconcerted me, for it exceeded not ten +feet; but I came upon it so unadvisedly, that, in attempting to check +my forward motion, I had nearly lost my equipoise, and fallen into the +abyss that now yawned before and on either side of me. To pause upon +the danger, would, I felt, be to ensure it. Summoning all my dexterity +into a single bound, I cleared the chasm; and with one buskined foot +(for my hunting costume was strictly Highland) clung firmly to the +ledge, while I secured my balance with the other. At this point the +rock became gradually broader, so that I now trod the remainder of the +rude path in perfect security, until I at length found myself close to +the vast mass of which these ledges were merely ramifications or veins: +but still I could discover no outlet by which the wounded deer could +have escaped. While I lingered, thoughtfully, for a moment, half in +disappointment, half in anger, and with my back leaning against the +rock, I fancied I heard a rustling, as of the leaves and branches of +underwood, on that part which projected like a canopy, far above the +abyss. I bent my eye eagerly and fixedly on the spot whence the sound +proceeded, and presently could distinguish the blue sky appearing +through an aperture, to which was, the instant afterwards, applied what +I conceived to be a human face. No sooner, however, was it seen than +withdrawn; and then the rustling of leaves was heard again, and all was +still as before. + +"Why did my evil genius so will it," resumed Wacousta, after another +pause, during which he manifested deep emotion, "that I should have +heard those sounds and seen that face? But for these I should have +returned to my companions, and my life might have been the life--the +plodding life--of the multitude; things that are born merely to crawl +through existence and die, knowing not at the moment of death why or +how they have lived at all. But who may resist the destiny that +presides over him from the cradle to the grave? for, although the mass +may be, and are, unworthy of the influencing agency of that Unseen +Power, who will presume to deny there are those on whom it stamps its +iron seal, even from the moment of their birth to that which sees all +that is mortal of them consigned to the tomb? What was it but destiny +that whispered to me what I had seen was the face of a woman? I had not +traced a feature, nor could I distinctly state that it was a human +countenance I had beheld; but mine was ever an imagination into which +the wildest improbability was scarce admitted that it did not grow into +conviction in the instant. + +"A new direction was now given to my feelings. I felt a presentiment +that my adventure, if prosecuted, would terminate in some extraordinary +and characteristic manner; and obeying, as I ever did, the first +impulse of my heart, I prepared to grapple once more with the +difficulties that yet remained to be surmounted. In order to do this, +it was necessary that my feet and hands should be utterly without +incumbrance; for it was only by dint of climbing that I could expect to +reach that part of the projecting rock to which my attention had been +directed. Securing my gun between some twisted roots that grew out of +and adhered to the main body of the rock, I commenced the difficult +ascent; and, after considerable effort, found myself at length +immediately under the aperture. My progress along the lower superficies +of this projection was like that of a crawling reptile. My back hung +suspended over the chasm, into which one false movement of hand or +foot, one yielding of the roots entwined in the rock, must inevitably +have precipitated me; and, while my toes wormed themselves into the +tortuous fibres of the latter, I passed hand over hand beyond my head, +until I had arrived within a foot or two of the point I desired to +reach. Here, however, a new difficulty occurred. A slight projection of +the rock, close to the aperture, impeded my further progress in the +manner hitherto pursued; and, to pass this, I was compelled to drop my +whole weight, suspended by one vigorous arm, while, with the other, I +separated the bushes that concealed the opening. A violent exertion of +every muscle now impelled me upward, until at length I had so far +succeeded as to introduce my head and shoulders through the aperture; +after which my final success was no longer doubtful. If I have been +thus minute in the detail of the dangerous nature of this passage," +continued Wacousta, gloomily, "it is not without reason. I would have +you to impress the whole of the localities upon your imagination, that +you may the better comprehend, from a knowledge of the risks I +incurred, how little I have merited the injuries under which I have +writhed for years." + +Again one of those painful pauses with which his narrative was so often +broken, occurred; and, with an energy that terrified her whom he +addressed, Wacousta pursued--"Clara de Haldimar, it was here--in this +garden--this paradise--this oasis of the rocks in which I now found +myself, that I first saw and loved your mother. Ha! you start: you +believe me now.--Loved her!" he continued, after another short +pause--"oh, what a feeble word is love to express the concentration of +mighty feelings that flowed like burning lava through my veins! Who +shall pretend to give a name to the emotion that ran thrillingly--madly +through my excited frame, when first I gazed on her, who, in every +attribute of womanly beauty, realised all my fondest fancy ever +painted?--Listen to me, Clara," he pursued, in a fiercer tone, and with +a convulsive pressure of the form he still encircled:--"If, in my +younger days, my mind was alive to enterprise, and loved to contemplate +danger in its most appalling forms, this was far from being the master +passion of my soul; nay, it was the strong necessity I felt of pouring +into some devoted bosom the overflowing fulness of my heart, that made +me court in solitude those positions of danger with which the image of +woman was ever associated. How often, while tossed by the raging +elements, now into the blue vault of heaven, now into the lowest gulfs +of the sea, have I madly wished to press to my bounding bosom the being +of my fancy's creation, who, all enamoured and given to her love, +should, even amid the danger that environed her, be alive but to one +consciousness,--that of being with him on whom her life's hope alone +reposed! How often, too, while bending over some dark and threatening +precipice, or standing on the utmost verge of some tall projecting +cliff, my aching head (aching with the intenseness of its own +conceptions) bared to the angry storm, and my eye fixed unshrinkingly +on the boiling ocean far beneath my feet, has my whole soul--my every +faculty, been bent on that ideal beauty which controlled every sense! +Oh, imagination, how tyrannical is thy sway--how exclusive thy +power--how insatiable thy thirst! Surrounded by living beauty, I was +insensible to its influence; for, with all the perfection that reality +can attain on earth, there was ever to be found some deficiency, either +physical or moral, that defaced the symmetry and destroyed the +loveliness of the whole; but, no sooner didst thou, with magic wand, +conjure up one of thy embodiments, than my heart became a sea of flame, +and was consumed in the vastness of its own fires. + +"It was in vain that my family sought to awaken me to a sense of the +acknowledged loveliness of the daughters of more than one ancient house +in the county, with one of whom an alliance was, in many respects, +considered desirable. Their beauty, or rather their whole, was +insufficient to stir up into madness the dormant passions of my nature; +and although my breast was like a glowing furnace, in which fancy cast +all the more exciting images of her coinage to secure the last impress +of the heart's approval, my outward deportment to some of the fairest +and loveliest of earth's realities was that of one on whom the +influence of woman's beauty could have no power. From my earliest +boyhood I had loved to give the rein to these feelings, until they at +length rendered me their slave. Woman was the idol that lay enshrined +within my inmost heart; but it was woman such as I had not yet met +with, yet felt must somewhere exist in the creation. For her I could +have resigned title, fortune, family, every thing that is dear to man, +save the life, through which alone the reward of such sacrifice could +have been tasted, and to this phantom I had already yielded up all the +manlier energies of my nature; but, deeply as I felt the necessity of +loving something less unreal, up to the moment of my joining the +regiment, my heart had never once throbbed for created woman. + +"I have already said that, on gaining the summit of the rock, I found +myself in a sort of oasis of the mountains. It was so. Belted on every +hand by bold and precipitous crags, that seemed to defy the approach +even of the wildest animals, and putting utterly at fault the +penetration and curiosity of man, was spread a carpet of verdure, a +luxuriance of vegetation, that might have put to shame the fertility of +the soft breeze-nourished valleys of Italy and Southern France. Time, +however, is not given me to dwell on the mingled beauty and wildness of +a scene, so consonant with my ideas of the romantic and the +picturesque. Let me rather recur to her (although my heart be lacerated +once more in the recollection) who was the presiding deity of the +whole,--the being after whom, had I had the fabled power of Prometheus, +I should have formed and animated the sharer of that sweet wild +solitude, nor once felt that fancy, to whom I was so largely a debtor, +had in aught been cheated of what she had, for a series of years, so +rigidly claimed. + +"At about twenty yards from the aperture, and on a bank, formed of +turf, covered with moss, and interspersed with roses and honeysuckles, +sat this divinity of the oasis. She, too, was clad in the Highland +dress, which gave an air of wildness and elegance to her figure that +was in classic harmony with the surrounding scenery. At the moment of +my appearance she was in the act of dressing the wounded shoulder of a +stag, that had recently been shot; and from the broad tartan riband I +perceived attached to its neck, added to the fact of the tameness of +the animal, I presumed that this stag, evidently a favourite of its +mistress, was the same I had fired at and wounded. The rustling I made +among the bushes had attracted her attention; she raised her eyes from +the deer, and, beholding me, started to her feet, uttering a cry of +terror and surprise. Fearing to speak, as if the sound of my own voice +were sufficient to dispel the illusion that fascinated both eye and +heart into delicious tension on her form, yet with my soul kindled into +all that wild uncontrollable love which had been the accumulation of +years of passionate imagining, I stood for some moments as motionless +as the rock out of which I appeared to grow. It seemed as though I had +not the power to think or act, so fully was every faculty of my being +filled with the consciousness that I at length gazed upon her I was +destined to love for ever. + +"It was this utter immobility on my own part, that ensured me a +continuance of the exquisite happiness I then enjoyed. The first +movement of the startled girl had been to fly towards her dwelling, +which stood at a short distance, half imbedded in the same clustering +roses and honey-suckles that adorned her bank of moss; but when she +remarked my utter stillness, and apparent absence of purpose, she +checked the impulse that would have directed her departure, and +stopped, half in curiosity, half in fear, to examine me once more. At +that moment all my energies appeared to be restored; I threw myself +into an attitude expressive of deep contrition for the intrusion of +which I had been unconsciously guilty, and dropping on one knee, and +raising my clasped hands, inclined them towards her in token of mingled +deprecation of her anger, and respectful homage to herself. At first +she hesitated,--then gradually and timidly retrod her way to the seat +she had so abruptly quitted in her alarm. Emboldened by this movement, +I made a step or two in advance, but no sooner had I done so than she +again took to flight. Once more, however, she turned to behold me, and +again I had dropped on my knee, and was conjuring her, with the same +signs, to remain and bless me with her presence. Again she returned to +her seat, and again I advanced. Scarcely less timid, however, than the +deer, which followed her every movement, she fled a third time,--a +third time looked back, and was again induced, by my supplicating +manner, to return. Frequently was this repeated, before I finally found +myself at the feet, and pressing the hand--(oh God! what torture in the +recollection!)--yes, pressing the hand of her for whose smile I would, +even at that moment, have sacrificed my soul; and every time she fled, +the classic disposition of her graceful limbs, and her whole natural +attitude of alarm, could only be compared with those of one of the +huntresses of Diana, intruded on in her woodland privacy by the +unhallowed presence of some daring mortal. Such was your mother, Clara +de Haldimar; yes, even such as I have described her was Clara Beverley." + +Again Wacousta paused, and his pause was longer than usual, as, with +his large hand again covering his face, he seemed endeavouring to +master the feelings which these recollections had called up. Clara +scarcely breathed. Unmindful of her own desolate position, her soul was +intent only on a history that related so immediately to her beloved +mother, of whom all that she had hitherto known was, that she was a +native of Scotland, and that her father had married her while quartered +in that country. The deep emotion of the terrible being before her, so +often manifested in the course of what he had already given of his +recital, added to her knowledge of the facts just named, scarcely left +a doubt of the truth of his statement on her mind. Her ear was now bent +achingly towards him, in expectation of a continuance of his history, +but he still remained in the same attitude of absorption. An +irresistible impulse caused her to extend her hand, and remove his own +from his eyes: they were filled with tears; and even while her mind +rapidly embraced the hope that this manifestation of tenderness was but +the dawning of mercy towards the children of her he had once loved, her +kind nature could not avoid sympathizing with him, whose uncouthness of +appearance and savageness of nature was, in some measure, lost sight of +in the fact of the powerful love he yet apparently acknowledged. + +But no sooner did Wacousta feel the soft pressure of her hand, and meet +her eyes turned on his with an expression of interest, than the most +rapid transition was effected in his feelings. He drew the form of the +weakly resisting girl closer to his heart; again imprinted a kiss upon +her lips; and then, while every muscle in his iron frame seemed +quivering with emotion, exclaimed,--"By Heaven! that touch, that +glance, were Clara Beverley's all over! Oh, let me linger on the +recollection, even such as they were, when her arms first opened to +receive me in that sweet oasis of the Highlands. Yes, Clara," he +proceeded more deliberately, as he scanned her form with an eye that +made her shudder, "such as your mother was, so are you; the same +delicacy of proportion; the same graceful curvature of limb, only less +rounded, less womanly. But you must be younger by about two years than +she then was. Your age cannot exceed seventeen; and time will supply +what your mere girlhood renders you deficient in." + +There was a cool licence of speech--a startling freedom of manner--in +the latter part of this address, that disappointed not less than it +pained and offended the unhappy Clara. It seemed to her as if the +illusion she had just created, were already dispelled by his language, +even as her own momentary interest in the fierce man had also been +destroyed from the same cause. She shuddered; and sighing bitterly, +suffered her tears to force themselves through her closed lids upon her +pallid cheek. This change in her appearance seemed to act as a check on +the temporary excitement of Wacousta. Again obeying one of these rapid +transitions of feeling, for which he was remarkable, he once more +assumed an expression of seriousness, and thus continued his narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"It boots not now, Clara, to enter upon all that succeeded to my first +introduction to your mother. It would take long to relate, not the +gradations of our passion, for that was like the whirlwind of the +desert, sudden and devastating from the first; but the burning vow, the +plighted faith, the reposing confidence, the unchecked abandonment that +flew from the lips, and filled the heart of each, sealed, as they were, +with kisses, long, deep, enervating, even such as I had ever pictured +that divine pledge of human affection should be. Yes, Clara de +Haldimar, your mother was the child of nature THEN. Unspoiled by the +forms, unvitiated by the sophistries of a world with which she had +never mixed, her intelligent innocence made the most artless avowals to +my enraptured ear,--avowals that the more profligate minded woman of +society would have blushed to whisper even to herself. And for these I +loved her to my own undoing. + +"Blind vanity, inconceivable folly!" continued Wacousta, again pressing +his forehead with force; "how could I be so infatuated as not to +perceive, that although her heart was filled with a new and delicious +passion, it was less the individual than the man she loved. And how +could it be otherwise, since I was the first, beside her father, she +had ever seen or recollected to have seen? Still, Clara de Haldimar," +he pursued, with haughty energy, "I was not always the rugged being I +now appear. Of surpassing strength I had ever been, and fleet of foot, +but not then had I attained to my present gigantic stature; neither was +my form endowed with the same Herculean rudeness; nor did my complexion +wear the swarthy hue of the savage; nor had my features been rendered +repulsive, from the perpetual action of those fierce passions which +have since assailed my soul. My physical faculties had not yet been +developed to their present grossness of maturity, neither had my moral +energies acquired that tone of ferocity which often renders me hideous, +even in my own eyes. In a word, the milk of my nature (for, with all my +impetuosity of character, I was generous-hearted and kind) had not yet +been turned to gall by villainy and deceit. My form had then all that +might attract--my manners all that might win--my enthusiasm of speech +all that might persuade--and my heart all that might interest a girl +fashioned after nature's manner, and tutored in nature's school. In the +regiment, I was called the handsome grenadier; but there was another +handsomer than I,--a sly, insidious, wheedling, false, remorseless +villain. That villain, Clara de Haldimar, was your father. + +"But wherefore," continued Wacousta, chafing with the recollection, +"wherefore do I, like a vain and puling schoolboy, enter into this +abasing contrast of personal advantages? The proud eagle soars not more +above the craven kite, than did my soul, in all that was manly and +generous, above that of yon false governor; and who should have prized +those qualities, if it were not the woman who, bred in solitude, and +taught by fancy to love all that was generous and noble in the heart of +man, should have considered mere beauty of feature as dust in the +scale, when opposed to sentiments which can invest even deformity with +loveliness? In all this I may appear vain; I am only just. + +"I have said that your mother had been brought up in solitude, and +without having seen the face of another man than her father. Such was +the case;--Colonel Beverley, of English name, but Scottish connections, +was an old gentleman of considerable eccentricity of character. He had +taken a part in the rebellion of 1715; but sick and disgusted with an +issue by which his fortunes had been affected, and heart-broken by the +loss of a beloved wife, whose death had been accelerated by +circumstances connected with the disturbed nature of the times, he had +resolved to bury himself and child in some wild, where the face of man, +whom he loathed, might no more offend his sight. This oasis of the +mountains was the spot selected for his purpose; for he had discovered +it some years previously, on an occasion, when, closely pursued by some +of the English troops, and separated from his followers, he had only +effected his escape by venturing on the ledges of rock I have already +described. After minute subsequent search, at the opposite extremity of +the oblong belt of rocks that shut it in on every hand, he had +discovered an opening, through which the transport of such necessaries +as were essential to his object might be effected; and, causing one of +his dwelling houses to be pulled down, he had the materials carried +across the rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect them +in his chosen solitude. A few months served to complete these +arrangements, which included a garden abounding in every fruit and +flower that could possibly live in so elevated a region; and; this, in +time, under his own culture, and that of his daughter, became the Eden +it first appeared to me. + +"Previous to their entering on this employment, the workmen had been +severally sworn to secrecy; and when all was declared ready for his +reception, the colonel summoned them a second time to his presence; +when, after making a handsome present to each, in addition to his hire, +he found no difficulty in prevailing on them to renew their oath that +they would preserve the most scrupulous silence in regard to the place +of his retreat. He then took advantage of a dark and tempestuous night +to execute his project; and, attended only by an old woman and her +daughter, faithful dependants of the family, set out in quest of his +new abode, leaving all his neighbours to discuss and marvel at the +singularity of his disappearance. True to his text, however, not even a +boy was admitted into his household: and here they had continued to +live, unseeing and unseen by man, except when a solitary and distant +mountaineer occasionally flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of +his game. Fruits and vegetables composed their principal diet; but once +a fortnight the old woman was dispatched through the opening already +mentioned, which was at other times so secured by her master, that no +hand but his own could remove the intricate fastenings. This expedition +had for its object the purchase of bread and animal food at the nearest +market; and every time she sallied forth an oath was administered to +the crone, the purport of which was, not only that she would return, +unless prevented by violence or death, but that she would not answer +any questions put to her, as to who she was, whence she came, or for +whom the fruits of her marketing were intended. + +"Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly classic +authors, or writers on abstruse sciences, the misanthropical colonel +paid little or no attention to the cultivation of the intellect of his +daughter, whom he had merely instructed in the elementary branches of +education; in all which, however, she evinced an aptitude and +perfectability that indicated quickness of genius and a capability of +far higher attainments. Books he principally withheld from her, because +they brought the image of man, whom he hated, and wished she should +also hate, too often in flattering colours before her; and had any work +treating of love been found to have crept accidentally into his own +collection, it would instantly and indignantly have been committed to +the flames. + +"Thus left to the action of her own heart--the guidance of her own +feelings--it was but natural your mother should have suffered her +imagination to repose on an ideal happiness, which, although in some +degree destitute of shape and character, was still powerfully felt. +Nature is too imperious a law-giver to be thwarted in her dictates; and +however we may seek to stifle it, her inextinguishable voice will make +itself heard, whether it be in the lonely desert or in the crowded +capital. Possessed of a glowing heart and warm sensibilities, Clara +Beverley felt the energies of her being had not been given to her to be +wasted on herself. In her dreams by night, and her thoughts by day, she +had pictured a being endowed with those attributes which were the fruit +of her own fertility of conception. If she plucked a flower, (and all +this she admitted at our first interview," groaned Wacousta,) "she was +sensible of the absence of one to whom that flower might be given. If +she gazed at the star-studded canopy of heaven, or bent her head over +the frowning precipices by which she was every where surrounded, she +felt the absence of him with whom she could share the enthusiasm +excited by the contemplation of the one, and to whom she could impart +the mingled terror and admiration produced by the dizzying depths of +the other. What dear acknowledgments (alas! too deceitful,) flowed from +her guileless lips, even during that first interview. With a candour +and unreservedness that spring alone from unsophisticated manners and +an untainted heart, she admitted, that the instant she beheld me, she +felt she had found the being her fancy had been so long tutored to +linger on, and her heart to love. She was sure I was come to be her +husband (for she had understood from her aged attendant that a man who +loved a woman wished to be her husband); and she was glad her pet stag +had been wounded, since it had been the means of procuring her such +happiness. She was not cruel enough to take pleasure in the sufferings +of the poor animal; for she would nurse it, and it would soon be well +again; but she could not help rejoicing in its disaster, since that +circumstance had been the cause of my finding her out, and loving her +even as she loved me. And all this was said with her head reclining on +my chest, and her beautiful countenance irradiated with a glow that had +something divine in the simplicity of purpose it expressed. + +"On my demanding to know whether it was not her face I had seen at the +opening in the cliff, she replied that it was. Her stag often played +the truant, and passed whole hours away from her, rambling beyond the +precincts of the solitude that contained its mistress; but no sooner +was the small silver bugle, which she wore across her shoulder, applied +to her lips, than 'Fidelity' (thus she had named him) was certain to +obey the call, and to come bounding up the line of cliff to the main +rock, into which it effected its entrance at a point that had escaped +my notice. It was her bugle I had heard in the course of my pursuit of +the animal; and, from the aperture through which I had effected my +entrance, she had looked out to see who was the audacious hunter she +had previously observed threading a passage, along which her stag +itself never appeared without exciting terror in her bosom. The first +glimpse she had caught of my form was at the moment when, after having +sounded my own bugle, I cleared the chasm; and this was a leap she had +so often trembled to see taken by 'Fidelity,' that she turned away and +shuddered when she saw it fearlessly adventured on by a human being. A +feeling of curiosity had afterwards induced her to return and see if +the bold hunter had cleared the gulf, or perished in his mad attempt; +but when she looked outward from the highest pinnacle of her rocky +prison, she could discover no traces of him whatever. It then occurred +to her, that, if successful in his leap, his progress must have been +finally arrested by the impassable rock that terminated the ridge; in +which case she might perchance obtain a nearer sight of his person. +With this view she had removed the bushes enshrouding the aperture; +and, bending low to the earth, thrust her head partially through it. +Scarcely had she done so, however, when she beheld me immediately, +though far beneath her, with my back reposing against the rock, and my +eyes apparently fixed on hers. + +"Filled with a variety of opposite sentiments, among which unfeigned +alarm was predominant, she had instantaneously removed her head; and, +closing the aperture as noiselessly as possible, returned to the +moss-covered seat on which I had first surprised her; where, while she +applied dressings of herbs to the wound of her favourite, she suffered +her mind to ruminate on the singularity of the appearance of a man so +immediately in the vicinity of their retreat. The supposed +impracticability of the ascent I had accomplished, satisfied, even +while (as she admitted) it disappointed her. I must of necessity +retrace my way over the dangerous ridge. Great, therefore, was her +surprise, when, after having been attracted by the rustling noise of +the bushes over the aperture, she presently saw the figure of the same +hunter emerge from the abyss it overhung. Terror had winged her flight; +but it was terror mingled with a delicious emotion entirely new to her. +It was that emotion, momentarily increasing in power, that induced her +to pause, look back, hesitate in her course, and finally be won, by my +supplicating manner, to return and bless me with her presence. + +"Two long and delicious hours," pursued Wacousta, after another painful +pause of some moments, "did we pass in this manner; exchanging thought, +and speech, and heart, as if the term of our acquaintance had been +coeval with the first dawn of our intellectual life; when suddenly a +small silver toned bell was heard from the direction of the house, hid +from the spot--on which we sat by the luxuriant foliage of an +intervening laburnum. This sound seemed to dissipate the dreamy calm +that had wrapped the soul of your mother into forgetfulness. She +started suddenly up, and bade me, if I loved her, begone; as that bell +announced her required attendance on her father, who, now awakened from +the mid-day slumber in which he ever indulged, was about to take his +accustomed walk around the grounds; which was little else, in fact, +than a close inspection of the walls of his natural castle. I rose to +obey her; our eyes met, and she threw herself into my extended arms. We +whispered anew our vows of eternal love. She called me her husband, and +I pronounced the endearing name of wife. A burning kiss sealed the +compact; and, on her archly observing that the sleep of her father +continued about two hours at noon, and that the old woman and her +daughter were always occupied within doors, I promised to repeat my +visit every second day until she finally quitted her retreat to be my +own for life. Again the bell was rung; and this time with a violence +that indicated impatience of delay. I tore myself from her arms, darted +to the aperture, and kissing my hand in reply to the graceful waving of +her scarf as she half turned in her own flight, sunk finally from her +view; and at length, after making the same efforts, and mastering the +same obstacles that had marked and opposed my advance, once more found +myself at the point whence I had set out in pursuit of the wounded deer. + +"Many were the congratulations I received from my companions, whom I +found waiting my return. They had endured the three hours of my absence +with intolerable anxiety and alarm; until, almost despairing of +beholding me again, they had resolved on going back without me. They +said they had repeatedly sounded their horns; but meeting with no +answer from mine, had been compelled to infer either that I had strayed +to a point whence return to them was impracticable, or that I must have +perished in the abyss. I readily gave in to the former idea; stating I +had been led by the traces of the wounded deer to a considerable +distance, and over passes which it had proved a work of time and +difficulty to surmount, yet without securing my spoil. All this time +there was a glow of animation on my cheek, and a buoyancy of spirit in +my speech, that accorded ill, the first, with the fatigue one might +have been supposed to experience in so perilous a chase; the second, +with the disappointment attending its result. Your father, ever cool +and quick of penetration, was the first to observe this; and when he +significantly remarked, that, to judge from my satisfied countenance, +my time had been devoted to the pursuit of more interesting game, I +felt for a moment as if he was actually master of my secret, and was +sensible my features underwent a change. I, however, parried the +attack, by replying indifferently, that if he should have the hardihood +to encounter the same dangers, he would, if successful, require no +other prompter than the joy of self-preservation to lend the same glow +of satisfaction to his own features. Nothing further was said on the +subject; but conversing on indifferent topics, we again threaded the +mazes of rock and underwood we had passed at an early hour, and finally +gained the town in which we were quartered. + +"During dinner, as on our way home, although my voice occasionally +mixed with the voices of my companions, my heart was far away, and full +of the wild but innocent happiness in which it had luxuriated. At +length, the more freely to indulge in the recollection, I stole at an +early hour from the mess-room, and repaired to my own apartments. In +the course of the morning, I had hastily sketched an outline of your +mother's features in pencil, with a view to assist me in the design of +a miniature I purposed painting from memory. This was an amusement of +which I was extremely and in which I had attained considerable +excellence; being enabled, from memory alone, to give a most correct +representation of any object that particularly fixed my attention. She +had declared utter ignorance of the art herself, her father having +studiously avoided instructing her in it from some unexplained motive; +yet as she expressed the most unbounded admiration of those who +possessed it, it was my intention to surprise her with a highly +finished likeness of herself at my next visit. With this view I now set +to work; and made such progress, that before I retired to rest I had +completed all but the finishing touches, to which I purposed devoting a +leisure hour or two by daylight on the morrow. + +"While occupied the second day in its completion, it occurred to me I +was in orders for duty on the following, which was that of my promised +visit to the oasis; and I despatched my servant with my compliments to +your father, and a request that he would be so obliging as to take my +guard for me on the morrow, and I would perform his duty when next his +name appeared on the roster. Some time afterwards I heard the door of +the room in which I sat open, and some one enter. Presuming it to be my +servant, returned from the execution of the message with which he had +just been charged, I paid no attention to the circumstance; but +finding, presently, he did not speak, I turned round with a view of +demanding what answer he had brought. To my surprise, however, I beheld +not my servant, but your father. He was standing looking over my +shoulder at the work on which I was engaged; and notwithstanding in the +instant he resumed the cold, quiet, smirking look that usually +distinguished him, I thought I could trace the evidence of some deep +emotion which my action had suddenly dispelled. He apologised for his +intrusion, although we were on those terms that rendered apology +unnecessary, but said he had just received my message, and preferred +coming in person to assure me how happy he should feel to take my duty, +or to render me any other service in his power. I thought he laid +unusual emphasis on the last sentence; yet I thanked him warmly, +stating that the only service I should now exact of him would be to +take my guard, as I was compelled to be absent nearly the whole of the +following morning. He observed, with a smile, he hoped I was not going +to venture my neck on those dangerous precipices a second time, after +the narrow escape I had had on the preceding day. As he spoke, I +thought his eye met mine with a sly yet scrutinizing glance; and, not +wishing to reply immediately to his question, I asked him what he +thought of the work with which I was endeavouring to beguile an idle +hour. He took it up, and I watched the expression of his handsome +countenance with the anxiety of a lover who wishes that all should +think his mistress beautiful as he does himself. It betrayed a very +indefinite sort of admiration; and yet it struck me there was an +eagerness in his dilating eye that contrasted strongly with the calm +and unconcern of his other features. At length I asked him, laughingly, +what he thought of my Cornish cousin. He replied, cautiously enough, +that since it was the likeness of a cousin, and he dwelt emphatically +on the word, he could not fail to admire it. Candour, however, +compelled him to admit, that had I not declared the original to be one +so closely connected with me, he should have said the talent of so +perfect an artist might have been better employed. Whatever, however, +his opinion of the lady might be, there could be no question that the +painting was exquisite; yet, he confessed, he could not but be struck +with the singularity of the fact of a Cornish girl appearing in the +full costume of a female Highlander. This, I replied, was mere matter +of fancy and association, arising from my having been so much latterly +in the habit of seeing that dress principally worn. He smiled one of +his then damnable soft smiles of assent, and here the conversation +terminated, and he left me. + +"The next day saw me again at the side of your mother, who received me +with the same artless demonstrations of affection. There was a mellowed +softness in her countenance, and a tender languor in her eye, I had not +remarked the preceding day. Then there was more of the vivacity and +playfulness of the young girl; now, more of the deep fervour and the +composed serenity of the thoughtful woman. This change was too +consonant to my taste--too flattering to my self-love--not to be +rejoiced in; and as I pressed her yielding form in silent rapture to my +own, I more than ever felt she was indeed the being for whom my glowing +heart had so long yearned. After the first full and unreserved +interchange of our souls' best feelings, our conversation turned upon +lighter topics; and I took an opportunity to produce the fruit of my +application since we had parted. Never shall I forget the surprise and +delight that animated her beautiful countenance when first she gazed +upon the miniature. The likeness was perfect, even to the minutest +shading of her costume; and so forcibly and even childishly did this +strike her, that it was with difficulty I could persuade her she was +not gazing on some peculiar description of mirror that reflected back +her living image. She expressed a strong desire to retain it; and to +this I readily assented: stipulating only to retain it until my next +visit, in order that I might take an exact copy for myself. With a look +of the fondest love, accompanied by a pressure on mine of lips that +distilled dewy fragrance where they rested, she thanked me for a gift +which she said would remind her, in absence, of the fidelity with which +her features had been engraven on my heart. She admitted, moreover, +with a sweet blush, that she herself had not been idle. Although her +pencil could not call up my image in the same manner, her pen had +better repaid her exertions; and, in return for the portrait, she would +give me a letter she had written to beguile her loneliness on the +preceding day. As she spoke she drew a sealed packet from the bosom of +her dress, and placing it in my hand, desired me not to read it until I +had returned to my home. But there was an expression of sweet confusion +in her lovely countenance, and a trepidation in her manner, that, half +disclosing the truth, rendered me utterly impatient of the delay +imposed; and eagerly breaking the seal, I devoured rather than read its +contents. + +"Accursed madness of recollection!" pursued Wacousta, again striking +his brow violently with his hand,--"why is it that I ever feel thus +unmanned while recurring to those letters? Oh! Clara de Haldimar, never +did woman pen to man such declarations of tenderness and attachment as +that too dear but faithless letter of your mother contained. Words of +fire, emanating from the guilelessness of innocence, glowed in every +line; and yet every sentence breathed an utter unconsciousness of the +effect those words were likely to produce. Mad, wild, intoxicated, I +read the letter but half through; and, as it fell from my trembling +hand, my eye turned, beaming with the fires of a thousand emotions, +upon that of the worshipped writer. That glance was more than her own +could meet. A new consciousness seemed to be stirred up in her soul. +Her eye dropped beneath its long and silken fringe--her cheek became +crimson--her bosom heaved--and, all confidingness, she sank her head +upon my chest, which heaved scarcely less wildly than her own. + +"Had I been a cold-blooded villain--a selfish and remorseless seducer," +continued Wacousta with vehemence--"what was to have prevented my +triumph at that moment? But I came not to blight the flower that had +long been nurtured, though unseen, with the life-blood of my own being. +Whatever I may be NOW, I was THEN the soul of disinterestedness and +honour; and had she reposed on the bosom of her own father, that +devoted and unresisting girl could not have been pressed there with +holier tenderness. But even to this there was too soon a term. The hour +of parting at length arrived, announced, as before, by the small bell +of her father, and I again tore myself from her arms; not, however, +without first securing the treasured letter, and obtaining a promise +from your mother that I should receive another at each succeeding +visit." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"Nearly a month passed away in this manner; and at each interview our +affection seemed to increase. The days of our meeting were ever days of +pure and unalloyed happiness; while the alternate ones of absence were, +on my part, occupied chiefly with reading the glowing letters given me +at each parting by your mother. Of all these, however, there was not +one so impassioned, so natural, so every way devoted, as the first. Not +that she who wrote them felt less, but that the emotion excited in her +bosom by the manifestation of mine on that occasion, had imparted a +diffidence to her style of expression, plainly indicating the source +whence it sprung. + +"One day, while preparing to set out on my customary excursion, a +report suddenly reached me that the route had arrived for the regiment, +who were to march from ---- within three days. This intelligence I +received with inconceivable delight; for it had been settled between +your mother and myself, that this should be the moment chosen for her +departure. It was not to be supposed (and I should have been both +pained and disappointed had it been otherwise,) that she would consent +to abandon her parent without some degree of regret; but, having +foreseen this objection from the first, I had gradually prepared her +for the sacrifice. This was the less difficult, as he appeared never to +have treated her with affection,--seldom with the marked favour that +might have been presumed to distinguish the manner of a father towards +a lovely and only daughter. Living for himself and the indulgence of +his misanthropy alone, he cared little for the immolation of his +child's happiness on its unhallowed shrine; and this was an act of +injustice I had particularly dwelt upon; upheld in truth, as it was, by +the knowledge she herself possessed, that no consideration could induce +him to bestow her hand on any one individual of a race he so cordially +detested; and this was not without considerable weight in her decision. + +"With a glowing cheek, and a countenance radiant with happiness, did +your mother receive my proposal to prepare for her departure on the +following day. She was sufficiently aware, even through what I had +stated myself, that there were certain ceremonies of the Church to be +performed, in order to give sanctity to our union, and ensure her own +personal respectability in the world; and these, I told her, would be +solemnised by the chaplain of the regiment. She implicitly confided in +me; and she was right; for I loved her too well to make her my +mistress, while no barrier existed to her claim to a dearer title. And +had she been the daughter of a peasant, instead of a high-born +gentleman, finding her as I had found her, and loving her as I did love +her, I should have acted precisely in the same way. + +"The only difficulty that now occurred was the manner of her flight. +The opening before alluded to as being the point whence the old woman +made her weekly sally to the market town, was of so intricate and +labyrinthian a character that none but the colonel understood the +secret of its fastenings; and the bare thought of my venturing with her +on the route by which I had hitherto made my entry into the oasis, was +one that curdled my blood with fear. I could absolutely feel my flesh +to contract whenever I painted the terrible risk that would be incurred +in adopting a plan I had once conceived,--namely, that of lashing your +mother to my back, while I again effected my descent to the ledge +beneath, in the manner I had hitherto done. I felt that, once on the +ridge, I might, without much effort, attain the passage of the fissure +already described; for the habit of accomplishing this leap had +rendered it so perfectly familiar to me, that I now performed it with +the utmost security and ease; but to imagine our united weight +suspended over the abyss, as it necessarily must be in the first stage +of our flight, when even the dislodgment of a single root or fragment +of the rock was sufficient to ensure the horrible destruction of her +whom I loved better than my own life, had something too appalling in it +to suffer me to dwell on the idea for more than a moment. I had +proposed, as the most feasible and rational plan, that the colonel +should be compelled to give us egress through the secret passage, when +we might command the services of the old woman to guide us through the +passes that led to the town; but to this your mother most urgently +objected, declaring that she would rather encounter any personal peril +that might attend her escape, in a different manner, than appear to be +a participator in an act of violence against her parent whose obstinacy +of character she moreover knew too well to leave a hope of his being +intimidated into the accomplishment of our object, even by a threat of +death itself. This plan I was therefore compelled to abandon; and as +neither of us were able to discover the passage by which the deer +always effected its entrance, I was obliged to fix upon one, which it +was agreed should be put in practice on the following day. + +"On my return, I occupied myself with preparations for the reception of +her who was so speedily to become my wife. Unwilling that she should be +seen by any of my companions, until the ceremony was finally performed, +I engaged apartments in a small retired cottage, distant about half a +mile from the furthest extremity of the town, where I purposed she +should remain until the regiment finally quitted the station. This +point secured, I hastened to the quarters of the chaplain, to engage +his services for the following evening; but he was from home at the +time, and I repaired to my own rooms, to prepare the means of escape +for your mother. These occupied me until a very late hour; and when at +length I retired to rest, it was only to indulge in the fondest +imaginings that ever filled the heart of a devoted lover. Alas! (and +the dark warrior again sighed heavily) the day-dream of my happiness +was already fast drawing to a close. + +"At half an hour before noon, I was again in the oasis; your mother was +at the wonted spot; and although she received me with her sunniest +smiles, there were traces of tears upon her cheek. I kissed them +eagerly away, and sought to dissipate the partial gloom that was again +clouding her brow. She observed it pained me to see her thus, and she +made a greater effort to rally. She implored me to forgive her +weakness; but it was the first time she was to be separated from her +parent; and conscious as she was that it was to be for ever, she could +not repress the feeling that rose, despite of herself, to her heart. +She had, however, prepared a letter, at my suggestion, to be left on +her favourite moss seat, where it was likely she would first be sought +by her father, to assure him of her safety, and of her prospects of +future happiness; and the consciousness that he would labour under no +harrowing uncertainty in regard to her fate, seemed, at length, to +soothe and satisfy her heart. + +"I now led her to the aperture, where I had left the apparatus provided +for my purpose: this consisted of a close netting, about four feet in +depth, with a board for a footstool at the bottom, and furnished at +intervals with hoops, so as to keep it full and open. The top of this +netting was provided with two handles, to which were attached the ends +of a cord many fathoms in length; the whole of such durability, as to +have borne weights equal to those of three ordinary sized men, with +which I had proved it prior to my setting out. My first care was to +bandage the eyes of your mother, (who willingly and fearlessly +submitted to all I proposed,) that she might not see, and become faint +with seeing, the terrible chasm over which she was about to be +suspended. I then placed her within the netting, which, fitting closely +to her person, and reaching under her arms, completely secured her; and +my next urgent request was, that she would not, on any account, remove +the bandage, or make the slightest movement, when she found herself +stationary below, until I had joined her. I then dropped her gently +through the aperture, lowering fathom after fathom of the rope, the +ends of which I had firmly secured round the trunk of a tree, as an +additional safeguard, until she finally came on a level with that part +of the cliff on which I had reposed when first she beheld me. As she +still hung immediately over the abyss, it was necessary to give a +gradual impetus to her weight, to enable her to gain the landing-place. +I now, therefore, commenced swinging her to and fro, until she at +length came so near the point desired, that I clearly saw the principal +difficulty was surmounted. The necessary motion having been given to +the balance, with one vigorous and final impulsion I dexterously +contrived to deposit her several feet from the edge of the lower rock, +when, slackening the rope on the instant, I had the inexpressible +satisfaction to see that she remained firm and stationary. The waving +of her scarf immediately afterwards (a signal previously agreed upon), +announced she had sustained no injury in this rather rude collision +with the rock, and I in turn commenced my descent. + +"Fearing to cast away the ends of the rope, lest their weight should by +any chance effect the balance of the footing your mother had obtained, +I now secured them around my loins, and accomplishing my descent in the +customary manner, speedily found myself once more at the side of my +heart's dearest treasure. Here the transport of my joy was too great to +be controlled; I felt that NOW my prize was indeed secured to me for +ever; and I burst forth into the most passionate exclamations of +tenderness, and falling on my knees, raised my hands to Heaven in +fervent gratitude for the success with which my enterprise had been +crowned. Another would have been discouraged at the difficulties still +remaining; but with these I was become too familiar, not to feel the +utmost confidence in encountering them, even with the treasure that was +equally perilled with myself. For a moment I removed the bandage from +the eyes of your mother, that she might behold not only the far distant +point whence she had descended, but the frowning precipice I had daily +been in the habit of climbing to be blest with her presence. She did +so,--and her cheek paled, for the first time, with a sense of the +danger I had incurred; then turning her soft and beautiful eyes on +mine, she smiled a smile that seemed to express how much her love would +repay me. Again our lips met, and we were happy even in that lonely +spot, beyond all language to describe. Once more, at length, I prepared +to execute the remainder of my task; and I again applied the bandage to +her eyes, saying that, although the principal danger was over, still +there was another I could not bear she should look upon. Again she +smiled, and with a touching sweetness of expression that fired my +blood, observing at the same time she feared no danger while she was +with me, but that if my object was to prevent her from looking at me, +the most efficient way certainly was to apply a bandage to her eyes. +Oh! woman, woman!" groaned Wacousta, in fierce anguish of spirit, "who +shall expound the complex riddle of thy versatile nature? + +"Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to +these a broad leathern belt taken from the pouches of two of my men, +and stooping with my back to the cherished burden with which I was +about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, +much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian women carry their +infant children. As an additional precaution, I had secured the netting +round my waist by a strong lacing of cord, and then raising myself to +my full height, and satisfying myself of the perfect freedom of action +of my limbs, seized a long balancing pole I had left suspended against +the rock at my last visit, and commenced my descent of the sloping +ridge. On approaching the horrible chasm, a feeling of faintness came +over me, despite of the confidence with which I had previously armed +myself. This, however, was but momentary. Sensible that every thing +depended on rapidity of movement, I paused not in my course; but, +quickening my pace as I gradually drew nearer, gave the necessary +impetus to my motion, and cleared the gap with a facility far exceeding +what had distinguished my first passage, and which was the fruit of +constant practice alone. Here my balance was sustained by the pole; and +at length I had the inexpressible satisfaction to find myself at the +very extremity of the ridge, and immediately at the point where I had +left my companions in my first memorable pursuit. Alas!" continued the +warrior, again interrupting himself with one of those fierce +exclamations of impatient anguish that so frequently occurred in his +narrative, "what subject for rejoicing was there in this? Better far we +had been dashed to pieces in the abyss, than I should have lived to +curse the hour when first my spirit of adventure led me to traverse +it." Again he resumed:-- + +"In the deep transport of my joy, I once more threw myself on my knees +in speechless thanksgiving to Providence for the complete success of my +undertaking. Your mother, whom I had previously released from her +confinement, did the same; and at that moment the union of our hearts +seemed to be cemented by a divine influence, manifested in the fulness +of the gratitude of each. I then raised her from the earth, imprinting +a kiss upon her fair brow, that was hallowed by the purity of the +feeling I had so recently indulged in; and throwing over her shoulders +the mantle of a youth, which I had secreted near the spot, enjoined her +to follow me closely in the path I was about to pursue. As she had +hitherto encountered no fatigue, and was, moreover, well provided with +strong buskins I had brought for the purpose, I thought it advisable to +discontinue the use of the netting, which must attract notice, and +cause us, perhaps, to be followed, in the event of our being met by any +of the hunters that usually traversed these parts. To carry her in my +arms, as I should have preferred, might have excited the same +curiosity, and I was therefore compelled to decide upon her walking; +reserving to myself, however, the sweet task of bearing her in my +embrace over the more difficult parts of our course. + +"I have not hitherto found it necessary to state," continued Wacousta, +his brow lowering with fierce and gloomy thought, "that more than once, +latterly, on my return from the oasis, which was usually at a stated +hour, I had observed a hunter hovering near the end of the ledge, yet +quickly retreating as I advanced. There was something in the figure of +this man that recalled to my recollection the form of your father; but +ever, on my return to quarters, I found him in uniform, and exhibiting +any thing but the appearance of one who had recently been threading his +weary way among rocks and fastnesses. Besides, the improbability of +this fact was so great, that it occupied not my attention beyond the +passing moment. On the present occasion, however, I saw the same +hunter, and was more forcibly than ever struck by the resemblance to my +friend. Prior to my quitting the point where I had liberated your +mother from the netting, I had, in addition to the disguise of the +cloak, found it necessary to make some alteration in the arrangement of +her hair; the redundancy of which, as it floated gracefully over her +polished neck, was in itself sufficient to betray her sex. With this +view I had removed her plumed bonnet. It was the first time I had seen +her without it; and so deeply impressed was I by the angel-like +character of the extreme feminine beauty she, more than ever, then +exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for some moments at her +feet, my eyes and countenance alone expressing the fervent and almost +holy emotion of my enraptured soul. Had she been a divinity, I could +not have worshipped her with a purer feeling. While I yet knelt, I +fancied I heard a sound behind me; and, turning quickly, beheld the +head of a man peering above a point of rock at some little distance. He +immediately, on witnessing my action, sank again beneath it, but not in +sufficient time to prevent my almost assuring myself that it was the +face of your father I had beheld. My first impulse was to bound +forward, and satisfy myself who it really was who seemed thus ever on +the watch to intercept my movements; but a second rapid reflection +convinced me, that, having been discovered, it was most likely the +intruder had already effected his retreat, and that any attempt at +pursuit might not only alarm your mother, but compromise her safety. I +determined, however, to tax your father with the fact on my return to +quarters; and, from the manner in which he met the charge, to form my +own conclusion. + +"Meanwhile we pursued our course; and after an hour's rather laborious +exertion, at length emerged from the succession of glens and rocks that +lay in our way; when, skirting the valley in which the town was +situated, we finally reached the cottage where I had secured my +lodging. Previous to entering it, I had told your mother, that for the +few hours that would intervene before the marriage ceremony could be +performed, I should, by way of lulling the curiosity of her hostess, +introduce her as a near relative of my own. This I did accordingly; +and, having seen that every thing was comfortably arranged for her +convenience, and recommending her strongly to the care of the old +woman, I set off once more in search of the chaplain of the regiment +Before I could reach his residence, however, I was met by a sergeant of +my company, who came running towards me, evidently with some +intelligence of moment. He stated, that my presence was required +without delay. The grenadiers, with the senior subaltern, were in +orders for detachment for an important service; and considerable +displeasure had been manifested by the colonel at my absence, +especially as of late I had greatly neglected my military duties. He +had been looking for me every where, he said, but without success, when +Ensign de Haldimar had pointed out to him in what direction it was +likely I might be found. + +"At a calmer moment, I should have been startled at the last +observation; but my mind was too much engrossed with the principal +subject of my regret, to pay any attention to the circumstance. It was +said the detachment would be occupied in this duty a week or ten days, +at least; and how was I to absent myself from her whom I so fondly +loved for this period, without even being permitted first to see and +account to her for my absence? There was torture in the very thought; +and in the height of my impatience, I told the sergeant he might give +my compliments to the colonel, and say I would see the service d--d +rather than inconvenience myself by going out on this duty at so short +a notice; that I had private business of the highest importance to +myself to transact, and could not absent myself. As the man, however, +prepared coolly to depart, it suddenly occurred to me, that I might +prevail on your father to take my duty now, as on former occasions he +had willingly done, and I countermanded my message to the colonel; +desiring him, however, to find out Ensign de Haldimar, and say that I +requested to see him immediately at my quarters, whither I was now +proceeding to change my dress. + +"With a beating heart did I assume an uniform that appeared, at that +moment, hideous in my eyes; yet I was not without a hope I might yet +get off this ill-timed duty. Before I had completed my equipment, your +father entered; and when I first glanced my eye full upon his, I +thought his countenance exhibited evidences of confusion. This +immediately reminded me of the unknown hunter, and I asked him if he +was not the person I described. His answer was not a positive denial, +but a mixture of raillery and surprise that lulled my doubts, enfeebled +as they were by the restored calm of his features. I then told him that +I had a particular favour to ask of him, which, in consideration of our +friendship, I trusted he would not refuse; and that was, to take my +duty in the expedition about to set forth. His manner implied concern; +and he asked, with a look that had much deliberate expression in it, +'if I was aware that it was a duty in which blood was expected to be +shed? He could not suppose that any consideration would induce me to +resign my duty to another officer, when apprised of this fact.' All +this was said with the air of one really interested in my honour; but +in my increasing impatience, I told him I wanted none of his cant; I +simply asked him a favour, which he would grant or decline as he +thought proper. This was a harshness of language I had never indulged +in; but my mind was sore under the existing causes of my annoyance, and +I could not bear to have my motives reflected on at a moment when my +heart was torn with all the agonies attendant on the position in which +I found myself placed. His cheek paled and flushed more than once, +before he replied, 'that in spite of my unkindness his friendship might +induce him to do much for me, even as he had hitherto done, but that on +the present occasion it rested not with him. In order to justify +himself he would no longer disguise the fact from me, that the colonel +had declared, in the presence of the whole regiment, I should take my +duty regularly in future, and not be suffered to make a convenience of +the service any longer. If, however, he could do any thing for me +during my absence, I had but to command him. + +"While I was yet giving vent, in no very measured terms, to the +indignation I felt at being made the subject of public censure by the +colonel, the same sergeant came into the room, announcing that the +company were only waiting for me to march, and that the colonel desired +my instant presence. In the agitation of my feelings, I scarcely knew +what I did, putting several portions of my regimental equipment on so +completely awry, that your father noticed and rectified the errors I +had committed; while again, in the presence of the sergeant, I +expressed the deepest regret he could not relieve me from a duty that +was hateful to the last degree. + +"Torn with agony at the thought of the uncertainty in which I was +compelled to leave her, whom I so fondly adored, I had now no other +alternative than to make a partial confidant of your father. I told him +that in the cottage which I pointed out he would find the original of +the portrait he had seen me painting on a former occasion,--the Cornish +cousin, whose beauty he professed to hold so cheaply. More he should +know of her on my return; but at present I confided her to his honour, +and begged he would prove his friendship for me by rendering her +whatever attention she might require in her humble abode. With these +hurried injunctions he promised to comply; and it has often occurred to +me since, although I did not remark it at the time, that while his +voice and manner were calm, there was a burning glow upon his handsome +cheek, and a suppressed exultation in his eye, that I had never +observed on either before. I then quitted the room; and hastening to my +company with a gloom on--my brow that indicated the wretchedness of my +inward spirit, was soon afterwards on the march from ----." + +Again the warrior seemed agitated with the most violent emotion; he +buried his face in his hands; and the silence that ensued was longer +than any he had previously indulged in. At length he made an effort to +arouse himself; and again exhibiting his swarthy features, disclosed a +brow, not clouded, as before, by grief, but animated with the fiercest +and most appalling passions, while he thus impetuously resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"If, hitherto, Clara de Haldimar, I have been minute in the detail of +all that attended my connection with your mother, it has been with a +view to prove to you how deeply I have been injured; but I have now +arrived at a part of my history, when to linger on the past would goad +me into madness, and render me unfit for the purpose to which I have +devoted myself. Brief must be the probing of wounds, that nearly five +lustres have been insufficient to heal; brief the tale that reveals the +infamy of those who have given you birth, and the utter blighting of +the fairest hopes of one whose only fault was that of loving, "not too +wisely, but too well." + +"Will you credit the monstrous truth," he added, in a fierce but +composed whisper, while he bent eagerly over the form of the trembling +yet attentive girl, "when I tell you that, on my return from that fatal +expedition, during my continuance on which her image had never once +been absent from my mind, I found Clara Beverley the wife of De +Haldimar? Yes," continued Wacousta, his wounded feeling and mortified +pride chafing, by the bitter recollection, into increasing fury, while +his countenance paled in its swarthiness, "the wife, the wedded wife of +yon false and traitorous governor! Well may you look surprised, Clara +de Haldimar: such damnable treachery as this may startle his own blood +in the veins of another, nor find its justification even in the +devotedness of woman's filial piety. To what satanic arts so +calculating a villain could have had recourse to effect his object I +know not; but it is not the less true, that she, from whom my previous +history must have taught you to expect the purity of intention and +conduct of an angel, became his wife,--and I a being accursed among +men. Even as our common mother is said to have fallen in the garden of +Eden, tempted by the wily beauty of the devil, so did your mother fall, +seduced by that of the cold, false, traitorous De Haldimar." Here the +agitation of Wacousta became terrific. The labouring of his chest was +like that of one convulsed with some racking agony and the swollen +veins and arteries of his head seemed to threaten the extinction of +life in some fearful paroxysm. At length he burst into a violent fit of +tears, more appalling, in one of his iron nature, than the fury which +had preceded it,--and it was many minutes before he could so far +compose himself as to resume. + +"Think not, Clara de Haldimar, I speak without the proof. Her own words +confessed, her own lips avowed it, and yet I neither slew her, nor her +paramour, nor myself. On my return to the regiment I had flown to the +cottage, on the wings of the most impatient and tender love that ever +filled the bosom of man for woman. To my enquiries the landlady +replied, that my cousin had been married two days previously, by the +military chaplain, to a handsome young officer, who had visited her +soon after my departure, and was constantly with her from that moment; +and that immediately after the ceremony they had left, but she knew not +whither. Wild, desperate, almost bereft of reason, and with a heart +bounding against my bosom, as if each agonising throb were to be its +last, I ran like a maniac back into the town, nor paused till I found +myself in the presence of your father. My mind was a volcano, but still +I attempted to be calm, even while I charged him, in the most +outrageous terms, with his villainy. Deny it he could not; but, far +from excusing it, he boldly avowed and justified the step he had taken, +intimating, with a smile full of meaning, there was nothing in a +connection with the family of De Haldimar to reflect disgrace on the +cousin of Sir Reginald Morton; and that; the highest compliment he +could pay his friend was to attach himself to one whom that friend had +declared to be so near a relative of his own. There was a coldness of +taunt in these remarks, that implied his sense of the deception I had +practised on him, in regard to the true nature of the relationship; and +for a moment, while my hand firmly grasped the hilt of my sword, I +hesitated whether I should not cut him down at my feet: I had +self-command, however, to abstain from the outrage, and I have often +since regretted I had. My own blood could have been but spilt in +atonement for my just revenge; and as for the obloquy attached to the +memory of the assassin, it could not have been more bitter than that +which has followed me through life. But what do I say?" fiercely +continued the warrior, an exulting ferocity sparkling in his eye, and +animating his countenance; "had he fallen, then my vengeance were but +half complete. No; it is now he shall feel the deadly venom in his +heart, that has so long banqueted on mine. + +"Determined to know from her own lips," he pursued, to the shuddering +Clara, whose hopes, hitherto strongly excited, now, began again to fade +beneath the new aspect given to the strange history of this terrible +man;--"determined to satisfy myself from her own acknowledgment, +whether all I had heard was not an imposition, I summoned calmness +enough to desire that your mother might confirm in person the +alienation of her affection, as nothing short of that could convince me +of the truth. He left the room, and presently re-appeared, conducting +her in from another: I thought she looked more beautiful than ever, +but, alas! I had the inexpressible horror to discover, before a word +was uttered, that all the fondness of her nature was indeed transferred +to your father. How I endured the humiliation of that scene has often +been a source of utter astonishment to myself; but I did endure it. To +my wild demand, how she could so soon have forgotten her vows, and +falsified her plighted engagements, she replied, timidly and +confusedly, she had not yet known her own heart; but if she had pained +me by her conduct, she was sorry for it, and hoped I would forgive her. +She would always be happy to esteem me as a friend, but she loved her +Charles far, far better than she had ever loved me. This damning +admission, couched in the same language of simplicity that had first +touched and won my affection, was like boiling lead upon my brain. In a +transport of madness I sprang towards her, caught her in my arms, and +swore she should accompany me back to the oasis--when I had taken her +there, to be regained by my detested rival, if he could; but that he +should not eat the fruit I had plucked at so much peril to myself. She +struggled to disengage herself, calling on your father by the most +endearing epithets to free her from my embrace. He attempted it, and I +struck him senseless to the floor at a single blow with the flat of my +sabre, which in my extreme fury I had unsheathed. Instead, however, of +profiting by the opportunity thus afforded to execute my threat, a +feeling of disgust and contempt came over me, for the woman, whose +inconstancy had been the cause of my committing myself in this +ungentlemanly manner; and bestowing deep but silent curses on her head, +I rushed from the house in a state of frenzy. How often since have I +regretted that I had not pursued my first impulse, and borne her to +some wild, where, forgetting one by whose beauty of person her eye +alone had been seduced, her heart might have returned to its allegiance +to him who had first awakened the sympathies of her soul, and would +have loved her with a love blending the fiercest fires of the eagle +with the gentlest devotedness of the dove. But destiny had differently +ordained. + +"Did my injuries end here?" pursued the dark warrior, as his eye +kindled with rage. "No: for weeks I was insensible to any thing but the +dreadful shock my soul had sustained. A heavy stupor weighed me down, +and for a period it was supposed my reason was overthrown: no such +mercy was reserved for me. The regiment had quitted the Highlands, and +were now stationary in ----, whither I had accompanied it in arrest. +The restoration of my faculties was the signal for new persecutions. +Scarcely had the medical officers reported me fit to sustain the +ordeal, when a court-martial was assembled to try me on a variety of +charges. Who was my prosecutor? Listen, Clara," and he shook her +violently by the arm. "He who had robbed me of all that gave value to +life, and incentive to honour,--he who, under the guise of friendship, +had stolen into the Eden of my love, and left it barren of affection. +In a word, yon detested governor, to whose inhuman cruelty even the son +of my brother has, by some strange fatality of coincidence, so recently +fallen a second sacrifice. Curses, curses on him," he pursued, with +frightful vehemence, half rising as he spoke, and holding forth his +right arm in a menacing attitude; "but the hour of retribution is at +hand, and revenge, the exclusive passion of the gods, shall at length +be mine. In no other country in the world--under no other circumstances +than the present--could I have so secured it. + +"What were the charges preferred against me?" he continued, with a +violence that almost petrified the unhappy girl. "Hear them, and judge +whether I have not cause for the inextinguishable hate that rankles at +my heart. Every trifling disobedience of orders--every partial neglect +of duty that could be raked up--was tortured into a specific charge; +and, as I have already admitted I had latterly transgressed not a +little in this respect, these were numerous enough. Yet they were but +preparatory to others of greater magnitude. Next succeeded one that +referred to the message I had given, and countermanded, to the sergeant +of my company, when in the impatience of my disappointment I had +desired him to tell the colonel I would see the service d--d rather +than inconvenience myself at that moment for it. This was unsupported +by other evidence, however, and therefore failed in the proof. But the +web was too closely woven around to admit of my escaping.--Will you, +can you believe any thing half so atrocious, as that your father should +have called on this same man not only to prove the violent and +insubordinate language I had used in reference to the commanding +officer in my own rooms, but also to substantiate a charge of +cowardice, grounded on the unwillingness I had expressed to accompany +the expedition, and the extraordinary trepidation I had evinced, while +preparing for the duty, manifested, as it was stated to be, by the +various errors he had rectified in my equipment with his own hand? Yes, +even this pitiful charge was one of the many preferred; but the +severest was that which he had the unblushing effrontery to make the +subject of public investigation, rather than of private redress--the +blow I had struck him in his own apartments. And who was his witness in +this monstrous charge?--your mother, Clara. Yea, I stood as a criminal +in her presence; and yet she came forward to tender an evidence that +was to consign me to a disgraceful sentence. My vile prosecutor had, +moreover, the encouragement, the sanction of his colonel throughout, +and by him he was upheld in every contemptible charge his ingenuity +could devise. Do you not anticipate the result?--I was found guilty, +and dismissed the service. + +"How acted my brother officers, when, previously to the trial, I +alluded to the damnable treachery of your father? Did they condemn his +conduct, or sympathise with me in my misfortune?--No; they shrugged +their shoulders, and coldly observed, I ought to have known better than +to trust one against whom they had so often cautioned me; but that as I +had selected him for my friend, I should have bestowed a whole, and not +a half confidence upon him. He had had the hypocrisy to pretend to them +he had violated no trust, since he had honourably espoused a lady whom +I had introduced to him as a cousin, and in whom I appeared to have no +other interest than that of relationship. Not, they said, that they +believed he actually did entertain that impression; but still the +excuse was too plausible, and had been too well studied by my cunning +rival, to be openly refuted. As for the mere fact of his supplanting +me, they thought it an excellent thing,--a ruse d'amour for which they +never would have given him credit; and although they admitted it was +provoking enough to be ousted out of one's mistress in that cool sort +of way, still I should not so far have forgotten myself as to have +struck him while he was unarmed, when it was so easy to have otherwise +fastened an insult on him. Such," bitterly pursued Wacousta, "was the +consolation I received from men, who, a few short weeks before, had +been sedulous to gain and cultivate my friendship,--but even this was +only vouchsafed antecedent to my trial. When the sentence was +promulgated, announcing my dismissal from the service, every back was +turned upon me, as though I had been found guilty of some dishonourable +action or some disgraceful crime; and, on the evening of the same day, +when I threw from me for ever an uniform that I now loathed from my +inmost soul, there was not one among those who had often banqueted at +my expense, who had the humanity to come to me and say, 'Sir Reginald +Morton, farewell.' + +"What agonies of mind I endured,--what burning tears I nightly shed +upon a pillow I was destined to press in freezing loneliness,--what +hours of solitude I passed, far from the haunts of my fellow-men, and +forming plans of vengeance,--it would take much longer time to relate +than I have actually bestowed on my unhappy history. To comprehend +their extent and force, you must understand the heart of fire in which +the deep sense of injury had taken root; but the night wears away, and +briefly told must be the remainder of my tale. The rebellion of +forty-five saw me in arms in the Scottish ranks; and, in one instance, +opposed to the regiment from which I had been so ignominiously +expelled. Never did revenge glow like a living fire in the heart of man +as it did in mine; for the effect of my long brooding in solitude had +been to inspire me with a detestation, not merely for those who had +been most rancorous in their enmity, but for every thing that wore the +uniform, from the commanding officer down to the meanest private. Every +blow that I dealt, every life that I sacrificed, was an insult washed +away from my attainted honour; but him whom I most sought in the melee +I never could reach. At length the corps to which I had attached myself +was repulsed; and I saw, with rage in my heart, that my enemy still +lived to triumph in the fruit of his villainy. + +"Although I was grown considerably in stature at this period, and was +otherwise greatly altered in appearance, I had been recognised in the +action by numbers of the regiment; and, indeed, more than once I had, +in the intoxication of my rage, accompanied the blow that slew or +maimed one of my former associates with a declaration of the name of +him who inflicted it. The consequence was, I was denounced as a rebel +and an outlaw, and a price was put upon my head. Accustomed, however, +as I had ever been, to rocks and fastnesses, I had no difficulty in +eluding the vigilance of those who were sent in pursuit of me; and thus +compelled to live wholly apart from my species, I at length learned to +hate them, and to know that man is the only enemy of man upon earth. + +"A change now came ever the spirit of my vengeance; for about this +period your mother died. I had never ceased to love, even while I +despised her; and notwithstanding, had she, after her flagrant +inconstancy, thrown herself into my arms, I should have rejected her +with scorn, still I was sensible no other woman could ever supply her +place in my affection. She was, in truth, the only being I had ever +looked upon with fondness; and deeply even as I had been injured by +her, I wept her memory with many a scalding tear. This, however, only +increased my hatred for him who had rioted in her beauty, and +supplanted me in her devotedness. I had the means of learning, +occasionally, all that passed in the regiment; and the same account +that brought me the news of your mother's death also gave me the +intelligence that three children had been the fruit of her union with +De Haldimar. How," pursued Wacousta, with bitter energy, "shall I +express the deep loathing I felt for those children? It seemed to me as +if their existence had stamped a seal of infamy on my own brow; and I +hated them, even in their childhood, as the offspring of an abhorred, +and, as it appeared to me, an unnatural union. I heard, moreover (and +this gave me pleasure), that their father doated on them; and from that +moment I resolved to turn his cup of joy into bitterness, even as he +had turned mine. I no longer sought his life; for the jealousy that had +half impelled that thirst existed no longer: but, deeming his cold +nature at least accessible through his parental affection, I was +resolved that in his children he should suffer a portion of the agonies +he had inflicted on me. I waited, however, until they should be grown +up to an age when the heart of the parent would be more likely to mourn +their loss; and then I was determined my vengeance should be complete. + +"Circumstances singularly favoured my design. Many years afterwards, +the regiment formed one of the expedition against Quebec under General +Wolfe. They were commanded by your father, who, in the course of +promotion, had obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy; and I observed by the +army list, that a subaltern of the same name, whom I presumed to be his +eldest son, was in the corps. Here was a field for my vengeance beyond +any I could have hoped for. I contrived to pass over into Cornwall, the +ban of outlawry being still unrepealed; and having procured from my +brother a sum sufficient for my necessities, and bade him an eternal +farewell, embarked in a fishing-boat for the coast of France, whence I +subsequently took a passage to this country. At Montreal I found the +French general, who gladly received my allegiance as a subject of +France, and gave me a commission in one of the provincial corps that +usually served in concert with our Indian allies. With the general I +soon became a favourite; and, as a mark of his confidence at the attack +on Quebec, he entrusted me with the command of a detached irregular +force, consisting partly of Canadians and partly of Indians, intended +to harass the flanks of the British army. This gave me an opportunity +of being at whatever point of the field I might think most favourable +to my design; and I was too familiar with the detested uniform of the +regiment not to be able to distinguish it from afar. In a word, Clara, +for I am weary of my own tale, in that engagement I had an opportunity +of recognising your brother. He struck me by his martial appearance as +he encouraged his grenadiers to the attack of the French columns; and, +as I turned my eye upon him in admiration, I was stung to the soul by +his resemblance to his father. Vengeance thrilled throughout every +fibre of my frame at that moment. The opportunity I had long sought was +at length arrived; and already, in anticipation, I enjoyed the conquest +his fall would occasion to my enemy. I rushed within a few feet of my +victim; but the bullet aimed at his heart was received in the breast of +a faithful soldier, who had flown to intercept it. How I cursed the +meddler for his officiousness!" + +"Oh, that soldier was your nephew," eagerly interrupted Clara, pointing +towards her companion, who had fallen into a profound slumber, "the +husband of this unfortunate woman. Frank Halloway (for by that name was +he alone known in the regiment) loved my brother as though he had been +of the same blood. He it was who flew to receive the ball that was +destined for another. But I nursed him on his couch of suffering, and +with my own hands prepared his food and dressed his wound. Oh, if pity +can touch your heart (and I will not believe that a heart that once +felt as you say yours has felt can be inaccessible to pity), let the +recollection of your nephew's devotedness to my mother's child disarm +you of vengeance, and induce you to restore us!" + +"Never!" thundered Wacousta,--"never! The very circumstance you have +now named is an additional incentive to my vengeance. My nephew saved +the life of your brother at the hazard of his own; and how has he been +rewarded for the generous deed? By an ignominious death, inflicted, +perhaps, for some offence not more dishonouring than those which have +thrown me an outcast upon these wilds; and that at the command and in +the presence of the father of him whose life he was fool enough to +preserve. Yet, what but ingratitude of the grossest nature could a +Morton expect at the hands of the false family of De Haldimar! They +were destined to be our bane, and well have they fulfilled the end for +which they were created." + +"Almighty Providence!" aspirated the sinking Clara, as she turned her +streaming eyes to heaven; "can it be that the human heart can undergo +such change? Can this be the being who once loved my mother with a +purity and tenderness of affection that angels themselves might hallow +with approval; or is all that I have heard but a bewildering dream?" + +"No, Clara," calmly and even solemnly returned the warrior; "it is no +dream, but a reality--a sad, dreadful, heart-rending reality; yet, if I +am that altered being, to whom is the change to be ascribed? Who turned +the generous current of my blood into a river of overflowing gall? Who, +when my cup was mantling with the only bliss I coveted upon earth, +traitorously emptied it, and substituted a heart-corroding poison in +its stead? Who blighted my fair name, and cast me forth an alien in the +land of my forefathers? Who, in a word, cut me off from every joy that +existence can impart to man? Who did all this? Your father! But these +are idle words. What I have been, you know; what I now am, and through +what agency I have been rendered what I now am, you know also. Not more +fixed is fate than my purpose. Your brother dies even on the spot on +which my nephew died; and you, Clara, shall be my bride; and the first +thing your children shall be taught to lisp shall be curses on the vile +name of De Haldimar!" + +"Once more, in the name of my sainted mother, I implore you to have +mercy," shrieked the unhappy Clara. "Oh!" she continued, with vehement +supplication, "let the days of your early love be brought back to' your +memory, that your heart may be softened; and cut yourself not wholly +off from your God, by the commission of such dreadful outrages. Again I +conjure you, restore us to my father." + +"Never!" savagely repeated Wacousta. "I have passed years of torture in +the hope of such an hour as this; and now that fruition is within my +grasp, may I perish if I forego it! Ha, sir!" turning from the almost +fainting Clara to Sir Everard, who had listened with deep attention to +the history of this extraordinary man;--"for this," and he thrust aside +the breast of his hunting coat, exhibiting the scar of a long but +superficial wound,--"for this do you owe me a severe reckoning. I would +recommend you, however,"--and he spoke in mockery,--"when next you +drive a weapon into the chest of an unresisting enemy, to be more +certain of your aim. Had that been as true as the blow from the butt of +your rifle, I should not have lived to triumph in this hour. I little +deemed," he pursued, still addressing the nearly heart-broken officer +in the same insolent strain, "that my intrigue with that dark-eyed +daughter of the old Canadian would have been the means of throwing your +companion so speedily into my power, after his first narrow escape. +Your disguise was well managed, I confess; and but that there is an +instinct about me, enabling me to discover a De Haldimar, as a hound +does the deer, by scent, you might have succeeded in passing for what +you appeared. But" (and his tone suddenly changed its irony for +fierceness) "to the point, sir. That you are the lover of this girl I +clearly perceive, and death were preferable to a life embittered by the +recollection that she whom we love reposes in the arms of another. No +such kindness is meant you, however. To-morrow you shall return to the +fort; and, when there, you may tell your colonel, that, in exchange for +a certain miniature and letters, which, in the hurry of departure, I +dropped in his apartment, some ten days since, Sir Reginald Morton, the +outlaw, has taken his daughter Clara to wife, but without the +solemnisation of those tedious forms that bound himself in accursed +union with her mother. Oh! what would I not give," he continued, +bitterly, "to witness the pang inflicted on his false heart, when first +the damning truth arrests his ear. Never did I know the triumph of my +power until now; for what revenge can be half so sweet as that which +attains a loathed enemy through the dishonour of his child? But, hark! +what mean those sounds?" + +A loud yelling was now heard at some distance in rear of the tent. +Presently the bounding of many feet on the turf was distinguishable; +and then, at intervals, the peculiar cry that announces the escape of a +prisoner. Wacousta started to his feet, and fiercely grasping his +tomahawk, advanced to the front of the tent, where he seemed to listen +for a moment attentively, as if endeavouring to catch the direction of +the pursuit. + +"Ha! by Heaven!" he exclaimed, "there must be treachery in this, or yon +slippery captain would not so soon be at his flight again, bound as I +had bound him." Then uttering a deafening yell, and rushing past Sir +Everard, near whom he paused an instant, as if undecided whether he +should not first dispose of him, as a precautionary measure, he flew +with the speed of an antelope in the direction in which he was guided +by the gradually receding sounds. + +"The knife, Miss de Haldimar," exclaimed Sir Everard, after a few +moments of breathless and intense anxiety. "See, there is one in the +belt that Ellen Halloway has girt around her loins. Quick, for Heaven's +sake, quick; our only chance of safety is in this." + +With an activity arising from her despair, the unhappy Clara sprang +from the rude couch on which she had been left by Wacousta, and, +stooping over the form of the maniac, extended her hand to remove the +weapon from her side; but Ellen, who had been awakened from her long +slumber by the yells just uttered, seemed resolute to prevent it. A +struggle for its possession now ensued between these frail and delicate +beings; in which Clara, however, had the advantage, not only from the +recumbent position of her opponent, but from the greater security of +her grasp. At length, with a violent effort, she contrived to disengage +it from the sheath, around which Ellen had closely clasped both her +hands; but, with the quickness of thought, the latter were again +clenched round the naked blade, and without any other evident motive +than what originated in the obstinacy of her madness, the unfortunate +woman fiercely attempted to wrest it away. In the act of doing so, her +hands were dreadfully cut; and Clara, shocked at the sight of the blood +she had been the means of shedding, lost all the energy she had +summoned, and sunk senseless at the feet of the maniac, who now began +to utter the most piteous cries. + +"Oh, God! we are lost," exclaimed Sir Everard; "the voice of that +wretched woman has alarmed our enemy, and even now I hear him +approaching. Quick, Clara, give me the knife. But no, it is now too +late; he is here." + +At that instant, the dark form of a warrior rushed noiselessly to the +spot on which he stood. The officer turned his eyes in desperation on +his enemy, but a single glance was sufficient to assure him it was not +Wacousta. The Indian paused not in his course, but passing close round +the tree to which the baronet was attached, made a circular movement, +that brought him in a line with the direction that had been taken by +his enemy; and again they were left alone. + +A new fear now oppressed the heart of the unfortunate Valletort, even +to agony: Clara still lay senseless, speechless, before him; and his +impression was, that, in the struggle, Ellen Halloway had murdered her. +The latter yet continued her cries; and, as she held up her hands, he +could see by the fire-light they were covered with blood. An +instinctive impulse caused him to bound forward to the assistance of +the motionless Clara; when, to his infinite surprise and joy, he +discovered the cord, which had bound him to the tree, to be severed. +The Indian who had just passed had evidently been his deliverer; and a +sudden flash of recollection recalled the figure of the young warrior +that had escaped from the schooner and was supposed to have leaped into +the canoe of Oucanasta at the moment when Madeline de Haldimar was +removed into that of the Canadian. + +In a transport of conflicting feelings, Sir Everard now raised the +insensible Clara from the ground; and, having satisfied himself she had +sustained no serious injury, prepared for a flight which he felt to be +desperate, if not altogether hopeless. There was not a moment to be +lost, for the cries of the wretched Ellen increased in violence, as she +seemed sensible she was about to be left utterly alone; and ever and +anon, although afar off, yet evidently drawing nearer, was to be heard +the fierce denouncing yell of Wacousta. The spot on which the officer +stood, was not far from that whence his unfortunate friend had +commenced his flight on the first memorable occasion; and as the moon +shone brightly in the cloudless heavens, there could be no mistake in +the course he was to pursue. Dashing down the steep, therefore, with +all the speed his beloved burden would enable him to attain, he made +immediately for the bridge, over which his only chance of safety lay. + +It unfortunately happened, however, that, induced either by the malice +of her insanity, or really terrified at the loneliness of her position, +the wretched Ellen Halloway had likewise quitted the tent, and now +followed close in the rear of the fugitives, still uttering the same +piercing cries of anguish. The voice of Wacousta was also again heard +in the distance; and Sir Everard had the inexpressible horror to find +that, guided by the shrieks of the maniac woman, he was now shaping his +course, not to the tent where he had left his prisoners, but in an +oblique direction towards the bridge; where he evidently hoped to +intercept them. Aware of the extreme disadvantages under which he +laboured in a competition of speed with his active enemy, the unhappy +officer would have here terminated the struggle, had he not been +partially sustained by the hope that the detachment prayed for by De +Haldimar, through the friendly young chief, to whom he owed his own +liberation, might be about this time on its way to attempt their +rescue. This thought supported his faltering resolution, although +nearly exhausted with his efforts--compelled, as he was, to sustain the +motionless form of the slowly reviving Clara; and he again braced +himself to the unequal flight The moon still shone beautifully bright, +and he could now distinctly see the bridge over which he was to pass; +but notwithstanding he strained his eyes as he advanced, no vestige of +a British uniform was to be seen in the open space that lay beyond. +Once he turned to regard his pursuers. Ellen was a few yards only in +his rear; and considerably beyond her rose, in tall relief against the +heavens, the gigantic form of the warrior. The pursuit of the latter +was now conducted with a silence that terrified even more than the +yells he had previously uttered; and he gained so rapidly on his +victims, that the tread of his large feet was now distinctly audible. +Again the officer, with despair in his heart, made the most incredible +exertions to reach the bridge, without seeming to reflect that, even +when there, no security was offered him against his enemy. Once, as he +drew nearer, he fancied he saw the dark heads of human beings peering +from under that part of the arch which had afforded cover to De +Haldimar and himself oh the memorable occasion of their departure with +the Canadian; and, convinced that the warriors of Wacousta had been +sent there to lie in ambuscade and intercept his retreat, his hopes +were utterly paralysed; and although he stopped not, his flight was +rather mechanical than the fruit of any systematic plan of escape. + +He had now gained the extremity of the bridge, with Ellen Halloway and +Wacousta close in his rear, when suddenly the heads of many men were +once more distinguishable, even in the shadow of the arch that overhung +the sands of the river. Three individuals detached themselves from the +group and leaping upon the further extremity of the bridge, moved +rapidly to meet him. Meanwhile the baronet had stopped suddenly, as if +in doubt whether to advance or to recede. His suspense was but +momentary. Although the persons of these men were disguised as Indian +warriors, the broad moonlight that beamed full on their countenances, +disclosed the well-remembered features of Blessington, Erskine, and +Charles de Haldimar. The latter sprang before his companions, and, +uttering a cry of joy, sank in speechless agony on the neck of his +still unconscious sister. + +"For God's sake, free me, De Haldimar!" exclaimed the excited baronet, +disengaging his charge from the embrace of his friend. "This is no +moment for congratulation. Erskine, Blessington, see you not who is +behind me? Be upon your guard; defend your lives!" And as he spoke, he +rushed forward with feint and tottering steps to place his companions +between the unhappy girl and the danger that threatened her. + +The swords of the officers were drawn; but instead of advancing upon +the formidable being, who stood as if paralysed at this unexpected +rencontre, the two seniors contented themselves with assuming a +defensive attitude,--retiring slowly and gradually towards the other +extremity of the bridge. + +Overcome by his emotion, Charles de Haldimar had not noticed this +action of his companions, and stood apparently riveted to the spot. The +voice of Blessington calling on him by name to retire, seemed to arouse +the dormant consciousness of the unhappy maniac. She uttered a piercing +shriek, and, springing forward, sank on her knees at his feet, +exclaiming, as she forcibly detained him by his dress,-- + +"Almighty Heaven! where am I? surely that was Captain Blessington's +kind voice I heard; and you--you are Charles de Haldimar. Oh! save my +husband; plead for him with your father!----but no," she continued +wildly,--"he is dead--he is murdered! Behold these hands all covered +with his blood! Oh!----" + +"Ha! another De Haldimar!" exclaimed Wacousta, recovering his +slumbering energies, "this spot seems indeed fated for our meeting. +More than thrice have I been balked of my just revenge, but now will I +secure it. Thus, Ellen, do I avenge your husband's and my nephew's +death. My own wrongs demand another sacrifice. But, ha! where is she? +where is Clara? where is my bride?" + +Bounding over the ill-fated De Haldimar, who lay, even in death, firmly +clasped in the embrace of the wretched Ellen, the fierce man dashed +furiously forward to renew his pursuit of the fugitives. But suddenly +the extremity of the bridge was filled with a column of armed men, that +kept issuing from the arch beneath. Sensible of his danger, he sought +to make good his retreat; but when he turned for the purpose, the same +formidable array met his view at the opposite extremity; and both +parties now rapidly advanced in double quick time, evidently with a +view of closing upon and taking him prisoner. In this dilemma, his only +hope was in the assistance that might be rendered him by his warriors. +A yell, so terrific as to be distinctly heard in the fort itself, burst +from his vast chest, and rolled in prolonged echoes through the forest. +It was faintly answered from the encampment, and met by deep but +noiseless curses from the exasperated soldiery, whom the sight of their +murdered officer was momentarily working into frenzy. + +"Kill him not, for your lives!--I command you, men, kill him not!" +muttered Captain Blessington with suppressed passion, as his troops +were preparing to immolate him on their clustering bayonets. "Such a +death were, indeed, mercy to such a villain." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Wacousta in bitter scorn; "who is there of all your +accursed regiment who will dare to take him alive?" Then brandishing +his tomahawk around him, to prevent their finally closing, he dealt his +blows with such astonishing velocity, that no unguarded point was left +about his person; and more than one soldier was brought to the earth in +the course of the unequal struggle. + +"By G--d!" said Captain Erskine, "are the two best companies of the +regiment to be kept at bay by a single desperado? Shame on ye, fellows! +If his hands are too many for you, lay him by the heels." + +This ruse was practised with success. In attempting to defend himself +from the attack of those who sought to throw him down, the warrior +necessarily left his upper person exposed; when advantage was taken to +close with him and deprive him of the play of his arms. It was not, +however, without considerable difficulty, that they succeeded in +disarming and binding his hands; after which a strong cord being +fastened round his waist, he was tightly lashed to a gun, which, +contrary to the original intention of the governor, had been sent out +with the expedition. The retreat of the detachment then commenced +rapidly; but it was not without being hotly pursued by the band of +warriors the yell of Wacousta had summoned in pursuit, that they +finally gained the fort: under what feelings of sorrow for the fate of +an officer so beloved, we leave it to our readers to imagine. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The morning of the next day dawned on few who had pressed their +customary couches--on none, whose feverish pulse and bloodshot eye +failed to attest the utter sleeplessness in which the night had been +passed. Numerous groups of men were to be seep assembling after the +reveille, in various parts of the barrack square--those who had borne a +part in the recent expedition commingling with those who had not, and +recounting to the latter, with mournful look and voice, the +circumstances connected with the bereavement of their universally +lamented officer. As none, however, had seen the blow struck that +deprived him of life, although each had heard the frantic exclamations +of a voice that had been recognised for Ellen Halloway's, much of the +marvellous was necessarily mixed up with truth in their +narrative,--some positively affirming Mr. de Haldimar had not once +quitted his party, and declaring that nothing short of a supernatural +agency could have transported him unnoticed to the fatal spot, where, +in their advance, they had beheld him murdered. The singular appearance +of Ellen Halloway also, at that moment, on the very bridge on which she +had pronounced her curse on the family of De Haldimar, and in company +with the terrible and mysterious being who had borne her off in triumph +on that occasion to the forest, and under circumstances calculated to +excite the most superstitious impressions, was not without its weight +in determining their rude speculations; and all concurred in opinion, +that the death of the unfortunate young officer was a judgment on their +colonel for the little mercy he had extended to the noble-hearted +Halloway. + +Then followed allusion to their captive, whose gigantic stature and +efforts at escape, tremendous even as the latter were, were duly +exaggerated by each, with the very laudable view of claiming a +proportionate share of credit for his own individual exertions; and +many and various were the opinions expressed as to the manner of death +he should be made to suffer. Among the most conspicuous of the orators +were those with whom our readers have already made slight acquaintance +in our account of the sortie by Captain Erskine's company for the +recovery of the supposed body of Frederick de Haldimar. One was for +impaling him alive, and setting him up to rot on the platform above the +gate. Another for blowing him from the muzzle of a twenty-four pounder, +into the centre of the first band of Indians that approached the fort, +that thus perceiving they had lost the strength and sinew of their +cunning war, they might be the more easily induced to propose terms of +peace. A third was of opinion he ought to be chained to the top of the +flag-staff, as a target, to be shot at with arrows only, contriving +never to touch a mortal part. A fourth would have had him tied naked +over the sharp spikes that constituted the chevaux-de-frize garnishing +the sides of the drawbridge. Each devised some new death--proposed some +new torture; but all were of opinion, that simply to be shot, or even +to be hanged, was too merciful a punishment for the wretch who had so +wantonly and inhumanly butchered the kind-hearted, gentle-mannered +officer, whom they had almost all known and loved from his very +boyhood; and they looked forward, with mingled anxiety and vengeance, +to the moment when, summoned as it was expected he shortly would be, +before the assembled garrison, he would be made to expiate the atrocity +with his blood. + +While the men thus gave indulgence to their indignation and their +grief, their officers were even mere painfully affected. The body of +the ill-fated Charles had been borne to his apartment, where, divested +of its disguise, it had again been inducted in such apparel as was +deemed suited to the purpose. Extended on the very bed on which he lay +at the moment when she, whose maniac raving, and forcible detention, +had been the immediate cause of his destruction, had preferred her wild +but fruitless supplication for mercy, he exhibited, even in death, the +same delicate beauty that had characterised him on that occasion; yet, +with a mildness and serenity of expression on his still, pale features, +strongly in contrast with the agitation and glow of excitement that +then distinguished him. Never was human loveliness in death so marked +as in Charles de Haldimar; and but for the deep wound that, dividing +his clustering locks, had entered from the very crown of the head to +the opening of his marble brow, one ignorant of his fate might have +believed he but profoundly slept. Several women of the regiment were +occupied in those offices about the corpse, which women alone are +capable of performing at such moments, and as they did so, suffered +their tears to flow silently yet abundantly over him, who was no longer +sensible either of human grief or of human joy. Close at the head of +the bed stood an old man, with his face buried in his hands; the latter +reposing against the wainscoting of the room. He, too, wept, but his +weeping was more audible, more painful, and accompanied by suffocating +sobs. It was the humble, yet almost paternally attached servant of the +defunct--the veteran Morrison. + +Around the bed were grouped nearly all the officers, standing in +attitudes indicative of anxiety and interest, and gazing mournfully on +the placid features of their ill-fated friend. All, on entering, moved +noiselessly over the rude floor, as though fearful of disturbing the +repose of one who merely slumbered; and the same precaution was +extended to the brief but heartfelt expressions of sorrow that passed, +from one to the other, as they gazed on all that remained of the gentle +De Haldimar. At length the preparations of the women having been +completed, they retired from the room, leaving one of their number +only, rather out of respect than necessity, to remain by the corpse. +When they were departed, this woman, the wife of one of Blessington's +sergeants, and the same who had been present at the scene between Ellen +Halloway and the deceased, cut off a large lock of his beautiful hair, +and separating it into small tresses, handed one to each of the +officers. This considerate action, although unsolicited on the part of +the latter, deeply touched them, as indicating a sense of the high +estimation in which the youth bad been held. It was a tribute to the +memory of him they mourned, of the purest kind; and each, as he +received his portion, acknowledged with a mournful but approving look, +or nod, or word, the motive that bad prompted the offering. Nor was it +a source of less satisfaction, melancholy even as that satisfaction +was, to perceive that, after having set aside another lock, probably +for the sister of the deceased, she selected and consigned to the bosom +of her dress a third, evidently intended for herself. The whole scene +was in striking contrast with the almost utter absence of all +preparation or concern that had preceded the interment of Murphy, on a +former occasion. In one, the rude soldier was mourned,--in the other, +the gentle friend was lamented; nor the latter alone by the companions +to whom intimacy had endeared him, but by those humbler dependants, who +knew him only through those amiable attributes of character, which were +ever equally extended to all. Gradually the officers now moved away in +the same noiseless manner in which they had approached, either in +pursuance of their several duties, or to make their toilet of the +morning. Two only of their number remained near the couch of death. + +"Poor unfortunate De Haldimar!" observed one of these, in a low tone, +as if speaking to himself; "too fatally, indeed, have your forebodings +been realised; and what I considered as the mere despondency of a mind +crashed into feebleness by an accumulation of suffering, was, after +all, but the first presentiment of a death no human power might avert. +By Heaven! I would give up half my own being to be able to reanimate +that form once more,--but the wish is vain." + +"Who shall announce the intelligence to his sister?" sighed his +companion. "Never will that already nearly heart-broken girl be able to +survive the shock of her brother's death. Blessington, you alone are +fitted to such a task; and, painful as it is, you must undertake it. Is +the colonel apprised of the dreadful truth, do you know?" + +"He is. It was told him at the moment of our arrival last night; but +from the little outward emotion displayed by him, I should be tempted +to infer he had almost anticipated some such catastrophe." + +"Poor, poor Charles!" bitterly exclaimed Sir Everard Valletort--for it +was he. "What would I not give to recall the rude manner in which I +spurned you from me last night. But, alas! what could I do, laden with +such a trust, and pursued, without the power of defence, by such an +enemy? Little, indeed, did I imagine what was so speedily to be your +doom! Blessington," he pursued, with increased emotion, "it grieves me +to wretchedness to think that he, whom I loved as though he had been my +twin brother, should have perished with his last thoughts, perhaps, +lingering on the seeming unkindness with which I had greeted him after +so anxious an absence." + +"Nay, if there be blame, it must attach to me," sorrowfully observed +Captain Blessington. "Had Erskine and myself not retired before the +savage, as we did, our unfortunate friend would in all probability have +been alive at this very hour. But in our anxiety to draw the former +into the ambuscade we had prepared for him, we utterly overlooked that +Charles was not retreating with us." + +"How happened it," demanded Sir Everard, his attention naturally +directed to the subject by the preceding remarks, "that you lay thus in +ambuscade, when the object of the expedition, as solicited by Frederick +de Haldimar, was an attempt to reach us in the encampment of the +Indians?" + +"It certainly was under that impression we left the fort; but, on +coming to the spot where the friendly Indian lay waiting to conduct us, +he proposed the plan we subsequently adopted as the most likely, not +only to secure the escape of the prisoners, whom he pledged himself to +liberate, but to defend ourselves with advantage against Wacousta and +the immediate guard set over them, should they follow in pursuit. +Erskine approving, as well as myself, of the plan, we halted at the +bridge, and disposed of our men under each extremity; so that, if +attacked by the Indians in front, we might be enabled to throw them +into confusion by taking them in rear, as they flung themselves upon +the bridge. The event seemed to answer our expectations. The alarm +raised in the encampment satisfied us the young Indian had contrived to +fulfil his promise; and we momentarily looked for the appearance of +those whose flight we naturally supposed would be directed towards the +bridge. To our great surprise, however, we remarked that the sounds of +pursuit, instead of approaching us, seemed to take an opposite +direction, apparently towards the point whence we had seen the +prisoners disembarked in the morning. At length, when almost tempted to +regret we had not pushed boldly on, in conformity with our first +intention, we heard the shrill cries of a woman; and, not long +afterwards, the sounds of human feet rushing down the slope. What our +sensations were, you may imagine; for we all believed it to be either +Clara or Madeline de Haldimar fleeing alone, and pursued by our +ferocious enemies. To show ourselves would, we were sensible, be to +ensure the death of the pursued, before we could possibly come up; and, +although it was with difficulty we repressed the desire to rush forward +to the rescue, our better judgment prevailed. Finally we saw you +approach, followed closely by what appeared to be a mere boy of an +Indian, and, at a considerable distance, by the tall warrior of the +Fleur de lis. We imagined there was time enough for you to gain the +bridge; and finding your more formidable pursuer was only accompanied +by the youth already alluded to, conceived at that moment the design of +making him our prisoner. Still there were half a dozen muskets ready to +be levelled on him should he approach too near to his fugitives, or +manifest any other design than that of simply recapturing them. How +well our plan succeeded you are aware; but, alas!" and he glanced +sorrowfully at the corpse, "why was our success to be embittered by so +great a sacrifice?" + +"Ah, would to Heaven that he at least had been spared," sighed Sir +Everard, as he took the wan white hand of his friend in his own; "and +yet I know not: he looks so calm, so happy in death, it is almost +selfish to repine he has escaped the horrors that still await us in +this dreadful warfare. But what of Frederick and Madeline de Haldimar? +From the statement you have given, they must have been liberated by the +young Ottawa before he came to me; yet, what could have induced them to +have taken a course of flight so opposite to that which promised their +only chance of safety?" + +"Heaven only knows," returned Captain Blessington. "I fear they have +again been recaptured by the savages; in which case their doom is +scarcely doubtful; unless, indeed, our prisoner of last night be given +up in exchange for them." + +"Then will their liberty be purchased at a terrible price," remarked +the baronet. "Will you believe, Blessington, that that man, whose +enmity to our colonel seems almost devilish, was once an officer in +this very regiment?" + +"You astonish me, Valletort.--Impossible! and yet it has always been +apparent to me they were once associates." + +"I heard him relate his history only last night to Clara, whom he had +the audacity to sully with proposals to become his bride," pursued the +baronet. "His tale was a most extraordinary one. He narrated it, +however, only up to the period when the life of De Haldimar was +attempted by him at Quebec. But with his subsequent history we are all +acquainted, through the fame of his bloody atrocities in all the posts +that have fallen into the hands of Ponteac. That man, savage and even +fiendish as he now is, was once possessed of the noblest qualities. I +am sorry to say it; but Colonel de Haldimar has brought this present +affliction upon himself. At some future period I will tell you all." + +"Alas!" said Captain Blessington, "poor Charles, then, has been made to +pay the penalty of his father's errors; and, certainly, the greatest of +these was his dooming the unfortunate Halloway to death in the manner +he did." + +"What think you of the fact of Halloway being the nephew of this +extraordinary man, and both of high family?" demanded Sir Everard. + +"Indeed! and was the latter, then, aware of the connection?" + +"Not until last night," replied Sir Everard. "Some observations made by +the wretched wife of Halloway, in the course of which she named his +true name, (which was that of the warrior also,) first indicated the +fact to the latter. But, what became of that unfortunate creature?--was +she brought in?" + +"I understand not," said Captain Blessington. "In the confusion and +hurry of securing our prisoner, and the apprehension of immediate +attack from his warriors, Ellen was entirely overlooked. Some of my men +say they left her lying, insensible, on the spot whence they had raised +the body of our unfortunate friend, which they had some difficulty in +releasing from her convulsive embrace. But, hark! there is the first +drum for parade, and I have not yet exchanged my Indian garb." + +Captain Blessington now quitted the room, and Sir Everard, relieved +from the restraining presence of his companions, gave free vent to his +emotion, throwing himself upon the body of his friend, and giving +utterance to the feelings of anguish that oppressed his heart. + +He had continued some minutes in this position, when he fancied he felt +the warm tears of a human being bedewing a hand that reposed on the +neck of his unfortunate friend. He looked up, and, to his infinite +surprise, beheld Clara de Haldimar standing before him at the opposite +side of the bed. Her likeness to her brother, at that moment, was so +striking, that, for a second or two, the irrepressible thought passed +through the mind of the officer, it was not a living being he gazed +upon, but the immaterial spirit of his friend. The whole attitude and +appearance of the wretched girl, independently of the fact of her +noiseless entrance, tended to favour the delusion. Her features, of an +ashy paleness, seemed fixed, even as those of the corpse beneath him; +and, but for the tears that coursed silently down her cheek, there was +scarcely an outward evidence of emotion. Her dress was a simple white +robe, fastened round her waist with a pale blue riband; and over her +shoulders hung her redundant hair, resembling in colour, and disposed +much in the manner of that of her brother, which had been drawn +negligently down to conceal the wound on his brow. For some moments the +baronet gazed at her in speechless agony. Her tranquil exterior was +torture to him; for he, feared it betokened some alienation of reason. +He would have preferred to witness the most hysteric convulsion of +grief, rather than that traitorous calm; and yet he had not the power +to seek to remove it. + +"You are surprised to see me here, mingling my grief with yours, Sir +Everard," she at length observed, with the same calm mien, and in tones +of touching sweetness. "I came, with my father's permission, to take a +last farewell of him whose death has broken my heart. I expected to be +alone; but--Nay, do not go," she added, perceiving that the officer was +about to depart. "Had you not been here, I should have sent for you; +for we have both a sacred duty to perform. May I not ask your hand?" + +More and more dismayed at her collected manner, the young officer gazed +at her with the deepest sorrow depicted in every line of his own +countenance. He extended his hand, and Clara, to his surprise, grasped +and pressed it firmly. + +"It was the wish of this poor boy that his Clara should be the wife of +his friend, Sir Everard. Did he ever express such to you?" + +"It was the fondest desire of his heart," returned the baronet, unable +to restrain the emotion of joy that mingled, despite of himself, with +his worst apprehensions. + +"I need not ask how you received his proposal," continued Clara, with +the same calmness of manner. "Last night," she pursued solemnly, "I was +the bride of the murderer of my brother, of the lover of my +mother,--tomorrow night I may be the bride of death; but to-night I am +the bride of my brother's friend. Yes, here am I come to pledge myself +to the fulfilment of his wish. If you deem a heart-broken girl not +unworthy of you, I am your wife, Sir Everard; and, recollect, it is a +solemn pledge, that which a sister gives over the lifeless body of a +brother, beloved as this has been." + +"Oh, Clara--dearest Clara," passionately exclaimed the excited young +man, "if a life devoted to your happiness can repay you for this, count +upon it as you would upon your eternal salvation. In you will I love +both my friend and the sister he has bequeathed to me. Clara, my +betrothed wife, summon all the energies of your nature to sustain this +cruel shock; and exert yourself for him who will be to you both a +brother and a husband." + +As he spoke he drew the unresisting girl towards him, and, locking her +in his embrace, pressed, for the first time, the lips, which it had +maddened him the preceding night to see polluted by the forcible kisses +of Wacousta. But Clara shared not, but merely suffered his momentary +happiness. Her cheek wore not the crimson of excitement, neither were +her tears discontinued. She seemed as one who mechanically submitted to +what she had no power of resistance to oppose; and even in the embrace +of her affianced husband, she exhibited the same deathlike calm that +had startled him at her first appearance. Religion could not hallow a +purer feeling than that which had impelled the action of the young +officer. The very consciousness of the sacred pledge having been +exchanged over the corpse of his friend, imparted a holiness of fervour +to his mind; and even while he pressed her, whom he secretly swore to +love with all the affection of a fond brother and a husband united, he +felt that if the spirit of him, who slept unconscious of the scene, +were suffered to linger near, it would be to hallow it with approval. + +"And now," said Clara at length, yet without attempting to disengage +herself,--"now that we are united, I would be alone with my brother. My +husband, leave me." + +Deeply touched at the name of husband, Sir Everard could not refrain +from imprinting another kiss on the lips that uttered it. He then +gently disengaged himself from his lovely but suffering charge, whom he +deposited with her head resting on the bed; and making a significant +motion of his hand to the woman, who, as well as old Morrison, had been +spectators of the whole scene, stole gently from the apartment, under +what mingled emotions of joy and grief it would be difficult to +describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and men, quitting +their ill-relished meal, were to be seen issuing to the parade, where +the monotonous roll of the assemblee now summoned them. Presently the +garrison was formed in the order we have described in our first volume; +that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square. The vacant +space fronted the guard-house, near one extremity of which was to be +seen a flight of steps communicating with the rampart, where the +flag-staff was erected. Several men were employed at this staff, +passing strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended from the +extreme top, while in the basement of the staff itself, to a height of +about twenty feet, were stuck at intervals strong wooden pegs, serving +as steps to the artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when +foul, the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter had been +removed; and, from the substitution of a cord considerably stronger +than that which usually appeared there, it seemed as if some far +heavier weight was about to be appended to it. Gradually the men, +having completed their unusual preparations, quitted the rampart, and +the flagstaff, which was of tapering pine, was left totally unguarded. + +The "Attention!" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who had been +hitherto standing in attitudes of expectancy that rendered the +injunction almost superfluous, announced the approach of the governor. +Soon afterwards that officer entered the area, wearing his +characteristic dignity of manner, yet exhibiting every evidence of one +who had suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head court-martial, as +in the first case of Halloway, had already been made within the square, +and the only actor wanting in the drama was he who was to be tried. + +Once Colonel de Haldimar made an effort to command his appearance, but +the huskiness of his voice choked his utterance, and he was compelled +to pause. After the lapse of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a +voice that was remarked to falter,-- + +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth." + +The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery and execution +of this command was painful throughout the ranks. All were penetrated +with curiosity to behold a man who had several times appeared to them +under the most appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest +feeling of indignation had been excited for his barbarous murder of +Charles de Haldimar. It was with mingled awe and anger they now awaited +his approach. At length the captive was seen advancing from the cell in +which he had been confined, his gigantic form towering far above those +of the guard of grenadiers by whom he was surrounded; and with a +haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his manner, that told he came +to confront his enemy with a spirit unsubdued by the fate that too +probably awaited him. + +Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment. He was +evidently struggling for composure to meet the scene he felt it to be +impossible to avoid; and he turned pale and paler as his enemy drew +near. + +At length the prisoner stood nearly in the same spot where his +unfortunate nephew had lingered on a former occasion. He was unchained; +but his hands were firmly secured behind his back. He threw himself +into an attitude of carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the +earth with the other; riveting his eye, at the same time, with an +expression of the most daring insolence, on the governor, while his +swarthy cheek was moreover lighted up with a smile of the deepest scorn. + +"You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length observed the +governor in an uncertain tone, that, however, acquired greater firmness +as he proceeded,--"one whose life has already been forfeited through +his treasonable practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred +the penalty of an ignominious death, by acting in this country as a spy +of the enemies of England. What say you, Reginald Morton, that you +should not be convicted in the death that awaits the traitor?" + +"Ha! ha! by Heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses me," +vociferated Wacousta. "It reminds me of Ensign de Haldimar of nearly +five and twenty years back, who was then as cunning a dissembler as he +is now." Suddenly changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and +rage:--"You BELIEVE me, you say, to be Reginald Morton the outlaw. Well +do you know it. I am that Sir Reginald Morton, who became an outlaw, +not through his own crimes, but through your villainy. Ay, frown as you +may, I heed it not. You may award me death, but shall not chain my +tongue. To your whole regiment do I proclaim you for a false, +remorseless villain." Then turning his flashing eye along the +ranks:--"I was once an officer in this corps, and long before any of +you wore the accursed uniform. That man, that fiend, affected to be my +friend; and under the guise of friendship, stole into the heart I loved +better than my own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited prisoner, +stamping violently with his foot upon the earth, "he robbed me of my +affianced wife; and for that I resented an outrage that should have +banished him to some lone region, where he might never again pollute +human nature with his presence--he caused me to be tried by a +court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, indeed, I became the +outlaw he has described, but not until then. Now, Colonel de Haldimar, +that I have proclaimed your infamy, poor and inefficient as the triumph +be, do your worst--I ask no mercy. Yesterday I thought that years of +toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to be crowned +with success; but fate has turned the tables on me and I yield." + +To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this declaration was +productive of the utmost surprise. Every eye was turned upon the +colonel. He grew impatient under the scrutiny, and demanded if the +court, who meanwhile had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of +the prisoner, had come to a decision in regard to his punishment. An +affirmative answer was given, and Colonel de Haldimar proceeded. + +"Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your former life we +have nothing to do. It is the decision of this court, who are merely +met out of form, that you suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just +recompense for your double treason to your country. There," and he +pointed to the flag-staff, "will you be exhibited to the misguided +people whom your wicked artifices have stirred up into hostility +against us. When they behold your fate, they will take warning from +your example; and, finding we have heads and arms not to suffer offence +with impunity, be more readily brought to obedience." + +"I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta, glancing +earnestly at, and apparently measuring with his eye, the dimensions of +the conspicuous scaffold on which he was to suffer. "You had ever a +calculating head, De Haldimar, where any secret villainy, any thing to +promote your own selfish ends, was to be gained by it; but your +calculation seems now, methinks, at fault." + +Colonel de Haldimar looked at him enquiringly. + +"You have STILL a son left," pursued the prisoner with the same +recklessness of manner, and in a tone denoting allusion to him who was +no more, that caused an universal shudder throughout the ranks. "He is +in the hands of the Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great +chief, inferior only in power among the tribe to himself. Think you +that he will see me hanged up like a dog, and fail to avenge my +disgraceful death?" + +"Ha! presumptuous renegade, is this the deep game you have in view? +Hope you then to stipulate for the preservation of a life every way +forfeited to the offended justice of your country? Dare you to cherish +the belief, that, after the horrible threats so often denounced by you, +you will again be let loose upon a career of crime and blood?" + +"None of your cant, de Haldimar, as I once observed to you before," +coolly retorted Wacousta, with bitter sarcasm. "Consult your own heart, +and ask if its catalogue of crime be not far greater than my own: yet I +ask not my life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered, and +fain would die the death of the soldier I WAS before you rendered me +the wretch I AM. Methinks the boon is not so great, if the restoration +of your son be the price." + +"Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, "that if the mere +mode of your death be changed, my son shall be restored?" + +"I do," was the calm reply. + +"What pledge have we of the fact? What faith can we repose in the word +of a fiend, whose brutal vengeance has already sacrificed the gentlest +life that ever animated human clay?" Here the emotion of the governor +almost choked, his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring +were manifested in the ranks. + +"Gentle, said you?" replied the prisoner, musingly; "then did he +resemble his mother, whom I loved, even as his brother resembles you +whom I have had so much reason to hate. Had I known the boy to be what +you describe, I might have felt some touch of pity even while I delayed +not to strike his death blow; but the false moonlight deceived me, and +the detested name of De Haldimar, pronounced by the lips of my nephew's +wife--that wife whom your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven +mad--was in itself sufficient to ensure his doom." + +"Inhuman ruffian!" exclaimed the governor, with increasing indignation; +"to the point. What pledge have you to offer that my son will be +restored?" + +"Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without much risk. You have only +to defer my death until your messenger return from his interview with +Ponteac. If Captain de Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have +requested; if he come not, then it is but to hang me after all." + +"Ha! I understand you; this is but a pretext to gain time, a device to +enable your subtle brain to plan some mode of escape." + +"As you will, Colonel de Haldimar," calmly retorted Wacousta; and again +he sank into silence, with the air of one utterly indifferent to +results. + +"Do you mean," resumed the colonel, "that a request from yourself to +the Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation of my son?" + +"Unless the Indian be false as yourself, I do." + +"And of the lady who is with him?" continued the colonel, colouring +with anger. + +"Of both." + +"How is the message to be conveyed?" + +"Ha, sir!" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to his full +height, "now are you arrived at a point that is pertinent. My wampum +belt will be the passport, and the safeguard of him you send; then for +the communication. There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, +traced on bark, answer the same purpose among the Indians with the +European language of letters. Let my hands be cast loose," he pursued, +but in a tone in which agitation and excitement might be detected, "and +if bark be brought me, and a burnt stick or coal, I will give you not +only a sample of Indian ingenuity, but a specimen of my own progress in +Indian acquirements." + +"What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of escape?" +observed the governor, doubtingly. + +Wacousta bent his stedfast gaze on him for a few moments, as if he +questioned he had heard aright. Then bursting into a wild and scornful +laugh,--"By Heaven!" he exclaimed, "this is, indeed, a high compliment +you pay me at the expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de +Haldimar afraid to liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a forest +of bayonets? This is good; gentlemen," and he bent himself in sarcastic +reverence to the astonished troops, "I beg to offer you my very best +congratulations on the high estimation in which you are held by your +colonel." + +"Peace, sirrah!" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond measure at the +insolence of him who thus held him up to contempt before his men, "or, +by Heaven, I will have your tongue cut out!--Mr. Lawson, let what this +fellow requires be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant +Boyce, who commanded the immediate guard over the prisoner,--"Let his +hands be liberated, sir, and enjoin your men to be watchful of the +movements of this supple traitor. His activity I know of old to be +great, and he seems to have doubled it since he assumed that garb." + +The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once more, free and +unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep and unbroken silence ensued; +and the return of the adjutant was momentarily expected. Suddenly a +loud scream was heard, and the slight figure of a female, clad in +white, came rushing from the piazza in which the apartment of the +deceased De Haldimar was situated. It was Clara. The guard of Wacousta +formed the fourth front of the square; but they were drawn up somewhat +in the distance, so as to leave an open space of several feet at the +angles. Through one of these the excited girl now passed into the area, +with a wildness in her air and appearance that riveted every eye in +painful interest upon her. She paused not until she had gained the side +of the captive, at whose feet she now sank in an attitude expressive of +the most profound despair. + +"Tiger!--monster!" she raved, "restore my brother!--give me back the +gentle life you have taken, or destroy my own! See, I am a weak +defenceless girl: can you not strike?--you who have no pity for the +innocent. But come," she pursued, mournfully, regaining her feet and +grasping his iron hand,--"come and see the sweet calm face of him you +have slain:--come with me, and behold the image of Clara Beverley; and, +if you ever loved her as you say you did, let your soul be touched with +remorse for your crime." + +The excitement and confusion produced by this unexpected interruption +was great. Murmurs of compassion for the unhappy Clara, and of +indignation against the prisoner, were no longer sought to be repressed +by the men; while the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, +grouped themselves indiscriminately in the foreground. One, more +impatient than his companions, sprang forward, and forcibly drew away +the delicate, hand that still grasped that of the captive. It was Sir +Everard Valletort. + +"Clara, my beloved wife!" he exclaimed, to the astonishment of all who +heard him, "pollute not your lips by further communion with such a +wretch; his heart is as inaccessible to pity as the rugged rocks on +which his spring-life was passed. For Heaven's sake,--for my +sake,--linger not within his reach. There is death in his very +presence." + +"Your wife, sir!" haughtily observed the governor, with irrepressible +astonishment and indignation in his voice; "what mean you?--Gentlemen, +resume your places in the ranks.--Clara--Miss de Haldimar, I command +you to retire instantly to your apartment.--We will discourse of this +later, Sir Everard Valletort. I trust you have not dared to offer an +indignity to my child." + +While he was yet turned to that officer, who had taken his post, as +commanded, in the inner angle of the square, and with a countenance +that denoted the conflicting emotions of his soul, he was suddenly +startled by the confused shout and rushing forward of the whole body, +both of officers and men. Before he had time to turn, a loud and +well-remembered yell burst upon his ear. The next moment, to his +infinite surprise and horror, he beheld the bold warrior rapidly +ascending the very staff that had been destined for his scaffold, and +with Clara in his arms. + +Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and surround the +flag-staff, was the immediate action of the troops. Many of the men +raised their muskets, and in the excitement of the moment, would have +fired, had they not been restrained by their officers, who pointed out +the certain destruction it would entail on the unfortunate Clara. With +the rapidity of thought, Wacousta had snatched up his victim, while the +attention of the troops was directed to the singular conversation +passing between the governor and Sir Everard Valletort, and darting +through one of the open angles already alluded to, had gained the +rampart before they had recovered from the stupor produced by his +daring action. Stepping lightly upon the pegs, he had rapidly ascended +to the utmost height of these, before any one thought of following him; +and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have served for +his execution, and holding Clara firmly against his chest, while he +embraced the smooth staff with knees and feet closely compressed around +it, accomplished the difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all +who beheld him. Gradually, as he approached the top, the tapering pine +waved to and fro; and at each moment it was expected, that, yielding to +their united weight, it would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara +and himself, either upon the rampart, or into the ditch beyond. + +More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive in his +adventurous course; but even Lieutenant Johnstone, the most active and +experienced in climbing of the party, was unable to rise more than a +few yards above the pegs that afforded a footing, add the enterprise +was abandoned as an impossibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain +the extreme summit. For a moment he turned his gaze anxiously beyond +the town, in the direction of the bridge; and, after pealing forth one +of his terrific yells, exclaimed, exultingly, as he turned his eye upon +his enemy:-- + +"Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian ingenuity? Did +I not tell you," he continued, in mockery, "that, if my hands were but +free, I would give you a specimen of my progress in Indian +acquirements?" + +"If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that of hanging," +shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled rage and terror, "restore +my daughter." + +"Ha! ha! ha!--excellent!" vociferated the savage. "You threaten +largely, my good governor; but your threats are harmless as those of a +weak besieging army before an impregnable fortress. It is for the +strongest, however, to propose his terms.--If I restore this girl to +life, will you pledge yourself to mine?" + +"Never!" thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual energy.--"Men, +procure axes; cut the flag-staff down, since this is the only means +left of securing yon insolent traitor! Quick to your work: and mark, +who first seizes him shall have promotion on the spot." + +Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent themselves +vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to watch these preparations +with evident anxiety; and to all it appeared as if his courage had been +paralysed by this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen +reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth over the edge +of the rampart, he shouted,-- + +"One stroke more, and she perishes!" + +Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of a few moments +ensued. Every eye was turned upward,--every heart beat with terror to +see the delicate girl, held by a single arm, and apparently about to be +precipitated from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,-- + +"Life for life, De Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?" + +"No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the heart of my own +fort," returned the governor. "Restore my child, and we will then +consider what mercy may be extended to you." + +"Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as yours," gloomily +remarked the prisoner; "but I come." + +"Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a low tone. "The +instant he descends, secure him: lash him in every limb, nor suffer +even his insolent tongue to be longer at liberty." + +"Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in readiness to +lower the drawbridge," implored Sir Everard of the officer of the +guard, and in a tone of deep emotion that was not meant to be overheard +by the governor. "I fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him +to some desperate means of escape." + +While the officer whom he addressed issued a command, the +responsibility of which he fancied he might, under the peculiar +circumstances of the moment, take upon himself, Wacousta began his +descent, not as before, by adhering to the staff, but by the rope which +he held in his left hand, while he still supported the apparently +senseless Clara against his right chest with the other. + +"Now, Colonel de Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest," he shouted, +as he rapidly glided by the cord; "enjoy your triumph as best may suit +your pleasure." + +Every eye followed his movement with interest; every heart beat lighter +at the certainty of Clara being again restored, and without other +injury than the terror she must have experienced in such a scene. Each +congratulated himself on the favourable termination of the terrible +adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure the desperate +author of the wrong. Wacousta had now reached the centre of the +flag-staff. Pausing for a moment, he grappled it with his strong and +nervous feet, on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief +to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned his hold, +swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, and returning again, +dashed his feet against it with a force that caused the weakened mass +to vibrate to its very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the +violence of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top +gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it finally snapped +asunder, and fell with a loud crash across the ditch. + +"Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!" exclaimed the excited +governor. + +"Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the men already +stationed there ready to let loose at the first order. The heavy chains +rattled sullenly through the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge +seemed an hour descending. Before it had reached its level, it was +covered with the weight of many armed men rushing confusedly to the +front; and the foremost of these leaped to the earth before it had sunk +into its customary bed. Sir Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone +were in the front, both armed with their rifles, which had been brought +them before Wacousta commenced his descent. Without order or +combination, Erskine, Blessington, and nearly half of their respective +companies, followed as they could; and dispersing as they advanced, +sought only which could outstep his fellows in the pursuit. + +Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the gradual rending +asunder of the staff, had obeyed the impulsion first given to his +active form, until, suddenly checking himself by the rope, he dropped +with his feet downward into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he +disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface; and in the face +of more than fifty men, who, lining the rampart with their muskets +levelled to take him at advantage the instant he should reappear, +seemed to laugh their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a +shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must pass before they +could attain him, he impelled his gigantic form with a backward +movement towards the opposite bank, which he rapidly ascended; and, +still fronting his enemies, commenced his flight in that manner with a +speed which (considering the additional weight of the drenched garments +of both) was inconceivable. The course taken by him was not through the +town, but circuitously across the common until he arrived on that +immediate line whence, as we have before stated, the bridge was +distinctly visible from the rampart; on which, nearly the whole of the +remaining troops, in defiance of the presence of their austere chief, +were now eagerly assembled, watching, with unspeakable interest, the +progress of the chase. + +Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently continued +this mode of flight from a conviction that the instant his person was +left exposed the fire-arms of his pursuers would be brought to bear +upon him, the two officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary +exertions, were rapidly gaining upon him. Already was one within fifty +yards of him, when a loud yell was heard from the bridge. This was +fiercely answered by the fleeing man, and in a manner that implied his +glad sense of coming rescue. In the wild exultation of the moment, he +raised Clara high above his head, to show her in triumph to the +governor, whose person his keen eye could easily distinguish among +those crowded upon the rampart. In the gratified vengeance of that +hour, he seemed utterly to overlook the actions of those who were so +near him. During this brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one +knee, and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his rifle at the +heart of the ravisher of his wife. An exulting shout burst from the +pursuing troops. Wacousta bounded a few feet in air, and placing his +hand to his side, uttered another yell, more appalling than any that +had hitherto escaped him. His flight was now uncertain and wavering. He +staggered as one who had received a mortal wound; and discontinuing his +unequal mode of retreat, turned his back upon his pursuers, and threw +all his remaining energies into a final effort at escape. + +Inspirited by the success of his shot, and expecting momentarily to see +him fall weakened with the loss of blood, the excited Valletort +redoubled his exertions. To his infinite joy, he found that the efforts +of the fugitive became feebler at each moment Johnstone was about +twenty paces behind him, and the pursuing party at about the same +distance from Johnstone. The baronet had now reached his enemy, and +already was the butt of his rifle raised with both hands with murderous +intent, when suddenly Wacousta, every feature distorted with rage and +pain, turned like a wounded lion at bay, and eluding the blow, +deposited the unconscious form of his victim upon the sward. Springing +upon his infinitely weaker pursuer, he grappled him furiously by the +throat, exclaiming through his clenched teeth:-- + +"Nay then, since you will provoke your fate--be it so. Die like a dog, +and be d--d, for having balked me--of my just revenge!" + +As he spoke, he hurled the gasping officer to the earth with a violence +that betrayed the dreadful excitement of his soul, and again hastened +to assure himself of his prize. + +Meanwhile, Lieutenant Johnstone had come up, and, seeing his companion +struggling as he presumed, with advantage, with his severely wounded +enemy, made it his first care to secure the unhappy girl; for whose +recovery the pursuit had been principally instituted. Quitting his +rifle, he now essayed to raise her in his arms. She was without life or +consciousness, and the impression on his mind was that she was dead. + +While in the act of raising her, the terrible Wacousta stood at his +side, his vast chest heaving forth a laugh of mingled rage and +contempt. Before the officer could extricate, with a view of defending +himself, his arms were pinioned as though in a vice; and ere he could +recover from his surprise, he felt himself lifted up and thrown to a +considerable distance. When he opened his eyes a moment afterwards, he +was lying amid the moving feet of his own men. + +From the instant of the closing of the unfortunate Valletort with his +enemy, the Indians, hastening to the assistance of their chief, had +come up, and a desultory fire had already commenced, diverting, in a +great degree, the attention of the troops from the pursued. Emboldened +by this new aspect of things Wacousta now deliberately grasped the +rifle that had been abandoned by Johnstone; and raising it to his +shoulder, fired among the group collected on the ramparts. For a moment +he watched the result of his shot, and then, pealing forth another +fierce yell, he hurled the now useless weapon into the very heart of +his pursuers; and again raising Clara in his arms, once more commenced +his retreat, which, under cover of the fire of his party, was easily +effected. + +"Who has fallen?" demanded the governor of his adjutant, perceiving +that some one had been hit at his side, yet without taking his eyes off +his terrible enemy. + +"Mr. Delme, sir," was the reply. "He has been shot through the heart, +and his men are bearing him from the rampart." + +"This must not be," resumed the governor with energy. "Private feelings +must no longer be studied at the expense of the public good. That +pursuit is hopeless; and already too many of my officers have fallen. +Desire the retreat to be sounded, Mr. Lawson. Captain Wentworth, let +one or two covering guns be brought to bear upon the savages. They are +gradually increasing hi numbers; and if we delay, the party will be +wholly cut off." + +In issuing these orders, Colonel de Haldimar evinced a composedness +that astonished all who heard him. But although his voice was calm, +despair was upon his brow. Still he continued to gaze fixedly on the +retreating form of his enemy, until he finally disappeared behind the +orchard of the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. + +Obeying the summons from the fort, the troops without now commenced +their retreat, bearing off the bodies of their fallen officers and +several of their comrades who had fallen by the Indian fire. There was +a show of harassing them on their return; but they were too near the +fort to apprehend much danger. Two or three well-directed discharges of +artillery effectually checked the onward progress of the savages; and, +in the course of a minute, they had again wholly disappeared. + +In gloomy silence, and with anger and disappointment in their hearts, +the detachment now re-entered the fort. Johnstone was only severely +bruised; Sir Everard Valletort not dead. Both were conveyed to the same +room, where they were instantly attended by the surgeon, who pronounced +the situation of the latter hopeless. + +Major Blackwater, Captains Blessington and Erskine, Lieutenants Leslie +and Boyce, and Ensigns Fortescue and Summers, were now the only +regimental officers that remained of thirteen originally comprising the +strength of the garrison. The whole of these stood grouped around their +colonel, who seemed transfixed to the spot he had first occupied on the +rampart, with his arms folded, and his gaze bent in the direction in +which he had lost sight of Wacousta and his child. + +Hitherto the morning had been cold and cheerless, and objects in the +far distance were but indistinctly seen through a humid atmosphere. At +about half an hour before mid-day the air became more rarified, and, +the murky clouds gradually disappearing, left the blue autumnal sky +without spot or blemish. Presently, as the bells of the fort struck +twelve, a yell as of a legion of devils rent the air; and, riveting +their gaze in that direction, all beheld the bridge, hitherto deserted, +suddenly covered with a multitude of savages, among whom were several +individuals attired in the European garb, and evidently prisoners. Each +officer had a telescope raised to his eye, and each prepared himself, +shudderingly, for some horrid consummation. Presently the bridge was +cleared of all but a double line of what appeared to be women, armed +with war-clubs and tomahawks. Along the line were now seen to pass, in +slow succession, the prisoners that had previously been observed. At +each step they took (and it was evident they had been compelled to run +the gauntlet), a blow was inflicted by some one or other of the line, +until the wretched victims were successively despatched. A loud yell +from the warriors, who, although hidden from view by the intervening +orchards, were evidently merely spectators in the bloody drama, +announced each death. These yells were repeated, at intervals, to about +the number of thirty, when, suddenly, the bridge was again deserted as +before. + +After the lapse of a minute, the tall figure of a warrior was seen to +advance, holding a female in his arms. No one could mistake, even at +that distance, the gigantic proportions of Wacousta,--as he stood in +the extreme centre of the bridge, in imposing relief against the flood +that glittered like a sea of glass beyond. From his chest there now +burst a single yell; but, although audible, it was fainter than any +remembered ever to have been heard from him by the garrison. He then +advanced to the extreme edge of the bridge; and, raising the form of +the female far above his head with his left hand, seemed to wave her in +vengeful triumph. A second warrior was seen upon the bridge, and +stealing cautiously to the same point. The right hand of the first +warrior was now raised and brandished in air; in the next instant it +descended upon the breast of the female, who fell from his arms into +the ravine beneath. Yells of triumph from the Indians, and shouts of +execration from the soldiers, mingled faintly together. At that moment +the arm of the second warrior was raised, and a blade was seen to +glitter in the sunshine. His arm descended, and Wacousta was observed +to stagger forward and fall heavily into the abyss into which his +victim had the instant before been precipitated. Another loud yell, but +of disappointment and anger, was heard drowning that of exultation +pealed by the triumphant warrior, who, darting to the open extremity of +the bridge, directed his flight along the margin of the river, where a +light canoe was ready to receive him. Into this he sprang, and, seizing +the paddle, sent the waters foaming from its sides; and, pursuing his +way across the river, had nearly gained the shores of Canada before a +bark was to be seen following in pursuit. + +How felt--how acted Colonel de Haldimar throughout this brief but +terrible scene? He uttered not a word. With his arms still folded +across his breast, he gazed upon the murder of his child; but he heaved +not a groan, he shed not a tear. A momentary triumph seemed to, +irradiate his pallid features, when he saw the blow struck that +annihilated his enemy; but it was again instantly shaded by an +expression of the most profound despair. + +"It is done, gentlemen," he at length remarked. "The tragedy is closed, +the curse of Ellen Halloway is fulfilled, and I +am--childless!--Blackwater," he pursued, endeavouring to stifle the +emotion produced by the last reflection, "pay every attention to the +security of the garrison, see that the drawbridge is again properly +chained up, and direct that the duties of the troops be prosecuted in +every way as heretofore." + +Leaving his officers to wonder at and pity that apathy of mind that +could mingle the mere forms of duty with the most heart-rending +associations, Colonel de Haldimar now quitted the rampart; and, with a +head that was remarked for the first time to droop over his chest, +paced his way musingly to his apartments. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Night had long since drawn her circling mantle over the western +hemisphere; and deeper, far deeper than the gloom of that night was the +despair which filled every bosom of the devoted garrison, whose +fortunes it has fallen to our lot to record. A silence, profound as +that of death, pervaded the ramparts and exterior defences of the +fortress, interrupted only, at long intervals, by the customary "All's +well!" of the several sentinels; which, after the awful events of the +day, seemed to many who now heard it as if uttered in mockery of their +hopelessness of sorrow. The lights within the barracks of the men had +been long since extinguished; and, consigned to a mere repose of limb, +in which the eye and heart shared not, the inferior soldiery pressed +their rude couches with spirits worn out by a succession of painful +excitements, and frames debilitated, by much abstinence and watching. +It was an hour at which sleep was wont to afford them the blessing of a +temporary forgetfulness of endurances that weighed the more heavily as +they were believed to be endless and without fruit; but sleep had now +apparently been banished from all; for the low and confused murmur that +met the ear from the several block-houses was continuous and general, +betraying at times, and in a louder key, words that bore reference to +the tragic occurrences of the day. + +The only lights visible in the fort proceeded from the guard-house and +a room adjoining that of the ill-fated Charles de Haldimar. Within the +latter were collected, with the exception of the governor, and grouped +around a bed on which lay one of their companions in a nearly expiring +state, the officers of the garrison, reduced nearly one third in number +since we first offered them to the notice of our readers. The dying man +was Sir Everard Valletort, who, supported by pillows, was concluding a +narrative that had chained the earnest attention of his auditory, even +amid the deep and heartfelt sympathy perceptible in each for the +forlorn and hopeless condition of the narrator. At the side of the +unhappy baronet, and enveloped in a dressing gown, as if recently out +of bed, sat, reclining in a rude elbow chair, one whose pallid +countenance denoted, that, although far less seriously injured, he, +too, had suffered severely:--it was Lieutenant Johnstone. + +The narrative was at length closed; and the officer, exhausted by the +effort he had made in his anxiety to communicate every particular to +his attentive and surprised companions, had sunk back upon his pillow, +when, suddenly, the loud and unusual "Who comes there?" of the sentinel +stationed on the rampart above the gateway, arrested every ear. A +moment of pause succeeded, when again was heard the "Stand, friend!" +evidently given in reply to the familiar answer to the original +challenge. Then were audible rapid movements in the guard-house, as of +men aroused from temporary slumber, and hastening to the point whence +the voice proceeded. + +Silently yet hurriedly the officers now quitted the bedside of the +dying man, leaving only the surgeon and the invalid Johnstone behind +them; and, flying to the rampart, stood in the next minute confounded +with the guard, who were already grouped round the challenging +sentinel, bending their gaze eagerly in the direction of the road. + +"What now, man?--whom have you challenged?" asked Major Blackwater. + +"It is I--De Haldimar," hoarsely exclaimed one of four dark figures +that, hitherto, unnoticed by the officers, stood immediately beyond the +ditch, with a burden deposited at their feet. "Quick, Blackwater, let +us in for God's sake! Each succeeding minute may bring a scouting party +on our track. Lower the drawbridge!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed the major: "after all that has passed, it is +more than my commission is worth to lower the bridge without +permission. Mr. Lawson, quick to the governor, and report that Captain +de Haldimar is here: with whom shall he say?" again addressing the +impatient and almost indignant officer. + +"With Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and one to whom we all +owe our lives," hurriedly returned the officer; "and you may add," he +continued gloomily, "the corpse of my sister. But while we stand in +parley here, we are lost: Lawson, fly to my father, and tell him we +wait for entrance." + +With nearly the speed enjoined the adjutant departed. Scarcely a minute +elapsed when he again stood upon the rampart, and advancing closely to +the major, whispered a few words in his ear. + +"Good God! can it be possible? When? How came this? but we will enquire +later. Open the gate; down with the bridge, Leslie," addressing the +officer of the guard. + +The command was instantly obeyed. The officers flew to receive the +fugitives; and as the latter crossed the drawbridge, the light of a +lantern, that had been brought from the guard-room, flashed full upon +the harassed countenances of Captain and Miss de Haldimar, Francois the +Canadian, and the devoted Oucanasta. + +Silent and melancholy was the greeting that took place between the +parties: the voice spoke not; the hand alone was eloquent; but it was +in the eloquence of sorrow only that it indulged. Pleasure, even in +this almost despaired of re-union, could not be expressed; and even the +eye shrank from mutual encounter, as if its very glance at such a +moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a sense of her situation by the +preparation of the men to raise the bridge, the Indian woman was the +first to break the silence. + +"The Saganaw is safe within his fort, and the girl of the pale faces +will lay her head upon his bosom," she remarked solemnly. "Oucanasta +will go to her solitary wigwam among the red skins." + +The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the weight of many +griefs; yet she could not see the generous preserver of her life, and +the rescuer of the body of her ill-fated cousin, depart without +emotion. Drawing a ring, of some value and great beauty, from her +finger, which she had more than once observed the Indian to admire, she +placed it on her hand; and then, throwing herself on the bosom of the +faithful creature, embraced her with deep manifestations of affection, +but without uttering a word. + +Oucanasta was sensibly gratified: she raised her large eyes to heaven +as if in thankfulness; and by the light of the lantern, which fell upon +her dark but expressive countenance, tears were to be seen starting +unbidden from their source. + +Released from the embrace of her, whose life she had twice preserved at +imminent peril to her own, the Indian again prepared to depart; but +there was another, who, like Madeline, although stricken by many +sorrows, could not forego the testimony of his heart's gratitude. +Captain de Haldimar, who, during this short scene, had despatched a +messenger to his room for the purpose, now advanced to the poor girl, +bearing a short but elegantly mounted dagger, which he begged her to +deliver as a token of his friendship to the young chief her brother. He +then dropped on one knee at her feet, and raising her hand, pressed it +fervently against his heart; an action which, even to the untutored +mind of the Indian, bore evidence only of the feeling that prompted it, +A heavy sigh escaped her labouring chest; and as the officer now rose +and quitted her hand, she turned slowly and with dignity from him, and +crossing the drawbridge, was in a few minutes lost in the surrounding +gloom. + +Our readers have, doubtless, anticipated the communication made to +Major Blackwater by the Adjutant Lawson. Bowed down to the dust by the +accomplishment of the curse of Ellen Halloway, the inflexibility of +Colonel de Haldimar's pride was not proof against the utter +annihilation wrought to his hopes as a father by the unrelenting hatred +of the enemy his early falsehood and treachery had raised up to him. +When the adjutant entered his apartment, the stony coldness of his +cheek attested he had been dead some hours. + +We pass over the few days of bitter trial that succeeded to the +restoration of Captain de Haldimar and his bride to their friends; +days, during which were consigned to the same grave the bodies of the +governor, his lamented children, and the scarcely less regretted Sir +Everard Valletort. The funeral service was attempted by Captain +Blessington; but the strong affection of that excellent officer, for +three of the defunct parties at least, was not armed against the trial. +He had undertaken a task far beyond his strength; and scarcely had +commenced, ere he was compelled to relinquish the performance of the +ritual to the adjutant. A large grave had been dug close under the +rampart, and near the fatal flag-staff, to receive the bodies of their +deceased friends; and, as they were lowered successively into their +last earthly resting place, tears fell unrestrainedly over the bronzed +cheeks of the oldest soldiers, while many a female sob blended with and +gave touching solemnity to the scene. + +On the morning of the third day from this quadruple interment, notice +was given by one of the sentinels that an Indian was approaching the +fort, making signs as if in demand for a parley. The officers, headed +by Major Blackwater, now become the commandant of the place, +immediately ascended the rampart, when the stranger was at once +recognised by Captain de Haldimar for the young Ottawa, the preserver +of his life, and the avenger of the deaths of those they mourned, in +whose girdle was thrust, in seeming pride, the richly mounted dagger +that officer had caused to be conveyed to him through his no less +generous sister. A long conference ensued, in the language of the +Ottawas, between the parties just named, the purport of which was of +high moment to the garrison, now nearly reduced to the last extremity. +The young chief had come to apprise them, that, won by the noble +conduct of the English, on a late occasion, when his warriors were +wholly in their power, Ponteac had expressed a generous determination +to conclude a peace with the garrison, and henceforth to consider them +as his friends. This he had publicly declared in a large council of the +chiefs, held the preceding night; and the motive of the Ottawa's coming +was, to assure the English, that, on this occasion, their great leader +was perfectly sincere in a resolution, at which he had the more readily +arrived, now that his terrible coadjutor and vindictive adviser was no +more. He prepared them for the coming of Ponteac and the principal +chiefs of the league to demand a council on the morrow; and, with this +final communication, again withdrew. + +The Ottawa was right Within a week from that period the English were to +be seen once more issuing from their fort; and, although many months +elapsed before the wounds of their suffering hearts were healed, still +were they grateful to Providence for their final preservation from a +doom that had fallen, without exception, on every fortress on the line +of frontier in which they lay. + +Time rolled on; and, in the course of years, Oucanasta might be seen +associating with and bearing curious presents, the fruits of Indian +ingenuity, to the daughters of De Haldimar, now become the colonel of +the ---- regiment; while her brother, the chief, instructed his sons in +the athletic and active exercises peculiar to his race. As for poor +Ellen Halloway, search had been made for her, but she never was heard +of afterwards. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac +Conspiracy (Complete), by John Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 4912.txt or 4912.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/1/4912/ + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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These were nine in number, and the +following stratagem was resorted to by the artful chief +to effect their reduction. Investing one fort with his +warriors, so as to cut off all communication with the +others, and to leave no hope of succor, his practice was +to offer terms of surrender, which never were kept in +the honorable spirit in which the far more noble and +generous Tecumseh always acted with his enemies, and +thus, in turn, seven of these outposts fell victims to +their confidence in his truth. + +Detroit and Michilimaclcinac, or Mackinaw as it is now +called, remained, and all the ingenuity of the chieftain +was directed to the possession of these strongholds. The +following plan, well worthy of his invention, was at +length determined upon. During a temporary truce, and +while Ponteac was holding forth proposals for an ultimate +and durable peace, a game of lacrosse was arranged by +him to take place simultaneously on the common or clearing +on which rested the forts of Michilimackinac and Detroit. +The better to accomplish their object, the guns of the +warriors had been cut short and given to their women, +who were instructed to conceal them under their blankets, +and during the game, and seemingly without design, to +approach the drawbridge of the fort. This precaution +taken, the players were to approach and throw over their +ball, permission to regain which they presumed would not +be denied. On approaching the drawbridge they were with +fierce yells to make a general rush, and, securing the +arms concealed by the women, to massacre the unprepared +garrison. + +The day was fixed; the game commenced, and was proceeded +with in the manner previously arranged. The ball was +dexterously hurled into the fort, and permission asked +to recover it. It was granted. The drawbridge was lowered, +and the Indians dashed forward for the accomplishment of +their work of blood. How different the results in the +two garrisons! At Detroit, Ponteac and his warriors had +scarcely crossed the drawbridge when, to their astonishment +and disappointment, they beheld the guns of the ramparts +depressed--the artillerymen with lighted matches at their +posts and covering the little garrison, composed of a +few companies of the 42nd Highlanders, who were also +under arms, and so distributed as to take the enemy most +at an advantage. Suddenly they withdrew and without other +indication of their purpose than what had been expressed +in their manner, and carried off the missing ball. Their +design had been discovered and made known by means of +significant warnings to the Governor by an Indian woman +who owed a debt of gratitude to his family, and was +resolved, at all hazards, to save them. + +On the same day the same artifice was resorted to at +Michilimackinac, and with the most complete success. +There was no guardian angel there to warn them of danger, +and all fell beneath the rifle, the tomahawk, the war-club, +and the knife, one or two of the traders--a Mr. Henry +among the rest--alone excepted. + +It was not long after this event when the head of the +military authorities in the Colony, apprised of the fate +of these captured posts, and made acquainted with the +perilous condition of Fort Detroit, which was then reduced +to the last extremity, sought an officer who would +volunteer the charge of supplies from Albany to Buffalo, +and thence across the lake to Detroit, which, if possible, +he was to relieve. That volunteer was promptly found in +my maternal grandfather, Mr. Erskine, from Strabane, in +the North of Ireland, then an officer in the Commissariat +Department. The difficulty of the undertaking will be +obvious to those who understand the danger attending a +journey through the Western wilderness, beset as it was +by the warriors of Ponteac, ever on the lookout to prevent +succor to the garrison, and yet the duty was successfully +accomplished. He left Albany with provisions and ammunition +sufficient to fill several Schnectady boats--I think +seven--and yet conducted his charge with such prudence +and foresight, that notwithstanding the vigilance of +Ponteac, he finally and after long watching succeeded, +under cover of a dark and stormy night, in throwing into +the fort. the supplies of which the remnant of the gallant +"Black Watch," as the 42nd was originally named, and a +company of whom, while out reconnoitering, had been +massacred at a spot in the vicinity of the town, thereafter +called the Bloody Run, stood so greatly in need. This +important service rendered, Mr. Erskine, in compliance +with the instructions he had received, returned to Albany, +where he reported the success of the expedition. + +The colonial authorities were not regardless of his +interests. When the Ponteac confederacy had been dissolved, +and quiet and security restored in that remote region, +large tracts of land were granted to Mr. Erskine, and +other privileges accorded which eventually gave him the +command of nearly a hundred thousand dollars--enormous +sum to have been realized at that early period of the +country. But it was not destined that he should retain +this. The great bulk of his capital was expended on almost +the first commercial shipping that ever skimmed the +surface of Lakes Huron and Erie. Shortly prior to the +Revolution, he was possessed of seven vessels of different +tonnage, and the trade in which he had embarked, and of +which he was the head, was rapidly increasing his already +large fortune, when one of those autumnal hurricanes, +which even to this day continue to desolate the waters +of the treacherous lake last named, suddenly arose and +buried beneath its engulfing waves not less than six of +these schooners laden with such riches, chiefly furs, of +the West as then were most an object of barter. + +Mr. Erskine, who had married the daughter of one of the +earliest settlers from France, and of a family well known +in history, a lady who had been in Detroit during the +siege of the British garrison by Ponteac, now abandoned +speculation, and contenting himself with the remnant of +his fortune, established himself near the banks of the +river, within a short distance of the Bloody Run. Here +he continued throughout the Revolution. Early, however, +in the present century, he quitted Detroit and repaired +to the Canadian shore, where on a property nearly opposite, +which he obtained in exchange, and which in honor of his +native country he named Strabane--known as such to this +day--he passed the autumn of his days. The last time I +beheld him was a day or two subsequent to the affair of +the Thames, when General Harrison and Colonel Johnson +were temporary inmates of his dwelling. + +My father, of a younger branch of the Annandale family, +the head of which was attainted in the Scottish rebellion +of 1745, was an officer of Simcoe's well-known Rangers, +in which regiment, and about the same period, the present +Lord Hardinge commenced his services in this country. +Being quartered at Fort Erie, he met and married at the +house of one of the earliest Canadian merchants a daughter +of Mr. Erskine, then on a visit to her sister, and by +her had eight children, of whom I am the oldest and only +survivor. Having a few years after his marriage been +ordered to St. Joseph's, near Michilimackinac, my father +thought it expedient to leave me with Mr. Erskine at +Detroit, where I received the first rudiments of my +education. But here I did not remain long, for it was +during the period of the stay of the detachment of Simcoe's +Rangers at St. Joseph that Mr. Erskine repaired with his +family to the Canadian shore, where on the more elevated +and conspicuous part of his grounds which are situated +nearly opposite the foot of Hog Island, so repeatedly +alluded to in "Wacousta," he had caused a flag-staff to +be erected, from which each Sabbath day proudly floated +the colors under which he had served, and which he never +could bring himself to disown. + +It was at Strabane that the old lady, with whom I was a +great favorite, used to enchain my young interest by +detailing various facts connected with the seige she so +well remembered, and infused into me a longing to grow +up to manhood that I might write a book about it. The +details of the Ponteac plan for the capture of the two +forts were what she most enlarged upon, and although a +long lapse of years of absence from the scene, and ten +thousand incidents of a higher and more immediate importance +might have been supposed to weaken the recollections of +so early a period of life, the impression has ever vividly +remained. Hence the first appearance of "Wacousta" in +London in 1832, more than a quarter of a century later. +The story is founded solely on the artifice of Ponteac +to possess himself of those two last British forts. All +else is imaginary. + +It is not a little curious that I, only a few years +subsequent to the narration by old Mrs. Erskine of the +daring and cunning feats of Ponteac, and his vain attempt +to secure the fort of Detroit, should myself have entered +it in arms. But it was so. I had ever hated school with +a most bitter hatred, and I gladly availed myself of an +offer from General Brock to obtain for me a commission +in the King's service. Meanwhile I did duty as a cadet +with the gallant 41st regiment, to which the English +edition of "Wacousta" was inscribed, and was one of the +guard of honor who took possession of the fort. The duty +of a sentinel over the British colors, which had just +been hoisted was assigned to me, and I certainly felt +not a little proud of the distinction. + +Five times within half a century had the flag of that +fortress been changed. First the lily of France, then +the red cross of England, and next the stars and stripes +of America had floated over its ramparts; and then again +the red cross, and lastly the stars. On my return to this +country a few years since, I visited those scenes of +stirring excitement in which my boyhood had been passed, +but I looked in vain for the ancient fortifications which +had given a classical interest to that region. The +unsparing hand of utilitarianism had passed over them, +destroying almost every vestige of the past. Where had +risen the only fortress in America at all worthy to give +antiquity to the scene, streets had been laid out and +made, and houses had been built, leaving not a trace of +its existence save the well that formerly supplied the +closely beseiged garrison with water; and this, half +imbedded in the herbage of an enclosure of a dwelling +house of mean appearance, was rather to be guessed at +than seen; while at the opposite extremity of the city, +where had been conspicuous for years the Bloody Run, +cultivation and improvement had nearly obliterated every +trace of the past. + +Two objections have been urged against "Wacousta" as a +consistent tale--the one as involving an improbability, +the other a geographical error. It has been assumed that +the startling feat accomplished by that man of deep +revenge, who is not alone in his bitter hatred and contempt +for the base among those who, like spaniels, crawl and +kiss the dust at the instigation of their superiors, and +yet arrogate to themselves a claim to be considered +gentlemen and men of honor and independence--it has, I +repeat, been assumed that the feat attributed to him in +connection with the flag-staff of the fort was impossible. +No one who has ever seen these erections on the small +forts of that day would pronounce the same criticism. +Never very lofty, they were ascended at least one-third +of their height by means of small projections nailed to +them for footholds for the artillerymen, frequently +compelled to clear the flag lines entangled at the truck; +therefore a strong and active man, such as Wacousta is +described to have been, might very well have been supposed, +in his strong anxiety for revenge and escape with his +victim, to have doubled his strength and activity on so +important an occasion, rendering that easy of attainment +by himself which an ordinary and unexcited man might deem +impossible. I myself have knocked down a gate, almost +without feeling the resistance, in order to escape the +stilettos of assassins. + +The second objection is to the narrowness attributed in +the tale to the river St. Clair. This was done in the +license usually accorded to a writer of fiction, in order +to give greater effect to the scene represented as having +occurred there, and, of course, in no way intended as a +geographical description of the river, nor was it necessary. +In the same spirit and for the same purpose it has been +continued. + +It will be seen that at the termination of the tragedy +enacted at the bridge, by which the Bloody Run was in +those days crossed, that the wretched wife of the condemned +soldier pronounced a curse that could not, of course, +well be fulfilled in the course of the tale. Some few +years ago I published in Canada--I might as well have +done so in Kamschatka--the continuation, which was to +have been dedicated to the last King of England, but +which, after the death of that monarch, was inscribed to +Sir John Harvey, whose letter, as making honorable mention +of a gallant and beloved brother, I feel it a duty to +the memory of the latter to subjoin. + + GOVERNMENT HOUSE, FREDERICTON, N.B., + + Major Richardson, Montreal. + + November 26th, 1839. + + "Dear Sir;--I am favored with your very interesting + communication of the 2nd instant, by which I learn + that you are the brother of two youths whose gallantry + and merits--and with regard to one of them, his + suferings--during the late war, excited my warmest + admiration and sympathy. I beg you to believe that I + am far from insensible to the affecting proofs which + you have made known to me of this grateful recollection + of any little service I may have had it in my power + to render them; and I will add that the desire which + I felt to serve the father will be found to extend + itself to the son, if your nephew should ever find + himself under circumstances to require from me any + service which it may be within my power to render him." + + "With regard to your very flattering proposition to + inscribe your present work to me, I can only say that, + independent of the respect to which the author of so + very charming a production as 'Wacousta' is entitled, + the interesting facts and circumstances so unexpectedly + brought to my knowledge and recollection would ensure + a ready acquiescence on my part." + + "I remain, dear sir your very faithful servant" + + "(Signed) J. HARVEY. " + +The "Prophecy Fulfilled," which, however, has never been +seen out of the small country in which it appeared--Detroit, +perhaps, alone excepted--embraces and indeed is intimately +connected with the Beauchamp tragedy, which took place +at or near Weisiger's Hotel, in Frankfort, Kentucky, +where I had been many years before confined as a prisoner +of war. While connecting it with the "Prophecy Fulfilled," +and making it subservient to the end I had in view, I +had not read or even heard of the existence of a work of +the same character, which had already appeared from the +pen of an American author. Indeed, I have reason to +believe that the "Prophecy Fulfilled," although not +published until after a lapse of years, was the first +written. No similarity of treatment of the subject exists +between the two versions, and this, be it remembered, I +remark without in the slightest degree impugning the +merit of the production of my fellow-laborer in the same +field. + +THE AUTHOR. + +New York City, January 1st, 1851. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + +As we are about to introduce our readers to scenes with +which the European is little familiarised, some few +cursory remarks, illustrative of the general features of +the country into which we have shifted our labours, may +not be deemed misplaced at the opening of this volume. + +Without entering into minute geographical detail, it may +be necessary merely to point out the outline of such +portions of the vast continent of America as still +acknowledge allegiance to the English crown, in order +that the reader, understanding the localities, may enter +with deeper interest into the incidents of a tale connected +with a ground hitherto untouched by the wand of the modern +novelist. + +All who have ever taken the trouble to inform themselves +of the features of a country so little interesting to +the majority of Englishmen in their individual character +must be aware,--and for the information of those who are +not, we state,--that that portion of the northern continent +of America which is known as the United States is divided +from the Canadas by a continuous chain of lakes and +rivers, commencing at the ocean into which they empty +themselves, and extending in a north-western direction +to the remotest parts of these wild regions, which have +never yet been pressed by other footsteps than those of +the native hunters of the soil. First we have the +magnificent St. Lawrence, fed from the lesser and tributary +streams, rolling her sweet and silver waters into the +foggy seas of the Newfoundland.--But perhaps it will +better tend to impress our readers with a panoramic +picture of the country in which our scene of action is +more immediately laid, by commencing at those extreme +and remote points of our Canadian possessions to which +their attention will be especially directed in the course +of our narrative. + +The most distant of the north-western settlements of +America is Michilimackinac, a name given by the Indians, +and preserved by the Americans, who possess the fort even +to this hour. It is situated at the head of the Lakes +Michigan and Huron, and adjacent to the Island of St. +Joseph's, where, since the existence of the United States +as an independent republic, an English garrison has been +maintained, with a view of keeping the original fortress +in check. From the lakes above mentioned we descend into +the River Sinclair, which, in turn, disembogues itself +into the lake of the same name. This again renders tribute +to the Detroit, a broad majestic river, not less than a +mile in breadth at its source, and progressively widening +towards its mouth until it is finally lost in the beautiful +Lake Erie, computed at about one hundred and sixty miles +in circumference. From the embouchure of this latter lake +commences the Chippawa, better known in Europe from the +celebrity of its stupendous falls of Niagara, which form +an impassable barrier to the seaman, and, for a short +space, sever the otherwise uninterrupted chain connecting +the remote fortresses we have described with the Atlantic. +At a distance of a few miles from the falls, the Chippawa +finally empties itself into the Ontario, the most splendid +of the gorgeous American lakes, on the bright bosom of +which, during the late war, frigates, seventy-fours, and +even a ship of one hundred and twelve guns, manned by a +crew of one thousand men, reflected the proud pennants +of England! At the opposite extremity of this magnificent +and sea-like lake, which is upwards of two hundred miles +in circumference, the far-famed St. Lawrence takes her +source; and after passing through a vast tract of country, +whose elevated banks bear every trace of fertility and +cultivation, connects itself with the Lake Champlain, +celebrated, as well as Erie, for a signal defeat of our +flotilla during the late contest with the Americans. +Pushing her bold waters through this somewhat inferior +lake, the St. Lawrence pursues her course seaward with +impetuosity, until arrested near La Chine by rock-studded +shallows, which produce those strong currents and eddies, +the dangers of which are so beautifully expressed in the +Canadian Boat Song,--a composition that has rendered the +"rapids" almost as familiar to the imagination of the +European as the falls of Niagara themselves. Beyond La +Chine the St. Lawrence gradually unfolds herself into +greater majesty and expanse, and rolling past the busy +commercial town of Montreal, is once more increased in +volume by the insignificant lake of St. Peter's, nearly +opposite to the settlement of Three Rivers, midway between +Montreal and Quebec. From thence she pursues her course +unfed, except by a few inferior streams, and gradually +widens as she rolls past the capital of the Canadas, +whose tall and precipitous battlements, bristled with +cannon, and frowning defiance from the clouds in which +they appear half imbedded, might be taken by the imaginative +enthusiast for the strong tower of the Spirit of those +stupendous scenes. From this point the St. Lawrence +increases in expanse, until, at length, after traversing +a country where the traces of civilisation become gradually +less and less visible, she finally merges in the gulf, +from the centre of which the shores on either hand are +often invisible to the naked eye; and in this manner is +it imperceptibly lost in that misty ocean, so dangerous +to mariners from its deceptive and almost perpetual fogs. + +In following the links of this extensive chain of lakes +and rivers, it must be borne in recollection, that, +proceeding seaward from Michilimackinac and its contiguous +district, all that tract of country which lies to the +right constitutes what is now known as the United States +of America, and all on the left the two provinces of +Upper and Lower Canada, tributary to the English government, +subject to the English laws, and garrisoned by English +troops. The several forts and harbours established along +the left bank of the St. Lawrence, and throughout that +portion of our possessions which is known as Lower Canada, +are necessarily, from the improved condition and more +numerous population of that province, on a larger scale +and of better appointment; but in Upper Canada, where +the traces of civilisation are less evident throughout, +and become gradually more faint as we advance westward, +the fortresses and harbours bear the same proportion In +strength and extent to the scantiness of the population +they are erected to protect. Even at the present day, +along that line of remote country we have selected for +the theatre of our labours, the garrisons are both few +in number and weak in strength, and evidence of cultivation +is seldom to be found at any distance in the interior; +so that all beyond a certain extent of clearing, continued +along the banks of the lakes and rivers, is thick, +impervious, rayless forest, the limits of which have +never yet been explored, perhaps, by the natives themselves. + +Such being the general features of the country even at +the present day, it will readily be comprehended how much +more wild and desolate was the character they exhibited +as far back as the middle of the last century, about +which period our story commences. At that epoch, it will +be borne in mind, what we have described as being the +United States were then the British colonies of America +dependent on the mother-country; while the Canadas, on +the contrary, were, or had very recently been, under the +dominion of France, from whom they had been wrested after +a long struggle, greatly advanced in favour of England +by the glorious battle fought on the plains of Abraham, +near Quebec, and celebrated for the defeat of Montcalm +and the death of Wolfe. + +The several attempts made to repossess themselves of the +strong hold of Quebec having, in every instance, been +met by discomfiture and disappointment, the French, in +despair, relinquished the contest, and, by treaty, ceded +their claims to the Canadas,--an event that was hastened +by the capitulation of the garrison of Montreal, commanded +by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, to the victorious arms of +General Amherst. Still, though conquered as a people, +many of the leading men in the country, actuated by that +jealousy for which they were remarkable, contrived to +oppose obstacles to the quiet possession of a conquest +by those whom they seemed to look upon as their hereditary +enemies; and in furtherance of this object, paid agents, +men of artful and intriguing character, were dispersed +among the numerous tribes of savages, with a view of +exciting them to acts of hostility against their conquerors. +The long and uninterrupted possession, by the French, of +those countries immediately bordering on the hunting +grounds and haunts of the natives, with whom they carried +on an extensive traffic in furs, had established a +communionship of interest between themselves and those +savage and warlike people, which failed not to turn to +account the vindictive views of the former. The whole of +the province of Upper Canada at that time possessed but +a scanty population, protected in its most flourishing +and defensive points by stockade forts; the chief object +of which was to secure the garrisons, consisting each of +a few companies, from any sudden surprise on the part of +the natives, who, although apparently inclining to +acknowledge the change of neighbours, and professing +amity, were, it was well known, too much in the interest +of their old friends the French, and even the French +Canadians themselves, not to be regarded with the most +cautious distrust. + +These stockade forts were never, at any one period, nearer +to each other than from one hundred and fifty to two +hundred miles, so that, in the event of surprise or alarm, +there was little prospect of obtaining assistance from +without. Each garrison, therefore, was almost wholly +dependent on its own resources; and, when surrounded +unexpectedly by numerous bands of hostile Indians, had +no other alternative than to hold out to the death. +Capitulation was out of the question; for, although the +wile and artifice of the natives might induce them to +promise mercy, the moment their enemies were in their +power promises and treaties were alike broken, and +indiscriminate massacre ensued. Communication by water +was, except during a period of profound peace, almost +impracticable; for, although of late years the lakes of +Canada have been covered with vessels of war, many of +them, as we have already remarked, of vast magnitude, +and been the theatres of conflicts that would not have +disgraced the salt waters of ocean itself, at the period +to which our story refers the flag of England was seen +to wave only on the solitary mast of some ill-armed and +ill-manned gunboat, employed rather for the purpose of +conveying despatches from fort to fort, than with any +serious view to acts either of aggression or defence. + +In proportion as the colonies of America, now the United +States, pushed their course of civilisation westward, in +the same degree did the numerous tribes of Indians, who +had hitherto dwelt more seaward, retire upon those of +their own countrymen, who, buried in vast and impenetrable +forests, had seldom yet seen the face of the European +stranger; so that, in the end, all the more central parts +of those stupendous wilds became doubly peopled. Hitherto, +however, that civilisation had not been carried beyond +the state of New York; and all those countries which +have, since the American revolution, been added to the +Union under the names of Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, +Michigan, &c., were, at the period embraced by our story, +inhospitable and unproductive woods, subject only to the +dominion of the native, and as yet unshorn by the axe of +the cultivator. A few portions only of the opposite shores +of Michigan were occupied by emigrants from the Canadas, +who, finding no one to oppose or molest them, selected +the most fertile spots along the banks of the river; and +of the existence of these infant settlements, the English +colonists, who had never ventured so far, were not even +aware until after the conquest of Canada by the mother- +country. This particular district was the centre around +which the numerous warriors, who had been driven westward +by the colonists, had finally assembled; and rude villages +and encampments rose far and near for a circuit of many +miles around this infant settlement and fort of the +Canadians, to both of which they had given the name of +Detroit, after the river on whose elevated banks they +stood. Proceeding westward from this point, and along +the tract of country that diverged from the banks of the +Lakes Huron, Sinclair, and Michigan, all traces of that +partial civilisation were again lost in impervious wilds, +tenanted only by the fiercest of the Indian tribes, whose +homes were principally along the banks of that greatest +of American waters, the Lake Superior, and in the country +surrounding the isolated fort of Michilimackinac, the +last and most remote of the European fortresses in Canada. + +When at a later period the Canadas were ceded to us by +France, those parts of the opposite frontier which we +have just described became also tributary to the English +crown, and were, by the peculiar difficulties that existed +to communication with the more central and populous +districts, rendered especially favourable to the exercise +of hostile intrigue by the numerous active French emissaries +every where dispersed among the Indian tribes. During +the first few years of the conquest, the inhabitants of +Canada, who were all either European French, or immediate +descendants of that nation, were, as might naturally be +expected, more than restive under their new governors, +and many of the most impatient spirits of the country +sought every opportunity of sowing the seeds of distrust +and jealousy in the hearts of the natives. By these people +it was artfully suggested to the Indians, that their new +oppressors were of the race of those who had driven them +from the sea, and were progressively advancing on their +territories until scarce a hunting ground or a village +would be left to them. They described them, moreover, as +being the hereditary enemies of their great father, the +King of France, with whose governors they had buried the +hatchet for ever, and smoked the calumet of perpetual +peace. Fired by these wily suggestions, the high and +jealous spirit of the Indian chiefs took the alarm, and +they beheld with impatience the "Red Coat," or "Saganaw," +[Footnote: This word thus pronounced by themselves, in +reference to the English soldiery, is, in all probability, +derived from the original English settlers in Saganaw +Bay.] usurping, as they deemed it, those possessions +which had so recently acknowledged the supremacy of the +pale flag of their ancient ally. The cause of the Indians, +and that of the Canadians, became, in some degree, +identified as one, and each felt it was the interest, +and it may be said the natural instinct, of both, to hold +communionship of purpose, and to indulge the same jealousies +and fears. Such was the state of things in 1763, the +period at which our story commences,--an epoch fruitful +in designs of hostility and treachery on the part of the +Indians, who, too crafty and too politic to manifest +their feelings by overt acts declaratory of the hatred +carefully instilled into their breasts, sought every +opportunity to compass the destruction of the English, +wherever they were most vulnerable to the effects of +stratagem. Several inferior forts situated on the Ohio +had already fallen into their hands, when they summoned +all their address and cunning to accomplish the fall of +the two important though remote posts of Detroit and +Michilimackinac. For a length of time they were baffled +by the activity and vigilance of the respective governors +of these forts, who had had too much fatal experience in +the fate of their companions not to be perpetually on +the alert against their guile; but when they had at +length, in some degree, succeeded in lulling the suspicions +of the English, they determined on a scheme, suggested +by a leading chief, a man of more than ordinary character, +which promised fair to rid them altogether of a race they +so cordially detested. We will not, however, mar the +interest of our tale, by anticipating, at this early +stage, either the nature or the success of a stratagem +which forms the essential groundwork of our story. + +While giving, for the information of the many, what, we +trust, will not be considered a too compendious outline +of the Canadas, and the events connected with them, we +are led to remark, that, powerful as was the feeling of +hostility cherished by the French Canadians towards the +English when the yoke of early conquest yet hung heavily +on them, this feeling eventually died away under the mild +influence of a government that preserved to them the +exercise of all their customary privileges, and abolished +all invidious distinctions between the descendants of +France and those of the mother-country. So universally, +too, has this system of conciliation been pursued, we +believe we may with safety aver, of all the numerous +colonies that have succumbed to the genius and power of +England, there are none whose inhabitants entertain +stronger feelings of attachment and loyalty to her than +those of Canada; and whatever may be the transient +differences,--differences growing entirely out of +circumstances and interests of a local character, and in +no way tending to impeach the acknowledged fidelity of +the mass of French Canadians,--whatever, we repeat, may +be the ephemeral differences that occasionally spring up +between the governors of those provinces and individual +members of the Houses of Assembly, they must, in no way, +be construed into a general feeling of disaffection +towards the English crown. + +In proportion also as the Canadians have felt and +acknowledged the beneficent effects arising from a change +of rulers, so have the Indian tribes been gradually weaned +from their first fierce principle of hostility, until +they have subsequently become as much distinguished by +their attachment to, as they were three quarters of a +century ago remarkable for their untameable aversion for, +every thing that bore the English name, or assumed the +English character. Indeed, the hatred which they bore +to the original colonists has been continued to their +descendants, the subjects of the United States; and the +same spirit of union subsisted between the natives and +British troops, and people of Canada, during the late +American war, that at an earlier period of the history +of that country prevailed so powerfully to the disadvantage +of England. + +And now we have explained a course of events which were +in some measure necessary to the full understanding of +the country by the majority of our readers, we shall, in +furtherance of the same object, proceed to sketch a few +of the most prominent scenes more immediately before us. + +The fort of Detroit, as it was originally constructed by +the French, stands in the middle of a common, or description +of small prairie, bounded by woods, which, though now +partially thinned in their outskirts, were at that period +untouched by the hand of civilisation. Erected at a +distance of about half a mile from the banks of the river, +which at that particular point are high and precipitous, +it stood then just far enough from the woods that swept +round it in a semicircular form to be secure from the +rifle of the Indian; while from its batteries it commanded +a range of country on every hand, which no enemy unsupported +by cannon could traverse with impunity. Immediately in +the rear, and on the skirt of the wood, the French had +constructed a sort of bomb-proof, possibly intended to +serve as a cover to the workmen originally employed in +clearing the woods, but long since suffered to fall into +decay. Without the fortification rose a strong and triple +line of pickets, each of about two feet and a half in +circumference, and so fitted into each other as to leave +no other interstices than those which were perforated +for the discharge of musketry. They were formed of the +hardest and most knotted pines that could be procured; +the sharp points of which were seasoned by fire until +they acquired nearly the durability and consistency of +iron. Beyond these firmly imbedded pickets was a ditch, +encircling the fort, of about twenty feet in width, and +of proportionate depth, the only communication over which +to and from the garrison was by means of a drawbridge, +protected by a strong chevaux-de-frise. The only gate +with which the fortress was provided faced the river; on +the more immediate banks of which, and to the left of +the fort, rose the yet infant and straggling village that +bore the name of both. Numerous farm-houses, however, +almost joining each other, contributed to form a continuity +of many miles along the borders of the river, both on +the right and on the left; while the opposite shores of +Canada, distinctly seen in the distance, presented, as +far as the eye could reach, the same enlivening character +of fertility. The banks, covered with verdure on either +shore, were more or less undulating at intervals; but in +general they were high without being abrupt, and picturesque +without being bold, presenting, in their partial +cultivation, a striking contrast to the dark, tall, and +frowning forests bounding every point of the perspective. + +At a distance of about five miles on the left of the town +the course of the river was interrupted by a small and +thickly wooded island, along whose sandy beach occasionally +rose the low cabin or wigwam which the birch canoe, +carefully upturned and left to dry upon the sands, attested +to be the temporary habitation of the wandering Indian. +That branch of the river which swept by the shores of +Canada was (as at this day) the only navigable one for +vessels of burden, while that on the opposite coast +abounded in shallows and bars, affording passage merely +to the light barks of the natives, which seemed literally +to skim the very surface of its waves. Midway, between +that point of the continent which immediately faced the +eastern extremity of the island we have just named and +the town of Detroit, flowed a small tributary river, the +approaches to which, on either hand, were over a slightly +sloping ground, the view of which could be entirely +commanded from the fort. The depth of this river, now +nearly dried up, at that period varied from three to ten +or twelve feet; and over this, at a distance of about +twenty yards from the Detroit, into which it emptied +itself, rose, communicating with the high road, a bridge, +which will more than once be noticed in the course of +our tale. Even to the present hour it retains the name +given to it during these disastrous times; and there are +few modern Canadians, or even Americans, who traverse +the "Bloody Bridge," especially at the still hours of +advanced night, without recalling to memory the tragic +events of those days, (handed down as they have been by +their fathers, who were eye-witnesses of the transaction,) +and peopling the surrounding gloom with the shades of +those whose life-blood erst crimsoned the once pure waters +of that now nearly exhausted stream; and whose mangled +and headless corpses were slowly borne by its tranquil +current into the bosom of the parent river, where all +traces of them finally disappeared. + +These are the minuter features of the scene we have +brought more immediately under the province of our pen. +What Detroit was in 1763 it nearly is at the present day, +with this difference, however, that many of those points +which were then in a great degree isolated and rude are +now redolent with the beneficent effects of improved +cultivation; and in the immediate vicinity of that +memorable bridge, where formerly stood merely the occasional +encampment of the Indian warrior, are now to be seen +flourishing farms and crops, and other marks of agricultural +industry. Of the fort of Detroit itself we will give the +following brief history:--It was, as we have already +stated, erected by the French while in the occupancy of +the country by which it is more immediately environed; +subsequently, and at the final cession of the Canadas, +it was delivered over to England, with whom it remained +until the acknowledgement of the independence of the +colonists by the mother-country, when it hoisted the +colours of the republic; the British garrison marching +out, and crossing over into Canada, followed by such of +the loyalists as still retained their attachment to the +English crown. At the commencement of the late war with +America it was the first and more immediate theatre of +conflict, and was remarkable, as well as Michilimackinac, +for being one of the first posts of the Americans that +fell into our hands. The gallant daring, and promptness +of decision, for which the lamented general, Sir Isaac +Brock, was so eminently distinguished, achieved the +conquest almost as soon as the American declaration of +war had been made known in Canada; and on this occasion +we ourselves had the good fortune to be selected as part +of the guard of honour, whose duty it was to lower the +flag of America, and substitute that of England in its +place. On the approach, however, of an overwhelming army +of the enemy in the autumn of the ensuing year it was +abandoned by our troops, after having been dismantled +and reduced, in its more combustible parts, to ashes. +The Americans, who have erected new fortifications on +the site of the old, still retain possession of a post +to which they attach considerable importance, from the +circumstance of its being a key to the more western +portions of the Union. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +It was during the midnight watch, late in September, +1763, that the English garrison of Detroit, in North +America, was thrown into the utmost consternation by the +sudden and mysterious introduction of a stranger within +its walls. The circumstance at this moment was particularly +remarkable; for the period was so fearful and pregnant +with events of danger, the fort being assailed on every +side by a powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution +and vigilance of no common kind were unceasingly exercised +by the prudent governor for the safety of those committed +to his charge. A long series of hostilities had been +pursued by the North-American Indians against the subjects +of England, within the few years that had succeeded to +the final subjection of the Canadas to her victorious +arms; and many and sanguinary were the conflicts in which +the devoted soldiery were made to succumb to the cunning +and numbers of their savage enemies. In those lone regions, +both officers and men, in their respective ranks, were, +by a communionship of suffering, isolation, and peculiarity +of duty, drawn towards each other with feelings of almost +fraternal affection; and the fates of those who fell were +lamented with sincerity of soul, and avenged, when +opportunity offered, with a determination prompted equally +by indignation and despair. This sentiment of union, +existing even between men and officers of different corps, +was, with occasional exceptions, of course doubly +strengthened among those who fought under the same colours, +and acknowledged the same head; and, as it often happened +in Canada, during this interesting period, that a single +regiment was distributed into two or three fortresses, +each so far removed from the other that communication +could with the utmost facility be cut off, the anxiety +and uncertainty of these detachments became proportioned +to the danger with which they knew themselves to be more +immediately beset. The garrison of Detroit, at the date +above named, consisted of a third of the ---- regiment, +the remainder of which occupied the forts of +Michilimackinac and Niagara, and to each division of +this regiment was attached an officer's command of +artillery. It is true that no immediate overt act of +hostility had for some time been perpetrated by the +Indians, who were assembled in force around the former +garrison; but the experienced officer to whom the command +had been intrusted was too sensible of the craftiness of +the surrounding hordes to be deceived, by any outward +semblance of amity, into neglect of those measures of +precaution which were so indispensable to the surety of +his trust. + +In this he pursued a line of policy happily adapted to +the delicate nature of his position. Unwilling to excite +the anger or wound the pride of the chiefs, by any outward +manifestation of distrust, he affected to confide in the +sincerity of their professions, and, by inducing his +officers to mix occasionally in their councils, and his +men in the amusements of the inferior warriors, contrived +to impress the conviction that he reposed altogether on +their faith. But, although these acts were in some degree +coerced by the necessity of the times, and a perfect +knowledge of all the misery that must accrue to them in +the event of their provoking the Indians into acts of +open hostility, the prudent governor took such precautions +as were deemed efficient to defeat any treacherous attempt +at violation of the tacit treaty on the part of the +natives. The officers never ventured out, unless escorted +by a portion of their men, who, although appearing to be +dispersed among the warriors, still kept sufficiently +together to be enabled, in a moment of emergency, to +afford succour not only to each other but to their +superiors. On these occasions, as a further security +against surprise, the troops left within were instructed +to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to render +assistance, if necessary, to their companions, who seldom, +on any occasion, ventured out of reach of the cannon of +the fort, the gate of which was hermetically closed, +while numerous supernumerary sentinels were posted along +the ramparts, with a view to give the alarm if any thing +extraordinary was observed to occur without. + +Painful and harassing as were the precautions it was +found necessary to adopt on these occasions, and little +desirous as were the garrison to mingle with the natives +on such terms, still the plan was pursued by the Governor +from the policy already named: nay, it was absolutely +essential to the future interests of England that the +Indians should be won over by acts of confidence and +kindness; and so little disposition had hitherto been +manifested by the English to conciliate, that every thing +was to be apprehended from the untameable rancour with +which these people were but too well disposed to repay +a neglect at once galling to their pride and injurious +to their interests. + +Such, for a term of many months, had been the trying and +painful duty that had devolved on the governor of Detroit; +when, in the summer of 1763, the whole of the western +tribes of Indians, as if actuated by one common impulse, +suddenly threw off the mask, and commenced a series of +the most savage trespasses upon the English settlers in +the vicinity of the several garrisons, who were cut off +in detail, without mercy, and without reference to either +age or sex. On the first alarm the weak bodies of troops, +as a last measure of security, shut themselves up in +their respective forts, where they were as incapable of +rendering assistance to others as of receiving it +themselves. In this emergency the prudence and forethought +of the governor of Detroit were eminently conspicuous; +for, having long foreseen the possibility of such a +crisis, he had caused a plentiful supply of all that was +necessary to the subsistence and defence of the garrison +to be provided at an earlier period, so that, if foiled +in their attempts at stratagem, there was little chance +that the Indians would speedily reduce them by famine. +To guard against the former, a vigilant watch was constantly +kept by the garrison both day and night, while the +sentinels, doubled in number, were constantly on the +alert. Strict attention, moreover, was paid to such parts +of the ramparts as were considered most assailable by a +cunning and midnight enemy; and, in order to prevent any +imprudence on the part of the garrison, all egress or +ingress was prohibited that had not the immediate sanction +of the chief. With this view the keys of the gate were +given in trust to the officer of the guard; to whom, +however, it was interdicted to use them unless by direct +and positive order of the Governor. In addition to this +precaution, the sentinels on duty at the gate had strict +private instructions not to suffer any one to pass either +in or out unless conducted by the governor in person; +and this restriction extended even to the officer of the +guard. + +Such being the cautious discipline established in the +fort, the appearance of a stranger within its walls at +the still hour of midnight could not fail to be regarded +as an extraordinary event, and to excite an apprehension +which could scarcely have been surpassed had a numerous +and armed band of savages suddenly appeared among them. +The first intimation of this fact was given by the violent +ringing of an alarm bell; a rope communicating with which +was suspended in the Governor's apartments, for the +purpose of arousing the slumbering soldiers in any case +of pressing emergency. Soon afterwards the Governor +himself was seen to issue from his rooms into the open +area of the parade, clad in his dressing-gown, and bearing +a lamp in one hand and a naked sword in the other. His +countenance was pale; and his features, violently agitated, +betrayed a source of alarm which those who were familiar +with his usual haughtiness of manner were ill able to +comprehend. + +"Which way did he go?--why stand ye here?--follow--pursue +him quickly--let him not escape, on your lives!" + +These sentences, hurriedly and impatiently uttered, were +addressed to the two sentinels who, stationed in front +of his apartments, had, on the first sound of alarm from +the portentous bell, lowered their muskets to the charge, +and now stood immovable in that position. + +"Who does your honour mane?" replied one of the men, +startled, yet bringing his arms to the recover, in +salutation of his chief. + +"Why, the man--the stranger--the fellow who has just +passed you." + +"Not a living soul has passed us since our watch commenced, +your honour," observed the second sentinel; "and we have +now been here upwards of an hour." + +"Impossible, sirs: ye have been asleep on your posts, or +ye must have seen him. He passed this way, and could not +have escaped your observation had ye been attentive to +your duty." + +"Well, sure, and your honour knows bist," rejoined the +first sentinel; "but so hilp me St. Patrick, as I have +sirved man and boy in your honour's rigimint this twilve +years, not even the fitch of a man has passed me this +blissed night. And here's my comrade, Jack Halford, who +will take his Bible oath to the same, with all due +difirince to your honour." + +The pithy reply to this eloquent attempt at exculpation +was a brief "Silence, sirrah, walk about!" + +The men brought their muskets once more, and in silence, +to the shoulder, and, in obedience to the command of +their chief, resumed the limited walk allotted to them; +crossing each other at regular intervals in the semicircular +course that enfiladed, as it were, the only entrance to +the Governor's apartments. + +Meanwhile every thing was bustle and commotion among the +garrison, who, roused from sleep by the appalling sound +of the alarm bell at that late hour, were hastily arming. +Throughout the obscurity might be seen the flitting forms +of men, whose already fully accoutred persons proclaimed +them to be of the guard; while in the lofty barracks, +numerous lights flashing to and fro, and moving with +rapidity, attested the alacrity with which the troops +off duty were equipping themselves for some service of +more than ordinary interest. So noiseless, too, was this +preparation, as far as speech was concerned, that the +occasional opening and shutting of pans, and ringing of +ramrods to ascertain the efficiency of the muskets, might +be heard distinctly in the stillness of the night at a +distance of many furlongs. + +HE, however, who had touched the secret spring of all +this picturesque movement, whatever might be his +gratification and approval of the promptitude with which +the summons to arms had been answered by his brave troops, +was far from being wholly satisfied with the scene he +had conjured up. Recovered from the first and irrepressible +agitation which had driven him to sound the tocsin of +alarm, he felt how derogatory to his military dignity +and proverbial coolness of character it might be considered, +to have awakened a whole garrison from their slumbers, +when a few files of the guard would have answered his +purpose equally well. Besides, so much time had been +suffered to elapse, that the stranger might have escaped; +and if so, how many might be disposed to ridicule his +alarm, and consider it as emanating from an imagination +disturbed by sleep, rather than caused by the actual +presence of one endowed like themselves with the faculties +of speech and motion. For a moment he hesitated whether +he should not countermand the summons to arms which had +been so precipitately given; but when he recollected the +harrowing threat that had been breathed in his ear by +his midnight visiter,--when he reflected, moreover, that +even now it was probable he was lurking within the +precincts of the fort with a view to the destruction of +all that it contained,--when, in short, he thought of +the imminent danger that must attend them should he be +suffered to escape,--he felt the necessity of precaution, +and determined on his measures, even at the risk of +manifesting a prudence which might be construed +unfavourably. On re-entering his apartments, he found +his orderly, who, roused by the midnight tumult, stood +waiting to receive the commands of his chief. + +"Desire Major Blackwater to come to me immediately." + +The mandate was quickly obeyed. In a few seconds a short, +thick-set, and elderly officer made his appearance in a +grey military undress frock. + +"Blackwater, we have traitors within the fort. Let diligent +search be made in every part of the barracks for a +stranger, an enemy, who has managed to procure admittance +among us: let every nook and cranny, every empty cask, +be examined forthwith; and cause a number of additional +sentinels to be stationed along the ramparts, in order +to intercept his escape." + +"Good Heaven, is it possible?" said the Major, wiping +the perspiration from his brows, though the night was +unusually chilly for the season of the year:--" how could +he contrive to enter a place so vigilantly guarded?" + +"Ask me not HOW, Blackwater," returned the Governor +seriously; "let it suffice that he has been in this very +room, and that ten minutes since he stood where you now +stand." + +The Major looked aghast.--"God bless me, how singular! +How could the savage contrive to obtain admission? or +was he in reality an Indian?" + +"No more questions, MAJOR Blackwater. Hasten to distribute +the men, and let diligent search be made every where; +and recollect, neither officer nor man courts his pillow +until dawn." + +The "Major" emphatically prefixed to his name was a +sufficient hint to the stout officer that the doubts thus +familiarly expressed were here to cease, and that he was +now addressed in the language of authority by his superior, +who expected a direct and prompt compliance with his +orders. He therefore slightly touched his hat in salutation, +and withdrew to make the dispositions that had been +enjoined by his Colonel. + +On regaining the parade, he caused the men, already +forming into companies and answering to the roll-call of +their respective non-commissioned officers, to be wheeled +into square, and then in a low but distinct voice stated +the cause of alarm; and, having communicated the orders +of the Governor, finished by recommending to each the +exercise of the most scrutinising vigilance; as on the +discovery of the individual in question, and the means +by which he had contrived to procure admission, the safety +of the whole garrison, it was evident, must depend. + +The soldiers now dispersed in small parties throughout +the interior of the fort, while a select body were +conducted to the ramparts by the officers themselves, +and distributed between the sentinels already posted +there, in such numbers, and at such distances, that it +appeared impossible any thing wearing the human form +could pass them unperceived, even in the obscurity that +reigned around. + +When this duty was accomplished, the officers proceeded +to the posts of the several sentinels who had been planted +since the last relief, to ascertain if any or either of +them had observed aught to justify the belief that an +enemy had succeeded in scaling the works. To all their +enquiries, however, they received a negative reply, +accompanied by a declaration, more or less positive with +each, that such had been their vigilance during the watch, +had any person come within their beat, detection must +have been inevitable. The first question was put to the +sentinel stationed at the gate of the fort, at which +point the whole of the officers of the garrison were, +with one or two exceptions, now assembled. The man at +first evinced a good deal of confusion; but this might +arise from the singular fact of the alarm that had been +given, and the equally singular circumstance of his being +thus closely interrogated by the collective body of his +officers: he, however, persisted in declaring that he +had been in no wise inattentive to his duty, and that no +cause for alarm or suspicion had occurred near his post. +The officers then, in order to save time, separated into +two parties, pursuing opposite circuits, and arranging +to meet at that point of the ramparts which was immediately +in the rear, and overlooking the centre of the semicircular +sweep of wild forest we have described as circumventing +the fort. + +"Well, Blessington, I know not what you think of this +sort of work," observed Sir Everard Valletort, a young +lieutenant of the ---- regiment, recently arrived from +England, and one of the party who now traversed the +rampart to the right; "but confound me if I would not +rather be a barber's apprentice in London, upon nothing, +and find myself, than continue a life of this kind much +longer. It positively quite knocks me up; for what with +early risings, and watchings (I had almost added prayings), +I am but the shadow of my former self." + +"Hist, Valletort, hist! speak lower," said Captain +Blessington, the senior officer present, "or our search +must be in vain. Poor fellow!" he pursued, laughing low +and good humouredly at the picture of miseries thus +solemnly enumerated by his subaltern;--"how much, in +truth, are you to be pitied, who have so recently basked +in all the sunshine of enjoyment at home. For our parts, +we have lived so long amid these savage scenes, that we +have almost forgotten what luxury, or even comfort, means. +Doubt not, my friend, that in time you will, like us, be +reconciled to the change." + +"Confound me for an idiot, then, if I give myself time," +replied Sir Everard affectedly. "It was only five minutes +before that cursed alarm bell was sounded in my ears, +that I had made up my mind fully to resign or exchange +the instant I could do so with credit to myself; and, I +am sure, to be called out of a warm bed at this unseasonable +hour offers little inducement for me to change my opinion." + +"Resign or exchange with credit to yourself!" sullenly +observed a stout tall officer of about fifty, whose spleen +might well be accounted for in his rank of "Ensign" Delme. +"Methinks there can be little credit in exchanging or +resigning, when one's companions are left behind, and in +a post of danger." + +"By Jasus, and ye may say that with your own pritty +mouth," remarked another veteran, who answered to the +name of Lieutenant Murphy; "for it isn't now, while we +are surrounded and bediviled by the savages, that any +man of the ---- rigimint should be after talking of bating +a retrate." + +"I scarcely understand you, gentlemen," warmly and quickly +retorted Sir Everard, who, with all his dandyism and +effeminacy of manner, was of a high and resolute spirit. +"Do either of you fancy that I want courage to face a +positive danger, because I may not happen to have any +particular vulgar predilection for early rising?" + +"Nonsense, Valletort, nonsense," interrupted, in accents +of almost feminine sweetness, his friend Lieutenant +Charles de Haldimar, the youngest son of the Governor: +"Murphy is an eternal echo of the opinions of those who +look forward to promotion; and as for Delme--do you not +see the drift of his observation? Should you retire, as +you have threatened, of course another lieutenant will +be appointed in your stead; but, should you chance to +lose your scalp during the struggle with the savages, +the step goes in the regiment, and he, being the senior +ensign, obtains promotion in consequence." + +"Ah!" observed Captain Blessington, "this is indeed the +greatest curse attached to the profession of a soldier. +Even among those who most esteem, and are drawn towards +each other as well by fellowship in pleasure as +companionship in danger, this vile and debasing principle +--this insatiable desire for personal advancement--is +certain to intrude itself; since we feel that over the +mangled bodies of our dearest friends and companions, we +can alone hope to attain preferment and distinction." + +A moment or two of silence ensued, in the course of which +each individual appeared to be bringing home to his own +heart the application of the remark just uttered; and +which, however they might seek to disguise the truth from +themselves, was too forcible to find contradiction from +the secret monitor within. And yet of those assembled +there was not one, perhaps, who would not, in the hour +of glory and of danger, have generously interposed his +own frame between that of his companion and the steel or +bullet of an enemy. Such are the contradictory elements +which compose a soldier's life. + +This conversation, interrupted only by occasional +questioning of the sentinels whom they passed in their +circuit, was carried on in an audible whisper, which the +close approximation of the parties to each other, and +the profound stillness of the night, enabled them to hear +with distinctness. + +"Nay, nay, De Haldimar," at length observed Sir Everard, +in reply to the observation of his friend, "do not imagine +I intend to gratify Mr. Delme by any such exhibition as +that of a scalpless head; but, if such be his hope, I +trust that the hour which sees my love-locks dangling at +the top of an Indian pole may also let daylight into his +own carcass from a rifle bullet or a tomahawk." + +"And yit, Captin, it sames to me," observed Lieutenant +Murphy, in allusion to the remark of Blessington rather +than in reply to the last speaker,--"it sames to me, I +say, that promotion in ony way is all fair and honourable +in times of hardship like thase; and though we may drop +a tare over our suparior when the luck of war, in the +shape of a tommyhawk, knocks him over, still there can +be no rason why we shouldn't stip into his shoes the viry +nixt instant; and it's that, we all know, that we fight +for. And the divil a bitter chance any man of us all has +of promotion thin yoursilf, Captin: for it'll be mighty +strange if our fat Major doesn't git riddlid like a +cullinder through and through with the bullits from the +Ingians' rifles before we have quite done with this +business, and thin you will have the rigimintal majority, +Captin; and it may be that one Liftinint Murphy, who is +now the sanior of his rank, may come in for the vacant +captincy." + +"And Delme for the lieutenancy," said Charles de Haldimar +significantly. "Well, Murphy, I am happy to find that +you, at least, have hit on another than Sir Everard +Valletort: one, in fact, who will render the promotion +more general than it would otherwise have been. Seriously, +I should be sorry if any thing happened to our worthy +Major, who, with all his bustling and grotesque manner, +is as good an officer and as brave a soldier as any his +Majesty's army in Canada can boast. For my part, I say, +perish all promotion for ever, if it is only to be obtained +over the dead bodies of those with whom I have lived so +long and shared so many dangers!" + +"Nobly uttered, Charles," said Captain Blessington: "the +sentiment is, indeed, one well worthy of our present +position; and God knows we are few enough in number +already, without looking forward to each other's death +as a means of our own more immediate personal advancement. +With you, therefore, I repeat, perish all my hopes of +promotion, if it is only to be obtained over the corpses +of my companions! And let those who are most sanguine in +their expectations beware lest they prove the first to +be cut off, and that even before they have yet enjoyed +the advantages of the promotion they so eagerly covet." + +This observation, uttered without acrimony, had yet enough +of delicate reproach in it to satisfy Lieutenant Murphy +that the speaker was far from approving the expression +of such selfish anticipations at a moment like the present, +when danger, in its most mysterious guise, lurked around, +and threatened the safety of all most dear to them. + +The conversation now dropped, and the party pursued their +course in silence. They had just passed the last sentinel +posted in their line of circuit, and were within a few +yards of the immediate rear of the fortress, when a sharp +"Hist!" and sudden halt of their leader, Captain +Blessington, threw them all into an attitude of the most +profound attention. + +"Did you hear?" he asked in a subdued whisper, after a +few seconds of silence, in which he had vainly sought to +catch a repetition of the sound. + +"Assuredly," he pursued, finding that no one answered, +"I distinctly heard a human groan." + +"Where?--in what direction?" asked Sir Everard and De +Haldimar in the same breath. + +"Immediately opposite to us on the common. But see, here +are the remainder of the party stationary, and listening +also." + +They now stole gently forward a few paces, and were soon +at the side of their companions, all of whom were straining +their necks and bending their heads in the attitude of +men listening attentively. + +"Have you heard any thing, Erskine?" asked Captain +Blessington in the same low whisper, and addressing the +officer who led the opposite party. + +"Not a sound ourselves, but here is Sir Everard's black +servant, Sambo, who has just riveted our attention, by +declaring that he distinctly heard a groan towards the +skirt of the common." + +"He is right," hastily rejoined Blessington; "I heard it +also." + +Again a death-like silence ensued, during which the eyes +of the party were strained eagerly in the direction of +the common. The night was clear and starry, yet the dark +shadow of the broad belt of forest threw all that part +of the waste which came within its immediate range into +impenetrable obscurity. + +"Do you see any thing?" whispered Valletort to his friend, +who stood next him: "look--look!" and he pointed with +his finger. + +"Nothing," returned De Haldimar, after an anxious gaze +of a minute, "but that dilapidated old bomb-proof." + +"See you not something dark, and slightly moving immediately +in a line with the left angle of the bomb-proof?" + +De Haldimar looked again.--"I do begin to fancy I see +something," he replied; "but so confusedly and indistinctly, +that I know not whether it be not merely an illusion of +my imagination. Perhaps it is a stray Indian dog devouring +the carcass of the wolf you shot yesterday." + +"Be it dog or devil, here is for a trial of his +vulnerability.--Sambo, quick, my rifle." + +The young negro handed to his master one of those long +heavy rifles, which the Indians usually make choice of +for killing the buffalo, elk, and other animals whose +wildness renders them difficult of approach. He then, +unbidden, and as if tutored to the task, placed himself +in a stiff upright position in front of his master, with +every nerve and muscle braced to the most inflexible +steadiness. The young officer next threw the rifle on +the right shoulder of the boy for a rest, and prepared +to take his aim on the object that had first attracted +his attention. + +"Make haste, massa,--him go directly,--Sambo see him +get up." + +All was breathless attention among the group of officers; +and when the sharp ticking sound produced by the cocking +of the rifle of their companion fell on their ears, they +bent their gaze upon the point towards which the murderous +weapon was levelled with the most aching and intense +interest. + +"Quick, quick, massa,--him quite up," again whispered +the boy. + +The words had scarcely passed his lips, when the crack +of the rifle, followed by a bright blaze of light, sounded +throughout the stillness of the night with exciting +sharpness. For an instant all was hushed; but scarcely +had the distant woods ceased to reverberate the +spirit-stirring echoes, when the anxious group of officers +were surprised and startled by a sudden flash, the report +of a second rifle from the common, and the whizzing of +a bullet past their ears. This was instantly succeeded +by a fierce, wild, and prolonged cry, expressive at once +of triumph and revenge. It was that peculiar cry which +an Indian utters when the reeking scalp has been wrested +from his murdered victim. + +"Missed him, as I am a sinner," exclaimed Sir Everard, +springing to his feet, and knocking the butt of his rifle +on the ground with a movement of impatience. "Sambo, you +young scoundrel, it was all your fault,--you moved your +shoulder as I pulled the trigger. Thank Heaven, however, +the aim of the Indian appears to have been no better, +although the sharp whistling of his ball proves his piece +to have been well levelled for a random shot." + +"His aim has been too true," faintly pronounced the voice +of one somewhat in the rear of his companions. "The ball +of the villain has found a lodgment in my breast. God +bless ye all, my boys; may your fates be more lucky than +mine!" While he yet spoke, Lieutenant Murphy sank into +the arms of Blessington and De Haldimar, who had flown +to him at the first intimation of his wound, and was in +the next instant a corpse. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"To your companies, gentlemen, to your companies on the +instant. There is treason in the fort, and we had need +of all our diligence and caution. Captain de Haldimar is +missing, and the gate has been found unlocked. Quick, +gentlemen, quick; even now the savages may be around us, +though unseen." + +"Captain de Haldimar missing!--the gate unlocked!" +exclaimed a number of voices. "Impossible!--surely we +are not betrayed by our own men." + +"The sentinel has been relieved, and is now in irons," +resumed the communicator of this startling piece of +intelligence. It was the adjutant of the regiment. + +"Away, gentlemen, to your posts immediately," said Captain +Blessington, who, aided by De Haldimar, hastened to +deposit the stiffening body of the unfortunate Murphy, +which they still supported, upon the rampart. Then +addressing the adjutant, "Mr. Lawson, let a couple of +files be sent immediately to remove the body of their +officer." + +"That shot which I heard from the common, as I approached, +was not fired at random, then, I find," observed the +adjutant, as they all now hastily descended to join their +men.--"Who has fallen?" + +"Murphy, of the grenadiers," was the reply of one near +him. + +"Poor fellow! our work commences badly," resumed Mr. +Lawson: "Murphy killed, and Captain de Haldimar missing. +We had few officers enough to spare before, and their +loss will be severely felt; I greatly fear, too, these +casualties may have a tendency to discourage the men." + +"Nothing more easy than to supply their place, by promoting +some of our oldest sergeants," observed Ensign Delme, +who, as well as the ill-fated Murphy, had risen from the +ranks. "If they behave themselves well, the King will +confirm their appointments." + +"But my poor brother, what of him, Lawson? what have you +learnt connected with his disappearance?" asked Charles +de Haldimar with deep emotion. + +"Nothing satisfactory, I am sorry to say," returned the +adjutant; "in fact, the whole affair is a mystery which +no one can unravel; even at this moment the sentinel, +Frank Halloway, who is strongly suspected of being privy +to his disappearance, is undergoing a private examination +by your father the governor." + +"Frank Halloway!" repeated the youth with a start of +astonishment; "surely Halloway could never prove a +traitor,--and especially to my brother, whose life he +once saved at the peril of his own." + +The officers had now gained the parade, when the "Fall +in, gentlemen, fall in," quickly pronounced by Major +Blackwater, prevented all further questioning on the part +of the younger De Haldimar. + +The scene, though circumscribed in limit, was picturesque +in effect, and might have been happily illustrated by +the pencil of the painter. The immediate area of the +parade was filled with armed men, distributed into three +divisions, and forming, with their respective ranks facing +outwards, as many sides of a hollow square, the mode of +defence invariably adopted by the Governor in all cases +of sudden alarm. The vacant space, which communicated +with the powder magazine, was left open to the movements +of three three-pounders, which were to support each face +in the event of its being broken by numbers. Close to +these, and within the square, stood the number of gunners +necessary to the duty of the field-pieces, each of which +was commanded by a bombardier. At the foot of the ramparts, +outside the square, and immediately opposite to their +several embrasures, were stationed the gunners required +for the batteries, under a non-commissioned officer also, +and the whole under the direction of a superior officer +of that arm, who now walked to and fro, conversing in a +low voice with Major Blackwater. One gunner at each of +these divisions of the artillery held in his hand a +blazing torch, reflecting with picturesque yet gloomy +effect the bright bayonets and equipment of the soldiers, +and the anxious countenances of the women and invalids, +who, bending eagerly through the windows of the surrounding +barracks, appeared to await the issue of these preparations +with an anxiety increased by the very consciousness of +having no other parts than those of spectators to play +in the scene that was momentarily expected. + +In a few minutes from the falling in of the officers with +their respective companies, the clank of irons was heard +in the direction of the guard-room, and several forms +were seen slowly advancing into the area already occupied +as we have described. This party was preceded by the +Adjutant Lawson, who, advancing towards Major Blackwater, +communicated a message, that was followed by the command +of the latter officer for the three divisions to face +inwards. The officer of artillery also gave the word to +his men to form lines of single files immediately in the +rear of their respective guns, leaving space enough for +the entrance of the approaching party, which consisted +of half a dozen files of the guard, under a non-commissioned +officer, and one whose manacled limbs, rather than his +unaccoutred uniform, attested him to be not merely a +prisoner, but a prisoner confined for some serious and +flagrant offence. + +This party now advanced through the vacant quarter of +the square, and took their stations immediately in the +centre. Here the countenances of each, and particularly +that of the prisoner, who was, if we may so term it, the +centre of that centre, were thrown into strong relief by +the bright glare of the torches as they were occasionally +waved in air, to disencumber them of their dross, so that +the features of the prisoner stood revealed to those +around as plainly as if it had been noonday. Not a sound, +not a murmur, escaped from the ranks: but, though the +etiquette and strict laws of military discipline chained +all speech, the workings of the inward mind remained +unchecked; and as they recognised in the prisoner Frank +Halloway, one of the bravest and boldest in the field, +and, as all had hitherto imagined, one of the most devoted +to his duty, an irrepressible thrill of amazement and +dismay crept throughout the frames, and for a moment +blanched the cheeks of those especially who belonged to +the same company. On being summoned from their fruitless +search after the stranger, to fall in without delay, it +had been whispered among the men that treason had crept +into the fort, and a traitor, partly detected in his +crime, had been arrested and thrown into irons; but the +idea of Frank Halloway being that traitor was the last +that could have entered into their thoughts, and yet they +now beheld him covered with every mark of ignominy, and +about to answer his high offence, in all human probability, +with his life. + +With the officers the reputation of Halloway for courage +and fidelity stood no less high; but, while they secretly +lamented the circumstance of his defalcation, they could +not disguise from themselves the almost certainty of his +guilt, for each, as he now gazed upon the prisoner, +recollected the confusion and hesitation of manner he +had evinced when questioned by them preparatory to their +ascending to the ramparts. + +Once more the suspense of the moment was interrupted by +the entrance of other forms into the area. They were +those of the Adjutant, followed by a drummer, bearing +his instrument, and the Governor's orderly, charged with +pens, ink, paper, and a book which, from its peculiar +form and colour, every one present knew to be a copy of +the Articles of War. A variety of contending emotions +passed through the breasts of many, as they witnessed +the silent progress of these preparations, rendered +painfully interesting by the peculiarity of their position, +and the wildness of the hour at which they thus found +themselves assembled together. The prisoner himself was +unmoved: he stood proud, calm, and fearless amid the +guard, of whom he had so recently formed one; and though +his countenance was pale, as much, perhaps, from a sense +of the ignominious character in which he appeared as from +more private considerations, still there was nothing to +denote either the abjectness of fear or the consciousness +of merited disgrace. Once or twice a low sobbing, that +proceeded at intervals from one of the barrack windows, +caught his ear, and he turned his glance in that direction +with a restless anxiety, which he exerted himself in the +instant afterwards to repress; but this was the only mark +of emotion he betrayed. + +The above dispositions having been hastily made, the +adjutant and his assistants once more retired. After the +lapse of a minute, a tall martial-looking man, habited +in a blue military frock, and of handsome, though stern, +haughty, and inflexible features, entered the area. He +was followed by Major Blackwater, the captain of artillery, +and Adjutant Lawson. + +"Are the garrison all present, Mr. Lawson? are the officers +all present? " + +"All except those of the guard, sir," replied the Adjutant, +touching his hat with a submission that was scrupulously +exacted on all occasions of duty by his superior. + +The Governor passed his hand for a moment over his brows. +It seemed to those around him as if the mention of that +guard had called up recollections which gave him pain; +and it might be so, for his eldest son, Captain Frederick +de Haldimar, had commanded the guard. Whither he had +disappeared, or in what manner, no one knew. + +"Are the artillery all present, Captain Wentworth?" again +demanded the Governor, after a moment of silence, and in +his wonted firm authoritative voice. + +"All present, sir," rejoined the officer, following the +example of the Adjutant, and saluting his chief. + +"Then let a drum-head court-martial be assembled +immediately, Mr. Lawson, and without reference to the +roster let the senior officers be selected." + +The Adjutant went round to the respective divisions, and +in a low voice warned Captain Blessington, and the four +senior subalterns, for that duty. One by one the officers, +as they were severally called upon, left their places in +the square, and sheathing their swords, stepped into that +part of the area appointed as their temporary court. They +were now all assembled, and Captain Blessington, the +senior of his rank in the garrison, was preparing to +administer the customary oaths, when the prisoner Halloway +advanced a pace or two in front of his escort, and removing +his cap, in a clear, firm, but respectful voice, thus +addressed the Governor:-- + +"Colonel de Haldimar, that I am no traitor, as I have +already told you, the Almighty God, before whom I swore +allegiance to his Majesty, can bear me witness. Appearances, +I own, are against me; but, so far from being a traitor, +I would have shed my last drop of blood in defence of +the garrison and your family.--Colonel de Haldimar," he +pursued, after a momentary pause, in which he seemed to +be struggling to subdue the emotion which rose, despite +of himself, to his throat, "I repeat, I am no traitor, +and I scorn the imputation--but here is my best answer +to the charge. This wound, (and he unbuttoned his jacket, +opened his shirt, and disclosed a deep scar upon his +white chest,) this wound I received in defence of my +captain's life at Quebec. Had I not loved him, I should +not so have exposed myself, neither but for that should +I now stand in the situation of shame and danger, in +which my comrades behold me." + +Every heart was touched by this appeal--this bold and +manly appeal to the consideration of the Governor. The +officers, especially, who were fully conversant with the +general merit of Halloway, were deeply affected, and +Charles de Haldimar--the young, the generous, the feeling +Charles de Haldimar,--even shed tears. + +"What mean you, prisoner?" interrogated the Governor, +after a short pause, during which he appeared to be +weighing and deducing inferences from the expressions +just uttered. "What mean you, by stating, but for that +(alluding to your regard for Captain de Haldimar) you +would not now be in this situation of shame and danger?" + +The prisoner hesitated a moment; and then rejoined, but +in a tone that had less of firmness in it than +before,--"Colonel de Haldimar, I am not at liberty to +state my meaning; for, though a private soldier, I respect +my word, and have pledged myself to secrecy." + +"You respect your word, and have pledged yourself to +secrecy! What mean you, man, by this rhodomontade? To +whom can you have pledged yourself, and for what, unless +it be to some secret enemy without the walls? Gentlemen, +proceed to your duty: it is evident that the man is a +traitor, even from his own admission.--On my life," he +pursued, more hurriedly, and speaking in an under tone, +as if to himself, "the fellow has been bribed by, and is +connected with--." The name escaped not his lips; for, +aware of the emotion he was betraying, he suddenly checked +himself, and assumed his wonted stern and authoritative +bearing. + +Once more the prisoner addressed the Governor in the same +clear firm voice in which he had opened his appeal. + +"Colonel de Haldimar, I have no connection with any living +soul without the fort; and again I repeat, I am no traitor, +but a true and loyal British soldier, as my services in +this war, and my comrades, can well attest. Still, I seek +not to shun that death which I have braved a dozen times +at least in the ---- regiment. All that I ask is, that +I may not be tried--that I may not have the shame of +hearing sentence pronounced against me YET; but if nothing +should occur before eight o'clock to vindicate my character +from this disgrace, I will offer up no further prayer +for mercy. In the name of that life, therefore, which I +once preserved to Captain de Haldimar, at the price of +my own blood, I entreat a respite from trial until then." + +"In the name of God and all his angels, let mercy reach +your soul, and grant his prayer!" + +Every ear was startled--every heart touched by the +plaintive, melancholy, silver tones of the voice that +faintly pronounced the last appeal, and all recognised +it for that of the young, interesting, and attached wife +of the prisoner. Again the latter turned his gaze towards +the window whence the sounds proceeded, and by the glare +of the torches a tear was distinctly seen by many coursing +down his manly cheek. The weakness was momentary. In the +next instant he closed his shirt and coat, and resuming +his cap, stepped back once more amid his guard, where he +remained stationary, with the air of one who, having +nothing further to hope, has resolved to endure the worst +that can happen with resignation and fortitude. + +After the lapse of a few moments, again devoted to much +apparent deep thought and conjecture, the Governor once +more, and rather hurriedly, resumed,-- + +"In the event, prisoner, of this delay in your trial +being granted, will you pledge yourself to disclose the +secret to which you have alluded? Recollect, there is +nothing but that which can save your memory from being +consigned to infamy for ever; for who, among your comrades, +will believe the idle denial of your treachery, when +there is the most direct proof against you? If your secret +die with you, moreover, every honest man will consider +it as having been one so infamous and injurious to your +character, that you were ashamed to reveal it." + +These suggestions of the Colonel were not without their +effect; for, in the sudden swelling of the prisoner's +chest, as allusion was made to the disgrace that would +attach to his memory, there was evidence of a high and +generous spirit, to whom obloquy was far more hateful +than even death itself. + +"I do promise," he at length replied, stepping forward, +and uncovering himself as before,--"if no one appear to +justify my conduct at the hour I have named, a full +disclosure of all I know touching this affair shall be +made. And may God, of his infinite mercy, grant, for +Captain de Haldimar's sake, as well as mine, I may not +then be wholly deserted!" + +There was something so peculiarly solemn and impressive +in the manner in which the unhappy man now expressed +himself, that a feeling of the utmost awe crept into the +bosoms of the surrounding throng; and more than one +veteran of the grenadiers, the company to which Halloway +belonged, was heard to relieve his chest of the long +pent-up sigh that struggled for release. + +"Enough, prisoner," rejoined the Governor; "on this +condition do I grant your request; but recollect,--your +disclosure ensures no hope of pardon, unless, indeed, +you have the fullest proof to offer in your defence. Do +you perfectly understand me? " + +"I do," replied the soldier firmly; and again he placed +his cap on his head, and retired a step or two back among +the guard. + +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be removed, and conducted +to one of the private cells. Who is the subaltern of +the guard?" + +"Ensign Fortescue," was the answer. + +"Then let Ensign Fortescue keep the key of the cell +himself. Tell him, moreover, I shall hold him individually +responsible for his charge." + +Once more the prisoner was marched out of the area; and, +as the clanking sound of his chains became gradually +fainter in the distance, the same voice that had before +interrupted the proceedings, pronounced a "God be praised!-- +God be praised!" with such melody of sorrow in its +intonations that no one could listen to it unmoved. Both +officers and men were more or less affected, and all +hoped--they scarcely knew why or what--but all hoped +something favourable would occur to save the life of the +brave and unhappy Frank Halloway. + +Of the first interruption by the wife of the prisoner +the Governor had taken no notice; but on this repetition +of the expression of her feelings he briefly summoned, +in the absence of the Adjutant, the sergeant-major of +the regiment to his side. + +"Sergeant-major Bletson, I desire that, in future, on +all occasions of this kind, the women of the regiment +may be kept out of the way. Look to it, sir!" + +The sergeant-major, who had stood erect as his own halbert, +which he held before him in a saluting position, during +this brief admonition of his colonel, acknowledged, by +a certain air of deferential respect and dropping of the +eyes, unaccompanied by speech of any kind, that he felt +the reproof, and would, in future, take care to avoid +all similar cause for complaint. He then stalked stiffly +away, and resumed, in a few hasty strides, his position +in rear of the troops. + +"Hard-hearted man!" pursued the same voice: "if my prayers +of gratitude to Heaven give offence, may the hour never +come when my lips shall pronounce their bitterest curse +upon your severity!" + +There was something so painfully wild--so solemnly +prophetic--in these sounds of sorrow as they fell faintly +upon the ear, and especially under the extraordinary +circumstances of the night, that they might have been +taken for the warnings of some supernatural agency. During +their utterance, not even the breathing of human life +was to be heard in the ranks. In the next instant, however, +Sergeant-major Bletson was seen repairing, with long and +hasty strides, to the barrack whence the voice proceeded, +and the interruption was heard no more. + +Meanwhile the officers, who had been summoned from the +ranks for the purpose of forming the court-martial, still +lingered in the centre of the square, apparently waiting +for the order of their superior, before they should resume +their respective stations. As the quick and comprehensive +glance of Colonel de Haldimar now embraced the group, he +at once became sensible of the absence of one of the +seniors, all of whom he had desired should be selected +for the court-martial. + +"Mr. Lawson," he remarked, somewhat sternly, as the +Adjutant now returned from delivering over his prisoner +to Ensign Fortescue, "I thought I understood from your +report the officers were all present!" + +"I believe, sir, my report will be found perfectly +correct," returned the Adjutant, in a tone which, without +being disrespectful, marked his offended sense of the +implication. + +"And Lieutenant Murphy--" + +"Is here, sir," said the Adjutant, pointing to a couple +of files of the guard, who were bearing a heavy burden, +and following into the square. "Lieutenant Murphy," he +pursued, "has been shot on the ramparts; and I have, as +directed by Captain Blessington, caused the body to be +brought here, that I may receive your orders respecting +the interment." As he spoke, he removed a long military +grey cloak, which completely enshrouded the corpse, and +disclosed, by the light of the still brightly flaming +torches of the gunners, the features of the unfortunate +Murphy. + +"How did he meet his death?" enquired the governor; +without, however, manifesting the slightest surprise, or +appearing at all moved at the discovery. + +"By a rifle shot fired from the common, near the old bomb +proof," observed Captain Blessington, as the adjutant +looked to him for the particular explanation he could +not render himself. + +"Ah! this reminds me," pursued the austere +commandant,--"there was a shot fired also from the +ramparts. By whom, and at what?" + +"By me, sir," said Lieutenant Valletort, coming forward +from the ranks, "and at what I conceived to be an Indian, +lurking as a spy upon the common." + +"Then, Lieutenant Sir Everard Valletort, no repetition +of these firings, if you please; and let it be borne in +mind by all, that although, from the peculiar nature of +the service in which we are engaged, I so far depart from +the established regulations of the army as to permit my +officers to arm themselves with rifles, they are to be +used only as occasion may require in the hour of conflict, +and not for the purpose of throwing a whole garrison into +alarm by trials of skill and dexterity upon shadows at +this unseasonable hour." + +"I was not aware, sir," returned Sir Everard proudly, +and secretly galled at being thus addressed before the +men, "it could be deemed a military crime to destroy an +enemy at whatever hour he might present himself, and +especially on such an occasion as the present. As for my +firing at a shadow, those who heard the yell that followed +the second shot, can determine that it came from no +shadow, but from a fierce and vindictive enemy. The cry +denoted even something more than the ordinary defiance +of an Indian: it seemed to express a fiendish sentiment +of personal triumph and revenge." + +The governor started involuntarily. "Do you imagine, Sir +Everard Valletort, the aim of your rifle was true--that +you hit him?" + +This question was asked so hurriedly, and in a tone so +different from that in which he had hitherto spoken, that +the officers around simultaneously raised their eyes to +those of their colonel with an expression of undissembled +surprise. He observed it, and instantly resumed his +habitual sternness of look and manner. + +"I rather fear not, sir," replied Sir Everard, who had +principally remarked the emotion; "but may I hope (and +this was said with emphasis), in the evident disappointment +you experience at my want of success, my offence may be +overlooked?" + +The governor fixed his penetrating eyes on the speaker, +as if he would have read his inmost mind; and then calmly, +and even impressively, observed,-- + +"Sir Everard Valletort, I do overlook the offence, and +hope you may as easily forgive yourself. It were well, +however, that your indiscretion, which can only find its +excuse in your being so young an officer, had not been +altogether without some good result. Had you killed or +disabled the--the savage, there might have been a decent +palliative offered; but what must be your feelings, sir, +when you reflect, the death of yon officer," and he +pointed to the corpse of the unhappy Murphy, "is, in a +great degree, attributable to yourself? Had you not +provoked the anger of the savage, and given a direction +to his aim by the impotent and wanton discharge of your +own rifle, this accident would never have happened." + +This severe reproving of an officer, who had acted from +the most praiseworthy of motives, and who could not +possibly have anticipated the unfortunate catastrophe +that had occurred, was considered especially harsh and +unkind by every one present; and a low and almost inaudible +murmur passed through the company to which Sir Everard +was attached. For a minute or two that officer also +appeared deeply pained, not more from the reproof itself +than from the new light in which the observation of his +chief had taught him to view, for the first time, the +causes that had led to the fall of Murphy. Finding, +however, that the governor had no further remark to +address to him, he once more returned to his station in +the ranks. + +"Mr. Lawson," resumed the commandant, turning to the +adjutant, "let this victim be carried to the spot on +which he fell, and there interred. I know no better grave +for a soldier than beneath the sod that has been moistened +with his blood. Recollect," he continued, as the adjutant +once more led the party out of the area,--"no firing, +Mr. Lawson. The duty must be silently performed, and +without the risk of provoking a forest of arrows, or a +shower of bullets from the savages. Major Blackwater," +he pursued, as soon as the corpse had been removed, "let +the men pile their arms even as they now stand, and remain +ready to fall in at a minute's notice. Should any thing +extraordinary happen before the morning, you will, of +course, apprise me." He then strode out of the area with +the same haughty and measured step that had characterised +his entrance. + +"Our colonel does not appear to be in one of his most +amiable moods to-night," observed Captain Blessington, +as the officers, after having disposed of their respective +companies, now proceeded along the ramparts to assist at +the last funeral offices of their unhappy associate. +"He was disposed to be severe, and must have put you, in +some measure, out of conceit with your favourite rifle, +Valletort." + +"True," rejoined the Baronet, who had already rallied +from the momentary depression of his spirits, "he hit me +devilish hard, I confess, and was disposed to display +more of the commanding officer than quite suits my ideas +of the service. His words were as caustic as his looks; +and could both have pierced me to the quick, there was +no inclination on his part wanting. By my soul I could. +...but I forgive him. He is the father of my friend: +and for that reason will I chew the cud of my mortification, +nor suffer, if possible, a sense of his unkindness to +rankle at my heart. At all events, Blessington, my mind +is made up, and resign or exchange I certainly shall the +instant I can find a decent loop-hole to creep out of." + +Sir Everard fancied the ear of his captain was alone +listening to these expressions of his feeling, or in all +probability he would not have uttered them. As he concluded +the last sentence, however, he felt his arm gently grasped +by one who walked a pace or two silently in their rear. +He turned, and recognised Charles de Haldimar. + +"I am sure, Valletort, you will believe how much pained +I have been at the severity of my father; but, indeed, +there was nothing personally offensive intended. Blessington +can tell you as well as myself it is his manner altogether. +Nay, that although he is the first in seniority after +Blackwater, the governor treats him with the same distance +and hauteur he would use towards the youngest ensign in +the service. Such are the effects of his long military +habits, and his ideas of the absolutism of command. Am +I not right, Blessington?" + +"Quite right, Charles. Sir Everard may satisfy himself +his is no solitary instance of the stern severity of your +father. Still, I confess, notwithstanding the rigidity +of manner which he seems, on all occasions, to think so +indispensable to the maintenance of authority in a +commanding officer, I never knew him so inclined to find +fault as he is to-night." + +"Perhaps," observed Valletort, good humouredly, "his +conscience is rather restless; and he is willing to get +rid of it and his spleen together. I would wager my rifle +against the worthless scalp of the rascal I fired at +to-night, that this same stranger, whose asserted appearance +has called us from our comfortable beds, is but the +creation of his disturbed dreams. Indeed, how is it +possible any thing formed of flesh and blood could have +escaped us with the vigilant watch that has been kept on +the ramparts? The old gentleman certainly had that illusion +strongly impressed on his mind when he so sapiently spoke +of my firing at a shadow." + +"But the gate," interrupted Charles de Haldimar, with +something of mild reproach in his tones,--"you forget, +Valletort, the gate was found unlocked, and that my +brother is missing. HE, at least, was flesh and blood, +as you say, and yet he has disappeared. What more probable, +therefore, than that this stranger is at once the cause +and the agent of his abduction?" + +"Impossible, Charles," observed Captain Blessington; +"Frederick was in the midst of his guard. How, therefore, +could he be conveyed away without the alarm being given? +Numbers only could have succeeded in so desperate an +enterprise; and yet there is no evidence, or even suspicion, +of more than one individual having been here." + +"It is a singular affair altogether," returned Sir Everard, +musingly. "Of two things, however, I am satisfied. The +first is, that the stranger, whoever he may be, and if +he really has been here, is no Indian; the second, that +he is personally known to the governor, who has been, or +I mistake much, more alarmed at his individual presence +than if Ponteac and his whole band had suddenly broken +in upon us. Did you remark his emotion, when I dwelt on +the peculiar character of personal triumph and revenge +which the cry of the lurking villain outside seemed to +express? and did you notice the eagerness with which he +enquired if I thought I had hit him? Depend upon it, +there is more in all this than is dreamt of in our +philosophy." + +"And it was your undisguised perception of that emotion," +remarked Captain Blessington, "that drew down his severity +upon your own head. It was, however, too palpable not to +be noticed by all; and I dare say conjecture is as busily +and as vaguely at work among our companions as it is with +us. The clue to the mystery, in a great degree, now dwells +with Frank Halloway; and to him we must look for its +elucidation. His disclosure will be one, I apprehend, +full of ignominy to himself, but of the highest interest +and importance to us all. And yet I know not how to +believe the man the traitor he appears." + +"Did you remark that last harrowing exclamation of his +wife?" observed Charles de Haldimar, in a tone of +unspeakable melancholy. "How fearfully prophetic it +sounded in my ears. I know not how it is," he pursued, +"but I wish I had not heard those sounds; for since that +moment I have had a sad strange presentiment of evil at +my heart. Heaven grant my poor brother may make his +appearance, as I still trust he will, at the hour Halloway +seems to expect, for if not, the latter most assuredly +dies. I know my father well; and, if convicted by a court +martial, no human power can alter the destiny that awaits +Frank Halloway." + +"Rally, my dear Charles, rally," said Sir Everard, +affecting a confidence he did not feel himself; "indulge +not in these idle and superstitious fancies. I pity +Halloway from my soul, and feel the deepest interest in +his pretty and unhappy wife; but that is no reason why +one should attach importance to the incoherent expressions +wrung from her in the agony of grief." + +"It is kind of you, Valletort, to endeavour to cheer my +spirits, when, if the truth were confessed, you acknowledge +the influence of the same feelings. I thank you for the +attempt, but time alone can show how far I shall have +reason, or otherwise, to lament the occurrences of this +night." + +They had now reached that part of the ramparts whence +the shot from Sir Everard's rifle had been fired. Several +men were occupied in digging a grave in the precise spot +on which the unfortunate Murphy had stood when he received +his death-wound; and into this, when completed, the body, +enshrouded in the cloak already alluded to, was deposited +by his companions. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +While the adjutant was yet reading, in a low and solemn +voice, the service for the dead, a fierce and distant +yell, as if from a legion of devils, burst suddenly from +the forest, and brought the hands of the startled officers +instinctively to their swords. This appalling cry lasted, +without interruption, for many minutes, and was then as +abruptly checked as it had been unexpectedly delivered. +A considerable pause succeeded, and then again it rose +with even more startling vehemence than before. By one +unaccustomed to those devilish sounds, no distinction +could have been made in the two several yells that had +been thus savagely pealed forth; but those to whom practice +and long experience in the warlike habits and customs of +the Indians had rendered their shouts familiar, at once +divined, or fancied they divined, the cause. The first +was, to their conception, a yell expressive at once of +vengeance and disappointment in pursuit,--perhaps of some +prisoner who had escaped from their toils; the second, +of triumph and success,--in all probability, indicative +of the recapture of that prisoner. For many minutes +afterwards the officers continued to listen, with the +most aching attention, for a repetition of the cry, or +even fainter sounds, that might denote either a nearer +approach to the fort, or the final departure of the +Indians. After the second yell, however, the woods, in +the heart of which it appeared to have been uttered, were +buried in as profound a silence as if they had never yet +echoed back the voice of man; and all at length became +satisfied that the Indians, having accomplished some +particular purpose, had retired once more to their distant +encampments for the night. Captain Erskine was the first +who broke the almost breathless silence that prevailed +among themselves. + +"On my life De Haldimar is a prisoner with the Indians. +He has been attempting his escape,--has been +detected,--followed, and again fallen into their hands. +I know their infernal yells but too well. The last +expressed their savage joy at the capture of a prisoner; +and there is no one of us missing but De Haldimar." + +"Not a doubt of it," said Captain Blessington; "the cry +was certainly what you describe it, and Heaven only knows +what will be the fate of our poor friend." + +No other officer spoke, for all were oppressed by the +weight of their own feelings, and sought rather to give +indulgence to speculation in secret, than to share their +impressions with their companions. Charles de Haldimar +stood a little in the rear, leaning his head upon his +hand against the box of the sentry, (who was silently, +though anxiously, pacing his walk,) and in an attitude +expressive of the deepest dejection and sorrow. + +"I suppose I must finish Lawson's work, although I am +but a poor hand at this sort of thing," resumed Captain +Erskine, taking up the prayer book the adjutant had, in +hastening on the first alarm to get the men under arms, +carelessly thrown on the grave of the now unconscious +Murphy. + +He then commenced the service at the point where Mr. +Lawson had so abruptly broken off, and went through the +remainder of the prayers. A very few minutes sufficed +for the performance of this solemn duty, which was effected +by the faint dim light of the at length dawning day, and +the men in attendance proceeded to fill up the grave of +their officer. + +Gradually the mists, that had fallen during the latter +hours of the night, began to ascend from the common, and +disperse themselves in air, conveying the appearance of +a rolling sheet of vapour retiring Back upon itself, and +disclosing objects in succession, until the eye could +embrace all that came within its extent of vision. As +the officers yet lingered near the rude grave of their +companion, watching with abstracted air the languid and +almost mechanical action of their jaded men, as they +emptied shovel after shovel of the damp earth over the +body of its new tenant, they were suddenly startled by +an expression of exultation from Sir Everard Valletort. + +"By Jupiter, I have pinked him," he exclaimed triumphantly. +"I knew my rifle could not err; and as for my sight, I +have carried away too many prizes in target-shooting to +have been deceived in that. How delighted the old governor +will be, Charles, to hear this. No more lecturing, I am +sure, for the next six months at least;" and the young +officer rubbed his hands together, at the success of his +shot, with as much satisfaction and unconcern for the +future, as if he had been in his own native England; in +the midst of a prize-ring. + +Roused by the observation of his friend, De Haldimar +quitted his position near the sentry box, and advanced +to the outer edge of the rampart. To him, as to his +companions, the outline of the old bomb proof was now +distinctly visible, but it was sometime before they could +discover, in the direction in which Valletort pointed, +a dark speck upon the common; and this so indistinctly, +they could scarcely distinguish it with the naked eye. + +"Your sight is quite equal to your aim, Sir Everard," +remarked Lieutenant Johnstone, one of Erskine's subalterns, +"and both are decidedly superior to mine; yet I used to +be thought a good rifleman too, and have credit for an +eye no less keen than that of an Indian. You have the +advantage of me, however; for I honestly admit I never +could have picked off yon fellow in the dark as you have +done." + +As the dawn increased, the dark shadow of a human form, +stretched at its length upon the ground, became perceptible; +and the officers, with one unanimous voice, bore loud +testimony to the skill and dexterity of him who had, +under such extreme disadvantages, accomplished the death +of their skulking enemy. + +"Bravo, Valletort," said Charles de Haldimar, recovering +his spirits, as much from the idea, now occurring to him, +that this might indeed be the stranger whose appearance +had so greatly disturbed his father, as from the +gratification he felt in the praises bestowed on his +friend. "Bravo, my dear fellow;" then approaching, and +in a half whisper, "when next I write to Clara, I shall +request her, with my cousin's assistance, to prepare a +chaplet of bays, wherewith I shall myself crown you as +their proxy. But what is the matter now, Valletort? Why +stand you there gazing upon the common, as if the victim +of your murderous aim was rising from his bloody couch, +to reproach you with his death? Tell me, shall I write +to Clara for the prize, or will you receive it from her +own hands?" + +"Bid her rather pour her curses on my head; and to those, +De Haldimar, add your own," exclaimed Sir Everard, at +length raising himself from the statue-like position he +had assumed. "Almighty God," he pursued, in the same tone +of deep agony, "what have I done? Where, where shall I +hide myself?" + +As he spoke he turned away from his companions, and +covering his eyes with his hand, with quick and unequal +steps, even like those of a drunken man, walked, or rather +ran, along the rampart, as if fearful of being overtaken. + +The whole group of officers, and Charles de Haldimar in +particular, were struck with dismay at the language and +action of Sir Everard; and for a moment they fancied that +fatigue, and watching, and excitement, had partially +affected his brain. But when, after the lapse of a minute +or two, they again looked out upon the common, the secret +of his agitation was too faithfully and too painfully +explained. + +What had at first the dusky and dingy hue of a half-naked +Indian, was now perceived, by the bright beams of light +just gathering in the east, to be the gay and striking +uniform of a British officer. Doubt as to who that officer +was there could be none, for the white sword-belt suspended +over the right shoulder, and thrown into strong relief +by the field of scarlet on which it reposed, denoted the +wearer of this distinguishing badge of duty to be one of +the guard. + +To comprehend effectually the feelings of the officers, +it would be necessary that one should have been not merely +a soldier, but a soldier under the same circumstances. +Surrounded on every hand by a fierce and cruel +enemy--prepared at every moment to witness scenes of +barbarity and bloodshed in their most appalling +shapes--isolated from all society beyond the gates of +their own fortress, and by consequence reposing on and +regarding each other as vital links in the chain of their +wild and adventurous existence,--it can easily be understood +with what sincere and unaffected grief they lamented the +sudden cutting off even of those who least assimilated +in spirit and character with themselves. Such, in a great +degree, had been the case in the instance of the officer +over whose grave they were now met to render the last +offices of companionship, if not of friendship. Indeed +Murphy--a rude, vulgar, and illiterate, though brave +Irishman--having risen from the ranks, the coarseness of +which he had never been able to shake off, was little +calculated, either by habits or education, to awaken +feelings, except of the most ordinary description, in +his favour; and he and Ensign Delme were the only exceptions +to those disinterested and tacit friendships that had +grown up out of circumstances in common among the majority. +If, therefore, they could regret the loss of such a +companion as Murphy, how deep and heartfelt must have +been the sorrow they experienced when they beheld the +brave, generous, manly, amiable, and highly-talented +Frederick de Haldimar--the pride of the garrison, and +the idol of his family--lying extended, a cold, senseless +corpse, slain by the hand of the bosom friend of his own +brother!--Notwithstanding the stern severity and distance +of the governor, whom few circumstances, however critical +or exciting, could surprise into relaxation of his habitual +stateliness, it would have been difficult to name two +young men more universally liked and esteemed by their +brother officers than were the De Haldimars--the first +for the qualities already named--the second, for those +retiring, mild, winning manners, and gentle affections, +added to extreme and almost feminine beauty of countenance +for which he was remarkable. Alas, what a gloomy picture +was now exhibited to the minds of all!--Frederick de +Haldimar a corpse, and slain by the hand of Sir Everard +Valletort! What but disunion could follow this melancholy +catastrophe? and how could Charles de Haldimar, even if +his bland nature should survive the shock, ever bear to +look again upon the man who had, however innocently or +unintentionally, deprived him of a brother whom he adored? + +These were the impressions that passed through the minds +of the compassionating officers, as they directed their +glance alternately from the common to the pale and +marble-like features of the younger De Haldimar, who, +with parted lips and stupid gaze, continued to fix his +eyes upon the inanimate form of his ill-fated brother, +as if the very faculty of life itself had been for a +period suspended. At length, however, while his companions +watched in silence the mining workings of that grief +which they feared to interrupt by ill-timed observations, +even of condolence, the death-like hue, which had hitherto +suffused the usually blooming cheek of the young officer, +was succeeded by a flush of the deepest dye, while his +eyes, swollen by the tide of blood now rushing violently +to his face, appeared to be bursting from their sockets. +The shock was more than his delicate frame, exhausted as +it was by watching and fatigue, could bear. He tottered, +reeled, pressed his hand upon his head, and before any +one could render him assistance, fell senseless on the +ramparts. + +During the interval between Sir Everard Valletort's +exclamation, and the fall of Charles de Haldimar, the +men employed at the grave had performed their duty, and +were gazing with mingled astonishment and concern, both +on the body of their murdered officer, and on the dumb +scene acting around them. Two of these were now despatched +for a litter, with which they speedily re-appeared. On +this Charles de Haldimar, already delirious with the +fever of intense excitement, was carefully placed, and, +followed by Captain Blessington and Lieutenant Johnstone, +borne to his apartment in the small range of buildings +constituting the officers' barracks. Captain Erskine +undertook the disagreeable office of communicating these +distressing events to the governor; and the remainder of +the officers once more hastened to join or linger near +their respective companies, in readiness for the order +which it was expected would be given to despatch a numerous +party of the garrison to secure the body of Captain de +Haldimar. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The sun was just rising above the horizon, in all that +peculiar softness of splendour which characterises the +early days of autumn in America, as Captain Erskine led +his company across the drawbridge that communicated with +the fort. It was the first time it had been lowered since +the investment of the garrison by the Indians; and as +the dull and rusty chains performed their service with +a harsh and grating sound, it seemed as if an earnest +were given of melancholy boding. Although the distance +to be traversed was small, the risk the party incurred +was great; for it was probable the savages, ever on the +alert, would not suffer them to effect their object +unmolested. It was perhaps singular, and certainly +contradictory, that an officer of the acknowledged prudence +and forethought ascribed to the governor--qualities +which in a great degree neutralised his excessive severity +in the eyes of his troops--should have hazarded the +chance of having his garrison enfeebled by the destruction +of a part, if not of the whole, of the company appointed +to this dangerous duty; but with all his severity, Colonel +de Haldimar was not without strong affection for his +children. The feelings of the father, therefore, in a +great degree triumphed over the prudence of the commander; +and to shield the corpse of his son from the indignities +which he well knew would be inflicted on it by Indian +barbarity, he had been induced to accede to the earnest +prayer of Captain Erskine, that he might be permitted to +lead out his company for the purpose of securing the +body. Every means were, however, taken to cover the +advance, and ensure the retreat of the detachment. The +remainder of the troops were distributed along the rear of +the ramparts, with instructions to lie flat on their +faces until summoned by their officers from that position; +which was to be done only in the event of close pursuit +from the savages. Artillerymen were also stationed at +the several guns that flanked the rear of the fort, and +necessarily commanded both the common and the outskirt +of the forest, with orders to fire with grape-shot at a +given signal. Captain Erskine's instructions were, +moreover, if attacked, to retreat back under the guns of +the fort slowly and in good order, and without turning +his back upon the enemy. + +Thus confident of support, the party, after traversing +the drawbridge with fixed bayonets, inclined to the right, +and following the winding of the ditch by which it was +surrounded, made the semi-circuit of the rampart until +they gained the immediate centre of the rear, and in a +direct line with the bomb-proof. Here their mode of +advance was altered, to guard more effectually against +the enemy with whom they might possibly have to contend. +The front and rear ranks of the company, consisting in +all of ninety men, were so placed as to leave space in +the event of attack, of a portion of each wheeling inwards +so as to present in an instant three equal faces of a +square. As the rear was sufficiently covered by the +cannon of the fort to defeat any attempt to turn their +flanks, the manoeuvre was one that enabled them to present +a fuller front in whatever other quarter they might be +attacked; and had this additional advantage, that in the +advance by single files a narrower front was given to +the aim of the Indians, who, unless they fired in an +oblique direction, could only, of necessity, bring down +two men (the leading files) at a time. + +In this order, and anxiously overlooked by their comrades, +whose eyes alone peered from above the surface of the +rampart on which they lay prostrate, the detachment +crossed the common; one rank headed by Captain Erskine, +the other by Lieutenant Johnstone. They had now approached +within a few yards of the unfortunate victim, when Captain +Erskine commanded a halt of his party; and two files were +detached from the rear of each rank, to place the body +on a litter with which they had provided themselves. He +and Johnstone also moved in the same direction in advance +of the men, prepared to render assistance if required. +The corpse lay on its face, and in no way despoiled of +any of its glittering habiliments; a circumstance that +too well confirmed the fact of De Haldimar's death having +been accomplished by the ball from Sir Everard Valletort's +rifle. It appeared, however, the ill-fated officer had +struggled much in the agonies of death; for the left leg +was drawn Up into an unnatural state of contraction, and +the right hand, closely compressed, grasped a quantity +of grass and soil, which had evidently been torn up in +a paroxysm of suffering and despair. + +The men placed the litter at the side of the body, which +they now proceeded to raise. As they were in the act of +depositing it on this temporary bier, the plumed hat fell +from the head, and disclosed, to the astonishment of all, +the scalpless crown completely saturated in its own +clotted blood and oozing brains. + +An exclamation of horror and disgust escaped at the same +moment from the lips of the two officers, and the men +started back from their charge as if a basilisk had +suddenly appeared before them. Captain Erskine pursued:-- +"What the devil is the meaning of all this, Johnstone?" + +"What, indeed!" rejoined his lieutenant, with a shrug of +the shoulders, that was intended to express his inability +to form any opinion on the subject + +"Unless it should prove," continued Erskine, "as I +sincerely trust it may, that poor Valletort is not, after +all, the murderer of his friend. It must be so. De +Haldimar has been slain by the same Indian who killed +Murphy.--Do you recollect his scalp cry? He was in the +act of despoiling his victim of this trophy of success, +when Sir Everard fired. Examine the body well, Mitchell, +and discover where the wound lies." + +The old soldier to whom this order was addressed now +prepared, with the assistance of his comrades, to turn +the body upon its back, when suddenly the air was rent +with terrific yells, that seemed to be uttered in their +very ears, and in the next instant more than a hundred +dark and hideous savages sprang simultaneously to their +feet within the bomb-proof, while every tree along the +skirt of the forest gave back the towering form of a +warrior. Each of these, in addition to his rifle, was +armed with all those destructive implements of warfare +which render the Indians of America so formidable and so +terrible an enemy. + +"Stand to your arms, men," shouted Captain Erskine, +recovering from his first and unavoidable, though but +momentary, surprise. "First and fourth sections, on your +right and left backwards wheel:--Quick, men, within the +square, for your lives." As he spoke, he and Lieutenant +Johnstone sprang hastily back, and in time to obtain +admittance within the troops, who had rapidly executed +the manoeuvre commanded. Not so with Mitchell and his +companions. On the first alarm they had quitted the body +of the mutilated officer, and flown to secure their arms, +but even while in the act of stooping to take them up, +they had been grappled by a powerful and vindictive foe; +and the first thing they beheld on regaining their upright +position was a dusky Indian at the side, and a gleaming +tomahawk flashing rapidly round the head of each. + +"Fire not, on your lives," exclaimed Captain Erskine +hastily, as he saw several of the men in front levelling, +in the excitement of the moment, their muskets at the +threatening savages. "Prepare for attack," he pursued; +and in the next instant each man dropped on his right +knee, and a barrier of bristling bayonets seemed to rise +from the very bowels of the earth. Attracted by the +novelty of the sight, the bold and daring warriors, +although still retaining their firm grasp of the unhappy +soldiers, were for a moment diverted from their bloody +purpose, and temporarily suspended the quick and rotatory +motion of their weapons. Captain Erskine took advantage +of this pause to seize the halbert of one of his sergeants, +to the extreme point of which he hastily attached a white +pocket handkerchief, that was loosely thrust into the +breast of his uniform; this he waved on high three several +times, and then relinquishing the halbert, dropped also +on his knee within the square. + +"The dog of a Saganaw asks for mercy," said a voice from +within the bomb-proof, and speaking in the dialect of +the Ottawas. "His pale flag bespeaks the quailing of his +heart, and his attitude denotes the timidity of the hind. +His warriors are like himself, and even now upon their +knees they call upon their Manitou to preserve them from +the vengeance of the red-skins. But mercy is not for dogs +like these. Now is the time to make our tomahawks warm +in their blood; and every head that we count shall be a +scalp upon our war poles." + +As he ceased, one universal and portentous yell burst +from the fiend-like band; and again the weapons of death +were fiercely brandished around the heads of the stupified +soldiers who had fallen into their power. + +"What can they be about?" anxiously exclaimed Captain +Erskine, in the midst of this deafening clamour, to his +subaltern.--"Quiet, man; damn you, quiet, or I'll cut +you down," he pursued, addressing one of his soldiers, +whose impatience caused him to bring his musket half up +to the shoulder. And again he turned his head in the +direction of the fort:--"Thank God, here it comes at +last,--I feared my signal had not been noticed." + +While he yet spoke, the loud roaring of a cannon from +the ramparts was heard, and a shower of grape-shot passed +over the heads of the detachment, and was seen tearing +up the earth around the bomb-proof, and scattering +fragments of stone and wood into the air. The men +simultaneously and unbidden gave three cheers. + +In an instant the scene was changed. As if moved by some +mechanical impulse, the fierce band that lined the +bomb-proof sank below the surface, and were no longer +visible, while the warriors in the forest again sought +shelter behind the trees. The captured soldiers were also +liberated without injury, so sudden and startling had +been the terror produced in the savages by the lightning +flash that announced its heavy messengers of destruction. +Discharge after discharge succeeded without intermission; +but the guns had been levelled so high, to prevent injury +to their own men, they had little other effect than to +keep the Indians from the attack. The rush of bullets +through the close forest, and the crashing of trees and +branches as they fell with startling force upon each +other, were, with the peals of artillery, the only noises +now to be heard; for not a yell, not a word was uttered +by the Indians after the first discharge; and but for +the certainty that existed in every mind, it might have +been supposed the whole of them had retired. + +"Now is your time," cried Captain Erskine; "bring in the +litter to the rear, and stoop as much as possible to +avoid the shot." + +The poor half-strangled fellows, however, instead of +obeying the order of their captain, looked round in every +direction for the enemy by whom they had been so rudely +handled, and who had glided from them almost as +imperceptibly and swiftly as they had first approached. +It seemed as if they apprehended that any attempt to +remove the body would be visited by those fierce devils +with the same appalling and ferocious threatenings. + +"Why stand ye there, ye dolts," continued their captain, +"looking around as if ye were bewitched? Bring the litter +in to the rear.--Mitchell, you old fool, are you grown +a coward in your age? Are you not ashamed to set such an +example to your comrades?" + +The doubt thus implied of the courage of his men, who, +in fact, were merely stupified with the scene they had +gone through, had, as Captain Erskine expected, the +desired effect. They now bent themselves to the litter, +on which they had previously deposited their muskets, +and with a self-possession that contrasted singularly +with their recent air of wild astonishment, bore it to +the rear at the risk of being cut in two at every moment +by the fire from the fort. + +One fierce yell, instinctively proffered by several of +the lurking band in the forest, marked their disappointment +and rage at the escape of their victims; but all attempt +at uncovering themselves, so as to be enabled to fire, +was prevented by the additional showers of grape which +that yell immediately brought upon them. + +The position in which Captain Erskine now found himself +was highly critical. Before him, and on either flank, +was a multitude of savages, who only awaited the cessation +of the fire from the fort to commence their fierce and +impetuous attack. That that fire could not long be +sustained was evident, since ammunition could ill be +spared for the present inefficient purpose, where supplies +of all kinds were so difficult to be obtained; and, if +he should attempt a retreat, the upright position of his +men exposed them to the risk of being swept away by the +ponderous metal, that already fanned their cheeks with +the air it so rapidly divided. Suddenly, however, the +fire from the batteries was discontinued, and this he +knew to be a signal for himself. He gave an order in a +low voice, and the detachment quitted their recumbent +and defensive position, still remaining formed in square. +At the same instant, a gun flashed from the fort; but +not as before was heard the rushing sound of the destructive +shot crushing the trees in its resistless course. The +Indians took courage at this circumstance, for they deemed +the bullets of their enemies were expended; and that they +were merely discharging their powder to keep up the +apprehension originally produced. Again they showed +themselves, like so many demons, from behind their lurking +places; and yells and shouts of the most terrific and +threatening character once more rent the air, and echoed +through the woods. Their cries of anticipated triumph +were, however, but of short duration. Presently, a +hissing noise was heard in the air; and close to the +bomb-proof, and at the very skirt of the forest, they +beheld a huge globe of iron fall perpendicularly to the +earth, to the outer part of which was attached what they +supposed to be a reed, that spat forth innumerable sparks +of fire, without however, seeming to threaten the slightest +injury. Attracted by the novel sight, a dozen warriors +sprang to the spot, and fastened their gaze upon it with +all the childish wonder and curiosity of men in a savage +state. One, more eager and restless than his fellows, +stooped over it to feel with his hand of what it was +composed. At that moment it burst, and limbs, and head, +and entrails, were seen flying in the air, with the +fragments of the shell, and prostrate and struggling +forms lay writhing on every hand in the last, fierce +agonies of death. + +A yell of despair and a shout of triumph burst at the +same moment from the adverse parties. Taking advantage +of the terror produced, by this catastrophe, in the +savages, Captain Erskine caused the men bearing the corpse +to retreat, with all possible expedition, under the +ramparts of the fort. He waited until they got nearly +half way, and then threw forward the wheeling sections, +that had covered this movement, once more into single +file, in which order he commenced his retreat. Step by +step, and almost imperceptibly, the men paced backwards, +ready, at a moment's notice, to reform the square. Partly +recovered from the terror and surprise produced by the +bursting of the shell, the Indians were quick in perceiving +this movement: filled with rage at having been so long +baulked of their aim, they threw themselves once more +impetuously from their cover; and, with stimulating yells, +at length opened their fire. Several of Captain Erskine's +men were wounded by this discharge; when, again, and +furiously the cannon opened from the fort. It was then +that the superiority of the artillery was made manifest. +Both right and left of the retreating files the ponderous +shot flew heavily past, carrying death and terror to the +Indians; while not a man of those who intervened was +scathed or touched in its progress. The warriors in the +forest were once more compelled to shelter themselves +behind the trees; but in the bomb-proof, where they were +more secure, they were also more bold. From this a +galling fire, mingled with the most hideous yells, was +now kept up; and the detachment, in their slow retreat, +suffered considerably. Several men had been killed; and, +about twenty, including Lieutenant Johnstone, wounded, +when again, one of those murderous globes fell, hissing +in the very centre of the bomb-proof. In an instant, the +Indian fire was discontinued; and their dark and pliant +forms were seen hurrying with almost incredible rapidity +over the dilapidated walls, and flying into the very +heart of the forest, so that when the shell exploded, a +few seconds afterwards, not a warrior was to be seen. +From this moment the attack was not renewed, and Captain +Erskine made good his retreat without farther molestation. + +"Well, old buffers!" exclaimed one of the leading files, +as the detachment, preceded by its dead and wounded, now +moved along the moat in the direction of the draw-bridge, +"how did you like the grip of them black savages?--I say, +Mitchell, old Nick will scarcely know the face of you, +it's so much altered by fright.--Did you see," turning +to the man in his rear, "how harum-scarum he looked, when +the captain called out to him to come off?" + +"Hold your clapper, you spooney, and be damned to you!" +exclaimed the angry veteran.--"Had the Ingian fastened +his paw upon your ugly neck as he did upon mine, all the +pitiful life your mother ever put into you would have +been spirited away from very fear; so you needn't brag." + +"Sure, and if any of ye had a grain of spunk, ye would +have fired, and freed a fellow from the clutch of them +hell thieves," muttered another of the men at the litter. +"All the time, the devil had me by the throat, swinging +his tommyhawk about my head, I saw ye dancing up and down +in the heavens, instead of being on your marrow bones on +the common." + +"And didn't I want to do it?" rejoined the first speaker. +"Ask Tom Winkler here, if the captain didn't swear he'd +cut the soul out of my body if I even offered so much as +to touch the trigger of my musket." + +"Faith, and lucky he did," replied his covering man (for +the ranks had again joined), "since but for that, there +wouldn't be at this moment so much as a hair of the scalp +of one of you left." + +"And how so, Mr. Wiseacre?" rejoined his comrade. + +"How so! Because the first shot that we fired would have +set the devils upon them in right earnest--and then their +top-knots wouldn't have been worth a brass farthing. +They would have been scalped before they could say Jack +Robinson." + +"It was a hell of a risk," resumed another of the litter +men, "to give four men a chance of having their skull +pieces cracked open like so many egg-shells, and all to +get possession of a dead officer." + +"And sure, you beast," remarked a different voice in a +tone of anger, "the dead body of the brave captain was +worth a dozen such rotten carcasses with all the life in +them. What matter would it be if ye had all been scalped?" +Then with a significant half glance to the rear, which +was brought up by their commander, on whose arm leaned +the slightly wounded Johnstone, "Take care the captain +doesn't hear ye prating after that fashion, Will Burford." + +"By Jasus," said a good-humoured, quaint looking Irishman, +who had been fixing his eyes on the litter during this +pithy and characteristic colloquy; "it sames to me, my +boys, that ye have caught the wrong cow by the horns, +and that all your pains has been for nothing at all, at +all. By the holy pope, ye are all wrong; it's like bringing +salt butter to Cork, or coals to your Newcastle, as ye +call it. Who the divil ever heard of the officer wearing +ammunition shoes?" + +The men all turned their gaze on that part of the vestment +of the corpse to which their attention had been directed +by this remark, when it was at once perceived, although +it had hitherto escaped the observation even of the +officers, that, not only the shoes were those usually +worn by the soldiers, and termed ammunition or store +shoes, but also, the trowsers were of the description of +coarse grey, peculiar to that class. + +"By the piper that played before Moses, and ye're right, +Dick Doherty," exclaimed another Irishman; "sure, and it +isn't the officer at all! Just look at the great black +fist of him too, and never call me Phil Shehan, if it +ever was made for the handling of an officer's spit." + +"Well said, Shehan," observed the man who had so warmly +reproved Will Burford, and who had formerly been servant +to De Haldimar; "the captain's hand is as white and as +soft as my cross-belt, or, what's saying a great deal +more, as Miss Clara's herself, heaven bless her sweet +countenance! and Lieutenant Valletort's nigger's couldn't +well be much blacker nor this." + +"What a set of hignoramuses ye must be," grunted old +Mitchell, "not to see that the captain's hand is only +covered with dirt; and as for the ammunition shoes and +trowsers, why you know our officers wear any thing since +we have been cooped up in this here fort." + +"Yes, by the holy poker," (and here we must beg to refer +the reader to the soldier's vocabulary for any terms that +may be, in the course of this dialogue, incomprehensible +to him or her,)--"Yes, by the holy poker, off duty, if +they like it," returned Phil Shehan; "but it isn't even +the colonel's own born son that dare to do so while +officer of the guard." + +"Ye are right, comrade," said Burford; "there would soon +be hell and tommy to pay if he did." + +At this point of their conversation, one of the leading +men at the litter, in turning to look at its subject, +stumbled over the root of a stump that lay in his way, +and fell violently forward. The sudden action destroyed +the equilibrium of the corpse, which rolled off its +temporary bier upon the earth, and disclosed, for the +first time, a face begrimmed with masses of clotted blood, +which had streamed forth from the scalped brain during +the night. + +"It's the divil himself," said Phil Shehan, making the +sign of the cross, half in jest, half in earnest: "for +it isn't the captin at all, and who but the divil could +have managed to clap on his rigimintals?" + +"No, it's an Ingian," remarked Dick Burford, sagaciously; +"it's an Ingian that has killed the captain, and dressed +himself in his clothes. I thought he smelt strong, when +I helped to pick him up." + +"And that's the reason why the bloody heathens wouldn't +let us carry him off," said another of the litter men. +"I thought they wouldn't ha' made such a rout about the +officer, when they had his scalp already in their +pouch-belts." + +"What a set of prating fools ye are," interrupted the +leading sergeant; "who ever saw an Ingian with light +hair? and sure this hair in the neck is that of a +Christian." + +At that moment Captain Erskine, attracted by the sudden +halt produced by the falling of the body, came quickly +up to the front. + +"What is the meaning of all this, Cassidy?" he sternly +demanded of the sergeant; "why is this halt without my +orders, and how comes the body here?" + +"Carter stumbled against a root, sir, and the body rolled +over upon the ground." + +"And was the body to roll back again?" angrily rejoined +his captain.--"What mean ye, fellows, by standing there; +quick, replace it upon the litter, and mind this does +not occur again." + +"They say, sir," said the sergeant, respectfully, as the +men proceeded to their duty, "that it is not Captain de +Haldimar after all, but an Ingian." + +"Not Captain de Haldimar! are ye all mad? and have the +Indians, in reality, turned your brains with fear?" + +What, however, was his own surprise, and that of Lieutenant +Johnstone, when, on a closer examination of the corpse, +which the men had now placed with its face uppermost, +they discovered the bewildering fact that it was not, +indeed, Captain de Haldimar who lay before them, but a +stranger, dressed in the uniform of that officer. + +There was no time to solve, or even to dwell on the +singular mystery; for the Indians, though now retired, +might be expected to rally and renew the attack. Once +more, therefore, the detachment moved forward; the officers +dropping as before to the rear, to watch any movements +of the enemy should he re-appear. Nothing, however, +occurred to interrupt their march; and in a few minutes +the heavy clanking sound of the chains of the drawbridge, +as it was again raised by its strong pullies, and the +dull creaking sound of the rusty bolts and locks that +secured the ponderous gate, announced the detachment was +once more safely within the fort. + +While the wounded men were being conveyed to the hospital, +a group, comprising almost all the officers of the +garrison, hastened to meet Captain Erskine and Lieutenant +Johnstone. Congratulations on the escape of the one, +and compliments, rather than condolences, on the accident +of the other, which the arm en echarpe denoted to be +slight, were hastily and warmly proffered. These +felicitations were the genuine ebullitions of the hearts +of men who really felt a pride, unmixed with jealousy, +in the conduct of their fellows; and so cool and excellent +had been the manner in which Captain Erskine had +accomplished his object, that it had claimed the undivided +admiration of all who had been spectators of the affair, +and had, with the aid of their telescopes, been enabled +to follow the minutest movements of the detachment. + +"By heaven!" he at length replied, his chest swelling +with gratified pride at the warm and generous approval +of his companions, "this more than repays me for every +risk. Yet, to be sincere, the credit is not mine, but +Wentworth's. But for you, my dear fellow," grasping and +shaking the hand of that officer, "we should have rendered +but a Flemish account of ourselves. How beautifully those +guns covered our retreat! and the first mortar that sent +the howling devils flying in air like so many +Will-o'the-wisps, who placed that, Wentworth?" + +"I did," replied the officer, with a quickness that +denoted a natural feeling of exultation; "but Bombardier +Kitson's was the most effective. It was his shell that +drove the Indians finally out of the bomb-proof, and left +the coast clear for your retreat." + +"Then Kitson, and his gunners also, merit our best thanks," +pursued Captain Erskine, whose spirits, now that his +detachment was in safety, were more than usually exhilarated +by the exciting events of the last hour; "and what will +be more acceptable, perhaps, they shall each have a glass +of my best old Jamaica before they sleep,--and such stuff +is not to be met with every day in this wilderness of a +country. But, confound my stupid head! where are Charles +de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort?" + +"Poor Charles is in a high fever, and confined to his +bed," remarked Captain Blessington, who now came up adding +his congratulations in a low tone, that marked the +despondency of his heart; "and Sir Everard I have just +left on the rampart with the company, looking, as he well +may, the very image of despair." + +"Run to them, Sumners, my dear boy," said Erskine, hastily +addressing himself to a young ensign who stood near him; +"run quickly, and relieve them of their error. Say it is +not De Haldimar who has been killed, therefore they need +not make themselves any longer uneasy on that score." + +The officers gave a start of surprise. Sumners, however, +hastened to acquit himself of the pleasing task assigned +him, without waiting to hear the explanation of the +singular declaration. + +"Not De Haldimar!" eagerly and anxiously exclaimed Captain +Blessington; "who then have you brought to us in his +uniform, which I clearly distinguished from the rampart +as you passed? Surely you would not tamper with us at +such a moment, Erskine?" + +"Who it is, I know not more than Adam," rejoined the +other; "unless, indeed, it be the devil himself. All I +do know, is, it is not our friend De Haldimar; although, +as you observe, he most certainly wears his uniform. +But you shall see and judge for yourselves, gentlemen. +Sergeant Cassidy," he enquired of that individual, who +now came to ask if the detachment was to be dismissed, +"where have you placed the litter?" + +"Under the piazza of the guard-room, Sir," answered the +sergeant. + +These words had scarcely been uttered, when a general +and hasty movement of the officers, anxious to satisfy +themselves by personal observation it was not indeed De +Haldimar who had fallen, took place in the direction +alluded to, and in the next moment they were at the side +of the litter. + +A blanket had been thrown upon the corpse to conceal the +loathsome disfigurement of the face, over which masses +of thick coagulated blood were laid in patches and streaks, +that set all recognition at defiance. The formation of +the head alone, which was round and short, denoted it to +be not De Haldimar's. Not a feature was left undefiled; +and even the eyes were so covered, it was impossible to +say whether their lids were closed or open. More than +one officer's cheek paled with the sickness that rose to +his heart as he gazed on the hideous spectacle; yet, as +the curiosity of all was strongly excited to know who +the murdered man really was who had been so unaccountably +inducted in the uniform of their lost companion, they +were resolved to satisfy themselves without further delay. +A basin of warm water and a sponge were procured from +the guard-room of Ensign Fortescue, who now joined them, +and with these Captain Blessington proceeded to remove +the disguise. + +In the course of this lavation, it was discovered the +extraordinary flow of blood and brains had been produced +by the infliction of a deep wound on the back of the +head, by the sharp and ponderous tomahawk of an Indian. +It was the only blow that had been given; and the +circumstance of the deceased having been found lying on +his face, accounted for the quantity of gore, that, +trickling downwards, had so completely disguised every +feature. As the coat of thick encrusted matter gave way +beneath the frequent application of the moistening sponge, +the pallid hue of the countenance denoted the murdered +man to be a white. All doubt, however, was soon at an +end. The ammunition shoes, the grey trowsers, the coarse +linen, and the stiff leathern stock encircling the neck, +attested the sufferer to be a soldier of the garrison; +but it was not until the face had been completely denuded +of its unsightly covering, and every feature fully exposed, +that that soldier was at length recognised to be Harry +Donellan, the trusty and attached servant of Captain de +Haldimar. + +While yet the officers stood apart, gazing at the corpse, +and forming a variety of conjectures, as vague as they +were unsatisfactory, in regard to their new mystery, Sir +Everard Valletort, pale and breathless with the speed he +had used, suddenly appeared among them. + +"God of heaven! can it be true--and is it really not De +Haldimar whom I have shot?" wildly asked the agitated +young man. "Who is this, Erskine?" he continued, glancing +at the litter. "Explain, for pity's sake, and quickly." + +"Compose yourself, my dear Valletort," replied the officer +addressed. "You see this is not De Haldimar, but his +servant Donellan. Neither has the latter met his death +from your rifle; there is no mark of a bullet about him. +It was an Indian tomahawk that did his business; and I +will stake my head against a hickory nut the blow came +from the same rascal at whom you fired, and who gave back +the shot and the scalp halloo." + +This opinion was unanimously expressed by the remainder +of the officers. Sir Everard was almost as much overpowered +by his joy, as he had previously been overwhelmed by his +despair, and he grasped and shook the hand of Captain +Erskine, who had thus been the means of relieving his +conscience, with an energy of gratitude and feeling that +almost drew tears from the eyes of that blunt but gallant +officer. + +"Thank God, thank God!" he fervently exclaimed: "I have +not then even the death of poor Donellan to answer for;" +and hastening from the guard-room, he pursued his course +hurriedly and delightedly to the barrack-room of his +friend. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +The hour fixed for the trial of the prisoner Halloway +had now arrived, and the officers composing the court +were all met in the mess-room of the garrison, surrounding +a long table covered with green cloth, over which were +distributed pens, ink, and paper for taking minutes of +the evidence, and such notes of the proceedings as the +several members might deem necessary in the course of +the trial. Captain Blessington presided; and next him, +on either hand, were the first in seniority, the two +junior occupying the lowest places. The demeanour of the +several officers, serious and befitting the duty they +were met to perform, was rendered more especially solemn +from the presence of the governor, who sat a little to +the right of the president, and without the circle, +remained covered, and with his arms folded across his +chest. At a signal given by the president to the orderly +in waiting, that individual disappeared from the room, +and soon afterwards Frank Halloway, strongly ironed, as +on the preceding night, was ushered in by several files +of the guard, under Ensign Fortescue himself. + +The prisoner having been stationed a few paces on the +left of the president, that officer stood up to administer +the customary oath. His example was followed by the rest +of the court, who now rose, and extending each his right +hand upon the prayer book, repeated, after the president, +the form of words prescribed by military law. They then, +after successively touching the sacred volume with their +lips, once more resumed their seats at the table. + +The prosecutor was the Adjutant Lawson, who now handed +over to the president a paper, from which the latter +officer read, in a clear and distinct voice, the following +charges, viz.-- + +"1st. For having on the night of the --th September 1763, +while on duty at the gate of the Fortress of Detroit, +either admitted a stranger into the garrison himself, or +suffered him to obtain admission, without giving the +alarm, or using the means necessary to ensure his +apprehension, such conduct being treasonable, and in +breach of the articles of war. + +"2d. For having been accessary to the abduction of Captain +Frederick de Haldimar and private Harry Donellan, the +disappearance of whom from the garrison can only be +attributed to a secret understanding existing between +the prisoner and the enemy without the walls, such conduct +being treasonable, and in breach of the articles of war." + +"Private Frank Halloway," continued Captain Blessington, +after having perused these two short but important charges, +"you have heard what has been preferred against you; what +say you, therefore? Are you guilty, or not guilty?" + +"Not guilty," firmly and somewhat exultingly replied the +prisoner, laying his hand at the same time on his swelling +heart. + +"Stay, sir," sternly observed the governor, addressing +the president; "you have not read ALL the charges." + +Captain Blessington took up the paper from the table, on +which he had carelessly thrown it, after reading the +accusations above detailed, and perceived, for the first +time, that a portion had been doubled back. His eye now +glanced over a third charge, which had previously escaped +his attention. + +"Prisoner," he pursued, after the lapse of a minute, +"there is a third charge against you, viz. for having, +on the night of the --th Sept. 1763, suffered Captain +De Haldimar to unclose the gate of the fortress, and, +accompanied by his servant, private Harry Donellan, to +pass your post without the sanction of the governor, such +conduct being in direct violation of a standing order of +the garrison, and punishable with death." + +The prisoner started. "What!" he exclaimed, his cheek +paling for the first time with momentary apprehension; +"is this voluntary confession of my own to be turned into +a charge that threatens my life? Colonel de Haldimar, is +the explanation which I gave you only this very hour, +and in private, to be made the public instrument of my +condemnation? Am I to die because I had not firmness to +resist the prayer of my captain and of your son, Colonel +de Haldimar?" + +The president looked towards the governor, but a significant +motion of the head was the only reply; he proceeded,-- + +"Prisoner Halloway, what plead you to this charge? Guilty, +or not guilty?" + +"I see plainly," said Halloway, after the pause of a +minute, during which he appeared to be summoning all his +energies to his aid; "I see plainly that it is useless +to strive against my fate. Captain de Haldimar is not +here, and I must die. Still I shall not have the disgrace +of dying as a traitor, though I own I have violated the +orders of the garrison." + +"Prisoner," interrupted Captain Blessington, "whatever +you may have to urge, you had better reserve for your +defence. Meanwhile, what answer do you make to the last +charge preferred?--Are you guilty, or not guilty?" + +"Guilty," said Halloway, in a tone of mingled pride and +sorrow, "guilty of having listened to the earnest prayer +of my captain, and suffered him, in violation of my +orders, to pass my post. Of the other charges I am +innocent." + +The court listened with the most profound attention and +interest to the words of the prisoner, and they glanced +at each other in a manner that marked their sense of the +truth they attached to his declaration. + +"Halloway, prisoner," resumed Captain Blessington, mildly, +yet impressively; "recollect the severe penalty which +the third charge, no less than the others, entails, and +recall your admission. Be advised by me," he pursued, +observing his hesitation. "Withdraw your plea, then, and +substitute that of not guilty to the whole." + +"Captain Blessington," returned the prisoner with deep +emotion, "I feel all the kindness of your motive; and if +any thing can console me in my present situation, it is +the circumstance of having presiding at my trial an +officer so universally beloved by the whole corps. Still," +and again his voice acquired its wonted firmness, and +his cheek glowed with honest pride, "still, I say, I +scorn to retract my words. Of the two first charges I am +as innocent as the babe unborn. To the last I plead +guilty; and vain would it be to say otherwise, since the +gate was found open while I was on duty, and I know the +penalty attached to the disobedience of orders." + +After some further but ineffectual remonstrance on the +part of the president, the pleas of the prisoner were +recorded, and the examination commenced. Governor de +Haldimar was the first witness. + +That officer, having been sworn, stated, that on the +preceding night he had been intruded upon in his apartment +by a stranger, who could have obtained admission only +through the gate of the fortress, by which also he must +have made good his escape. That it was evident the prisoner +had been in correspondence with their enemies; since, on +proceeding to examine the gate it had been found unlocked, +while the confusion manifested by him on being accused, +satisfied all who were present of the enormity of his +guilt. Search had been made every where for the keys, +but without success. + +The second charge was supported by presumptive evidence +alone; for although the governor swore to the disappearance +of his son, and the murder of his servant, and dwelt +emphatically on the fact of their having been forcibly +carried off with the connivance of the prisoner, still +there was no other proof of this, than the deductions +drawn from the circumstances already detailed. To meet +this difficulty, however, the third charge had been +framed. + +In proof of this the governor stated, that the prisoner, +on being interrogated by him immediately subsequent to +his being relieved from his post, had evinced such +confusion and hesitation, as to leave no doubt whatever +of his guilt; that, influenced by the half promise of +communication, which the court had heard as well as +himself, he had suffered the trial of the prisoner to be +delayed until the present hour, strongly hoping he might +then be induced to reveal the share he had borne in these +unworthy and treasonable practices; that, with a view to +obtain this disclosure, so essential to the safety of +the garrison, he had, conjointly with Major Blackwater, +visited the cell of the prisoner, to whom he related the +fact of the murder of Donellan, in the disguise of his +master's uniform, conjuring him, at the same time, if he +regarded his own life, and the safety of those who were +most dear to him, to give a clue to the solution of this +mysterious circumstance, and disclose the nature and +extent of his connection with the enemy without; that +the prisoner however resolutely denied, as before, the +guilt imputed to him, but having had time to concoct a +plausible story, stated, (doubtless with a view to shield +himself from the severe punishment he well knew to be +attached to his offence,) that Captain de Haldimar himself +had removed the keys from the guard-room, opened the gate +of the fortress, and accompanied by his servant, dressed +in a coloured coat, had sallied forth upon the common. +"And this," emphatically pursued the governor, "the prisoner +admits he permitted, although well aware that, by an +order of long standing for the security of the garrison, +such a fragrant dereliction of his duty subjected him to +the punishment of death." + +Major Blackwater was the next witness examined. His +testimony went to prove the fact of the gate having been +found open, and the confusion manifested by the prisoner. +It also substantiated that part of the governor's evidence +on the third charge, which related to the confession +recently made by Halloway, on which that charge had been +framed. + +The sergeant of the guard, and the governor's orderly +having severally corroborated the first portions of Major +Blackwater's evidence, the examination on the part of +the prosecution terminated; when the president called on +the prisoner Halloway for his defence. The latter, in a +clear, firm, and collected tone, and in terms that +surprised his auditory, thus addressed the Court:-- + +"Mr. President, and gentlemen,--Although, standing before +you in the capacity of a private soldier, and, oh! bitter +and humiliating reflection, in that most wretched and +disgraceful of all situations, a suspected traitor, I am +not indeed what I seem to be. It is not for me here to +enter into the history of my past life; neither will I +tarnish the hitherto unsullied reputation of my family +by disclosing my true name. Suffice it to observe, I am +a gentleman by birth; and although, of late years, I have +known all the hardships and privations attendant on my +fallen fortunes, I was once used to bask in the luxuries +of affluence, and to look upon those who now preside in +judgment over me as my equals. A marriage of affection,--a +marriage with one who had nothing but her own virtues +and her own beauty to recommend her, drew upon me the +displeasure of my family, and the little I possessed, +independently of the pleasure of my relations, was soon +dissipated. My proud soul scorned all thought of +supplication to those who had originally spurned my wife +from their presence; and yet my heart bled for the +privations of her who, alike respectable in family, was, +both from sex and the natural delicacy, of her frame, so +far less constituted to bear up against the frowns of +adversity than myself. Our extremity had now become +great,--too great for human endurance; when, through the +medium of the public prints, I became acquainted with +the glorious action that had been fought in this country +by the army under General Wolfe. A new light burst suddenly +upon my mind, and visions of after prosperity constantly +presented themselves to my view. The field of honour was +open before me, and there was a probability I might, by +good conduct, so far merit the approbation of my superiors, +as to obtain, in course of time, that rank among themselves +to which by birth and education I was so justly entitled +to aspire. Without waiting to consult my Ellen, whose +opposition I feared to encounter until opposition would +be fruitless, I hastened to Lieutenant Walgrave, the +recruiting officer of the regiment,--tendered my +services,--was accepted and approved,--received the bounty +money,--and became definitively a soldier, under the +assumed name of Frank Halloway. + +"It would be tedious and impertinent, gentlemen," resumed +the prisoner, after a short pause, "to dwell on the +humiliations of spirit to which both my wife and myself +were subjected at our first introduction to our new +associates, who, although invariably kind to us, were, +nevertheless, ill suited, both by education and habit, +to awaken any thing like congeniality of feeling or +similarity of pursuit. Still we endeavoured, as much as +possible, to lessen the distance that existed between +us; and from the first moment of our joining the regiment, +determined to adopt the phraseology and manners of those +with whom an adverse destiny had so singularly connected +us. In this we succeeded; for no one, up to the present +moment, has imagined either my wife or myself to be other +than the simple and unpretending Frank and Ellen Halloway. + +"On joining the regiment in this country," pursued the +prisoner, after another pause, marked by much emotion, +"I had the good fortune to be appointed to the grenadier +company. Gentlemen, you all know the amiable qualities +of Captain de Haldimar. But although, unlike yourselves, +I have learnt to admire that officer only at a distance, +my devotion to his interests has been proportioned to +the kindness with which I have ever been treated by him; +and may I not add, after this avowal of my former condition, +my most fervent desire has all along been to seize the +first favourable opportunity of performing some action +that would eventually elevate me to a position in which +I might, without blushing for the absence of the ennobling +qualities of birth and condition, avow myself his friend, +and solicit that distinction from my equal which was +partially extended to me by my superior? The opportunity +I sought was not long wanting. At the memorable affair +with the French general, Levi, at Quebec, in which our +regiment bore so conspicuous a part, I had the good +fortune to save the life of my captain. A band of Indians, +as you all, gentlemen, must recollect, had approached +our right flank unperceived, and while busily engaged +with the French in front, we were compelled to divide +our fire between them and our new and fierce assailants. +The leader of that band was a French officer, who seemed +particularly to direct his attempts against the life of +Captain de Haldimar. He was a man of powerful proportions +and gigantic stature--" + +"Hold!" said the governor, starting suddenly from the +seat in which he had listened with evident impatience to +this long outline of the prisoner's history. "Gentlemen," +addressing the court, "that is the very stranger who was +in my apartment last night,--the being with whom the +prisoner is evidently in treacherous correspondence, and +all this absurd tale is but a blind to deceive your +judgment, and mitigate his own punishment. Who is there +to prove the man he has just described was the same who +aimed at Captain de Haldimar's life at Quebec?" + +A flush of deep indignation overspread the features of +the prisoner, whose high spirit, now he had avowed his +true origin, could ill brook the affront thus put upon +his veracity. + +"Colonel de Haldimar!" he proudly replied, while his +chains clanked with the energy and force with which he +drew up his person into an attitude of striking dignity; +"for once I sink the private soldier, and address you in +the character of the gentleman and your equal. I have +a soul, Sir, notwithstanding my fallen fortunes, as keenly +alive to honour as your own; and not even to save my +wretched life, would I be guilty of the baseness you now +attribute to me. You have asked," he pursued, in a more +solemn tone, "what proof I have to show this individual +to be the same who attempted the life of Captain de +Haldimar. To Captain de Haldimar himself, should Providence +have spared his days, I shall leave the melancholy task +of bearing witness to all I here advance, when I shall +be no more. Nay, Sir," and his look partook at once of +mingled scorn and despondency, "well do I know the fate +that awaits me; for in these proceedings--in that third +charge--I plainly read my death-warrant. But what, save +my poor and wretched wife, have I to regret? Colonel de +Haldimar," he continued, with a vehemence meant to check +the growing weakness which the thought of his unfortunate +companion called up to his heart, "I saved the life of +your son, even by your own admission, no matter whose +the arm that threatened his existence; and in every other +action in which I have been engaged, honourable mention +has ever been made of my conduct. Now, Sir, I ask what +has been my reward? So far from attending to the repeated +recommendations of my captain for promotion, even in a +subordinate rank, have you once deemed it necessary to +acknowledge my services by even a recognition of them in +any way whatever?" + +"Mr. President, Captain Blessington," interrupted the +governor, haughtily, "are we met here to listen to such +language from a private soldier? You will do well, Sir, +to exercise your prerogative, and stay such impertinent +matter, which can have no reference whatever to the +defence of the prisoner." + +"Prisoner," resumed the president, who, as well as the +other members of the court, had listened with the most +profound and absorbing interest to the singular disclosure +of him whom they still only knew as Frank Halloway, "this +language cannot be permitted; you must confine yourself +to your defence." + +"Pardon me, gentlemen," returned Halloway, in his usual +firm but respectful tone of voice; "pardon me, if, standing +on the brink of the grave as I do, I have so far forgotten +the rules of military discipline as to sink for a moment +the soldier in the gentleman; but to be taxed with an +unworthy fabrication, and to be treated with contumely +when avowing the secret of my condition, was more than +human pride and human feeling could tolerate." + +"Confine yourself, prisoner, to your defence," again +remarked Captain Blessington, perceiving the restlessness +with which the governor listened to these bold and +additional observations of Halloway. + +Again the governor interposed:--"What possible connexion +can there be between this man's life, and the crime with +which he stands charged? Captain Blessington, this is +trifling with the court, who are assembled to try the +prisoner for his treason, and not to waste their time in +listening to a history utterly foreign to the subject." + +"The history of my past life--Colonel de Haldimar," +proudly returned the prisoner, "although tedious and +uninteresting to you, is of the utmost importance to +myself; for on that do I ground the most essential part +of my defence. There is nothing but circumstantial evidence +against me on the two first charges; and as those alone +can reflect dishonour on my memory, it is for the wisdom +of this court to determine whether that evidence is to +be credited in opposition to the solemn declaration of +him, who, in admitting one charge, equally affecting his +life with the others, repudiates as foul those only which +would attaint his honour. Gentlemen," he pursued, addressing +the court, "it is for you to determine whether my defence +is to be continued or not; yet, whatever be my fate, I +would fain remove all injurious impression from the minds +of my judges; and this can only be done by a simple detail +of circumstances, which may, by the unprejudiced, be as +simply believed." + +Here the prisoner paused: when, after some low and earnest +conversation among the members of the court, two or three +slips of written paper were passed to the President. He +glanced his eye hurriedly over them, and then directed +Halloway to proceed with his defence. + +"I have stated," pursued the interesting soldier, "that +the officer who led the band of Indians was a man of +gigantic stature, and of apparently great strength. My +attention was particularly directed to him from this +circumstance, and as I was on the extreme flank of the +grenadiers, and close to Captain de Haldimar, had every +opportunity of observing his movements principally pointed +at that officer. He first discharged a carbine, the ball +of which killed a man of the company at his (Captain de +Haldimar's) side; and then, with evident rage at having +been defeated in his aim, he took a pistol from his belt, +and advancing with rapid strides to within a few paces +of his intended victim, presented it in the most deliberate +manner. At that moment, gentlemen, (and it was but the +work of a moment,) a thousand confused and almost +inexplicable feelings rose to my heart. The occasion I +had long sought was at length within my reach; but even +the personal considerations, which had hitherto influenced +my mind, were sunk in the anxious desire I entertained +to preserve the life of an officer so universally beloved, +and so every way worthy of the sacrifice. While yet the +pistol remained levelled, I sprang before Captain de +Haldimar, received the ball in my breast, and had just +strength sufficient to fire my musket at this formidable +enemy when I sank senseless to the earth. + +"It will not be difficult for you, gentlemen, who have +feeling minds, to understand the pleasurable pride with +which, on being conveyed to Captain de Haldimar's own +apartments in Quebec, I found myself almost overwhelmed +by the touching marks of gratitude showered on me by his +amiable relatives. Miss Clara de Haldimar, in particular, +like a ministering angel, visited my couch of suffering +at almost every hour, and always provided with some little +delicacy, suitable to my condition, of which I had long +since tutored myself to forget even the use. But what +principally afforded me pleasure, was to remark the +consolations which she tendered to my poor drooping Ellen, +who, already more than half subdued by the melancholy +change in our condition in life, frequently spent hours +together in silent grief at the side of my couch, and +watching every change in my countenance with all the +intense anxiety of one who feels the last stay on earth +is about to be severed for ever. Ah! how I then longed +to disclose to this kind and compassionating being the +true position of her on whom she lavished her attention, +and to make her known, not as the inferior honored by +her notice, but as the equal alike worthy of her friendship +and deserving of her esteem; but the wide, wide barrier +that divided the wife of the private soldier from the +daughter and sister of the commissioned officer sealed +my lips, and our true condition continued unrevealed. + +"Gentlemen," resumed Halloway, after a short pause, "if +I dwell on these circumstances, it is with a view to show +how vile are the charges preferred against me. Is it +likely, with all the incentives to good conduct I have +named, I should have proved a traitor to my country? And, +even if so, what to gain, I would ask; and by what means +was a correspondence with the enemy to be maintained by +one in my humble station? As for the second charge, how +infamous, how injurious is it to my reputation, how +unworthy to be entertained! From the moment of my recovery +from that severe wound, every mark of favour that could +be bestowed on persons in our situation had been extended +to my wife and myself, by the family of Colonel de +Haldimar; and my captain, knowing me merely as the simple +and low born Frank Halloway, although still the preserver +of his life, has been unceasing in his exertions to obtain +such promotion as he thought my conduct generally, +independently of my devotedness to his person, might +claim. How these applications were met, gentlemen, I have +already stated; but notwithstanding Colonel de Haldimar +has never deemed me worthy of the promotion solicited, +that circumstance could in no way weaken my regard and +attachment for him who had so often demanded it. How +then, in the name of heaven, can a charge so improbable, +so extravagant, as that of having been instrumental in +the abduction of Captain de Haldimar, be entertained? +and who is there among you, gentlemen, who will for one +moment believe I could harbour a thought so absurd as +that of lending myself to the destruction of one for whom +I once cheerfully offered up the sacrifice of my blood? +And now," pursued the prisoner, after another short pause, +"I come to the third charge,--that charge which most +affects my life, but impugns neither my honour nor my +fidelity. That God, before whom I know I shall shortly +appear, can attest the sincerity of my statement, and +before him do I now solemnly declare what I am about to +relate is true. + +"Soon after the commencement of my watch last night, I +heard a voice distinctly on the outside of the rampart, +near my post, calling in a low and subdued tone on the +name of Captain de Haldimar. The accents, hastily and +anxiously uttered, were apparently those of a female. +For a moment I continued irresolute how to act, and +hesitated whether or not I should alarm the garrison; +but, at length, presuming it was some young female of +the village with whom my captain was acquainted, it +occurred to me the most prudent course would be to apprize +that officer himself. While I yet hesitated whether to +leave my post for a moment for the purpose, a man crossed +the parade a few yards in my front; it was Captain de +Haldimar's servant, Donellan, then in the act of carrying +some things from his master's apartment to the guard-room. +I called to him, to say the sentinel at the gate wished +to see the captain of the guard immediately. In the course +of a few minutes he came up to my post, when I told him +what I had heard. At that moment, the voice again repeated +his name, when he abruptly left me and turned to the left +of the gate, evidently on his way to the rampart. Soon +afterwards I heard Captain de Haldimar immediately above +me, sharply calling out 'Hist, hist!' as if the person +on the outside, despairing of success, was in the act of +retreating. A moment or two of silence succeeded, when +a low conversation ensued between the parties. The distance +was so great I could only distinguish inarticulate sounds; +yet it seemed to me as if they spoke not in English, but +in the language of the Ottawa Indians, a tongue with +which, as you are well aware, gentlemen, Captain de +Haldimar is familiar. This had continued about ten minutes, +when I again heard footsteps hastily descending the +rampart, and moving in the direction of the guard-house. +Soon afterwards Captain de Haldimar re-appeared at my +post, accompanied by his servant Donellan; the former +had the keys of the gate in his hand, and he told me that +he must pass to the skirt of the forest on some business +of the last importance to the safety of the garrison. + +"At first I peremptorily refused, stating the severe +penalty attached to the infringement of an order, the +observation of which had so especially been insisted upon +by the governor, whose permission, however, I ventured +respectfully to urge might, without difficulty, be +obtained, if the business was really of the importance +he described it. Captain de Haldimar, however, declared +he well knew the governor would not accord that permission, +unless he was positively acquainted with the nature and +extent of the danger to be apprehended; and of these, he +said, he was not himself sufficiently aware. All argument +of this nature proving ineffectual, he attempted to +enforce his authority, not only in his capacity of officer +of the guard, but also as my captain, ordering me, on +pain of confinement, not to interfere with or attempt to +impede his departure. This, however, produced no better +result; for I knew that, in this instance, I was amenable +to the order of the governor alone, and I again firmly +refused to violate my duty. + +"Finding himself thwarted in his attempt to enforce my +obedience, Captain de Haldimar, who seemed much agitated +and annoyed by what he termed my obstinacy, now descended +to entreaty; and in the name of that life which I had +preserved to him, and of that deep gratitude which he +had ever since borne to me, conjured me not to prevent +his departure. 'Halloway,' he urged, 'your life, my +life, my father's life,--the life of my sister Clara +perhaps, who nursed you in illness, and who has ever +treated your wife with attention and kindness,--all these +depend upon your compliance with my request. 'Hear me,' +he pursued, following up the impression which he clearly +perceived he had produced in me by this singular and +touching language: 'I promise to be back within the hour; +there is no danger attending my departure, and here will +I be before you are relieved from your post; no one can +know I have been absent, and your secret will remain with +Donellan and myself. Do you think,' he concluded, 'I +would encourage a soldier of my regiment to disobey a +standing order of the garrison, unless there was some +very extraordinary reason for my so doing? But there is +no time to be lost in parley. Halloway! I entreat you +to offer no further opposition to my departure. I pledge +myself to be back before you are relieved.'" + +"Gentlemen," impressively continued the prisoner, after +a pause, during which each member of the court seemed to +breathe for the first time, so deeply had the attention +of all been riveted by the latter part of this singular +declaration, "how, under these circumstances, could I be +expected to act? Assured by Captain de Haldimar, in the +most solemn manner, that the existence of those most dear +to his heart hung on my compliance with his request, how +could I refuse to him, whose life I had saved, and whose +character I so much esteemed, a boon so earnestly, nay, +so imploringly solicited? I acceded to his prayer, +intimating, at the same time, if he returned not before +another sentinel should relieve me, the discovery of my +breach of duty must be made, and my punishment inevitable. +His last words, however, were to assure me he should +return at the hour he had named, and when I closed the +gate upon him it was under the firm impression his absence +would only prove of the temporary nature he had +stated.--Gentlemen," abruptly concluded Halloway, "I have +nothing further to add; if I have failed in my duty as +a soldier, I have, at least, fulfilled that of a man; +and although the violation of the first entail upon me +the punishment of death, the motives which impelled me +to that violation will not, I trust, be utterly lost +sight of by those by whom my punishment is to be awarded." + +The candid, fearless, and manly tone in which Halloway +had delivered this long and singular statement, however +little the governor appeared to be affected by it, +evidently made a deep impression on the court, who had +listened with undiverted attention to the close. Some +conversation again ensued, in a low tone, among several +members, when two slips of written paper were passed up, +as before, to the president. These elicited the following +interrogatories:-- + +"You have stated, prisoner, that Captain de Haldimar left +the fort accompanied by his servant Donellan. How were +they respectively dressed?" + +"Captain de Haldimar in his uniform; Donellan, as far as +I could observe, in his regimental clothing also, with +this difference, that he wore his servant's round glazed +hat and his grey great coat." + +"How then do you account for the extraordinary circumstance +of Donellan having been found murdered in his master's +clothes? Was any allusion made to a change of dress before +they left the fort?" + +"Not the slightest," returned the prisoner; "nor can I +in any way account for this mysterious fact. When they +quitted the garrison, each wore the dress I have described." + +"In what manner did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan +effect their passage across the ditch?" continued the +president, after glancing at the second slip of paper. +"The draw-bridge was evidently not lowered, and there +were no other means at hand to enable him to effect his +object with promptitude. How do you explain this, prisoner?" + +When this question was put, the whole body of officers, +and the governor especially, turned their eyes +simultaneously on Halloway, for on his hesitation or +promptness in replying seemed to attach much of the credit +they were disposed to accord his statement. Halloway +observed it, and coloured. His reply, however, was free, +unfaltering, and unstudied. + +"A rope with which Donellan had provided himself, was +secured to one of the iron hooks that support the pullies +immediately above the gate. With this they swung themselves +in succession to the opposite bank." + +The members of the court looked at each other, apparently +glad that an answer so confirmatory of the truth of the +prisoner's statement, had been thus readily given. + +"Were they to have returned in the same manner?" pursued +the president, framing his interrogatory from the contents +of another slip of paper, which, at the suggestion of +the governor, had been passed to him by the prosecutor, +Mr. Lawson. + +"They were," firmly replied the prisoner. "At least I +presumed they were, for, I believe in the hurry of Captain +de Haldimar's departure, he never once made any direct +allusion to the manner of his return; nor did it occur +to me until this moment how they were to regain possession +of the rope, without assistance from within." + +"Of course," observed Colonel de Haldimar, addressing +the president, "the rope still remains. Mr. Lawson, +examine the gate, and report accordingly." + +The adjutant hastened to acquit himself of this laconic +order, and soon afterwards returned, stating not only +that there was no rope, but that the hook alluded to had +disappeared altogether. + +For a moment the cheek of the prisoner paled; but it was +evidently less from any fear connected with his individual +existence, than from the shame he felt at having been +detected in a supposed falsehood. He however speedily +recovered his self-possession, and exhibited the same +character of unconcern by which his general bearing +throughout the trial had been distinguished. + +On this announcement of the adjutant, the governor betrayed +a movement of impatience, that was meant to convey his +utter disbelief of the whole of the prisoner's statement, +and his look seemed to express to the court it should +also arrive, and without hesitation, at the same conclusion. +Even all authoritative as he was, however, he felt that +military etiquette and strict discipline prevented his +interfering further in this advanced state of the +proceedings. + +"Prisoner," again remarked Captain Blessington, "your +statement in regard to the means employed by Captain de +Haldimar in effecting his departure, is, you must admit, +unsupported by appearances. How happens it the rope is +no longer where you say it was placed? No one could have +removed it but yourself. Have you done so? and if so, +can you produce it, or say where it is to be found?" + +"Captain Blessington," replied Halloway, proudly, yet +respectfully, "I have already invoked that great Being, +before whose tribunal I am so shortly to appear, in +testimony of the truth of my assertion; and again, in +his presence, do I repeat, every word I have uttered is +true. I did not remove the rope, neither do I know what +is become of it. I admit its disappearance is extraordinary, +but a moment's reflection must satisfy the court I would +not have devised a tale, the falsehood of which could at +once have been detected on an examination such as that +which has just been instituted. When Mr. Lawson left this +room just now, I fully expected he would have found the +rope lying as it had been left. What has become of it, +I repeat, I know not; but in the manner I have stated +did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan cross the ditch. I +have nothing further to add," he concluded once more, +drawing up his fine tall person, the native elegance of +which could not be wholly disguised even in the dress of +a private soldier; "nothing further to disclose. Yet do +I repel with scorn the injurious insinuation against my +fidelity, suggested in these doubts. I am prepared to +meet my death as best may become a soldier, and, let me +add, as best may become a proud and well born gentleman; +but humanity and common justice should at least be accorded +to my memory. I am an unfortunate man, but no traitor." + +The members were visibly impressed by the last sentences +of the prisoner. No further question however was asked, +and he was again removed by the escort, who had been +wondering spectators of the scene, to the cell he had so +recently occupied. The room was then cleared of the +witnesses and strangers, the latter comprising nearly +the whole of the officers off duty, when the court +proceeded to deliberate on the evidence, and pass sentence +on the accused. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Although the young and sensitive De Haldimar had found +physical relief in the summary means resorted to by the +surgeon, the moral wound at his heart not only remained +unsoothed, but was rendered more acutely painful by the +wretched reflections, which, now that he had full leisure +to review the past, and anticipate the future in all the +gloom attached to both, so violently assailed him. From +the moment when his brother's strange and mysterious +disappearance had been communicated by the adjutant in +the manner we have already seen, his spirits had been +deeply and fearfully depressed. Still he had every reason +to expect, from the well-known character of Halloway, +the strong hope expressed by the latter might be realised; +and that, at the hour appointed for trial, his brother +would be present to explain the cause of his mysterious +absence, justify the conduct of his subordinate, and +exonerate him from the treachery with which he now stood +charged. Yet, powerful as this hope was, it was unavoidably +qualified by dispiriting doubt; for a nature affectionate +and bland, as that of Charles de Haldimar, could not but +harbour distrust, while a shadow of uncertainty, in regard +to the fate of a brother so tenderly loved, remained. He +had forced himself to believe as much as possible what +he wished, and the effort had, to a certain extent +succeeded; but there had been something so solemn and so +impressive in the scene that had passed when the prisoner +was first brought up for trial, something so fearfully +prophetic in the wild language of his unhappy wife, he +had found it impossible to resist the influence of the +almost superstitious awe they had awakened in his heart. + +What the feelings of the young officer were subsequently, +when in the person of the murdered man on the common, +the victim of Sir Everard Valletort's aim, he recognised +that brother, whose disappearance had occasioned him so +much inquietude, we shall not attempt to describe: their +nature is best shown in the effect they produced--the +almost overwhelming agony of body and mind, which had +borne him, like a stricken plant, unresisting to the +earth. But now that, in the calm and solitude of his +chamber, he had leisure to review the fearful events +conspiring to produce this extremity, his anguish of +spirit was even deeper than when the first rude shock of +conviction had flashed upon his understanding. A tide of +suffering, that overpowered, without rendering him sensible +of its positive and abstract character, had, in the first +instance, oppressed his faculties, and obscured his +perception; but now, slow, sure, stinging, and gradually +succeeding each other, came every bitter thought and +reflection of which that tide was composed; and the +generous heart of Charles de Haldimar was a prey to +feelings that would have wrung the soul, and wounded the +sensibilities of one far less gentle and susceptible than +himself. + +Between Sir Everard Valletort and Charles de Haldimar, +who, it has already been remarked, were lieutenants in +Captain Blessington's company, a sentiment of friendship +had been suffered to spring up almost from the moment of +Sir Everard's joining. The young men were nearly of the +same age; and although the one was all gentleness, the +other all spirit and vivacity, not a shade of disunion +had at any period intervened to interrupt the almost +brotherly attachment subsisting between them, and each +felt the disposition of the other was the one most +assimilated to his own. In fact, Sir Everard was far from +being the ephemeral character he was often willing to +appear. Under a semblance of affectation, and much assumed +levity of manner, never, however, personally offensive, +he concealed a brave, generous, warm, and manly heart, +and talents becoming the rank he held in society, such +as would not have reflected discredit on one numbering +twice his years. He had entered the army, as most young +men of rank usually did at that period, rather for the +agremens it held forth, than with any serious view to +advancement in it as a profession. Still he entertained +the praiseworthy desire of being something more than what +is, among military men, emphatically termed a feather-bed +soldier; and, contrary to the wishes of his fashionable +mother, who would have preferred seeing him exhibit his +uniform in the drawing-rooms of London, had purchased +the step into his present corps from a cavalry regiment +at home. Not that we mean, however, to assert he was not +a feather-bed soldier in its more literal sense: no man +that ever glittered in gold and scarlet was fonder of a +feather-bed than the young baronet; and, in fact, his +own observations, recorded in the early part of this +volume, sufficiently prove his predilection for an +indulgence which, we take it, in no way impugned his +character as a soldier. Sir Everard would have fought +twenty battles in the course of the month, if necessary, +and yet not complained of the fatigue or severity of his +service, provided only he had been suffered to press his +downy couch to what is termed a decent hour in the day. +But he had an innate and, perhaps, it may be, an instinctive +horror of drills and early rising; a pastime in which +the martinets and disciplinarians of the last century +were very much given to indulge. He frequently upheld an +opinion that must have been little less than treason in +the eyes of a commander so strict as Colonel de Haldimar, +that an officer who rose at eight, with all his faculties +refreshed and invigorated, might evince as much of the +true bearing of the soldier in the field, as he who, +having quitted his couch at dawn, naturally felt the +necessity of repose at a moment when activity and exertion +were most required. + +We need scarcely state, Sir Everard's theories on this +important subject were seldom reduced to practice; for, +even long before the Indians had broken out into open +acts of hostility, when such precautions were rendered +indispensable, Colonel de Haldimar had never suffered +either officer or man to linger on his pillow after the +first faint dawn had appeared. This was a system to which +Sir Everard could never reconcile himself. He had quitted +England with a view to active service abroad, it is true, +but he had never taken "active service" in its present +literal sense, and, as he frequently declared to his +companions, he preferred giving an Indian warrior a chance +for his scalp any hour after breakfast, to rising at +daybreak, when, from very stupefaction, he seldom knew +whether he stood on his head or his heels. "If the men +must be drilled," he urged, "with a view to their health +and discipline, why not place them under the direction +of the adjutant or the officer of the day, whoever he +might chance to be, and not unnecessarily disturb a body +of gentlemen from their comfortable slumbers at that +unconscionable hour?" Poor Sir Everard! this was the +only grievance of which he complained, and he complained +bitterly. Scarcely a morning passed without his inveighing +loudly against the barbarity of such a custom; threatening +at the same time, amid the laughter of his companions, +to quit the service in disgust at what he called so +ungentlemanly and gothic a habit. All he waited for, he +protested, was to have an opportunity of bearing away +the spoils of some Indian chief, that, on his return to +England, he might afford his lady mother an opportunity +of judging with her own eyes of the sort of enemy he had +relinquished the comforts of home to contend against, +and exhibiting to her very dear friends the barbarous +proofs of the prowess of her son. Though these observations +were usually made half in jest half in earnest, there +was no reason to doubt the young and lively baronet was, +in truth, heartily tired of a service which seemed to +offer nothing but privations and annoyances, unmixed with +even the chances of obtaining those trophies to which he +alluded; and, but for two motives, there is every +probability he would have seriously availed himself of +the earliest opportunity of retiring. The first of these +was his growing friendship for the amiable and gentle +Charles de Haldimar; the second the secret, and scarcely +to himself acknowledged, interest which had been created +in his heart for his sister Clara; whom he only knew from +the glowing descriptions of his friend, and the strong +resemblance she was said to bear to him by the other +officers. + +Clara de Haldimar was the constant theme of her younger +brother's praise. Her image was ever uppermost in his +thoughts--her name ever hovering on his lips; and when +alone with his friend Valletort, it was his delight to +dwell on the worth and accomplishments of his amiable +and beloved sister. Then, indeed, would his usually calm +blue eye sparkle with the animation of his subject, while +his colouring cheek marked all the warmth and sincerity +with which he bore attestation to her gentleness and her +goodness. The heart of Charles de Haldimar, soldier as +he was, was pure, generous, and unsophisticated as that +of the sister whom he so constantly eulogized; and, while +listening to his eloquent praises, Sir Everard learnt to +feel an interest in a being whom all had declared to be +the counterpart of her brother, as well in personal +attraction as in singleness of nature. With all his +affected levity, and notwithstanding his early initiation +into fashionable life--that matter-of-fact life which +strikes at the existence of our earlier and dearer +illusions--there was a dash of romance in the character +of the young baronet which tended much to increase the +pleasure he always took in the warm descriptions of his +friend. The very circumstance of her being personally +unknown to him, was, with Sir Everard, an additional +motive for interest in Miss de Haldimar. + +Imagination and mystery generally work their way together; +and as there was a shade of mystery attached to Sir +Everard's very ignorance of the person of one whom he +admired and esteemed from report alone, imagination was +not slow to improve the opportunity, and to endow the +object with characteristics, which perhaps a more intimate +knowledge of the party might have led him to qualify. In +this manner, in early youth, are the silken and willing +fetters of the generous and the enthusiastic forged. We +invest some object, whose praises, whispered secretly in +the ear, have glided imperceptibly to the heart, with +all the attributes supplied by our own vivid and readily +according imaginations; and so accustomed do we become +to linger on the picture, we adore the semblance with an +ardour which the original often fails to excite. When, +however, the high standard of our fancy's fair creation +is attained, we worship as something sacred that which +was to our hearts a source of pure and absorbing interest, +hallowed by the very secresy in which such interest was +indulged. Even where it fails, so unwilling are we to +lose sight of the illusion to which our thoughts have +fondly clung, so loth to destroy the identity of the +semblance with its original, that we throw a veil over +that reason which is then so little in unison with our +wishes, and forgive much in consideration of the very +mystery which first gave a direction to our interest, +and subsequently chained our preference. How is it to +be lamented, that illusions so dear, and images so +fanciful, should find their level with time; or that +intercourse with the world, which should be the means +rather of promoting than marring human happiness, should +leave on the heart so little vestige of those impressions +which characterize the fervency of youth; and which, +dispassionately considered, constitute the only true +felicity of riper life! It is then that man, in all the +vigour and capacity of his intellectual nature, feels +the sentiment of love upon him in all its ennobling force. +It is then that his impetuous feelings, untinged by the +romance which imposes its check upon the more youthful, +like the wild flow of the mighty torrent, seeks a channel +wherein they may empty themselves; and were he to follow +the guidance of those feelings, of which in that riper +life he seems ashamed as of a weakness unworthy his sex, +in the warm and glowing bosom of Nature's divinity-- +WOMAN--would he pour forth the swollen tide of his +affection; and acknowledge, in the fullness of his expanding +heart, the vast bounty of Providence, who had bestowed +on him so invaluable--so unspeakably invaluable, a +blessing.--But no; in the pursuit of ambition, in the +acquisition of wealth, in the thirst after power, and +the craving after distinction, nay, nineteen times out +of twenty, in the most frivolous occupations, the most +unsatisfactory amusements, do the great mass of the +maturer man sink those feelings; divested of which, we +become mere plodders on the earth, mere creatures of +materialism: nor is it until after age and infirmity have +overtaken them, they look back with regret to that real +and substantial, but unenjoyed happiness, which the +occupied heart and the soul's communion alone can bestow. +Then indeed, when too late, are they ready to acknowledge +the futility of those pursuits, the inadequacy of those +mere ephemeral pleasures, to which in the full meridian +of their manhood they sacrificed, as a thing unworthy of +their dignity, the mysterious charm of woman's influence +and woman's beauty. + +We do not mean to say Clara de Haldimar would have fallen +short of the high estimate formed of her worth by the +friend of her brother; neither is it to be understood, +Sir Everard suffered this fair vision of his fancy to +lead him into the wild and labyrinthian paths of boyish +romance; but certain it is, the floating illusions, +conjured up by his imagination, exercised a mysterious +influence over his heart, that hourly acquired a deeper +and less equivocal character. It might have been curiosity +in the first instance, or that mere repose of the fancy +upon an object of its own creation, which was natural to +a young man placed like himself for the moment out of +the pale of all female society. It has been remarked, +and justly, there is nothing so dangerous to the peace +of the human heart as solitude. It is in solitude, our +thoughts, taking their colouring from our feelings, invest +themselves with the power of multiplying ideal beauty, +until we become in a measure tenants of a world of our +own creation, from which we never descend, without loathing +and disgust, into the dull and matter-of-fact routine of +actual existence. Hence the misery of the imaginative +man!--hence his little sympathy with the mass, who, tame +and soulless, look upon life and the things of life, not +through the refining medium of ideality, but through the +grossly magnifying optics of mere sense and materialism. + +But, though we could, and perhaps may, at some future +period, write volumes on this subject, we return for the +present from a digression into which we have been insensibly +led by the temporary excitement of our own feelings. + +Whatever were the impressions of the young baronet, and +however he might have been inclined to suffer the fair +image of the gentle Clara, such as he was perhaps wont +to paint it, to exercise its spell upon his fancy, certain +it is, he never expressed to her brother more than that +esteem and interest which it was but natural he should +accord to the sister of his friend. Neither had Charles +de Haldimar, even amid all his warmth of commendation, +ever made the slightest allusion to his sister, that +could be construed into a desire she should awaken any +unusual or extraordinary sentiment of preference. Much +and fervently as he desired such an event, there was an +innate sense of decorum, and it may be secret pride, that +caused him to abstain from any observation having the +remotest tendency to compromise the spotless delicacy of +his adored sister; and such he would have considered any +expression of his own hopes and wishes, where no declaration +of preference had been previously made. There was another +motive for this reserve on the part of the young officer. +The baronet was an only child, and would, on attaining +his majority, of which he wanted only a few months, become +the possessor of a large fortune. His sister Clara, on +the contrary, had little beyond her own fair fame and +the beauty transmitted to her by the mother she had lost. +Colonel de Haldimar was a younger son, and had made his +way through life with his sword, and an unblemished +reputation alone,--advantages he had shared with his +children, for the two eldest of whom his interest and +long services had procured commissions in his own regiment. + +But even while Charles de Haldimar abstained from all +expression of his hopes, he had fully made up his mind +that Sir Everard and his sister were so formed for each +other, it was next to an impossibility they could meet +without loving. In one of his letters to the latter, he +had alluded to his friend in terms of so high and earnest +panegyric, that Clara had acknowledged, in reply, she +was prepared to find in the young baronet one whom she +should regard with partiality, if it were only on account +of the friendship subsisting between him and her brother. +This admission, however, was communicated in confidence, +and the young officer had religiously preserved his +sister's secret. + +These and fifty other recollections now crowded on the +mind of the sufferer, only to render the intensity of +his anguish more complete; among the bitterest of which +was the certainty that the mysterious events of the past +night had raised up an insuperable barrier to this union; +for how could Clara de Haldimar become the wife of him +whose hands were, however innocently, stained with the +life-blood of her brother! To dwell on this, and the loss +of that brother, was little short of madness, and yet De +Haldimar could think of nothing else; nor for a period +could the loud booming of the cannon from the ramparts, +every report of which shook his chamber to its very +foundations, call off his attention from a subject which, +while it pained, engrossed every faculty and absorbed +every thought. At length, towards the close, he called +faintly to the old and faithful soldier, who, at the foot +of the bed, stood watching every change of his master's +countenance, to know the cause of the cannonade. On being +informed the batteries in the rear were covering the +retreat of Captain Erskine, who, in his attempt to obtain +the body, had been surprised by the Indians, a new +direction was temporarily given to his thoughts, and he +now manifested the utmost impatience to know the result. + +In a few minutes Morrison, who, in defiance of the +surgeon's strict order not on any account to quit the +room, had flown to obtain some intelligence which he +trusted might remove the anxiety of his suffering master, +again made his appearance, stating the corpse was already +secured, and close under the guns of the fort, beneath +which the detachment, though hotly assailed from the +forest, were also fast retreating. + +"And is it really my brother, Morrison? Are you quite +certain that it is Captain de Haldimar?" asked the young +officer, in the eager accents of one who, with the fullest +conviction on his mind, yet grasps at the faintest shadow +of a consoling doubt. "Tell me that it is not my brother, +and half of what I possess in the world shall be yours." + +The old soldier brushed a tear from his eye. "God bless +you, Mr. de Haldimar, I would give half my grey hairs to +be able to do so; but it is, indeed, too truly the captain +who has been killed. I saw the very wings of his regimentals +as he lay on his face on the litter." + +Charles de Haldimar groaned aloud. "Oh God! oh God! would +I had never lived to see this day." Then springing suddenly +up in his bed.--"Morrison, where are my clothes? I insist +on seeing my slaughtered brother myself." + +"Good Heaven, sir, consider," said the old man approaching +the bed, and attempting to replace the covering which +had been spurned to its very foot,--"consider you are in +a burning fever, and the slightest cold may kill you +altogether. The doctor's orders are, you were on no +account to get up." + +The effort made by the unfortunate youth was momentary. +Faint from the blood he had lost, and giddy from the +excitement of his feelings, he sank back exhausted on +his pillow, and wept like a child. + +Old Morrison shed tears also; for his heart bled for the +sufferings of one whom he had nursed and played with even +in early infancy, and whom, although his master, he regarded +with the affection he would have borne to his own child. As +he had justly observed, he would have willingly given half +his remaining years to be able to remove the source of the +sorrow which so deeply oppressed him. + +When this violent paroxysm had somewhat subsided, De +Haldimar became more composed; but his was rather that +composure which grows out of the apathy produced by +overwhelming grief, than the result of any relief afforded +to his suffering heart by the tears he had shed. He had +continued some time in this faint and apparently tranquil +state, when confused sounds in the barrack-yard, followed +by the raising of the heavy drawbridge, announced the +return of the detachment. Again he started up in his bed +and demanded his clothes, declaring his intention to go +out and receive the corpse of his murdered brother. All +opposition on the part of the faithful Morrison was now +likely to prove fruitless, when suddenly the door opened, +and an officer burst hurriedly into the room. + +"Courage! courage! my dear De Haldimar; I am the bearer +of good news. Your brother is not the person who has been +slain." + +Again De Haldimar sank back upon his pillow, overcome by +a variety of conflicting emotions. A moment afterwards, +and he exclaimed reproachfully, yet almost gasping with +the eagerness of his manner,-- + +"For God's sake, Sumners--in the name of common humanity, +do not trifle with my feelings. If you would seek to +lull me with false hopes, you are wrong. I am prepared +to hear and bear the worst at present; but to be undeceived +again would break my heart." + +"I swear to you by every thing I have been taught to +revere as sacred," solemnly returned Ensign Sumners, +deeply touched by the affliction he witnessed, "what I +state is strictly true. Captain Erskine himself sent me +to tell you." + +"What, is he only wounded then?" and a glow of mingled +hope and satisfaction was visible even through the flush +of previous excitement on the cheek of the sufferer. +"Quick, Morrison, give me my clothes.--Where is my brother, +Sumners?" and again he raised up his debilitated frame +with the intention of quitting his couch. + +"De Haldimar, my dear De Haldimar, compose yourself, and +listen to me. Your brother is still missing, and we are +as much in the dark about his fate as ever. All that is +certain is, we have no positive knowledge of his death; +but surely that is a thousand times preferable to the +horrid apprehensions under which we have all hitherto +laboured." + +"What mean you, Sumners? or am I so bewildered by my +sufferings as not to comprehend you clearly?--Nay, nay, +forgive me; but I am almost heart-broken at this loss, +and scarcely know what I say. But what is it you mean? +I saw my unhappy brother lying on the common with my own +eyes. Poor Valletort, himself--" here a rush of bitter +recollections flashed on the memory of the young man, +and the tears coursed each other rapidly down his cheek. +His emotion lasted for a few moments, and he pursued,--"Poor +Valletort himself saw him, for he was nearly as much +overwhelmed with affliction as I was; and even Morrison +beheld him also, not ten minutes since, under the very +walls of the fort; nay, distinguished the wings of his +uniform: and yet you would persuade me my brother, instead +of being brought in a corpse, is still missing and alive. +This is little better than trifling with my wretchedness, +Sumners," and again he sank back exhausted on his pillow. + +"I can easily forgive your doubts, De Haldimar," returned +the sympathizing Sumners, taking the hand of his companion, +and pressing it gently in his own; "for, in truth, there +is a great deal of mystery attached to the whole affair. +I have not seen the body myself; but I distinctly heard +Captain Erskine state it certainly was not your brother, +and he requested me to apprise both Sir Everard Valletort +and yourself of the fact." + +"Who is the murdered man, then? and how comes he to be +clad in the uniform of one of our officers? Pshaw! it is +too absurd to be credited. Erskine is mistaken--he must +be mistaken--it can be no other than my poor brother +Frederick. Sumners, I am sick, faint, with this cruel +uncertainty: go, my dear fellow, at once, and examine +the body; then return to me, and satisfy my doubts, if +possible." + +"Most willingly, if you desire it," returned Sumners, +moving towards the door; "but believe me, De Haldimar, +you may make your mind tranquil on the subject;--Erskine +spoke with certainty." + +"Have you seen Valletort?" asked De Haldimar, while an +involuntary shudder pervaded his fame. + +"I have. He flew on the instant to make further enquiries; +and was in the act of going to examine the body of the +murdered man when I came here.--But here he is himself, +and his countenance is the harbinger of any thing but a +denial of my intelligence." + +"Oh, Charles, what a weight of misery has been removed +from my heart!" exclaimed that officer, now rushing to +the bedside of his friend, and seizing his extended +hand,--"Your brother, let us hope, still lives." + +"Almighty God, I thank thee!" fervently ejaculated De +Haldimar; and then, overcome with joy, surprise, and +gratitude, he again sank back upon his pillow, sobbing +and weeping violently. + +Sumners had, with delicate tact, retired the moment Sir +Everard made his appearance; for he, as well as the whole +body of officers, was aware of the close friendship that +subsisted between the young men, and he felt, at such a +moment, the presence of a third person must be a sort of +violation of the sacredness of their interview. + +For some minutes the young baronet stood watching in +silence, and with his friend's hand closely clasped in +his own, the course of those tears which seemed to afford +so much relief to the overcharged heart of the sufferer. +At length they passed gradually away; and a smile, +expressive of the altered state of his feelings, for the +first time animated the flushed but handsome features of +the younger De Haldimar. + +We shall not attempt to paint all that passed between +the friends during the first interesting moments of an +interview which neither had expected to enjoy again, or +the delight and satisfaction with which they congratulated +themselves on the futility of those fears, which, if +realised, must have embittered every future moment of +their lives with the most harrowing recollections. Sir +Everard, particularly, felt, and was not slow to express, +his joy on this occasion; for, as he gazed upon the +countenance of his friend, he was more than ever inclined +to confess an interest in the sister he was said so much +to resemble. + +With that facility with which in youth the generous and +susceptible are prone to exchange their tears for smiles, +as some powerful motive for the reaction may prompt, the +invalid had already, and for the moment, lost sight of +the painful past in the pleasurable present, so that his +actual excitement was strongly in contrast with the +melancholy he had so recently exhibited. Never had Charles +de Haldimar appeared so eminently handsome; and yet his +beauty resembled that of a frail and delicate woman, +rather than that of one called to the manly and arduous +profession of a soldier. It was that delicate and Medor-like +beauty which might have won the heart and fascinated the +sense of a second Angelica. The light brown hair flowing +in thick and natural waves over a high white forehead; +the rich bloom of the transparent and downy cheek; the +large, blue, long, dark-lashed eye, in which a shade of +languor harmonised with the soft but animated expression +of the whole countenance,--the dimpled mouth,--the small, +clear, and even teeth,--all these now characterised +Charles de Haldimar; and if to these we add a voice rich, +full, and melodious, and a smile sweet and fascinating, +we shall be at no loss to account for the readiness with +which Sir Everard suffered his imagination to draw on +the brother for those attributes he ascribed to the +sister. + +It was while this impression was strong upon his fancy, +he took occasion to remark, in reply to an observation +of De Haldimar's, alluding to the despair with which his +sister would have been seized, had she known one brother +had fallen by the hand of the friend of the other. + +"The grief of my own heart, Charles, on this occasion, +would have been little inferior to her own. The truth +is, my feelings during the last three hours have let me +into a secret, of the existence of which I was, in a +great degree, ignorant until then: I scarcely know how +to express myself, for the communication is so truly +absurd and romantic you will not credit it." He paused, +hesitated, and then, as if determined to anticipate the +ridicule he seemed to feel would be attached to his +confession, with a forced half laugh pursued: "The fact +is, Charles, I have been so much used to listen to your +warm and eloquent praises of your sister, I have absolutely, +I will not say fallen in love with (that would be going +too far), but conceived so strong an interest in her, +that my most ardent desire would be to find favour in +her eyes. What say you, my friend? are you inclined to +forward my suit; and if so, is there any chance for me, +think you, with herself?" + +The breast of Charles de Haldimar, who had listened with +deep and increasing attention to this avowal, swelled +high with pleasurable excitement, and raising himself up +in his bed with one hand, while he grasped one of Sir +Everard's with the other, he exclaimed with a transport +of affection too forcible to be controlled,-- + +"Oh, Valletort, Valletort! this is, indeed, all that +was wanting to complete my happiness. My sister Clara +I adore with all the affection of my nature; I love her +better than my own life, which is wrapped up in hers. +She is an angel in disposition,--all that is dear, tender, +and affectionate,--all that is gentle and lovely in woman; +one whose welfare is dearer far to me than my own, and +without whose presence I could not live. Valletort, that +prize,--that treasure, that dearer half of myself, is +yours,--yours for ever. I have long wished you should +love, each other, and I felt, when you met, you would. +If I have hitherto forborne from expressing this fondest +wish of my heart, it has been from delicacy--from a +natural fear of compromising the purity of my adored +Clara. Now, however, you have confessed yourself interested, +by a description that falls far short of the true peril +of that dear girl, I can no longer disguise my gratification +and delight. Valletort," he concluded, impressively, +"there is no other man on earth to whom I would say so +much; but you were formed for each other, and you will, +you must, be the husband of my sister." + +If the youthful and affectionate De Haldimar was happy, +Sir Everard was no less so; for already, with the enthusiasm +of a young man of twenty, he painted to himself the entire +fruition of those dreams of happiness that had so long +been familiarised to his imagination. One doubt alone +crossed his mind. + +"But if your sister should have decided differently, +Charles," he at length remarked, as he gently quitted +the embrace of his friend: "who knows if her heart may +not already throb for another; and even if not, it is +possible she may judge me far less flatteringly than you +do." + +"Valletort, your fears are groundless. Having admitted +thus far, I will even go farther, and add, you have been +the subject of one of my letters to Clara, who, in her +turn, 'confesses a strong interest in one of whom she +has heard so much.' She writes playfully, of course, but +it is quite evident to me she is prepared to like you." + +"Indeed! But, Charles, liking is many degrees removed +you know from loving; besides, I understand there are +two or three handsome and accomplished fellows among the +garrison of Michilimackinac, and your sister's visit to +her cousin may not have been paid altogether with impunity." + +"Think not thus meanly of Clara's understanding, Valletort. +There must be something more than mere beauty and +accomplishment to fix the heart of my sister. The dark +eyed and elegant Baynton, and the musical and sonnetteering +Middleton, to whom you, doubtless, allude, are very +excellent fellows in their way; but handsome and +accomplished as they are, they are not exactly the men +to please Clara de Haldimar." + +"But, my dear Charles, you forget also any little merit +of my own is doubly enhanced in your eyes, by the sincerity +of the friendship subsisting between us; your sister may +think very differently." + +"Psha, Valletort! these difficulties are all of your own +creation," returned his friend, impatiently; "I know the +heart of Clara is disengaged. What would you more?" + +"Enough, De Haldimar; I will no longer doubt my own +prospects. If she but approve me, my whole life shall be +devoted to the happiness of your sister." + +A single knock was now heard at the door of the apartment; +it was opened, and a sergeant appeared at the entrance. + +"The company are under arms for punishment parade, +Lieutenant Valletort," said the man, touching his cap. + +In an instant, the visionary prospects of the young men +gave place to the stern realities connected with that +announcement of punishment. The treason of Halloway,--the +absence of Frederick de Haldimar,--the dangers by which +they were beset,--and the little present probability of +a re-union with those who were most dear to them,--all +these recollections now flashed across their minds with +the rapidity of thought; and the conversation that had +so recently passed between them seemed to leave no other +impression than what is produced from some visionary +speculation of the moment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +As the bells of the fort tolled the tenth hour of morning, +the groups of dispersed soldiery, warned by the rolling +of the assembly drum, once more fell into their respective +ranks in the order described in the opening of this +volume, Soon afterwards the prisoner Halloway was +reconducted into the square by a strong escort, who took +their stations as before in the immediate centre, where +the former stood principally conspicuous to the observation +of his comrades. His countenance was paler, and had less, +perhaps, of the indifference he had previously manifested; +but to supply this there was a certain subdued air of +calm dignity, and a composure that sprang, doubtless, +from the consciousness of the new character in which he +now appeared before his superiors. Colonel de Haldimar +almost immediately followed, and with him were the +principal staff of the garrison, all of whom, with the +exception of the sick and wounded and their attendants, +were present to a man. The former took from the hands of +the governor, Lawson, a large packet, consisting of +several sheets of folded paper closely written upon. +These were the proceedings of the court martial. + +After enumerating the several charges, and detailing the +evidence of the witnesses examined, the adjutant came at +length to the finding and sentence of the court, which +were as follows:-- + +"The court having duly considered the evidence adduced +against the prisoner private Frank Halloway, together +with what he has urged in his defence, are of opinion,--" + +"That with regard to the first charge, it is not proved." + +"That with regard to the second charge, it is not proved." + +"That with regard to the third charge, even by his own +voluntary confession, the prisoner is guilty." + +"The court having found the prisoner private Frank Halloway +guilty of the third charge preferred against him, which +is hi direct violation of a standing order of the garrison, +entailing capital punishment, do hereby sentence him, +the said prisoner, private Frank Halloway, to be shot to +death at such time and place as the officer commanding +may deem fit to appoint." + +Although the utmost order pervaded the ranks, every breath +had been suspended, every ear stretched during the reading +of the sentence; and now that it came arrayed in terror +and in blood, every glance was turned in pity on its +unhappy victim. But Halloway heard it with the ears of +one who has made up his mind to suffer; and the faint +half smile that played upon his lip spoke more in scorn +than in sorrow. Colonel de Haldimar pursued:-- + +"The court having found it imperatively incumbent on them +to award the punishment of death to the prisoner, private +Frank Halloway, at the same time gladly avail themselves +of their privilege by strongly recommending him to mercy. +The court cannot, in justice to the character of the +prisoner, refrain from expressing their unanimous +conviction, that notwithstanding the mysterious +circumstances which have led to his confinement and trial, +he is entirely innocent of the treachery ascribed to him. +The court have founded this conviction on the excellent +character, both on duty and in the field, hitherto borne +by the prisoner,--his well-known attachment to the officer +with whose abduction be stands charged,--and the manly, +open, and (as the court are satisfied) correct history +given of his former life. It is, moreover, the impression +of the court, that, as stated by the prisoner, his guilt +on the third charge has been the result only of his +attachment for Captain de Haldimar. And for this, and +the reasons above assigned, do they strongly recommend +the prisoner to mercy." + + (Signed) + + NOEL BLESSINGTON, + Captain and President. + + Sentence approved and confirmed. + + CHARLES DE HALDIMAR, + Colonel Commandant. + +While these concluding remarks of the court were being +read, the prisoner manifested the deepest emotion. If a +smile of scorn had previously played upon his lip, it +was because he fancied the court, before whom he had +sought to vindicate his fame, had judged him with a +severity not inferior to his colonel's; but now that, in +the presence of his companions, he heard the flattering +attestation of his services, coupled even as it was with +the sentence that condemned him to die, tears of gratitude +and pleasure rose despite of himself to his eyes; and it +required all his self-command to enable him to abstain +from giving expression to his feelings towards those who +had so generously interpreted the motives of his dereliction +from duty. But when the melancholy and startling fact of +the approval and confirmation of the sentence met his +ear, without the slightest allusion to that mercy which +had been so urgently recommended, he again overcame his +weakness, and exhibited his wonted air of calm and +unconcern. + +"Let the prisoner be removed, Mr. Lawson," ordered the +governor, whose stern and somewhat dissatisfied expression +of countenance was the only comment on the recommendation +for mercy. + +The order was promptly executed. Once more Halloway left +the square, and was reconducted to the cell he had occupied +since the preceding night. + +"Major Blackwater," pursued the governor, "let a detachment +consisting of one half the garrison be got in readiness +to leave the fort within the hour. Captain Wentworth, +three pieces of field artillery will be required. Let +them be got ready also." He then retired from the area +with the forbidding dignity and stately haughtiness of +manner that was habitual to him; while the officers, who +had just received his commands, prepared to fulfil the +respective duties assigned them. + +Since the first alarm of the garrison no opportunity had +hitherto been afforded the officers to snatch the slightest +refreshment. Advantage was now taken of the short interval +allowed by the governor, and they all repaired to the +mess-room, where their breakfast had long since been +provided. + +"Well, Blessington," remarked Captain Erskine, as he +filled his plate for the third time from a large haunch +of smoke-dried venison, for which his recent skirmish +with the Indians had given him an unusual relish, "so it +appears your recommendation of poor Halloway to mercy is +little likely to be attended to. Did you remark how +displeased the colonel looked as he bungled through it? +One might almost be tempted to think he had an interest +in the man's death, so determined does he appear to carry +his point." + +Although several of his companions, perhaps, felt and +thought the same, still there was no one who would have +ventured to avow his real sentiments in so unqualified +a manner. Indeed such an observation proceeding from +the lips of any other officer would have excited the +utmost surprise; but Captain Erskine, a brave, bold, +frank, and somewhat thoughtless soldier, was one of those +beings who are privileged to say any thing. His opinions +were usually expressed without ceremony; and his speech +was not the most circumspect NOW, as since his return to +the fort he had swallowed, fasting, two or three glasses +of a favourite spirit, which, without intoxicating, had +greatly excited him. + +"I remarked enough," said Captain Blessington, who sat +leaning his head on one hand, while with the other he +occasionally, and almost mechanically, raised a cup filled +with a liquid of a pale blood colour to his lips,--"quite +enough to make me regret from my very soul I should have +been his principal judge. Poor Halloway, I pity him much; +for, on my honour, I believe him to be the gentleman he +represents himself." + +"A finer fellow does not live," remarked the last remaining +officer of the grenadiers. "But surely Colonel de Haldimar +cannot mean to carry the sentence into effect. The +recommendation of a court, couched in such terms as these, +ought alone to have some weight with him." + +"It is quite clear, from the fact of his having been +remanded to his cell, the execution of the poor fellow +will be deferred at least," observed one of Captain +Erskine's subalterns." If the governor had intended he +should suffer immediately, he would have had him shot +the moment after his sentence was read. But what is the +meaning and object of this new sortie? and whither are +we now going? Do you know, Captain Erskine, our company +is again ordered for this duty?" + +"Know it, Leslie! of course I do; and for that reason am +I paying my court to the more substantial part of the +breakfast. Come, Blessington, my dear fellow, you have +quite lost your appetite, and we may have sharp work +before we get back. Follow my example: throw that nasty +blood-thickening sassafras away, and lay a foundation +from this venison. None sweeter is to be found in the +forests of America. A few slices of that, and then a +glass each of my best Jamaica, and we shall have strength +to go through the expedition, if its object be the capture +of the bold Ponteac himself." + +"I presume the object is rather to seek for Captain de +Haldimar," said Lieutenant Boyce, the officer of grenadiers; +"but in that case why not send out his own company?" + +"Because the Colonel prefers trusting to cooler heads +and more experienced arms," good-humouredly observed +Captain Erskine. "Blessington is our senior, and his +men are all old stagers. My lads, too, have had their +mettle up already this morning, and there is nothing like +that to prepare men for a dash of enterprise. It is with +them as with blood horses, the more you put them on their +speed the less anxious are they to quit the course. +Well, Johnstone, my brave Scot, ready for another skirmish?" +he asked, as that officer now entered to satisfy the +cravings of an appetite little inferior to that of his +captain. + +"With 'Nunquam non paratus' for my motto," gaily returned +the young man, "it were odd, indeed, if a mere scratch +like this should prevent me from establishing my claim +to it by following wherever my gallant captain leads." + +"Most courteously spoken, and little in the spirit of a +man yet smarting under the infliction of a rifle wound, +it must be confessed," remarked Lieutenant Leslie. "But, +Johnstone, you should bear in mind a too close adherence +to that motto has been, in some degree, fatal to your +family." + +"No reflections, Leslie, if you please," returned his +brother subaltern, slightly reddening. "If the head of +our family was unfortunate enough to be considered a +traitor to England, he was not so, at least, to Scotland; +and Scotland was the land of his birth. But let his +political errors be forgotten. Though the winged spur no +longer adorn the booted heel of an Earl of Annandale, +the time may not be far distant when some liberal and +popular monarch of England shall restore a title forfeited +neither through cowardice nor dishonour, but from an +erroneous sense of duty." + +"That is to say," muttered Ensign Delme, looking round +for approval as he spoke, "that our present king is +neither liberal nor popular. Well, Mr. Johnstone, were +such an observation to reach the ears of Colonel de +Haldimar you would stand a very fair chance of being +brought to a court martial." + +"That is to say nothing of the kind, sir," somewhat +fiercely retorted the young Scot; "but any thing I do +say you are at liberty to repeat to Colonel de Haldimar, +or whom you will. I cannot understand, Leslie, why you +should have made any allusion to the misfortunes of my +family at this particular moment, and in this public +manner. I trust it was not with a view to offend me;" +and he fixed his large black eyes upon his brother +subaltern, as if he would have read every thought of his +mind. + +"Upon my honour, Johnstone, I meant nothing of the kind," +frankly returned Leslie. "I merely meant to hint that +as you had had your share of service this morning, you +might, at least, have suffered me to borrow your spurs, +while you reposed for the present on your laurels." + +"There are my gay and gallant Scots," exclaimed Captain +Erskine, as he swallowed off a glass of the old Jamaica +which lay before him, and with which he usually neutralised +the acidities of a meat breakfast, "Settled like gentlemen +and lads of spirit as ye are," he pursued, as the young +men cordially shook each other's hand across the table. +"What an enviable command is mine, to have a company of +brave fellows who would face the devil himself were it +necessary; and two hot and impatient subs., who are ready +to cut each other's throat for the pleasure of accompanying +me against a set of savages that are little better than +so many devils. Come, Johnstone, you know the Colonel +allows us but one sub. at a time, in consequence of our +scarcity of officers, therefore it is but fair Leslie +should have his turn. It will not be long, I dare say, +before we shall have another brush with the rascals." + +"In my opinion," observed Captain Blessington, who had +been a silent and thoughtful witness of what was passing +around him, "neither Leslie nor Johnstone would evince +so much anxiety, were they aware of the true-nature of +the duty for which our companies have been ordered. Depend +upon it, it is no search after Captain de Haldimar in +which we are about to be engaged; for much as the colonel +loves his son, he would on no account compromise the +safety of the garrison, by sending a party into the +forest, where poor De Haldimar, if alive, is at all likely +to be found." + +"Faith you are right, Blessington; the governor is not +one to run these sort of risks on every occasion. My +chief surprise, indeed, is, that he suffered me to venture +even upon the common; but if we are not designed for some +hostile expedition, why leave the fort at all?" + +"The question will need no answer, if Halloway be found +to accompany us." + +"Psha! why should Halloway be taken out for the purpose? +If he be shot at all, he will be shot on the ramparts, +in the presence of, and as an example to, the whole +garrison. Still, on reflection, I cannot but think it +impossible the sentence should be carried into full +effect, after the strong, nay, the almost unprecedented +recommendation to mercy recorded on the face of the +proceedings." + +Captain Blessington shook his head despondingly. "What +think you, Erskine, of the policy of making an example, +which may be witnessed by the enemy as well as the +garrison? It is evident, from his demeanour throughout, +nothing will convince the colonel that Halloway is not +a traitor, and he may think it advisable to strike terror +in the minds of the savages, by an execution which will +have the effect of showing the treason of the soldier to +have been discovered." + +In this opinion many of the officers now concurred; and +as the fate of the unfortunate Halloway began to assume +a character of almost certainty, even the spirit of the +gallant Erskine, the least subdued by the recent distressing +events, was overclouded; and all sank, as if by one +consent, into silent communion with their thoughts, as +they almost mechanically completed the meal, at which +habit rather than appetite still continued them. Before +any of them had yet risen from the table, a loud and +piercing scream met their ears from without; and so quick +and universal was the movement it produced, that its echo +had scarcely yet died away in distance, when the whole +of the breakfast party had issued from the room, and were +already spectators of the cause. + +The barracks of the officers, consisting of a range of +low buildings, occupied the two contiguous sides of a +square, and in the front of these ran a narrow and covered +piazza, somewhat similar to those attached to the +guardhouses in England, which description of building +the barracks themselves most resembled. On the other +two faces of the square stood several block-houses, a +style of structure which, from their adaptation to purposes +of defence as well as of accommodation, were every where +at that period in use in America, and are even now +continued along the more exposed parts of the frontier. +These, capable of containing each a company of men, were, +as their name implies, formed of huge masses of +roughly-shapen timber, fitted into each other at the +extremities by rude incisions from the axe, and filled +in with smaller wedges of wood. The upper part of these +block-houses projected on every side several feet beyond +the ground floor, and over the whole was a sheathing of +planks, which, as well as those covering the barracks of +the officers, were painted of a brick-red colour. Unlike +the latter, they rose considerably above the surface of +the ramparts; and, in addition to the small window to be +seen on each side of each story of the block-house, were +numerous smaller square holes, perforated for the discharge +of musketry. Between both these barracks and the ramparts +there was just space sufficient to admit of the passage +of artillery of a heavy calibre; and at each of the four +angles, composing the lines of the fort, was an opening +of several feet in extent, not only to afford the gunners +room to work their batteries, but to enable them to reach +their posts with greater expedition in the event of any +sudden emergency. On the right, on entering the fort +over the drawbridge, were the block-houses of the men; +and immediately in front, and on the left, the barracks +of the officers, terminated at the outer extremity by +the guard-house, and at the inner by the quarters of the +commanding officer. + +As the officers now issued from the mess-room nearly +opposite to the gate, they observed, at that part of the +barracks which ran at right angles with it, and immediately +in front of the apartment of the younger De Haldimar, +whence he had apparently just issued, the governor, +struggling, though gently, to disengage himself from a +female, who, with disordered hair and dress, lay almost +prostrate upon the piazza, and clasping his booted leg +with an energy evidently borrowed from the most rooted +despair. The quick eye of the haughty man had already +rested on the group of officers drawn by the scream of +the supplicant. Numbers, too, of the men, attracted by +the same cause, were collected in front of their respective +block-houses, and looking from the windows of the rooms +in which they were also breakfasting, preparatory to the +expedition. Vexed and irritated beyond measure, at being +thus made a conspicuous object of observation to his +inferiors, the unbending governor made a violent and +successful effort to disengage his leg; and then, without +uttering a word, or otherwise noticing the unhappy being +who lay extended at his feet, he stalked across the parade +to his apartments at the opposite angle, without appearing +to manifest the slightest consciousness of the scene that +had awakened such universal attention. + +Several of the officers, among whom was Captain Blessington, +now hastened to the assistance of the female, whom all +had recognised, from the first, to be the interesting +and unhappy wife of Halloway. Many of the comrades of +the latter, who had been pained and pitying spectators +of the scene, also advanced for the same purpose; but, +on perceiving their object anticipated by their superiors, +they withdrew to the blocks-houses, whence they had +issued. Never was grief more forcibly depicted, than in +the whole appearance of this unfortunate woman; never +did anguish assume a character more fitted to touch the +soul, or to command respect. Her long fair hair, that +had hitherto been hid under the coarse mob-cap, usually +worn by the wives of the soldiers, was now divested of +all fastening, and lay shadowing a white and polished +bosom, which, in her violent struggles to detain the +governor, had burst from its rude but modest confinement, +and was now displayed in all the dazzling delicacy of +youth and sex. If the officers gazed for a moment with +excited look upon charms that had long been strangers to +their sight, and of an order they had little deemed to +find in Ellen Halloway, it was but the involuntary tribute +rendered by nature unto beauty. The depth and sacredness +of that sorrow, which had left the wretched woman +unconscious of her exposure, in the instant afterwards +imposed a check upon admiration, which each felt to be +a violation of the first principles of human delicacy, +and the feeling was repressed almost in the moment that +gave it birth. + +They were immediately in front of the room occupied by +Charles de Haldimar, in the piazza of which were a few +old chairs, on which the officers were in the habit of +throwing themselves during the heat of the day. On one +of these Captain Blessington, assisted by the officer of +grenadiers, now seated the suffering and sobbing wife of +Halloway. His first care was to repair the disorder of +her dress; and never was the same office performed by +man with greater delicacy, or absence of levity by those +who witnessed it. This was the first moment of her +consciousness. The inviolability of modesty for a moment +rose paramount even to the desolation of her heart, and +putting rudely aside the hand that reposed unavoidably +upon her person, the poor woman started from her seat, +and looked wildly about her, as if endeavouring to identify +those by whom she was surrounded. But when she observed +the pitying gaze of the officers fixed upon her, in +earnestness and commiseration, and heard the benevolent +accents of the ever kind Blessington exhorting her to +composure, her weeping became more violent, and her sobs +more convulsive. Captain Blessington threw an arm round +her waist to prevent her from falling; and then motioning +to two or three women of the company to which her husband +was attached, who stood at a little distance, in front +of one of the block-houses, prepared to deliver her over +to their charge. + +"No, no, not yet!" burst at length from the lips of the +agonised woman, as she shrank from the rude but +well-intentioned touch of the sympathising assistants, +who had promptly answered the signal; then, as if obeying +some new direction of her feelings, some new impulse of +her grief, she liberated herself from the slight grasp +of Captain Blessington, turned suddenly round, and, before +any one could anticipate the movement, entered an opening +on the piazza, raised the latch of a door situated at +its extremity, and was, in the next instant, in the +apartment of the younger De Haldimar. + +The scene that met the eyes of the officers, who now +followed close after her, was one well calculated to make +an impression on the hearts even of the most insensible. +In the despair and recklessness of her extreme sorrow, +the young wife of Halloway had already thrown herself +upon her knees at the bedside of the sick officer; and, +with her hands upraised and firmly clasped together, was +now supplicating him in tones, contrasting singularly in +their gentleness with the depth of the sorrow that had +rendered her thus regardless of appearances, and insensible +to observation. + +"Oh, Mr. de Haldimar!" she implored, "in the name of God +and of our blessed Saviour, if you would save me from +madness, intercede for my unhappy husband, and preserve +him from the horrid fate that awaits him. You are too +good, too gentle, too amiable, to reject the prayer of +a heart-broken woman. Moreover, Mr. de Haldimar," she +proceeded, with deeper energy, while she caught and +pressed, between her own white and bloodless hands, one +nearly as delicate that lay extended near her, "consider +all my dear but unfortunate husband has done for your +family. Think of the blood he once spilt in the defence +of your brother's life; that brother, through whom alone, +oh God! he is now condemned to die. Call to mind the days +and nights of anguish I passed near his couch of suffering, +when yet writhing beneath the wound aimed at the life of +Captain de Haldimar. Almighty Providence!" she pursued, +in the same impassioned yet plaintive voice, "why is not +Miss Clara here to plead the cause of the innocent, and +to touch the stubborn heart of her merciless father? She +would, indeed, move heaven and earth to save the life of +him to whom she so often vowed eternal gratitude and +acknowledgment. Ah, she little dreams of his danger now; +or, if prayer and intercession could avail, my husband +should yet live, and this terrible struggle at my heart +would be no more." + +Overcome by her emotion, the unfortunate woman suffered +her aching head to droop upon the edge of the bed, and +her sobbing became so painfully violent, that all who +heard her expected, at every moment, some fatal termination +to her immoderate grief. Charles de Haldimar was little +less affected; and his sorrow was the more bitter, as he +had just proved the utter inefficacy of any thing in the +shape of appeal to his inflexible father. + +"Mrs. Halloway, my dear Mrs. Halloway, compose yourself," +said Captain Blessington, now approaching, and endeavouring +to raise her gently from the floor, on which she still +knelt, while her hands even more firmly grasped that of +De Haldimar. "You are ill, very ill, and the consequences +of this dreadful excitement may be fatal. Be advised by +me, and retire. I have desired my room to be prepared +for you, and Sergeant Wilmot's wife shall remain with +you as long as you may require it." + +"No, no, no!" she again exclaimed with energy; "what care +I for my own wretched life--my beloved and unhappy husband +is to die. Oh God! to die without guilt--to be cut off +in his youth--to be shot as a traitor--and that simply +for obeying the wishes of the officer whom he loved!--the +son of the man who now spurns all supplication from his +presence. It is inhuman--it is unjust--and Heaven will +punish the hard-hearted man who murders him--yes, murders +him! for such a punishment for such an offence is nothing +less than murder." Again she wept bitterly, and as Captain +Blessington still essayed to soothe and raise her:--"No, +no! I will not leave this spot," she continued; "I will +not quit the side of Mr. de Haldimar, until he pledges +himself to intercede for my poor husband. It is his duty +to save the life of him who saved his brother's life; +and God and human justice are with my appeal. Oh, tell +me, then, Mr. de Haldimar,--if you would save my wretched +heart from breaking,--tell me you will intercede for, +and obtain the pardon of, my husband!" + +As she concluded this last sentence in passionate appeal, +she had risen from her knees; and, conscious only of the +importance of the boon solicited, now threw herself upon +the breast of the highly pained and agitated young officer. +Her long and beautiful hair fell floating over his face, +and mingled with his own, while her arms were wildly +clasped around him, in all the energy of frantic and +hopeless adjuration. + +"Almighty God!" exclaimed the agitated young man, as he +made a feeble and fruitless effort to raise the form of +the unhappy woman; "what shall I say to impart comfort +to this suffering being? Oh, Mrs. Halloway," he pursued, +"I would willingly give all I possess in this world to +be the means of saving your unfortunate husband,--and as +much for his own sake as for yours would I do this; but, +alas! I have not the power. Do not think I speak without +conviction. My father has just been with me, and I have +pleaded the cause of your husband with an earnestness I +should scarcely have used had my own life been at stake. +But all my entreaties have been in vain. He is obstinate +in the belief my brother's strange absence, and Donellan's +death, are attributable only to the treason of Halloway. +Still there is a hope. A detachment is to leave the fort +within the hour, and Halloway is to accompany them. It +may be, my father intends this measure only with a view +to terrify him into a confession of guilt; and that he +deems it politic to make him undergo all the fearful +preliminaries without carrying the sentence itself into +effect." + +The unfortunate woman said no more. When she raised her +heaving chest from that of the young officer, her eyes, +though red and shrunk to half their usual size with +weeping, were tearless; but on her countenance there was +an expression of wild woe, infinitely more distressing +to behold, in consequence of the almost unnatural check +so suddenly imposed upon her feelings. She tottered, +rather than walked, through the group of officers, who +gave way on either hand to let her pass; and rejecting +all assistance from the women who had followed into the +room, and who now, in obedience to another signal from +Captain Blessington, hastened to her support, finally +gained the door, and quitted the apartment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The sun was high in the meridian, as the second detachment, +commanded by Colonel de Haldimar in person, issued from +the fort of Detroit. It was that soft and hazy season, +peculiar to the bland and beautiful autumns of Canada, +when the golden light of Heaven seems as if transmitted +through a veil of tissue, and all of animate and inanimate +nature, expanding and fructifying beneath its fostering +influence, breathes the most delicious languor and +voluptuous repose. It was one of those still, calm, warm, +and genial days, which in those regions come under the +vulgar designation of the Indian summer; a season that +is ever hailed by the Canadian with a satisfaction +proportioned to the extreme sultriness of the summer, +and the equally oppressive rigour of the winter, by which +it is immediately preceded and followed. It is then that +Nature, who seems from the creation to have bestowed all +of grandeur and sublimity on the stupendous Americas, +looks gladly and complacently on her work; and, staying +the course of parching suns and desolating frosts, loves +to luxuriate for a period in the broad and teeming bosom +of her gigantic offspring. It is then that the +forest-leaves, alike free from the influence of the +howling hurricane of summer, and the paralysing and +unfathomable snows of winter, cleave, tame and stirless +in their varying tints, to the parent branch; while the +broad rivers and majestic lakes exhibit a surface resembling +rather the incrustation of the polished mirror than the +resistless, viewless particles of which the golden element +is composed. It is then that, casting its satisfied +glance across those magnificent rivers, the eye beholds, +as if reflected from a mirror (so similar in production +and appearance are the contiguous shores), both the +fertility of cultivated and the rudeness of uncultivated +nature, that every where surround and diversify the view. +The tall and sloping banks, covered with verdure to the +very sands, that unite with the waters lying motionless +at their base; the continuous chain of neat farm-houses +(we speak principally of Detroit and its opposite shores); +the luxuriant and bending orchards, teeming with fruits +of every kind and of every colour; the ripe and yellow +corn vying in hue with the soft atmosphere, which reflects +and gives full effect to its abundance and its +richness,--these, with the intervening waters unruffled, +save by the lazy skiff, or the light bark canoe urged +with the rapidity of thought along its surface by the +slight and elegantly ornamented paddle of the Indian; or +by the sudden leaping of the large salmon, the unwieldly +sturgeon, the bearded cat-fish, or the delicately flavoured +maskinonge, and fifty other tenants of their bosom;--all +these contribute to form the foreground of a picture +bounded in perspective by no less interesting, though +perhaps ruder marks of the magnificence of that great +architect--Nature, on which the eye never lingers without +calm; while feelings, at once voluptuous and tender, +creep insensibly over the heart, and raise the mind in +adoration to the one great and sole Cause by which the +stupendous whole has been produced. + +Such a day as that we have just described was the ---- +of September, 1763, when the chief portion of the English +garrison of Detroit issued forth from the fortifications +in which they had so long been cooped up, and in the +presumed execution of a duty undeniably the most trying +and painful that ever fell to the lot of soldier to +perform. The heavy dull movement of the guns, as they +traversed the drawbridge resembled in that confined +atmosphere the rumbling of low and distant thunder; and +as they shook the rude and hollow sounding planks, over +which they were slowly dragged, called up to every heart +the sad recollection of the service for which they had +been required. Even the tramp of the men, as they moved +heavily and measuredly across the yielding bridge, seemed +to wear the character of the reluctance with which they +proceeded on so hateful a duty; and more than one +individual, as he momentarily turned his eye upon the +ramparts, where many of his comrades were grouped together +watching the departure of the detachment, testified by +the significant and mournful movement of his head how +much he envied their exemption from the task. + +The direct military road runs in a straight line from +the fort to the banks of the Detroit, and the eastern +extremity of the town. Here it is intersected by the +highway running parallel with the river, and branching +off at right angles on either hand; the right, leading +in the direction of the more populous states; the left, +through the town, and thence towards the more remote and +western parts, where European influence has yet been but +partially extended. The only difference between its +present and former character is, that what is now a +flourishing commercial town was then a mere village; +while the adjacent country, at present teeming with every +mark of vegetation, bore no other evidence of fertility +than what was afforded by a few scattered farm-houses, +many of which skirted various parts of the forest. Along +this road the detachment now wended its slow and solemn +course, and with a mournful pageantry of preparation that +gave fearful earnest of the tragedy expected to be enacted. + +In front, and dragged by the hands of the gunners, moved +two of the three three-pounders, that had been ordered +for the duty. Behind these came Captain Blessington's +company, and in their rear, the prisoner Halloway, divested +of his uniform, and clad in a white cotton jacket, and +cap of the same material. Six rank and file of the +grenadiers followed, under the command of a corporal, +and behind these again, came eight men of the same company; +four of whom bore on their shoulders a coffin, covered +with a coarse black pall that had perhaps already assisted +at fifty interments; while the other four carried, in +addition to their own, the muskets of their burdened +comrades. After these, marched a solitary drummer-boy; +whose tall bear-skin cap attested him to be of the +grenadiers also, while his muffled instrument marked the +duty for which he had been selected. Like his comrades, +none of whom exhibited their scarlet uniforms, he wore +the collar of his great coat closely buttoned beneath +his chin, which was only partially visible above the +stiff leathern stock that encircled his neck. Although +his features were half buried in his huge cap and the +high collar of his coat, there was an air of delicacy +about his person that seemed to render him unsuited to +such an office; and more than once was Captain Erskine, +who followed immediately behind him at the head of his +company, compelled to call sharply to the urchin, +threatening him with a week's drill unless he mended his +feeble and unequal pace, and kept from under the feet of +his men. The remaining gun brought up the rear of the +detachment, who marched with fixed bayonets and two balls +in each musket; the whole presenting a front of sections, +that completely filled up the road along which they +passed. Colonel de Haldimar, Captain Wentworth, and the +Adjutant Lawson followed in the extreme rear. + +An event so singular as that of the appearance of the +English without their fort, beset as they were by a host +of fierce and dangerous enemies, was not likely to pass +unnoticed by a single individual in the little village +of Detroit. We have already observed, that most of the +colonist settlers had been cruelly massacred at the very +onset of hostilities. Not so, however, with the Canadians, +who, from their anterior relations with the natives, and +the mutual and tacit good understanding that subsisted +between both parties, were suffered to continue in quiet +and unmolested possession of their homes, where they +preserved an avowed neutrality, never otherwise infringed +than by the assistance secretly and occasionally rendered +to the English troops, whose gold they were glad to +receive in exchange for the necessaries of life. + +Every dwelling of the infant town had commenced giving +up its tenants, from the moment when the head of the +detachment was seen traversing the drawbridge; so that, +by the time it reached the highway, and took its direction +to the left, the whole population of Detroit were already +assembled in groups, and giving expression to their +several conjectures, with a vivacity of language and +energy of gesticulation that would not have disgraced +the parent land itself. As the troops drew nearer, however, +they all sank at once into a silence, as much the result +of certain unacknowledged and undefined fears, as of the +respect the English had ever been accustomed to exact. +The men removed their short dingy clay pipes from their +mouths with one hand, and uncovered themselves with the +other, while the women made their hasty reverence with +the air of people who seek to propitiate by an act of +civility; even the very children scraped and bowed, as +if they feared the omission might be fatal to them, and, +clinging to the hands and dress of their parents, looked +up occasionally to their countenances to discover whether +the apprehensions of their own fluttering and timid hearts +were likely to be realised. Still there was sufficient +of curiosity with all to render them attentive spectators +of the passing troop. Hitherto, it had been imagined, +the object of the English was an attack on the encampments +of their enemies; but when the gaze of each adult inhabitant +fell on the unaccoutred form of the lone soldier, who, +calm though pale, now moved among his comrades in the +ignominious garb of death, they could no longer doubt +its true destination. + +The aged made the sign of the cross, and mumbled over a +short prayer for the repose of his soul, while the more +youthful indulged in half-breathed ejaculations of pity +and concern that so fine and interesting a man should be +doomed to so dreadful a fate. + +At the farther extremity of the town, and at a bend in +the road, which branched off more immediately towards +the river, stood a small public house, whose creaking +sign bore three ill executed fleurs-de-lis, apologetic +emblems of the arms of France. The building itself was +little more than a rude log hut, along the front of which +ran a plank, supported by two stumps of trees, and serving +as a temporary accommodation both for the traveller and +the inmate. On this bench three persons, apparently +attracted by the beauty of the day and the mildness of +the autumnal sun, were now seated, two of whom were +leisurely puffing their pipes, while the third, a female, +was employed in carding wool, a quantity of which lay in +a basket at her feet, while she warbled, in a low tone, +one of the simple airs of her native land. The elder of +the two men, whose age might be about fifty, offered +nothing particularly remarkable in his appearance: he +was dressed in one of those thick coats made of the common +white blanket, which, even to this day, are so generally +worn by the Canadians, while his hair, cut square upon +the forehead, and tied into a club of nearly a foot long, +fell into the cape, or hood, attached to it: his face +was ruddy and shining as that of any rival Boniface among +the race of the hereditary enemies of his forefathers; +and his thick short neck, and round fat person, attested +he was no more an enemy to the good things of this world +than themselves, while he was as little oppressed by its +cares: his nether garments were of a coarse blue homespun, +and his feet were protected by that rudest of all rude +coverings, the Canadian shoe-pack. This was composed of +a single piece of stiff brown leather, curved and puckered +round the sides and front, where it was met by a tongue +of softer material, which helped to confine it in that +position, and to form the shoe. A bandana handkerchief +fell from his neck upon his chest; the covering of which +was so imperfectly drawn, as to disclose a quantitity of +long, coarse, black, and grisly hair. + +His companion was habited in a still more extraordinary +manner. His lower limbs were cased, up to the mid-thigh, +in leathern leggings, the seam of which was on the outside, +leaving a margin, or border, of about an inch wide, which +had been slit into innumerable small fringes, giving them +an air of elegance and lightness: a garter of leather, +curiously wrought, with the stained quills of the porcupine, +encircled each leg, immediately under the knee, where it +was tied in a bow, and then suffered to hang pendant half +way down the limb; to the fringes of the leggings, +moreover, were attached numerous dark-coloured horny +substances, emitting, as they rattled against each other, +at the slightest movement of the wearer, a tinkling sound, +resembling that produced by a number of small thin delicate +brass bells; these were the tender hoofs of the wild +deer, dried, scraped, and otherwise prepared for this +ornamental purpose. Upon his large feet he wore mocassins, +made of the same pliant material with his leggings, and +differing in shape from the foot-gear of his companion +in this particular only, that they had no tongue introduced +into the front: they were puckered together by a strong +sinew of the deer, until they met along the instep in a +seam concealed by the same ornamental quill-work that +decorated the garters: a sort of flap, fringed like the +leggings, was folded back from the ankle, upon the sides +of the foot, and the whole was confined by a strong though +neat leathern thong, made of smoked deer-skin also, which, +after passing once or twice under the foot, was then +tightly drawn several times round the ankle, where it +was finally secured. Two strips of leather, about an inch +and a half in width, attached to the outer side of each +legging, were made fast at their opposite extremities to +a strong girdle, encircling the loins, and supporting a +piece of coarse blue cloth, which, after passing completely +under the body, fell in short flaps both before and +behind. The remainder of the dress consisted of a cotton +shirt, figured and sprigged on a dark ground, that fell +unconfined over the person; a close deer-skin hunting-coat, +fringed also at its edges; and a coarse common felt hat, +in the string of which (for there was no band) were +twisted a number of variegated feathers, furnished by +the most beautiful and rare of the American autumnal +birds. Outside this hunting-coat, and across the right +shoulder, was flung an ornamented belt, to which were +appended, on the left side, and in a line with the elbow, +a shot-pouch, made of the untanned hide of some wild +animal, and a flask for powder, formed of the horn of +the buffalo; on which, highly polished for this purpose, +were inscribed, with singular accuracy of proportion, a +variety of figures, both of men, and birds, and beasts, +and fishes; two or three small horn measures for powder, +and a long thin wire, intended to serve as a pricker for +the rifle that reclined against the outside of the hut, +were also attached to this belt by strips of deer-skin +of about six inches in length. Into another broad leathern +belt, that confined the hunting coat, was thrust a +tomahawk, the glittering head of which was uppermost, +and unsheathed: while at the opposite side, and half +supporting the powder-horn, the huge handle of a knife, +whose blade was buried in a strong leathern sheath, was +distinctly visible. + +The form and face of this individual were in perfect +keeping with the style of his costume, and the formidable +character of his equipment. His stature was considerably +beyond that of the ordinary race of men, and his athletic +and muscular limbs united the extremes of strength and +activity in a singular degree. His features, marked and +prominent, wore a cast of habitual thought, strangely +tinctured with ferocity; and the general expression of +his otherwise not unhandsome countenance was repellent +and disdainful. At the first glance he might have been +taken for one of the swarthy natives of the soil; but +though time and constant exposure to scorching suns had +given to his complexion a dusky hue, still there were +wanting the quick, black, penetrating eye; the high +cheek-bone; the straight, coarse, shining, black hair; +the small bony hand and foot; and the placidly proud and +serious air, by which the former is distinguished. His +own eye was of a deep bluish grey; his hair short, dark, +and wavy; his hands large and muscular; and so far from +exhibiting any of the self-command of the Indian, the +constant play of his features betrayed each passing +thought with the same rapidity with which it was conceived. +But if any doubt could have existed in the mind of him +who beheld this strangely accoutred figure, it would have +been instantly dispelled by a glance at his lower limbs. +We have already stated the upper part of his leggings +terminated about mid-thigh; from this to the hip, that +portion of the limb was completely bare, and disclosed, +at each movement of the garment that was suffered to fall +loosely over it, not the swarthy and copper-coloured +flesh of the Indian, but the pale though sun-burnt skin +of one of a more temperate clime. His age might be about +forty-five. + +At the moment when the English detachment approached the +bend in the road, these two individuals were conversing +earnestly together, pausing only to puff at intervals +thick and wreathing volumes of smoke from their pipes, +which were filled with a mixture of tobacco and odoriferous +herbs. Presently, however, sounds that appeared familiar +to his ear arrested the attention of the wildly accoutred +being we have last described. It was the heavy roll of +the artillery carriages already advancing along the road, +and somewhat in the rear of the hut. To dash his pipe to +the ground, seize and cock and raise his rifle to his +shoulder, and throw himself forward in the eager attitude +of one waiting until the object of his aim should appear +in sight, was but the work of a moment. Startled by the +suddenness of the action, his male companion moved a few +paces also from his. seat, to discover the cause of this +singular movement. The female, on the contrary, stirred +not, but ceasing for a moment the occupation in which +she had been engaged, fixed her dark and brilliant eyes +upon the tall and picturesque form of the rifleman, whose +active and athletic limbs, thrown into powerful relief +by the distention of each nerve and muscle, appeared to +engross her whole admiration and interest, without any +reference to the cause that had produced this abrupt and +hostile change in his movements. It was evident that, +unlike the other inhabitants of the town, this group had +been taken by surprise, and were utterly unprepared to +expect any thing in the shape of interruption. + +For upwards of a minute, during which the march of the +men became audible even to the ears of the female, the +formidable warrior, for such his garb denoted him to be, +continued motionless in the attitude he had at first +assumed--his right cheek reposing on the ornamented stock +of his rifle, and his quick and steady eye fixed in one +undeviating line with the sight near the breech, and that +which surmounted the extreme end of the deadly weapon. +No sooner, however, had the head of the advancing column +come within sight, than the trigger was pulled, and the +small and ragged bullet sped hissing from the grooved +and delicate barrel. A triumphant cry was next pealed +from the lips of the warrior,--a cry produced by the +quickly repeated application and removal of one hand to +and from the mouth, while the other suffered the butt +end of the now harmless weapon to fall loosely upon the +earth. He then slowly and deliberately withdrew within +the cover of the hut. + +This daring action, which had been viewed by the leading +troops with astonishment not unmingled with alarm, +occasioned a temporary confusion in the ranks, for all +believed they had fallen into an ambuscade of the Indians. +A halt was instantly commanded by Captain Blessington, +in order to give time to the governor to come up from +the rear, while he proceeded with one of the leading +sections to reconnoitre the front of the hut. To his +infinite surprise, however, he found neither enemy, nor +evidence that an enemy had been there. The only individuals +visible were the Canadian already alluded to, and the +dark-eyed female. Both were seated on the bench;--the +one smoking his pipe with a well assumed appearance of +unconcern--the other carding her wool, but with a hand +that by a close observer might be seen to tremble in its +office, and a cheek that was paler considerably than at +the moment when we first placed her before the imagination +of the reader. Both, however, started with unaffected +surprise on seeing Captain Blessington and his little +force turn the corner of the house from the main road; +and certain looks of recognition passed between all +parties, that proved them to be no strangers to each +other. + +"Ah, monsieur," said the Canadian, in a mingled dialect, +neither French nor English, but partaking in some degree +of the idiom of both, while he attempted an ease and +freedom of manner that was too miserably affected to pass +current with the mild but observant officer whom he +addressed, "how much surprise I am, and glad to see you. +It is a long times since you came out of de fort. I hope +de governeur and de officir be all very well. I was +tinking to go to-day to see if you want any ting. I have +got some nice rum of the Jamaique for Capitaine Erskine. +Will you please to try some?" While speaking, the voluble +host of the Fleur de lis had risen from his seat, laid +aside his pipe, and now stood with his hands thrust into +the pockets of his blanket coat + +"It is, indeed, a long time since we have been here, +master Francois," somewhat sarcastically and drily replied +Captain Blessington; "and you have not visited us quite +so often latterly yourself, though well aware we were in +want of fresh provisions. I give you all due credit, +however, for your intention of coming to-day, but you +see we have anticipated you. Still this is not the point. +Where is the Indian who fired at us just now? and how is +it we find you leagued with our enemies?" + +"What, sir, is it you say?" asked the Canadian, holding +up his hands with feigned astonishment "Me league myself +with de savage. Upon my honour I did not see nobody fire, +or I should tell you. I love de English too well to do +dem harms." + +"Come, come, Francois, no nonsense. If I cannot make you +confess, there is one not far from me who will. You know +Colonel de Haldimar too well to imagine he will be trifled +with in this manner: if he detects you in a falsehood, +he will certainly cause you to be hanged up at the first +tree. Take my advice, therefore, and say where you have +secreted this Indian; and recollect, if we fall into an +ambuscade, your life will be forfeited at the first shot +we hear fired." + +At this moment the governor, followed by his adjutant, +came rapidly up to the spot. Captain Blessington +communicated the ill success of his queries, when the +former cast on the terrified Canadian one of those severe +and searching looks which he so well knew how to assume. + +"Where is the rascal who fired at us, sirrah? tell me +instantly, or you have not five minutes to live." + +The heart of mine host of the Fleur de lis quailed within +him at this formidable threat; and the usually ruddy hue +of his countenance had now given place to an ashy paleness. +Still, as he had positively denied all knowledge of the +matter on which he was questioned, he appeared to feel +his safety lay in adhering to his original statement. +Again, therefore, he assured the governor, on his honour +(laying his hand upon his heart as he spoke), that what +he had already stated was the fact. + +"Your honour--you pitiful trading scoundrel--how dare +you talk to me of your honour? Come, sir, confess at once +where you have secreted this fellow, or prepare to die." + +"If I may be so bold, your Honour," said one of Captain +Blessington's men, "the Frenchman lies. When the Ingian +fired among us, this fellow was peeping under his shoulder +and watching us also. If I had not seen him too often at +the fort to be mistaken in his person, I should have +known him, at all events, by his blanket coat and red +handkerchief." + +This blunt statement of the soldier, confirmed as it was +the instant afterwards by one of his comrades, was damning +proof against the Canadian, even if the fact of the rifle +being discharged from the front of the hut had not already +satisfied all parties of the falsehood of his assertion. + +"Come forward, a couple of files, and seize this villain," +resumed the governor with his wonted sternness of manner. +"Mr. Lawson, see if his hut does not afford a rope strong +enough to hang the traitor from one of his own apple +trees." + +Both parties proceeded at the same moment to execute the +two distinct orders of their chief. The Canadian was +now firmly secured in the grasp of the two men who had +given evidence against him, when, seeing all the horror +of the summary and dreadful fate that awaited him, he +confessed the individual who had fired had been sitting +with him the instant previously, but that he knew no more +of him than of any other savage occasionally calling at +the Fleur de lis. He added, that on discharging the rifle +he had bounded across the palings of the orchard, and +fled in the direction of the forest. He denied, on +interrogation, all knowledge or belief of an enemy waiting +in ambush; stating, moreover, even the individual in +question had not been aware of the sortie of the detachment +until apprised of their near approach by the heavy sound +of the gun-carriages. + +"Here are undeniable proofs of the man's villany, sir," +said the adjutant, returning from the hut and exhibiting +objects of new and fearful interest to the governor. +"This hat and rope I found secreted in one of the bed-rooms +of the auberge. The first is evidently Donellan's; and +from the hook attached to the latter, I apprehend it to +be the same stated to have been used by Captain de Haldimar +in crossing the ditch." + +The governor took the hat and rope from the hands of his +subordinate, examined them attentively, and after a few +moments of deep musing, during which his countenance +underwent several rapid though scarcely perceptible +changes, turned suddenly and eagerly to the soldier who +had first convicted the Canadian in his falsehood, and +demanded if he had seen enough of the man who had fired +to be able to give even a general description of his +person. + +"Why yes, your Honour, I think I can; for the fellow +stood long enough after firing his piece, for a painter +to have taken him off from head to foot. He was a taller +and larger man by far than our biggest grenadier, and +that is poor Harry Donellan, as your Honour knows. But +as for his dress, though I could see it all, I scarcely +can tell how to describe it. All I know is, he was covered +with smoked deer-skin, in some such fashion as the great +chief Ponteac, only, instead of having his head bare and +shaved, he wore a strange outlandish sort of a hat, +covered over with wild birds' feathers in front." + +"Enough," interrupted the governor, motioning the man to +silence; then, in an undertone to himself,--"By Heaven, +the very same." A shade of disappointment, not unmingled +with suppressed alarm, passed rapidly across his brow; +it was but momentary. "Captain Blessington," he ordered +quickly and impatiently, "search the hut and grounds for +this lurking Indian, who is, no doubt, secreted in the +neighbourhood. Quick, quick, sir; there is no time to be +lost." Then in an angry and intimidating tone to the +Canadian, who had already dropped on his knees, supplicating +mercy, and vociferating his innocence in the same breath, +--"So, you infernal scoundrel, this is the manner in +which you have repaid our confidence. Where is my son, +sir? or have you already murdered him, as you did his +servant? Tell me, you villain, what have you to say to +these proofs of your treachery? But stay, I shall take +another and fitter opportunity to question you. Mr. +Lawson, secure this traitor properly, and let him be +conveyed to the centre of the detachment." + +The mandate was promptly obeyed; and, in despite of his +own unceasing prayers and protestations of innocence, +and the tears and entreaties of his dark-eyed daughter +Babette, who had thrown herself on her knees at his side, +the stout arms of mine host of the Fleur de lis were soon +firmly secured behind his back with the strong rope that +had been found under such suspicious circumstances in +his possession. Before he was marched off, however, two +of the men who had been sent in pursuit, returned from +the orchard, stating that further search was now fruitless. +They had penetrated through a small thicket at the +extremity of the grounds, and had distinctly seen a man +answering the description given by their comrades, in +full flight towards the forest skirting the heights in +front. + +The governor was evidently far from being satisfied with +the result of a search too late instituted to leave even +a prospect of success. "Where are the Indians principally +encamped, sirrah?" he sternly demanded of his captive; +"answer me truly, or I will carry off this wench as well, +and if a single hair of a man of mine be even singed by +a shot from a skulking enemy, you may expect to see her +bayoneted before your eyes." + +"Ah, my God! Monsieur le Gouverneur," exclaimed the +affrighted aubergiste, "as I am an honest man, I shall +tell de truth, but spare my child. They are all in de +forest, and half a mile from de little river dat runs +between dis and de Pork Island." + +"Hog Island, I suppose you mean." + +"Yes sir, de Hog Island is de one I means." + +"Conduct him to the centre, and let him be confronted +with the prisoner," directed the governor, addressing +his adjutant; "Captain Blessington, your men may resume +their stations in the ranks." + +The order was obeyed; and notwithstanding the tears and +supplications of the now highly excited Babette, who +flung herself upon his neck, and was only removed by +force, the terrified Canadian was borne off from his +premises by the troops. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +While this scene was enacting in front of the Fleur de +lis, one of a far more touching and painful nature was +passing in the very heart of the detachment itself. At +the moment when the halt was ordered by Captain Blessington, +a rumour ran through the ranks that they had reached the +spot destined for the execution of their ill-fated comrade. +Those only in the immediate front were aware of the true +cause; but although the report of the rifle had been +distinctly heard by all, it had been attributed by those +in the rear to the accidental discharge of one of their +own muskets. A low murmur, expressive of the opinion +generally entertained, passed gradually from rear to +front, until it at length reached the ears of the delicate +drummer boy who marched behind the coffin. His face was +still buried in the collar of his coat; and what was left +uncovered of his features by the cap, was in some degree +hidden by the forward drooping of his head upon his chest. +Hitherto he had moved almost mechanically along, tottering +and embarrassing himself at every step under the cumbrous +drum that was suspended from a belt round his neck over +the left thigh; but now there was a certain indescribable +drawing up of the frame, and tension of the whole person, +denoting a concentration of all the moral and physical +energies,--a sudden working up, as it were, of the +intellectual and corporeal being to some determined and +momentous purpose. + +At the first halt of the detachment, the weary supporters +of the coffin had deposited their rude and sombre burden +upon the earth, preparatory to its being resumed by those +appointed to relieve them. The dull sound emitted by the +hollow fabric, as it touched the ground, caught the ear +of him for whom it was destined, and he turned to gaze +upon the sad and lonely tenement so shortly to become +his final resting place. There was an air of calm composure +and dignified sorrow upon his brow, that infused respect +into the hearts of all who beheld him; and even the men +selected to do the duty of executioners sought to evade +his glance, as his steady eye wandered from right to left +of the fatal rank. His attention, however, was principally +directed towards the coffin, which lay before him; on +this he gazed fixedly for upwards of a minute. He then +turned his eyes in the direction of the fort, shuddered, +heaved a profound sigh, and looking up to heaven with +the apparent fervour that became his situation, seemed +to pray for a moment or two inwardly and devoutly. The +thick and almost suffocating breathing of one immediately +beyond the coffin, was now distinctly heard by all. +Halloway started from his attitude of devotion, gazed +earnestly on the form whence it proceeded, and then wildly +extending his arms, suffered a smile of satisfaction to +illumine his pale features. All eyes were now turned upon +the drummer boy, who, evidently labouring under convulsive +excitement of feeling, suddenly dashed his cap and +instrument to the earth, and flew as fast as his tottering +and uncertain steps would admit across the coffin, and +into the arms extended to receive him. + +"My Ellen! oh, my own devoted, but too unhappy Ellen!" +passionately exclaimed the soldier, as he clasped the +slight and agitated form of his disguised wife to his +throbbing heart. "This, this, indeed, is joy even in +death. I thought I could have died more happily without +you, but nature tugs powerfully at my heart; and to see +you once more, to feel you once more HERE" (and he pressed +her wildly to his chest) "is indeed a bliss that robs my +approaching fate of half its terror." + +"Oh Reginald! my dearly beloved Reginald! my murdered +husband!" shrieked the unhappy woman; "your Ellen will +not survive you. Her heart is already broken, though she +cannot weep; but the same grave shall contain us both. +Reginald, do you believe me? I swear it; the same grave +shall contain us both." + +Exhausted with the fatigue and excitement she had undergone, +the faithful and affectionate creature now lay, without +sense or motion, in the arms of her wretched husband. +Halloway bore her, unopposed, a pace or two in advance, +and deposited her unconscious form on the fatal coffin. + +No language of ours can render justice to the trying +character of the scene. All who witnessed it were painfully +affected, and over the bronzed cheek of many a veteran +coursed a tear, that, like that of Sterne's recording +angel, might have blotted out a catalogue of sins. Although +each was prepared to expect a reprimand from the governor, +for suffering the prisoner to quit his station in the +ranks, humanity and nature pleaded too powerfully in his +behalf, and neither officer nor man attempted to interfere, +unless with a view to render assistance. Captain Erskine, +in particular, was deeply pained, and would have given +any thing to recall the harsh language he had used towards +the supposed idle and inattentive drummer boy. Taking +from a pocket in his uniform a small flask of brandy, +which he had provided against casualties, the +compassionating officer slightly raised the head of the +pale and unconscious woman with one hand, while with the +other he introduced a few drops between her parted lips. +Halloway knelt at the opposite side of the coffin; one +hand searching, but in vain, the suspended pulse of his +inanimate wife; the other, unbuttoning the breast of the +drum-boy's jacket, which, with every other part of the +equipment, she wore beneath the loose great coat so +effectually accomplishing her disguise. + +Such was the position of the chief actors in this truly +distressing drama, at the moment when Colonel de Haldimar +came up with his new prisoner, to mark what effect would +be produced on Halloway by his unexpected appearance. +His own surprise and disappointment may be easily conceived, +when, in the form of the recumbent being who seemed to +engross universal attention, he recognised, by the fair +and streaming hair, and half exposed bosom, the unfortunate +being whom, only two hours previously, he had spurned +from his feet in the costume of her own sex, and reduced, +by the violence of her grief, to almost infantine debility. +Question succeeded question to those around, but without +eliciting any clue to the means by which this mysterious +disguise had been effected. No one had been aware, until +the truth was so singularly and suddenly revealed, the +supposed drummer was any other than one of the lads +attached to the grenadiers; and as for the other facts, +they spoke too plainly to the comprehension of the governor +to need explanation. Once more, however, the detachment +was called to order. Halloway struck his hand violently +upon his brow, kissed the wan lips of his still unconscious +wife, breathing, as he did so, a half murmured hope she +might indeed be the corpse she appeared. He then raised +himself from the earth with a light and elastic vet firm +movement, and resumed the place he had previously occupied, +where, to his surprise, he beheld a second victim bound, +and, apparently, devoted to the same death. When the eyes +of the two unhappy men met, the governor closely watched +the expression of the countenance of each; but although +the Canadian started on beholding the soldier, it might +be merely because he saw the latter arrayed in the garb +of death, and followed by the most unequivocal +demonstrations of a doom to which he himself was, in all +probability, devoted. As for Halloway, his look betrayed +neither consciousness nor recognition; and though too +proud to express complaint or to give vent to the feelings +of his heart, his whole soul appeared to be absorbed in +the unhappy partner of his luckless destiny. Presently +he saw her borne, and in the same state of insensibility, +in the arms of Captain Erskine and Lieutenant Leslie, +towards the hut of his fellow prisoner, and he heard the +former officer enjoin the weeping girl, Babette, to whose +charge they delivered her over, to pay every attention +to her her situation might require. The detachment then +proceeded. + +The narrow but deep and rapid river alluded to by the +Canadian, as running midway between the town and Hog +Island, derived its source far within the forest, and +formed the bed of one of those wild, dark, and thickly +wooded ravines so common in America. As it neared the +Detroit, however, the abruptness of its banks was so +considerably lessened, as to render the approach to it +on the town side over an almost imperceptible slope. +Within a few yards of its mouth, as we have already +observed in our introductory chapter, a rude but strong +wooden bridge, over which lay the high road, had been +constructed by the French; and from the centre of this, +all the circuit of intermediate clearing, even to the +very skirt of the forest, was distinctly commanded by +the naked eye. To the right, on approaching it from the +town, lay the adjacent shores of Canada, washed by the +broad waters of the Detroit, on which it was thrown into +strong relief, and which, at the distance of about a mile +in front, was seen to diverge into two distinct channels, +pursuing each a separate course, until they again met at +the western extremity of Hog Island. On the left, and in +the front, rose a succession of slightly undulating hills, +which, at a distance of little more than half a mile, +terminated in an elevation considerably above the immediate +level of the Detroit side of the ravine. That, again, +was crowned with thick and overhanging forest, taking +its circular sweep, as we have elsewhere shown, around +the fort. The intermediate ground was studded over with +rude stumps of trees, and bore, in various directions, +distinct proofs of the spoliation wrought among the infant +possessions of the murdered English settlers. The view +to the rear was less open; the town being partially hidden +by the fruit-laden orchards that lined the intervening +high road, and hung principally on its left. This was +not the case with the fort. Between these orchards and +the distant forest lay a line of open country, fully +commanded by its cannon, even to the ravine we have +described, and in a sweep that embraced every thing from +the bridge itself to the forest, in which all traces of +its source was lost. + +When the detachment had arrived within twenty yards of +the bridge, they were made to file off to the left, until +the last gun had come up. They were then fronted; the +rear section of Captain Erskine's company resting on the +road, and the left flank, covered by the two first guns +pointed obliquely, both in front and rear, to guard +against surprise, in the event of any of the Indians +stealing round to the cover of the orchards. The route +by which they had approached this spot was upwards of +two miles in extent; but, as they now filed off into the +open ground, the leading sections observed, in a direct +line over the cleared country, and at the distance of +little more than three quarters of a mile, the dark +ramparts of the fortress that contained their comrades, +and could even distinguish the uniforms of the officers +and men drawn up in line along the works, where they were +evidently assembled to witness the execution of the +sentence on Halloway. + +Such a sight as that of the English so far from their +fort, was not likely to escape the notice of the Indians. +Their encampment, as the Canadian had truly stated, lay +within the forest, and beyond the elevated ground already +alluded to; and to have crossed the ravine, or ventured +out of reach of the cannon of the fort, would have been +to have sealed the destruction of the detachment. But +the officer to whom their security was entrusted, although +he had his own particular views for venturing thus far, +knew also at what point to stop; and such was the confidence +of his men in his skill and prudence, they would have +fearlessly followed wherever he might have chosen to +lead. Still, even amid all the solemnity of preparation +attendant on the duty they were out to perform, there +was a natural and secret apprehensiveness about each, +that caused him to cast his eyes frequently and fixedly +on that part of the forest which was known to afford +cover to their merciless foes. At times they fancied they +beheld the dark and flitting forms of men gliding from +tree to tree along the skirt of the wood; but when they +gazed again, nothing of the kind was to be seen, and the +illusion was at once ascribed to the heavy state of the +atmosphere, and the action of their own precautionary +instincts. + +Meanwhile the solemn tragedy of death was preparing in +mournful silence. On the centre of the bridge, and visible +to those even within the fort, was placed the coffin of +Halloway, and at twelve paces in front were drawn up the +six rank and file on whom had devolved, by lot, the cruel +duty of the day. With calm and fearless eye the prisoner +surveyed the preparations for his approaching end; and +whatever might be the inward workings of his mind, there +was not among the assembled soldiery one individual whose +countenance betrayed so little of sorrow and emotion as +his own. With a firm step, when summoned, he moved towards +the fatal coffin, dashing his cap to the earth as he +advanced, and baring his chest with the characteristic +contempt of death of the soldier. When he had reached +the centre of the bridge, he turned facing his comrades, +and knelt upon the coffin. Captain Blessington, who, +permitted by the governor, had followed him with a sad +heart and heavy step, now drew a Prayer-book from his +pocket, and read from it in a low voice. He then closed +the volume, listened to something the prisoner earnestly +communicated to him, received a small packet which he +drew from the bosom of his shirt, shook him long and +cordially by the hand, and then hastily resumed his post +at the head of the detachment. + +The principal inhabitants of the village, led by curiosity, +had followed at a distance to witness the execution of +the condemned soldier: and above the heads of the line, +and crowning the slope, were collected groups of both +sexes and of all ages, that gave a still more imposing +character to the scene. Every eye was now turned upon +the firing party, who only awaited the signal to execute +their melancholy office, when suddenly, in the direction +of the forest, and upon the extreme height, there burst +the tremendous and deafening yells of upwards of a thousand +savages. For an instant Halloway was forgotten in the +instinctive sense of individual danger, and all gazed +eagerly to ascertain the movements of their enemy. +Presently a man, naked to the waist, his body and face +besmeared with streaks of black and red paint, and his +whole attitude expressing despair and horror, was seen +flying down the height with a rapidity proportioned to +the extreme peril in which he stood. At about fifty paces +in his rear followed a dozen bounding, screaming Indians, +armed with uplifted tomahawks, whose anxiety in pursuit +lent them a speed that even surpassed the efforts of +flight itself. It was evident the object of the pursued +was to reach the detachment, that of the pursuers to +prevent him. The struggle was maintained for a few moments +with equality, but in the end the latter were triumphant, +and at each step the distance that separated them became +less. At the first alarm, the detachment, with the +exception of the firing party, who still occupied their +ground, had been thrown into square, and, with a gun +planted in each angle, awaited the attack momentarily +expected. But although the heights were now alive with +the dusky forms of naked warriors, who, from the skirt +of the forest, watched the exertions of their fellows, +the pursuit of the wretched fugitive was confined to +these alone. Foremost of the latter, and distinguished +by his violent exertions and fiendish cries, was the tall +and wildly attired warrior of the Fleur de lis. At every +bound he took he increased the space that divided him +from his companions, and lessened that which kept him +from his panting and nearly exhausted victim. Already +were they descending the nearest of the undulating hills, +and both now became conspicuous objects to all around; +but principally the pursuer, whose gigantic frame and +extraordinary speed riveted every eye, even while the +interest of all was excited for the wretched fugitive +alone. + +At that moment Halloway, who had been gazing on the scene +with an astonishment little inferior to that of his +comrades, sprang suddenly to his feet upon the coffin, +and waving his hand in the direction of the pursuing +enemy, shouted aloud in a voice of mingled joy and +triumph,-- + +"Ha! Almighty God, I thank thee! Here, here comes one +who alone has the power to snatch me from my impending +doom." + +"By Heaven, the traitor confesses, and presumes to triumph +in his guilt," exclaimed the voice of one, who, while +closely attending to every movement of the Indians, was +also vigilantly watching the effect likely to be produced +on the prisoner by this unexpected interruption. "Corporal, +do your duty." + +"Stay, stay--one moment stay!" implored Halloway with +uplifted hands. + +"Do your duty, sir," fiercely repeated the governor. + +"Oh stop--for God's sake, stop! Another moment and he +will be here, and I--" + +He said no more--a dozen bullets penetrated his body--one +passed directly through his heart. He leaped several feet +in the air, and then fell heavily, a lifeless bleeding +corpse, across the coffin. + +Meanwhile the pursuit of the fugitive was continued, +but by the warrior of the Fleur de lis alone. Aware of +their inefficiency to keep pace with this singular being, +his companions had relinquished the chace, and now stood +resting on the brow of the hill where the wretched Halloway +had first recognised his supposed deliverer, watching +eagerly, though within musket shot of the detachment, +the result of a race on which so much apparently depended. +Neither party, however, attempted to interfere with the +other, for all eyes were now turned on the flying man +and his pursuer with an interest that denoted the +extraordinary efforts of the one to evade and the other +to attain the accomplishment of his object. Although the +exertions of the former had been stupendous, such was +the eagerness and determination of the latter, that at +each step he gained perceptibly on his victim. The +immediate course taken was in a direct line for the +ravine, which it evidently was the object of the fugitive +to clear at its nearest point. Already had he approached +within a few paces of its brink, and every eye was fastened +on the point where it was expected the doubtful leap +would be taken, when suddenly, as if despairing to +accomplish it at a bound, he turned to the left, and +winding along its bank, renewed his efforts in the +direction of the bridge. This movement occasioned a change +in the position of the parties which was favourable to +the pursued. Hitherto they had been so immediately on a +line with each other, it was impossible for the detachment +to bring a musket to bear upon the warrior, without +endangering him whose life they were anxious to preserve. +For a moment or two his body was fairly exposed, and a +dozen muskets were discharged at intervals from the +square, but all without success. Recovering his lost +ground, he soon brought the pursued again in a line +between himself and the detachment, edging rapidly nearer +to him as he advanced, and uttering terrific yells, that +were echoed back from his companions on the brow of the +hill. It was evident, however, his object was the recapture, +not the destruction, of the flying man, for more than +once did he brandish his menacing tomahawk in rapid sweeps +around his head, as if preparing to dart it, and as often +did he check the movement. The scene at each succeeding +moment became more critical and intensely interesting. +The strength of the pursued was now nearly exhausted, +while that of his formidable enemy seemed to suffer no +diminution. Leap after leap he took with fearful +superiority, sideling as he advanced. Already had he +closed upon his victim, while with a springing effort a +large and bony hand was extended to secure his shoulder +in his grasp. The effort was fatal to him; for in reaching +too far he lost his balance, and fell heavily upon the +sward. A shout of exultation burst from the English +troops, and numerous voices now encouraged the pursued +to renew his exertions. The advice was not lost; and +although only a few seconds had elapsed between the fall +and recovery of his pursuer, the wretched fugitive had +already greatly increased the distance that separated +them. A cry of savage rage and disappointment burst from +the lips of the gigantic warrior; and concentrating all +his remaining strength and speed into one final effort, +he bounded and leapt like a deer of the forest whence he +came. The opportunity for recapture, however, had been +lost in his fall, for already the pursued was within a +few feet of the high road, and on the point of turning +the extremity of the bridge. One only resource was now +left: the warrior suddenly checked himself in his course, +and remained stationary; then raising and dropping his +glittering weapon several times in a balancing position, +he waited until the pursued had gained the highest point +of the open bridge. At that moment the glittering steel, +aimed with singular accuracy and precision, ran whistling +through the air, and with such velocity of movement as +to be almost invisible to the eyes of those who attempted +to follow it in its threatening course. All expected to +see it enter into the brain against which it had been +directed; but the fugitive had marked the movement in +time to save himself by stooping low to the earth, while +the weapon, passing over him, entered with a deadly and +crashing sound into the brain of the weltering corpse. +This danger passed, he sprang once more to his feet, nor +paused again in his flight, until, faint and exhausted, +he sank without motion under the very bayonets of the +firing party. + +A new direction was now given to the interest of the +assembled and distinct crowds that had witnessed these +startling incidents. Scarcely had the wretched man gained +the protection of the soldiery, when a shriek divided +the air, so wild, so piercing, and so unearthly, that +even the warrior of the Fleur de lis seemed to lose sight +of his victim, in the harrowing interest produced by that +dreadful scream. All turned their eyes for a moment in +the quarter whence it proceeded; when presently, from +behind the groups of Canadians crowning the slope, was +seen flying, with the rapidity of thought, one who +resembled rather a spectre than a being of earth;--it +was the wife of Halloway. Her long fair hair was wild +and streaming--her feet, and legs, and arms were naked--and +one solitary and scanty garment displayed rather than +concealed the symmetry of her delicate person. She flew +to the fatal bridge, threw herself on the body of her +bleeding husband, and imprinting her warm kisses on his +bloody lips, for a moment or two presented the image of +one whose reason has fled for ever. Suddenly she started +from the earth; her face, her hands, and her garment so +saturated with the blood of her husband, that a feeling +of horror crept throughout the veins of all who beheld +her. She stood upon the coffin, and across the +corpse--raised her eyes and hands imploringly to Heaven--and +then, in accents wilder even than her words, uttered an +imprecation that sounded like the prophetic warning of +some unholy spirit. + +"Inhuman murderer!" she exclaimed, in tones that almost +paralysed the ears on which it fell, "if there be a God +of justice and of truth, he will avenge this devilish +deed. Yes, Colonel de Haldimar, a prophetic voice whispers +to my soul, that even as I have seen perish before my +eyes all I loved on earth, without mercy and without +hope, so even shall you witness the destruction of your +accursed race. Here--here--here," and she pointed +downwards, with singular energy of action, to the corpse +of her husband, "here shall their blood flow till every +vestige of his own is washed away; and oh, if there be +spared one branch of thy detested family, may it only be +that they may be reserved for some death too horrible to +be conceived!" + +Overcome by the frantic energy with which she had uttered +these appalling words, she sank backwards, and fell, +uttering another shriek, into the arms of the warrior of +the Fleur de lis. + +"Hear you this, Colonel de Haldimar?" shouted the latter +in a fierce and powerful voice, and in the purest English +accent; "hear you the curse and prophecy of this +heart-broken woman? You have slain her husband, but she +has found another. Ay, she shall be my bride, if only +for her detestation of yourself. When next you see us +here," he thundered, "tremble for your race. Ha, ha, ha! +no doubt this is another victim of your cold and calculating +guile; but it shall be the last. By Heaven, my very +heart leaps upward in anticipation of thy coming hour. +Woman, thy hatred to this man has made me love thee; yes, +thou shall be my bride, and with my plans of vengeance +will I woo thee. By this kiss I swear it." + +As he spoke, he bent his face over that of the pale and +inanimate woman, and pressed his lips to hers, yet red +and moist with blood spots from the wounds of her husband. +Then wresting, with a violent effort, his reeking tomahawk +from the cranched brain of the unfortunate soldier, and +before any one could recover sufficiently from the effect +of the scene altogether to think even of interfering, he +bore off his prize in triumph, and fled, with nearly the +same expedition he had previously manifested, in the +direction of the forest. + + + + +END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + + + +WACOUSTA; + or +THE PROPHECY. + +Volume Two of Three + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +It was on the evening of that day, so fertile in melancholy +incident, to which our first volume has been devoted, +that the drawbridge of Detroit was, for the third time +since the investment of the garrison, lowered; not, as +previously, with a disregard of the intimation that might +be given to those without by the sullen and echoing rattle +of its ponderous chains, but with a caution attesting +how much secrecy of purpose was sought to be preserved. +There was, however, no array of armed men within the +walls, that denoted an expedition of a hostile character. +Overcome with the harassing duties of the day, the chief +portion of the troops had retired to rest, and a few +groups of the guard alone were to be seen walking up and +down in front of their post, apparently with a view to +check the influence of midnight drowsiness, but, in +reality, to witness the result of certain preparations +going on by torchlight in the centre of the barrack +square. + +In the midst of an anxious group of officers, comprising +nearly all of that rank within the fort, stood two +individuals, attired in a costume having nothing in common +with the gay and martial habiliments of the former. They +were tall, handsome young men, whose native elegance of +carriage was but imperfectly hidden under an equipment +evidently adopted for, and otherwise fully answering, +the purpose of disguise. A blue cotton shell jacket, +closely fitting to the person, trowsers of the same +material, a pair of strong deer-skin mocassins, and a +coloured handkerchief tied loosely round the collar of +a checked shirt, the whole surmounted by one of those +rough blanket coats, elsewhere described, formed the +principal portion of their garb. Each, moreover, wore a +false queue of about nine inches in length, the effect +of which was completely to change the character of the +countenance, and lend to the features a Canadian-like +expression. A red worsted cap, resembling a bonnet de +nuit, was thrown carelessly over the side of the head, +which could, at any moment, when deeper disguise should +be deemed necessary, command the additional protection +of the rude hood that fell back upon the shoulders from +the collar of the coat to which it was attached. They +were both well armed. Into a broad belt, that encircled +the jacket of each, were thrust a brace of pistols and +a strong dagger; the whole so disposed, however, as to +be invisible when the outer garment was closed: this, +again, was confined by a rude sash of worsted of different +colours, not unlike, in texture and quality, what is worn +by our sergeants at the present day. They were otherwise +armed, however, and in a less secret manner. Across the +right shoulder of each was thrown a belt of worsted also, +to which were attached a rude powder horn and shot pouch, +with a few straggling bullets, placed there as if rather +by accident than design. Each held carelessly in his left +hand, and with its butt resting on the earth, a long gun; +completing an appearance, the attainment of which had, +in all probability, been sedulously sought,--that of a +Canadian duck-hunter. + +A metamorphosis so ludicrously operated in the usually +elegant costume of two young English officers,--for such +they were,--might have been expected to afford scope to +the pleasantry of their companions, and to call forth +those sallies which the intimacy of friendship and the +freemasonry of the profession would have fully justified. +But the events that had occurred in such rapid succession, +since the preceding midnight, were still painfully +impressed on the recollection of all, and some there were +who looked as if they never would smile again; neither +laugh nor jeering, therefore, escaped the lips of one of +the surrounding group. Every countenance wore a cast of +thought,--a character of abstraction, ill suited to the +indulgence of levity; and the little conversation that +passed between them was in a low and serious tone. It +was evident some powerful and absorbing dread existed in +the mind of each, inducing him rather to indulge in +communion with his own thoughts and impressions, than to +communicate them to others. Even the governor himself +had, for a moment, put off the dignity and distance of +his usually unapproachable nature, to assume an air of +unfeigned concern, and it might be dejection, contrasting +strongly with his habitual haughtiness. Hitherto he had +been walking to and fro, a little apart from the group, +and with a hurriedness and indecision of movement that +betrayed to all the extreme agitation of his mind. For +once, however, he appeared to be insensible to observation, +or, if not insensible, indifferent to whatever comments +might be formed or expressed by those who witnessed his +undissembled emotion. He was at length interrupted by +the adjutant, who communicated something in a low voice. + +"Let him be brought up, Mr. Lawson," was the reply. Then +advancing into the heart of the group, and addressing +the two adventurers, he enquired, in a tone that startled +from its singular mildness, "if they were provided with +every thing they required." + +An affirmative reply was given, when the governor, taking +the taller of the young men aside, conversed with him +earnestly, and in a tone of affection strangely blended +with despondency. The interview, however, was short, for +Mr. Lawson now made his appearance, conducting an individual +who has already been introduced to our readers. It was +the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. The adjutant placed a +small wooden crucifix in the hands of the governor. + +"Francois," said the latter, impressively, "you know the +terms on which I have consented to spare your life. Swear, +then, by this cross; that you will be faithful to your +trust; that neither treachery nor evasion shall be +practised; and that you will, to the utmost of your power, +aid in conveying these gentlemen to their destination. +Kneel and swear it." + +"I do swear it!" fervently repeated the aubergiste, +kneeling and imprinting his lips with becoming reverence +on the symbol of martyrdom. "I swear to do dat I shall +engage, and may de bon Dieu have mercy to my soul as I +shall fulfil my oat." + +"Amen," pronounced the governor, "and may Heaven deal by +you even as you deal by us. Bear in mind, moreover, that +as your treachery will be punished, so also shall your +fidelity be rewarded. But the night wears apace, and ye +have much to do." Then turning to the young officers who +were to be his companions,--"God bless you both; may your +enterprise be successful! I fear," offering his hand to +the younger, "I have spoken harshly to you, but at a +moment like the present you will no longer cherish a +recollection of the unpleasant past." + +The only answer was a cordial return of his own pressure. +The Canadian in his turn now announced the necessity for +instant departure, when the young men, following his +example, threw their long guns carelessly over the left +shoulder. Low, rapid, and fervent adieus were uttered on +both sides; and although the hands of the separating +parties met only in a short and hurried grasp, there was +an expression in the touch of each that spoke to their +several hearts long after the separation had actually +taken place. + +"Stay one moment!" exclaimed a voice, as the little party +now moved towards the gateway; "ye are both gallantly +enough provided without, but have forgotten there is +something quite as necessary to sustain the inward man. +Duck shooting, you know, is wet work. The last lips that +were moistened from this," he proceeded, as the younger +of the disguised men threw the strap of the proffered +canteen over his shoulder, "were those of poor Ellen +Halloway." + +The mention of that name, so heedlessly pronounced by +the brave but inconsiderate Erskine, produced a startling +effect on the taller of the departing officers. He struck +his brow violently with his hand, uttered a faint groan, +and bending his head upon his chest, stood in an attitude +expressive of the deep suffering of his mind. The governor, +too, appeared agitated; and sounds like those of suppressed +sobs came from one who lingered at the side of him who +had accepted the offer of the canteen. The remainder of +the officers preserved a deep and mournful silence. + +"It is times dat we should start," again observed the +Canadian, "or we shall be taken by de daylight before we +can clear de river." + +This intimation once more aroused the slumbering energies +of the taller officer. Again he drew up his commanding +figure, extended his hand to the governor in silence, +and turning abruptly round, hastened to follow close in +the footsteps of his conductor. + +"You will not forget all I have said to you," whispered +the voice of one who had reserved his parting for the +last, and who now held the hand of the younger adventurer +closely clasped in his own. "Think, oh, think how much +depends on the event of your dangerous enterprise." + +"When you behold me again," was the reply, "it will be +with smiles on my lip and gladness in my heart; for if +we fail, there is that within me, which whispers I shall +never see you more. But keep up your spirits, and hope +for the best. We embark under cheerless auspices, it is +true; but let us trust to Providence for success in so +good a cause,--God bless you!" + +In the next minute he had joined his companions; who, +with light and noiseless tread, were already pursuing +their way along the military road that led to the eastern +extremity of the town. Soon afterwards, the heavy chains +of the drawbridge were heard grating on the ear, in +despite of the evident caution used in restoring it to +its wonted position, and all again was still. + +It had at first been suggested their course should be +held in an angular direction across the cleared country +alluded to in our last chapter, in order to avoid all +chance of recognition in the town; but as this might have +led them into more dangerous contact with some of the +outlying parties of Indians, who were known to prowl +around the fort at night, this plan had been abandoned +for the more circuitous and safe passage by the village. +Through this our little party now pursued their way, and +without encountering aught to impede their progress. The +simple mannered inhabitants had long since retired to +rest, and neither light nor sound denoted the existence +of man or beast within its precincts. At length they +reached that part of the road which turned off abruptly +in the direction of the Fleur de lis. The rude hut threw +its dark shadows across their path, but all was still +and deathlike as in the village they had just quitted. +Presently, however, as they drew nearer, they beheld, +reflected from one of the upper windows, a faint light +that fell upon the ground immediately in front of the +auberge; and, at intervals, the figure of a human being +approaching and receding from it as if in the act of +pacing the apartment. + +An instinctive feeling of danger rose at the same moment +to the hearts of the young officers; and each, obeying +the same impulse, unfastened one of the large horn buttons +of his blanket coat, and thrust his right hand into the +opening. + +"Francois, recollect your oath," hastily aspirated the +elder, as he grasped the hand of their conductor rather +in supplication than in threat; "if there be aught to +harm us here, your own life will most assuredly pay the +forfeit of your faith." + +"It is noting but a womans," calmly returned the Canadian; +"it is my Babette who is sorry at my loss. But I shall +come and tell you directly." + +He then stole gently round the corner of the hut, leaving +his anxious companions in the rear of the little building, +and completely veiled in the obscurity produced by the +mingling shadows of the hut itself, and a few tall pear +trees that overhung the paling of the orchard at some +yards from the spot on which they stood. + +They waited some minutes to hear the result of the +Canadian's admittance into his dwelling; but although +each with suppressed breathing sought to catch those +sounds of welcome with which a daughter might be supposed +to greet a parent so unexpectedly restored, they listened +in vain. At length, however, while the ears of both were +on the rack to drink in the tones of a human voice, a +faint scream floated on the hushed air, and all again +was still. + +"Good!" whispered the elder of the officers; "that scream +is sweeter to my ear than the softest accents of woman's +love. It is evident the ordinary tones of speech cannot +find their way to us here from the front of the hut. The +faintness of yon cry, which was unquestionably that of +a female, is a convincing proof of it." + +"Hist!" urged his companion, in the same almost inaudible +whisper, "what sound was that?" + +Both again listened attentively, when the noise was +repeated. It came from the orchard, and resembled the +sound produced by the faint crash of rotten sticks and +leaves under the cautious but unavoidably rending tread +of a human foot. At intervals it ceased, as if the person +treading, alarmed at his own noise, was apprehensive of +betraying his approach; and then recommenced, only to be +checked in the same manner. Finally it ceased altogether. + +For upwards of five minutes the young men continued to +listen for a renewal of the sound, but nothing was now +audible, save the short and fitful gusts of a rising wind +among the trees of the orchard. + +"It must have been some wild animal in search of its +prey," again whispered the younger officer; "had it been +a man, we should have heard him leap the paling before +this." + +"By Heaven, we are betrayed,--here he is," quickly rejoined +the other, in the same low tone. "Keep close to the hut, +and stand behind me. If my dagger fail, you must try +your own. But fire not, on your life, unless there be +more than two, for the report of a pistol will be the +destruction of ourselves and all that are dear to us." + +Each with uplifted arm now stood ready to strike, even +while his heart throbbed with a sense of danger, that +had far more than the mere dread of personal suffering +or death to stimulate to exertion in self-defence. +Footsteps were now distinctly heard stealing round that +part of the hut which bordered on the road; and the young +men turned from the orchard, to which their attention +had previously been directed, towards the new quarter +whence they were intruded upon. + +It was fortunate this mode of approach had been selected. +That part of the hut which rested on the road was so +exposed as to throw the outline of objects into strong +relief, whereas in the direction of the thickly wooded +orchard all was impenetrable gloom. Had the intruder +stolen unannounced upon the alarmed but determined officers +by the latter route, the dagger of the first would in +all probability have been plunged to its hilt in his +bosom. As it was, each had sufficient presence of mind +to distinguish, as it now doubled the corner of the hut, +and reposed upon the road, the stout square-set figure +of the Canadian. The daggers were instantly restored to +their sheaths, and each, for the first time since the +departure of their companion, respired freely. + +"It is quite well," whispered the latter as he approached. +"It was my poor Babette, who tought I was gone to be +kill. She scream so loud, as if she had seen my ghost. +But we must wait a few minute in de house, and you shall +see how glad my girl is to see me once again." + +"Why this delay, Francois? why not start directly?" urged +the taller officer; "we shall never clear the river in +time; and if the dawn catches us in the waters of the +Detroit, we are lost for ever." + +"But you see I am not quite prepare yet," was the answer. +"I have many tings to get ready for de canoe, which I +have not use for a long times. But you shall not wait +ten minute, if you do not like. Dere is a good fire, and +Babette shall give you some ting to eat while I get it +all ready." + +The young men hesitated. The delay of the Canadian, who +had so repeatedly urged the necessity for expedition +while in the fort, had, to say the least of it, an +appearance of incongruity. Still it was evident, if +disposed to harm them, he had full opportunity to do so +without much risk of effectual opposition from themselves. +Under all circumstances, therefore, it was advisable +rather to appear to confide implicitly in his truth, +than, by manifesting suspicion, to pique his self-love, +and neutralize whatever favourable intentions he might +cherish in their behalf. In this mode of conduct they +were confirmed, by a recollection of the sacredness +attached by the religion of their conductor to the oath +so solemnly pledged on the symbol of the cross, and by +a conviction of the danger of observation to which they +stood exposed, if, as they had apprehended, it was actually +a human footstep they had heard in the orchard. This +last recollection suggested a remark. + +"We heard a strange sound within the orchard, while +waiting here for your return," said the taller officer; +"it was like the footstep of a man treading cautiously +over rotten leaves and branches. How do you account for +it?" + +"Oh, it was my pigs," replied the Canadian, without +manifesting the slightest uneasiness at the information. +"They run about in de orchard for de apples what blows +down wid de wind." + +"It could not be a pig we heard," pursued his questioner; +"but another thing, Francois, before we consent to enter +the hut,--how will you account to your daughter for our +presence? and what suspicion may she not form at seeing +two armed strangers in company with you at this unseasonable +hour." + +"I have tell her," replied the Canadian, "dat I have +bring two friends, who go wid me in de canoe to shoot de +ducks for two tree days. You know, sir, I go always in +de fall to kill de ducks wid my friends, and she will +not tink it strange." + +"You have managed well, my brave fellow; and now we follow +you in confidence. But in the name of Heaven, use all +possible despatch, and if money will lend a spur to your +actions, you shall have plenty of it when our enterprise +has been accomplished." + +Our adventurers followed their conductor in the track by +which he had so recently rejoined them. As they turned +the corner of the hut, the younger, who brought up the +rear, fancied he again heard a sound in the direction of +the orchard, resembling that of one lightly leaping to +the ground. A gust of wind, however, passing rapidly at +the moment through the dense foliage, led him to believe +it might have been produced by the sullen fall of one of +the heavy fruits it had detached in its course. Unwilling +to excite new and unnecessary suspicion in his companion, +he confined the circumstance to his own breast, and +followed into the hut. + +After ascending a flight of about a dozen rude steps, +they found themselves in a small room, furnished with no +other ceiling than the sloping roof itself, and lighted +by an unwieldy iron lamp, placed on a heavy oak table, +near the only window with which the apartment was provided. +This latter had suffered much from the influence of time +and tempest; and owing to the difficulty of procuring +glass in so remote a region, had been patched with slips +of paper in various parts. The two corner and lower panes +of the bottom sash were out altogether, and pine shingles, +such as are used even at the present day for covering +the roofs of dwelling houses, had been fitted into the +squares, excluding air and light at the same time. The +centre pane of this tier was, however, clear and free +from flaw of every description. Opposite to the window +blazed a cheerful wood fire, recently supplied with fuel; +and at one of the inner corners of the room was placed +a low uncurtained bed, that exhibited marks of having +been lain in since it was last made. On a chair at its +side were heaped a few dark-looking garments, the precise +nature of which were not distinguishable at a cursory +and distant glance. + +Such were the more remarkable features of the apartment +into which our adventurers were now ushered. Both looked +cautiously around on entering, as if expecting to find +it tenanted by spirits as daring as their own; but, with +the exception of the daughter of their conductor, whose +moist black eyes expressed, as much by tears as by smiles, +the joy she felt at this unexpected return of her parent, +no living object met their enquiring glance. The Canadian +placed a couple of rush-bottomed chairs near the fire, +invited his companions to seat themselves until he had +completed his preparation for departure, and then, desiring +Babette to hasten supper for the young hunters, quitted +the room and descended the stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The position of the young men was one of embarrassment; +for while the daughter, who was busied in executing the +command of her father, remained in the room, it was +impossible they could converse together without betraying +the secret of their country, and, as a result of this, +the falsehood of the character under which they appeared. +Long residence in the country had, it is true, rendered +the patois of that class of people whom they personated +familiar to one, but the other spoke only the pure and +native language of which it was a corruption. It might +have occurred to them at a cooler moment, and under less +critical circumstances, that, even if their disguise had +been penetrated, it was unlikely a female, manifesting +so much lively affection for her parent, would have done +aught to injure those with whom he had evidently connected +himself. But the importance attached to their entire +security from danger left them but little room for +reflections of a calming character, while a doubt of that +security remained. + +One singularity struck them both. They had expected the +young woman, urged by a natural curiosity, would have +commenced a conversation, even if they did not; and he +who spoke the patois was prepared to sustain it as well +as his anxious and overcharged spirit would enable him; +and as he was aware the morning had furnished sufficient +incident of fearful interest, he had naturally looked +for a verbal re-enactment of the harrowing and dreadful +scene. To their surprise, however, they both remarked +that, far from evincing a desire to enter into conversation, +the young woman scarcely ever looked at them, but lingered +constantly near the table, and facing the window. Still, +to avoid an appearance of singularity on their own parts +as far as possible, the elder of the officers motioned +to his companion, who, following his example, took a +small pipe and some tobacco from a compartment in his +shot pouch, and commenced puffing the wreathing smoke +from his lips,--an occupation, more than any other, +seeming to justify their silence. + +The elder officer sat with his back to the window, and +immediately in front of the fire; his companion, at a +corner of the rude hearth, and in such a manner that, +without turning his head, he could command every part of +the room at a glance. In the corner facing him stood the +bed already described. A faint ray of the fire-light fell +on some minute object glittering in the chair, the contents +of which were heaped up in disorder. Urged by that wayward +curiosity, which is sometimes excited, even under +circumstances of the greatest danger and otherwise +absorbing interest, the young man kicked the hickory log +that lay nearest to it with his mocassined foot, and +produced a bright crackling flame, the reflection of +which was thrown entirely upon the object of his gaze; +it was a large metal button, on which the number of his +regiment was distinctly visible. Unable to check his +desire to know further, he left his seat, to examine the +contents of the chair. As he moved across the room, he +fancied he heard a light sound from without; his companion, +also, seemed to manifest a similar impression by an almost +imperceptible start; but the noise was so momentary, and +so fanciful, neither felt it worth his while to pause +upon the circumstance. The young officer now raised the +garments from the chair: they consisted of a small grey +great-coat, and trowsers, a waistcoat of coarse white +cloth, a pair of worsted stockings, and the half-boots +of a boy; the whole forming the drum-boy's equipment, +worn by the wretched wife of Halloway when borne senseless +into the hut on that fatal morning. Hastily quitting a +dress that called up so many dreadful recollections, and +turning to his companion with a look that denoted +apprehension, lest he too should have beheld these +melancholy remembrances of the harrowing scene, the young +officer hastened to resume his seat. In the act of so +doing, his eye fell upon the window, at which the female +still lingered. Had a blast from Heaven struck his sight, +the terror of his soul could not have been greater. He +felt his cheek to pale, and his hair to bristle beneath +his cap, while the checked blood crept slowly and coldly, +as if its very function had been paralysed; still he had +presence of mind sufficient not to falter in his step, +or to betray, by any extraordinary movement, that his +eye had rested on any thing hateful to behold. + +His companion had emptied his first pipe, and was in the +act of refilling it, when he resumed his seat. He was +evidently impatient at the delay of the Canadian, and +already were his lips opening to give utterance to his +disappointment, when he felt his foot significantly +pressed by that of his friend. An instinctive sense of +something fearful that was to ensue, but still demanding +caution on his part, prevented him from turning hastily +round to know the cause. Satisfied, however, there was +danger, though not of an instantaneous character, he put +his pipe gently by, and stealing his hand under his coat, +again grasped the hilt of his dagger. At length he slowly +and partially turned his head, while his eyes inquiringly +demanded of his friend the cause of his alarm. + +Partly to aid in concealing his increasing paleness, and +partly with a view to render it a medium for the conveyance +of subdued sound, the hand of the latter was raised to +his face in such a manner that the motion of his lips +could not be distinguished from behind. + +"We are betrayed," he scarcely breathed. "If you can +command yourself, turn and look at the window; but for +God's sake arm yourself with resolution, or look not at +all: first draw the hood over your head, and without any +appearance of design. Our only chance of safety lies in +this,--that the Canadian may still be true, and that our +disguise may not be penetrated." + +In despite of his native courage,--and this had often +been put to honourable proof,--he, thus mysteriously +addressed, felt his heart to throb violently. There was +something so appalled in the countenance of his +friend--something so alarming in the very caution he had +recommended--that a vague dread of the horrible reality +rushed at once to his mind, and for a moment his own +cheek became ashy pale, and his breathing painfully +oppressed. It was the natural weakness of the physical +man, over which the moral faculties had, for an instant, +lost their directing power. Speedily recovering himself, +the young man prepared to encounter the alarming object +which had already so greatly intimidated his friend. +Carefully drawing the blanket hood over his head, he rose +from his seat, and, with the energetic movement of one +who has formed some desperate determination, turned his +back to the fire-place, and threw his eyes rapidly and +eagerly upon the window. They fell only on the rude +patchwork of which it was principally composed. The +female had quitted the room. + +"You must have been deceived," he whispered, keeping his +eye still bent upon the window, and with so imperceptible +a movement of the lips that sound alone could have betrayed +he was speaking,--"I see nothing to justify your alarm. +Look again." + +The younger officer once more directed his glance towards +the window, and with a shuddering of the whole person, +as he recollected what had met his eye when he last looked +upon it. "It is no longer there, indeed," he returned in +the same scarcely audible tone. "Yet I could not be +mistaken; it was between those two corner squares of wood +in the lower sash." + +"Perhaps it was merely a reflection produced by the lamp +on the centre pane," rejoined his friend, still keeping +his eye riveted on the suspicious point. + +"Impossible! but I will examine the window from the spot +on which I stood when I first beheld it." + +Again he quitted his seat, and carelessly crossed the +room. As he returned he threw his glance upon the pane, +when, to his infinite horror and surprise, the same +frightful vision presented itself. + +"God of Heaven!" he exclaimed aloud, and unable longer +to check the ebullition of his feelings,--"what means +this?--Is my brain turned? and am I the sport of my own +delusive fancy?--Do you not see it NOW?" + +No answer was returned. His friend stood mute and +motionless, with his left hand grasping his gun, and his +right thrust into the waist of his coat. His eye grew +upon the window, and his chest heaved, and his cheek +paled and flushed alternately with the subdued emotion +of his heart. A human face was placed close to the +unblemished glass, and every feature was distinctly +revealed by the lamp that still lay upon the table. The +glaring eye was fixed on the taller of the officers; but +though the expression was unfathomably guileful, there +was nothing that denoted any thing like a recognition of +the party. The brightness of the wood fire had so far +subsided as to throw the interior of the room into partial +obscurity, and under the disguise of his hood it was +impossible for one without to distinguish the features +of the taller officer. The younger, who was scarcely an +object of attention, passed comparatively unnoticed. + +Fatigued and dimmed with the long and eager tension of +its nerves, the eye of the latter now began to fail him. +For a moment he closed it; and when again it fell upon +the window; it encountered nothing but the clear and +glittering pane. For upwards of a minute he and his friend +still continued to rivet their gaze, but the face was no +longer visible. + +Why is it that what is called the "human face divine" is +sometimes gifted with a power to paralyse, that the most +loathsome reptile in the creation cannot attain? Had a +hyena or cougar of the American forest, roaring for prey, +appeared at that window, ready to burst the fragile +barrier, and fasten its talons in their hearts, its +presence would not have struck such sickness to the soul +of our adventurers as did that human face. It is that +man, naturally fierce and inexorable, is alone the enemy +of his own species. The solution of this problem--this +glorious paradox in nature, we leave to profounder +philosophers to resolve. Sufficient for us be it to know, +and to deplore that it is so. + +Footsteps were now heard upon the stairs; and the officers, +aroused to a full sense of their danger, hastily and +silently prepared themselves for the encounter. + +"Drop a bullet into your gun," whispered the elder, +setting the example himself. "We may be obliged to have +recourse to it at last. Yet make no show of hostility +unless circumstances satisfy us we are betrayed; then, +indeed, all that remains for us will be to sell our lives +as dearly as we can. Hist! he is here." + +The door opened; and at the entrance, which was already +filled up in the imaginations of the young men with a +terrible and alarming figure, appeared one whose return +had been anxiously and long desired. It was a relief, +indeed, to their gallant but excited hearts to behold +another than the form they had expected; and although, +for the moment, they knew not whether the Canadian came +in hostility or in friendship, each quitted the attitude +of caution into which he had thrown himself, and met him +midway in his passage through the room. There was nothing +in the expression of his naturally open and good-humoured +countenance to denote he was at all aware of the causes +for alarm that had operated so powerfully on themselves. +He announced with a frank look and unfaltering voice +every thing was in readiness for their departure. + +The officers hesitated; and the taller fixed his eyes +upon those of mine host, as if his gaze would have +penetrated to the innermost recesses of his heart. Could +this be a refinement of his treachery? and was he really +ignorant of the existence of the danger which threatened +them? Was it not more probable his object was to disarm +their fears, that they might be given unprepared and, +therefore, unresisting victims to the ferocity of their +enemies? Aware as he was, that they were both well provided +with arms, and fully determined to use them with effect, +might not his aim be to decoy them to destruction without, +lest the blood spilt under his roof, in the desperation +of their defence, should hereafter attest against him, +and expose him to the punishment he would so richly merit? +Distracted by these doubts, the young men scarcely knew +what to think or how to act; and anxious as they had +previously been to quit the hut, they now considered the +moment of their doing so would be that of their destruction. +The importance of the enterprise on which they were +embarked was such as to sink all personal considerations. +If they had felt the influence of intimidation on their +spirits, it arose less from any apprehension of consequences +to themselves, than from the recollection of the dearer +interests involved in their perfect security from discovery. + +"Francois," feelingly urged the taller officer, again +adverting to his vow, "you recollect the oath you so +solemnly pledged upon the cross of your Saviour. Tell +me, then, as you hope for mercy, have you taken that oath +only that you might the more securely betray us to our +enemies? What connection have you with them at this +moment? and who is HE who stood looking through that +window not ten minutes since?" + +"As I shall hope for mercy in my God," exclaimed the +Canadian with unfeigned astonishment, "I have not see +nobody. But what for do you tink so? It is not just. I +have given my oat to serve you, and I shall do it." + +There was candour both in the tone and countenance of +the man as he uttered these words, half in reproach, half +in justification; and the officers no longer doubted. + +"You must forgive our suspicions at a moment like the +present," soothingly observed the younger; "yet, Francois, +your daughter saw and exchanged signals with the person +we mean. She left the room soon after he made his +appearance. What has become of her?" + +The Canadian gave a sudden start, looked hastily round, +and seemed to perceive for the first time the girl was +absent. He then put a finger to his lip to enjoin silence, +advanced to the table, and extinguished the light. Desiring +his companions, in a low whisper, to tread cautiously +and follow, he now led the way with almost noiseless step +to the entrance of the hut. At the threshold of the door +were placed a large well-filled sack, a light mast and +sail, and half a dozen paddles. The latter burden he +divided between the officers, on whose shoulders he +carefully balanced them. The sack he threw across his +own; and, without expressing even a regret that an +opportunity of bidding adieu to his child was denied him, +hastily skirted the paling of the orchard until, at the +further extremity, he had gained the high road. + +The heavens were obscured by passing clouds driven rapidly +by the wind, during the short pauses of which our +adventurers anxiously and frequently turned to listen if +they were pursued. Save the rustling of the trees that +lined the road, and the slight dashing of the waters on +the beach, however, no sound was distinguishable. At +length they gained the point whence they were to start. +It was the fatal bridge, the events connected with which +were yet so painfully fresh in their recollection. + +"Stop one minutes here," whispered the Canadian, throwing +his sack upon the sand near the mouth of the lesser river; +"my canoe is chain about twenty yards up de bridge. I +shall come to you directly." Then cautioning the officers +to keep themselves concealed under the bridge, he moved +hastily under the arch, and disappeared in the dark shadow +which it threw across the rivulet. + +The extremities of the bridge rested on the banks of the +little river in such a manner as to leave a narrow passage +along the sands immediately under the declination of the +arch. In accordance with the caution of their conductor, +the officers had placed themselves under it; and with +their backs slightly bent forward to meet the curvature +of the bridge, so that no ray of light could pass between +their bodies and the fabric itself, now awaited the +arrival of the vessel on which their only hope depended. +We shall not attempt to describe their feelings on finding +themselves, at that lone hour of the night, immediately +under a spot rendered fearfully memorable by the tragic +occurrences of the morning. The terrible pursuit of the +fugitive, the execution of the soldier, the curse and +prophecy of his maniac wife, and, above all, the forcible +abduction and threatened espousal of that unhappy woman +by the formidable being who seemed to have identified +himself with the evils with which they stood menaced,--all +rushed with rapid tracery on the mind, and excited the +imagination, until each, filled with a sentiment not +unallied to superstitious awe, feared to whisper forth +his thoughts, lest in so doing he should invoke the +presence of those who had principally figured in the +harrowing and revolting scene. + +"Did you not hear a noise?" at length whispered the elder, +as he leaned himself forward, and bent his head to the +sand, to catch more distinctly a repetition of the sound. + +"I did; there again! It is upon the bridge, and not unlike +the step of one endeavouring to tread lightly. It may be +some wild beast, however." + +"We must not be taken by surprise," returned his companion. +"If it be a man, the wary tread indicates consciousness +of our presence. If an animal, there can be no harm in +setting our fears at rest." + +Cautiously stealing from his lurking-place, the young +officer emerged into the open sands, and in a few measured +noiseless strides gained the extremity of the bridge. +The dark shadow of something upon its centre caught his +eye, and a low sound like that of a dog lapping met his +ear. While his gaze yet lingered on the shapeless object, +endeavouring to give it a character, the clouds which +had so long obscured it passed momentarily from before +the moon, and disclosed the appalling truth. It was a +wolf-dog lapping up from the earth, in which they were +encrusted, the blood and brains of the unfortunate Frank +Halloway. + +Sick and faint at the disgusting sight, the young man +rested his elbow on the railing that passed along the +edge of the bridge, and, leaning his head on his hand +for a moment, forgot the risk of exposure he incurred, +in the intenseness of the sorrow that assailed his soul. +His heart and imagination were already far from the spot +on which he stood, when he felt an iron hand upon his +shoulder. He turned, shuddering with an instinctive +knowledge of his yet unseen visitant, and beheld standing +over him the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the savage in a low triumphant +tone, "the place of our meeting is well timed, though +somewhat singular, it must be confessed. Nay," he fiercely +added, grasping as in a vice the arm that was already +lifted to strike him, "force me not to annihilate you on +the spot. Ha! hear you the cry of my wolf-dog?" as that +animal now set up a low but fearful howl; "it is for your +blood he asks, but your hour is not yet come." + +"No, by Heaven, is it not!" exclaimed a voice; a rapid +and rushing sweep was heard through the air for an instant, +and then a report like a stunning blow. The warrior +released his grasp--placed his hand upon his tomahawk, +but without strength to remove it from his belt tottered +a pace or two backwards--and then fell, uttering a cry +of mingled pain and disappointment, at his length upon +the earth. + +"Quick, quick to our cover!" exclaimed the younger officer, +as a loud shout was now heard from the forest in reply +to the yell of the fallen warrior. "If Francois come not, +we are lost; the howl of that wolf-dog alone will betray +us, even if his master should be beyond all chance of +recovery." + +"Desperate diseases require desperate remedies," was the +reply; "there is little glory in destroying a helpless +enemy, but the necessity is urgent, and we must leave +nothing to chance." As he spoke, he knelt upon the huge +form of the senseless warrior, whose scalping knife he +drew from its sheath, and striking a firm and steady +blow, quitted not the weapon until he felt his hand +reposing on the chest of his enemy. + +The howl of the wolf-dog, whose eyes glared like two +burning coals through the surrounding gloom, was now +exchanged to a fierce and snappish bark. He made a leap +at the officer while in the act of rising from the body; +but his fangs fastened only in the chest of the shaggy +coat, which he wrung with the strength and fury +characteristic of his peculiar species. This new and +ferocious attack was fraught with danger little inferior +to that which they had just escaped, and required the +utmost promptitude of action. The young man seized the +brute behind the neck in a firm and vigorous grasp, while +he stooped upon the motionless form over which this novel +struggle was maintained, and succeeded in making himself +once more master of the scalping knife. Half choked by +the hand that unflinchingly grappled with him, the savage +animal quitted his hold and struggled violently to free +himself. This was the critical moment. The officer drew +the heavy sharp blade, from the handle to the point, +across the throat of the infuriated beast, with a force +that divided the principal artery. He made a desperate +leap upwards, spouting his blood over his destroyer, and +then fell gasping across the body of his master. A low +growl, intermingled with faint attempts to bark, which +the rapidly oozing life rendered more and more indistinct, +succeeded; and at length nothing but a gurgling sound +was distinguishable. + +Meanwhile the anxious and harassed officers had regained +their place of concealment under the bridge, where they +listened with suppressed breathing for the slightest +sound to indicate the approach of the canoe. At intervals +they fancied they could hear a noise resembling the +rippling of water against the prow of a light vessel, +but the swelling cries of the rushing band, becoming at +every instant more distinct, were too unceasingly kept +up to admit of their judging with accuracy. + +They now began to give themselves up for lost, and many +and bitter were the curses they inwardly bestowed on the +Canadian, when the outline of a human form was seen +advancing along the sands, and a dark object upon the +water. It was their conductor, dragging the canoe along, +with all the strength and activity of which he was capable. + +"What the devil have you been about all this time, +Francois?" exclaimed the taller officer, as he bounded +to meet him. "Quick, quick, or we shall be too late. Hear +you not the blood-hounds on their scent?" Then seizing +the chain in his hand, with a powerful effort he sent +the canoe flying through the arch to the very entrance +of the river. The burdens that had been deposited on the +sands were hastily flung in, the officers stepping lightly +after. The Canadian took the helm, directing the frail +vessel almost noiselessly through the water, and with +such velocity, that when the cry of the disappointed +savages was heard resounding from the bridge, it had +already gained the centre of the Detroit. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Two days had succeeded to the departure of the officers +from the fort, but unproductive of any event of importance. +About daybreak, however, on the morning of the third, +the harassed garrison were once more summoned to arms, +by an alarm from the sentinels planted in rear of the +works; a body of Indians they had traced and lost at +intervals, as they wound along the skirt of the forest, +in their progress from their encampment, were at length +developing themselves in force near the bomb proof. With +a readiness which long experience and watchfulness had +rendered in some degree habitual to them, the troops flew +to their respective posts; while a few of the senior +officers, among whom was the governor, hastened to the +ramparts to reconnoitre the strength and purpose of their +enemies. It was evident the views of these latter were +not immediately hostile; for neither were they in their +war paint, nor were their arms of a description to carry +intimidation to a disciplined and fortified soldiery. +Bows, arrows, tomahawks, war clubs, spears, and scalping +knives, constituted their warlike equipments, but neither +rifle nor fire-arms of any kind were discernible. Several +of their leaders, distinguishable by a certain haughty +carriage and commanding gesticulation, were collected +within the elevated bomb-proof, apparently holding a +short but important conference apart from their people, +most of whom stood or lay in picturesque attitudes around +the ruin. These also had a directing spirit. A tall and +noble looking warrior, wearing a deer-skin hunting frock +closely girded around his loins, appeared to command the +deference of his colleagues, claiming profound attention +when he spoke himself, and manifesting his assent or +dissent to the apparently expressed opinions of the lesser +chiefs merely by a slight movement of the head. + +"There he is indeed!" exclaimed Captain Erskine, speaking +as one who communes with his own thoughts, while he kept +his telescope levelled on the form of the last warrior; +"looking just as noble as when, three years ago, he +opposed himself to the progress of the first English +detachment that had ever penetrated to this part of the +world. What a pity such a fine fellow should be so +desperate and determined an enemy!" + +"True; you were with Major Rogers on that expedition," +observed the governor, in a tone now completely divested +of the haughtiness which formerly characterised his +address to his officers. "I have often heard him speak +of it. You had many difficulties to contend against, if +I recollect." + +"We had indeed, sir," returned the frank-hearted Erskine, +dropping the glass from his eye. "So many, in fact, that +more than once, in the course of our progress through +the wilderness, did I wish myself at head-quarters with +my company. Never shall I forget the proud and determined +expression of Ponteac's countenance, when he told Rogers, +in his figurative language, 'he stood in the path in +which he travelled.' " + +"Thank Heaven, he at least stands not in the path in +which OTHERS travel," musingly rejoined the governor. +"But what sudden movement is that within the ruin?" + +"The Indians are preparing to show a white flag," shouted +an artillery-man from his station in one of the embrasures +below. + +The governor and his officers received this intelligence +without surprise: the former took the glass from Captain +Erskine, and coolly raised it to his eye. The consultation +had ceased; and the several chiefs, with the exception +of their leader and two others, were now seen quitting +the bomb-proof to join their respective tribes. One of +those who remained, sprang upon an elevated fragment of +the ruin, and uttered a prolonged cry, the purport of +which,--and it was fully understood from its peculiar +nature,--was to claim attention from the fort. He then +received from the hands of the other chief a long spear, +to the end of which was attached a piece of white linen. +This he waved several times above his head; then stuck +the barb of the spear firmly into the projecting fragment. +Quitting his elevated station, he next stood at the side +of the Ottawa chief, who had already assumed the air and +attitude of one waiting to observe in what manner his +signal would be received. + +"A flag of truce in all its bearings, by Jupiter!" remarked +Captain Erskine. "Ponteac seems to have acquired a few +lessons since we first met." + +"This is evidently the suggestion of some European," +observed Major Blackwater; "for how should he understand +any thing of the nature of a white flag? Some of those +vile spies have put him up to this." + +"True enough, Blackwater; and they appear to have found +an intelligent pupil," observed Captain Wentworth. "I +was curious to know how he would make the attempt to +approach us; but certainly never once dreamt of his having +recourse to so civilised a method. Their plot works well, +no doubt; still we have the counter-plot to oppose to +it." + +"We must foil them with their own weapons," remarked the +governor, "even if it be only with a view to gain time. +Wentworth, desire one of your bombardiers to hoist the +large French flag on the staff." + +The order was promptly obeyed. The Indians made a +simultaneous movement expressive of their satisfaction; +and in the course of a minute, the tall warrior, accompanied +by nearly a dozen inferior chiefs, was seen slowly +advancing across the common, towards the group of officers. + +"What generous confidence the fellow has, for an Indian!" +observed Captain Erskine, who could not dissemble his +admiration of the warrior. "He steps as firmly and as +proudly within reach of our muskets, as if he was leading +in the war-dance." + +"How strange," mused Captain Blessington, "that one who +meditates so deep a treachery, should have no apprehension +of it in others!" + +"It is a compliment to the honour of our flag," observed +the governor, "which it must be our interest to encourage. +If, as you say, Erskine, the man is really endowed with +generosity, the result of this affair will assuredly call +it forth." + +"If it prove otherwise, sir," was the reply, "we must +only attribute his perseverance to the influence which +that terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis is said to +exercise over his better feelings. By the by, I see +nothing of him among this flag of truce party. It could +scarcely be called a violation of faith to cut off such +a rascally renegade. Were he of the number of those +advancing, and Valletort's rifle within my reach, I know +not what use I might not be tempted to make of the last." + +Poor Erskine was singularly infelicitous in touching, +and ever unconsciously, on a subject sure to give pain +to more than one of his brother officers. A cloud passed +over the brow of the governor, but it was one that +originated more in sorrow than in anger. Neither had he +time to linger on the painful recollections hastily and +confusedly called up by the allusion made to this formidable +and mysterious being, for the attention of all was now +absorbed by the approaching Indians. With a bold and +confiding carriage the fierce Ponteac moved at the head +of his little party, nor hesitated one moment in his +course, until he got near the brink of the ditch, and +stood face to face with the governor, at a distance that +gave both parties not only the facility of tracing the +expression of each other's features, but of conversing +without effort. There he made a sudden stand, and thrusting +his spear into the earth, assumed an attitude as devoid +of apprehension as if he had been in the heart of his +own encampment. + +"My father has understood my sign," said the haughty +chief. "The warriors of a dozen tribes are far behind +the path the Ottawa has just travelled; but when the red +skin comes unarmed, the hand of the Saganaw is tied behind +his back." + +"The strong hold of the Saganaw is his safeguard," replied +the governor, adopting the language of the Indian. "When +the enemies of his great father come in strength, he +knows how to disperse them; but when a warrior throws +himself unarmed into his power, he respects his confidence, +and his arms hang rusting at his side." + +"The talk of my father is big," replied the warrior, with +a scornful expression that seemed to doubt the fact of +so much indifference as to himself; "but when it is a +great chief who directs the nations, and that chief his +sworn enemy, the temptation to the Saganaw may be strong." + +"The Saganaw is without fear," emphatically rejoined the +governor; "he is strong in his own honour; and he would +rather die under the tomahawk of the red skin, than +procure a peace by an act of treachery." + +The Indian paused; cold, calm looks of intelligence passed +between him and his followers, and a few indistinct and +guttural sentences were exchanged among themselves. + +"But our father asks not why our mocassins have brushed +the dew from off the common," resumed the chief; "and +yet it is long since the Saganaw and the red skin have +spoken to each other, except through the war whoop. My +father must wonder to see the great chief of the Ottawas +without the hatchet in his hand." + +"The hatchet often wounds those who use it unskilfully," +calmly returned the governor. "The Saganaw is not blind. +The Ottawas, and the other tribes, find the war paint +heavy on their skins. They see that my young men are not +to be conquered, and they have sent the great head of +all the nations to sue for peace." + +In spite of the habitual reserve and self-possession of +his race, the haughty warrior could not repress a movement +of impatience at the bold and taunting language of his +enemy, and for a moment there was a fire in his eye that +told how willingly he would have washed away the insult +in his blood. The same low guttural exclamations that +had previously escaped their lips, marked the sense +entertained of the remark by his companions. + +"My father is right," pursued the chief, resuming his +self-command; "the Ottawas, and the other tribes, ask +for peace, but not because they are afraid of war. When +they strike the hatchet into the war post, they leave it +there until their enemies ask them to take it out." + +"Why come they now, then, to ask for peace?" was the cool +demand. + +The warrior hesitated, evidently at a loss to give a +reply that could reconcile the palpable contradiction of +his words. + +"The rich furs of our forests have become many," he at +length observed, "since we first took up the hatchet +against the Saganaw; and every bullet we keep for our +enemies is a loss to our trade. We once exchanged furs +with the children of our father of the pale flag. They +gave us, in return, guns, blankets, powder, ball, and +all that the red man requires in the hunting season. +These are all expended; and my young men would deal with +the Saganaw as they did with the French." + +"Good; the red skins would make peace; and although the +arm of the Saganaw is strong, he will not turn a deaf +ear to their desire." + +"All the strong holds of the Saganaw, except two, have +fallen before the great chief of the Ottawas!" proudly +returned the Indian, with a look of mingled scorn and +defiance. "They, too, thought themselves beyond the +reach of our tomahawks; but they were deceived. In less +than a single moon nine of them have fallen, and the +tents of my young warriors are darkened with their scalps; +but this is past. If the red skin asks for peace, it is +because he is tired of seeing the blood of the Saganaw +on his tomahawk. Does my father hear?" + +"We will listen to the great chief of the Ottawas, and +hear what he has to say," returned the governor, who, as +well as the officers at his side, could with difficulty +conceal their disgust and sorrow at the dreadful +intelligence thus imparted of the fates of their companions. +"But peace," he pursued with dignity, "can only be made +in the council room, and under the sacred pledge of the +calumet. The great chief has a wampum belt on his shoulder, +and a calumet in his hand. His aged warriors, too, are +at his side. What says the Ottawa? Will he enter? If so, +the gate of the Saganaw shall be open to him." + +The warrior started; and for a moment the confidence that +had hitherto distinguished him seemed to give place to +an apprehension of meditated treachery. He, however, +speedily recovered himself, and observed emphatically, +"It is the great head of all the nations whom my father +invites to the council seat. Were he to remain in the +hands of the Saganaw, his young men would lose their +strength. They would bury the hatchet for ever in despair, +and hide their faces in the laps of their women." + +"Does the Ottawa chief see the pale flag on the strong +hold of his enemies. While that continues to fly, he is +safe as if he were under the cover of his own wigwam. If +the Saganaw could use guile like the fox" (and this was +said with marked emphasis), "what should prevent him from +cutting off the Ottawa and his chiefs, even where they +now stand?" + +A half smile of derision passed over the dark cheek of +the Indian. "If the arm of an Ottawa is strong," he said, +"his foot is not less swift. The short guns of the chiefs +of the Saganaw" (pointing to the pistols of the officers) +"could not reach us; and before the voice of our father +could be raised, or his eye turned, to call his warriors +to his side, the Ottawa would be already far on his way +to the forest." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas shall judge better of +the Saganaw," returned the governor.--"He shall see +that his young men are ever watchful at their posts:--Up, +men, and show yourselves." + +A second or two sufficed to bring the whole, of Captain +Erskine's company, who had been lying flat on their faces, +to their feet on the rampart. The Indians were evidently +taken by surprise, though they evinced no fear. The low +and guttural "Ugh!" was the only expression they gave to +their astonishment, not unmingled with admiration. + +But, although the chiefs preserved their presence of +mind, the sudden appearance of the soldiers had excited +alarm among their warriors, who, grouped in and around +the bomb-proof, were watching every movement of the +conferring parties, with an interest proportioned to the +risk they conceived their head men had incurred in +venturing under the very walls of their enemies. Fierce +yells were uttered; and more than a hundred dusky warriors, +brandishing their tomahawks in air, leaped along the +skirt of the common, evidently only awaiting the signal +of their great chief, to advance and cover his retreat. +At the command of the governor, however, the men had +again suddenly disappeared from the surface of the rampart; +so that when the Indians finally perceived their leader +stood unharmed and unmolested, on the spot he had previously +occupied, the excitement died away, and they once more +assumed their attitude of profound attention. + +"What thinks the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked +the governor;--"did he imagine that the young white men +lie sleeping like beavers in their dams, when the hunter +sets his traps to catch them?--did he imagine that they +foresee not the designs of their enemies? and that they +are not always on the watch to prevent them?" + +"My father is a great warrior," returned the Indian; "and +if his arm is full of strength, his head is fall of +wisdom. The chiefs will no longer hesitate;--they will +enter the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sit with him +in the council." + +He next addressed a few words, and in a language not +understood by those upon the walls, to one of the younger +of the Indians. The latter acknowledged his sense and +approbation of what was said to him by an assentient and +expressive "Ugh!" which came from his chest without any +apparent emotion of the lips, much in the manner of a +modern ventriloquist. He then hastened, with rapid and +lengthened boundings, across the common towards his band. +After the lapse of a minute or two from reaching them, +another simultaneous cry arose, differing in expression +from any that had hitherto been heard. It was one denoting +submission to the will, and compliance with some conveyed +desire, of their superior. + +"Is the gate of the Saganaw open?" asked the latter, as +soon as his ear had been greeted with the cry we have +just named. "The Ottawa and the other great chiefs are +ready;--their hearts are bold, and they throw themselves +into the hands of the Saganaw without fear." + +"The Ottawa chief knows the path," drily rejoined the +governor: "when he comes in peace, it is ever open to +him; but when his young men press it with the tomahawk +in their hands, the big thunder is roused to anger, and +they are scattered away like the leaves of the forest in +the storm." "Even now," he pursued, as the little band of +Indians moved slowly round the walls, "the gate of the +Saganaw opens for the Ottawa and the other chiefs." + +"Let the most vigilant caution be used every where along +the works, but especially in the rear," continued the +governor, addressing Captain Blessington, on whom the +duty of the day had devolved. "We are safe, while their +chiefs are with us; but still it will be necessary to +watch the forest closely. We cannot be too much on our +guard. The men had better remain concealed, every twentieth +file only standing up to form a look-out chain. If any +movement of a suspicious nature be observed, let it be +communicated by the discharge of a single musket, that +the drawbridge may be raised on the instant." With the +delivery of these brief instructions he quitted the +rampart with the majority of his officers. + +Meanwhile, hasty preparations had been made in the +mess-room to receive the chiefs. The tables had been +removed, and a number of clean rush mats, manufactured, +after the Indian manner, into various figures and devices, +spread carefully upon the floor. At the further end from +the entrance was placed a small table and chair, covered +with scarlet cloth. This was considerably elevated above +the surface of the floor, and intended for the governor. +On either side of the room, near these, were ranged a +number of chairs for the accommodation of the inferior +officers. + +Major Blackwater received the chiefs at the gate. With +a firm, proud step, rendered more confident by his very +unwillingness to betray any thing like fear, the tall, +and, as Captain Erskine had justly designated him, the +noble-looking Ponteac trod the yielding planks that might +in the next moment cut him off from his people for ever. +The other chiefs, following the example of their leader, +evinced the same easy fearlessness of demeanour, nor +glanced once behind them to see if there was any thing +to justify the apprehension of hidden danger. + +The Ottawa was evidently mortified at not being received +by the governor in person. "My father is not here!" he +said fiercely to the major:--"how is this? The Ottawa +and the other chiefs are kings of all their tribes. The +head of one great people should be received only by the +head of another great people!" + +"Our father sits in the council-hall," returned the major. +"He has taken his seat, that he may receive the warriors +with becoming honour. But I am the second chief, and our +father has sent me to receive them." + +To the proud spirit of the Indian this explanation scarcely +sufficed. For a moment he seemed to struggle, as if +endeavouring to stifle his keen sense of an affront put +upon him. At length he nodded his head haughtily and +condescendingly, in token of assent; and gathering up +his noble form, and swelling out his chest, as if with +a view to strike terror as well as admiration into the +hearts of those by whom he expected to be surrounded, +stalked majestically forward at the head of his +confederates. + +An indifferent observer, or one ignorant of these people, +would have been at fault; but those who understood the +workings of an Indian's spirit could not have been deceived +by the tranquil exterior of these men. The rapid, keen, +and lively glance--the suppressed sneer of exultation--the +half start of surprise--the low, guttural, and almost +inaudible "Ugh!"--all these indicated the eagerness with +which, at one sly but compendious view, they embraced +the whole interior of a fort which it was of such vital +importance to their future interests they should become +possessed of, yet which they had so long and so +unsuccessfully attempted to subdue. As they advanced into +the square, they looked around, expecting to behold the +full array of their enemies; but, to their astonishment, +not a soldier was to be seen. A few women and children +only, in whom curiosity had overcome a natural loathing +and repugnance to the savages, were peeping from the +windows of the block houses. Even at a moment like the +present, the fierce instinct of these latter was not to +be controlled. One of the children, terrified at the wild +appearance of the warriors, screamed violently, and clung +to the bosom of its mother for protection. Fired at the +sound, a young chief raised his hand to his lips, and +was about to peal forth his terrible war whoop in the +very centre of the fort, when the eye of the Ottawa +suddenly arrested him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +There were few forms of courtesy observed by the warriors +towards the English officers on entering the council +room. Ponteac, who had collected all his native haughtiness +into one proud expression of look and figure, strode in +without taking the slightest notice even of the governor. +The other chiefs imitated his example, and all took their +seats upon the matting in the order prescribed by their +rank among the tribes, and their experience in council. +The Ottawa chief sat at the near extremity of the room, +and immediately facing the governor. A profound silence +was observed for some minutes after the Indians had seated +themselves, during which they proceeded to fill their +pipes. The handle of that of the Ottawa chief was +decorated with numerous feathers fancifully disposed. + +"This is well," at length observed the governor. "It is +long since the great chiefs of the nations have smoked +the sweet grass in the council hall of the Saganaw. What +have they to say, that their young men may have peace to +hunt the beaver, and to leave the print of their mocassins +in the country of the Buffalo?--What says the Ottawa +chief?" + +"The Ottawa chief is a great warrior," returned the other, +haughtily; and again repudiating, in the indomitableness +of his pride, the very views that a more artful policy +had first led him to avow. "He has already said that, +within a single moon, nine of the strong holds of the +Saganaw have fallen into his hands, and that the scalps +of the white men fill the tents of his warriors. If the +red skins wish for peace, it is because they are sick +with spilling the blood of their enemies. Does my father +hear?" + +"The Ottawa has been cunning, like the fox," calmly +returned the governor. "He went with deceit upon his +lips, and said to the great chiefs of the strong holds +of the Saganaw,--'You have no more forts upon the lakes; +they have all fallen before the red skins: they gave +themselves into our hands; and we spared their lives, +and sent them down to the great towns near the salt lake.' +But this was false: the chiefs of the Saganaw, believing +what was said to them, gave up their strong holds; but +their lives were not spared, and the grass of the Canadas +is yet moist with their blood. Does the Ottawa hear?" + +Amazement and stupefaction sat for a moment on the features +of the Indians. The fact was as had been stated; and yet, +so completely had the several forts been cut off from +all communication, it was deemed almost impossible one +could have received tidings of the fate of the other, +unless conveyed through the Indians themselves. + +"The spies of the Saganaw have been very quick to escape +the vigilance of the red skins," at length replied the +Ottawa; "yet they have returned with a lie upon their +lips. I swear by the Great Spirit, that nine of the strong +holds of the Saganaw have been destroyed. How could the +Ottawa go with deceit upon his lips, when his words were +truth?" + +"When the red skins said so to the warriors of the last +forts they took, they said true; but when they went to +the first, and said that all the rest had fallen, they +used deceit. A great nation should overcome their enemies +like warriors, and not seek to beguile them with their +tongues under the edge of the scalping knife!" + +"Why did the Saganaw come into the country of the red +skins?" haughtily demanded the chief. "Why did they take +our hunting grounds from us? Why have they strong places +encircling the country of the Indians, like a belt of +wampum round the waist of a warrior?" + +"This is not true," rejoined the governor. "It was not +the Saganaw, but the warriors of the pale flag, who first +came and took away the hunting grounds, and built the +strong places. The great father of the Saganaw had beaten +the great father of the pale flag quite out of the Canadas, +and he sent his young men to take their place and to make +peace with the red skins, and to trade with them, and to +call them brothers." + +"The Saganaw was false," retorted the Indian. "When a +chief of the Saganaw came for the first time with his +warriors into the country of the Ottawas, the chief of +the Ottawas stood in his path, and asked him why, and +from whom, he came? That chief was a bold warrior, and +his heart was open, and the Ottawa liked him; and when +he said he came to be friendly with the red skins, the +Ottawa believed him, and he shook him by the hand, and +said to his young men, 'Touch not the life of a Saganaw; +for their chief is the friend of the Ottawa chief, and +his young men shall be the friends of the red warriors.' +Look," he proceeded, marking his sense of the discovery +by another of those ejaculatory "Ughs!" so expressive of +surprise in an Indian, "at the right hand of my father +I see a chief," pointing to Captain Erskine, "who came +with those of the Saganaw who first entered the country +of the Detroit;--ask that chief if what the Ottawa says +is not true. When the Saganaw said he came only to remove +the warriors of the pale flag, that he might be friendly +and trade with the red skins, the Ottawa received the +belt of wampum he offered, and smoked the pipe of peace +with him, and he made his men bring bags of parched corn +to his warriors who wanted food, and he sent to all the +nations on the lakes, and said to them, 'The Saganaw must +pass unhurt to the strong hold on the Detroit.' But for +the Ottawa, not a Saganaw would have escaped; for the +nations were thirsting for their blood, and the knives +of the warriors were eager to open their scalps. Ask the +chief who sits at the right hand of my father," he again +energetically repeated, "if what the Ottawa says is not +true." + +"What the Ottawa says is true," rejoined the governor; +"for the chief who sits on my right hand has often said +that, but for the Ottawa, the small number of the warriors +of the Saganaw must have been cut off; and his heart is +big with kindness to the Ottawa for what he did. But if +the great chief meant to be friendly, why did he declare +war after smoking the pipe of peace with the Saganaw? +Why did he destroy the wigwams of the settlers, and carry +off the scalps even of their weak women and children? +All this has the Ottawa done; and yet he says that he +wished to be friendly with my young men. But the Saganaw +is not a fool. He knows the Ottawa chief had no will of +his own. On the right hand of the Ottawa sits the great +chief of the Delawares, and on his left the great chief +of the Shawanees. They have long been the sworn enemies +of the Saganaw; and they came from the rivers that run +near the salt lake to stir up the red skins of the Detroit +to war. They whispered wicked words in the ear of the +Ottawa chief, and he determined to take up the bloody +hatchet. This is a shame to a great warrior. The Ottawa +was a king over all the tribes in the country of the +fresh lakes, and yet he weakly took council like a woman +from another." + +"My father lies!" fiercely retorted the warrior, half +springing to his feet, and involuntarily putting his hand +upon his tomahawk. "If the settlers of the Saganaw have +fallen," he resumed in a calmer tone, while he again sank +upon his mat, "it is because they did not keep their +faith with the red skins. When they came weak, and were +not yet secure in their strong holds, their tongues were +smooth and full of soft words; but when they became strong +under the protection of their thunder, they no longer +treated the red skins as their friends, and they laughed +at them for letting them come into their country." "But," +he pursued, elevating his voice, "the Ottawa is a great +chief, and he will be respected." Then adverting in +bitterness to the influence supposed to be exercised over +him,--"What my father has said is false. The Shawanees +and the Delawares are great nations; but the Ottawas are +greater than any, and their chiefs are full of wisdom. +The Shawanees and the Delawares had no talk with the +Ottawa chief to make him do what his own wisdom did not +tell him." + +"Then, if the talk came not from the Shawanees and the +Delawares, it came from the spies of the warriors of the +pale flag. The great father of the French was angry with +the great father of the Saganaw, because he conquered +his warriors in many battles; and he sent wicked men to +whisper lies of the Saganaw into the ears of the red +skins, and to make them take up the hatchet against them. +There is a tall spy at this moment in the camp of the +red skins," he pursued with earnestness, and yet paling +as he spoke. "It is said he is the bosom friend of the +great chief of the Ottawas. But I will not believe it. +The head of a great nation would not be the friend of a +spy--of one who is baser than a dog. His people would +despise him; and they would say, 'Our chief is not fit +to sit in council, or to make war; for he is led by the +word of a pale face who is without honour.'" + +The swarthy cheek of the Indian reddened, and his eye +kindled into fire. "There is no spy, but a great warrior, +in the camp of the Ottawas," he fiercely replied. "Though +he came from the country that lies beyond the salt lake, +he is now a chief of the red skins, and his arm is mighty, +and his heart is big. Would my father know why he has +become a chief of the Ottawas?" he pursued with scornful +exultation. "When the strong holds of the Saganaw fell, +the tomahawk of the 'white warrior' drank more blood than +that of a red skin, and his tent is hung around with +poles bending under the weight of the scalps he has taken. +When the great chief of the Ottawas dies, the pale face +will lead his warriors, and take the first seat in the +council. The Ottawa chief is his friend." + +"If the pale face be the friend of the Ottawa," pursued +the governor, in the hope of obtaining some particular +intelligence in regard to this terrible and mysterious +being, "why is he not here to sit in council with the +chiefs? Perhaps," he proceeded tauntingly, as he fancied +he perceived a disinclination on the part of the Indian +to account for the absence of the warrior, "the pale face +is not worthy to take his place among the head men of +the council. His arm may be strong like that of a warrior, +but his head may be weak like that of a woman; or, perhaps, +he is ashamed to show himself before the pale faces, who +have turned him out of their tribe." + +"My father lies!" again unceremoniously retorted the +warrior. "If the friend of the Ottawa is not here, it is +because his voice cannot speak. Does my father recollect +the bridge on which he killed his young warrior? Does he +recollect the terrible chase of the pale face by the +friend of the Ottawa? Ugh!" he continued, as his attention +was now diverted to another object of interest, "that +pale face was swifter than any runner among the red skins, +and for his fleetness he deserved to live to be a great +hunter in the Canadas; but fear broke his heart,--fear +of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The red skins saw +him fall at the feet of the Saganaw without life, and +they saw the young warriors bear him off in their arms. +Is not the Ottawa right?" The Indian paused, threw his +eye rapidly along the room, and then, fixing it on the +governor, seemed to wait with deep but suppressed interest +for his reply. + +"Peace to the bones of a brave warrior!" seriously and +evasively returned the governor: "the pale face is no +longer in the land of the Canadas, and the young warriors +of the Saganaw are sorry for his loss; but what would +the Ottawa say of the bridge? and what has the pale +warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, to do with it?" + +A gleam of satisfaction pervaded the countenance +of the Indian, as he eagerly bent his +ear to receive the assurance that the fugitive +was no more; but when allusion was again +made to the strange warrior, his brow became +overcast, and he replied with mingled haughtiness +and anger,-- + +"Does my father ask? He has dogs of spies among the +settlers of the pale flag, but the tomahawk of the red +skins will find them out, and they shall perish even as +the Saganaw themselves. Two nights ago, when the warriors +of the Ottawas were returning from their scout upon the +common, they heard the voice of Onondato, the great +wolf-dog of the friend of the Ottawa chief. The voice +came from the bridge where the Saganaw killed his young +warrior, and it called upon the red skins for assistance. +My young men gave their war cry, and ran like wild deer +to destroy the enemies of their chief; but when they +came, the spies had fled, and the voice of Onondato was +low and weak as that of a new fawn; and when the warriors +came to the other end of the bridge, they found the pale +chief lying across the road and covered over with blood. +They thought he was dead, and their cry was terrible; +for the pale warrior is a great chief, and the Ottawas +love him; but when they looked again, they saw that the +blood was the blood of Onondato, whose throat the spies +of the Saganaw had cut, that he might not hunt them and +give them to the tomahawk of the red skins." + +Frequent glances, expressive of their deep interest in +the announcement of this intelligence, passed between +the governor and his officers. It was clear the party +who had encountered the terrible warrior of the Fleur de +lis were not spies (for none were employed by the garrison), +but their adventurous companions who had so recently +quitted them. This was put beyond all doubt by the night, +the hour, and the not less important feet of the locality; +for it was from the bridge described by the Indian, near +which the Canadian had stated his canoe to be chained, +they were to embark on their perilous and uncertain +enterprise. The question of their own escape from danger +in this unlooked for collision with so powerful and +ferocious an enemy, and of the fidelity of the Canadian, +still remained involved in doubt, which it might be +imprudent, if not dangerous, to seek to have resolved by +any direct remark on the subject to the keen and observant +warrior. The governor removed this difficulty by artfully +observing,-- + +"The great chief of the Ottawas has said they were the +spies of the Saganaw who killed the pale warrior. His +young men has found them, then; or how could he know they +were spies?" + +"Is there a warrior among the Saganaw who dares to show +himself in the path of the red skins, unless he come in +strength and surrounded by his thunder?" was the sneering +demand. "But my father is wrong, if he supposes the friend +of the Ottawa is killed. No," he pursued fiercely, "the +dogs of spies could not kill him; they were afraid to +face so terrible a warrior. They came behind him in the +dark, and they struck him on the head like cowards and +foxes as they were. The warrior of the pale face, and +the friend of the Ottawa chief, is sick, but not dead. +He lies without motion in his tent, and his voice cannot +speak to his friend to tell him who were his enemies, +that he may bring their scalps to hang up within his +wigwam. But the great chief will soon be well, and his +arm will be stronger than ever to spill the blood of the +Saganaw as he has done before." + +"The talk of the Ottawa chief is strange," returned the +governor, emphatically and with dignity. "He says he +conies to smoke the pipe of peace with the Saganaw, and +yet he talks of spilling their blood as if it was water +from the lake. What does the Ottawa mean?" + +"Ugh!" exclaimed the Indian, in his surprise. "My father +is right, but the Ottawa and the Saganaw have not yet +smoked together. When they have, the hatchet will be +buried for ever. Until then, they are still enemies." + +During this long and important colloquy of the leading +parties, the strictest silence had been preserved by the +remainder of the council. The inferior chiefs had +continued deliberately puffing the smoke from their curled +lips, as they sat cross-legged on their mats, and nodding +their heads at intervals in confirmation of the occasional +appeal made by the rapid glance of the Ottawa, and uttering +their guttural "Ugh!" whenever any observation of the +parlant parties touched their feelings, or called forth +their surprise. The officers had been no less silent and +attentive listeners, to a conversation on the issue of +which hung so many dear and paramount interests. A pause +in the conference gave them an opportunity of commenting +in a low tone on the communication made, in the strong +excitement of his pride, by the Ottawa chief, in regard +to the terrible warrior of the Fleur de lis; who, it was +evident, swayed the councils of the Indians, and +consequently exercised an influence over the ultimate +destinies of the English, which it was impossible to +contemplate without alarm. It was evident to all, from +whatsoever cause it might arise, this man cherished a +rancour towards certain individuals in the fort, inducing +an anxiety in its reduction scarcely equalled by that +entertained on the part of the Indians themselves. Beyond +this, however, all was mystery and doubt; nor had any +clue been given to enable them to arrive even at a well +founded apprehension of the motives which had given birth +to the vindictiveness of purpose, so universally ascribed +to him even by the savages themselves. + +The chiefs also availed themselves of this pause in the +conversation of the principals, to sustain a low and +animated discussion. Those of the Shawanee and Delaware +nations were especially earnest; and, as they spoke across +the Ottawa, betrayed, by their vehemence of gesture, the +action of some strong feeling upon their minds, the +precise nature of which could not be ascertained from +their speech at the opposite extremity of the room. The +Ottawa did not deign to join in their conversation, but +sat smoking his pipe in all the calm and forbidding +dignity of a proud Indian warrior conscious of his own +importance. + +"Does the great chief of the Ottawas, then, seek for +peace in his heart at length?" resumed the governor; "or +is he come to the strong hold of Detroit, as he went to +the other strong holds, with deceit on his lips?" + +The Indian slowly removed his pipe from his mouth, fixed +his keen eye searchingly on that of the questioner for +nearly a minute, and then briefly and haughtily said, +"The Ottawa chief has spoken." + +"And do the great chiefs of the Shawanees, and the great +chiefs of the Delawares, and the great chiefs of the +other nations, ask for peace also?" demanded the governor. +"If so, let them speak for themselves, and for their +warriors." + +We will not trespass on the reader, on whom we have +already inflicted too much of this scene, by a transcript +of the declarations of the inferior chiefs. Suffice it +to observe, each in his turn avowed motives similar to +those of the Ottawa for wishing the hatchet might be +buried for ever, and that their young men should mingle +once more in confidence, not only with the English troops, +but with the settlers, who would again be brought into +the country at the cessation of hostilities. When each +had spoken, the Ottawa passed the pipe of ceremony, with +which he was provided, to the governor. + +The latter put it to his lips, and commenced smoking. +The Indians keenly, and half furtively, watched the act; +and looks of deep intelligence, that escaped not the +notice of the equally anxious and observant officers, +passed among them. + +"The pipe of the great chief of the Ottawas smokes well," +calmly remarked the governor; "but the Ottawa chief, in +his hurry to come and ask for peace, has made a mistake. +The pipe and all its ornaments are red like blood: it +is the pipe of war, and not the pipe of peace. The great +chief of the Ottawas will be angry with himself; he has +entered the strong hold of the Saganaw, and sat in the +council, without doing any good for his young men. The +Ottawa must come again." + +A deep but subdued expression of disappointment passed +over the features of the chiefs. They watched the +countenances of the officers, to see whether the +substitution of one pipe for the other had been attributed, +in their estimation, to accident or design. There was +nothing, however, to indicate the slightest doubt of +their sincerity. + +"My father is right," replied the Indian, with an appearance +of embarrassment, which, whether natural or feigned, had +nothing suspicious in it. "The great chief of the Ottawas +has been foolish, like an old woman. The young chiefs of +his tribe will laugh at him for this. But the Ottawa +chief will come again, and the other chiefs with him, +for, as my father sees, they all wish for peace; and that +my father may know all the nations wish for peace, as +well as their head men, the warriors of the Ottawa, and +of the Shawanee, and of the Delaware, shall play at ball +upon the common, to amuse his young men, while the chiefs +sit in council with the chiefs of the Saganaw. The red +skins shall come naked, and without their rifles and +their tomahawks; and even the squaws of the warriors +shall come upon the common, to show the Saganaw they may +be without fear. Does my father hear?" + +"The Ottawa chief says well," returned the governor; "but +will the pale friend of the Ottawa come also to take his +seat in the council hall? The great chief has said the +pale warrior has become the second chief among the Ottawas; +and that when he is dead, the pale warrior will lead the +Ottawas, and take the first seat in the council. He, too, +should smoke the pipe of peace with the Saganaw, that +they may know he is no longer their enemy." + +The Indian hesitated, uttering merely his quick ejaculatory +"Ugh!" in expression of his surprise at so unexpected a +requisition. "The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa, +is very sick," he at length said; "but if the Great Spirit +should give him back his voice before the chiefs come +again to the council, the pale face will come too. If my +father does not see him then, he will know the friend of +the Ottawa chief is very sick." + +The governor deemed it prudent not to press the question +too closely, lest in so doing he should excite suspicion, +and defeat his own object. "When will the Ottawa and the +other chiefs come again?" he asked; "and when will their +warriors play at ball upon the common, that the Saganaw +may see them and be amused?" + +"When the sun has travelled so many times," replied +Ponteac, holding up three fingers of his left hand. "Then +will the Ottawa and the other chiefs bring their young +warriors and their women." + +"It is too soon," was the reply;. "the Saganaw must have +time to collect their presents, that they may give them +to the young warriors who are swiftest in the race, and +the most active at the ball. The great chief of the +Ottawas, too, must let the settlers of the pale flag, +who are the friends of the red skins, bring in food for +the Saganaw, that a great feast may be given to the +chiefs, and to the warriors, and that the Saganaw may +make peace with the Ottawas and the other nations as +becomes a great people. In twice so many days," holding +up three of his fingers in imitation of the Indian, "the +Saganaw will be ready to receive the chiefs in council, +that they may smoke the pipe of peace, and bury the +hatchet for ever. What says the great chief of the +Ottawas?" + +"It is good," was the reply of the Indian, his eye lighting +up with deep and exulting expression. "The settlers of +the pale flag shall bring food to the Saganaw. The Ottawa +chief will send them, and he will desire his young men +not to prevent them. In so many days, then," indicating +with his fingers, "the great chiefs will sit again in +council with the Saganaw, and the Ottawa chief will not +be a fool to bring the pipe he does not want." + +With this assurance the conference terminated. Ponteac +raised his tall frame from the mat on which he had been +squatted, nodded condescendingly to the governor, and +strode haughtily into the square or area of the fort. +The other chiefs followed his example; and to Major +Blackwater was again assigned the duty of accompanying +them without the works. The glance of the savages, and +that of Ponteac in particular, was less wary than at +their entrance. Each seemed to embrace every object on +which the eye could rest, as if to fix its position +indelibly in his memory. The young chief, who had been +so suddenly and opportunely checked while in the very +act of pealing forth his terrible war whoop, again looked +up at the windows of the block house, in quest of those +whom his savage instinct had already devoted in intention +to his tomahawk, but they were no longer there. Such was +the silence that reigned every where, the fort appeared +to be tenanted only by the few men of the guard, who +lingered near their stations, attentively watching the +Indians, as they passed towards the gate. A very few +minutes sufficed to bring the latter once more in the +midst of their warriors, whom, for a few moments, they +harangued earnestly, when the whole body again moved off +in the direction of their encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The week that intervened between the visit of the chiefs +and the day appointed for their second meeting in council, +was passed by the garrison in perfect freedom from alarm, +although, as usual, in diligent watchfulness and +preparations for casualties. In conformity with his +promise, the Indian had despatched many of the Canadian +settlers, with such provisions as the country then +afforded, to the governor, and these, happy to obtain +the gold of the troops in return for what they could +conveniently spare, were not slow in availing themselves +of the permission. Dried bears' meat, venison, and Indian +corn, composed the substance of these supplies, which +were in sufficient abundance to produce a six weeks' +increase to the stock of the garrison. Hitherto they had +been subsisting, in a great degree, upon salt provisions; +the food furtively supplied by the Canadians being +necessarily, from their dread of detection, on so limited +a scale, that a very small portion of the troops had been +enabled to profit by it. This, therefore, was an important +and unexpected benefit, derived from the falling in of +the garrison with the professed views of the savages; +and one which, perhaps, few officers would, like Colonel +de Haldimar, have possessed the forethought to have +secured. But although it served to relieve the animal +wants of the man, there was little to remove his moral +inquietude. Discouraged by the sanguinary character of +the warfare in which they seemed doomed to be for ever +engaged, and harassed by constant watchings,--seldom +taking off their clothes for weeks together,--the men +had gradually been losing their energy of spirit, in the +contemplation of the almost irremediable evils by which +they were beset; and looked forward with sad and +disheartening conviction to a fate, that all things tended +to prove to them was unavoidable, however the period of +its consummation might be protracted. Among the officers, +this dejection, although proceeding from a different +cause, was no less prevalent; and notwithstanding they +sought to disguise it before their men, when left to +themselves, they gave unlimited rein to a despondency +hourly acquiring strength, as the day fixed on for the +second council with the Indians drew near. + +At length it came, that terrible and eventful day, and, +as if in mockery of those who saw no beauty in its golden +beams, arrayed in all the gorgeous softness of its autumnal +glory. Sad and heavy were the hearts of many within that +far distant and isolated fort, as they rose, at the first +glimmering of light above the horizon, to prepare for +the several duties assigned them. All felt the influence +of a feeling that laid prostrate the moral energies even +of the boldest: but there was one young officer in +particular, who exhibited a dejection, degenerating almost +into stupefaction; and more than once, when he received +an order from his superior, hesitated as one who either +heard not, or, in attempting to perform it, mistook the +purport of his instructions, and executed some entirely +different duty. The countenance of this officer, whose +attenuated person otherwise bore traces of languor and +debility, but too plainly marked the abstractedness and +terror of his mind, while the set stiff features and +contracted muscles of the face contributed to give an +expression of vacuity, that one who knew him not might +have interpreted unfavourably. Several times, during the +inspection of his company at the early parade, he was +seen to raise his head, and throw forward his ear, as if +expecting to catch the echo of some horrible and appalling +cry, until the men themselves remarked, and commented, +by interchange of looks, on the singular conduct of their +officer, whose thoughts had evidently no connection with +the duty he was performing, or the spot on which he stood. + +When this customary inspection had been accomplished,--how +imperfectly, has been seen,--and the men dismissed from +their ranks, the same young officer was observed, by one +who followed his every movement with interest, to ascend +that part of the rampart which commanded an unbroken view +of the country westward, from the point where the encampment +of the Indians was supposed to lie, down to the bridge +on which the terrible tragedy of Halloway's death had +been so recently enacted. Unconscious of the presence of +two sentinels, who moved to and fro near their respective +posts, on either side of him, the young officer folded +his arms, and gazed in that direction for some minutes, +with his whole soul riveted on the scene. Then, as if +overcome by recollections called up by that on which he +gazed, he covered his eyes hurriedly with his hands, and +betrayed, by the convulsed movement of his slender form, +he was weeping bitterly. This paroxysm past, he uncovered +his face, sank with one knee upon the ground, and upraising +his clasped hands, as if in appeal to his God, seemed to +pray deeply and fervently. In this attitude he continued +for some moments, when he became sensible of the approach +of an intruder. He raised himself from his knee, turned, +and beheld one whose countenance was stamped with a +dejection scarcely inferior to his own. It was Captain +Blessington. + +"Charles, my dear Charles!" exclaimed the latter hurriedly, +as he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the emaciated +De Haldimar, "consider you are not alone. For God's sake, +check this weakness! There are men observing you on every +side, and your strange manner has already been the subject +of remark in the company." + +"When the heart is sick, like mine," replied the youth, +in a tone of fearful despondency, "it is alike reckless +of forms, and careless of appearances. I trust, however," +and here spoke the soldier, "there are few within this +fort who will believe me less courageous, because I have +been seen to bend my knee in supplication to my God. I +did not think that YOU, Blessington, would have been the +first to condemn the act." + +"I condemn it, Charles! you mistake me, indeed you do," +feelingly returned his captain, secretly pained at the +mild reproach contained in the concluding sentence; "but +there are two things to be considered. In the first +instance, the men, who are yet in ignorance of the great +evils with which we are threatened, may mistake the cause +of your agitation; you were in tears just now, Charles, +and the sentinels must have remarked it as well as myself. +I would not have them to believe that one of their officers +was affected by the anticipation of coming disaster, in +a way their own hearts are incapable of estimating. You +understand me, Charles? I would not have them too much +discouraged by an example that may become infectious." + +"I DO understand you, Blessington," and a forced and +sickly smile played for a moment over the wan yet handsome +features of the young officer; "you would not have me +appear a weeping coward in their eyes." + +"Nay, dear Charles, I did not say it." + +"But you meant it, Blessington; yet, think not,"--and he +warmly pressed the hand of his captain,--"think not, I +repeat, I take your hint in any other than the friendly +light in which it was intended. That I have been no +coward, however, I hope I have given proof more than once +before the men, most of whom have known me from my very +cradle; yet, whatever they may think, is to me, at this +moment, a matter of utter indifference. Blessington," +and again the tears rolled from his fixed eyes over his +cheek, while he pointed with his finger to the western +horizon, "I have neither thought nor feeling for myself; +my whole heart lies buried there. Oh, God of Heaven!" he +pursued after a pause, and again raising his eyes in +supplication, "avert the dreadful destiny that awaits my +beloved sister." + +"Charles, Charles, if only for that sister's sake, then, +calm an agitation which, if thus indulged in, will +assuredly destroy you. All will yet be well. The delay +obtained by your father has been sufficient for the +purpose proposed. Let us hope for the best: if we are +deceived in our expectation, it will then be time enough +to indulge in a grief, which could scarcely be exceeded, +were the fearful misgivings of your mind to be realised +before your eyes." + +"Blessington," returned the young officer,--and his +features exhibited the liveliest image of despair,--"all +hope has long since been extinct within my breast. See +you yon theatre of death?" he mournfully pursued, pointing +to the fatal bridge, which was thrown into full relief +against the placid bosom of the Detroit: "recollect you +the scene that was acted on it? As for me, it is ever +present to my mind,--it haunts me in my thoughts by day, +and in my dreams by night. I shall never forget it while +memory is left to curse me with the power of retrospection. +On the very spot on which I now stand was I borne in a +chair, to witness the dreadful punishment; you see the +stone at my feet, I marked it by that. I saw you conduct +Halloway to the centre of the bridge; I beheld him kneel +to receive his death; I saw, too, the terrible race for +life, that interrupted the proceedings; I marked the +sudden upspring of Halloway to his feet upon the coffin, +and the exulting waving of his hand, as he seemed to +recognise the rivals for mastery in that race. Then was +heard the fatal volley, and I saw the death-struggle of +him who had saved my brother's life. I could have died, +too, at that moment; and would to Providence I had! but +it was otherwise decreed. My aching interest was, for a +moment, diverted by the fearful chase now renewed upon +the height; and, in common with those around me, I watched +the efforts of the pursuer and the pursued with painful +earnestness and doubt as to the final result. Ah, +Blessington, why was not this all? The terrible shriek, +uttered at the moment when the fugitive fell, apparently +dead, at the feet of the firing party, reached us even +here. I felt as if my heart must have burst, for I knew +it to be the shriek of poor Ellen Halloway,--the suffering +wife,--the broken-hearted woman who had so recently, in +all the wild abandonment of her grief, wetted my pillow, +and even my cheek, with her burning tears, while +supplicating an intercession with my father for mercy, +which I knew it would be utterly fruitless to promise. +Oh, Blessington," pursued the sensitive and affectionate +young officer, "I should vainly attempt to paint all that +passed in my mind at that dreadful moment. Nothing but +the depth of my despair gave me strength to support the +scene throughout. I saw the frantic and half-naked woman +glide like a phantom past the troops, dividing the air +with the rapidity of thought. I knew it to be Ellen; for +the discovery of her exchange of clothes with one of the +drum boys of the grenadiers was made soon after you left +the fort. I saw her leap upon the coffin, and, standing +over the body of her unhappy husband, raise her hands to +heaven in adjuration, and my heart died within me. I +recollected the words she had spoken on a previous +occasion, during the first examination of Halloway, and +I felt it to be the prophetic denunciation, then threatened, +that she was now uttering on all the race of De Haldimar. +I saw no more, Blessington. Sick, dizzy, and with every +faculty of my mind annihilated, I turned away from the +horrid scene, and was again borne to my room. I tried to +give vent to my overcharged heart in tears; but the power +was denied me, and I sank at once into that stupefaction +which you have since remarked in me, and which has been +increasing every hour. What additional cause I have had +for the indulgence of this confirmed despondency you are +well acquainted with. It is childish, it is unsoldierlike, +I admit: but, alas! that dreadful scene is eternally +before my eyes, and absorbs my mind, to the exclusion of +every other feeling. I have not a thought or a care but +for the fate that too certainly awaits those who are most +dear to me; and if this be a weakness, it is one I shall +never have the power to shake off. In a word, Blessington, +I am heart-broken." + +Captain Blessington was deeply affected; for there was +a solemnity in the voice and manner of the young officer +that carried conviction to the heart; and it was some +moments before he could so far recover himself as to +observe,-- + +"That scene, Charles, was doubtless a heart-rending one +to us all; for I well recollect, on turning to remark +the impression made on my men when the wretched Ellen +Halloway pronounced her appalling curse to have seen the +large tears coursing each other over the furrowed cheeks +of some of our oldest soldiers: and if THEY could feel +thus, how much more acute must have been the grief of +those immediately interested in its application!" + +"THEIR tears were not for the denounced race of De +Haldimar," returned the youth,--"they were shed for +their unhappy comrade--they were wrung from their stubborn +hearts by the agonising grief of the wife of Halloway." + +"That this was the case in part, I admit," returned +Captain Blessington. "The feelings of the men partook of +a mixed character. It was evident that grief for Halloway, +compassion for his wife, secret indignation and, it may +be, disgust at the severity of your father, and sorrow +for his innocent family, who were included in that +denunciation, predominated with equal force in their +hearts at the same moment. There was an expression that +told how little they would have pitied any anguish of +mind inflicted on their colonel, provided his children, +whom they loved, were not to be sacrificed to its +accomplishment." + +"You admit, then, Blessington, although indirectly," +replied the young De Haldimar in a voice of touching +sorrow, "that the consummation of the sacrifice IS to be +looked for. Alas! it is that on which my mind perpetually +lingers; yet, Heaven knows, my fears are not for myself." + +"You mistake me, dearest Charles. I look upon the +observations of the unhappy woman as the ravings of a +distracted mind--the last wild outpourings of a broken +heart, turning with animal instinct on the hand that has +inflicted its death-blow." + +"Ah, why did she except no one member of that family!" +said the unhappy De Haldimar, pursuing rather the chain +of his reflections than replying to the observation of +his captain. "Had the weight of her malediction fallen +on all else than my adored sister, I could have borne +the infliction, and awaited the issue with resignation, +if not without apprehension. But my poor gentle and +unoffending Clara,--alike innocent of the cause, and +ignorant of the effect,--what had she done to be included +in this terrible curse?--she, who, in the warm and generous +affection of her nature, had ever treated Ellen Halloway +rather as a sister than as the dependant she always +appeared." Again he covered his eyes with his hands, to +conceal the starting tears. + +"De Haldimar," said Captain Blessington reprovingly, but +mildly, "this immoderate grief is wrong--it is unmanly, +and should be repressed. I can feel and understand the +nature of your sorrow; but others may not judge so +favourably. We shall soon be summoned to fall in; and I +would not that Mr. Delme, in particular, should notice +an emotion he is so incapable of understanding." + +The hand of the young officer dropped from his face to +the hilt of his sword. His cheek became scarlet; and even +through the tears which he half choked himself to command, +there was an unwonted flashing from his blue eye, that +told how deeply the insinuation had entered into his +heart. + +"Think you, Captain Blessington," he proudly retorted, +"there is an officer in the fort who should dare to taunt +me with my feelings as you have done? I came here, sir, +in the expectation I should be alone. At a fitting hour +I shall be found where Captain Blessington's subaltern +should be--with his company." + +"De Haldimar--dear De Haldimar, forgive me!" returned +his captain. "Heaven knows I would not, on any +consideration, wantonly inflict pain on your sensitive +heart. My design was to draw you out of this desponding +humour; and with this view I sought to arouse your pride, +but certainly not to wound your feelings. De Haldimar," +he concluded, with marked expression, "you must not, +indeed, feel offended with one who has known and esteemed +you from very boyhood. Friendship and interest in your +deep affliction of spirit alone brought me here--the same +feelings prompted my remark. Do you not believe me?" + +"I do," impressively returned the young man, grasping +the hand that was extended to him in amity. "It is I, +rather, Blessington, who should ask you to forgive my +petulance; but, indeed, indeed," and again his tone +faltered, and his eye was dimmed, "I am more wretched +even than I am willing to confess. Pardon my silly +conduct--it was but the vain and momentary flashing of +the soldier's spirit impatient of an assumed imputation, +and the man less than the profession is to be taxed with +it. But it is past; and already do you behold me once +more the tame and apprehensive being I must ever continue +until all is over." + +"What can I possibly urge to console one who seems so +willing to nurse into conviction all the melancholy +imaginings of a diseased mind," observed Captain +Blessington, in a voice that told how deeply he felt for +the situation of his young friend. "Recollect, dearest +Charles, the time that has been afforded to our friends. +More than a week has gone by since they left the fort, +and a less period was deemed sufficient for their purpose. +Before this they must have gained their destination. In +fact, it is my positive belief they have; for there could +be nothing to detect them in their disguise. Had I the +famous lamp of Aladdin," he pursued, in a livelier tone, +"over the history of which Clara and yourself used to +spend so many hours in childhood, I have no doubt I could +show them to you quietly seated within the fort, recounting +their adventures to Clara and her cousin, and discoursing +of their absent friends." + +"Would I to Heaven you had the power to do so!" replied +De Haldimar, smiling faintly at the conceit, while a ray +of hope beamed for a moment upon his sick soul; "for +then, indeed, would all my fears for the present be at +rest. But you forget, Blessington, the encounter stated +to have taken place between them and that terrible stranger +near the bridge. Besides, is it not highly probable the +object of their expedition was divined by that singular +and mysterious being, and that means have been taken to +intercept their passage? If so, all hope is at an end." + +"Why persevere in viewing only the more sombre side of +the picture?" returned his friend. "In your anxiety to +anticipate evil, Charles, you have overlooked one important +fact. Ponteac distinctly stated that his ruffian friend +was still lying deprived of consciousness and speech +within his tent, and yet two days had elapsed since the +encounter was said to have taken place. Surely we have +every reason then to infer they were beyond all reach of +pursuit, even admitting, what is by no means probable +the recovery of the wretch immediately after the return +of the chiefs from the council." + +A gleam of satisfaction, but so transient as to be scarcely +noticeable, passed over the pale features of the youthful +De Haldimar. He looked his thanks to the kind officer +who was thus solicitous to tender him consolation; and +was about to reply, when the attention of both was diverted +by the report of a musket from the rear of the fort. +Presently afterwards, the word was passed along the chain +of sentinels, upon the ramparts, that the Indians were +issuing in force from the forest upon the common near +the bomb-proof. Then was heard, as the sentinel at the +gate delivered the password, the heavy roll of the drum +summoning to arms. + +"Ha! here already!" said Captain Blessington, as, glancing +towards the forest, he beheld the skirt of the wood now +alive with dusky human forms: "Ponteac's visit is earlier +than we had been taught to expect; but we are as well +prepared to receive him now, as later; and, in fact, the +sooner the interview is terminated, the sooner we shall +know what we have to depend upon. Come, Charles, we must +join the company, and let me entreat you to evince less +despondency before the men. It is hard, I know, to +sustain an artificial character under such disheartening +circumstances; still, for example's sake, it must be +done." + +"What I can I will do, Blessington," rejoined the youth, +as they both moved from the ramparts; "but the task is, +in truth, one to which I find myself wholly unequal. How +do I know that, even at this moment, my defenceless, +terrified, and innocent sister may not be invoking the +name and arm of her brother to save her from destruction." + +"Trust in Providence, Charles. Even although our worst +apprehensions be realised, as I fervently trust they will +not, your sister may be spared. The Canadian could not +have been unfaithful, or we should have learnt something +of his treachery from the Indians. Another week will +confirm us in the truth or fallacy of our impressions. +Until then, let us arm our hearts with hope. Trust me, +we shall yet see the laughing eyes of Clara fill with +tears of affection, as I recount to her all her too +sensitive and too desponding brother has suffered for +her sake." + +De Haldimar made no reply. He deeply felt the kind +intention of his captain, but was far from cherishing +the hope that had been recommended. He sighed heavily, +pressed the arm, on which he leaned, in gratitude for +the motive, and moved silently with his friend to join +their company below the rampart. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Meanwhile the white flag had again been raised by the +Indians upon the bomb-proof; and this having been readily +met by a corresponding signal from the fort, a numerous +band of savages now issued from the cover with which +their dark forms had hitherto been identified, and spread +themselves far and near upon the common. On this occasion +they were without arms, offensive or defensive, of any +kind, if we may except the knife which was always carried +at the girdle, and which constituted a part rather of +their necessary dress than of their warlike equipment. +These warriors might have been about five hundred in +number, and were composed chiefly of picked men from the +nations of the Ottawas, the Delawares, and the Shawanees; +each race being distinctly recognisable from the others +by certain peculiarities of form and feature which +individualised, if we may so term it, the several tribes. +Their only covering was the legging before described, +composed in some instances of cloth, but principally of +smoked deerskin, and the flap that passed through the +girdle around the loins, by which the straps attached to +the leggings were secured. Their bodies, necks, and arms +were, with the exception of a few slight ornaments, +entirely naked; and even the blanket, that served them +as a couch by night and a covering by day, had, with one +single exception, been dispensed with, apparently with +a view to avoid any thing like encumbrance in their +approaching sport. Each individual was provided with a +stout sapling of about three feet in length, curved, and +flattened at the root extremity, like that used at the +Irish hurdle; which game, in fact, the manner of +ball-playing among the Indians in every way resembled. + +Interspersed among these warriors were a nearly equal +number of squaws. These were to be seen lounging carelessly +about in small groups, and were of all ages; from the +hoary-headed, shrivelled-up hag, whose eyes still sparkled +with a fire that her lank and attenuated frame denied, +to the young girl of twelve, whose dark and glowing cheek, +rounded bust, and penetrating glance, bore striking +evidence of the precociousness of Indian beauty. These +latter looked with evident interest on the sports of the +younger warriors, who, throwing down their hurdles, either +vied with each other in the short but incredibly swift +foot-race, or indulged themselves in wrestling and leaping; +while their companions, abandoned to the full security +they felt to be attached to the white flag waving on the +fort, lay at their lazy length upon the sward, ostensibly +following the movements of the several competitors in +these sports, but in reality with heart and eye directed +solely to the fortification that lay beyond. Each of +these females, in addition to the machecoti, or petticoat, +which in one solid square of broad-cloth was tightly +wrapped around the loins, also carried a blanket loosely +thrown around the person, but closely confined over the +shoulders in front, and reaching below the knee. There +was an air of constraint in their movements, which accorded +ill with the occasion of festivity for which they were +assembled; and it was remarkable, whether it arose from +deference to those to whom they were slaves, as well as +wives and daughters, or from whatever other cause it +might be, none of them ventured to recline themselves +upon the sward in imitation of the warriors. + +When it had been made known to the governor that the +Indians had begun to develop themselves in force upon +the common unarmed, yet redolent with the spirit that +was to direct their meditated sports, the soldiers were +dismissed from their respective companies to the ramparts; +where they were now to be seen, not drawn up in formidable +and hostile array, but collected together in careless +groups, and simply in their side-arms. This reciprocation +of confidence on the part of the garrison was acknowledged +by the Indians by marks of approbation, expressed as much +by the sudden and classic disposition of their fine forms +into attitudes strikingly illustrative of their admiration +and pleasure, as by the interjectional sounds that passed +from one to the other of the throng. From the increased +alacrity with which they now lent themselves to the +preparatory and inferior amusements of the day, it was +evident their satisfaction was complete. + +Hitherto the principal chiefs had, as on the previous +occasion, occupied the bomb-proof; and now, as then, they +appeared to be deliberating among themselves, but evidently +in a more energetic and serious manner. At length they +separated, when Ponteac, accompanied by the chiefs who +had attended him on the former day, once more led in the +direction of the fort. The moment of his advance was the +signal for the commencement of the principal game. In an +instant those of the warriors who lay reclining on the +sward sprang to their feet, while the wrestlers and racers +resumed their hurdles, and prepared themselves for the +trial of mingled skill and swiftness. At first they formed +a dense group in the centre of the common; and then, +diverging in two equal files both to the right and to +the left of the immediate centre, where the large ball +was placed, formed an open chain, extending from the +skirt of the forest to the commencement of the village. +On the one side were ranged the Delawares and the Shawanees, +and on the other the more numerous nation of the Ottawas. +The women of these several tribes, apparently much +interested in the issue of an amusement in which the +manliness and activity of their respective friends were +staked, had gradually and imperceptibly gained the front +of the fort, where they were now huddled in groups at +about twenty paces from the drawbridge, and bending +eagerly forward to command the movements of the +ball-players. + +In his circuit round the walls, Ponteac was seen to remark +the confiding appearance of the unarmed soldiery with a +satisfaction that was not sought to be disguised; and +from the manner in which he threw his glance along each +face of the rampart, it was evident his object was to +embrace the numerical strength collected there. It was +moreover observed, when he passed the groups of squaws +on his way to the gate, he addressed some words in a +strange tongue to the elder matrons of each. + +Once more the dark warriors were received at the gate by +Major Blackwater; and, as with firm but elastic tread, +they moved across the square, each threw his fierce eyes +rapidly and anxiously around, and with less of concealment +in his manner than had been manifested on the former +occasion. On every hand the same air of nakedness and +desertion met their gaze. Not even a soldier of the +guard was to be seen; and when they cast their eyes +upwards to the windows of the blockhouses, they were +found to be tenantless as the area through which they +passed. A gleam of fierce satisfaction pervaded the +swarthy countenances of the Indians; and the features of +Ponteac, in particular, expressed the deepest exultation. +Instead of leading his party, he now brought up the rear; +and when arrived in the centre of the fort, he, without +any visible cause for the accident, stumbled, and fell +to the earth. The other chiefs for a moment lost sight +of their ordinary gravity, and marked their sense of the +circumstance by a prolonged sound, partaking of the +mingled character of a laugh and a yell. Startled at +the cry, Major Blackwater, who was in front, turned to +ascertain the cause. At that moment Ponteac sprang lightly +again to his feet, responding to the yell of his +confederates by another even more startling, fierce, and +prolonged than their own. He then stalked proudly to the +head of the party, and even preceded Major Blackwater +into the council room. + +In this rude theatre of conference some changes had been +made since their recent visit, which escaped not the +observation of the quick-sighted chiefs. Their mats lay +in the position they had previously occupied, and the +chairs of the officers were placed as before, but the +room itself had been considerably enlarged. The slight +partition terminating the interior extremity of the +mess-room, and dividing it from that of one of the +officers, had been removed; and midway through this, +extending entirely across, was drawn a curtain of scarlet +cloth, against which the imposing figure of the governor, +elevated as his seat was above those of the other officers, +was thrown into strong relief. There was another change, +that escaped not the observation of the Indians, and that +was, not more than one half of the officers who had been +present at the first conference being now in the room. +Of these latter, one had, moreover, been sent away by +the governor the moment the chiefs were ushered in. + +"Ugh!" ejaculated the proud leader, as he took his seat +unceremoniously, and yet not without reluctance, upon +the mat. "The council-room of my father is bigger than +when the Ottawa was here before, yet the number of his +chiefs is not so many." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the Saganaw +has promised the red skins a feast," returned the governor. +"Were he to leave it to his young warriors to provide +it, he would not be able to receive the Ottawa like a +great chief, and to make peace with him as he could wish." + +"My father has a great deal of cloth, red, like the blood +of a pale face," pursued the Indian, rather in demand +than in observation, as he pointed with his finger to +the opposite end of the room. "When the Ottawa was here +last, he did not see it." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas knows that the great +father of the Saganaw has a big heart to make presents +to the red skins. The cloth the Ottawa sees there is +sufficient to make leggings for the chiefs of all the +nations." + +Apparently satisfied with this reply, the fierce Indian +uttered one of his strong guttural and assentient "ughs," +and then commenced filling the pipe of peace, correct on +the present occasion in all its ornaments, which was +handed to him by the Delaware chief. It was remarked by +the officers this operation took up an unusually long +portion of his time, and that he frequently turned his +ear, like a horse stirred by the huntsman's horn, with +quick and irrepressible eagerness towards the door. + +"The pale warrior, the friend of the Ottawa chief, is +not here," said the governor, as he glanced his eye along +the semicircle of Indians. "How is this? Is his voice +still sick, that he cannot come; or has the great chief +of the Ottawas forgotten to tell him?" + +"The voice of the pale warrior is still sick, and he +cannot speak," replied the Indian. "The Ottawa chief is +very sorry; for the tongue of his friend the pale face +is full of wisdom." + +Scarcely had the last words escaped his lips, when a wild +shrill cry from without the fort rang on the ears of the +assembled council, and caused a momentary commotion among +the officers. It arose from a single voice, and that +voice could not be mistaken by any who had heard it once +before. A second or two, during which the officers and +chiefs kept their eyes intently fixed on each other, +passed anxiously away, and then nearer to the gate, +apparently on the very drawbridge itself, was pealed +forth the wild and deafening yell of a legion of devilish +voices. At that sound, the Ottawa and the other chiefs +sprang to their feet, and their own fierce cry responded +to that yet vibrating on the ears of all. Already were +their gleaming tomahawks brandished wildly over their +heads, and Ponteac had even bounded a pace forward to +reach the governor with the deadly weapon, when, at the +sudden stamping of the foot of the latter upon the floor, +the scarlet cloth in the rear was thrown aside, and twenty +soldiers, their eyes glancing along the barrels of their +levelled muskets, met the startled gaze of the astonished +Indians. + +An instant was enough to satisfy the keen chief of the +true state of the case. The calm composed mien of the +officers, not one of whom had even attempted to quit his +seat, amid the din by which his ears were so alarmingly +assailed,--the triumphant, yet dignified, and even severe +expression of the governor's countenance; and, above all, +the unexpected presence of the prepared soldiery,--all +these at once assured him of the discovery of his treachery, +and the danger that awaited him. The necessity for an +immediate attempt to join his warriors without, was now +obvious to the Ottawa; and scarcely had he conceived the +idea before it was sought to be executed. In a single +spring he gained the door of the mess-room, and, followed +eagerly and tumultuously by the other chiefs, to whose +departure no opposition was offered, in the next moment +stood on the steps of the piazza that ran along the front +of the building whence he had issued. + +The surprise of the Indians on reaching this point, was +now too powerful to be dissembled; and, incapable either +of advancing or receding, they remained gazing on the +scene before them with an air of mingled stupefaction, +rage, and alarm. Scarcely ten minutes had elapsed since +they had proudly strode through the naked area of the +fort; and yet, even in that short space of time, its +appearance had been entirely changed. Not a part was +there now of the surrounding buildings that was not +redolent with human life, and hostile preparation. Through +every window of the officers' low rooms, was to be seen +the dark and frowning muzzle of a field-piece, bearing +upon the gateway; and behind these were artillerymen, +holding their lighted matches, supported again by files +of bayonets, that glittered in their rear. In the +block-houses the same formidable array of field-pieces +and muskets was visible; while from the four angles of +the square, as many heavy guns, that had been artfully +masked at the entrance of the chiefs, seemed ready to +sweep away every thing that should come before them. The +guard-room near the gate presented the same hostile front. +The doors of this, as well as of the other buildings, +had been firmly secured within; but from every window +affording cover to the troops, gleamed a line of bayonets +rising above the threatening field-pieces, pointed, at +a distance of little more than twelve feet, directly upon +the gateway. In addition to his musket, each man of the +guard moreover held a hand grenade, provided with a short +fuze that could be ignited in a moment from the matches +of the gunners, and with immediate effect. The soldiers +in the block-houses were similarly provided. + +Almost magic as was the change thus suddenly effected in +the appearance of the garrison, it was not the most +interesting feature in the exciting scene. Choking up +the gateway, in which they were completely wedged, and +crowding the drawbridge, a dense mass of dusky Indians +were to be seen casting their fierce glances around; yet +paralysed in their movements by the unlooked-for display +of a resisting force, threatening instant annihilation +to those who should attempt either to advance or to +recede. Never, perhaps, were astonishment and disappointment +more forcibly depicted on the human countenance, than as +they were now exhibited by these men, who had already, +in imagination, secured to themselves an easy conquest. +They were the warriors who had so recently been engaged +in the manly yet innocent exercise of the ball; but, +instead of the harmless hurdle, each now carried a short +gun in one hand and a gleaming tomahawk in the other. +After the first general yelling heard in the council-room, +not a sound was uttered. Their burst of rage and triumph +had evidently been checked by the unexpected manner of +their reception, and they now stood on the spot on which +the further advance of each had been arrested, so silent +and motionless, that, but for the rolling of their dark +eyes, as they keenly measured the insurmountable barriers +that were opposed to their progress, they might almost +have been taken for a wild group of statuary. + +Conspicuous at the head of these was he who wore the +blanket; a tall warrior, on whom rested the startled eye +of every officer and soldier who was so situated as to +behold him. His face was painted black as death; and as +he stood under the arch of the gateway, with his white +turbaned head towering far above those of his companions, +this formidable and mysterious enemy might have been +likened to the spirit of darkness presiding over his +terrible legions. + +In order to account for the extraordinary appearance of +the Indians, armed in every way for death, at a moment +when neither gun nor tomahawk was apparently within miles +of their reach, it will be necessary to revert to the +first entrance of the chiefs into the fort. The fall of +Ponteac had been the effect of design; and the yell pealed +forth by him, on recovering his feet, as if in taunting +reply to the laugh of his comrades, was in reality a +signal intended for the guidance of the Indians without. +These, now following up their game with increasing spirit, +at once changed the direction of their line, bringing +the ball nearer to the fort. In their eagerness to effect +this object, they had overlooked the gradual secession +of the unarmed troops, spectators of their sport from +the ramparts, until scarcely more than twenty stragglers +were left. As they neared the gate, the squaws broke up +their several groups, and, forming a line on either hand +of the road leading to the drawbridge, appeared to separate +solely with a view not to impede the action of the players. +For an instant a dense group collected around the ball, +which had been driven to within a hundred yards of the +gate, and fifty hurdles were crossed in their endeavours +to secure it, when the warrior, who formed the solitary +exception to the multitude, in his blanket covering, and +who had been lingering in the extreme rear of the party, +came rapidly up to the spot where the well-affected +struggle was maintained. At his approach, the hurdles of +the other players were withdrawn, when, at a single blow +from his powerful arm, the ball was seen flying into the +air in an oblique direction, and was for a moment lost +altogether to the view. When it again met the eye, it +was descending perpendicularly into the very centre of +the fort. + +With the fleetness of thought now commenced a race that +had ostensibly for its object the recovery of the lost +ball; and in which, he who had driven it with such +resistless force outstripped them all. Their course lay +between the two lines of squaws; and scarcely had the +head of the bounding Indians reached the opposite extremity +of those lines, when the women suddenly threw back their +blankets, and disclosed each a short gun and a tomahawk. +To throw away their hurdles and seize upon these, was +the work of an instant. Already, in imagination, was the +fort their own; and, such was the peculiar exultation of +the black and turbaned warrior, when he felt the planks +of the drawbridge bending beneath his feet, all the +ferocious joy of his soul was pealed forth in the terrible +cry which, rapidly succeeded by that of the other Indians, +had resounded so fearfully through the council-room. What +their disappointment was, when, on gaining the interior, +they found the garrison prepared for their reception, +has already been shown. + +"Secure that traitor, men!" exclaimed the governor, +advancing into the square, and pointing to the black +warrior, whose quick eye was now glancing on every side, +to discover some assailable point in the formidable +defences of the troops. + +A laugh of scorn and derision escaped the lips of the +warrior. "Is there a man--are there any ten men, even +with Governor de Haldimar at their head, who will be bold +enough to attempt it?" he asked. "Nay!" he pursued, +stepping boldly a pace or two in front of the wondering +savages,--"here I stand singly, and defy your whole +garrison!" + +A sudden movement among the soldiers in the guard-room +announced they were preparing to execute the order of +their chief. The eye of the black warrior sparkled with +ferocious pleasure; and he made a gesture to his followers, +which was replied to by the sudden tension of their +hitherto relaxed forms into attitudes of expectance and +preparation. + +"Stay, men; quit not your cover for your lives!" commanded +the governor, in a loud deep voice:--"keep the barricades +fast, and move not." + +A cloud of anger and disappointment passed over the +features of the black warrior. It was evident the object +of his bravado was to draw the troops from their defences, +that they might be so mingled with their enemies as to +render the cannon useless, unless friends and foes (which +was by no means probable) should alike be sacrificed. +The governor had penetrated the design in time to prevent +the mischief. + +In a moment of uncontrollable rage, the savage warrior +aimed his tomahawk at the head of the governor. The latter +stepped lightly aside, and the steel sank with such force +into one of the posts supporting the piazza, that the +quivering handle snapped close off at its head. At that +moment, a single shot, fired from the guard-house, was +drowned in the yell of approbation which burst from the +lips of the dark crowd. The turban of the warrior was, +however, seen flying through the air, carried away by +the force of the bullet which had torn it from his head. +He himself was unharmed. + +"A narrow escape for us both, Colonel de Haldimar," he +observed, as soon as the yell had subsided, and with an +air of the most perfect unconcern. "Had my tomahawk obeyed +the first impulse of my heart, I should have cursed myself +and died: as it is, I have reason to avoid all useless +exposure of my own life, at present. A second bullet may +be better directed; and to die, robbed of my revenge, +would ill answer the purpose of a life devoted to its +attainment. Remember my pledge!" + +At the hasty command of the governor, a hundred muskets +were raised to the shoulders of his men; but, before a +single eye could glance along the barrel, the formidable +and active warrior had bounded over the heads of the +nearest Indians into a small space that was left unoccupied; +when, stooping suddenly to the earth, he disappeared +altogether from the view of his enemies. A slight movement +in the centre of the numerous band crowding the gateway, +and extending even beyond the bridge, was now discernible: +it was like the waving of a field of standing corn, +through which some animal rapidly winds its tortuous +course, bending aside as the object advances, and closing +again when it has passed. After the lapse of a minute, +the terrible warrior was seen to spring again to his +feet, far in the rear of the band; and then, uttering a +fierce shout of exultation, to make good his retreat +towards the forest. + +Meanwhile, Ponteac and the other chiefs of the council +continued rooted to the piazza on which they had rushed +at the unexpected display of the armed men behind the +scarlet curtain. The loud "Waugh" that burst from the +lips of all, on finding themselves thus foiled in their +schemes of massacre, had been succeeded, the instant +afterwards, by feelings of personal apprehension, which +each, however, had collectedness enough to disguise. Once +the Ottawa made a movement as if he would have cleared +the space that kept him from his warriors; but the +emphatical pointing of the finger of Colonel de Haldimar +to the levelled muskets of the men in the block-houses +prevented him, and the attempt was not repeated. It was +remarked by the officers, who also stood on the piazza, +close behind the chiefs, when the black warrior threw +his tomahawk at the governor, a shade of displeasure +passed over the features of the Ottawa; and that, when +he found the daring attempt was not retaliated on his +people, his countenance had been momentarily lighted up +with a satisfied expression, apparently marking his sense +of the forbearance so unexpectedly shown. + +"What says the great chief of the Ottawas now?" asked +the governor calmly, and breaking a profound silence that +had succeeded to the last fierce yell of the formidable +being just departed. "Was the Saganaw not right, when he +said the Ottawa came with guile in his heart, and with +a lie upon his lips? But the Saganaw is not a fool, and +he can read the thoughts of his enemies upon their faces, +and long before their lips have spoken." + +"Ugh!" ejaculated the Indian; "my father is a great chief, +and his head is full of wisdom. Had he been feeble, like +the other chiefs of the Saganaw, the strong-hold of the +Detroit must have fallen, and the red skins would have +danced their war-dance round the scalps of his young men, +even in the council-room where they came to talk of +peace." + +"Does the great chief of the Ottawas see the big thunder +of the Saganaw?" pursued the governor: "if not, let him +open his eyes and look. The Saganaw has but to move his +lips, and swifter than the lightning would the pale faces +sweep away the warriors of the Ottawa, even where they +now stand: in less time than the Saganaw is now speaking, +would they mow them down like the grass of the Prairie." + +"Ugh!" again exclaimed the chief, with mixed doggedness +and fierceness: "if what my father says is true, why does +he not pour out his anger upon the red skins?" + +"Let the great chief of the Ottawas listen," replied the +governor with dignity. "When the great chiefs of all the +nations that are in league with the Ottawas came last to +the council, the Saganaw knew that they carried deceit +in their hearts, and that they never meant to smoke the +pipe of peace, or to bury the hatchet in the ground. The +Saganaw might have kept them prisoners, that their warriors +might be without a head; but he had given his word to +the great chief of the Ottawas, and the word of a Saganaw +is never broken. Even now, while both the chiefs and +the warriors are in his power,--he will not slay them, +for he wishes to show the Ottawa the desire of the Saganaw +is to be friendly with the red skins, and not to destroy +them. Wicked men from the Canadas have whispered lies in +the ear of the Ottawa; but a great chief should judge +for himself, and take council only from the wisdom of +his own heart. The Ottawa and his warriors may go," he +resumed, after a short pause; "the path by which they +came is again open to them. Let them depart in peace; +the big thunder of the Saganaw shall not harm them." + +The countenance of the Indian, who had clearly seen the +danger of his position, wore an expression of surprise +which could not be dissembled: low exclamations passed +between him and his companions; and, then pointing to +the tomahawk that lay half buried in the wood, he said, +doubtingly,-- + +"It was the pale face, the friend of the great chief of +the Ottawas, who struck the hatchet at my father. The +Ottawa is not a fool to believe the Saganaw can sleep +without revenge." + +"The great chief of the Ottawas shall know us better," +was the reply. "The young warriors of the Saganaw might +destroy their enemies where they now stand, but they seek +not their blood. When the Ottawa chief takes council from +his own heart, and not from the lips of a cowardly dog +of a pale face, who strikes his tomahawk and then flies, +his wisdom will tell him to make peace with the Saganaw, +whose warriors are without treachery, even as they are +without fear." + +Another of those deep interjectional "ughs" escaped the +chest of the proud Indian. + +"What my father says is good," he returned; "but the pale +face is a great warrior, and the Ottawa chief is his +friend. The Ottawa will go." + +He then addressed a few sentences, in a tongue unknown +to the officers, to the swarthy and anxious crowd in +front. These were answered by a low, sullen, yet assentient +grunt, from the united band, who now turned, though with +justifiable caution and distrust, and recrossed the +drawbridge without hinderance from the troops. Ponteac +waited until the last Indian had departed, and then making +a movement to the governor, which, with all its haughtiness, +was meant to mark his sense of the forbearance and good +faith that had been manifested, once more stalked proudly +and calmly across the area, followed by the remainder of +the chiefs. The officers who were with the governor +ascended to the ramparts, to follow their movements; and +it was not before their report had been made, that the +Indians were immerging once more into the heart of the +forest, the troops were withdrawn from their formidable +defences, and the gate of the fort again firmly secured. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +While the reader is left to pause over the rapid succession +of incidents resulting from the mysterious entrance of +the warrior of the Fleur de lis into the English fort, +be it our task to explain the circumstances connected +with the singular disappearance of Captain de Haldimar, +and the melancholy murder of his unfortunate servant. + +It will be recollected that the ill-fated Halloway, in +the course of his defence before the court-martial, +distinctly stated the voice of the individual who had +approached his post, calling on the name of Captain de +Haldimar, on the night of the alarm, to have been that +of a female, and that the language in which they +subsequently conversed was that of the Ottawa Indians. +This was strictly the fact; and the only error into which +the unfortunate soldier had fallen, had reference merely +to the character and motives of the party. He had naturally +imagined, as he had stated, it was some young female of +the village, whom attachment for his officer had driven +to the desperate determination of seeking an interview; +nor was this impression at all weakened by the subsequent +discourse of the parties in the Indian tongue, with which +it was well known most of the Canadians, both male and +female, were more or less conversant. The subject of that +short, low, and hurried conference was, indeed, one that +well warranted the singular intrusion; and, in the +declaration of Halloway, we have already seen the importance +and anxiety attached by the young officer to the +communication. Without waiting to repeat the motives +assigned for his departure, and the prayers and +expostulations to which he had recourse to overcome the +determination and sense of duty of the unfortunate +sentinel, let us pass at once to the moment when, after +having cleared the ditch, conjointly with his faithful +follower, in the manner already shown, Captain de Haldimar +first stood side by side with his midnight visitant. + +The night, it has elsewhere been observed, was clear and +starry, so that objects upon the common, such as the rude +stump that here and there raised its dark low head above +the surface, might be dimly seen in the distance. To +obviate the danger of discovery by the sentinels, appeared +to be the first study of the female; for, when Captain +de Haldimar, followed by his servant, had reached the +spot on which she stood, she put the forefinger of one +hand to her lips, and with the other pointed to his booted +foot. A corresponding signal showed that the lightness +of the material offered little risk of betrayal. Donellan, +however, was made to doff his heavy ammunition shoes; +and, with this precaution, they all stole hastily along, +under the shadows of the projecting ramparts, until they +had gained the extreme rear. Here the female suddenly +raised her tall figure from the stooping position in +which she, as well as her companions, had performed the +dangerous circuit; and, placing her finger once more +significantly on her lips, led in the direction of the +bomb-proof, unperceived by the sentinels, most of whom, +it is probable, had, up to the moment of the alarm +subsequently given, been too much overcome by previous +watching and excitement to have kept the most vigilant +look-out. + +Arrived at the skirt of the forest, the little party drew +up within the shadow of the ruin, and a short and earnest +dialogue ensued, in Indian, between the female and the +officer. This was succeeded by a command from the latter +to his servant, who, after a momentary but respectful +expostulation, which, however, was utterly lost on him +to whom it was addressed, proceeded to divest himself of +his humble apparel, assuming in exchange the more elegant +uniform of his superior. Donellan, who was also of the +grenadiers, was remarkable for the resemblance he bore, +in figure, to Captain de Haldimar; wanting, it is true, +the grace and freedom of movement of the latter, but +still presenting an outline which, in an attitude of +profound repose, might, as it subsequently did, have set +even those who were most intimate with the officer at +fault. + +"This is well," observed the female, as the young man +proceeded to induct himself in the grey coat of his +servant, having previously drawn the glazed hat close +over his waving and redundant hair: "if the Saganaw is +ready, Oucanasta will go." + +"Sure, and your honour does not mane to lave me behind!" +exclaimed the anxious soldier, as his captain now +recommended him to stand closely concealed near the ruin +until his return. "Who knows what ambuscade the she-divil +may not lade your honour into; and thin who will you have +to bring you out of it?" + +"No, Donellan, it must not be: I first intended it, as +you may perceive by my bringing you out; but the expedition +on which I am going is of the utmost importance to us +all, and too much precaution cannot be taken. I fear no +ambuscade, for I can depend on the fidelity of my guide; +but the presence of a third person would only embarrass, +without assisting me in the least. You must remain behind; +the woman insists upon it, and there is no more to be +said." + +"To ould Nick with the ugly winch, for her pains!" half +muttered the disappointed soldier to himself. "I wish it +may be as your honour says; but my mind misgives me sadly +that evil will come of this. Has your honour secured the +pistols?" + +"They are here," returned his captain, placing a hand on +either chest. "And now, Donellan, mark me: I know nothing +that can detain me longer than an hour; at least the +woman assures me, and I believe her, that I may be back +then; but it is well to guard against accidents. You must +continue here for the hour, and for the hour only. If I +come not then, return to the fort without delay, for the +rope must be removed, and the gate secured, before Halloway +is relieved. The keys you will find in the pocket of my +uniform: when you have done with them, let them be hung +up in their proper place in the guard-room. My father +must not know either that Halloway suffered me to pass +the gate, or that you accompanied me." + +"Lord love us! your honour talks as if you nivir would +return, giving such a heap of orders!" exclaimed the +startled man; "but if I go back alone, as I trust in +heaven I shall not, how am I to account for being dressed +in your honour's rigimintals?" + +"I tell you, Donellan," impatiently returned the officer, +"that I shall be back; but I only wish to guard against +accidents. The instant you get into the fort, you will +take off my clothes and resume your own. Who the devil +is to see you in the uniform, unless it be Halloway?" + +"If the Saganaw would not see the earth red with the +blood of his race, he will go," interrupted the female. +"Oucanasta can feel the breath of the morning fresh upon +her cheek, and the council of the chiefs must be begun." + +"The Saganaw is ready, and Oucanasta shall lead the way," +hastily returned the officer. "One word more, Donellan;" +and he pressed the hand of his domestic kindly: "should +I not return, you must, without committing Halloway or +yourself, cause my father to be apprised that the Indians +meditate a deep and treacherous plan to get possession +of the fort. What that plan is, I know not yet myself, +neither does this woman know; but she says that I shall +hear it discussed unseen, even in the heart of their own +encampment. All you have to do is to acquaint my father +with the existence of danger. And now be cautious: above +all things, keep close under the shadow of the bomb-proof; +for there are scouts constantly prowling about the common, +and the glittering of the uniform in the starlight may +betray you." + +"But why may I not follow your honour?" again urged the +faithful soldier; "and where is the use of my remaining +here to count the stars, and hear the 'All's well!' from +the fort, when I could be so much better employed in +guarding your honour from harm? What sort of protection +can that Ingian woman afford, who is of the race of our +bitterest enemies, them cursed Ottawas, and your honour +venturing, too, like a spy into the very heart of the +blood-hounds? Ah, Captain de Haldimar, for the love of +God, do not trust yourself alone with her, or I am sure +I shall never see your honour again!" + +The last words (unhappily too prophetic) fell only on +the ear of him who uttered them. The female and the +officer had already disappeared round an abrupt angle of +the bomb-proof; and the soldier, as directed by his +master, now drew up his tall figure against the ruin, +where he continued for a period immovable, as if he had +been planted there in his ordinary character of sentinel, +listening, until they eventually died away in distance, +to the receding footsteps of his master; and then ruminating +on the several apprehensions that crowded on his mind, +in regard to the probable issue of his adventurous project. + +Meanwhile, Captain de Haldimar and his guide trod the +mazes of the forest, with an expedition that proved the +latter to be well acquainted with its bearings. On quitting +the bomb-proof, she had struck into a narrow winding +path, less seen than felt in the deep gloom pervading +the wood, and with light steps bounded over obstacles +that lay strewed in their course, emitting scarcely more +sound than would have been produced by the slimy crawl +of its native rattlesnake. Not so, however, with the less +experienced tread of her companion. Wanting the pliancy +of movement given to it by the light mocassin, the booted +foot of the young officer, despite of all his precaution, +fell heavily to the ground, producing such a rustling +among the dried leaves, that, had an Indian ear been +lurking any where around, his approach must inevitably +have been betrayed. More than once, too, neglecting to +follow the injunction of his companion, who moved in a +stooping posture, with her head bent over her chest, his +hat was caught in the closely matted branches, and fell +sullenly and heavily to the earth, evidently much to the +discomfiture of his guide. + +At length they stood on the verge of a dark and precipitous +ravine, the abrupt sides of which were studded with +underwood, so completely interwoven, that all passage +appeared impracticable. What, however, seemed an +insurmountable obstacle, proved, in reality, an inestimable +advantage; for it was by clinging to this, in imitation +of the example set him by his companion, the young officer +was prevented from rolling into an abyss, the depth of +which was lost in the profound obscurity that pervaded +the scene. Through the bed of this dark dell rolled a +narrow stream, so imperceptible to the eye in the "living +darkness," and so noiseless in its course, that it was +not until warned by his companion he stood on the very +brink of it, Captain de Haldimar was made sensible of +its existence. Both cleared it at a single bound, in +which the activity of the female was not the least +conspicuous, and, clambering up the opposite steep, +secured their footing, by the aid of the same underwood +that had assisted them in their descent. + +On gaining the other summit, which was not done without +detaching several loose stones from their sandy bed, they +again, fell into the path, which had been lost sight of +in traversing the ravine. They had proceeded along this +about half a mile, when the female suddenly stopped, and +pointing to a dim and lurid atmosphere that now began to +show itself between the thin foliage, whispered that in +the opening beyond stood the encampment of the Indians. +She then seated herself on the trunk of a fallen tree, +that lay at the side of the almost invisible path they +had hitherto pursued, and motioning to her companion to +unboot himself, proceeded to unlace the fastenings of +her mocassins. + +"The foot of the Saganaw must fall like the night dew on +the prairie," she observed: "the ear of the red skin is +quicker than the lightning, and he will know that a pale +face is near, if he hear but his tread upon a blade of +grass." + +Gallantry in the civilised man is a sentiment that never +wholly abandons him; and in whatever clime he may be +thrown, or under whatever circumstances he may be +placed,--be it called forth by white or by blackamoor,--it +is certain to influence his conduct: it is a refinement, +of that instinctive deference to the weaker sex, which +nature has implanted in him for the wisest of purposes; +and which, while it tends to exalt those to whom its +influence is extended, fails not to reflect a corresponding +lustre on himself. + +The young officer had, at the first suggestion of his +guide, divested himself of his boots, prepared to perform +the remainder of the journey merely in his stockings, +but his companion now threw herself on her knees before +him, and, without further ceremony, proceeded to draw +over his foot one of the mocassins she had just +relinquished. + +"The feet of the Saganaw are soft as those of a young +child," she remarked, in a voice of commiseration; "but +the mocassins of Oucanasta shall protect them from the +thorns of the forest." + +This was too un-European,--too much reversing the +established order of things, to be borne patiently. As +if he had felt the dignity of his manhood offended by +the proposal, the officer drew his foot hastily back, +declaring, as he sprang from the log, he did not care +for the thorns, and could not think of depriving a female, +who must be much more sensible of pain than himself. + +Oucanasta, however, was not to be outdone in politeness. +She calmly reseated herself on the log, drew her right +foot over her left knee, caught one of the hands of her +companion, and placing it upon the naked sole, desired +him to feel how impervious to attack of every description +was that indurated portion of the lower limb. + +This practical argument was not without its weight, and +had more effect in deciding the officer than a volume of +remonstrance. Most men love to render tribute to a delicate +and pretty foot. Some, indeed, go so far as to connect +every thing feminine with these qualities, and to believe +that nothing can be feminine without them. For our parts, +we confess, that, although no enemies to a pretty foot, +it is by no means a sine qua non in our estimate of female +perfection; being in no way disposed, where the head and +heart are gems, to undervalue these in consideration of +any deficiency in the heels. Captain de Haldimar probably +thought otherwise; for when he had passed his unwilling +hand over the foot of Oucanasta, which, whatever her face +might have been, was certainly any thing but delicate, +and encountered numerous ragged excrescences and raspy +callosities that set all symmetry at defiance, a wonderful +revolution came over his feelings; and, secretly determining +the mocassins would be equally well placed on his own +feet, he no longer offered any opposition. + +This important point arranged, the officer once more +followed his guide in silence. Gradually the forest, as +they advanced, became lighter with the lurid atmosphere +before alluded to; and at length, through the trees, +could be indistinctly seen the Indian fires from which +it proceeded. The young man was now desired by his +conductress to use the utmost circumspection in making +the circuit of the wood, in order to gain a position +immediately opposite to the point where the path they +had hitherto pursued terminated in the opening. This, +indeed, was the most dangerous and critical part of the +undertaking. A false step, or the crackling of a decayed +branch beneath the foot, would have been sufficient to +betray proximity, in which case his doom was sealed. + +Fortunate did he now deem himself in having yielded to +the counsel of his guide. Had he retained his unbending +boot, it must have crushed whatever it pressed; whereas, +the pliant mocassin, yielding to the obstacles it +encountered, enabled him to pass noiselessly over them. +Still, while exempt from danger on this score, another, +scarcely less perplexing, became at every instant more +obvious; for, as they drew nearer to the point which the +female sought to gain, the dim light of the half-slumbering +fires fell so immediately upon their path, that had a +single human eye been turned in that direction, their +discovery was inevitable. It was with a beating heart, +to which mere personal fear, however, was a stranger, +that Captain de Haldimar performed this concluding stage +of his adventurous course; but, at a moment when he +considered detection unavoidable, and was arming himself +with resolution to meet the event, the female suddenly +halted, placing, in the act, the trunk of an enormous +beech between her companion and the dusky forms within, +whose very breathing could be heard by the anxious officer. +Without uttering a word, she took his hand, and, drawing +him gently forward, disappeared altogether from his view. +The young man followed, and in the next moment found +himself in the bowelless body of the tree itself; into +which, on the side of the encampment, both light and +sound were admitted by a small aperture formed by the +natural decay of the wood. + +The Indian pressed her lips to the ear of her companion, +and rather breathed than said,--"The Saganaw will see +and hear every thing from this in safety; and what he +hears let him treasure in his heart. Oucanasta must go. +When the council is over she will return, and lead him +back to his warriors." + +With this brief intimation she departed, and so noiselessly, +that the young officer was not aware of her absence until +some minutes of silence had satisfied him she must be +gone. His first care then was to survey, through the +aperture that lay in a level with his eye, the character +of the scene before him. The small plain, in which lay +the encampment of the Indians, was a sort of oasis of +the forest, girt round with a rude belt of underwood, +and somewhat elevated, so as to present the appearance +of a mound, constructed on the first principles of art. +This was thickly although irregularly studded with tents, +some of which were formed of large coarse mats thrown +over poles disposed in a conical shape, while others were +more rudely composed of the leafy branches of the forest. + +Within these groups of human forms lay, wrapped in their +blankets, stretched at their lazy length. Others, with +their feet placed close to the dying embers of their +fires, diverged like so many radii from their centre, +and lay motionless in sleep, as if life and consciousness +were wholly extinct. Here and there was to be seen a +solitary warrior securing, with admirable neatness, and +with delicate ligatures formed of the sinew of the deer, +the guiding feather, or fashioning the bony barb of his +long arrow; while others, with the same warlike spirit +in view, employed themselves in cutting and greasing +small patches of smoked deerskin, which were to secure +and give a more certain direction to the murderous bullet. +Among the warriors were interspersed many women, some of +whom might be seen supporting in their laps the heavy +heads of their unconscious helpmates, while they occupied +themselves, by the firelight, in parting the long black +matted hair, and maintaining a destructive warfare against +the pigmy inhabitants of that dark region. These signs +of life and activity in the body of the camp generally +were, however, but few and occasional; but, at the spot +where Captain de Haldimar stood concealed, the scene was +different. At a few yards from the tree stood a sort of +shed, composed of tall poles placed upright in the earth, +and supporting a roof formed simply of rude boughs, the +foliage of which had been withered by time. This simple +edifice might be about fifty feet in circumference. In +the centre blazed a large fire that had been newly fed, +and around this were assembled a band of swarthy warriors, +some twenty or thirty in number, who, by their proud, +calm, and thoughtful bearing, might at once be known to +be chiefs. + +The faces of most of these were familiar to the young +officer, who speedily recognised them for the principals +of the various tribes Ponteac had leagued in arms against +his enemies. That chief himself, ever remarkable for +his haughty eye and commanding gesture, was of the number +of those present; and, a little aloof from his inferiors, +sat, with his feet stretched towards the fire, and half +reclining on his side in an attitude of indolence; yet +with his mind evidently engrossed by deep and absorbing +thought. From some observations that distinctly met his +ear, Captain de Haldimar gathered, the party were only +awaiting the arrival of an important character, without +whose presence the leading chief was unwilling the +conference should begin. The period of the officer's +concealment had just been long enough to enable him to +fix all these particulars in his mind, when suddenly the +faint report of a distant rifle was heard echoing throughout +the wood. This was instantly succeeded by a second, that +sounded more sharply on the ear; and then followed a long +and piercing cry, that brought every warrior, even of +those who slept, quickly to his feet. + +An anxious interval of some minutes passed away in the +fixed and listening attitudes, which the chiefs especially +had assumed, when a noise resembling that of some animal +forcing its way rapidly through the rustling branches, +was faintly heard in the direction in which the shots +had been fired. This gradually increased as it evidently +approached the encampment, and then, distinctly, could +be heard the light yet unguarded boundings of a human +foot. At every moment the rustling of the underwood, +rapidly divided by the approaching form, became more +audible; and so closely did the intruder press upon the +point in which Captain de Haldimar was concealed, that +that officer, fancying he had been betrayed, turned +hastily round, and, grasping one of the pistols he had +secreted in his chest, prepared himself for a last and +deadly encounter. An instant or two was sufficient to +re-assure him. The form glided hastily past, brushing +the tree with its garments in its course, and clearing, +at a single bound, the belt of underwood that divided +the encampment from the tall forest, stood suddenly among +the group of anxious and expectant chiefs. + +This individual, a man of tall stature, was powerfully +made. He wore a jerkin, or hunting-coat, of leather; and +his arms were, a rifle which had every appearance of +having just been discharged, a tomahawk reeking with +blood, and a scalping-knife, which, in the hurry of some +recent service it had been made to perform, had missed +its sheath, and was thrust naked into the belt that +encircled his loins. His countenance wore an expression +of malignant triumph; and as his eye fell on the assembled +throng, its self-satisfied and exulting glance seemed to +give them to understand he came not without credentials +to recommend him to their notice. Captain de Haldimar +was particularly struck by the air of bold daring and +almost insolent recklessness pervading every movement of +this man; and it was difficult to say whether the +haughtiness of bearing peculiar to Ponteac himself, was +not exceeded by that of this herculean warrior. + +By the body of chiefs his appearance had been greeted +with a mere general grunt of approbation; but the +countenance of the leader expressed a more personal +interest. All seemed to expect he had something of moment +to communicate; but as it was not consistent with the +dignity of Indian etiquette to enquire, they waited calmly +until it should please their new associate to enter on +the history of his exploits. In pursuance of an invitation +from Ponteac, he now took his seat on the right hand of +that chief, and immediately facing the tree, from which +Captain de Haldimar, strongly excited both by the reports +of the shots that had been fired, and the sight of the +bloody tomahawk of the recently arrived Indian, gazed +earnestly and anxiously on the swarthy throng. + +Glancing once more triumphantly round the circle, who +sat smoking their pipes in calm and deliberative silence, +the latter now observed the eye of a young chief, who +sat opposite to him, intently riveted on his left shoulder. +He raised his hand to the part, withdrew it, looked at +it, and found it wet with blood. A slight start of surprise +betrayed his own unconsciousness of the accident; yet, +secretly vexed at the discovery which had been made, and +urged probably by one of his wayward fits, he demanded +haughtily and insultingly of the young chief, if that +was the first time he had ever looked on the blood of a +warrior. + +"Does my brother feel pain?" was the taunting reply. "If +he is come to us with a trophy, it is not without being +dearly bought. The Saganaw has spilt his blood." + +"The weapons of the Saganaw, like those of the smooth +face of the Ottawa, are without sting," angrily retorted +the other. "They only prick the skin like a thorn; but +when Wacousta drinks the blood of his enemy," and he +glanced his eye fiercely at the young man, "it is the +blood next his heart." + +"My brother has always big words upon his lips," returned +the young chief, with a scornful sneer at the implied +threat against himself. "But where are his proofs?" + +For a moment the eye of the party thus challenged kindled +into flame, while his lips were firmly compressed together; +and as he half bent himself forward, to scan with greater +earnestness the features of his questioner, his right +hand sank to his left side, tightly grasping the handle +of his scalping-knife. The action was but momentary. +Again he drew himself up, puffed the smoke deliberately +from his bloody tomahawk, and, thrusting his right hand +into his bosom, drew leisurely forth a reeking scalp, +which he tossed insolently across the fire into the lap +of the young chief. A loud and general "ugh!" testified +the approbation of the assembled group, at the unequivocal +answer thus given to the demand of the youth. The eye +of the huge warrior sparkled with a deep and ferocious +exultation. + +"What says the smooth face of the Ottawas now?" he +demanded, in the same insolent strain. "Does it make his +heart sick to look upon the scalp of a great chief?" + +The young man quietly turned the horrid trophy over +several times in his hand, examining it attentively in +every part. Then tossing it back with contemptuous coolness +to its owner, he replied,-- + +"The eyes of my brother are weak with age. He is not +cunning, like a red skin. The Ottawa has often seen the +Saganaw in their fort, and he knows their chiefs have +fine hair like women; but this is like the bristles of +the fox. My brother has not slain a great chief, but a +common warrior." + +A flush of irrepressible and threatening anger passed +over the features of the vast savage. + +"Is it for a boy," he fiercely asked, "whose eyes know +not yet the colour of blood, to judge of the enemies that +fall by the tomahawk of Wacousta? but a great warrior +never boasts of actions that he does not achieve. It is +the son of the great chief of the Saganaw whom he has +slain. If the smooth face doubts it, and has courage to +venture, even at night, within a hundred yards of the +fort, he will see a Saganaw without a scalp; and he will +know that Saganaw by his dress--the dress," he pursued, +with a low emphatic laugh, "that Oucanasta, the sister +of the smooth face, loved so much to look upon." + +Quicker than thought was the upspringing of the young +Indian to his feet. With a cheek glowing, an eye flashing, +and his gleaming tomahawk whirling rapidly round his +head, he cleared at a single bound the fire that separated +him from his insulter. The formidable man who had thus +wantonly provoked the attack, was equally prompt in +meeting it. At the first movement of the youth, he too +had leapt to his feet, and brandished the terrible weapon +that served in the double capacity of pipe and hatchet. +A fierce yell escaped the lips of each, as they thus met +in close and hostile collision, and the scene for the +moment promised to be one of the most tragic character; +but before either could find an assailable point on which +to rest his formidable weapon, Ponteac himself had thrown +his person between them, and in a voice of thunder +commanded the instant abandonment of their purpose. +Exasperated even as they now mutually were, the influence +of that authority, for which the great chief of the +Ottawas was well known, was not without due effect on +the combatants. His anger was principally directed against +the assailant, on whom the tones of his reproving voice +produced a change the intimidation of his powerful opponent +could never have effected. The young chief dropped the +point of his tomahawk, bowed his head in submission, and +then resuming his seat, sat during the remainder of the +night with his arms folded, and his head bent in silence +over his chest. + +"Our brother has done well," said Ponteac, glancing +approvingly at him who had exhibited the reeking trophy, +and whom he evidently favoured. "He is a great chief, +and his words are truth. We heard the report of his rifle, +and we also heard the cry that told he had borne away +the scalp of an enemy. But we will think of this to-morrow. +Let us now commence our talk." + +Our readers will readily imagine the feelings of Captain +de Haldimar during this short but exciting scene. From +the account given by the warrior, there could be no doubt +the murdered man was the unhappy Donellan; who, probably, +neglecting the caution given him, had exposed himself to +the murderous aim of this fierce being, who was apparently +a scout sent for the purpose of watching the movements +of the garrison. The direction of the firing, the allusion +made to the regimentals, nay, the scalp itself, which he +knew from the short crop to be that of a soldier, and +fancied he recognised from its colour to be that of his +servant, formed but too conclusive evidence of the fact; +and, bitterly and deeply, as he gazed on this melancholy +proof of the man's sacrifice of life to his interest, +did he repent that he had made him the companion of his +adventure, or that, having done so, he had not either +brought him away altogether, or sent him instantly back +to the fort. Commiseration for the fate of the unfortunate +Donellan naturally induced a spirit of personal hostility +towards his destroyer; and it was with feelings strongly +excited in favour of him whom he now discovered to be +the brother of his guide, that he saw him spring fiercely +to the attack of his gigantic opponent. There was an +activity about the young chief amply commensurate with +the greater physical power of his adversary; while the +manner in which he wielded his tomahawk, proved him to +be any thing but the novice in the use of the formidable +weapon the other had represented him. It was with a +feeling of disappointment, therefore, which the peculiarity +of his own position could not overcome, he saw Ponteac +interpose himself between the parties. + +Presently, however, a subject of deeper and more absorbing +interest than even the fate of his unhappy follower +engrossed every faculty of his mind, and riveted both +eye and ear in painful tension to the aperture in his +hiding-place. The chiefs had resumed their places, and +the silence of a few minutes had succeeded to the fierce +affray of the warriors, when Ponteac, in a calm and +deliberate voice, proceeded to state he had summoned all +the heads of the nations together, to hear a plan he had +to offer for the reduction of the last remaining forts +of their enemies, Michilimackinac and Detroit. He pointed +out the tediousness of the warfare in which they were +engaged; the desertion of the hunting-grounds by their +warriors; and their consequent deficiency in all those +articles of European traffic which they were formerly in +the habit of receiving in exchange for their furs. He +dwelt on the beneficial results that would accrue to them +all in the event of the reduction of those two important +fortresses; since, in that case, they would be enabled +to make such terms with the English as would secure to +them considerable advantages; while, instead of being +treated with the indignity of a conquered people, they +would be enabled to command respect from the imposing +attitude this final crowning of their successes would +enable them to assume. He stated that the prudence and +vigilance of the commanders of these two unreduced +fortresses were likely long to baffle, as had hitherto +been the case, every open attempt at their capture; and +admitted he had little expectation of terrifying them +into a surrender by the same artifice that had succeeded +with the forts on the Ohio and the lower lakes. The plan, +however, which he had to propose, was one he felt assured +would be attended with success. He would disclose that +plan, and the great chiefs should give it the advantage +of their deliberation. + +Captain de Haldimar was on the rack. The chief had +gradually dropped his voice as he explained his plan, +until at length it became so low, that undistinguishable +sounds alone reached the ear of the excited officer. For +a moment he despaired of making himself fully master of +the important secret; but in the course of the deliberation +that ensued, the blanks left unsupplied in the discourse +of the leader were abundantly filled up. It was what the +reader has already seen. The necessities of the Indians +were to be urged as a motive for their being tired of +hostilities. A peace was to be solicited; a council held; +a ball-playing among the warriors proposed, as a mark of +their own sincerity and confidence during that council; +and when the garrison, lulled into security, should be +thrown entirely off their guard, the warriors were to +seize their guns and tomahawks, with which (the former +cut short, for the better concealment of their purpose) +their women would be provided, rush in, under pretext of +regaining their lost ball, when a universal massacre of +men, women, and children was to ensue, until nothing +wearing the garb of a Saganaw should be left. + +It would be tedious to follow the chief through all the +minor ramifications of his subtle plan. Suffice it they +were of a nature to throw the most wary off his guard; +and so admirably arranged was every part, so certain did +it appear their enemies must give into the snare, that +the oldest chiefs testified their approbation with a +vivacity of manner and expression little wont to +characterize the deliberative meetings of these reserved +people. But deepest of all was the approval of the tall +warrior who had so recently arrived. To him had the +discourse of the leader been principally directed, as +one whose counsel and experience were especially wanting +to confirm him in his purpose. He was the last who spoke; +but, when he did, it was with a force--an energy--that +must have sunk every objection, even if the plan had not +been so perfect and unexceptionable in its concoction as +to have precluded a possibility of all negative argument. +During the delivery of his animated speech, his swarthy +countenance kindled into fierce and rapidly varying +expression. A thousand dark and complicated passions +evidently struggled at his heart; and as he dwelt leisurely +and emphatically on the sacrifice of human life that must +inevitably attend the adoption of the proposed measure, +his eye grew larger, his chest expanded, nay, his very +nostril appeared to dilate with unfathomably guileful +exultation. Captain de Haldimar thought he had never +gazed on any thing wearing the human shape half so +atrociously savage. + +Long before the council was terminated, the inferior +warriors, who had been so suddenly aroused from their +slumbering attitudes, had again retired to their tents, +and stretched their lazy length before the embers of +their fires. The weary chiefs now prepared to follow +their example. They emptied the ashes from the bowls of +their pipe-tomahawks, replaced them carefully at their +side, rose, and retired to their respective tents. Ponteac +and the tall warrior alone remained. For a time they +conversed earnestly together. The former listened +attentively to some observations made to him by his +companion, in the course of which, the words "chief of +the Saganaw--fort--spy--enemy," and two or three others +equally unconnected, were alone audible to the ear of +him who so attentively sought to catch the slightest +sound. He then thrust his hand under his hunting-coat, +and, as if in confirmation of what he had been stating, +exhibited a coil of rope and the glossy boot of an English +officer. Ponteac uttered one of his sharp ejaculating +"ughs!" and then rising quickly from his seat, followed +by his companion, soon disappeared in the heart of the +encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +How shall we attempt to paint all that passed through +the mind of Captain de Haldimar during this important +conference of the fierce chiefs?--where find language to +convey the cold and thrilling horror with which he listened +to the calm discussion of a plan, the object of which +was the massacre, not only of a host of beings endeared +to him by long communionship of service, but of those +who were wedded to his heart by the dearer ties of +affection and kindred? As Ponteac had justly observed, +the English garrisons, strong in their own defences, were +little likely to be speedily reduced, while their enemies +confined themselves to overt acts of hostility; but, +against their insidious professions of amity who could +oppose a sufficient caution? His father, the young officer +was aware, had all along manifested a spirit of conciliation +towards the Indians, which, if followed up by the government +generally, must have had the effect of preventing the +cruel and sanguinary war that had so recently desolated +this remote part of the British possessions. How likely, +therefore, was it, having this object always in view, he +should give in to the present wily stratagem, where such +plausible motives for the abandonment of their hostile +purpose were urged by the perfidious chiefs! From the +few hasty hints already given him by his guide,--that +kind being, who evidently sought to be the saviour of +the devoted garrisons,--he had gathered that a deep and +artful plan was to be submitted to the chiefs by their +leader; but little did he imagine it was of the finished +nature it now proved to be. Any other than the present +attempt, the vigilance and prudence of his experienced +father, he felt, would have rendered abortive; but there +was so much speciousness in the pleas that were to be +advanced in furtherance of their assumed object, he could +not but admit the almost certainty of their influence, +even on him. + +Sick and discouraged as he was at the horrible perspective +thus forced on his mental view, the young officer had +not, for some moments, presence of mind to reflect that +the danger of the garrison existed only so long as he +should be absent from it. At length, however, the cheering +recollection came, and with it the mantling rush of blood, +to his faint heart. But, short was the consoling hope: +again he felt dismay in every fibre of his frame; for he +now reflected, that although his opportune discovery of +the meditated scheme would save one fort, there was no +guardian angel to extend, as in this instance, its +protecting influence to the other; and within that other +there breathed those who were dearer far to him than his +own existence;--beings, whose lives were far more precious +to him than any even in the garrison of which he was a +member. His sister Clara, whom he loved with a love little +inferior to that of his younger brother; and one, even +more dearly loved than Clara,--Madeline de Haldimar, his +cousin and affianced bride,--were both inmates of +Michilimackinac, which was commanded by the father of +the latter, a major in the ---- regiment. With Madeline +de Haldimar he had long since exchanged his vows of +affection; and their nuptials, which were to have taken +place about the period when the present war broke out, +had only been suspended because all communication between +the two posts had been entirely cut off by the enemy. + +Captain de Haldimar had none of the natural weakness and +timidity of character which belonged to the gentler and +more sensitive Charles. Sanguine and full of enterprise, +he seldom met evils half way; but when they did come, he +sought to master them by the firmness and collectedness +with which he opposed his mind to their infliction. If +his heart was now racked with the most acute suffering--his +reason incapacitated from exercising its calm deliberative +power, the seeming contradiction arose not from any +deficiency in his character, but was attributable wholly +to the extraordinary circumstances of the moment. + +It was a part of the profound plan of the Ottawa chief, +that it should be essayed on the two forts on the same +day; and it was a suggestion of the murderer of poor +Donellan, that a parley should be obtained, through the +medium of a white flag, the nature of which he explained +to them, as it was understood among their enemies. If +invited to the council, then they were to enter, or not, +as circumstances might induce; but, in any case, they +were to go unprovided with the pipe of peace, since this +could not be smoked without violating every thing held +most sacred among themselves. The red, or war-pipe, was +to be substituted as if by accident; and, for the success +of the deception, they were to presume on the ignorance +of their enemies. This, however, was not important, since +the period of their first parley was to be the moment +chosen for the arrangement of a future council, and the +proposal of a ball-playing upon the common. Three days +were to be named as the interval between the first +conference of Ponteac with the governor and the definitive +council which was to ensue; during which, however, it +was so arranged, that, before the lip of a red skin should +touch the pipe of peace, the ball-players should rush in +and massacre the unprepared soldiery, while the chiefs +despatched the officers in council. + +It was the proximity of the period allotted for the +execution of their cruel scheme that mainly contributed +to the dismay of Captain de Haldimar. The very next day +was appointed for carrying into effect the first part of +the Indian plan: and how was it possible that a messenger, +even admitting he should elude the vigilance of the enemy, +could reach the distant post of Michilimackinac within +the short period on which hung the destiny of that devoted +fortress. In the midst of the confused and distracting +images that now crowded on his brain, came at length one +thought, redolent with the brightest colourings of hope. +On his return to the garrison, the treachery of the +Indians being made known, the governor might so far, and +with a view of gaining time, give in to the plan of his +enemies, as to obtain such delay as would afford the +chance of communication between the forts. The attempt, +on the part of those who should be selected for this +purpose, would, it is true, be a desperate one: still +it must be made; and, with such incentives to exertion +as he had, how willingly would he propose his own services! + +The more he dwelt on this mode of defeating the subtle +designs of the enemy, the more practicable did it appear. +Of his own safe return to the fort he entertained not a +doubt; for he knew and relied on the Indian woman, who +was bound to him by a tie of gratitude, which her conduct +that night evidently denoted to be superior even to the +interests of her race. Moreover, as he had approached +the encampment unnoticed while the chiefs were yet awake +to every thing around them, how little probability was +there of his return being detected while all lay wrapped +in the most profound repose. It is true that, for a +moment, his confidence deserted him as he recurred to +the earnest dialogue of the two Indians, and the sudden +display of the rope and boot, the latter of which articles +he had at once recognised to be one of those he had so +recently worn; but his apprehensions on that score were +again speedily set to rest, when he reflected, had any +suspicion existed in the minds of these men that an enemy +was lurking near them, a general alarm would have been +spread, and hundreds of warriors despatched to scour the +forest. + +The night was now rapidly waning away, and already the +cold damp air of an autumnal morning was beginning to +make itself felt. More than half an hour had elapsed +since the departure of Ponteac and his companion, and +yet Oucanasta came not. With a sense of the approach of +day came new and discouraging thoughts, and, for some +minutes, the mind of the young officer became petrified +with horror, as he reflected on the bare possibility of +his escape being intercepted. The more he lingered on +this apprehension, the more bewildered were his ideas; +and already, in horrible perspective, he beheld the +destruction of his nearest and dearest friends, and the +host of those who were humbler followers, and partakers +in the same destiny. Absolutely terrified with the +misgivings of his own heart, he, in the wildness and +unconnectedness of his purpose, now resolved to make the +attempt to return alone, although he knew not even the +situation of the path he had so recently quitted. He had +actually moved a pace forward on his desperate enterprise, +when he felt a band touching the extended arm with which +he groped to find the entrance to his hiding-place. The +unexpected collision sent a cold shudder through his +frame; and such was the excitement to which he had worked +himself up, it was not without difficulty he suppressed +an exclamation, that must inevitably have sealed his +doom. The soft tones of Oucanasta's voice re-assured him. + +"The day will soon dawn," she whispered; "the Saganaw +must go." + +With the return of hope came the sense of all he owed to +the devotedness of this kind woman. He grasped the hand +that still lingered on his arm, pressed it affectionately +in his own, and then placed it in silence on his throbbing +heart. The breathing of Oucanasta became deeper, and the +young officer fancied he could feel her trembling with +agitation. Again, however, and in a tone of more subdued +expression, she whispered that he must go. + +There was little urging necessary to induce a prompt +compliance with the hint. Cautiously emerging from his +concealment, Captain de Haldimar now followed close in +the rear of his guide, who took the same circuit of the +forest to reach the path that led towards the fort. This +they speedily gained, and then pursued their course in +silence, until they at length arrived at the log where +the exchange of mocassins had been made. + +"Here the Saganaw may take breath," she observed, as she +seated herself on the fallen tree; "the sleep of the red +skin is sound, and there is no one upon the path but +Oucanasta." + +Anxious as he felt to secure his return to the fort, +there was an implied solicitation in the tones of her to +whom he owed so much, that prevented Captain de Haldimar +from offering an objection, which he feared might be +construed into slight. + +For a moment or two the Indian remained with her arms +folded, and her head bent over her chest; and then, in +a low, deep, but tremulous voice, observed,-- + +"When the Saganaw saved Oucanasta from perishing in the +angry waters, there was a girl of the pale faces with +him, whose skin was like the snows of the Canadian winter, +and whose hair was black like the fur of the squirrel. +Oucanasta saw," she pursued, dropping her voice yet lower, +"that the Saganaw was loved by the pale girl, and her +own heart was very sick, for the Saganaw had saved her +life, and she loved him too. But she knew she was very +foolish, and that an Indian girl could never be the wife +of a handsome chief of the Saganaw; and she prayed to +the Great Spirit of the red skins to give her strength +to overcome her feelings; but the Great Spirit was angry +with her, and would not hear her." She paused a moment, +and then abruptly demanded, "Where is that pale girl now?" + +Captain de Haldimar had often been rallied, not only by +his brother-officers, but even by his sister and Madeline +de Haldimar herself, on the conquest he had evidently +made of the heart of this Indian girl. The event to which +she had alluded had taken place several months previous +to the breaking out of hostilities. Oucanasta was +directing her frail bark, one evening, along the shores +of the Detroit, when one of those sudden gusts of wind, +so frequent in these countries, upset the canoe, and left +its pilot struggling amid the waves. Captain de Haldimar, +who happened to be on the bank at the moment with his +sister and cousin, was an eye-witness of her danger, and +instantly flew down the steep to her assistance. Being +an excellent swimmer, he was not long in gaining the +spot, where, exhausted with the exertion she had made, +and encumbered with her awkward machecoti, the poor girl +was already on the point of perishing. But for his timely +assistance, indeed, she must have sunk to the bottom; +and, since that period, the grateful being had been +remarked for the strong but unexpressed attachment she +felt for her deliverer. This, however, was the first +moment Captain de Haldimar became acquainted with the +extent of feelings, the avowal of which not a little +startled and surprised, and even annoyed him. The last +question, however, suggested a thought that kindled every +fibre of his being into expectancy,--Oucanasta might be +the saviour of those he loved; and he felt that, if time +were but afforded her, she would. He rose from the log, +dropped on one knee before the Indian, seized both her +hands with eagerness, and then in tones of earnest +supplication whispered,-- + +"Oucanasta is right: the pale girl with the skin like +snow, and hair like the fur of the squirrel, is the bride +of the Saganaw. Long before he saved the life of Oucanasta, +he knew and loved that pale girl. She is dearer to the +Saganaw than his own blood; but she is in the fort beyond +the great lake, and the tomahawks of the red skins will +destroy her; for the warriors of that fort have no one +to tell them of their danger. What says the red girl? +will she go and save the lives of the sister and the wife +of the Saganaw." + +The breathing of the Indian became deeper; and Captain +de Haldimar fancied she sighed heavily, as she replied,-- + +"Oucanasta is but a weak woman, and her feet are not +swift like those of a runner among the red skins; but +what the Saganaw asks, for his sake she will try. When +she has seen him safe to his own fort, she will go and +prepare herself for the journey. The pale girl shall lay +her head on the bosom of the Saganaw, and Oucanasta will +try to rejoice in her happiness." + +In the fervour of his gratitude, the young officer caught +the drooping form of the generous Indian wildly to his +heart; his lips pressed hers, and during the kiss that +followed, the heart of the latter bounded and throbbed, +as if it would have passed from her own into the bosom +of her companion. + +Never was a kiss less premeditated, less unchaste. +Gratitude, not passion, had called it forth; and had +Madeline de Haldimar been near at the moment, the feeling +that had impelled the seeming infidelity to herself would +have been regarded as an additional claim on her affection. +On the whole, however, it was a most unfortunate and +ill-timed kiss, and, as is often the case under such +circumstances, led to the downfall of the woman. In the +vivacity of his embrace, Captain de Haldimar had drawn +his guide so far forward upon the log, that she lost her +balance, and fell with a heavy and reverberating crash +among the leaves and dried sticks that were strewed +thickly around. + +Scarcely a second elapsed when the forest was alive with +human yells, that fell achingly on the ears of both; and +bounding warriors were heard on every hand, rapidly +dividing the dense underwood they encountered in their +pursuit. + +Quick as thought the Indian had regained her feet. She +grasped the hand of her companion; and hurrying, though +not without caution, along the path, again stood on the +brow of the ravine through which they had previously +passed. + +"The Saganaw must go alone," she whispered. "The red +skins are close upon our trail, but they will find only +an Indian woman, when they expect a pale face. Oucanasta +will save her friend." + +Captain de Haldimar did as he was desired. Clinging to +the bushes that lined the face of the precipitous descent, +he managed once more to gain the bed of the ravine. For +a moment he paused to listen to the sounds of his pursuers, +whose footsteps were now audible on the eminence he had +just quitted; and then, gathering himself up for the leap +that was to enable him to clear the rivulet, he threw +himself heavily forward. His feet alighted upon an elevated +and yielding substance, that gave way with a crashing +sound that echoed far and near throughout the forest, +and he felt himself secured as if in a trap. Although +despairing of escape, he groped with his hands to discover +what it was that thus detained him, and found he had +fallen through a bark canoe, the bottom of which had been +turned upwards. The heart of the fugitive now sank within +him: there could be no doubt that his retreat was +intercepted. The canoe had been placed there since he +last passed through the ravine: and it was evident, from +the close and triumphant yell that followed the rending +of the frail bark, such a result had been anticipated. + +Stunned as he was by the terrific cries of the savages, +and confused as were his ideas, Captain de Haldimar had +still presence of mind to perceive the path itself offered +him no further security. He therefore quitted it altogether, +and struck, in an oblique direction, up the opposite face +of the ravine. Scarcely had he gone twenty yards, when +he heard the voices of several Indians conversing earnestly +near the canoe he had just quitted; and presently afterwards +he could distinctly hear them ascending the opposite brow +of the ravine by the path he recently congratulated +himself on having abandoned. To advance or to recede was +now equally impracticable; for, on every side, he was +begirt by enemies, into whose hands a single false step +must inevitably betray him. What would he not have given +for the presence of Oucanasta, who was so capable of +advising him in this difficulty! but, from the moment of +his descending into the ravine, he had utterly lost sight +of her. + +The spot on which he now rested was covered with thick +brushwood, closely interwoven at their tops, but affording +sufficient space beneath for a temporary close concealment; +so that, unless some Indian should touch him with his +foot, there was little seeming probability of his being +discovered by the eye. Under this he crept, and lay, +breathless and motionless, with his head raised from the +ground, and his ear on the stretch for the slightest +noise. For several minutes he remained in this position, +vainly seeking to catch the sound of a voice, or the fall +of a footstep; but the most deathlike silence had succeeded +to the fierce yellings that had so recently rent the +forest. At times he fancied he could distinguish faint +noises in the direction of the encampment; and so certain +was he of this, he at length came to the conclusion that +the Indians, either baffled in their search, had +relinquished the pursuit, or, having encountered Oucanasta, +had been thrown on a different scent. His first intention +had been to lie concealed until the following night, when +the warriors, no longer on the alert, should leave the +path once more open to him; but now that the conviction +of their return was strong on his mind, he changed his +determination, resolving to make the best of his way to +the fort with the aid of the approaching dawn. With this +view he partly withdrew his body from beneath its canopy +of underwood; but, scarcely had he done so, when a hundred +tongues, like the baying of so many blood-hounds, again +rent the air with their wild cries, which seemed to rise +up from the very bowels of the earth, and close to the +appalled ear of the young officer. + +Scarcely conscious of what he did, Captain de Haldimar +grasped one of his pistols, for he fancied he felt the +hot breathing of human life upon his cheek. With a sickly +sensation of fear, he turned to satisfy himself whether +it was not an illusion of his heated imagination. What, +however, was his dismay, when he beheld bending over him +a dark and heavy form, the outline of which alone was +distinguishable in the deep gloom in which the ravine +remained enveloped! Desperation was in the heart of the +excited officer: he cocked his pistol; but scarcely had +the sharp ticking sound floated on the air, when he felt +a powerful hand upon his chest; and, with as much facility +as if he had been a child, was he raised by that invisible +hand to his feet. A dozen warriors now sprang to the +assistance of their comrade, when the whole, having +disarmed and bound their prisoner, led him back in triumph +to their encampment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The fires of the Indians were nearly now extinct; but +the faint light of the fast dawning day threw a ghastly, +sickly, hue over the countenances of the savages, which +rendered them even more terrific in their war paint. The +chiefs grouped themselves immediately around their +prisoner, while the inferior warriors, forming an outer +circle, stood leaning their dark forms upon their rifles, +and following, with keen and watchful eye, every movement +of their captive. Hitherto the unfortunate officer had +been too much engrossed by his despair to pay any immediate +attention to the individual who had first discovered and +seized him. It was sufficient for him to know all hope +of the safety of the garrison had perished with his +captivity: and, with that recklessness of life which +often springs from the very consciousness of inability +to preserve it, he now sullenly awaited the death which +he expected at each moment would be inflicted. Suddenly +his ear was startled by an interrogatory, in English, +from one who stood behind him. + +With a movement of surprise, Captain de Haldimar turned +to examine his questioner. It was the dark and ferocious +warrior who had exhibited the scalp of his ill-fated +servant. For a moment the officer fixed his eyes firmly +and unshrinkingly on those of the savage, seeking to +reconcile the contradiction that existed between his +dress and features and the purity of the English he had +just spoken. The other saw his drift, and, impatient of +the scrutiny, again repeated, as he fiercely pulled the +strong leathern thong by which the prisoner now found +himself secured to his girdle,-- + +"Who and what are you?--whence come you?--and for what +purpose are you here?" Then, as if struck by some sudden +recollection, he laid his hand upon the shoulder of his +victim; and, while his eye grew upon his features, he +pursued, in a tone of vehemence,--"Ha! by Heaven, I +should know that face!--the cursed lines of the blood +of De Haldimar are stamped upon that brow! But stay, one +proof and I am satisfied." While he yet spoke he dashed +the menial hat of his captive to the earth, put aside +his hair, and then, with fiendish exultation, pursued,--"It +is even so. Do you recollect the battle of the plains of +Abraham, Captain de Haldimar?--Recollect you the French +officer who aimed so desperately at your life, and whose +object was defeated by a soldier of your regiment? I am +that officer: my victim escaped me then, but not for +ever. The hour of vengeance is nearly now arrived, and +your capture is the pledge of my success. Hark, how the +death-cry of all his hated race will ring in madness on +your father's ear!" + +Amazement, stupefaction, and horror, filled the mind of +the wretched officer at this extraordinary declaration. +He perfectly recollected that the individual who had +evinced so much personal hostility on the occasion alluded +to, was indeed a man wearing the French uniform, although +at the head of a band of savages, and of a stature and +strength similar to those of him who now so fiercely +avowed himself the bitter and deadly foe of all his race. +If this were so, and his tone and language left little +room for doubt, the doom of the ill-fated garrison was +indeed irrevocably sealed. This mysterious enemy evidently +possessed great influence in the councils of the Indians; +and while the hot breath of his hatred continued to fan +the flame of fierce hostility that had been kindled in +the bosom of Ponteac, whose particular friend he appeared +to be, there would be no end to the atrocities that must +follow. Great, however, as was the dismay of Captain de +Haldimar, who, exhausted with the adventures of the night, +presented a ghastly image of anxiety and fatigue, it was +impossible for him to repress the feelings of indignation +with which the language of this fierce man had inspired +him. + +"If you are in reality a French officer," he said, "and +not an Englishman, as your accent would denote, the +sentiments you have now avowed may well justify the +belief, that you have been driven with ignominy from a +service which your presence must eternally have disgraced. +There is no country in Europe that would willingly claim +you for its subject. Nay, even the savage race, with whom +you are now connected, would, if apprised of your true +nature, spurn you as a thing unworthy to herd even with +their wolf-dogs." + +A fierce sardonic laugh burst from the lips of the warrior, +but this was so mingled with rage as to give an almost +devilish expression to his features. + +"Ignominy--ignominy!" he repeated, while his right hand +played convulsively with the handle of his tomahawk; "is +it for a De Haldimar to taunt me with ignominy? Fool!" +he pursued, after a momentary pause, "you have sealed +your doom." Then abruptly quitting the handle of his +weapon, he thrust his hand into his bosom, and again +drawing forth the reeking scalp of Donellan, he dashed +it furiously in the face of his prisoner. "Not two hours +since," he exclaimed, "I cheered myself with the thought +that the scalp of a De Haldimar was in my pouch. Now, +indeed, do I glory in my mistake. The torture will be +a more fitting death for you." + +Had an arm of the insulted soldier been at liberty, the +offence would not have gone unavenged even there; for +such was the desperation of his heart, that he felt he +could have hugged the death struggle with his insolent +captor, notwithstanding the fearful odds, nor quitted +him until one or both should have paid the debt of fierce +enmity with life. As it was he could only betray, by his +flashing eye, excited look, and the impatient play of +his foot upon the ground, the deep indignation that +consumed his heart. + +The tall savage exulted in the mortification he had +awakened, and as his eye glanced insolently from head to +foot along his enemy, its expression told how much he +laughed at the impotence of his anger. Suddenly, however, +a change passed over his features. The mocassin of the +officer had evidently attracted his attention, and he +now demanded, in a more serious and imperative tone,-- + +"Ha! what means this disguise? Who is the wretch whom I +have slain, mistaking him for a nobler victim; and how +comes it that an officer of the English garrison appears +here in the garb of a servant? By heaven, it is so! you +are come as a spy into the camp of the Indians to steal +away the councils of the chiefs. Speak, what have you +heard?" + +With these questions returned the calm and self-possession +of the officer. He at once saw the importance of his +answer, on which hung not merely his own last faint chance +of safety, but that also of his generous deliverer. +Struggling to subdue the disgust which he felt at holding +converse with this atrocious monster, he asked in turn,-- + +"Am I then the only one whom the warriors have overtaken +in their pursuit?" + +"There was a woman, the sister of that boy," and he +pointed contemptuously to the young chief who had so +recently assailed him, and who now, in common with his +followers, stood impatiently listening to a colloquy that +was unintelligible to all. "Speak truly, was SHE not the +traitress who conducted you here?" + +"Had you found me here," returned the officer, with +difficulty repressing his feelings, "there might have +been some ground for the assertion; but surely the councils +of the chiefs could not be overheard at the distant point +at which you discovered me." + +"Why then were you there in this disguise?--and who is +he," again holding up the bloody scalp, "whom I have +despoiled of this?" + +"There are few of the Ottawa Indians," returned Captain +de Haldimar, "who are ignorant I once saved that young +woman's life. Is it then so very extraordinary an attachment +should have been the consequence? The man whom you slew +was my servant. I had brought him out with me for protection +during my interview with the woman, and I exchanged my +uniform with him for the same purpose. There is nothing +in this, however, to warrant the supposition of my being +a spy." + +During the delivery of these more than equivocal sentences, +which, however, he felt were fully justified by +circumstances, the young officer had struggled to appear +calm and confident; but, despite of his exertions, his +consciousness caused his cheek to colour, and his eye to +twinkle, beneath the searching glance of his ferocious +enemy. The latter thrust his hand into his chest, and +slowly drew forth the rope he had previously exhibited +to Ponteac. + +"Do you think me a fool, Captain de Haldimar," he observed, +sneeringly, "that you expect so paltry a tale to be palmed +successfully on my understanding? An English officer is +not very likely to run the risk of breaking his neck by +having recourse to such a means of exit from a besieged +garrison, merely to intrigue with an Indian woman, when +there are plenty of soldiers' wives within, and that too +at an hour when he knows the scouts of his enemies are +prowling in the neighbourhood. Captain de Haldimar," he +concluded, slowly and deliberately, "you have lied." + +Despite of the last insult, his prisoner remained calm. +The very observation that had just been made afforded +him a final hope of exculpation, which, if it benefited +not himself, might still be of service to the generous +Oucanasta. + +"The onus of such language," he observed coolly and with +dignity, "falls not on him to whom it is addressed, but +on him who utters it. Yet one who professes to have been +himself a soldier, must see in this very circumstance a +proof of my innocence. Had I been sent out as a spy to +reconnoitre the movements, and to overhear the councils +of our enemies, the gate would have been open for my +egress; but that rope is in itself an evidence I must +have stolen forth unknown to the garrison." + +Whether it was that the warrior had his own particular +reasons for attaching truth to this statement, or that +he merely pretended to do so, Captain de Haldimar saw +with secret satisfaction his last argument was conclusive. + +"Well, be it so," retorted the savage, while a ferocious +smile passed over his swarthy features; "but, whether +you have been here as a spy, or have merely ventured out +in prosecution of an intrigue, it matters not. Before +the sun has travelled far in the meridian you die; and +the tomahawk of your father's deadly foe--of--of--of +Wacousta, as I am called, shall be the first to drink +your blood." + +The officer made a final effort at mercy. "Who or what +you are, or whence your hatred of my family, I know not," +he said; "but surely I have never injured you: wherefore, +then, this insatiable thirst for my blood? If you are, +indeed, a Christian and a soldier, let your heart be +touched with humanity, and procure my restoration to my +friends. You once attempted my life in honourable combat, +why not wait, then, until a fitting opportunity shall +give not a bound and defenceless victim to your steel, +but one whose resistance may render him a conquest worthy +of your arm?" + +"What! and be balked of the chance of my just revenge? +Hear me, Captain de Haldimar," he pursued, in that low, +quick, deep tone that told all the strong excitement of +his heart:--"I have, it is true, no particular enmity to +yourself, further than that you are a De Haldimar; but +hell does not supply a feeling half so bitter as my enmity +to your proud father; and months, nay years, have I passed +in the hope of such an hour as this. For this have I +forsworn my race, and become--what you now behold me--a +savage both in garb and character. But this matters not," +he continued, fiercely and impatiently, "your doom is +sealed; and before another sun has risen, your stern +father's gaze shall be blasted with the sight of the +mangled carcase of his first born. Ha! ha! ha!" and he +laughed low and exultingly; "even now I think I see him +withering, if heart so hard can wither, beneath this +proof of my undying hate." + +"Fiend!--monster!--devil!" exclaimed the excited officer, +now losing sight of all considerations of prudence in +the deep horror inspired by his captor:--"Kill me--torture +me--commit any cruelty on me, if such be your savage +will; but outrage not humanity by the fulfilment of your +last disgusting threat. Suffer not a father's heart to +be agonised--a father's eye to be blasted--with a view +of the mangled remains of him to whom he has given life." + +Again the savage rudely pulled the thong that bound his +prisoner to his girdle, and removing his tomahawk from +his belt, and holding its sullied point close under the +eye of the former, exclaimed, as he bent eagerly over +him,-- + +"See you this, Captain de Haldimar? At the still hour of +midnight, while you had abandoned your guard to revel in +the arms of your Indian beauty, I stole into the fort by +means of the same rope that you had used in quitting it. +Unseen by the sentinels I gained your father's apartment. +It was the first time we had met for twenty years; and +I do believe that had the very devil presented himself +in my place, he would have been received with fewer marks +of horror. Oh, how that proud man's eye twinkled beneath +this glittering blade! He attempted to call out, but my +look paralysed his tongue, and cold drops of sweat stole +rapidly down his brow and cheek. Then it was that my +seared heart once more beat with the intoxication of +triumph. Your father was alone and unarmed, and throughout +the fort not a sound was to be heard, save the distant +tread of the sentinels. I could have laid him dead, at +my feet at a single blow, and yet have secured my retreat. +But no, that was not my object. I came to taunt him with +the promise of my revenge--to tell him the hour of my +triumph was approaching fast; and, ha!" he concluded, +laughing hideously as he passed his large rude hand +through the wavy hair of the now uncovered officer," this +is, indeed, a fair and unexpected first earnest of the +full redemption of my pledge. No--no!" he continued, as +if talking to himself, "he must not die. Tantulus-like, +he shall have death ever apparently within his grasp; +but, until all his race have perished before his eyes, +he shall not attain it." + +Hitherto the Indians had preserved an attitude of calm, +listening to the interrogatories put to the prisoner with +that wonder and curiosity with which a savage people hear +a language different from their own; and marking the +several emotions that were elicited in the course of the +animated colloquy of the pale faces. Gradually, however, +they became impatient under its duration; and many of +them, in the excitement produced by the fierce manner of +him who was called Wacousta, fixed their dark eyes upon +the captive, while they grasped the handles of their +tomahawks, as if they would have disputed with the former +the privilege of dying his weapon first in his blood. +When they saw the warrior hold up his menacing blade to +the eye of his victim, while he passed his hand through +the redundant hair, they at once inferred the sacrifice +was about to be completed, and rushing furiously forward, +they bounded, and leaped, and yelled, and brandished +their own weapons in the most appalling manner. + +Already had the unhappy officer given himself self up +for lost; fifty bright tomahawks were playing about his +head at the same instant, and death--that death which is +never without terror to the young, however brave they +may be in the hour of generous conflict--seemed to have +arrived at last. He raised his eyes to Heaven, committing +his soul to his God in the same silent prayer that he +offered up for the preservation of his friends and +comrades; and then bending them upon the earth, summoned +all his collectedness and courage to sustain him through +the trial. At the very moment, however when he expected +to feel the crashing steel within his brain, he felt +himself again violently pulled by the thong that secured +his hands. In the next instant he was pressed close to +the chest of his vast enemy, who, with one arm encircling +his prisoner, and the other brandishing his fierce blade +in rapid evolutions round his head, kept the yelling band +at bay, with the evident unshaken determination to maintain +his sole and acknowledged right to the disposal of his +captive. + +For several moments the event appeared doubtful; but, +notwithstanding his extreme agility in the use of a +weapon, in the management of which he evinced all the +dexterity of the most practised native, the odds were +fearfully against Wacousta; and while his flashing eye +and swelling chest betrayed his purpose rather to perish +himself than suffer the infringement of his claim, it +was evident that numbers must, in the end, prevail against +him. On an appeal to Ponteac, however, of which he now +suddenly bethought himself, the authority of the latter +was successfully exerted, and he was again left in the +full and undisturbed possession of his prisoner. + +A low and earnest conversation now ensued among the +chiefs, in which, as before, Wacousta bore a principal +part. When this was terminated, several Indians approached +the unhappy officer, and unfastening the thong with which +his hands were firmly and even painfully girt, deprived +him both of coat, waistcoat, and shirt. He was then bound +a second time in the same manner, his body besmeared with +paint, and his head so disguised as to give him the +caricature semblance of an Indian warrior. When these +preparations were completed, he was led to the tree in +which he had been previously concealed, and there firmly +secured. Meanwhile Wacousta, at the head of a numerous +band of warriors, had departed once more in the direction +of the fort. + +With the rising of the sun now vanished all traces of +the mist that had fallen since the early hours of morning, +leaving the unfortunate officer ample leisure to survey +the difficulties of his position. He had fancied, from +the course taken by his guide the previous night, that +the plain or oasis, as we have elsewhere termed it, lay +in the very heart of the forest; but that route now proved +to have been circuitous. The tree to which he was bound +was one of a slight belt, separating the encampment from +the open grounds which extended towards the river, and +which was so thin and scattered on that side as to leave +the clear silver waters of the Detroit visible at intervals. +Oh, what would he not have given, at that cheering sight, +to have had his limbs free, and his chance of life staked +on the swiftness of his flight! While he had imagined +himself begirt by interminable forest, he felt as one +whose very thought to elude those who were, in some +degree, the deities of that wild scene, must be paralysed +in its first conception. But here was the vivifying, +picture of civilised nature. Corn fields, although trodden +down and destroyed--dwelling houses, although burnt or +dilapidated--told of the existence of those who were of +the same race with himself; and notwithstanding these +had perished even as he must perish, still there was +something in the aspect of the very ruins of their +habitations which, contrasted with the solemn gloom of +the forest, carried a momentary and indefinable consolation +to his spirit. Then there was the ripe and teeming +orchard, and the low whitewashed cabin of the Canadian +peasant, to whom the offices of charity, and the duties +of humanity, were no strangers; and who, although the +secret enemies of his country, had no motive for personal +hostility towards himself. Then, on the river itself, +even at that early hour, was to be seen, fastened to the +long stake driven into its bed, or secured by the rude +anchor of stone appended to a cable of twisted bark, the +light canoe or clumsy periagua of the peasant fisherman, +who, ever and anon, drew up from its deep bosom the +shoal-loving pickerel or pike, or white or black bass, +or whatever other tenant of these waters might chance to +affix itself to the traitorous hook. It is true that his +view of these objects was only occasional and indistinct; +but his intimate acquaintance with the localities beyond +brought every thing before Captain de Haldimar's eye; +and even while he sighed to think they were for ever cut +off from his reach, he already, in idea, followed the +course of flight he should pursue were the power but +afforded him. + +From this train of painful and exciting thought the +wretched captive was aroused, by a faint but continued +yelling in a distant part of the forest, and in the +direction that had been taken by Wacousta and his warriors. +Then, after a short interval, came the loud booming of +the cannon of the fort, carried on with a spirit and +promptitude that told of some pressing and dangerous +emergency, and fainter afterwards the sharp shrill reports +of the rifles, bearing evidence the savages were already +in close collision with the garrison. Various were the +conjectures that passed rapidly through the mind of the +young officer, during a firing that had called almost +every Indian in the encampment away to the scene of +action, save the two or three young Ottawas who had been +left to guard his own person, and who lay upon the sward +near him, with head erect and ear sharply set, listening +to the startling sounds of conflict. What the motive of +the hurried departure of the Indians was he knew not; +but he had conjectured the object of the fierce Wacousta +was to possess himself of the uniform in which his wretched +servant was clothed, that no mistake might occur in his +identity, when its true owner should be exhibited in it, +within view of the fort, mangled and disfigured, in the +manner that fierce and mysterious man had already +threatened. It was exceedingly probable the body of +Donellan had been mistaken for his own, and that in the +anxiety of his father to prevent the Indians from carrying +it off, the cannon had been directed to open upon them. +But if this were the case, how were the reports of the +rifles, and the fierce yellings that continued, save at +intervals, to ring throughout the forest to be accounted +for? The bullets of the Indians evidently could not reach +the fort, and they were too wily, and attached too much +value to their ammunition, to risk a shot that was not +certain of carrying a wound with it. For a moment the +fact itself flashed across his mind, and he attributed +the fire of small arms to the attack and defence of a +party that had been sent out for the purpose of securing +the body, supposed to be his own; yet, if so, again how +was he to account for his not hearing the report of a +single musket? His ear was too well practised not to know +the sharp crack of the rifle from the heavy dull discharge +of the musket, and as yet the former only had been +distinguishable, amid the intervals that ensued between +each sullen booming of the cannon. While this impression +continued on the mind of the anxious officer, he caught, +with the avidity of desperation, at the faint and improbable +idea that his companions might be able to penetrate to +his place of concealment, and procure his liberation; +but when he found the firing, instead of drawing nearer, +was confined to the same spot, and even more fiercely +kept up by the Indians towards the close, he again gave +way to his despair, and resigning himself to his fate, +no longer sought comfort in vain speculation as to its +cause. His ear now caught the report of the last shell +as it exploded, and then all was still and hushed, as if +what he had so recently heard was but a dream. + +The first intimation given him of the return of the +savages was the death howl, set up by the women within +the encampment. Captain de Haldimar turned his eyes, +instinct with terror, towards the scene, and beheld the +warriors slowly issuing from the opposite side of the +forest into the plain, and bearing in silence the dead +and stiffened forms of those who had been cut down by +the destructive fire from the fort. Their mien was sullen +and revengeful, and more than one dark and gleaming eye +did he encounter turned upon him, with an expression that +seemed to say a separate torture should avenge the death +of each of their fallen comrades. + +The early part of the morning wore away in preparation +for the interment of the slain. These were placed in +rows under the council shed, where they were attended by +their female relatives, who composed the features and +confined the limbs, while the gloomy warriors dug, within +the limit of the encampment, rude graves, of a depth just +sufficient to receive the body. When these were completed, +the dead were deposited, with the usual superstitious +ceremonies of these people, in their several receptacles, +after which a mound of earth was thrown up over each, +and the whole covered with round logs, so disposed as to +form a tomb of semicircular shape: at the head of each +grave was finally planted a pole, bearing various devices +in paint, intended to illustrate the warlike achievements +of the defunct parties. + +Captain de Haldimar had followed the course of these +proceedings with a beating heart; for too plainly had he +read in the dark and threatening manner both of men and +women, that the retribution about to be wreaked upon +himself would be terrible indeed. Much as he clung to +life, and bitterly as he mourned his early cutting off +from the affections hitherto identified with his existence, +his wretchedness would have been less, had he not been +overwhelmed by the conviction that, with him, must perish +every chance of the safety of those, the bare recollection +of whom made the bitterness of death even more bitter. +Harrowing as were these reflections, he felt that immediate +destruction, since it could not be avoided, would be +rather a blessing than otherwise. But such, evidently, +was not the purpose of his relentless enemy. Every +species of torment which his cruel invention could supply +would, he felt convinced, be exercised upon his frame; +and with this impression on his mind, it would have +required sterner nerves than his, not to have shrunk from +the very anticipation of so dreadful an ordeal. + +It was now noon, and yet no visible preparation was making +for the consummation of the sacrifice. This, Captain de +Haldimar imputed to the absence of the fierce Wacousta, +whom he had not seen since the return of the warriors +from their skirmish. The momentary disappearance of this +extraordinary and ferocious man was, however, fraught +with no consolation to his unfortunate prisoner, who felt +he was only engaged in taking such measures as would +render not only his destruction more certain, but his +preliminary sufferings more complicated and protracted. +While he was thus indulging in fruitless speculation as +to the motive for his absence, he fancied he heard the +report of a rifle, succeeded immediately afterwards by +the war-whoop, at a considerable distance, and in the +direction of the river. In this impression he was confirmed, +by the sudden upstarting to their feet of the young +Indians to whose custody he had been committed, who now +advanced to the outer edge of the belt of forest, with +the apparent object of obtaining a more unconfined view +of the open ground that lay beyond. The rapid gliding of +spectral forms from the interior of the encampment in +the same direction, denoted, moreover, that the Indians +generally had heard, and were attracted by the same sound. + +Presently afterwards, repeated "waughs!" and +"Wacousta!--Wacousta!" from those who had reached the +extreme skirt of the forest, fell on the dismayed ear of +the young officer. It was evident, from the peculiar +tones in which these words were pronounced, that they +beheld that warrior approaching them with some communication +of interest; and, sick at heart, and filled with +irrepressible dismay, Captain de Haldimar felt his pulse +to throb more violently as each moment brought his enemy +nearer to him. + +A startling interest was now created among the Indians; +for, as the savage warrior neared the forest, his lips +pealed forth that peculiar cry which is meant to announce +some intelligence of alarm. Scarcely had its echoes died +away in the forest, when the whole of the warriors rushed +from the encampment towards the clearing. Directed by +the sound, Captain de Haldimar bent his eyes upon the +thin skirt of wood that lay immediately before him, and +at intervals could see the towering form of that vast +warrior bounding, with incredible speed, up the sloping +ground that led from the town towards the forest. A ravine +lay before him; but this he cleared, with a prodigious +effort, at a single leap; and then, continuing his way +up the slope, amid the low guttural acclamations of the +warriors at his extraordinary dexterity and strength, +finally gained the side of Ponteac, then leaning carelessly +against a tree at a short distance from the prisoner. + +A low and animated conversation now ensued between these +two important personages, which at moments assumed the +character of violent discussion. From what Captain de +Haldimar could collect, the Ottawa chief was severely +reproving his friend for the inconsiderate ardour which +had led him that morning into collision with those whom +it was their object to lull into security by a careful +avoidance of hostility, and urging the possibility of +their plan being defeated in consequence. He moreover +obstinately refused the pressing request of Wacousta, in +regard to some present enterprise which the latter had +just suggested, the precise nature of which, however, +Captain de Haldimar could not learn. Meanwhile, the rapid +flitting of numerous forms to and from the encampment, +arrayed in all the fierce panoply of savage warfare, +while low exclamations of excitement occasionally caught +his ear, led the officer to infer, strange and unusual +as such an occurrence was, that either the detachment +already engaged, or a second, was advancing on their +position. Still, this offered little chance of security +for himself; for more than once, during his long conference +with Ponteac, had the fierce Wacousta bent his eye in +ferocious triumph on his victim, as if he would have +said,--"Come what will--whatever be the result--you, at +least, shall not escape me." Indeed, so confident did +the latter feel that the instant of attack would be the +signal of his own death, that, after the first momentary +and instinctive cheering of his spirit, he rather regretted +the circumstance of their approach; or, if he rejoiced +at all, it was only because it afforded him the prospect +of immediate death, instead of being exposed to all the +horror of a lingering and agonising suffering from the +torture. + +While the chiefs were yet earnestly conversing, the alarm +cry, previously uttered by Wacousta, was repeated, although +in a low and subdued tone, by several of the Indians who +stood on the brow of the eminence. Ponteac started suddenly +to the same point; but Wacousta continued for a moment +or two rooted to the spot on which he stood, with the +air of one in doubt as to what course he should pursue. +He then abruptly raised his head, fixed his dark and +menacing eye on his captive, and was already in the act +of approaching him, when the earnest and repeated demands +for his presence, by the Ottawa chief, drew him once more +to the outskirt of the wood. + +Again Captain de Haldimar breathed freely. The presence +of that fierce man had been a clog upon the vital functions +of his heart; and, to be relieved from it, even at a +moment like the present, when far more important interests +might be supposed to occupy his mind, was a gratification, +of which not even the consciousness of impending death +could wholly deprive him. From the continued pressing of +the Indians towards one particular point in the clearing, +he now conjectured, that, from that point, the advance +of the troops was visible. Anxious to obtain even a +momentary view of those whom he deemed himself fated +never more to mingle with in this life, he raised himself +upon his feet, and stretched his neck and bent his eager +glance in the direction by which Wacousta had approached; +but, so closely were the dark warriors grouped among the +trees, he found it impossible. Once or twice, however, +he thought he could distinguish the gleaming of the +English bayonets in the bright sunshine, as they seemed +to file off in a parallel line with the ravine. Oh, how +his generous heart throbbed at that moment; and how +ardently did he wish that he could have stood in the +position of the meanest soldier in those gallant ranks! +Perhaps his own brave and devoted grenadiers were of the +number, burning with enthusiasm to be led against the +captors or destroyers of their officer; and this thought +added to his wretchedness still more. + +While the unfortunate prisoner, thus strongly excited, +bent his whole soul on the scene before him, he fancied +he heard the approach of a cautious footstep. He turned +his head as well as his confined position would admit, +and beheld, close behind him, a dark Indian, whose eyes +alone were visible above the blanket in which his person +was completely enveloped. His right arm was uplifted, +and the blade of a scalping knife glittered in his hand. +A cold shudder ran through the veins of the young officer, +and he closed his eyes, that he might not see the blow +which he felt was about to be directed at his heart. The +Indian glanced hurriedly yet cautiously around, to see +if he was observed; and then, with the rapidity of thought, +divided, first the thongs that secured the legs, and then +those which confined the arms of the defenceless captive. +When Captain de Haldimar, full of astonishment at finding +himself once more at liberty, again unclosed his eyes, +they fell on the not unhandsome features of the young +chief, the brother of Oucanasta. + +"The Saganaw is the prisoner of Wacousta," said the Indian +hastily; "and Wacousta is the enemy of the young Ottawa +chief. The warriors of the pale faces are there" (and he +pointed directly before him). "If the Saganaw has a bold +heart and a swift foot, he may save his life:" and, with +this intimation, he hurried away in the same cautious +manner, and was in the next instant seen making a circuit +to arrive at the point at which the principal strength +of the Indians was collected. + +The position of Captain de Haldimar had now attained its +acme of interest; for on his own exertions alone depended +every thing that remained to be accomplished. With +wonderful presence of mind he surveyed all the difficulties +of his course, while he availed himself at the same moment +of whatever advantages were within his grasp. On the +approach of Wacousta, the young Indians, to whose custody +he had been committed, had returned to their post; but +no sooner had that warrior, obeying the call of Ponteac, +again departed, than they once more flew to the extreme +skirt of the forest, after first satisfying themselves +the ligatures which confined their prisoner were secure. +Either with a view of avoiding unnecessary encumbrance +in their course, or through hurry and inadvertence, they +had left their blankets near the foot of the tree. The +first thought of the officer was to seize one of these; +for, in order to gain the point whence his final effort +to join the detachment must be made, it was necessary he +should pass through the body of scattered Indians who +stood immediately in his way; and the disguise of the +blanket could alone afford him a reasonable chance of +moving unnoticed among them. Secretly congratulating +himself on the insulting mockery that had inducted his +upper form in the disguising warpaint of his enemies, he +now drew the protecting blanket close up to his eyes; +and then, with every nerve braced up, every faculty of +mind and body called into action, commenced his dangerous +enterprise. + +He had not, however, taken more than two or three steps +in advance, when, to his great discomfiture and alarm, +he beheld the formidable Wacousta approaching from a +distance, evidently in search of his prisoner. With the +quickness of thought he determined on his course. To +appear to avoid him would be to excite the suspicion of +the fierce warrior; and, desperate as the alternative +was, he resolved to move undeviatingly forward. At each +step that drew him nearer to his enemy, the beating of +his heart became more violent; and had it not been for +the thick coat of paint in which he was invested, the +involuntary contraction of the muscles of his face must +inevitably have betrayed him. Nay, even as it was, had +the keen eye of the warrior fallen on him, such was the +agitation of the officer, he felt he must have been +discovered. Happily, however, Wacousta, who evidently +took him for some inferior warrior hastening to the point +where his fellows were already assembled, passed without +deigning to look at him, and so close, their forms almost +touched. Captain de Haldimar now quickened his pace. It +was evident there was no time to be lost; for Wacousta, +on finding him gone, would at once give the alarm, when +a hundred warriors would be ready on the instant to +intercept his flight. Taking the precaution to disguise +his walk by turning in his toes after the Indian manner, +he reached, with a beating heart, the first of the numerous +warriors who were collected within the belt of forest, +anxiously watching the movements of the detachment in +the plain below. To his infinite joy he found that each +was too much intent on what was passing in the distance, +to heed any thing going on near themselves; and when he +at length gained the extreme opening, and stood in a line +with those who were the farthest advanced, without having +excited a single suspicion in his course, he could scarcely +believe the evidence of his senses. + +Still the most difficult part of the enterprise remained +to be completed. Hitherto he had moved under the friendly +cover of the underwood, the advantage of which had been +to conceal that part of his regimental trousers which +the blanket left exposed; and if he moved forward into +the clearing, the quick glance of an Indian would not be +slow in detecting the difference between these and his +own ruder leggings. There was no alternative now but to +commence his flight from the spot on which he stood; and +for this he prepared himself. At one rapid and comprehensive +view he embraced the immediate localities before him. On +the other side of the ravine he could now distinctly see +the English troops, either planning, as he conceived, +their own attack, or waiting in the hope of drawing the +Indians from their cover. It was evident that to reach +them the ravine must be crossed, unless the more circuitous +route by the bridge, which was hid from his view by an +intervening hillock, should be preferred; but as the +former had been cleared by Wacousta in his ascent, and +was the nearest point by which the detachment could be +approached, to this did he now direct his undivided +attention. + +While he yet paused with indecision, at one moment fancying +the time for starting was not yet arrived, and at the +next that he had suffered it to pass away, the powerful +and threatening voice of Wacousta was heard proclaiming +the escape of his captive. Low but expressive exclamations +from the warriors marked their sense of the importance +of the intelligence; and many of them hastily dispersed +themselves in pursuit. This was the critical moment for +action: for, as the anxious officer had rather wished +than expected, those Indians who had been immediately in +front, and whose proximity he most dreaded, were among +the number of those who dashed into the heart of the +forest--Captain de Haldimar now stood alone, and full +twenty paces in front of the nearest of the savages. For +a moment he played with his mocassined foot to satisfy +himself, of the power and flexibility of its muscles, +and then committing himself to his God, dashed the blanket +suddenly from his shoulders, and, with eye and heart +fixed on the distant soldiery, darted down the declivity +with a speed of which he had never yet believed himself +capable. Scarcely, however, had his fleeing form appeared +in the opening, when a tremendous and deafening yell rent +the air, and a dozen wild and naked warriors followed +instantly in pursuit. Attracted by that yell, the terrible +Wacousta, who had been seeking his victim in a different +quarter, bounded forward to the front with an eye flashing +fire, and a brow compressed into the fiercest hate; and +so stupendous were his efforts, so extraordinary was his +speed, that had it not been for the young Ottawa chief, +who was one of the pursuing party, and who, under the +pretence of assisting in the recapture of the prisoner, +sought every opportunity of throwing himself before, and +embarrassing the movements of his enemy, it is highly +probable the latter would have succeeded. Despite of +these obstacles, however, the fierce Wacousta, who had +been the last to follow, soon left the foremost of his +companions far behind him; and but for his sudden fall, +while in the very act of seizing the arm of his prisoner, +his gigantic efforts must have been crowned with the +fullest success. But the reader has already seen how +miraculously Captain de Haldimar, reduced to the last +stage of debility, as much from inanition as from the +unnatural efforts of his flight, finally accomplished +his return to the detachment. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +At the western extremity of the lake Huron, and almost +washed by the waters of that pigmy ocean, stands the fort +of Michilimackinac. Constructed on a smaller scale, and +garrisoned by a less numerical force, the defences of +this post, although less formidable than those of the +Detroit, were nearly similar, at the period embraced by +our story, both in matter and in manner. Unlike the latter +fortress, however, it boasted none of the advantages +afforded by culture; neither, indeed, was there a single +spot in the immediate vicinity that was not clad in the +eternal forest of these regions. It is true, that art +and laborious exertion had so far supplied the deficiencies +of nature as to isolate the fort, and throw it under the +protecting sweep of its cannon; but, while this afforded +security, it failed to produce any thing like a pleasing +effect to the eye. The very site on which the fortress +now stood had at one period been a portion of the wilderness +that every where around was only terminated by the sands +on the lake shore: and, although time and the axe of the +pioneer had in some degree changed its features, still +there was no trace of that blended natural scenery that +so pleasingly diversified the vicinity of the sister +fort. Here and there, along the imperfect clearing, and +amid the dark and thickly studded stumps of the felled +trees, which in themselves were sufficient to give the +most lugubrious character to the scene, rose the rude +log cabin of the settler; but, beyond this, cultivation +appeared to have lost her power in proportion with the +difficulties she had to encounter. Even the two Indian +villages, L'Arbre-Croche and Chabouiga, situate about a +mile from the fort, with which they formed nearly an +equilateral triangle, were hid from the view of the +garrison by the dark dense forest, in the heart of which +they were embedded. + +Lake ward the view was scarcely less monotonous; but it +was not, as in the rear, that monotony which is never +occasionally broken in upon by some occurrence of interest. +If the eye gazed long and anxiously for the white sail +of the well known armed vessel, charged at stated intervals +with letters and tidings of those whom time, and distance, +and danger, far from estranging, rendered more dear to +the memory, and bound more closely to the heart, it was +sure of being rewarded at last; and then there was no +picture on which it could love to linger so well as that +of the silver waves bearing that valued vessel in safety +to its wonted anchorage in the offing. Moreover, the +light swift bark canoes of the natives often danced +joyously on its surface; and while the sight was offended +at the savage, skulking among the trees of the forest, +like some dark spirit moving cautiously in its course of +secret destruction, and watching the moment when he might +pounce unnoticed on his unprepared victim, it followed, +with momentary pleasure and excitement, the activity and +skill displayed by the harmless paddler, in the swift +and meteor-like race that set the troubled surface of +the Huron in a sheet of hissing foam. Nor was this all. +When the eye turned wood-ward, it fell heavily, and +without interest, upon a dim and dusky point, known to +enter upon savage scenes and unexplored countries; whereas, +whenever it reposed upon the lake, it was with an eagerness +and energy that embraced the most vivid recollections of +the past, and led the imagination buoyantly over every +well-remembered scene that had previously been traversed, +and which must be traversed again before the land of the +European could be pressed once more. The forest, in a +word, formed, as it were, the gloomy and impenetrable +walls of the prison-house, and the bright lake that lay +before it the only portal through which happiness and +liberty could be again secured. + +The principal entrance into the fort, which presented +four equal sides of a square, was from the forest; but, +immediately opposite to this, and behind the apartments +of the commanding officer, there was another small gate +that opened upon the lake shore; but which, since the +investment of the place, had been kept bolted and locked, +with a precaution befitting the danger to which the +garrison was exposed. Still, there were periods, even +now, when its sullen hinges were to be heard moaning on +the midnight breeze; for it served as a medium of +communication between the besieged and others who were +no less critically circumstanced than themselves. + +The very day before the Indians commenced their simultaneous +attack on the several posts of the English, the only +armed vessel that had been constructed on these upper +lakes, serving chiefly as a medium of communication +between Detroit and Michilimackinac, had arrived with +despatches and letters from the former fort. A +well-concerted plan of the savages to seize her in her +passage through the narrow waters of the river Sinclair +had only been defeated by the vigilance of her commander; +but, ever since the breaking out of the war, she had been +imprisoned within the limits of the Huron. Laborious +indeed was the duty of the devoted crew. Several attempts +had been renewed by the Indians to surprise them; but, +although their little fleets stole cautiously and +noiselessly, at the still hour of midnight, to the spot +where, at the last expiring rays of twilight, they had +beheld her carelessly anchored, and apparently lulled +into security, the subject of their search was never to +be met with. No sooner were objects on the shore rendered +indistinct to the eye, than the anchor was silently +weighed, and, gliding wherever the breeze might choose +to carry her, the light bark was made to traverse the +lake, with every sail set, until dawn. None, however, +were suffered to slumber in the presumed security afforded +by this judicious flight. Every man was at his post; and, +while a silence so profound was preserved, that the noise +of a falling pin might have been heard upon her decks, +every thing was in readiness to repel an attack of their +enemies, should the vessel, in her course, come accidentally +in collision with their pigmy fleets. When morning broke, +and no sign of their treacherous foes was visible, the +vessel was again anchored, and the majority of the crew +suffered to retire to their hammocks, while the few whose +turn of duty it chanced to be, kept a vigilant look-out, +that, on the slightest appearance of alarm, their slumbering +comrades might again be aroused to energy and action. + +Severe and harassing as had been the duty on board this +vessel for many months,--at one moment exposed to the +assaults of the savages, at another assailed by the +hurricanes that are so prevalent and so dangerous on the +American lakes,--the situation of the crew was even less +enviable than that of the garrison itself. What chiefly +contributed to their disquietude, was the dreadful +consciousness that, however their present efforts might +secure a temporary safety, the period of their fall was +only protracted. A few months more must bring with them +all the severity of the winter of those climes, and then, +blocked up in a sea of ice,--exposed to all the rigour +of cold,--all the miseries of hunger,--what effectual +resistance could they oppose to the numerous bands of +Indians who, availing themselves of the defenceless +position of their enemies, would rush from every quarter +to their destruction. + +At the outset of these disheartening circumstances the +officer had summoned his faithful crew together, and +pointing out the danger and uncertainty of their position, +stated that two chances of escape still remained to them. +The first was, by an attempt to accomplish the passage +of the river Sinclair during some dark and boisterous +night, when the Indians would be least likely to suspect +such an intention: it was at this point that the efforts +of their enemies were principally to be apprehended; but +if, under cover of storm and darkness, they could accomplish +this difficult passage, they would easily gain the Detroit, +and thence pass into lake Erie, at the further extremity +of which they might, favoured by Providence, effect a +landing, and penetrate to the inhabited parts of the +colony of New York. The other alternative was,--and he +left it to themselves to determine,--to sink the vessel +on the approach of winter, and throw themselves into the +fort before them, there to await and share the destiny +of its gallant defenders. + +With the generous enthusiasm of their profession, the +noble fellows had determined on the latter course. With +their officer they fully coincided in opinion, that their +ultimate hopes of life depended on the safe passage of +the Sinclair; for it was but too obvious, that soon or +late, unless some very extraordinary revolution should +be effected in the intentions of the Indians, the fortress +must be starved into submission. Still, as it was +tolerably well supplied with provisions, this gloomy +prospect was remote, and they were willing to run all +chances with their friends on shore, rather than desert +them in their extremity. The determination expressed by +them, therefore, was, that when they could no longer keep +the lake in safety, they would, if the officer permitted +it, scuttle the vessel, and attempt an entrance into the +fort, where they would share the fate of the troops, +whatever it might chance to be. + +No sooner was this resolution made known, than their +young commander sought an opportunity of communicating +with the garrison, This, however, was no very easy task; +for, so closely was the fort hemmed in by the savages, +it was impossible to introduce a messenger within its +walls; and so sudden had been the cutting off of all +communication between the vessel and the shore, that the +thought had not even occurred to either commander to +establish the most ordinary intelligence by signal. In +this dilemma recourse was had to an ingenious expedient. +The dispatches of the officer were enclosed in one of +the long tin tubes in which were generally deposited the +maps and charts of the schooner, and to this, after having +been carefully soldered, was attached an inch rope of +several hundred fathoms in length: the case was then put +into one of the ship's guns, so placed as to give it the +elevation of a mortar; thus prepared, advantage was taken +of a temporary absence of the Indians to bring the vessel +within half a mile of the shore, and when the attention +of the garrison, naturally attracted by this unusual +movement, was sufficiently awakened, that opportunity +was chosen for the discharge of the gun; and as the +quantity of powder had been proportionably reduced for +the limited range, the tube was soon safely deposited +within the rampart. The same means were adopted in +replying; and one end of the rope remaining attached to +the schooner, all that was necessary was to solder up +the tube as before, and throw it over the ramparts upon +the sands, whence it was immediately pulled over her side +by the watchful mariners. + +As the dispatch conveyed to the garrison, among other +subjects of interest, bore the unwelcome intelligence +that the supplies of the crew were nearly expended, an +arrangement was proposed by which, at stated intervals, +a more immediate communication with the former might be +effected. Whenever, therefore, the wind permitted, the +vessel was kept hovering in sight during the day, beneath +the eyes of the savages, and on the approach of evening +an unshotted gun was discharged, with a view of drawing +their attention more immediately to her movements; every +sail was then set, and under a cloud of canvass the course +of the schooner was directed towards the source of the +Sinclair, as if an attempt to accomplish that passage +was to be made during the night. No sooner, however, +had the darkness fairly set in, than the vessel was put +about, and, beating against the wind, generally contrived +to reach the offing at a stated hour, when a boat, provided +with muffled oars, was sent off to the shore. This ruse +had several times deceived the Indians, and it was on +these occasions that the small gate to which we have +alluded was opened, for the purpose of conveying the +necessary supplies. + +The buildings of the fort consisted chiefly of block-houses, +the internal accommodations of which were fully in keeping +with their rude exterior, being but indifferently provided +with the most ordinary articles of comfort, and fitted +up as the limited resources of that wild and remote +district could supply. The best and most agreeably situated +of these, if a choice could be made, was that of the +commanding officer. This building rose considerably +above the others, and overhanging that part of the rampart +which skirted the shores of the Huron, commanded a full +view of the lake, even to its extremity of frowning and +belting forest. + +To this block-house there were two staircases; the +principal leading to the front entrance from the +barrack-square, the other opening in the rear, close +under the rampart, and communicating by a few rude steps +with the small gate that led upon the sands. In the lower +part of this building, appropriated by the commanding +officer to that exclusive purpose, the official duties +of his situation were usually performed; and on the +ground-floor a large room, that extended from front to +rear of the block-house on one side of the passage, had +formerly been used as a hall of council with the Indian +chiefs. The floor above this comprised both his own +private apartments and those set apart for the general +use of the family; but, above all, and preferable from +their cheerful view over the lake, were others, which +had been reserved for the exclusive accommodation of Miss +de Haldimar. This upper floor consisted of two sleeping +apartments, with a sitting-room, the latter extending +the whole length of the block-house and opening immediately +upon the lake, from the only two windows with which that +side of the building was provided. The principal staircase +led into one of the bed-rooms, and both of the latter +communicated immediately with the sitting-room, which +again, in its turn, opened, at the opposite extremity, +on the narrow staircase that led to the rear of the +block-house. + +The furniture of this apartment, which might be taken as +a fair sample of the best the country could afford, was +wild, yet simple, in the extreme. Neat rush mats, of an +oblong square, and fantastically put together, so as to +exhibit in the weaving of the several coloured reeds both +figures that were known to exist in the creation, and +those which could have no being save in the imagination +of their framers, served as excellent substitutes for +carpets, while rush bottomed chairs, the product of Indian +ingenuity also, occupied those intervals around the room +that were unsupplied by the matting. Upon the walls were +hung numerous specimens both of the dress and of the +equipments of the savages, and mingled with these were +many natural curiosities, the gifts of Indian chiefs to +the commandant at various periods before the war. + +Nothing could be more unlike the embellishments of a +modern European boudoir than those of this apartment, +which had, in some degree, been made the sanctum of its +present occupants. Here was to be seen the scaly carcass +of some huge serpent, extending its now harmless length +from the ceiling to the floor--there an alligator, stuffed +after the same fashion; and in various directions the +skins of the beaver, the marten, the otter, and an +infinitude of others of that genus, filled up spaces that +were left unsupplied by the more ingenious specimens of +Indian art. Head-dresses tastefully wrought in the shape +of the crowning bays of the ancients, and composed of +the gorgeous feathers of the most splendid of the forest +birds--bows and quivers handsomely, and even elegantly +ornamented with that most tasteful of Indian decorations, +the stained quill of the porcupine; war clubs of massive +iron wood, their handles covered with stained horsehair +and feathers curiously mingled together--machecotis, +hunting coats, mocassins, and leggings, all worked in +porcupine quill, and fancifully arranged,--these, with +many others, had been called into requisition to bedeck +and relieve the otherwise rude and naked walls of the +apartment. + +Nor did the walls alone reflect back the picture of savage +ingenuity, for on the various tables, the rude polish of +which was hid from view by the simple covering of green +baize, which moreover constituted the garniture of the +windows, were to be seen other products of their art. +Here stood upon an elevated stand a model of a bark canoe, +filled with its complement of paddlers carved in wood +and dressed in full costume; the latter executed with +such singular fidelity of feature, that although the +speaking figures sprung not from the experienced and +classic chisel of the sculptor but from the rude scalping +knife of the savage, the very tribe to which they belonged +could be discovered at a glance by the European who was +conversant with the features of each: then there were +handsomely ornamented vessels made of the birch bark, +and filled with the delicate sugars which the natives +extract from the maple tree in early spring; these of +all sizes, even to the most tiny that could well be +imagined, were valuable rather as exquisite specimens of +the neatness with which those slight vessels could be +put together, sewn as they were merely with strips of +the same bark, than from any intrinsic value they possessed. +Covered over with fantastic figures, done either in paint, +or in quill work artfully interwoven into the fibres of +the bark, they presented, in their smooth and polished +surface, strong evidence of the address of the savages +in their preparation of this most useful and abundant +produce of the country. Interspersed with these, too, +were numerous stands filled with stuffed birds, some of +which combined in themselves every variety and shade of +dazzling plumage; and numerous rude cases contained the +rarest specimens of the American butterfly, most of which +were of sizes and tints that are no where equalled in +Europe. One solitary table alone was appropriated to +whatever wore a transatlantic character in this wild and +museum-like apartment. On this lay a Spanish guitar, a +few pieces of old music, a collection of English and +French books, a couple of writing-desks, and, scattered +over the whole, several articles of unfinished needle-work. + +Such was the apartment in which Madeline and Clara de +Haldimar were met at the moment we have selected for +their introduction to our readers. It was the morning of +that day on which the second council of the chiefs, the +result of which has already been seen, was held at Detroit. +The sun had risen bright and gorgeously above the adjacent +forest, throwing his golden beams upon the calm glassy +waters of the lake; and now, approaching rapidly towards +the meridian, gradually diminished the tall bold shadows +of the block-houses upon the shore. At the distance of +about a mile lay the armed vessel so often alluded to; +her light low hull dimly seen in the hazy atmosphere that +danced upon the waters, and her attenuated masts and +sloping yards, with their slight tracery of cordage, +recalling rather the complex and delicate ramifications +of the spider's web, than the elastic yet solid machinery +to which the lives of those within had so often been +committed in sea and tempest. Upon the strand, and close +opposite to the small gate which now stood ajar, lay one +of her boats, the crew of which had abandoned her with +the exception only of a single individual, apparently +her cockswain, who, with the tiller under his arm, lay +half extended in the stern-sheets, his naked chest exposed, +and his tarpaulin hat shielding his eyes from the sun +while he indulged in profound repose. These were the only +objects that told of human life. Everywhere beyond the +eye rested on the faint outline of forest, that appeared +like the softened tracing of a pencil at the distant +junction of the waters with the horizon. + +The windows that commanded this prospect were now open; +and through that which was nearest to the gate, half +reclined the elegant, slight, and somewhat petite form +of a female, who, with one small and delicately formed +hand supporting her cheek, while the other played almost +unconsciously with an open letter, glanced her eye +alternately, and with an expression of joyousness, towards +the vessel that lay beyond, and the point in which the +source of the Sinclair was known to lie. It was Clara de +Haldimar. + +Presently the vacant space at the same window was filled +by another form, but of less girlish appearance--one that +embraced all the full rich contour of the Medicean Venus, +and a lazy languor in its movements that harmonised with +the speaking outlines of the form, and without which the +beauty of the whole would have been at variance and +imperfect. Neither did the face belie the general expression +of the figure. The eyes, of a light hazel, were large, +full, and somewhat prominent--the forehead broad, high, +and redolent with an expression of character--and the +cheek rich in that peculiar colour which can be likened +only to the downy hues of the peach, and is, in itself, +a physical earnest of the existence of deep, but not +boisterous--of devoted, but not obtrusive affections; +an impression that was not, in the present instance, +weakened by the full and pouting lip, and the rather +heavy formation of the lower face. The general expression, +moreover, of a countenance which, closely analysed, could +not be termed beautiful, marked a mind at once ardent in +its conceptions, and steady and resolute in its silent +accomplishments of purpose. She was of the middle height. + +Such was the person of Madeline de Haldimar; but attractive, +or rather winning, as were her womanly attributes, her +principal power lay in her voice,--the beauty, nay, the +voluptuousness of which nothing could surpass. It was +impossible to listen to the slow, full, rich, deep, and +melodious tones that fell trembling from her lips upon +the ear, and not feel, aye shudder, under all their +fascination on the soul. In such a voice might the +Madonna of Raphael have been supposed to offer up her +supplications from the gloomy precincts of the cloister. +No wonder that Frederick de Haldimar loved her, and loved +her with all the intense devotedness of his own glowing +heart. His cousin was to him a divinity whom he worshipped +in the innermost recesses of his being; and his, in +return, was the only ear in which the accents of that +almost superhuman voice had breathed the thrilling +confession of an attachment, which its very tones announced +could be deep and imperishable as the soul in which it +had taken root. Often in the hours that preceded the +period when they were to have been united heart and mind +and thought in one common destiny, would he start from +her side, his brain whirling with very intoxication, and +then obeying another wild impulse, rush once more into +her embrace; and clasping his beloved Madeline to his +heart, entreat her again to pour forth all the melody of +that confession in his enraptured ear. Artless and +unaffected as she was generous and impassioned, the fond +and noble girl never hesitated to gratify him whom alone +she loved; and deep and fervent was the joy of the soldier, +when he found that each passionate entreaty, far from +being met with caprice, only drew from the lips of his +cousin warmer and more affectionate expressions of her +attachment. Such expressions, coming from any woman, +must have been rapturous and soothing in the extreme; +but, when they flowed from a voice whose very sound was +melody, they acted on the heart of Captain de Haldimar +with a potency that was as irresistible as the love itself +which she inspired. + +Such was the position of things just before the commencement +of the Indian war. Madeline de Haldimar had been for some +time on a visit to Detroit, and her marriage with her +cousin was to have taken place within a few days. The +unexpected arrival of intelligence from Michilimackinac +that her father was dangerously ill, however, retarded +the ceremony; and, up to the present period, their +intercourse had been completely suspended. If Madeline +de Haldimar was capable of strong attachment to her lover, +the powerful ties of nature were no less deeply rooted +in her heart, and commiseration and anxiety for her father +now engrossed every faculty of her mind. She entreated +her cousin to defer the solemnisation of their nuptials +until her parent should be pronounced out of danger, and, +having obtained his consent to the delay, instantly set +off for Michilimackinac, accompanied by her cousin Clara, +whom, she had prevailed on the governor to part with +until her own return. Hostilities were commenced very +shortly afterwards, and, although Major de Haldimar +speedily recovered from his illness, the fair cousins +were compelled to share the common imprisonment of the +garrison. + +When Miss de Haldimar joined her more youthful cousin at +the window, through which the latter was gazing thoughtfully +on the scene before her, she flung her arm around her +waist with the protecting manner of a mother. The mild +blue eyes of Clara met those that were fastened in +tenderness upon her, and a corresponding movement on her +part brought the more matronly form of her cousin into +close and affectionate contact with her own. + +"Oh, Madeline, what a day is this!" she exclaimed; "and +how often on my bended knees have I prayed to Heaven that +it might arrive! Our trials are ended at last, and +happiness and joy are once more before us. There is the +boat that is to conduct us to the vessel, which, in its +turn, is to bear me to the arms of my dear father, and +you to those of the lover who adores you. How beautiful +does that fabric appear to me now! Never did I feel half +the pleasure in surveying it I do at this moment." + +"Dear, dear girl!" exclaimed Miss de Haldimar,--and she +pressed her closer and in silence to her heart: then, +after a slight pause, during which the mantling glow upon +her brow told how deeply she desired the reunion alluded +to by her cousin--"that, indeed, will be an hour of +happiness to us both, Clara; for irrevocably as our +affections have been pledged, it would be silly in the +extreme to deny that I long most ardently to be restored +to him who is already my husband. But, tell me," she +concluded, with an archness of expression that caused +the long-lashed eyes of her companion to sink beneath +her own, "are you quite sincere in your own case? I know +how deeply you love your father and your brothers, but +do these alone occupy your attention? Is there not a +certain friend of Charles whom you have some little +curiosity to see also?" + +"How silly, Madeline!" and the cheek of the young girl +became suffused with a deeper glow; "you know I have +never seen this friend of my brother, how then can I +possibly feel more than the most ordinary interest in +him? I am disposed to like him, certainly, for the mere +reason that Charles does; but this is all." + +"Well, Clara, I will not pretend to decide; but certain +it is, this is the last letter you received from Charles, +and that it contains the strongest recommendations of +his friend to your notice. Equally certain is it, that +scarcely a day has passed, since we have been shut up +here, that you have not perused and re-perused it half +a dozen times. Now, as I am confessedly one who should +know something of these matters, I must be suffered to +pronounce these are strong symptoms, to say the very +least. Ah! Clara, that blush declares you guilty.--But, +who have we here? Middleton and Baynton." + +The eyes of the cousins now fell upon the ramparts +immediately under the window. Two officers, one apparently +on duty for the day, were passing at the moment; and, as +they heard their names pronounced, stopped, looked up, +and saluted the young ladies with that easy freedom of +manner, which, unmixed with either disrespect or effrontery, +so usually characterises the address of military men. + +"What a contrast, by heaven!" exclaimed he who wore the +badge of duty suspended over his chest, throwing himself +playfully into a theatrical attitude, expressive at once +of admiration and surprise, while his eye glanced +intelligently over the fair but dissimilar forms of the +cousins. "Venus and Psyche in the land of the Pottowatamies +by all that is magnificent! Come, Middleton, quick, out +with that eternal pencil of yours, and perform your +promise." + +"And what may that promise be?" asked Clara, laughingly, +and without adverting to the hyperbolical compliment of +the dark-eyed officer who had just spoken. + +"You shall hear," pursued the lively captain of the guard. +"While making the tour of the ramparts just now, to visit +my sentries, I saw Middleton leaning most sentimentally +against one of the boxes in front, his notebook in one +hand and his pencil in the other. Curious to discover +the subject of his abstraction, I stole cautiously behind +him, and saw that he was sketching the head of a tall +and rather handsome squaw, who, in the midst of a hundred +others, was standing close to the gateway watching the +preparations of the Indian ball-players. I at once taxed +him with having lost his heart; and rallying him on his +bad taste in devoting his pencil to any thing that had +a red skin, never combed its hair, and turned its toes +in while walking, pronounced his sketch to be an absolute +fright. Well, will you believe what I have to add? The +man absolutely flew into a tremendous passion with me, +and swore that she was a Venus, a Juno, a Minerva, a +beauty of the first water in short; and finished by +promising, that when I could point out any woman who was +superior to her in personal attraction, he would on the +instant write no less than a dozen consecutive sonnets +in her praise. I now call upon him to fulfil his promise, +or maintain the superiority of his Indian beauty." + +Before the laughing Middleton could find time to reply +to the light and unmeaning rattle of his friend, the +quick low roll of a drum was heard from the front. The +signal was understood by both officers, and they prepared +to depart. + +"This is the hour appointed for the council," said Captain +Baynton, looking at his watch, "and I must be with my +guard, to receive the chiefs with becoming honour. How +I pity you, Middleton, who will have the infliction of +one of their great big talks, as Murphy would call it, +dinned into your ear for the next two hours at least! +Thank heaven, my tour of duty exempts me from that; and +by way of killing an hour, I think I shall go and carry +on a flirtation with your Indian Minerva, alias Venus, +alias Juno, while you are discussing the affairs of the +nation with closed doors. But hark! there is the assembly +drum again. We must be off. Come, Middleton, come.--Adieu!" +waving his hand to the cousins, "we shall meet at dinner." + +"What an incessant talker Baynton is!" observed Miss de +Haldimar, as the young men now disappeared round an angle +of the rampart; "but he has reminded me of what I had +nearly forgotten, and that is to give orders for dinner. +My father has invited all the officers to dine with him +to day, in commemoration of the peace which is being +concluded. It will be the first time we shall have all +met together since the commencement of this cruel war, +and we must endeavour, Clara, to do honour to the feast." + +"I hope," timidly observed her cousin, shuddering as she +spoke, "that none of those horrid chiefs will be present, +Madeline; for, without any affectation of fear whatever, +I feel that I could not so far overcome my disgust as to +sit at the same table with them. There was a time, it is +true, when I thought nothing of these things; but, since +the war, I have witnessed and heard so much of their +horrid deeds, that I shall never be able to endure the +sight of an Indian face again. Ah!" she concluded, turning +her eyes upon the lake, while she clung more closely to +the embrace of her companion; "would to Heaven, Madeline, +that we were both at this moment gliding in yonder vessel, +and in sight of my father's fort!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The eyes of Miss de Haldimar followed those of her cousin, +and rested on the dark hull of the schooner, with which +so many recollections of the past and anticipations of +the future were associated in their minds. When they had +last looked upon it, all appearance of human life had +vanished from its decks; but now there was strong evidence +of unusual bustle and activity. Numerous persons could +be seen moving hastily to and fro, their heads just +peering above the bulwarks; and presently they beheld a +small boat move from the ship's side, and shoot rapidly +ahead, in a direct line with the well-known bearings of +the Sinclair's source. While they continued to gaze on +this point, following the course of the light vessel, +and forming a variety of conjectures as to the cause of +a movement, especially remarkable from the circumstance +of the commander being at that moment in the fort, whither +he had been summoned to attend the council, another and +scarcely perceptible object was dimly seen, at the distance +of about half a mile in front of the boat. With the aid +of a telescope, which had formed one of the principal +resources of the cousins during their long imprisonment, +Miss de Haldimar now perceived a dark and shapeless mass +moving somewhat heavily along the lake, and in a line +with the schooner and the boat. This was evidently +approaching; for each moment it loomed larger upon the +hazy water, increasing in bulk in the same proportion +that the departing skiff became less distinct: still, it +was impossible to discover, at that distance, in what +manner it was propelled. Wind there was none, not as much +as would have changed the course of a feather dropping +through space; and, except where the dividing oars of +the boatmen had agitated the waters, the whole surface +of the lake was like a sea of pale and liquid gold. + +At length the two dark bodies met, and the men in the +boat were seen to lie upon their oars, while one in the +stem seemed to be in the act of attaching a rope to the +formless matter. For a few moments there was a cessation +of all movement; and then again the active and sturdy +rowing of the boatmen was renewed, and with an exertion +of strength even more vigorous than that they had previously +exhibited. Their course was now directed towards the +vessel; and, as it gradually neared that fabric, the rope +by which the strange-looking object was secured, could +be distinctly though faintly seen with the telescope. It +was impossible to say whether the latter, whatever it +might be, was urged by some invisible means, or merely +floated in the wake of the boat; for, although the waters +through which it passed ran rippling and foaming from +their course, this effect might have been produced by +the boat which preceded it. As it now approached the +vessel, it presented the appearance of a dense wood of +evergreens, the overhanging branches of which descended +close to the water's edge, and baffled every attempt of +the cousins to discover its true character. The boat had +now arrived within a hundred yards of the schooner, when +a man was seen to rise from its bows, and, putting both +his hands to his mouth, after the manner of sailors in +hailing, to continue in that position for some moments, +apparently conversing with those who were grouped along +the nearest gangway. Then were observed rapid movements +on the decks; and men were seen hastening aloft, and +standing out upon the foremast yards. This, however, had +offered no interruption to the exertions of the boatmen, +who still kept plying with a vigour that set even the +sail-less vessel in motion, as the foaming water, thrown +from their bending oar-blades, dashed angrily against +her prow. Soon afterwards both the boat and her prize +disappeared on the opposite side of the schooner, which, +now lying with her broadside immediately on a line with +the shore, completely hid them from the further view of +the cousins. + +"Look!--Look!" said Clara, clinging sensitively and with +alarm to the almost maternal bosom against which she +reposed, while she pointed with her finger to another +dark mass that was moving through the lake in a circular +sweep from the point of wood terminating the clearing on +the right of the fort. + +Miss de Haldimar threw the glass on the object to which +her attention was now directed. It was evidently some +furred animal, and presented all the appearance either +of a large water-rat or a beaver, the latter of which it +was pronounced to be as a nearer approach rendered its +shape more distinct. Ever and anon, too, it disappeared +altogether under the water; and, when it again came in +sight, it was always several yards nearer. Its course, +at first circuitous, at length took a direct line with +the stern of the boat, where the sailor who was in charge +still lay extended at his drowsy length, his tarpaulin +hat shading his eyes, and his arms folded over his +uncovered and heaving chest, while he continued to sleep +as profoundly as if he had been comfortably berthed in +his hammock in the middle of the Atlantic. + +"What a large bold animal it is," remarked Clara, in die +tone of one who wishes to be confirmed in an impression +but indifferently entertained. "See how close it approaches +the boat! Mad that lazy sailor but his wits about him, +he might easily knock it on the head with his oar. It +is--it is a beaver, Madeline; I can distinguish its head +even with the naked eye." + +"Heaven grant it may be a beaver," answered Miss de +Haldimar, in a voice so deep and full of meaning, that +it made her cousin startle and turn paler even than +before. "Nay, Clara, dearest, command yourself, nor give +way to what may, after all, prove a groundless cause of +alarm. Yet, I know not how it is, my heart misgives me +sadly; for I like not the motions of this animal, which +are strangely and unusually bold. But this is not all: +a beaver or a rat might ruffle the mere surface of the +water, yet this leaves behind it a deep and gurgling +furrow, as if the element had been ploughed to its very +bottom. Observe how the lake is agitated and discoloured +wherever it has passed. Moreover, I dislike this sudden +bustle on board the schooner, knowing, as I do, there is +not an officer present to order the movements now visibly +going forward. The men are evidently getting up the +anchor; and see how her sails are loosened, apparently +courting the breeze, as if she would fly to avoid some +threatened danger. Would to Heaven this council scene +were over; for I do, as much as yourself, dearest Clara, +distrust these cruel Indians!" + +A significant gesture from her trembling cousin again +drew her attention from the vessel to the boat. The +animal, which now exhibited the delicate and glossy fur +of the beaver, had gained the stern, and remained stationary +within a foot of her quarter. Presently the sailor made +a sluggish movement, turning himself heavily on his side, +and with his face towards his curious and daring visitant. +In the act the tarpaulin hat had fallen from his eyes, +but still he awoke not. Scarcely had he settled himself +in his new position, when, to the infinite horror of the +excited cousins, a naked human hand was raised from +beneath the surface of the lake, and placed upon the +gunwale of the boat Then rose slowly, and still covered +with its ingenious disguise, first the neck, then the +shoulders, and finally the form, even to the midwaist, +of a dark and swarthy Indian, who, stooping low and +cautiously over the sailor, now reposed the hand that +had quitted the gunwale upon his form, while the other +was thrust searchingly into the belt encircling his waist. + +Miss de Haldimar would have called out, to apprise the +unhappy man of his danger; but her voice refused its +office, and her cousin was even less capable of exertion +than herself. The deep throbbings of their hearts were +now audible to each; for the dreadful interest they took +in the scene, had excited their feelings to the most +intense stretch of agony. At the very moment, however, +when, with almost suspended animation, they expected to +see the knife of the savage driven into the chest of the +sleeping and unsuspecting sailor, the latter suddenly +started up, and, instinct with the full sense of the +danger by which he was menaced, in less time than we take +to describe it, seized the tiller of his rudder, the only +available instrument within his reach, and directing a +powerful blow at the head of his amphibious enemy, laid +him, without apparent life or motion, across the boat. + +"Almighty God! what can this mean?" exclaimed Miss de +Haldimar, as soon as she could recover her presence of +mind. "There is some fearful treachery in agitation; and +a cloud now hangs over all, that will soon burst with +irresistible fury on our devoted heads. Clara, my love," +and she conducted the almost fainting girl to a seat, +"wait here until I return. The moment is critical, and +my father must be apprised of what we have seen. Unless +the gates of the fort be instantly closed, we are lost." + +"Oh, Madeline, leave me not alone," entreated the sinking +Clara. "We will go together. Perhaps I may be of service +to you below." + +"The thought is good; but have you strength and courage +to face the dark chiefs in the council-room. If so, hasten +there, and put my father on his guard, while I fly across +the parade, and warn Captain Baynton of the danger." + +With these words she drew the arm of her agitated cousin +within her own, and, rapidly traversing the apartment, +gained the bed-room which opened close upon the head of +the principal staircase. Already were they descending +the first steps, when a loud cry, that sent a thrill of +terror through their blood, was heard from without the +fort. For a moment Miss de Haldimar continued irresolute; +and leaning against the rude balustrade for support, +passed her hand rapidly across her brow, as if to collect +her scattered energies. The necessity for prompt and +immediate action was, however, evident; and she alone +was capable of exertion. Speechless with alarm, and +trembling in every joint, the unhappy Clara had now lost +all command of her limbs; and, clinging close to the side +of her cousin, by her wild looks alone betrayed +consciousness had not wholly deserted her. The energy of +despair lent more than woman's strength to Miss de +Haldimar. She caught the fainting girl in her arms, +retraced her way to the chamber, and depositing her burden +on the bed, emphatically enjoined her on no account to +move until her return. She then quitted the room, and +rapidly descended the staircase. + +For some moments all was still and hushed as the waveless +air; and then again a loud chorus of shouts was heard +from the ramparts of the fort. The choked breathing of +the young girl became more free, and the blood rushed +once more from her oppressed heart to the extremities. +Never did tones of the human voice fall more gratefully +on the ear of mariner cast on some desert island, than +did those on that of the highly excited Clara. It was +the loud laugh of the soldiery, who, collected along the +line of rampart in front, were watching the progress of +the ball-players. Cheered by the welcome sounds, she +raised herself from the bed to satisfy her eye her ear +had not deceived her. The windows of both bed-chambers +looked immediately on the barrack square, and commanded +a full view of the principal entrance. From that at which +she now stood, the revived but still anxious girl could +distinctly see all that was passing in front. The ramparts +were covered with soldiers, who, armed merely with their +bayonets, stood grouped in careless attitudes--some with +their wives leaning on their arms--others with their +children upraised, that they might the better observe +the enlivening sports without--some lay indolently with +their legs overhanging the works--others, assuming +pugilistic attitudes, dealt their harmless blows at each +other,--and all were blended together, men, women, and +children, with that heedlessness of thought that told +how little of distrust existed within their breasts. The +soldiers of the guard, too, exhibited the same air of +calm and unsuspecting confidence; some walking to and +fro within the square, while the greater portion either +mixed with their comrades above, or, with arms folded, +legs carelessly crossed, and pipe in mouth, leant lazily +against the gate, and gazed beyond the lowered drawbridge +on the Indian games. + +A mountain weight seemed to have been removed from the +breast of Clara at this sight, as she now dropped upon +her knees before the window, and raised her hands in +pious acknowledgment to Heaven. + +"Almighty God, I thank thee," she fervently exclaimed, +her eye once more lighting up, and her cheek half suffused +with blushes at her late vague and idle fears; while she +embraced, at a single glance, the whole of the gladdening +and inspiriting scene. + +While her soul was yet upturned whither her words had +gone before, her ears were again assailed by sounds that +curdled her blood, and made her spring to her feet as if +stricken by a bullet through the heart; or powerfully +touched by some electric fluid. It was the well-known +and devilish war-cry of the savages, startling the very +air through which it passed, and falling like a deadly +blight upon the spirit. With a mechanical and desperate +effort at courage, the unhappy girl turned her eyes below, +and there met images of death in their most appalling +shapes. Hurry and confusion and despair were every where +visible; for a band of Indians were already in the fort, +and these, fast succeeded by others, rushed like a torrent +into the square, and commenced their dreadful work of +butchery. Many of the terrified soldiers, without thinking +of drawing their bayonets, flew down the ramparts in +order to gain their respective block-houses for their +muskets: but these every where met death from the crashing +tomahawk, short rifle, or gleaming knife;--others who +had presence of mind sufficient to avail themselves of +their only weapons of defence, rushed down in the fury +of desperation on the yelling fiends, resolved to sell +their lives as dearly as possible; and for some minutes +an obstinate contest was maintained: but the vast +superiority of the Indian numbers triumphed; and although +the men fought with all the fierceness of despair, forcing +their way to the block-houses, their mangled corpses +strewed the area in every direction. Neither was the +horrid butchery confined to these. Women clinging to +their husbands for protection, and, in the recklessness +of their despair, impeding the efforts of the latter in +their self-defence--children screaming in terror, or +supplicating mercy on their bonded knees--infants clasped +to their parents' breasts,--all alike sunk under the +unpitying steel of the blood-thirsty savages. At the +guard-house the principal stand had been made; for at +the first rush into the fort, the men on duty had gained +their station, and, having made fast the barricades, +opened their fire upon the enemy. Mixed pele-mele as they +were with the Indians, many of the English were shot by +their own comrades, who, in the confusion of the moment, +were incapable of taking a cool and discriminating aim. +These, however, were finally overcome. A band of desperate +Indians rushed upon the main door, and with repeated +blows from their tomahawks and massive war-clubs, succeeded +in demolishing it, while others diverted the fire of +those within. The door once forced, the struggle was soon +over. Every man of the guard perished; and their scalpless +and disfigured forms were thrown out to swell the number +of those that already deluged the square with their blood. + +Even amid all the horrors of this terrific scene, the +agonised Clara preserved her consciousness. The very +imminence of the danger endued her with strength to +embrace it under all its most disheartening aspects; and +she, whose mind had been wrought up to the highest pitch +of powerful excitement by the mere preliminary threatenings, +was comparatively collected under the catastrophe itself. +Death, certain death, to all, she saw was inevitable; +and while her perception at once embraced the futility +of all attempts at escape from the general doom, she +snatched from despair the power to follow its gloomy +details without being annihilated under their weight. + +The confusion of the garrison had now reached its acme +of horror. The shrieks of women and the shrill cries of +children, as they severally and fruitlessly fled from +the death certain to overtake them in the end,--the +cursings of the soldiers, the yellings of the Indians, +the reports of rifles, and the crashings of tomahawks;-- +these, with the stamping of human feet in the death +struggle maintained in the council-room below between +the chiefs and the officers, and which shook the block-house +to its very foundation, all mixed up in terrible chorus +together, might have called up a not inapt image of hell +to the bewildered and confounding brain. And yet the sun +shone in yellow lustre, and all Nature smiled, and wore +an air of calm, as if the accursed deed had had the +sanction of Heaven, and the spirits of light loved to +look upon the frightful atrocities then in perpetration. + +In the first distraction of her spirit, Clara had utterly +lost all recollection of her cousin; but now that she +had, with unnatural desperation, brought her mind to bear +upon the fiercest points of the grim reality, she turned +her eye every where amid the scene of death in search of +the form of her beloved Madeline, whom she did not remember +to have seen cross the parade in pursuance of the purpose +she had named. While she yet gazed fearfully from the +window, loud bursts of mingled anguish and rage, that +were almost drowned in the fiercer yells with which they +were blended, ascended from the ground floor of the +block-house. These had hitherto been suppressed, as if +the desperate attack of the chiefs on the officers had +been made with closed doors. Now, however, there was an +evident outburst of all parties into the passage; and +there the struggle appeared to be desperately and fearfully +maintained. In the midst of that chaotic scene, the loud +and piercing shriek of a female rose far above the +discordant yell even of the savages. There was an instant +of pause, and then the crashing of a skull was heard, +and the confusion was greater than before, and shrieks, +and groans, and curses, and supplications rent the air. + +The first single shriek came from Madeline de Haldimar, +and vibrated through every chord of the heart on which +it sank. Scarcely conscious of what she did, Clara, +quitting the window, once more gained the top of the +staircase, and at the extremity of her voice called on +the name of her cousin in the most piteous accents. She +was answered by a loud shout from the yelling band; and +presently bounding feet and screaming voices were heard +ascending the stairs. The terrified girl fancied at the +moment she heard a door open on the floor immediately +below her, and some one dart suddenly up the flight +communicating with the spot on which she stood. Without +waiting to satisfy herself, she rushed with all the +mechanical instinct of self-preservation back into her +own apartment. As she passed the bed-room window, she +glanced once more hastily into the area below, and there +beheld a sight that, filling her soul with despair, +paralysed all further exertion. A tall savage was bearing +off the apparently lifeless form of her cousin through +the combatants in the square, her white dress stained +all over with blood, and her beautiful hair loosened and +trailing on the ground. She followed with her burning +eyes until they passed the drawbridge, and finally +disappeared behind the intervening rampart, and then +bowing her head between her hands, and sinking upon her +knees, she reposed her forehead against the sill of the +window, and awaited unshrinkingly, yet in a state of +inconceivable agony, the consummation of her own unhappy +destiny. + +The sounds of ascending feet were now heard in the passage +without; and presently, while the clangour of a thousand +demons seemed to ring throughout the upper part of the +building, a man rushed furiously into the room. The blood +of the young girl curdled in her veins. She mechanically +grasped the ledge of the window on which her aching head +still reposed, and with her eyes firmly closed, to shut +out from view the fiend whose sight she dreaded, even +more than the death which threatened her, quietly awaited +the blow that was to terminate at once her misery and +her life. Scarcely, however, had the feet of the intruder +pressed the sanctuary of her bedchamber, when the heavy +door, strongly studded with nails, was pushed rapidly +to, and bolt and lock were heard sliding into their +several sockets. Before Clara could raise her head to +discover the cause of this movement, she felt herself +firmly secured in the grasp of an encircling arm, and +borne hastily through the room. An instinctive sense of +something worse even than death now flashed across the +mind of the unhappy girl; and while she feared to unclose +her eyes, she struggled violently to disengage herself. + +"Clara! dear Miss de Haldimar, do you not know me?" +exclaimed her supporter, while, placing her for a moment +on a seat, he proceeded to secure the fastenings of the +second door, that led from the bed-chamber into the larger +apartment. + +Re-assured by the tones of a voice which, even in that +dreadful moment of trial and destruction, were familiar +to her ear, the trembling girl opened her eyes wildly +upon her protector. A slight scream of terror marked her +painful sense of the recognition. It was Captain Baynton +whom she beheld: but how unlike the officer who a few +minutes before had been conversing with her from the +ramparts. His fine hair, matted with blood, now hung +loosely and disfiguringly over his eyes, and his pallid +face and brow were covered with gore spots, the evident +spatterings from the wounds of others; while a stream +that issued from one side of his head attested he himself +had not escaped unhurt in the cruel melee. A skirt and +a lappel had been torn from his uniform, which, together +with other portions of his dress, were now stained in +various parts by the blood continually flowing from his +wound. + +"Oh, Captain Baynton," murmured the fainting girl, her +whole soul sinking within her, as she gazed shudderingly +on his person, "is there no hope for us? must we die?" + +"No, by Heaven, not while I have strength to save you," +returned the officer, with energy. "If the savages have +not penetrated to the rear, we may yet escape. I saw the +postern open just now, on my passage round the rampart, +and the boat of the schooner upon the strand. Ha!" he +exclaimed, as he flew to the window, and cast his eye +rapidly below, "we are lost! The gate is still clear, +and not an Indian to be seen; but the coward sailor is +pulling for his life towards the vessel. But hold! another +boat is now quitting the ship's side. See, how manfully +they give themselves to the oars: in a few minutes they +will be here. Come, Clara, let us fly!" and again he +caught her in his arms, and bore her across the room. +"Hark, hear you not the exulting yellings of the monsters? +They are forcing the outer door: mark how they redouble +their efforts to break it open! That passed, but one more +barrier remains between us and inevitable and instant +death." + +"And my cousin, my uncle!" shrieked the unhappy girl, as +the officer now bore her rapidly down the back staircase. + +"Oh, ask me not!" exclaimed Baynton: "were I to linger +again on all I have witnessed, I should go mad. All, all +have perished! but, hark!" + +A tremendous yell now bursting from the passage, announced +at once, the triumph of the savages in having effected +an entrance into the bed-room, and their disappointment +at finding their pursuit baulked by a second door. +Presently afterwards their heavy weapons were to be heard +thundering at this new obstacle, in the most furious +manner. This gave new stimulus to the exertions of the +generous officer. Each winding of the staircase was +familiar to him, and he now descended it with a rapidity +which, considering the burden that reposed against his +chest, could only have been inspired by his despair. The +flight terminated at a door that led directly upon the +rampart, without communicating with any of the passages +of the building; and in this consisted the principal +facility of escape: for, in order to reach them, the +savages must either make the circuit of the block-house, +or overtake them in the course they were now following. +In this trying emergency, the presence of mind of the +young officer, wounded and bleeding as he was, did not +desert him. On quitting the larger apartment above, he +had secured the outside fastenings of a small door at +the top of the stairs, and having now gained the bottom, +he took a similar precaution. All that remained was to +unclose the bolts of the ponderous door that opened upon +their final chance of escape: this was speedily done, +but here the feelings of the officer were put to a severe +test. A rude partition divided him from the fatal +council-room; and while he undid the fastenings, the +faint and dying groans of his butchered brother officers +rung in his ears, even at the moment that he felt his +feet dabbling in the blood that oozed through the +imperfectly closed planks of which the partition was +composed. As for Clara, she was insensible to all that +was passing. From the moment of the Indian yell, announcing +their entry into the bed-room, she had fainted. + +The huge door came now creaking back upon its hinges, +when the sounds of the yet unfinished conflict in front, +which had hitherto been deadened in their descent through +the remote staircase, rang once more fiercely and +startlingly upon the ear. A single glance satisfied +Captain Baynton the moment for exertion was come, and +that the way to the lake shore, which, by some strange +oversight, both the Indians and the men had overlooked, +was perfectly clear. He clasped his unconscious burden +closer to his chest, and then, setting his life upon the +cast, hastened down the few steps that led to the rampart, +and dashed rapidly through the postern; in the next minute +he stood on the uttermost verge of the sands, unharmed +and onfollowed. He cast his eyes anxiously along the +surface of the lake; but such was the excitement and +confusion of his mind, produced by the horrid recollection +of the past scene, it was not until he had been abruptly +hailed from it, he could see a boat, at the distance of +about two hundred yards, the crew of which were lying on +their oars. It was the long boat of the schooner, which, +prevented from a nearer approach by a sand bar that ran +along the lake to a considerable extent, had taken her +station there to receive the fugitives. Two tall young +men in the dress, yet having little the mien, of common +sailors, were standing up in her stern; and one of these, +with evident anxiety in his manner, called on Baynton by +name to make the best of his way to the boat. At that +moment a loud and frantic yell came from the block-house +the latter had just quitted. In the wild impulse of his +excited feelings, he answered with a cheer of defiance, +as he turned to discover the precise point whence it +proceeded. The windows of the apartment so recently +occupied by the unhappy cousins, were darkened with savage +forms, who now pealed forth their mingled fury and +disappointment in the most terrific manner. + +"Fly, fly, Baynton, or you are lost!" exclaimed the same +voice from the boat; "the devils are levelling from the +windows." + +While he yet spake several shots came whizzing along the +waters, and a spent ball even struck the now rapidly +fleeing officer in the back; but the distance was too +great for serious injury. The guns of the savages had +been cut so short for their desperate enterprise, that +they carried little further than a horse pistol. + +Again, in the desperation of his feelings, and heedless +of the danger he was drawing on himself and charge, the +officer turned fiercely round and shouted, at his utmost +lungs, a peal of triumph in the ears of his enemies. +Scarcely, however, had the sounds escaped his lips, when +two hideously painted Indians sprang through the postern, +and, silent as the spectres they resembled, rushed down +the sands, and thence into the lake. Loud shouts from +the windows above were again pealed forth, and from the +consternation visible on the features of those within +the boat, the nearly exhausted Baynton learnt all the +risk he incurred. Summoning all his strength, he now made +the most desperate efforts to reach his friends. The lake +was little more than knee deep from the shore to the bar, +but, encumbered as he was, the difficulty opposed to his +movements was immeasurably against him, and yet he seemed +generously resolved rather to perish than relinquish his +charge. Already were his pursuers, now closely followed +by a numerous band, within twenty yards of him, when the +two young men, each armed with a cutlass and pistol, +sprang from the boat upon the sand bar: as the Indians +came on they fired deliberately at them, but both missed +their aim. Encouraged by this failure, the fearless devils +dashed eagerly on, brandishing their gleaming tomahawks, +but littering not a sound. Already was the unfortunate +Baynton within a few feet of the bar, when he felt that +the savages were immediately upon him. + +"Take, take, for God's sake take her!" he cried, as with +a desperate effort he threw the light form of the still +unconscious girl into the arms of one of the young men. +"My strength is quite exhausted, and I can do no more." + +For the first time a yell burst from the lips of the +pursuing savages, as they saw him, to whom the guardianship +of the wretched Clara was now confided, suddenly spring +from the sand bar into the lake, and in a few rapid +strokes gain the side of the boat. Leaving the hapless +Baynton to be disposed of by his companion, the foremost +darted upon the bank, burning with disappointment, and +resolved to immolate another victim. For a moment he +balanced his tomahawk, and then, with the rapidity of +thought, darted it at the covered head of the youth who +still lingered on the bar. A well-timed movement of the +latter averted the blow, and the whizzing steel passed +harmlessly on. A gutteral "Ugh!" marked the disappointment +of the Indian, now reduced to his scalping-knife; but +before he could determine whether to advance or to retreat, +his opponent had darted upon him, and, with a single blow +from his cutlass, cleft his skull nearly asunder. The +next instantaneous purpose of the victor was to advance +to the rescue of the exhausted Baynton; but, when he +turned to look for him, he saw the mangled form of what +had once been that gallant and handsome officer floating, +without life or motion, on the blood-stained surface of +the Huron, while his fiendish murderer, calmly awaiting +the approach of his companions, held up the reeking scalp, +in triumph, to the view of the still yelling groups within +the block-house. + +"Noble, generous, self-devoted fellow!" exclaimed the +youth, as he fixed his burning tearless eye for a moment +on the unfortunate victim; "even you, then, are not spared +to tell the horrid story of this butchery; yet is the +fate of the fallen far, far more enviable than that of +those who have survived this day." He then committed his +cutlass to its sheath; and, leaping into the deep water +that lay beyond the bar, was, in a few seconds, once more +in the stern of the boat. + +Meanwhile, the numerous band, who followed their two +first fierce comrades into the lake, bounded rapidly +forward; and, so active were their movements, that, at +almost the same moment when the second of the youths had +gained his temporary place of refuge, they stood yelling +and screaming on the sand bar he had just quitted. Two +or three, excited to desperation by the blood they had +seen spilt, plunged unhesitatingly into the opposite +depths of the lake; and the foremost of these was the +destroyer of the ill-fated Baynton. With his bloody +scalping-knife closely clutched between his teeth, and +his tomahawk in his right hand, this fierce warrior +buffeted the waves lustily with one arm, and, noiselessly +as in the early part of his pursuit, urged his way towards +the boat. In the stern of this a few planks from the +schooner had been firmly lashed, to serve as a shield +against the weapons of the savages, and was so arranged +as to conceal all within while retiring from the shore. +A small aperture had, however, been bored for the purpose +of observing the movements of the enemy without risk. +Through this an eye was now directed, while only the +blades of the oars were to be seen projecting from the +boat's sides as they reposed in their rowlocks. Encouraged +by the seeming apathy and inertness of the crew, the +swimming savages paused not to consider of consequences, +but continued their daring course as if they had apprehended +neither risk nor resistance. Presently a desperate splash +was heard near the stern of the boat, and the sinuous +form of the first savage was raised above the gunwale, +his grim face looking devilish in its war-paint, and his +fierce eyes gleaming and rolling like fire-balls in their +sockets. Scarcely was he seen, however, when he had again +disappeared. A blow from the cutlass that had destroyed +his companion descended like lightning on his naked and +hairless head; and, in the agony of death, he might be +seen grinding his teeth against the knife which the +instinctive ferocity of his nature forbade his +relinquishing. A yell of fury burst from the savages on +the bar, and presently a shower of bullets ran whistling +through the air. Several were heard striking the rude +rampart in the stem; but, although the boat was scarcely +out of pistol-shot, the thickness of the wood prevented +all injury to those within. Another fierce yell followed +this volley; and then nearly a score of warriors, giving +their guns in charge to their companions, plunged furiously +into the water; and, with an air of the most infuriated +determination, leaped rather than swam along its surface. + +"Now, then, my lads, give way," said he at the look-out; +"there are more than a dozen of the devils in full cry; +and our only chance is in flight! Ha! another here!" as, +turning to issue these directions, he chanced to see the +dark hand of a savage at that moment grasping the gunwale +of the boat, as if with a view to retard her movements +until the arrival of his companions. + +A heavy blow from his cutlass accompanied these words. +The fingers, divided at their very roots, rolled to the +bottom of the boat, and the carcase of the savage dropped, +with a yell of anguish, far in the rear. The heavy +oar-blades of the seamen now made play, dashing the lake +away in sheets of foam; and, in less than five minutes, +the heads of the swimming savages were seen mingling like +so many rats upon the water, as they returned once more +in disappointment from their fruitless pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The sun had gone down, as he had risen, in all the +gloriousness of his autumnal splendour, and twilight was +now fast descending on the waters of the Huron. A slight +breeze was just beginning to make itself felt from the +land, the gradual rising of which was hailed by many an +anxious heart, as the schooner, which had been making +vain attempts to quit her anchorage during the day, now +urged her light bows through the slightly curling element. +A death-like silence, interrupted only by the low gruff +voice of a veteran seaman, as he issued, in technical +language, the necessary orders for the management of the +vessel, prevailed every where along her decks. The dress +and general appearance of this individual announced him +for a petty officer of the royal service; and it was +evident, from the tone of authority with which he spoke, +he was now in the enjoyment of a temporary command. The +crew, consisting of about thirty souls, and chiefly +veterans of the same class, were assembled along the +gangways, each man wearing a brace of pistols in the +belt, which, moreover, secured a naked cutlass around +his loins; and these now lingered near the several guns +that were thrown out from their gloomy looking ports, as +if ready for some active service. But, although the arming +of these men indicated hostile preparation, there was +none of that buoyancy of movement and animation of feature +to be observed, which so usually characterise the +indomitable daring of the British sailor. Some stood +leaning their heads pensively on their hands against the +rigging and hammocks that were stowed away along the +bulwarks, after the fashion of war ships in boarding; +others, with arms tightly folded across their chests, +spirted the tobacco juice thoughtfully from their closed +teeth into the receding waters; while not a few gazed +earnestly and despondingly on the burning fort in the +distance, amid the rolling volumes of smoke and flame +from which, ever and anon, arose the fiendish yell of +those who, having already sacked, were now reducing it +to ashes. Nor was this the only object of their attention. +On the sand bank alluded to in our last chapter were to +be dimly seen through the growing dusk, the dark outlines +of many of the savages, who, frantic with rage at their +inability to devote them to the same doom, were still +unwilling to quit a spot which approached them nearest +to the last surviving objects of their enmity. Around +this point, were collected numerous canoes, filled also +with warriors; and, at the moment when the vessel, obeying +the impulse given by her flowing sails, glided from her +anchorage, these followed, scudding in her wake, and made +a show of attacking her in the stern. The sudden yawing +of the schooner, however, in bringing her tier of bristling +ports into view, had checked the ardour of the pursuing +fleet; and the discharge of a single gun, destroying in +its course three of their canoes, and carrying death +among those who directed them, had driven them back, in +the greatest hurry and confusion, to their yelling and +disappointed comrades. + +The after-deck of the schooner presented a different, +though not less sombre and discouraging, scene. On a pile +of mattresses lay the light and almost inanimate form of +Clara de Haldimar; her fair and redundant hair overshadowing +her pallid brow and cheek, and the dress she had worn at +the moment of her escape from the fort still spotted with +the blood of her generous but unfortunate preserver. +Close at her side, with her hands clasped in his, while +he watched the expression of deep suffering reflected +from each set feature, and yet with the air of one +pre-occupied with some other subject of painful interest, +sat, on an empty shot-box, the young man in sailor's +attire, whose cutlass had performed the double service +of destroying his own immediate opponent, and avenging +the death of the devoted Baynton. At the head of the rude +couch, and leaning against a portion of the schooner's +stern-work, stood his companion, who from delicacy appeared +to have turned away his eyes from the group below, merely +to cast them vacantly on the dark waters through which +the vessel was now beginning to urge her course. + +Such was the immediate position of this little party, +when the gun fired at the Indians was heard booming +heavily along the lake. The loud report, in exciting +new sources of alarm, seemed to have dissipated the spell +that had hitherto chained the energies and perception of +the still weak, but now highly excited girl. + +"Oh, Captain Baynton, where are we?" she exclaimed, +starting up suddenly in terror, and throwing her arms +around him, who sat at her side, as if she would have +clung to him for protection. "Is the horrid massacre not +finished yet? Where is Madeline? where is my cousin? Oh, +I cannot leave the fort without her." + +"Ha! where indeed is she?" exclaimed the youth, as he +clasped his trembling and scarcely conscious burden to +his chest, "Almighty God, where is she?" Then, after a +short pause, and in a voice of tender but exquisite +anguish, "Clara, my beloved sister, do you not know me? +It is not Baynton but your brother, who now clasps you +to his breaking heart." + +A deluge of tears was the only answer of the wretched +girl. They were the first she had shed,--the first marks +of consciousness she had exhibited. Hitherto her heart +had been oppressed; every fibre of her brain racked almost +to bursting, and filled only with ghastly flitting visions +of the dreadful horrors she had seen perpetrated, she +had continued, since the moment of her fainting in the +block-house, as one bereft of all memory of the past, or +apprehension of the present. But now, the full outpouring +of her grief relieved her overcharged brain and heart, +even while the confused images floating before her +recollection acquired a more tangible and painful character. +She raised herself a moment from the chest on which her +burning head reposed, looked steadfastly in the face that +hung anxiously over her own, and saw indeed that it was +her brother. She tried to speak, but she could not utter +a word, for the memory of all that had occurred that +fatal morning rushed with mountain weight upon her fainting +spirit, and again she wept, and more bitterly than before. + +The young man pressed her in silence to his chest; nor +was it until she had given full vent to her grief, that +he ventured to address her on the subject of his own +immediate sorrows. At length, when she appeared somewhat +more calm, he observed, in a voice broken by emotion,-- + +"Clara, dearest, what account have you to give me of +Madeline? Has she shared the fate of all? or have you +reason to suppose her life has been spared?" + +Another burst of tears succeeded to these questions, for +coupled with the name of her cousin arose all the horrid +associations connected with her loss. As soon, however, +as she could compose herself, she briefly stated all she +had witnessed of the affair, from the moment when the +boat of the schooner was seen to meet the strange looking +object on the water, to that when she had beheld her +ill-fated cousin borne away apparently lifeless in the +arms of the tall Indian by whom she had been captured. + +During this recital, the heart of Captain de Haldimar, +--for it was he,--beat audibly against the cheek that +still reposed on his breast; but when his sister had, in +a faint voice, closed her melancholy narrative with the +manner of her cousin's disappearance, he gave a sudden +start, uttering at the same time an exclamation of joy. + +"Thank God, she still lives!" he cried, pressing his +sister once more in fondness to his heart; then turning +to his companion, who, although seemingly abstracted, +had been a silent and attentive witness of the scene,--"By +Heaven! Valletort, there is yet a hope. She it was indeed +whom we saw borne out of the fort, and subsequently made +to walk by the cruel Indian who had charge of her." + +"Valletort, Valletort," murmured Clara unconsciously, +her sick heart throbbing with she knew not what. "How is +this, Frederick?--Where, then, is Captain Baynton? and +how came you here?" + +"Alas! Clara, poor Baynton is no more. Even at the moment +when he confided the unconscious burden, preserved at +the peril of his own life, to the arms of Sir Everard +here, he fell beneath the tomahawk of a pursuing savage. +Poor, noble, generous Baynton," he continued, mournfully; +"to him, indeed, Clara, are you indebted for your life; +yet was it purchased at the price of his own." + +Again the pained and affectionate girl wept bitterly, +and her brother proceeded:-- + +"The strange object you saw on the lake, my love, was +nothing more than a canoe disguised with leafy boughs, +in which Sir Everard Valletort and myself, under the +guidance of old Francois of the Fleur de lis, whom you +must recollect, have made the dangerous passage of the +Sinclair in the garb of duck hunters,--which latter we +had only discarded on reaching the schooner, in order to +assume another we conceived better suited to our purpose. +Alas!" and he struck his hand violently against his brow, +"had we made directly for the shore without touching the +vessel at all, there might have been time to save those +we came to apprise of their danger. Do you not think +there was, Valletort?" + +"Most assuredly not," returned his companion, anxious to +remove the impression of self-blame that existed in the +mind of Captain de Haldimar. "From the moment of our +reaching the schooner, which lay immediately in our route, +to that when the shout was raised by the savages as they +rushed into the fort, there was scarcely an interval of +three minutes; and it would have required a longer period +to have enabled us even to gain the shore." + +"Thank, thank you for that!" exclaimed the officer, +drawing himself up with the air of one who breathes more +freely. "I would not, for the wealth and honours of the +united world, that such a cause for self-reproach should +linger on my mind. By Heaven! it would break my heart to +think we had been in time to save them, and yet had lost +the opportunity through even one moment of neglect." Then +turning once more to his sister,--"Now, Clara, that I +see you in safety, I have another sacred duty to perform. +I must leave you, but not alone." + +"What mean you, Frederick?" exclaimed his agitated sister, +clinging more closely to his embrace. "Scarce have we +met, and you talk of leaving me. Oh, whither would you +go?" + +"Surely, my love," and he spoke half reproachfully, +although with tenderness of accent, "my meaning must be +obvious. But what do I say? You know it not. Madeline +still lives. We saw her, as we pulled towards the shore, +led across the clearing in the direction of Chabouiga. +Hear me, then: the canoe in which we came is still towing +from the vessel's stern, and in this do I mean to embark, +without further loss of time, in search of her who is +dearer to me than existence. I know," he pursued with +emotion, "I have but little hope of rescuing, even if I +do succeed in finding her; but at least I shall not have +to suffer under the self-reproach of having neglected +the only chance that now lies within my reach. If she +be doomed to die, I shall then have nothing left to live +for--except you, Clara," he concluded, after a pause, +pressing the weeping girl to his heart, as he remarked +how much she seemed pained by the declaration. + +Having placed his sister once more on the couch, and +covered her with a cloak that had been brought from the +cabin of the unfortunate commander, Captain de Haldimar +now rose from his humble seat, and grasping the hand of +his friend,-- + +"Valletort," he said, "I commit this dear girl to your +keeping. Hitherto we have been equal sharers in an +enterprise having for its object the preservation of our +mutual companions and friends. At present, interests of +a more personal nature occupy my attention; and to these +must I devote myself alone. I trust you will reach Detroit +in safety; and when you have delivered my unfortunate +sister into the arms of her father, you will say to him +from me, I could not survive the loss of that being to +whom I had sworn eternal fidelity and affection. Francois +must be my only companion on this occasion. Nay," he +continued, pointing to his sister, in answer to the rising +remonstrance of the baronet," will you desert the precious +charge I have confided to your keeping? Recollect, +Valletort," in a more subdued tone, "that besides yourself, +there will be none near her but rude and uneducated +sailors;--honest men enough in their way, it is true; +but not the sort of people to whom I should like to +confide my poor sister." + +The warm and silent pressure by Sir Everard of his hand +announced his participation in the sentiment; and Captain +de Haldimar now hastened forward to apprise the Canadian +of his purpose. He found mine host of the Fleur de lis +seated in the forecastle of the schooner; and with an +air of the most perfect unconcern discussing a substantial +meal, consisting of dried uncooked venison, raw onions, +and Indian corn bread, the contents of a large bag or +wallet that lay at his feet. No sooner, however, had the +impatient officer communicated his design, asking at the +same time if he might expect his assistance in the +enterprise, than the unfinished meal of the Canadian was +discontinued, the wallet refilled, and the large greasy +clasp-knife with which the portions had been separated, +closed and thrust into a pocket of his blanket coat. + +"I shall go to de devils for you, capitaine, if we must," +he said, as he raised his portly form, not without effort, +from the deck, slapping the shoulder of the officer at +the same time somewhat rudely with his hand. There was +nothing, however, offensively familiar in this action. +It expressed merely the devotedness of heart with which +the man lent himself to the service to which he had +pledged himself, and was rather complimentary than +otherwise to him to whom it was directed. Captain de +Haldimar took it in the light in which we have just shown +it, and he grasped and shook the rough hand of the Canadian +with an earnestness highly gratifying to the latter. + +Every thing was now in readiness for their departure. +The canoe, still covered with its streaming boughs, was +drawn close up to the gangway, and a few hasty necessaries +thrown in. While this was passing, the officer had again +assumed his disguise of a duck-hunter; and he now appeared +in the blanket costume in which we introduced Sir Everard +and himself at the opening of this volume. + +"If I may be so bold as to put in my oar, your +honour,"--said the veteran boatswain, on whom the command +of the schooner had fallen, as he now advanced, rolling +his quid in his mouth, and dropping his hat on his +shoulder, while the fingers of the hand which clutched +it were busily occupied in scratching his bald head,--"if +I may be so bold, there is another chap here as might +better sarve your honour's purpose than that 'ere fat +Canadian, who seems to think only of stuffing while his +betters are fasting." + +"And who is he, my good Mullins?" asked Captain de +Haldimar. + +"Why, that 'ere Ingian, your honour, as began the butchery +in the fort, yonder, by trying to kill Jack Fuller while +he laid asleep this morning, waiting for the captain in +the jolly boat. Jack never seed him coming, until he felt +his black hands upon his throat, and then he ups with +the tiller at his noddle, and sends him floundering across +the boat's thwarts like a flat-fish. I thought, your +honour, seeing as how I have got the command of the +schooner, of tying him up to the mainmast, and giving +him two or three round dozen or so, and then sending him +to swim among the mascannungy with a twenty-four pound +shot in his neckcloth; but, seeing as how your honour is +going among them savages agin, I thought as how some good +might be done with him, if your honour could contrive to +keep him in tow, and close under your lee quarter, to +prevent his escape." + +"At all events," returned the officer, after a pause of +some moments, during which he appeared to be deliberating +on his course of action, "it may be dangerous to keep +him in the vessel; and yet, if we take him ashore, he +may be the means of our more immediate destruction; +unless, indeed, as you observe, he can be so secured as +to prevent the possibility of escape: but that I very +much doubt indeed. Where is he, Mullins? I should like +to see and question him." + +"He shall be up, your honour, in no time," replied the +sailor, once more resuming his hat, and moving a pace or +two forward. Then addressing two or three men in the +starboard gangway in the authoritative tone of command: +--"Bear a hand there, my men, and cast off the lashings +of that black Ingian, and send him aft, here, to the +officer." + +The order was speedily executed. In a few minutes the +Indian stood on the quarter-deck, his hands firmly secured +behind, and his head sunk upon his chest in sullen +despondency. In the increasing gloom in which objects +were now gradually becoming more and more indistinct, it +was impossible for Captain de Haldimar to distinguish +his features; but there was something in the outline of +the Indian's form that impressed him with the conviction +he had seen it before. Advancing a pace or two forward, +he pronounced, in an emphatic and audible whisper, the +name of "Oucanasta!" + +The Indian gave an involuntary start,--uttered a deep +interjectional "Ugh!"--and, raising his head from his +chest, fixed his eye heavily on the officer. + +"Hookynaster!--Hookynaster!" growled Jack Fuller, who +had followed to hear the examination of his immediate +captive: "why, your honour, that jaw-breaking name reminds +me as how the chap had a bit of a paper when I chucked +him into the jolly boat, stuck in his girdle. It was +covered over with pencil-marks, as writing like; but all +was rubbed out agin, except some such sort of a name as +that." + +"Where is it?--what have you done with it?" hastily asked +Captain de Haldimar. + +"Here, in my backy-box, your honour. I kept it safe, +thinking as how it might sarve to let us know all about +it afterwards." + +The sailor now drew from the receptacle just named a +dirty piece of folded paper, deeply impregnated with the +perfume of stale and oft rechewed quids of coarse tobacco; +and then, with the air of one conscious of having "rendered +the state some service," hitched up his trowsers with +one hand, while with the other he extended the important +document. + +To glance his eye hurriedly over the paper by the light +of a dark lanthorn that had meanwhile been brought upon +deck, unclasp his hunting-knife, and divide the ligatures +of the captive, and then warmly press his liberated hands +within his own, were, with Captain de Haldimar, but the +work of a minute. + +"Hilloa! which the devil way does the wind blow now?" +muttered Fuller, the leer of self-satisfaction that had +hitherto played in his eye rapidly giving place to an +air of seriousness and surprise; an expression that was +not at all diminished by an observation from his new +commander. + +"I tell you what it is, Jack," said the latter, +impressively; "I don't pretend to have more gumption (qu. +discernment?) than my messmates; but I can see through +a millstone as clear as any man as ever heaved a lead in +these here lakes; and may I never pipe boatswain's whistle +again, if you 'ar'n't, some how or other, in the wrong +box. That 'ere Ingian's one of us!" + +The feelings of Captain de Haldimar may easily be +comprehended by our readers, when, on glancing at the +paper, he found himself confirmed in the impression +previously made on him by the outline of the captive's +form. The writing, nearly obliterated by damp, had been +rudely traced by his own pencil on a leaf torn from his +pocket-book. In the night of his visit to the Indian +encampment, and at the moment when, seated on the fatal +log, Oucanasta had generously promised her assistance in +at least rescuing his betrothed bride. They were addressed +to Major de Haldimar, and briefly stated that a treacherous +plan was in contemplation by the enemy to surprise the +fort, which the bearer, Oucanasta (the latter word strongly +marked), would fully explain, if she could possibly obtain +access within. From the narrative entered into by Clara, +who had particularly dwelt on the emotions of fear that +had sprung up in her own and cousin's heart by the sudden +transformation of a supposed harmless beaver into a fierce +and threatening savage, he had no difficulty in solving +the enigma. + +The Indian, in whom he had recognised the young chief +who had saved him from the fury of Wacousta, had evidently +been won upon by his sister to perform a service which +offered so much less difficulty to a warrior than to a +woman; and it was clear, that, finding all other means +of communication with the fort, undiscovered by his own +people, impracticable, he had availed himself of the +opportunity, when he saw the boat waiting on the strand, +to assume a disguise so well adapted to insure success. +It was no remarkable thing in these countries, to see +both the beaver and the otter moving on the calm surface +of the waters in the vicinity of the forts, even at +mid-day; and occupied as the Indians were, to a man, at +that moment with their cruel projects, it was by no means +likely that their attention should have been called off +from these to so apparently unimportant a circumstance. +The act that had principally alarmed the cousins, and +terminated, as we have seen, in the sudden attack of the +sailor, had evidently been misconceived. The hand supposed +to be feeling for the heart of the sluggard, had, in all +probability, been placed on his chest with a view to +arouse him from his slumber; while that which was believed +to have been dropped to the handle of his knife, was, in +reality, merely seeking the paper that contained the +announcement, which, if then delivered, might have saved +the garrison. + +Such was the tram of conjecture that now passed through +the mind of the officer; but, although he thus placed +the conduct of the Indian in the most favourable light, +his impression received no confirmation from the lips of +the latter. Sullen and doggedly, notwithstanding the +release from his bonds, the Ottawa hung his head upon +his chest, with his eyes riveted on the deck, and +obstinately refused to answer every question put to him +by his deliverer. This, however, did not the less tend +to confirm Captain de Haldimar in his belief. He knew +enough of the Indian character, to understand the indignant +and even revengeful spirit likely to be aroused by the +treatment the savage had met with in return for his +intended services. He was aware that, without pausing to +reflect on the fact, that the sailor, ignorant of his +actual purpose, could merely have seen in him an enemy +in the act of attempting his life, the chief would only +consider and inflame himself over the recollection of +the blow inflicted; and that, with the true obstinacy of +his race, he would rather suffer captivity or death +itself, than humble the haughty pride of his nature, by +condescending to an explanation with those by whom he +felt himself so deeply injured. Still, even amid all his +own personal griefs,--griefs that rendered the boon in +some degree at present valueless,--Captain de Haldimar +could not forget that the youth, no matter by what motive +induced, had rescued him from a dreadful death on a +previous occasion. With the generous warmth, therefore, +of a grateful mind, he now sought to impress on the Indian +the deep sense of obligation under which he laboured; +explaining at the same time the very natural error into +which the sailor had fallen, and concluding with a +declaration that he was free to quit the vessel in the +canoe in which he himself was about to take his departure +for the shore, in search of her whom his sister had +pledged herself, at all hazards, to save. + +The address of the officer, touching and impressive as +language ever is that comes from the heart, was not +altogether without effect on the Indian. Several times +he interrupted him with a short, quick, approving "Ugh!" +and when he at length received the assurance that he was +no longer a prisoner, he raised his eyes rapidly, although +without moving his head, to the countenance of his +deliverer. Already were his lips opening to speak for +the first time, when the attention of the group around +him was arrested by his giving a sudden start of surprise. +At the same moment he raised his head, stretched his +neck, threw forward his right ear, and, uttering a loud +and emphatic "Waugh!" pointed with his finger over the +bows of the vessel. + +All listened for upwards of a minute in mute suspense; +and then a faint and scarcely distinguishable sound was +heard in the direction in which he pointed. Scarcely had +it floated on the air, when a shrill, loud, and prolonged +cry, of peculiar tendency, burst hurriedly and eagerly +from the lips of the captive; and, spreading over the +broad expanse of water, seemed to be re-echoed back from +every point of the surrounding shore. + +Great was the confusion that followed this startling yell +on the decks of the schooner. "Cut the hell-fiend +down!"--"Chuck him overboard!"--" We are betrayed!"--"Every +man to his gun!"--"Put the craft about!" were among the +numerous exclamations that now rose simultaneously from +at least twenty lips, and almost drowned the loud shriek +that burst again from the wretched Clara de Haldimar. + +"Stop, Mullins!--Stop, men!" shouted Captain de Haldimar, +firmly, as the excited boatswain, with two or three of +his companions,--now advanced with the intention of +laying violent hands on the Indian. "I will answer for +his fidelity with my life. If he be false, it will be +time enough to punish him afterwards; but let us calmly +await the issue like men. Hear me," he proceeded, as he +remarked their incredulous, uncertain, and still threatening +air;--"this Indian saved me from the tomahawks of his +tribe not a week ago; and, even now, he has become our +captive in the act of taking a note from me to the +garrison, to warn them of their danger. But for that +slumbering fool," he added, bitterly, pointing to Fuller, +who slept when he should have watched, "your fort would +not now have been what it is,--a mass of smoking ruins. +He has an ocean of blood upon his soul, that all the +waters of the Huron can never wash out!" + +Struck by the vehement manner of the officer, and the +disclosure he had just made, the sailors sunk once more +into inaction and silence. The boatswain alone spoke. + +"I thought, your honour, as how Jack Fuller, who sartainly +is a better hand at a snooze than a watch, had got into +a bit of a mess; but, shiver my topsails, if I think it's +quite fair to blame him, neither, for clapping a stopper +on the Indian's cable, seeing as how he was expecting a +shot between wind and water. Still, as the chap turns +out to be an honest chap, and has saved your honour's +life above all, I don't much care if I give him a grip. +Here, old fellow, tip us your fist!" + +Without seeming to understand that his cry had been +productive of general and intense alarm throughout the +vessel, the Indian had viewed the sudden rushing of the +crew towards him as an act of gratuitous hostility; and, +without shrinking from the attack, had once more resumed +his original air of dogged sullenness. It was evident +to him, from the discussion going on, that some violence, +about to be offered to his person, had only been prevented +by the interference of the officer. With the natural +haughtiness of his savage nature, he therefore rejected +the overtures of the sailor, whose hand he had observed +among the first that were raised against him. + +While the angry boatswain was yet rolling his quid within +his capacious jaws, racking his brain for the strongest +language wherein to give vent to his indignation, his +ears were suddenly saluted by a low but clear "Hilloa!" +from the bows of the schooner. + +"Ay, ay!" was the brief response. + +"There's something approaching us ahead, on the weather +fore quarter," continued the same voice, which was that +of the man on the look-out. + +The most profound silence now pervaded the deck. Every +individual, including Captain de Haldimar and the boatswain, +had flown to the gangway of the quarter indicated, which +was on the side occupied by the couch of the unfortunate +Clara. Presently a noise like that produced by a single +paddle rapidly dividing the water, was heard by every +anxious ear. Night had long since thrown her mantle over +the surrounding waste; and all that was to be seen +reflected from the bosom of the gradually darkening river, +scarcely ruffled by the yet incipient breeze, were a few +straggling stars, that here and there appeared in the +overcast heavens. Hitherto no object could be discovered +by those who strained their eyes eagerly and painfully +through the gloom, although the sounds became at each +moment more distinct. It was evident the party, guided +by the noise of the rippling waves that fell from the +bows of the schooner, was enabled to follow up a course, +the direct clue to which had been indicated by the cry +of the captive. Every man stood near his gun on the +starboard battery, and the burning matches hanging over +their respective buckets ready to be seized at a moment's +notice. Still, but little room for apprehension existed; +for the practised ear of the mariners could easily tell +that a solitary bark alone approached; and of one, or +even ten, they entertained no fear. Suddenly, as the +course of the vessel was now changed a point to windward, +--a movement that brought her bows more off the adjacent +shore,--the sound, in which all were more or less +interested, was heard not more than twenty yards off, +and in a line with the gangway at which the principal of +the crew were assembled. In the next minute the low hull +of a canoe came in sight, and then a tall and solitary +human figure was seen in the stern, bending alternately +to the right and to the left, as the paddle was rapidly +and successively changed from side to side. + +Another deep and exulting "Ugh!" was now heaved from the +chest of the Indian, who stood calmly on the spot on +which he had first rested, while Fuller prepared a coil +of rope to throw to the active steersman. + +"Avast there, Jack!" growled the boatswain, addressing +the sailor; "how can the stranger keep the bow of his +craft on, and grapple at the same time? Just pass one +end of the coil round your waist, and swing yourself +gently into her." + +The head of the canoe was now near enough for the purpose. +The sailor did as he was desired, having previously +divested himself of his shoes, and leaping forward, +alighted on what appeared to be a bundle of blankets +stowed away in her bows. No sooner, however, had he +secured his footing, when with another desperate leap, +and greatly to the astonishment of all around, he bounded +once more to the deck of the schooner, his countenance +exhibiting every mark of superstitious alarm. In the act +of quitting the canoe he had spurned her violently several +feet from the vessel, which the silent steersman was +again making every effort to reach. + +"Why what the devil's the matter with you now?" exclaimed +the rough boatswain, who, as well as Captain de Haldimar +and the rest of the crew, had quitted the gangway to +learn the cause of this extraordinary conduct. "Damn my +eyes, if you ar'n't worse scared than when the Ingian +stood over you in the jolly boat." + +"Scared, ay, to be sure I am; and so would you be scared +too, if you'd a see'd what I did. May I never touch the +point at Portsmouth, if I a'n't seen her ghost." + +"Where?--whose ghost?--what ghost?--what do you mean, +Jack?" exclaimed several of the startled men in the same +breath, while the superstitious dread so common to mariners +drew them still closer in the group that encircled their +companion. + +"Well, then, as I am a miserable sinner," returned the +man, impressively, and in a low tone, "I see'd in the +bows of the canoe,--and the hand that steered it was not +made of flesh and blood like ours,--what do you think?-- +the ghost of---" + +Captain de Haldimar heard no more. At a single bound he +had gained the ship's side. He strained his eyes anxiously +over the gangway in search of the canoe, but it was gone. +A death-like silence throughout the deck followed the +communication of the sailor, and in that pause the sound +of the receding boat could be heard, not urged, as it +had approached, by one paddle, but by two. The heart of +the officer throbbed almost to suffocation; and his +firmness, hitherto supported by the manly energies of +his nature, now failed him quite. Heedless of appearances, +regardless of being overlooked, he tottered like a drunken +man for support against the mainmast. For a moment or +two he leant his head upon his hand, with the air of one +immersed in the most profound abstraction; while the +crew, at once alarmed and touched by the deep distress +into which this mysterious circumstance had plunged him, +stood silently and respectfully watching his emotion. +Suddenly he started from his attitude of painful repose, +like one awaking from a dream, and demanded what had +become of the Indian. + +Every one looked around, but the captive was nowhere to +be seen. Search was made below, both in the cabin and in +the fore decks, and men were sent up aloft to see if he +had secreted himself in the rigging; but all returned, +stating he was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared +from the vessel altogether, yet no one knew how; for he +had not been observed to stir from the spot on which he +had first planted himself. It was plain, however, he had +joined the mysterious party in the canoe, from the fact +of the second paddle having been detected; and all attempts +at pursuit, without endangering the vessel on the shallows, +whither the course of the fugitives was now directed, +was declared by the boatswain utterly impracticable. + +The announcement of the Indian's disappearance seemed to +put the climax to the despair of the unfortunate officer. +--"Then is our every hope lost!" he groaned aloud, as, +quitting the centre of the vessel, he slowly traversed +the deck, and once more stood at the side of his no less +unhappy and excited sister. For a moment or two he remained +with his arms folded across his chest, gazing on the dark +outline of her form; and then, in a wild paroxysm of +silent tearless grief, threw himself suddenly on the edge +of the couch, and clasping her in a long close embrace +to his audibly beating heart, lay like one bereft of all +sense and consciousness of surrounding objects. + + + + +END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + + + + + + +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 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta, by John Richardson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA *** + +This file should be named wcstc10.txt or wcstc10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, wcstc11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wcstc10a.txt + +This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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