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+Project Gutenberg's The Canadian Brothers (Volume II), by John Richardson
+#6 in our series by John Richardson
+
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+Title: The Canadian Brothers (Volume II)
+       or The Prophecy Fulfilled
+
+Author: John Richardson
+
+Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5107]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on April 28, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CANADIAN BROTHERS ***
+
+
+
+
+This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from
+Charles Franks and Distributed Proofers.
+
+
+
+
+THE CANADIAN BROTHERS;
+   OR,
+THE PROPHECY FULFILLED.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A few days after the adventure detailed in our last
+chapter, the American party, consisting of Major and Miss
+Montgomerie, and the daughters of the Governor, with
+their attendants, embarked in the schooner, to the command
+of which Gerald had been promoted. The destination of
+the whole was the American port of Buffalo, situate at
+the further extremity of the lake, nearly opposite to
+the fort of Erie; and thither our hero, perfectly recovered
+from the effect of his accident, received instructions
+to repair without loss of time, land his charge, and
+immediately rejoin the flotilla at Amherstburg.
+
+However pleasing the first, the latter part of the order
+was by no means so strictly in consonance with the views
+and feelings of the new commander, as might have been
+expected from a young and enterprising spirit; but he
+justified his absence of zeal to himself, in the fact
+that there was no positive service to perform; no duty
+in which he could have an opportunity of signalizing
+himself, or rendering a benefit to his country.
+
+If, however, the limited period allotted for the execution
+of his duty, was a source of much disappointment to
+Gerald, such was not the effect produced by it on his
+brother, to whom it gave promise of a speedy, termination
+of an attachment, which he had all along regarded with
+disapprobation, and a concern amounting almost to dread.
+We have seen that Henry Grantham, on the occasion of his
+brother's disaster at the pic-nic, had been wound up into
+an enthusiasm of gratitude, which had nearly weaned him
+from his original aversion; but this feeling had not
+outlived the day on which the occurrence took place. Nay,
+on the very next morning, he had had a long private
+conversation with Gerald, in regard to Miss Montgomerie,
+which, ending as it did, in a partial coolness, had tended
+to make him dislike the person who had caused it still
+more. It was, therefore, not without secret delight that
+he overheard the order for the instant return of the
+schooner, which, although conveyed by the Commodore in
+the mildest manner, was yet so firm and decided as to
+admit neither of doubt nor dispute. While the dangerous
+American continued a resident at Detroit, there was every
+reason to fear that the attachment of his infatuated
+brother, fed by opportunity, would lead him to the
+commission of some irrevocable act of imprudence; whereas,
+on the contrary, when she had departed, there was every
+probability that continued absence, added to the stirring
+incidents of war, which might be expected shortly to
+ensue, would prove effectual in restoring the tone of
+Gerald's mind. There was, consequently, much to please
+him in the order for departure. Miss Montgomerie once
+landed within the American lines, and his brother returned
+to his duty, the anxious soldier had no doubt that the
+feelings of the latter would resume their wonted channel,
+and that, in his desire to render himself worthy of glory,
+to whom he had been originally devoted, he would forget,
+at least after a season, all that was connected with
+love.
+
+It was a beautiful autumnal morning, when the schooner
+weighed anchor from Detroit. Several of the officers of
+the garrison had accompanied the ladies on board, and
+having made fast their sailing boat to the stem, loitered
+on deck with the intention of descending the river a few
+miles, and then beating up against the current. The whole
+party were thus assembled, conversing together and watching
+the movements of the sailors, when a boat, in which were
+several armed men encircling a huge raw-boned individual,
+habited in the fashion of an American backwoodsman,
+approached the vessel. This was no other than the traitor
+Desborough, who, it will be recollected, was detained
+and confined in prison at the surrender of Detroit. He
+had been put upon his trial for the murder of Major
+Grantham, but had been acquitted through want of evidence
+to convict, his own original admission being negatived
+by a subsequent declaration that he had only made it
+through a spirit of bravado and revenge. Still, as the
+charges of desertion and treason had been substantiated
+against him, he was, by order of the Commandant of
+Amherstburg, destined for Fort Erie, in the schooner
+conveying the American party to Buffalo, with a view to
+his being sent on to the Lower Province, there to be
+disposed of as the General Commanding in Chief should
+deem fit.
+
+The mien of the settler, as he now stepped over the
+vessel's side, partook of the mingled cunning and ferocity
+by which he had formerly been distinguished. While
+preparations were being made for his reception and security
+below deck, he bent Ms sinister, yet bold, glance on each
+of the little group in succession, as if he would have
+read in their countenances the probable fate that awaited
+himself. The last who fell under his scrutiny was Miss
+Montgomerie, on whom his eye had scarcely rested, when
+the insolent indifference of his manner seemed to give
+place at once to a new feeling. There was intelligence
+enough in the glance of both to show that an insensible
+interest had been created, and yet neither gave the
+slightest indication, by word, of what was passing in
+the mind.
+
+"Well, Mister Jeremiah Desborough," said, Middlemore,
+first breaking the silence, and, in the taunting mode of
+address he usually adopted towards the settler, "I reckon
+as how you'll shoot no wild ducks this season, on the
+Sandusky river--not likely to be much troubled with your
+small bores now."
+
+The Yankee gazed at him a moment in silence, evidently
+ransacking his brain for something sufficiently insolent
+to offer in return. At length, he drew his hat slouchingly
+over one side of his head, folded his arms across his
+chest, and squirting a torrent of tobacco juice from his
+capacious jaws, exclaimed in his drawling voice:
+
+"I guess, Mister Officer, as how you're mighty cute upon
+a fallen man--but tarnation seize me, if I don't expect
+you'll find some one cuter still afore long. The sogers
+all say," he continued with a low, cunning laugh, "as
+how you're a bit of a wit, and fond of a play upon words
+like. If so, I'll jist try you a little at your own game,
+and tell you that I had a thousand to one rather be
+troubled with my small bores than with such a confounded
+great bore as you are; and now, you may pit that down as
+something good, in your pun book when you please, and ax
+me no more questions."
+
+Long and fitful was the laughter which burst from Villiers
+and Molineux, at this bitter retort upon their companion,
+which they vowed should be repeated at the mess table of
+either garrison, whenever he again attempted one of his
+execrables.
+
+Desborough took courage at the license conveyed by this
+pleasantry, and pursued, winking familiarly to Captain
+Molineux, while he, at the same time, nodded to Middlemore,
+
+"Mighty little time, I calculate, had he to think of
+aggravatin', when I gripped him down at Hartley's pint,
+that day. If it hadn't been for that old heathen scoundrel
+Gattrie, my poor boy Phil, as the Injuns killed, and me,
+I reckon, would have sent him and young Grantham to crack
+their puns upon the fishes of the lake. How scared they
+were, sure-LY."
+
+"Silence, fellow!" thundered Gerald Grantham, who now
+came up from the hold, whither he had been to examine
+the fastenings prepared for his prisoner. "How dare you
+open your lips here?"--then pointing towards the steps
+he had just quitted--"descend, sir!"
+
+Never did human countenance exhibit marks of greater rage
+than Desborough's at that moment. His eyes seemed about
+to start from their sockets--the large veins of his neck
+and brow swelled almost to bursting, and while his lips
+were compressed with violence, his nervous fingers played,
+as with convulsive anxiety to clutch themselves around
+the throat of the officer; every thing, in short, marked
+the effort it cost him to restrain himself within such
+bounds as his natural cunning and prudence dictated.
+Still, he neither spoke nor moved.
+
+"Descend, sir, instantly!" repeated Gerald, "or, by
+Heaven, I will have you thrown in without further ceremony
+--descend this moment!"
+
+The settler advanced, placed one foot upon the ladder,
+then turned his eye steadfastly upon the officer. Every
+one present shuddered to behold its expression--it was
+that of fierce, inextinguishable hatred.
+
+"By hell, you will pay me one day or t'other for this,
+I reckon," he uttered, in a hoarse and fearful whisper--
+"every dog has his day--it will be Jeremiah Desborough's
+turn next."
+
+"What! do you presume to threaten, villain?" vociferated
+Gerald, now excited beyond all bounds: "here men, gag me
+this fellow--tie him neck and heels, and throw him into
+the hold, as you would a bag of ballast."
+
+Several men, with Sambo at their head, advanced for the
+purpose of executing the command of their officer, when
+the eldest daughter of the Governor, who had witnessed
+the whole scene, suddenly approached the latter, and
+interceded warmly for a repeal of the punishment. Miss
+Montgomerie, also, who had been a silent observer, glanced
+significantly towards the settler. What her look implied,
+no one was quick enough to detect; but its effect on the
+Yankee was evident--for, without uttering another syllable,
+or waiting to be again directed, he moved slowly and
+sullenly down the steps that led to his place of
+confinement.
+
+Whatever the impressions produced upon the minds of the
+several spectators by this incident, they were not
+expressed. No comment was made, nor was further allusion
+had to the settler. Other topics of conversation were
+introduced, and it was not until the officers, having
+bid them a final and cordial adieu, had again taken to
+their boats, on their way back to Detroit, that the ladies
+quitted the deck for the cabin which had been prepared
+for them.
+
+The short voyage down the lake was performed without
+incident. From the moment of the departure of the officers,
+an air of dulness and abstraction, originating, in a
+great degree, in the unpleasantness of separation--
+anticipated and past--pervaded the little party. Sensitive
+and amiable as were the daughters of the American Governor,
+it was not to be supposed that they parted without regret
+from men in whose society they had recently passed so
+many agreeable hours, and for two of whom they had
+insensibly formed preferences. Not, however, that that
+parting was to be considered final, for both Molineux
+and Villiers had promised to avail themselves of the
+first days of peace, to procure leave of absence, and
+revisit them in their native country. The feeling of
+disappointment acknowledged by the sisters, was much more
+perceptible in Gerald Grantham and Miss Montgomerie, both
+of whom became more thoughtful and abstracted, as the
+period of separation drew nearer.
+
+It was about ten o'clock on the evening immediately
+preceding that on which they expected to gain their
+destination, that, as Gerald leaned ruminating over the
+side of the schooner, then going at the slow rate of two
+knots an hour, he fancied be heard voices, in a subdued
+tone, ascending apparently from the quarter of the vessel
+in which Desborough was confined. He listened attentively
+for a few moments, but even the slight gurgling of the
+water, as it was thrown from the prow, prevented further
+recognition. Deeming it possible that the sounds might
+not proceed from the place of confinement of the settler,
+but from the cabin which it adjoined, and with which it
+communicated, he was for a short time undecided whether
+or not he should disturb the party already retired to
+rest, by descending and passing into the room occupied
+by his prisoner. Anxiety to satisfy himself that the
+latter was secure determined him, and he had already
+planted a foot on the companion-ladder, when his further
+descent was arrested by Miss Montgomerie, who appeared
+emerging from the opening, bonneted and cloaked, as with
+a view of continuing on deck.
+
+"What! you, dearest Matilda?" he asked, delightedly--"I
+thought you had long since retired to rest."
+
+"To rest, Gerald!--can you, then, imagine mine is a soul
+to slumber, when I know that tomorrow we part--perhaps
+for ever?"
+
+"No, by Heaven! not for ever," energetically returned
+the sailor, seizing and carrying the white hand that
+pressed his own, to his lips--"be but faithful to me, my
+own Matilda--love me but with one half the ardor with
+which my soul glows for you, and the moment duty can be
+sacrificed to affection, you may expect again to see me."
+
+"Duty!" repeated the American, with something like reproach
+in her tone--"must the happiness of her you profess so
+ardently to love, be sacrificed to a mere cold sense of
+duty? But you are right--you have YOUR duty to perform,
+and I have MINE. Tomorrow we separate, and for ever."
+
+"No, Matilda--not for ever, unless, indeed, such be your
+determination. YOU may find the task to forget an easy
+one--_I_ never can. Hope--heart--life--happiness--all
+are centered in you. Were it not that honour demands my
+service to my country, I would fly with you tomorrow,
+delighted to encounter every difficulty fortune might
+oppose, if, by successfully combating these, I should
+establish a deeper claim on your affection. Oh, Matilda!"
+continued the impassioned youth, "never did I feel more
+than at this moment, how devotedly I could be your slave
+for ever."
+
+At the commencement of this conversation, Miss Montgomerie
+had gently led her lover towards the outer gangway of
+the vessel, over which they both now leaned. As Gerald
+made the last passionate avowal of his tenderness, a ray
+of triumphant expression, clearly visible in the light
+of the setting moon, passed over the features of the
+American.
+
+"Gerald," she implored earnestly--"oh, repeat me that
+avowal. Again tell me that you will be the devoted of
+your Matilda, in ALL things--Gerald, swear most solemnly
+to me that you will--my every hope of happiness depends
+upon it."
+
+How could he refuse, to such pleader, the repetition of
+his spontaneous vow? Already were his lips opened to
+swear, before high Heaven, that, in all things earthly,
+he would obey her will, when he was interrupted by a well
+known voice, hastily exclaiming:
+
+"Who a debbel dat dare?"
+
+ Scarcely had these words been uttered, when they were
+followed apparently by a blow, then a bound, and then
+the falling of a human body upon the deck. Gently
+disengaging his companion, who had clung to him with an
+air of alarm, Gerald turned to discover the cause of the
+interruption. To his surprise, he beheld Sambo, whose
+post of duty was at the helm, lying extended on the deck,
+while, at the same moment, a sudden plunge was heard, as
+of a heavy body falling overboard. The first impulse of
+the officer was to seize the helm, with a view to right
+the vessel, already swerving from her course; the second,
+to awaken the crew, who were buried in sleep on the
+forecastle. These, with the habitual promptitude of their
+nature, speedily obeyed his call, and a light being
+brought, Gerald, confiding the helm to one of his best
+men, proceeded to examine the condition of Sambo.
+
+It was evident that the aged negro had been stunned, but
+whether seriously injured, it was impossible to decide.
+No external wound was visible, and yet his breathing was
+that of one who had received some severe bodily harm. In
+a few minutes, however, he recovered his recollection,
+and the words he uttered, as he gazed wildly around, and
+addressed his master, were sufficient to explain the
+whole affair:
+
+"Damn him debbel, Massa Geral, he get safe off, him
+billain."
+
+"Ha, Desborough! it is then so? Quick, put the helm about
+--two of the lightest and most active into my canoe, and
+follow in pursuit. The fellow is making for the shore,
+no doubt. Now then, my lads," as two of the crew sprang
+into the canoe that had been instantly lowered, "fifty
+dollars between you, recollect, if you bring him back."
+
+Although there needed no greater spur to exertion, than
+a desire both to please their officer, and to acquit
+themselves of a duty, the sum offered was not without
+its due weight. In an instant, the canoe was seen scudding
+along the surface of the water, towards the shore, and,
+at intervals, as the anxious Gerald listened, he fancied
+he could distinguish the exertions of the fugitive swimmer
+from those made by the paddles of his pursuers. For a
+time all was silent, when, at length, a deriding laugh
+came over the surface of the lake, that too plainly told,
+the settler had reached the shore, and was beyond all
+chance of capture. In the bitterness of his disappointment,
+and heedless of the pleasure his change of purpose had
+procured him, Gerald could not help cursing his folly,
+in having suffered himself to be diverted from his original
+intention of descending to the prisoner's place of
+confinement. Had this been done, all might have been
+well. He had now no doubt that the voices had proceeded
+from thence, and he was resolved, as soon as the absent
+men came on board, to institute a strict inquiry into
+the affair.
+
+No sooner, therefore, had the canoe returned, than all
+hands were summoned and questioned, under a threat of
+severe punishment, to whoever should be found prevaricating
+as to the manner of the prisoner's escape. Each positively
+denied having in any way violated the order which enjoined
+that no communication should take place between the
+prisoner and the crew, to whom indeed all access was
+denied, with the exception of Sambo, entrusted with the
+duty of carrying the former his meals. The denial of the
+men was so straight forward and clear, that Gerald knew
+not what to believe, and yet it was evident that the
+sounds he had heard, proceeded from human voices. Determined
+to satisfy himself, his first care was to descend between
+the decks, preceded by his boatswain, with a lantern. At
+the sternmost extremity of the little vessel there was
+a small room, used for stores, but which, empty on this
+trip, had been converted into a cell for Desborough. This
+was usually entered from the cabin; but in order to avoid
+inconvenience to the ladies, a door had been effected in
+the bulk heads, the key of which was kept by Sambo. On
+inspection, this door was found hermetically closed, so
+that it became evident, if the key had not been purloined
+from its keeper, the escape of Desborough must have been
+accomplished through the cabin. Moreover, there was no
+opening of any description to be found, through which a
+knife might be passed to enable him to sever the bonds
+which confined his feet. Close to the partition, were
+swung the hammocks of two men, who had been somewhat
+dilatory in obeying the summons on deck, and between whom
+it was not impossible the conversation, which Gerald had
+detected, had been carried on. On re-ascending, he again
+questioned these men, but they most solemnly assured him
+they had not spoken either together or to others, within
+the last two hours, having fallen fast asleep on being
+relieved from their watch. Search was now made in the
+pockets of Sambo, whose injury had been found to be a
+violent blow given on the back of the head, and whose
+recovery from stupefaction was yet imperfect. The key
+being found, all suspicion of participation was removed
+from the crew, who could have only communicated from
+their own quarter of the vessel, and they were accordingly
+dismissed; one half, comprising the first watch, to their
+hammocks, the remainder to their original station on the
+forecastle. The next care of the young Commander was to
+inspect the cabin, and institute a strict scrutiny as to
+the manner in which the escape had been effected. The
+door that opened into the prison, stood between the
+companion ladder and the recess occupied by the daughters
+of the Governor. To his surprise, Gerald found it locked,
+and the key that usually remained in a niche near the
+door, removed. On turning to search for it, he also
+noticed, for the first time, that the lamp, suspended
+from a beam in the centre of the cabin, had been
+extinguished. Struck by these remarkable circumstances,
+a suspicion, which he would have given much not to have
+entertained, forced itself upon his mind. As a first
+measure, and that there might be no doubt whatever on
+the subject, he broke open the door. Of course it was
+untenanted. Upon a small table lay the remains of the
+settler's last meal, but neither knife nor fork, both
+which articles had been interdicted, were to be found.
+At the foot of the chair on which he had evidently been
+seated for the purpose of freeing himself, lay the heavy
+cords that had bound his ankles. These had been severed
+in two places, and, as was discovered on close examination,
+by the application of some sharp and delicate cutting
+instrument. No where, however, was this visible. It was
+evident to Gerald that assistance had been afforded from
+some one within the cabin, and who that some one was, he
+scarcely doubted. With this impression fully formed, he
+re-entered from the prison, and standing near the curtained
+berth occupied by the daughters of the Governor, questioned
+as to whether they were aware that his prisoner Desborough
+had escaped. Both expressed surprise in so natural a
+manner, that Gerald knew not what to think; but when they
+added that they had not heard the slightest noise--nor
+had spoken themselves, nor heard others speak, professing
+moreover ignorance that the lamp even had been extinguished,
+he felt suspicion converted into certainty.
+
+It was impossible, he conceived, that a door, which stood
+only two paces from the bed, could be locked and unlocked
+without their hearing it--neither was it probable that
+Desborough would have thought of thus needlessly securing
+the place of his late detention. Such an idea might occur
+to the aider, but not to the fugitive himself, to whom
+every moment must be of the highest importance. Who then
+could have assisted him? Not Major Montgomerie, for he
+slept in the after part of the cabin--not Miss Montgomerie,
+for she was upon deck--moreover, had not one of those,
+he had so much reason to suspect, interceded for the
+fellow only on the preceding day.
+
+Such was the reasoning of Gerald, as he passed rapidly
+in review the several probabilities--but, although annoyed
+beyond measure at the escape of the villain, and incapable
+of believing other than that the daughters of the Governor
+had connived at it, his was too gallant a nature to make
+such a charge, even by implication, against them. He was
+aware of the strong spirit of nationality existing every
+where among citizens of the United States, and he had no
+doubt, that in liberating their countryman, they had
+acted under an erroneous impression of duty. Although
+extremely angry, he made no comment whatever on the
+subject, but contenting himself with wishing his charge
+a less than usually cordial good night, left them to
+their repose, and once more quitted the cabin.
+
+During the whole of this examination, Miss Montgomerie
+had continued on deck. Gerald found her leaning over the
+gangway, at which he had left her, gazing intently on
+the water, through which the schooner was now gliding at
+an increased rate. From the moment of his being compelled
+to quit her side, to inquire into the cause of Sambo's
+exclamation and rapidly succeeding fall, he had not had
+an opportunity of again approaching her. Feeling that
+some apology was due, he hastened to make one; but, vexed
+and irritated as he was at the escape of the settler,
+his disappointment imparted to his manner a degree of
+restraint, and there was less of ardor in his address
+than he had latterly been in the habit of exhibiting.
+Miss Montgomerie remarked it, and sighed.
+
+"I have been reflecting," she said, "on the little
+dependance that is to be placed upon the most flattering
+illusions of human existence--and here are you come to
+afford me a painful and veritable illustration of my
+theory."
+
+"How, dearest Matilda! what mean you?" asked the officer,
+again warmed into tenderness by the presence of the
+fascinating being.
+
+"Can you ask, Gerald?" and her voice assumed a tone of
+melancholy reproach--"recal but your manner--your language
+--your devotedness of soul, not an hour since--compare
+these with your present coldness, and then wonder that
+I should have reason for regret."
+
+"Nay, Matilda, that coldness arose not from any change
+in my feelings towards yourself--I was piqued, disappointed,
+even angry, at the extraordinary escape of my prisoner,
+and could not sufficiently play the hypocrite to disguise
+my annoyance."
+
+"Yet, what had I to do with the man's escape, that his
+offence should be visited upon me?" she demanded, quickly.
+
+"Can you not find some excuse for my vexation, knowing,
+as you do that the wretch was a vile assassin--a man
+whose hands have been imbrued in the blood of my own
+father?"
+
+"Was he not acquitted of the charge?"
+
+"He was--but only from lack of evidence to convict; yet,
+although acquitted by the law, not surer is fate than
+that he is an assassin."
+
+"You hold assassins in great horror," remarked the
+American, thoughtfully--"you are right--it is but natural."
+
+"In horror, said, you?--aye, in such loathing, that
+language can supply no term to express it."
+
+"And yet, you once attempted an assassination yourself.
+Nay, do not start, and look the image of astonishment.
+Have you not told me that you fired into the hut, on the
+night of your mysterious adventure? What right had you,
+if we argue the question on its real merit, to attempt
+the life of a being who had never injured you?"
+
+"What right, Matilda?--every right, human and divine.
+I sought but to save a victim from the hands of a midnight
+murderer.
+
+"And, to effect this, scrupled not to become a midnight
+murderer yourself!
+
+"And is it thus you interpret my conduct, Matilda?"--
+the voice of Gerald spoke bitter reproach--"can you
+compare the act of that man with mine, and hold me no
+more blameless than him?"
+
+"Nay, I did not say I blamed you," she returned, gaily--
+"but the fact is, you had left me so long to ruminate
+here alone, that I have fallen into a mood argumentative,
+or philosophical--whichsoever you may be pleased to term
+it--and I am willing to maintain my position, that you
+might, by possibility, have been more guilty than the
+culprit at whom you aimed, had your shot destroyed him."
+
+The light tone in which Matilda spoke dispelled the
+seriousness which had begun to shadow the brow of the
+young Commander--"And pray how do you make this good?"
+he asked.
+
+"Suppose for instance, the slumberer you preserved had
+been a being of crime, through whom the hopes, the
+happiness, the peace of mind, and above all, the fair
+fame of the other been cruelly and irrevocably blasted.
+Let us imagine that he had destroyed some dear friend or
+relative of him with whose vengeance you beheld him
+threatened."
+
+"Could that be--."
+
+"Or," interrupted the American, in the same careless tone
+"that he had betrayed a wife."
+
+"Such a man--"
+
+"Or, what is worse, infinitely worse, sought to put the
+finishing stroke to his villainy, by affixing to the name
+and conduct of his victim every ignominy and disgrace
+which can attach to insulted humanity."
+
+"Matilda," eagerly exclaimed the youth, advancing close
+to her, and gazing into her dark eyes; "you are drawing
+a picture."
+
+"No Gerald," she replied calmly, "I am merely supposing
+a case. Could you find no excuse for a man acting under
+a sense of so much injury?--would you still call him an
+assassin, if, with such provocation, he sought to destroy
+the hated life of one who had thus injured him?"
+
+Gerald paused, apparently bewildered.
+
+"Tell me, dearest Gerald," and her fair and beautiful
+hand caught and pressed his--"would you still bestow upon
+one so injured the degrading epithet of assassin?"
+
+"Assassin!--most undoubtedly I would. But why this
+question, Matilda?"
+
+The features of the American assumed a changed expression;
+she dropped the hand she bad taken the instant before,
+and said, disappointedly:
+
+"I find, then, my philosophy is totally at fault."
+
+"Wherein, Matilda?" anxiously asked Gerald.
+
+"In this, that I have not been able to make you a convert
+to my opinions."
+
+"And these are--?" again questioned Gerald, his every
+pulse throbbing with intense emotion.
+
+"Not to pronounce too harshly on the conduct of others,
+seeing that we ourselves may stand in much need of lenity
+of judgment. There might have existed motives for the
+action of him whom you designate as an assassin, quite
+as powerful as those which led to YOUR interference, and
+quite as easily justified to himself."
+
+"But, dearest Matilda--"
+
+"Nay, I have done--I close at once my argument and my
+philosophy. The humour is past, and I shall no longer
+attempt to make the worse appear the better cause. I dare
+say you thought me in earnest," she added, with slight
+sarcasm, "but a philosophical disquisition between two
+lovers on the eve of parting for ever, was too novel and
+piquant a seduction to be resisted."
+
+That "parting for ever" was sufficient to drive all
+philosophy utterly away from our hero.
+
+"For ever, did you say, Matilda?--no, not for ever; yet,
+how coldly do you allude to a separation, which, although
+I trust it will be only temporary, is to me a source of
+the deepest vexation. You did not manifest this indifference
+in the early part of our conversation this evening."
+
+"And if there be a change," emphatically yet tenderly
+returned the beautiful American; "am _I_ the only one
+changed. Is your manner NOW what it was THEN. Do you
+already forget at WHAT a moment that conversation was
+interrupted?"
+
+Gerald did not forget; and again, as they leaned over
+the vessel's side, his arm was passed around the waist
+of his companion.
+
+The hour, the scene, the very rippling of the water--
+all contributed to lend a character of excitement to the
+feelings of the youth. Filled with tenderness and admiration
+for the fascinating being who reposed thus confidingly
+on his shoulder, he scarcely dared to move, lest in so
+doing he should destroy the fabric of his happiness.
+
+"First watch there, hilloa! rouse up, and be d--d to you,
+it's two o'clock."
+
+Both Gerald and Matilda, although long and silently
+watching the progress of the vessel, had forgotten there
+was any such being as a steersman to direct her.
+
+"Good Heaven, can it be so late?" whispered the American,
+gliding from her lover; "if my uncle be awake, he will
+certainly chide me for my imprudence. Good night, dear
+Gerald," and drawing her cloak more closely around her
+shoulders, she quickly crossed the deck, and descended
+to the cabin.
+
+"What the devil's this?" said the relieving steersman,
+as, rubbing his heavy eyes with one hand, he stooped and
+raised with the other something from the deck against
+which he had kicked, in his advance to take the helm;
+"why, I'm blest if it arn't the apron off old Sally here.
+Have you been fingering Sall's apron, Bill?"
+
+"Not I, faith," growled the party addressed, I've enough
+to do to steer the craft without thinking o' meddling
+with Sall's apron at this time o' night."
+
+"I should like to know who it is that has hexposed the
+old gal to the night hair in this here manner," still
+muttered the other, holding up the object in question to
+his closer scrutiny; "it was only this morning I gave
+her a pair of bran new apron strings, and helped to dress
+her myself. If she doesn't hang fire after this, I'm a
+Dutchman that's all."
+
+"What signifies jawing, Tom Fluke. I suppose she got
+unkivered in the scurry after the Yankee; but bear a
+hand, and kiver her, unless you wish a fellow to stay
+here all night."
+
+Old Sal, our readers must know, was no other than the
+long twenty-four pounder, formerly belonging to Gerald's
+gun-boat, which, now removed to his new command, lay a
+mid ships, and mounted on a pivot, constituted the whole
+battery of the schooner. The apron was the leaden covering
+protecting the touch-hole, which, having unaccountably
+fallen off, had encountered the heavy foot of Tom Fluke,
+in his advance along the deck.
+
+The apron was at length replaced. Tom Fluke took the
+helm, and his companion departed, as he said, to have a
+comfortable snooze.
+
+Gerald, who had been an amused listener of the preceding
+dialogue, soon followed, first inquiring into the condition
+of his faithful Sambo, who, on examination, was found to
+have been stunned by the violence of the blow he had
+received. This, Gerald doubted not, had been given with
+the view of better facilitating Desborough's escape, by
+throwing the schooner out of her course, and occasioning
+a consequent confusion among the crew, which might have
+the effect of distracting their attention, for a time,
+from himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+The following evening, an armed schooner was lying at
+anchor in the roadstead of Buffalo, at the southern
+extremity of Lake Erie, and within a mile of the American
+shore. It was past midnight--and although the lake was
+calm and unbroken as the face of a mirror, a dense fog
+had arisen which prevented objects at the head of the
+vessel from being seen from the stern. Two men only were
+visible upon the after deck; the one lay reclining upon
+an arm chest, muffled up in a dread-nought pea jacket,
+the other paced up and down hurriedly, and with an air
+of deep pre-occupation. At intervals he would stop and
+lean over the gang-way, apparently endeavouring to pierce
+through the fog and catch a glimpse of the adjacent shore,
+and, on these occasions, a profound sigh would burst from
+his chest. Then again he would resume his rapid walk,
+with the air of one who has resolved to conquer a weakness,
+and substitute determination in its stead. Altogether
+his manner was that of a man ill at ease from his own
+thoughts.
+
+"Sambo," he at length exclaimed, addressing the man in
+the pea jacket for the first time, "I shall retire to my
+cabin, but fail not to call me an hour before day-break.
+Our friends being all landed, there can be nothing further
+to detain us here, we will therefore make the best of
+our way back to Amherstburg in the morning,"
+
+"Yes, Massa Geral," returned the negro, yawning and half
+raising his brawny form from his rude couch with one
+hand, while he rubbed his heavy eyes with the knuckles
+of the other.
+
+"How is your head tonight?" inquired the officer in a
+kind tone.
+
+"Berry well, Massa Geral--but berry sleepy."
+
+"Then sleep, Sambo; but do not fail to awaken me in time:
+we shall weigh anchor the very first thing in the morning,
+provided the fog does not continue. By the bye, you
+superintended the landing of the baggage--was every thing
+sent ashore?"
+
+"All, Massa Geral, I see him all pack in e wagon, for e
+Bubbalo town--all, except dis here I find in Miss Mungummery
+cabin under e pillow."
+
+As he spoke, the negro quitted his half recumbent position,
+and drew from his breast a small clasped pocket book, on
+a steel entablature adorning the cover of which, were
+the initials of the young lady just named.
+
+"How is it Sambo, that you had not sooner spoken of this?
+The pocket book contains papers that may be of importance;
+and yet there is now no means of forwarding it, unless
+I delay the schooner."
+
+"I only find him hab an hour ago, Massa Geral, when I go
+to make e beds and put e cabin to rights," said the old
+man, in a tone that showed he felt, and was pained by
+the reproof of his young master. "Dis here too," producing
+a small ivory handled penknife, "I find same time in e
+Gubbanor's dater's bed."
+
+Gerald extended his hand to receive it. "A penknife in
+the bed of the Governor's daughters!" he repeated with
+surprise. Ruminating a moment he added to himself, "By
+heaven, it must be so--it is then as I expected. Would
+that I had had this proof of their participation before
+they quitted the schooner. Very well, Sambo, no blame
+can attach to you--go to sleep, my good fellow, but not
+beyond the time I have given you."
+
+"Tankee, Massa Geral, "and drawing the collar of his pea
+jacket close under his ears, the negro again extended
+himself at his length upon the arm chest.
+
+The first idea of the young Commander on descending to
+the cabin, was to examine the blade of the penknife.
+Passing it over his finger, he perceived that the edge
+had that particular bluntness which would have been
+produced by cutting through a rope, and on closer
+examination he found it full of numerous fine notches,
+apparently the result of the resistance it had met with.
+His next care was to examine the severed portions of the
+rope itself, and in these he could observe, by the
+reflection of the lamp, near which he held them minute
+particles of steel, which left no doubt in his mind that
+this had been the instrument by which the separation of
+Desborough's bonds had been effected. We will not venture
+to assert what were the actual feelings of the officer,
+on making this discovery; but it may be supposed, that,
+added to the great annoyance he felt at the escape of
+the settler, his esteem for those who had so positively
+denied all knowledge of, or participation in, the evasion
+was sensibly diminished; and yet it was not without pain
+that he came to a conclusion of the unworthiness of those
+whom he had known from boyhood, and loved no less than
+he had known.
+
+In the fulness of his indignation at their duplicity, he
+now came to the resolution of staying the departure the
+schooner, yet a few hours, that he might have an opportunity
+of going ashore himself, presenting this undoubted evidence
+of their guilt, and taxing them boldly with the purpose
+to which it had been appropriated. Perhaps there was
+another secret motive which induced this determination,
+and that was, the opportunity it would afford him of
+again seeing his beloved Matilda, and delivering her
+pocket book with his own hand.
+
+This resolution taken, without deeming it necessary to
+countermand his order to Sambo, he placed the knife in
+a pocket in the breast of his uniform, where he had
+already deposited the souvenir; and having retired to
+his own cabin, was about to undress himself, when he
+fancied he could distinguish, through one of the stern
+windows of the schooner, sounds similar to those of
+muffled oars. While he yet listened breathlessly to
+satisfy himself whether he had not been deceived, a dark
+form came hurriedly, yet noiselessly, down the steps of
+the cabin. Gerald turned, and discovered Sambo, who now
+perfectly awake, indicated by his manner, he was the
+bearer of some alarming intelligence. His report confirmed
+the suspicion already entertained by himself, and at that
+moment he fancied he heard the same subdued sounds but
+multiplied in several distinct points. A vague sense of
+danger came over the mind of the officer, and although
+his crew consisted of a mere handful of men, he at once
+resolved to defend himself to the last, against whatever
+force might be led to the attack. While Sambo hastened
+to arouse the men, he girded his cutlass and pistols
+around his loins, and taking down two huge blunderbusses
+from a beam in the ceiling of the cabin, loaded them
+heavily with musket balls. Thus armed he sprang once more
+upon deck.
+
+The alarm was soon given, and the preparation became
+general, but neither among the watch, who slumbered in
+the forecastle, nor those who had turned into their
+hammocks, was there the slightest indication of confusion.
+These latter "tumbled up," with no other addition to the
+shirts in which they had left their cots, then their
+trousers, a light state of costume to which those who
+were "boxed up" in their pea jackets and great coats on
+the forecastle, soon reduced themselves also--not but
+that the fog admitted of much warmer raiment, but that
+their activity might be unimpeded--handkerchiefed heads
+and tucked up sleeves, with the habiliments which we have
+named, being the most approved fighting dress in the
+navy.
+
+Meanwhile, although nothing could be distinguished through
+the fog, the sounds which had originally attracted the
+notice of the officer and his trusty servant, increased,
+despite of the caution evidently used, to such a degree
+as to be now audible to all on board. What most excited
+the astonishment of the crew, and the suspicion of Gerald,
+was the exactness of the course taken by the advancing
+boats, in which not the slightest deviation was perceptible.
+It was evident that they were guided by some one who had
+well studied the distance and bearing of the schooner
+from the shore, and as it was impossible to hope that
+even the fog would afford them concealment from the
+approaching enemy, all that was left them, was to make
+the best defence they could. One other alternative
+remained, it is true, and this was to cut their cable
+and allow themselves to drop down silently out of the
+course by which the boats were advancing, but as this
+step involved the possibility of running ashore on the
+American coast, when the same danger of captivity would
+await them, Gerald, after an instant's consideration,
+rejected the idea, prefering the worthier and more
+chivalrous dependence on his own and crew's exertions.
+
+From the moment of the general arming, the long gun,
+which we have already shown to constitute the sole defence
+of the schooner, was brought nearer to the inshore
+gang-way, and mounted on its elevated pivot, with its
+formidable muzzle overtopping and projecting above the
+low bulwarks, could in an instant be brought to bear on
+whatever point it might be found advisable to vomit forth
+its mass of wrath, consisting of grape, cannister, and
+chain shot. On this gun indeed, the general expectation
+much depended, for the crew, composed of sixteen men
+only, exclusive of petty officers, could hope to make
+hut a poor resistance, despite of all the resolution they
+might bring into the contest, against a squadron of well
+armed boats, unless some very considerable diminution in
+the numbers and efforts of these latter should be made
+by "old Sally," before they actually came to close
+quarters. The weakness of the crew was in a great degree
+attributable to the schooner having been employed as a
+cartel; a fact which must moreover explain the want of
+caution, on this occasion, on the part of Gerald, whose
+reputation for vigilance, in all matters of duty, was
+universally acknowledged. It had not occurred to him
+that the instant he landed his prisoners his vessel ceased
+to be a cartel, and therefore a fit subject for the
+enterprize of his enemies, or the probability is, that
+in the hour in which he had landed them he would again
+have weighed anchor, and made the best of his way back
+to Amherstburg.
+
+"Stand by your gun, men--steady," whispered the officer,
+as the noise of many oars immediately abreast, and at a
+distance of not more than twenty yards, announced that
+the main effort of their enemies was about to be made in
+that quarter. "Depress a little--there you have her--now
+into them--fire."
+
+Fiz-z-z-z, and a small pyramid of light rose from the
+breech of the gun, which sufficed, during the moment it
+lasted, to discover three boats filled with armed men,
+advancing immediately opposite, while two others could
+be seen diverging, apparently one towards the quarter,
+the other towards the bows of the devoted little vessel.
+The crew bent their gaze eagerly over her side, to witness
+the havoc they expected to ensue among their enemies. To
+their surprise and mortification there was no report.
+The advancing boats gave three deriding cheers.
+
+"D--n my eyes, if I didn't say she would miss fire, from
+having her breech unkivered last night," shouted the man
+who held the match, and who was no other than Tom Fluke.
+"Quick, here, give us a picker."
+
+A picker was handed to him by one, who also held the
+powder horn for priming.
+
+"Its no use," he pursued, throwing away the wire, and
+springing to the deck. "She's a spike in the touch-hole,
+and the devil himself wouldn't get it out now."
+
+"A spike!--what mean you?" eagerly demanded Gerald.
+
+"It's too true, Mr. Grantham," said the boatswain, who
+had flown to examine the touch-hole, "there is a great
+piece of steel in it, and for all the world like a woman's
+bodkin, or some such sort of thing."
+
+"Ah! it all comes o' that wench that was here on deck
+last night," muttered the helmsman, who had succeeded
+Sambo on duty the preceding night. "I thought I see her
+fiddlin' about the gun, when the chase was made after
+the Yankee, although I didn't think to say nothing about
+it, when you axed Tom Fluke about Sal's apron."
+
+Whatever conjecture might have arisen with others, there
+was no time to think of, much less to discuss it--the
+boats were already within a few yards of the vessel.
+
+"Steady, men--silence," commanded Gerald in a low tone:
+"Since Sal has failed us, we must depend upon ourselves.
+Down beneath the bulwarks, and move not one of you until
+they begin to board--then let each man single his enemy
+and fire; the cutlass must do the rest."
+
+The order was obeyed. Each moment brought the crisis of
+action nearer: the rowers had discontinued their oars,
+but the bows of the several boats could be heard obeying
+the impetus already given them, and dividing the water
+close to the vessel.
+
+"Now then, Sambo," whispered the officer. At that moment
+a torch was raised high over the head of the negro and
+his master. Its rays fell upon the first of the three
+boats, the crews of which were seen standing up with arms
+outstretched to grapple with the schooner. Another instant
+and they would have touched. The negro dropped his light.
+
+Gerald pulled the trigger of his blunderbuss, aimed into
+the very centre of the boat. Shrieks, curses and plashings,
+as of bodies falling in the water succeeded; and in the
+confusion occasioned by the murderous fire, the first
+boat evidently fell off.
+
+"Again, Sambo," whispered the officer. A second time the
+torch streamed suddenly in air, and the contents of the
+yet undischarged blunderbuss spread confusion, dismay
+and death, into the second boat.
+
+"Old Sal herself couldn't have done better: pity he hadn't
+a hundred of them," growled Tom Fluke, who although
+concealed behind the bulwarks, had availed himself of a
+crevice near him, to watch the effect produced by the
+formidable weapons.
+
+There was a momentary indecision among the enemy, after
+the second destructive fire; it was but momentary. Again
+they advanced, and closing with the vessel, evinced a
+determination of purpose, that left little doubt as to
+the result. A few sprang into the chains and rigging,
+while others sought to enter by her bows, but the main
+effort seemed to be made at her gangway, at which Gerald
+had stationed himself with ten of his best men, the rest
+being detached to make the best defence they could,
+against those who sought to enter in the manner above
+described.
+
+Notwithstanding the great disparity of numbers, the little
+crew of the schooner had for some time a considerable
+advantage over their enemies. At the first onset of these
+latter, their pistols had been discharged, but in so
+random a manner as to have done no injury--whereas the
+assailed, scrupulously obeying the order of their Commander,
+fired not a shot until they found themselves face to face
+with an enemy; the consequence of which was, that every
+pistol ball killed an American, or otherwise placed him
+HORS DE COMBAT. Still, in despite of their loss, the
+latter were more than adequate to the capture, unless a
+miracle should interpose to prevent it, and exasperated
+as they were by the fall of their comrades, their efforts
+became at each moment more resolute and successful. A
+deadly contest had been maintained in the gangway, from
+which, however, Gerald was compelled to retire, although
+bravely supported by his handful of followers. Step by
+step he had retreated, until at length he found his back
+against the main-mast, and his enemies pressing him on
+every side. Five of his men lay dead in the space between
+the gangway and the position he now occupied, and Sambo,
+who had not quitted his side for an instant, was also
+senseless at his feet, felled by a tremendous blow from
+a cutlass upon the head. Hit force now consisted merely
+of the five men remaining of his own party, and three of
+those who had been detached, who, all that were left
+alive, had been compelled to fall back upon their commander.
+How long he would have continued the hopeless and desperate
+struggle, in this manner is doubtful, had not a fresh
+enemy appeared in his rear. These were the crews of two
+other boats, who, having boarded without difficulty, now
+came up to the assistance of their comrades. So completely
+taken by surprise was Gerald in this quarter, that the
+first intimation he had of his danger was, in the violent
+seizure of his sword arm from behind, and a general rush
+upon, and disarming of the remainder of his followers.
+On turning to behold his enemy, he saw with concern the
+triumphant face of Desborough.
+
+"Every dog has his day, I guess," huskily chuckled the
+settler, as by the glare of several torches which had
+been suddenly lighted, he was now seen casting looks of
+savage vengeance, and holding his formidable knife
+threateningly over the head of the officer whom he had
+grappled. "I reckon as how I told you it would be Jeremiah
+Desborough's turn next."
+
+"Silence fellow, loose your hold," shouted one whose
+authoritative voice and manner, announced him for an
+officer, apparently the leader of the boarding party.
+
+Awed by the tone in which he was addressed, the settler
+quitted his grasp, and retired muttering into the crowd
+behind him.
+
+"I regret much, sir," pursued the American Commander
+seriously, and turning to Gerald, "that your obstinate
+defence--should have been carried to the length it has.
+We were given to understand, that ours would not be an
+easy conquest--yet, little deemed it would have been
+purchased with the lives of nearly half our force. Still,
+even while we deplore our loss, have we hearts to estimate
+the valour of our foe. I cannot give you freedom, since
+the gift is not at my disposal; but at least I may spare
+you the pain of surrendering a blade you have so nobly
+wielded. Retain your sword, sir."
+
+Gerald's was not a nature to remain untouched by such an
+act of chivalrous courtesy, and he expressed in brief,
+but pointed terms, his sense of the compliment.
+
+A dozen of the boarders, under the command of a midshipman,
+now received orders to remain, and bring the prize into
+Buffalo as soon as day light would permit, and with these
+were left the killed and wounded of both parties, the
+latter receiving such attention as the rude experience
+of their comrades enabled them to afford. Five minutes
+afterwards Gerald, who had exchanged his trusty cutlass,
+for the sword he had been so flatteringly permitted to
+retain, found himself in the leading boat of the little
+return squadron, and seated at the side of his generous
+captor. It may be easily imagined what his mortification
+was at this unexpected reverse, and how bitterly he
+regretted not having weighed anchor the moment his
+prisoners had been landed. Regret however, was now
+unavailing, and dismissing this consideration for a while,
+he reverted to the strange circumstance of the spiking
+of his gun, and the mocking cheers, which had burst from
+the lips of his enemies, on the attempt to discharge it.
+This reflection drew from him a remark to his companion.
+
+"I think you said," he observed, "that you had been
+informed, the conquest of the schooner would not be an
+easy one. Would it be seeking too much to know who was
+your informant?"
+
+The American officer shook his head. I fear I am not at
+liberty exactly to name--but thus much I may venture to
+state, that the person who has so rightly estimated your
+gallantry, is one not wholly unknown to you.
+
+"This is ambiguous. One question more, were you prepared
+to expect the failure of the schooner's principal means
+of defence--her long gun?"
+
+"If you recollect the cheer that burst from my fellows,
+at the moment when the harmless flash was seen ascending,
+you will require no further elucidation on that head,"
+replied the American evasively.
+
+This was sufficient for Gerald. He folded his arms, sank
+his head upon his chest, and continued to muse deeply.
+Soon afterwards the boat touched the beach, where many
+of the citizens were assembled to hear tidings of the
+enterprize, and congratulate the captors. Thence he was
+conducted to the neat little inn, which was the only
+place of public accommodation the small town, or rather
+village of Buffalo, at that period afforded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+At the termination of the memorable war of the revolution
+--that war which, on the one hand, severed, and for
+ever, the ties that bound the Colonies in interest and
+affection with the parent land, and, on the other, seemed
+as by way of indemnification, to have rivetted the Canadas
+in closer love to their adopted Mother--hundreds of
+families who had remained staunch in their allegiance,
+quitted the republican soil, to which they had been
+unwillingly transferred, and hastened to close on one
+side of the vast chain of waters, that separated the
+descendants of France from the descendants of England,
+the evening of an existence, whose morning and noon had
+been passed on the other. Among the number of these was
+Major Grantham, who, at the close of the revolution, had
+espoused a daughter, (the only remaining child,) of
+Frederick and Madeline De Haldimar, whose many vicissitudes
+of suffering, prior to their marriage, have been fully
+detailed in Wacousta. When, at that period, the different
+garrisons on the frontier were given up to the American
+troops, the several British regiments crossed over into
+Canada, and, after a short term of service in that country,
+were successively relieved by fresh corps from England.
+One of the earliest recalled of these, was the regiment
+of Colonel Frederick De Haldimar. Local interests, however,
+attaching his son-in-law to Upper Canada, the latter had,
+on the reduction of his corps, (a provincial regiment,
+well known throughout the war of the revolution, for its
+strength, activity, and good service,) finally fixed
+himself at Amherstburgh. In the neighbourhood of this
+post he had acquired extensive possessions, and, almost
+from the first formation of the settlement, exchanged
+the duties of a military, for those of a scarcely less
+active magisterial, life. Austere in manner, severe in
+his administration of justice, Major Grantham might have
+been considered a harsh man, had not these qualities been
+tempered by his well known benevolence to the poor, and
+his staunch, yet, unostentatious, support of the deserving
+and the well intentioned. And, as his life was a continuous
+illustration of the principles he inculcated, no one
+could be unjust enough to ascribe to intolerance or
+oppression, the rigour with which he exacted obedience,
+to those laws which he so well obeyed himself. It was
+remarked, moreover, that, while his general bearing to
+those who sought to place themselves in the scale of
+arrogant superiority, was proud and unconciliating, his
+demeanour to his inferiors, was ever that of one sensible
+that condescension may soothe and gratify the humble
+spirit, without its exercise at all detracting from the
+independence of him who offers it. But we cannot better
+sum up his general excellence, and the high estimation
+in which he was held in the town of his adoption, than
+by stating that, at the period of his demise, there was
+not to be seen one tearless eye among the congregated
+poor, who with religious respect, flocked to tender the
+last duties of humanity to the remains of their benefactor
+and friend.
+
+In the domestic relations of life, Major Grantham was no
+less exemplary, although perhaps his rigid notions of
+right, had obtained for him more of the respect than of
+the love of those who came within their influence, and
+yet no mean portion of both. Tenderly attached to his
+wife, whom he had lost when Gerald was yet in his twelfth
+year, he had not ceased to deplore her loss; and this
+perhaps had contributed to nourish a reservedness of
+disposition, which, without at all aiming at, or purposing,
+such effect, insensibly tended to the production of a
+corresponding reserve on the part of his children, that
+increased with their years. Indeed, on their mother, all
+the tenderness of their young hearts had been, lavished,
+and, when they suddenly saw themselves deprived of her
+who loved, and had been loved by them, with doting
+fondness, they felt as if a void had been left in their
+affections, which, the less tender evidences of paternal
+love, were but insufficient wholly to supply. Still,
+(although not to the same extent,) did they love their
+father also; and what was wanted in intensity of feeling,
+was more than made up by the deep, the exalted respect,
+they entertained for his principles and conduct. It was
+with pride they beheld him, not merely the deservedly
+idolized of the low, but the respected of the high--the
+example of one class, and the revered of another; one
+whose high position in the social scale, had been attained,
+less by his striking exterior advantages, than the inward
+worth that governed every action of his life, and whose
+moral character, as completely sans tache as his fulfilment
+of the social duties was proverbially sans reproche,
+could not fail, in a certain degree, to reflect the
+respect it commanded upon themselves.
+
+As we have before observed, however, all the fervor of
+their affection had been centered in their mother, and
+that was indeed a melancholy night in which the youths
+had been summoned to watch the passing away of her gentle
+spirit for ever from their love. Isabella De Haldimar
+had, from her earliest infancy, been remarkable for her
+quiet and contemplative character; and, bred amid scenes
+that brought at every retrospect, recollections of some
+acted horror, it is not surprising that the bias given
+by nature, should have been developed and strengthened
+by the events that had surrounded her. Not dissimilar in
+disposition, as she was not unlike in form, to her mother,
+she was by that mother carefully endowed with those
+gentler attributes of goodness, which, taking root within
+a soil so eminently disposed to their reception, could
+not fail to render her in after life a model of excellence,
+both as a mother and a wife. Notwithstanding, however,
+this moulding of her pliant, and well directed mind,
+there was about her a melancholy, which while it gave
+promise of the devoted affection of the mother, offered
+but little prospect of cheerfulness, in an union with
+one, who, reserved himself, could not be expected to
+temper that melancholy, by the introduction of a gaiety
+that was not natural to him. And yet it was for this very
+melancholy, tender and fascinating in her, that Major
+Grantham had sought the hand of Isabella De Haldimar;
+and it was for the very austerity and reserve of his
+general manner, more than from the manly beauty of his
+tall dark person, that he too, had become the object of
+her secret choice, long before he had proposed for her.
+Keenly alive to the happiness of her daughter, Mrs. De
+Haldimar had feared that such union was ill assorted,
+for, as she called to mind the manner and character of
+her unfortunate uncle, it seemed to her there were points
+of resemblance between him and the proposed husband of
+her child, which augured ill for the future quiet of
+Isabella; but, when she consulted her on the subject,
+and found that every feeling of her heart, that was not
+claimed by her fond and indulgent parents, was given to
+Major Grantham, she no longer hesitated, and the marriage
+took place. Contrary to the expectation, and much to
+the delight of Mrs. De Haldimar, the first year of the
+union proved one of complete and unalloyed happiness,
+and she saw with pleasure, that if Major Grantham did
+not descend to those little empressemens which mark the
+doting lover, he was never deficient in those manlier,
+and more respectful attentions, that by a woman of the
+mild and reflecting disposition of Isabella, were so
+likely to be appreciated. More than the first year,
+however, it was not permitted Mrs. De Haldimar to witness
+her daughter's happiness. Her husband's regiment having
+been ordered home; but, in the past, she had a sufficient
+guarantee for the future, and, when she parted from
+Isabella, it was under the full conviction, that she had
+confided her to a man in every way sensible of her worth,
+and desirous of making her happy.
+
+So far the event justified her expectation. The austerity
+which Major Grantham carried with him into public life,
+was, if not wholly laid aside, at least considerably
+softened, in the presence of his wife, and when, later,
+the births of two sons crowned their union, there was
+nothing left her to desire, which it was in the power of
+circumstances to bestow. But Mrs. De Haldimar had not
+taken into account the effect likely to be produced by
+a separation from herself--the final severing, as it
+were, of every tie of blood. Of the four children who
+had composed the family of Colonel Frederick De Haldimar,
+the two oldest, (officers in his own corps,) had perished
+in the war; the fourth, a daughter, had died young, of
+a decline; and the loss of the former especially, who
+had grown up with her from childhood to youth, was deeply
+felt by the sensitive Isabella. With the dreadful scenes
+perpetrated at Detroit--scenes in which their family
+had been the principal sufferers--the boys had been
+familiarized by the old soldiers of their father's
+regiment, who often took them to the several points most
+worthy of remark, from the incidents connected with them;
+and, pointing out the spots on which their uncle Charles
+and their aunt Clara had fallen victims to the terrible
+hatred of Wacousta, for their grandfather, detailed the
+horrors of those days with a rude fidelity of coloring,
+that brought dismay and indignation to the hearts of
+their wondering and youthful auditors. On these occasions,
+Isabella became the depository of all that they had
+gleaned. To her they confided, under the same pledge of
+secrecy which had been exacted from themselves, every
+circumstance of horror connected with those days; nor
+were they satisfied until they had shewn her those scenes
+with which so many dreadful recollections were associated.
+On one naturally of a melancholy temperament, these oft
+recurring visits could not fail to produce a deep effect;
+and insensibly that gloom of disposition, which might
+have yielded to the influence of years and circumstances,
+was more and more confirmed by the darkness of the imagery
+on which it reposed. Had she been permitted to disclose
+to her kind mother all that she had heard and known on
+the subject, the reciprocation of their sympathies might
+have relieved her heart, and partially dissipated the
+phantasms that her knowledge of those events had conjured
+up; but this her brothers had positively prohibited,
+alleging, as powerful reasons, not merely that the men
+who had confided in their promise, would be severely
+taken to task by their father, but also that it could
+only tend to grieve their mother unnecessarily, and to
+re-open wounds that were nearly closed.
+
+Thus was the melancholy of Isabella fed by the very
+silence in which she was compelled to indulge. Often was
+her pillow wetted with tears, as she passed in review
+the several fearful incidents connected with the tale in
+which her brothers had so deeply interested her, and she
+would have given worlds at those moments, had they been
+hers to bestow, to recal to life and animation, the
+beloved but unfortunate uncle and aunt, to whose fate,
+her brothers assured her, even their veteran friends
+never alluded without sorrow. Often, too, did she dwell
+on the share her own fond mother had borne in those
+transactions, and the anguish which must have pierced
+her heart, when first apprized of the loss of her, whom,
+she had even THEN loved with all a mother's love. Nay,
+more than once, while gazing on the face of the former,
+her inmost soul given up to the recollection of all she
+had endured, first at Michilimackinac, and afterwards
+at Detroit, had she unconsciously suffered the tears to
+course down her cheeks without an effort to restrain
+them. Ignorant of the cause, Mrs. De Haldimar only ascribed
+this emotion to the natural melancholy of her daughter's
+character, and then she would gently chide her, and seek,
+by a variety of means, to divert her thoughts into some
+lively channel; but she had little success in the attempt
+to eradicate reflections already rooted in so congenial
+a soil.
+
+Her sister died very young, and she scarcely felt her
+loss; but, when, subsequently, the vicissitudes of a
+military life had deprived her for ever of her beloved
+brothers, her melancholy increased. It was, however, the
+silent, tearless melancholy, that knows not the paroxysm
+of outrageous grief. The quiet resignation of her character
+formed an obstacle to the inroads of all vivacious sorrow;
+yet was her health not the less effectually undermined
+by the slow action of her innate feeling, unfortunately
+too much fostered by outward influences. By her marriage
+and the birth of her sons, whom she loved with all a
+mother's fondness, her mental malady had been materially
+diminished, and indeed, in a great degree superseded,
+but, unhappily previous to these events, it had seriously
+affected her constitution, and produced a morbid
+susceptibility of mind and person, that exposed her to
+be overwhelmed by the occurrence of any of those afflictions
+which, otherwise, she might, with ordinary fortitude,
+have endured. When, therefore, intelligence from England
+announced that her parents had both perished in a hurricane
+on their route to the West Indies, whither the regiment
+of Colonel De Haldimar had been ordered, the shock was
+too great for her, mentally and personally enfeebled as
+she had been, to sustain, and she sank gradually under
+this final infliction of Providence.
+
+Major Grantham beheld with dismay the effect of this blow
+upon his beloved wife. Fell consumption had now marked
+her for his own, and so rapid was the progress of the
+disease acting on a temperament already too much
+pre-disposed to its influence, that, in despite of all
+human preventives, the sensitive Isabella, before six
+months had elapsed, was summoned to a better world.
+
+And never did human being meet the summons with more
+perfect resignation to the Divine will. The death-bed
+scene between that tender mother and her sorrowing family,
+was one which might have edified even the most pious.
+Gerald, as we have already said, was in his twelfth year
+at the period of this afflicting event--his brother Henry,
+one year younger; both were summoned from school on the
+morning of her death--both knew that their fond mother
+was ill--but so far were they from imagining the scene
+about to be offered to their young observation, that when
+they reached home it was with the joyous feeling of boys,
+exulting in a momentary liberation from scholastic
+restraint, and eagerly turning into holiday, that which
+they little deemed would so soon become a day of mourning.
+How rapidly was the deceitful illusion dispelled, when,
+on entering the sick chamber of their adored parent, they
+beheld what every surrounding circumstance told them was
+not the mere bed of sickness, but the bed of death.
+Propped on pillows that supported her feeble head--her
+beautiful black hair streaming across her pallid, placid
+brow, and her countenance wearing a holy and religious
+calm, Mrs. Grantham presented an image of resignation,
+so perfect, so superhuman, that the disposition to a
+violent ebullition of grief, which at first manifested
+itself in the youths, gave place to a certain mysterious
+awe, that chained them almost spell-bound at the foot of
+her bed. A strict observer of the ordinances of her
+religion, she had had every preparation made for her
+reception of the sacrament, the administering of which
+was only deferred until the arrival of her children.
+This duty being now performed, with the imposing solemnity
+befitting the occasion, the venerable clergyman, who had
+known and loved her from her infancy, imprinted a last
+kiss upon her brow, and left the apartment deeply affected.
+Then, indeed, for the first time, was a loose given to
+the grief that pervaded every bosom, even to the lowest
+of the domestics, who had been summoned to receive her
+parting blessing. Close to the bed-side, each pressing
+one of her emaciated hands to his lips, knelt her
+heart-broken sons, weeping bitterly, while, from the
+chest of a tall negro, apparently an old and attached
+servant, burst forth at intervals convulsive sobs. Even
+the austere Major Grantham, seated at some little distance
+from the bed, contemplating the serene features of his
+dying wife, could not restrain the tears that forced
+themselves forth, and trickled through his fingers, as
+he half sought to conceal his emotion from his servants.
+In the midst of the profound sorrow which environed her,
+Mrs. Grantham alone was unappalled by her approaching
+end: she spoke calmly and collectedly, gently chiding
+some and encouraging others; giving advice, and conveying
+orders, as if she was merely about to undertake a short
+customary journey instead of that long, and untravelled
+one, whence there is neither communication nor return.
+To her unhappy sons she gave it in tender injunction to
+recompense their father by their love for the loss he
+was about to sustain in herself; and to her servants she
+enjoined to be at once dutiful to their master and
+affectionate to her children. Having made her peace with
+God, and disposed, of herself, her consideration, was
+now exclusively for others--and, during the hour which
+intervened between the departure of the clergyman and
+her death, the whole tenor of her thoughts was directed
+to the alleviation of the sorrow which she felt would
+succeed the flight of her spirit from earth. As she grew
+fainter, she motioned to her husband to come near her--He
+did so, and, with a smile of rapt serenity that bespoke
+the conviction strong at her heart, she said in a low
+tone, as she clasped his warm hand within her own, already
+stiffening with the chill of death: "Grieve not, I entreat
+you, for recollect that, although we part, it is not for
+ever. Oh, no! my father, my mother, my brothers, and you
+my husband, and beloved children, we shall all meet
+again." Exhausted with the energy she had thrown into
+these last words, she sank back upon the pillow, from
+which she had partially raised her head. After a short
+pause, she glanced her eye on a portrait that hung on
+the opposite wall. It represented an officer habited in
+the full uniform of her father's regiment. She next
+looked at the negro, who, amid his unchecked sorrow, had
+been an attentive observer of her every action, and
+pointed expressively first to her kneeling children, and
+then to the portrait. The black seemed to understand her
+meaning; for he made a sign of acquiescence. She then
+extended her hand to him, which he kissed, and bedewed
+with his tears, and retreated sobbing to his position
+near the foot of the bed. Two minutes afterwards, Mrs.
+Grantham had breathed her last, but so insensibly that,
+although every eye was fixed upon her, no one could tell
+the precise moment at which she had ceased to exist.
+
+We will pass over the deep grief which preyed upon the
+hearts of the unfortunate brothers, for weeks after they
+had been compelled to acknowledge the stern truth that
+they were indeed motherless. Those who have, at that
+tender age, known what it is to lose an affectionate
+mother, and under circumstances at all similar to those
+just described, will be at no loss to comprehend the
+utter desolation of their bruised spirits: to those who
+have not sustained this most grievous of human afflictions,
+it would be a waste of time to detail what cannot possibly
+be understood, save through the soul-withering ordeal of
+alike experience.
+
+If, in early youth, however, the impressions of sorrow
+are more lively, so is the return to hope more rapid.
+Time, and the elasticity of spirit common to their years,
+gradually dissipated the cloud of melancholy that had
+rested on the hearts of the Canadian Brothers; and,
+although they never ceased to lament their mother with
+that tenderness and respect which her many virtues, and
+love for them especially, demanded, still did their
+thoughts gradually take the bias to which a variety of
+outward and important circumstances afterwards directed
+them. It was soon after this event, that the first seeds
+of disunion began to spring up between England and the
+United States, the inevitable results of which, it was
+anticipated, would be the involving of Canada in the
+struggle; and, notwithstanding the explosion did not take
+place for several years afterwards, preparations were
+made on either shore, to an extent that kept the spirit
+of enterprise constantly on the alert.
+
+Inheriting the martial spirit of their family, the
+inclinations of the young Granthams led them to the
+service; and, as their father could have no reasonable
+objection to oppose to a choice which promised hot merely
+to secure his sons in an eligible profession, but to
+render them in some degree of benefit to their country,
+he consented to their views. Gerald's preference leading
+him to the navy, he was placed on that establishment as
+a midshipman; while Henry, several years later, obtained,
+through the influence of their father's old friend General
+Brock, an Ensigncy in the ---- Regiment then quartered
+at Amherstburg.
+
+Meanwhile, Major Grantham, whose reserve appeared to have
+increased since the death of his wife, seemed to seek,
+in the active discharge of his magisterial duties, a
+relief from the recollection of the loss he had sustained;
+and it was about this period that, in consequence of many
+of the American settlers in Canada, having, in anticipation
+of a rupture between the two countries, secretly withdrawn
+themselves to the opposite shore, his exaction of the
+duties of British subjects from those who remained, became
+more vigorous than ever.
+
+We have already shewn Desborough to have been the most
+unruly and disorderly of the worthless set; and as no
+opportunity was omitted of compelling him to renew his
+oath of allegiance, (while his general conduct was strictly
+watched,) the hatred of the man for the stern magistrate
+was daily matured, until at length it grew into an
+inextinguishable desire for revenge.
+
+The chief, and almost only recreation, in which Major
+Grantham indulged, was that of fowling. An excellent shot
+himself, he had been in some degree the instructor of
+his sons; and, although, owing to the wooded nature of
+the country, the facilities afforded to the enjoyment of
+his favorite pursuit in the orthodox manner of a true
+English sportsman, were few, still, as game was every
+where abundant, he had continued to turn to account the
+advantages that were actually offered. Both Gerald and
+Henry had been his earlier companions in the sport, but,
+of late years and especially since the death of their
+mother, he had been in the habit of going out alone.
+
+It was one morning in that season of the year when the
+migratory pigeons pursue their course towards what are
+termed the "burnt woods," on which they feed, and in such
+numbers as to cover the surface of the heavens, as with
+a dense and darkening cloud, that Major Grantham sallied
+forth at early dawn, with his favorite dog and gun, and,
+as was his custom, towards Hartley's point. Disdaining,
+as unworthy of his skill, the myriads of pigeons that
+every where presented themselves, he passed from the
+skirt of the forest towards an extensive swamp, in the
+rear of Hartley's, which, abounding in golden plover and
+snipe, usually afforded him a plentiful supply. On this
+occasion he was singularly successful, and, having bagged
+as many birds as he could conveniently carry, was in the
+act of ramming down his last charge, when the report of
+a shot came unexpectedly from the forest. In the next
+instant he was sensible he was wounded, and, placing his
+hand to his back, felt it wet with blood. As there was
+at the moment several large wild ducks within a few yards
+of the spot where he stood, and between himself and the
+person who had fired, he at once concluded that he had
+been the victim of an accident, and, feeling the necessity
+of assistance, he called loudly on the unseen sportsman,
+to come forward to his aid; but, although his demand was
+several times repeated, no answer was returned, and no
+one appeared. With some difficulty he contrived, after
+disembarrassing himself of his game-bag, to reach the
+farm at Hartley's, where every assistance was afforded
+him, and, a waggon having been procured, he was conducted
+to his home, when, on examination, the wound was pronounced
+to be mortal.
+
+On the third day from this event, Major Grantham breathed
+his last, bequeathing the guardianship of his sons to
+Colonel D'Egville, who had married his sister. At this
+epoch, Gerald was absent with his vessel on a cruise,
+but Henry received his parting blessing upon both,
+accompanied by a solemn injunction, that they should
+never be guilty of any act which could sully the memory,
+either of their mother or himself. This Henry promised,
+in the same of both, most religiously to observe; and,
+when Gerald returned, and to his utter dismay beheld the
+lifeless form of the parent, whom he had quitted only a
+few days before in all the vigour of health, he not only
+renewed the pledge given by his brother, but with the
+vivacity of character habitual to him, called down the
+vengeance of Heaven upon his head, should he ever be
+found to swerve from those principles of virtue and honor,
+which had been so sedulously inculcated on him.
+
+Meanwhile, there was nothing to throw even the faintest
+light on the actual cause of Major Grantham's death. On
+the first probing and dressing of the wound, the murderous
+lead had been extracted, and, as it was discovered to be
+a rifle ball it was taken for granted that some Indian,
+engaged in the chase, had, in the eagerness of pursuit,
+missed an intermediate object at which he had taken aim,
+and lodged the ball accidentally in the body of the
+unfortunate gentleman; and that, terrified at the discovery
+of the mischief he had done, and perhaps apprehending
+punishment, he had hastily fled from the spot, to avoid
+detection. This opinion, unanimously entertained by the
+townspeople, was shared by the brothers, who knowing the
+unbounded love and respect of all for their parent, dreamt
+not for one moment that his death could have been the
+result of premeditation. It was left for Desborough to
+avow, at a later period, that he had been the murderer;
+and with what startling effect on him, to whom the
+admission was exultingly made, we have already seen.
+
+When Desborough was subsequently tried, there was no
+other evidence by which to establish his guilt, than the
+admission alluded to, and this he declared, in his defence,
+he had only made with a view to annoy Mr. Grantham, to
+whom he owed a grudge for persecuting him so closely on
+the occasion of his flight with his son; and, although,
+on reference to the period, it was found that Major
+Grantham had received the wound which occasioned his
+death two days after Desborough had been ordered, on pain
+of instant expulsion from the country, to renew his oaths,
+and perform service with the militia of the district,
+still, as this fact admitted only of a presumptive
+interpretation the charge could not be sufficiently
+brought home to him, and he was, however reluctantly,
+acquitted. The rifles which, it will be remembered, were
+seized by Henry Grantham on the occasion of his detection
+of the settler in an act of treason, were still in his
+possession, and, as they were of a remarkably small
+calibre, the conviction would have taken place, had the
+ball which killed Major Grantham been forthcoming, and
+found to fit either of the bores. Unfortunately, however,
+it so happened that it had not been preserved, so that
+an essential link in the chain of circumstances had been
+irrecoverably lost. When the question was mooted by the
+court, before whom he was tried, the countenance of the
+settler was discovered to fall, and there was a restlessness
+about him, totally at variance with the almost insolent
+calm he had preserved throughout; but when it appeared
+that, from the impression previously entertained of the
+manner of the death, it had not been thought necessary
+to preserve the ball, he again resumed his confidence,
+and listened to the remainder of the proceedings unmoved.
+
+We have seen him subsequently escaping from the confinement
+to which he had been subjected, with a view to trial for
+another offence, and, later still, unshackled and exultingly
+brandishing his knife over the head of one of the objects
+of his bitterest hatred, on the deck of the very vessel
+in which he had so recently been a prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Autumn had passed away, and winter, the stern invigorating
+winter of Canada, had already covered the earth with
+enduring snows, and the waters with bridges of seemingly
+eternal ice, and yet no effort had been made by the
+Americans to repossess themselves of the country they
+had so recently lost. The several garrisons of Detroit
+and Amherstburgh, reposing under the laurels they had so
+easily won, made holiday of their conquest; and, secure
+in the distance that separated them from the more populous
+districts of the Union, seemed to have taken it for
+granted that they had played their final part in the
+active operations of the war, and would be suffered to
+remain in undisturbed possession. But the storm was
+already brewing in the far distance which, advancing
+progressively like the waves of the coming tempest, was
+destined first to shake them in their security, and
+finally to overwhelm them in its vortex. With the natural
+enterprize of their character, the Americans had no sooner
+ascertained the fall of Detroit, than means, slow but
+certain, were taken for the recovery of a post, with
+which, their national glory was in no slight degree
+identified. The country whence they drew their resources
+for the occasion, were the new states of Ohio and Kentucky,
+and one who had previously travelled through those immense
+tracts of forests, where the dwelling of the backwoodsman
+is met with at long intervals, would have marvelled at
+the zeal and promptitude with which these adventurous
+people, abandoning their homes, and disregarding their
+personal interests, flocked to the several rallying
+points. Armed and accoutred at their own expence, with
+the unerring rifle that provided them with game, and the
+faithful hatchet that had brought down the dark forest
+into ready subjection, their claim upon the public was
+for the mere sustenance they required on service. It is
+true that this partial independence of the Government
+whom they served rather in the character of volunteers,
+than of conscripts, was in a great measure fatal to their
+discipline; but in the peculiar warfare of the country,
+absence of discipline was rather an advantage than a
+demerit, since when checked, or thrown into confusion,
+they looked not for a remedy in the resumption of order,
+but in the exercise each of his own individual exertions,
+facilitated as he was by his general knowledge of
+localities, and his confidence in his own personal
+resources.
+
+But, although new armies were speedily organized--if
+organized, may be termed those who brought with them into
+the contest much courage and devotedness, yet, little
+discipline, the Americans, in this instance, proceeded
+with a caution that proved their respect for the British
+garrison, strongly supported as it was by a numerous
+force of Indians. Within two months after the capitulation
+of Detroit, a considerable army, Ohioans and Kentuckians,
+with some regular Infantry, had been pushed forward as
+with a view to feel their way; but these having been
+checked by the sudden appearance of a detachment from
+Amherstburgh, had limited their advance to the Miami
+River, on the banks of which, and on the ruins of one of
+the old English forts of Pontiac's days, they had
+constructed new fortifications, and otherwise strongly
+entrenched themselves. It was a mistake, however, to
+imagine that the enemy would be content with establishing
+himself here. The new fort merely served as a nucleus
+for the concentration of such resources of men and warlike
+equipment, as were necessary to the subjection, firstly
+of Detroit, and afterwards of Amherstburgh. Deprived of
+the means of transport, the shallow bed of the Miami
+aiding them but little, it was a matter of no mean
+difficulty with the Americans to convey through several
+hundred miles of forest, the heavy guns they required
+for battering, and as it was only at intervals this could
+be effected; the most patient endurance and unrelaxing
+perseverance being necessary to the end. From the inactivity
+of this force, or rather the confinement of its operations
+to objects of defence, the English garrison had calculated
+on undisturbed security, at least throughout the winter,
+if not for a longer period; but although it was not until
+this latter season was far advanced, that the enemy broke
+up from his entrenchments on the Miami, and pushed himself
+forward for the attainment of his final view, the error
+of imputing inactivity to him was discovered at a moment
+when it was least expected.
+
+It was during a public ball given at Amherstburgh on the
+18th of January 1813, that the first intelligence was
+brought of the advance of a strong American force, whose
+object it was supposed was to push rapidly on to Detroit,
+leaving Amherstburgh behind to be disposed of later. The
+officer who brought this intelligence was the fat Lieutenant
+Raymond, who commanding an outpost at the distance of
+some leagues had been surprised, and after a resistance
+very creditable under the circumstances, driven in by
+the American advanced guard with a loss of nearly half
+his command.
+
+Thus, "parva componere magnis," was the same consternation
+produced in the ball-room at Amherstburg, that, at a
+later period, occurred in a similar place of amusement
+at Brussels, and although not followed by the same
+momentous public results, producing the same host of
+flattering fears and anxieties in the bosoms of the female
+votaries of Terpsichore. We believe, however, that there
+existed some dissimilarity in the several modes of
+communication--the Duke of Wellington receiving his with
+some appearance of regard, on the part of the communicator,
+for the nerves of the ladies, while to Colonel St. Julian,
+commanding at Amherstburg, and engaged at the moment at
+the whist table, the news was imparted in stentorian
+tones, which were audible to every one in the adjoining
+ball-room.
+
+But even if his voice had not been heard, the appearance
+of Lieutenant Raymond would have justified the apprehension
+of any reasonable person, for, in the importance of the
+moment, he had not deemed it necessary to make any change
+in the dress in which he had been surprised and driven
+back. Let the reader figure to himself a remarkably fat,
+ruddy faced man, of middle age, dressed in a pair of
+tightly fitting dread-nought trowsers, and a shell jacket,
+that had once been scarlet, but now, from use and exposure,
+rather resembled the colour of brickdust; boots from
+which all polish had been taken by the grease employed
+to render them snow-proof; a brace of pistols thrust into
+the black waist belt that encircled his huge circumference,
+and from which depended a sword, whose steel scabbard
+shewed the rust of the rudest bivouac. Let him, moreover,
+figure to himself that ruddy carbuncled face, and nearly
+as ruddy brow, suffused with perspiration, although in
+a desperately cold winter's night, and the unwashed hands,
+and mouth, and lips black from the frequent biting of
+the ends of cartridges, while ever and anon the puffed
+cheeks, in the effort to procure air and relieve the
+panting chest, recal the idea of a Bacchus, after one of
+his most lengthened orgies--let him figure all this, and
+if he will add short, curling, wiry, damp hair, surmounting
+a head as round as a turnip, a snubby, red, retrousse
+nose, and light gray eyes; he will have a tolerable idea
+of the startling figure that thus abruptly made its
+appearance in the person of Lieutenant Raymond, first
+among the dancers, and bustlingly thence into the adjoining
+card room.
+
+At the moment of his entrance, every eye had been turned
+upon this strange apparition, while an almost instinctive
+sense of the cause of his presence pervaded every breast.
+Indeed it was impossible to behold him arrayed in the
+bivouac garb in which we have described him, contrasted
+as it was with the elegant ball dresses of his brother
+officers, and not attribute his presence to some
+extraordinary motive; and as almost every one in the room
+was aware of his having been absent on detachment, his
+mission had been half divined even before he had opened
+his lips to Colonel St. Julian, for whom, on entering,
+he had hurriedly inquired.
+
+But when the latter officer was seen soon afterwards to
+rise from and leave the card table, and, after communicating
+hurriedly with the several heads of Departments, quit
+altogether the scene of festivity, there could be no
+longer a doubt; and, as in all cases of the sort, the
+danger was magnified, as it flew from lip to lip, even
+as the tiny snow ball becometh a mountain by the accession
+it receives in its rolling course. Suddenly the dance
+was discontinued, and indeed in time, for the lingers of
+the non-combatant musicians, sharing in the general
+nervousness, had already given notice, by numerous
+falsettos, of their inability to proceed much longer.
+Bonnets, cloaks, muffs, tippets, shawls, snow shoes, and
+all the paraphernalia of female winter equipment peculiar
+to the country, were brought unceremoniously in, and
+thrown en masse upon the deserted benches of the ball
+room. Then was there a scramble among the fair dancers,
+who, having secured their respective property, quitted
+the house, not however, without a secret fear on the part
+of many, that the first object they should encounter, on
+sallying forth, would be a corps of American sharp-shooters.
+To the confusion within was added, the clamour without,
+arising from swearing drivers, neighing horses, jingling
+bells, and jostling sledges. Finally the only remaining
+ladies of the party were the D'Egvilles, whose sledge
+had not yet arrived, and with these lingered Captain
+Molineux, Middlemore, and Henry Grantham, all of whom,
+having obtained leave of absence for the occasion, had
+accompanied them from Detroit. The two former, who had
+just terminated one of the old fashioned cotillons, then
+peculiar to the Canadas, stood leaning over the chairs
+of their partners, indulging in no very charitable comments
+on the unfortunate Raymond, to whose "ugly" presence at
+that unseasonable hour they ascribed a host of most
+important momentary evils; as, for example, the early
+breaking up of the pleasantest ball of the season, the
+loss of an excellent anticipated supper that had been
+prepared for a later hour, and, although last not least,
+the necessity it imposed upon them of an immediate return,
+that bitter cold night, to Detroit. Near the blazing wood
+fire, at their side, stood Henry Grantham, and Captain
+St. Clair of the Engineers. The former with his thoughts
+evidently far away from the passing scene, the latter
+joining in the criticisms on Raymond.
+
+"I always said," observed Molineux, shrugging his shoulders,
+"that he resembled one of the ground hogs of his old
+command of Bois Blanc, more than any thing human; and
+hang me if he does not tonight look like a hog in armour."
+
+"There certainly is something of the ARMAdilla about
+him," said Middlemore; "if we may judge from the formidable
+weapons he brought into the room."
+
+"And, notwithstanding his alert retreat, few officers
+can have made such HEAD against, and shewn such FACE to
+the enemy," added St. Clair.
+
+"True," retorted Middlemore, "there were certainly some
+extraordinary FEATURES in the affair."
+
+"If," remarked Molineux, "he faced the enemy, I am certain
+he must have kept the boldest at bay; but if he shewed
+them his back, as from his heated appearance I strongly
+suspect that he did, he must have afforded the Yankee
+riflemen as much fun as if they had been in pursuit of
+a fat old raccoon."
+
+"Shall I ask him that he may answer for himself?" inquired
+Henry Grantham, whose attention had been aroused by the
+ironical remarks of his companions.
+
+"By no means," replied Middlemore, "we have ANSER enough
+in his mere look."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Molineux and St. Clair in concert.
+
+"Nay, nay," interposed Julia D'Egville, who had listened
+impatiently to the comments passed upon the unfortunate
+and unconscious officer, "this keen exercise of your
+powers on poor Mr. Raymond is hardly fair. Recollect
+(turning to Middlemore,) it is not given to all to possess
+the refinement of wit, nor, (addressing St. Clair) the
+advantages of personal attraction, therefore is it more
+incumbent on those, to whom such gifts are given, to be
+merciful unto the wanting in both." This was uttered with
+marked expression.
+
+"Brava, my most excellent and spirited partner," whispered
+Molineux, secretly delighted that the lash of the reprover
+had not immediately embraced him in its circuit.
+
+"Thank you, my good, kind hearted, considerate cousin,"
+looked Henry Grantham.
+
+"Oh, the devil," muttered Middlemore to St. Clair, "we
+shall have her next exclaiming, in the words of Monk
+Lewis' Bleeding Nun,
+
+  'Raymond, Raymond, I am thine
+  'Raymond, Raymond, them art mine.'"
+
+St. Clair shrugged his shoulders, bit his lip, threw up
+his large blue eyes, shewed his white teeth, slightly
+reddened, and looked altogether exceedingly at a loss
+whether to feel complimented or reproved.
+
+"But here comes Mr. Raymond, to fight his own battles,"
+continued Miss D'Egville with vivacity.
+
+"Hush," whispered Molineux.
+
+"Honor among thieves," added Middlemore, in the same low
+tone.
+
+"Egad," said Raymond, wiping the yet lingering dews from
+his red forehead, as he advanced from the card room where
+he had been detained, talking over his adventure with
+one or two of the anxious townspeople; "I have, within
+the last twenty four hours, had so much running and
+fighting for my country, that strength is scarcely left
+me to fight my own battles. But what is it, Miss D'Egville?"
+as he saluted Julia and her sister, "what battle am I to
+fight now--some fresh quizzing of these wags, I suppose--
+ah, Middlemore, how do you do; Molineux, St. Clair, Henry
+Grantham, how do you all do?"
+
+"Ah, Raymond, my dear fellow, how do you do?" greeted
+Captain Molineux, with the air of one who really rejoices
+in the reappearance of a long absent friend.
+
+"Raymond, I am delighted to see you," exclaimed St.
+Clair.
+
+"Your bivouac has done you good," joined Middlemore,
+following the example of the others, and extending his
+hand, "I never saw you looking to greater advantage."
+
+"Pretty well, pretty well thank you," returned the good
+humoured, but not too acute subaltern, as he passed his
+hand over his Falstaffian stomach; "only a little fatigued
+with the last six hours, retreating. Egad! I began to
+think I never should get away, the fellows pursued us so
+hotly."
+
+"And hotly you fled, it would appear," returned Middlemore.
+
+"I dare be sworn, there was not a six foot Kentuckian of
+the whole American army active enough to come within a
+mile of him," added Molineux.
+
+"And yet, considering the speed he made, he seems to have
+lost but little of his flesh," said St. Clair.
+
+"Of course," chuckled Middlemore, "these long fellows
+come from Troy county in Ohio."
+
+"Egad, I don't know; why do you ask?"
+
+"Because you know it is not for the men of TROY to reduce
+the men of GREASE--hence your escape."
+
+"Are the enemy then so near, Mr. Raymond?" inquired Julia
+D'Egville, anxious to turn the conversation.
+
+"I should think not very far, Miss D'Egville, since, as
+you see they have not given me time to change my dress."
+
+At that moment the noise of horses' bells were heard
+without; and they were soon distinguished to be those of
+Colonel D'Egville's berlin.
+
+A few moments afterwards, that officer entered the room
+now wholly deserted save by the little coterie near the
+fire place. Like Lieutenant Raymond's, his dress was more
+suited to the bivouac than the ball room, and his
+countenance otherwise bore traces of fatigue.
+
+His daughters flew to meet him. The officers also grouped
+around, desirous to hear what tidings he brought of the
+enemy, to corroborate the statement of Raymond. To the
+great mortification of the latter, it was now found that
+he and his little detachment had had all the running to
+themselves, and that while they fancied the whole of the
+American army to be close at their heels, the latter had
+been so kept in check by the force of Indians, under
+Colonel D'Egville in person, as to be compelled to retire
+upon the point whence the original attack had been made.
+They had not followed the broken English outpost more
+than a mile, and yet, so convinced of close pursuit had
+been the latter, that for the space of six leagues they
+had scarce relaxed in their retreat. The information now
+brought by Colonel D'Egville, was that the Americans had
+not advanced a single foot beyond the outpost in question,
+but on the contrary had commenced constructing a stockade,
+and throwing up entrenchments. He added, moreover, that
+he had just dispatched an express to Sandwich, to General
+Proctor, (who had, since the departure of General Brock,
+succeeded to the command of the district,) communicating
+the intelligence, and suggesting the propriety of an
+attack before they could advance farther, and favor any
+movement on the part of the inhabitants of Detroit. As
+this counter-movement on our part would require every
+man that could be spared from the latter fortress, Colonel
+D'Egville seemed to think that before the officers could
+reach it, its garrison would be already on the way to
+join the expedition, which would doubtless be ordered to
+move from Amherstburg; and as the same impression appeared
+to exist in the mind of Colonel St. Julian, whom he had
+only just parted from to proceed in search of his daughters,
+the latter had taken it upon himself to determine that
+they should remain where they were until the answer,
+communicating the final decision of General Proctor,
+should arrive.
+
+If the young officers were delighted at the idea of
+escaping the horror of an eighteen miles drive, on one
+of the bitterest nights of the season, supperless, and
+at the moment of issuing from a comfortable hall room,
+their annoyance at (what they termed) the pusillanimity
+of Raymond, who had come thus unnecessarily in, to the
+utter annihilation of their evening's amusement, was in
+equal proportion. For this, on their way home, they
+revenged themselves by every sort of persiflage their
+humour could adapt to the occasion, until in the end,
+they completely succeeded in destroying the good humor
+of Raymond, who eventually quitted them under feelings
+of mortified pride, which excited all the generous sympathy
+of the younger Grantham, while it created in his breast
+a sentiment of almost wrath against his inconsiderate
+companions. Even these latter were at length sensible
+that they had gone too far, and, as their better feelings
+returned, they sought to assure the offended object of
+their pleasantry that what they had uttered was merely
+in jest; but finding he received these disclaimers in
+moody silence, they renewed their attack, nor discontinued
+it until they separated for their mutual quarters for
+the night.
+
+Poor Raymond was, it will be perceived, one of those
+unfortunates termed "butts," which are to be met with in
+almost all societies, and but too often in a regiment.
+Conscious of his great corpulence, and its disadvantages
+to him as a soldier, he not only made every allowance
+for the sallies of his lively and more favored brother
+officers, but often good-naturedly joined in the laugh
+against himself--all the badinage uttered against his
+personal appearance, he had, on this occasion, borne with
+the most perfect temper; but when, presuming on his
+forbearance, they proceeded to reflect on the hurried,
+and, under all circumstances, justifiable manner of his
+retreat, after having sustained an unequal conflict
+against an overpowering enemy for upwards of two hours,
+his honest heart was wounded to the core; and, although
+he uttered not one word, the unkindness sank deeply into
+his memory.
+
+The following dawn broke in, decked with all the sad and
+sober gray, peculiar to a Canadian sky in the depth of
+winter, and, with the first rising of the almost rayless
+sun, commenced numerous warlike preparations that gave
+promise to the inhabitants of some approaching crisis.
+The event justified their expectation, the suggestion of
+Colonel D'Egville had been adopted, and the same express,
+which carried to General Proctor the information of the
+advance of the enemy, and, the expulsion of Lieutenant
+Raymond from his post, was pushed on to Detroit, with an
+order for every man who could be spared from that fortress,
+to be marched, without a moment's delay, to Amherstburg.
+At noon the detachment had arrived, and, the General
+making his appearance soon after, the expedition, composed
+of the strength of the two garrisons, with a few light
+guns, and a considerable body of Indians, under the Chief
+Roundhead, were pushed rapidly across the lake, and the
+same night occupied the only road by which the enemy
+could advance.
+
+It was a picturesque sight, to those who lingered on the
+banks of the Detroit, to watch the movement of that mass
+of guns, ammunition cars, sledges, &c. preceding the
+regular march of the troops, as the whole crossed the
+firm yet rumbling ice, at the head of the now deserted
+Island of Bois-Blanc. Nor was this at all lessened in
+effect by the wild and irregular movements of the Indians,
+who advancing by twos and threes, but more often singly,
+and bounding nimbly, yet tortuously, along the vast white
+field with which the outline of their swarthy forms
+contrasted, called up, at the outset, the idea of a legion
+of devils.
+
+But there was more than the mere indulgence of curiosity
+in the contemplation of this scene, so highly characteristic
+of the country. On the result of the efforts of those
+now scarcely discernable atoms, depended the fate, not
+merely of the town and garrison of Amherstburgh, but of
+the whole adjoining country. If successful, then would
+the repose of the anxious inhabitants once more be secured,
+and the horrors of invasion again averted from their
+soil; but if on the contrary, they should be defeated,
+then must every hope be extinguished, and the so recently
+conquered completely change sides with their conquerors.
+Such were the thoughts that filled the breasts of many
+of the townspeople of Amherstburg, and considering that
+in the present instance they had much to lose, nothing
+to gain, they may fairly enough be pardoned for having
+entertained some little nervousness as to the result.
+
+It was during one of the coldest mornings of January,
+that this little army bivouacked on the banks of a small
+rivulet, distant, little more than a league from the
+position which had been taken up by the Americans. So
+unexpected and rapid had been the advance of the expedition,
+that not the slightest suspicion appeared to have been
+entertained by the Americans even of its departure; and
+from information, brought at a late hour by the Indian
+scouts, who had been dispatched at nightfall to observe
+their motions, it was gathered that, so far from
+apprehending or being prepared for an attack, all was
+quiet in their camp, in which the customary night fires
+were then burning. Thus favored by the false security of
+their enemies, the British force, after partaking of
+their rude, but substantial meal, and preparing their
+arms, laid themselves down to rest in their accoutrements
+and greatcoats; their heads reclining on whatever elevation,
+however small, presented itself, and their feet half
+buried in the embers of the fires they had with difficulty
+kindled on the frozen ground, from which the snow had
+been removed--all, sanguine of success, and all, more or
+less endeavouring to snatch, even amid the nipping frost
+to which their upper persons were exposed, a few hours
+of sleep prior to the final advance, which was to take
+place an hour before dawn.
+
+In the midst of the general desolateness of aspect which
+encompassed all, there were few privations, endured by
+the men, that were not equally shared by their officers.
+A solitary and deserted log hut, was the only thing in
+the shape of a human habitation to be seen within the
+bivouac, and this had been secured as the head quarters
+of the General and his staff--all besides had no other
+canopy than the clear starry heavens, or, here and there,
+the leafless and unsheltering branches of some forest
+tree, and yet, around one large and blazing fire, which
+continued to be fed at intervals by masses of half decayed
+wood, that, divested of their snow, lay simmering and
+dying before it, was frequently to be heard the joyous
+yet suppressed laugh, and piquant sally, as of men whose
+spirits no temporary hardship or concern for the eventful
+future could effectually depress. These issued from the
+immediate bivouac of the officers, who, seated squatted
+around their fire after the manner of the Indians, instead
+of courting a sleep which the intense cold rendered as
+difficult of attainment, as unrefreshing when attained,
+rather sought solace in humorous conversation, while the
+animal warmth was kept alive by frequent puffings from
+that campaigners' first resource the cigar, seasoned by
+short and occasional libations from the well filled
+canteen. Most of them wore over their regimentals, the
+grey great coat then peculiar to the service, and had
+made these in the highest possible degree available by
+fur trimmings on the cuffs and collar, which latter was
+tightly buttoned round the chin, while their heads were
+protected by furred caps, made like those of the men, of
+the raccoon skin. To this uniformity of costume, there
+was, as far as regarded the outward clothing, one exception
+in the person of Captain Cranstoun, who had wisely inducted
+himself in the bear skin coat so frequently quizzed by
+his companions, and in which he now sat as undisturbed
+by the cold, so sensibly felt by his associates, as
+unmoved by the criticisms they passed on its grotesque
+appearance, and unprovoked by the recurrence to the
+history of his former ludicrous adventure. Finding that
+Cranstoun was inaccessible, they again, with the waywardness
+of their years and humour, adverted to the retreat of
+Raymond, to whom Molineux, Middlemore, and St. Clair
+--the latter a volunteer in the expedition--attributed
+the unpardonable fact of the breaking up of a most
+delightful party, and the deprivation of a capital supper.
+Such was the conversation--such were the serious complaints
+of men, who, before another sun should rise, might see
+cause to upbraid themselves, and bitterly, for the levity
+in which they were so inconsiderately indulging.
+
+During the whole of the march, Raymond had evinced a
+seriousness of demeanor by no means common to him, and,
+although he had made one of the party in the general
+bivouac, he had scarcely opened his lips, except to reply
+to the most direct questions. The renewed attack, at
+first, drew from him no comment, although it was evident
+he felt greatly pained; but when he had finished smoking
+his cigar, he raised himself, not without difficulty,
+from the ground, (a circumstance, which, by the way,
+provoked a fresh burst of humour from the young men,)
+and began, with a seriousness of manner, that, being
+unusual, not a little surprised them: "Gentlemen, you
+have long been pleased to select me as your butt."
+
+"Of course," hastily interrupted Molineux, hazarding his
+pun, "we naturally select you for what you most resemble."
+
+"Captain Molineux--gentlemen!" resumed Raymond with
+greater emphasis.
+
+"He is getting warm on the subject," observed Middlemore.
+"Have a care Molineux, that the butt does not CHURN until
+in the end it becomes the BUTTER."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" vociferated St. Clair, "good, excellent,
+the best you ever made, Middlemore."
+
+"Gentlemen," persevered Raymond, in a tone, and with a
+gesture, of impatience, "this trifling will be deeply
+regretted by you all tomorrow; I repeat," he pursued,
+when he found he had at length succeeded in procuring
+silence, "you have long been pleased to select me as your
+butt, and while this was confined to my personal appearance,
+painful as I have sometimes found your humour, I could
+still endure it; but when I perceive those whom I have
+looked upon as friends and brothers, casting imputations
+upon my courage, I may be excused for feeling offended.
+You have succeeded in wounding my heart, and some of you
+will regret the hour when you did so. Another perhaps,
+would adopt a different course, but I am not disposed to
+return evil for evil. I wish to believe, that in all your
+taunts upon this subject, you have merely indulged your
+bantering humour--but not the less have you pained an
+honest heart. Tomorrow will prove that you have grievously
+wronged me, and I am mistaken, if you will not deeply
+regret it."
+
+"Noonsense, noonsense, Raymoond, ma deer fallow; do na'
+heed the queeps of the hair-breened deevils. Ye see a
+neever tak any nootice o' them, but joost leet them ha'
+their way."
+
+But Raymond stayed not--he hurried away across the snow
+towards a distant fire, which lighted the ruder bivouac
+of the adjutant and quarter master, and was there seen
+to seat himself, with the air of one who has composed
+himself for the night.
+
+"What a silly fellow, to take the thing so seriously,"
+said Molineux, half vexed at himself, half moved by the
+reproachful tone of Raymond's address.
+
+"For God's sake, Grantham, call him back. Tell him we
+are ready to make any--every atonement for our offence,"
+urged St. Clair.
+
+"And I will promise never to utter another pun at his
+expense as long as I live," added Middlemore.
+
+But before Henry Grantham, who had been a pained and
+silent witness of the scene, and who had already risen
+with a view to follow the wounded Raymond, could take a
+single step on his mission of peace, the low roll of the
+drum, summoning to fall in, warned them that the hour of
+action had already arrived, and each, quitting his fire,
+hastened to the more immediate and pressing duties of
+assembling his men, and carefully examining into the
+state of their appointments.
+
+In ten minutes from the beating of the reveille--
+considerably shorn of its wonted proportions, as the
+occasion demanded--the bivouac had been abandoned, and
+the little army again upon their march. What remained to
+be traversed of the space that separated them from the
+enemy, was an alternation of plain and open forest, but
+so completely in juxtaposition, that the head of the
+column had time to clear one wood and enter a second
+before its rear could disengage itself from the first.
+The effect of this, by the dim and peculiar light reflected
+from the snow across which they moved, was picturesque
+in the extreme, nor was the interest diminished by the
+utter silence that had pervaded every part of the little
+army, the measured tramp of whose march, mingled with
+the hollow and unavoidable rumbling of the light guns,
+being the only sounds to be heard amid that mass of living
+matter. The Indians, with the exception of a party of
+scouts, had been the last to quit their rude encampment,
+and as they now, in their eagerness to get to the front,
+glided stealthily by in the deep snows on either side of
+the more beaten track by which the troops advanced, and
+so utterly without sound in their foot-fall, that they
+might rather have been compared to spirits of the wilds,
+than to human beings.
+
+The regiment having been told off into divisions, it so
+happened that Raymond and Henry Grantham, although
+belonging to different companies, now found themselves
+near each other. The latter had been most anxious to
+approach his really good hearted companion, with a view
+to soothe his wounded feelings, and to convey, in the
+fullest and most convincing terms, the utter disclaimer
+of his inconsiderate brother officers, to reflect seriously
+on his conduct in the recent retreat--or, indeed, to
+intend their observations for any thing beyond a mere
+pleasantry. As, however, the strictest order had been
+commanded to be observed in the march, and Raymond and
+he happened to be at opposite extremities of the division,
+this had been for some time impracticable. A temporary
+halt having occurred, just as the head of the column
+came, within sight of the enemy's fires, Grantham quitted
+his station on the flank, and hastened to the head of
+his division, where he found Raymond with his arms folded
+across his chest, and apparently absorbed in deep thought.
+He tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and inquired in
+a tone of much kindness the subject of his musing.
+
+Touched by the manner in which he was addressed, Raymond
+dropped his arms, and grasping the hand of the youth,
+observed in his usual voice; "Ah, is it you Henry--Egad,
+my dear boy, I was just thinking of you--and how very
+kind you have always been; never quizzing me as those
+thoughtless fellows have done--and certainly never
+insinuating any thing against my courage--that was too
+bad Henry, too bad, I could have forgiven anything but
+that."
+
+"Nay, nay, Raymond," answered his companion, soothingly;
+"believe me, neither Molineux, nor Middlemore, nor St.
+Clair, meant anything beyond a jest. I can assure you
+they did not, for when you quitted us they asked me to
+go in search of you, but the assembly then commencing to
+beat, I was compelled to hasten to my company, nor have
+I had an opportunity of seeing you until now."
+
+"Very well, Henry, I forgive them, for it is not in my
+nature to keep anger long; but tell them that they should
+not wantonly wound the feelings of an unoffending comrade.
+As I told them, they may regret their unkindness to me
+before another sun has set. If so, I wish them no other
+punishment."
+
+"What mean you, my dear Raymond?"
+
+"Egad! I scarcely know myself, but something tells me
+very forcibly my hour is come."
+
+"Nonsense, this is but the effect of the depression,
+produced by fatigue and over excitement, added to the
+recent annoyance of your feelings."
+
+"Whatever it proceed from, I had made up my mind to it
+before we set out. Henry, my kind good Henry, I have
+neither friend nor relative on earth--no one to inherit
+the little property I possess. In the event of my falling,
+you will find the key of my desk in the breast pocket of
+my coat. A paper in that desk appoints you my executor.
+Will you accept the trust?"
+
+"Most sacredly, Raymond, will I fulfil every instruction
+it contains; should I myself survive; but I cannot, will
+not, bring myself to anticipate your fall."
+
+"Move on, move on," passed quickly in a whisper from
+front to rear of the column."
+
+"God bless you, Henry" exclaimed Raymond, again pressing
+the hand of the youth--"remember the key."
+
+"We shall talk of that to night," was the light reply.
+"Meanwhile, dear Raymond, God bless you," and again
+Grantham fell back to his place in the rear of the
+division.
+
+Five minutes later, and the troops were silently drawn
+up in front of the enemy. A long line of fires marked
+the extent of the encampment, from which, even then, the
+"all's well" of the sentinels could be occasionally heard.
+Except these, all profoundly slept, nor was there anything
+to indicate they had the slightest suspicion of an enemy
+being within twenty miles of them--not a picket had been
+thrown out, not an outpost established. It was evident
+the Americans were yet young in the art of self defence.
+
+"What glorious bayonet work we shall have presently,"
+whispered Villiers to Cranstoun, as they were brought
+together by their stations at the adjacent extremities
+of their respective division. "Only mark how the fellows
+sleep."
+
+"The deevil a beet," responded Cranstoun, "a joost noo
+heerd Coolonel St Julian propoose and even enseest upoon
+it. But the Geeneral seems to theenk that coold steel
+and a coold froosty morning do not asseemelate togeether."
+
+"What! does he not mean to attack them with the bayonet,
+when two minutes would suffice to bring us into the very
+heart of the encampment, and that before they could well
+have time to arm themselves?"
+
+"Hoot mon" coolly pursued the Grenadier, with something
+very like satire in his expression. "Would ye ha' the
+Geeneral so uncheevalrous as to poonce upoon a set of
+poor unarmed and unprepared creeturs. Depeend upon it he
+would na sleep coomfortably on his peelow, after having
+put coold steel into the geezzard of each of yon sleeping
+loons."
+
+"The devil take his consideration," muttered Villiers;
+"but you are right, for see, there go the guns to the
+front--hark there is a shot; the sentinels have discovered
+us at last; and now the sluggards are starting from before
+their fires, and hastening to snatch their arms.
+
+"True enoof, Veelliers, and pleenty o' brooken heeds they
+will gi' us soon, in retoorn for sparing their goots.
+There oopen too those stooped leetle three poonders. Tha
+might joost as weel be used for brass warming pons, to tak
+the cheel off the damp beeds some of us will be pressing
+preesently."
+
+Whist, whist, whist, flew three balls successively between
+their heads. "Ha, here they begin to talk to us in earnest,
+and now to our duty."
+
+The next moment all was roar, and bustle, and confusion,
+and death.
+
+We will not stop to inquire why the British General,
+Proctor, lost an advantage which had made itself apparent
+to the meanest soldier of his army, by opening a
+desultory and aimless fire of his light guns upon an
+enemy to whom he thus afforded every possible opportunity
+for preparation and defence; when, like Colonel, (now Sir
+John) Harvey, not long subsequently at Stoney Creek, he
+might have annihilated that enemy with the bayonet, and
+with little comparative loss to himself. We will merely
+observe that having failed to do so, nothing but the
+determination and courage of his troops brought him
+through the difficulties he himself had created, and to
+the final attainment of the general order, complimenting
+him on the highly judicious arrangements he had made on
+the occasion; although, (as Cranstoun had predicted) not
+before a damp bed had been pressed for the last time by
+more than one of those who had so gallantly followed--or,
+more strictly, preceded him.
+
+The sun was in the meridian; all sounds of combat had
+ceased, and such of the American Army as had survived
+the total defeat, were to be seen disarmed and guarded,
+wending their way sullenly in the direction by which the
+victors had advanced in the morning. From the field, in
+which the troops had commenced the action, numerous
+sledges were seen departing, laden with the dead--the
+wounded having previously been sent off. One of these
+sledges remained stationary at some distance within the
+line, where the ravages of death were marked by pools of
+blood upon the snow, and at this point were grouped
+several individuals, assembled round a body which was
+about to be conveyed away.
+
+"By Heavens, I would give the world never to have said
+an unkind word to him," observed one, whose arm, suspended
+from a sling, attested he had not come scatheless out of
+the action. It was St. Clair, whose great ambition it
+had always been to have his name borne among the list of
+wounded--provided there were no broken bones in the
+question.
+
+"As brave as he was honest hearted," added a second, "you
+say Grantham, that he forgave us all our nonsense."
+
+"He did, Molineux. He declared he could not bear resentment
+against you long. But still, I fear, he could not so
+easily forget. He observed to me, jestingly, just before
+deploying into line, that he felt his time was come, but
+there can be no doubt, from what we all witnessed, that
+he was determined from the outset to court his death."
+
+Captain Molineux turned away, apparently much affected
+--Middlemore spoke not, but it was evident he also was
+deeply pained. Each seemed to feel that he had been in
+some degree accessory to the catastrophe, but the past
+could not be recalled. The body, covered with blood,
+exuding from several wounds, was now placed with that of
+Ensign Langley, (who had also fallen, and lay at a little
+distance beyond), on the sledge which was drawn off to
+join several others just departed, and the lingering
+officers hastened to overtake their several companies.
+
+When the action was at the hottest, one of the small guns
+in front (all of which had been fearfully exposed), was
+left without a single artilleryman. Availing themselves
+of this circumstance, the enemy, who were unprovided with
+artillery of any description, made a movement as if to
+possess themselves of, and turn it against the attacking
+force, then closing rapidly to dispute the possession of
+the breast work which covered their riflemen. Colonel
+St. Julian, who had continued to ride along the line with
+as much coolness as if he had been assisting at a field
+day, and who was literally covered with wounds, having
+received no less than five balls, in various parts of
+his body, seeing this movement, called out for volunteers
+to rescue the gun from its perilous situation. Scarcely
+had the words passed his lips when an individual moved
+forward from the line, in the direction indicated.--It
+was Lieutenant Raymond--Exposed to the fire, both of
+friends and foes, the unfortunate officer advanced calmly
+and unconcernedly, in the presence of the whole line,
+and before the Americans, (kept in check by a hot and
+incessant musketry), could succeed in even crossing their
+defences, had seized the gun by the drag rope, and
+withdrawn it under cover of the English fire. But this
+gallant act of self-devotedness was not without its
+terrible price. Pierced by many balls, which the American
+rifleman had immediately directed at him, he fell dying
+within ten feet of the British line, brandishing his
+sword and faintly shouting a "huzza," that was answered
+by his companions with the fierce spirit of men stung to
+new exertion, and determined to avenge his fall.
+
+Thus perished the fat, the plain, the carbuncled, but
+really gallant-hearted Raymond--whose intrinsic worth
+was never estimated until he had ceased to exist. His
+fall, and all connected therewith, forms a sort of episode
+in our story, yet is it one not altogether without its
+moral. A private monument, on which was inscribed all
+that may soothe and flatter after death, was erected to
+his memory by those very officers whose persiflage,
+attacking in this instance even his honor as a soldier,
+had driven him to seek the fate he found. Of this there
+could he no question--for, brave as he unquestionably
+was, Raymond would not have acted as if courting death
+throughout, had he not fully made up his mind either to
+gain great distinction or to die under the eyes of those
+who had, he conceived, so greatly injured him. It is but
+justice to add that, for three days from his death--
+Middlemore did not utter a single pun--neither did St.
+Clair, or Molineux, indulge in a satirical observation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+The spring of 1813 had passed nearly away, yet without
+producing any renewed effort on the part of the Americans.
+From information obtained from the Indian scouts, it
+however appeared that, far from being discouraged by
+their recent disaster, they had moved forward a third
+Army to the Miami, where they had strongly entrenched
+themselves, until hitting opportunity should be found to
+renew their attempt to recover the lost district. It was
+also ascertained that, with a perseverance and industry
+peculiar to themselves, they had been occupied throughout
+the rigorous winter, in preparing a fleet of sufficient
+force to compete with that of the British; and that,
+abandoning the plan hitherto pursued by his predecessors,
+the American leader of this third army of invasion,
+purposed transporting his troops across the lake, instead
+of running the risk of being harrassed and cut up in an
+advance by land. To effect this, it was of course necessary
+to have the command of the lake, and there were all the
+sinews of exertion called into full exercise, to obtain
+the desired ascendancy.
+
+To defeat this intention, became now the chief object of
+the British General. With the close of winter had ceased
+the hunting pursuits of the warriors, so that each day
+brought with it a considerable accession to the strength
+of this wild people, vast numbers of whom had betaken
+themselves to their hunting grounds, shortly after the
+capture of Detroit. The chiefs of these several nations
+were now summoned to a Council, in the course of which
+it was decided that a formidable expedition, accompanied
+by a heavy train of battering artillery, should embark
+in batteaux, with a view to the reduction of the American
+post established on the Miami;--a nucleus, around which
+was fast gathering a spirit of activity that threatened
+danger, if not annihilation, to the English influence in
+the North Western districts. In the event of the
+accomplishment of this design, Detroit and Amherstburg
+would necessarily be released from all apprehension,
+since, even admitting the Americans could acquire a
+superiority of naval force on the lake, such superiority
+could only be essentially injurious to us, as a means of
+affording transport to, and covering the operations of
+an invading army. If, however, that already on the Miami
+could be defeated, and their fortress razed, it was not
+probable that a fourth could be equipped and pushed
+forward, with a view to offensive operations, in sufficient
+time to accomplish any thing decisive before the winter
+should set in. Tecumseh, who had just returned from
+collecting new bodies of warriors, warmly approved the
+project, and undertook to bring two thousand men into
+the field, as his quota of the expedition, the departure
+of which was decided for the seventh day from the Council.
+
+Meanwhile, no exertions were wanting to place the little
+fleet in a state of efficiency. During the winter, the
+vessel described in our opening chapter of this tale, as
+that on the completion of which numerous workmen were
+intently engaged, had, after the fall of Detroit, and
+the consequent capture of whatever barks the Americans
+possessed, been utterly neglected; but now that it was
+known the enemy were secretly and rapidly preparing an
+overpowering force at the opposite extremity of the lake,
+the toils of the preceding summer were renewed, and every
+where, throughout the dock-yard, the same stirring industry
+was perceptible. By all were these movements regarded
+with an interest proportioned to the important consequences
+at stake, but by none more than by Commodore Barclay
+himself, whose watchful eye marked the progress, and
+whose experience and judgment directed the organization
+of the whole. The difficulties he had to contend with
+were great, for not only were the artificers, employed
+in the construction of the ship, men of limited knowledge
+in their art, but even those who manned her, when completed,
+were without the nautical experience and practice
+indispensable to success; yet these disadvantages was he
+prepared to overlook in the cheerfulness and ardor with
+which each lent himself to exertion, and sought to supply
+deficiency with zeal. The feelings of the gallant officer
+in this position--on the one hand, sensible that to him
+was confided the task of upholding the supremacy of his
+country's flag, and on the other, compelled to confess
+the inadequacy of the means placed at his disposal for
+this object--may be easily understood. That his men were
+brave he knew, but mere bravery would not suffice in a
+contest where the skill of the seamen, not less than
+brute courage, must be called into requisition. He had
+reason to know that his enemy would not merely bring
+stout hearts into the conflict, but active hands--men
+whose lives had been passed on the restless waters of
+ocean, and whose training had been perfected in the battle
+and the tempest, while nine tenths of his own crews had
+never planted foot beyond the limit of the lake on which
+the merits and resources of both would be so shortly
+tested. But "aut agere aut mori," was his motto, and of
+the appropriateness of this his actions have formed the
+most striking illustration.
+
+The day on which the Council relative to the proposed
+expedition to the Miami was held, was characterized by
+one of those sudden outbursts of elemental war, so common
+to the Canadas in early summer--and, which, in awful
+grandeur of desolation, are frequently scarcely interior
+to the hurricanes of the tropics. The morning had been
+oppressively sultry, and there was that general and heavy
+lethargy of nature that usually precedes a violent
+reaction. About noon, a small dark speck was visible in
+the hitherto cloudless horizon, and this presently grew
+in size until the whole western sky was one dense mass
+of threatening black, which eventually spread itself over
+the entire surface of the heavens, leaving not a hand's
+breadth any where visible. Presently, amid the sultry
+stillness that prevailed, there came a slight breeze over
+the face of the waters, and then, as if some vast battering
+train had suddenly opened its hundred mouths of terror,
+vomiting forth showers of grape and other missiles, came
+astounding thunder-claps, and forked lightnings, and
+rain, and hail, and whistling wind--all in such terrible
+union, yet such fearful disorder, that man, the last to
+take warning, or feel awed by the anger of the common
+parent, Nature, bent his head in lowliness and silence
+to her voice, and awaited tremblingly the passing away
+of her wrath.
+
+Henry Grantham, whose turn of duty had again brought him
+to Amherstburg, was in the mess-room of the garrison when
+the storm was at the fiercest. Notwithstanding the
+excitement of the Council scene, at which he had been
+present, he had experienced an unusual depression throughout
+the day, originating partly in the languid state of the
+atmosphere, but infinitely more in the anxiety under
+which he labored in regard to his brother, of whom no
+other intelligence had been received, since his departure
+with his prisoners for Buffalo, than what vague rumour,
+coupled with the fact of the continued absence of the
+schooner, afforded. That the vessel had been captured by
+the enemy there could be no doubt; but, knowing as he
+did, the gallant spirit of Gerald, there was reason to
+imagine that he had not yielded to his enemies, before
+every means of resistance had been exhausted: and, if
+so, what might not have been the effect of his obstinacy
+(if such a term could be applied to unshaken intrepidity,)
+on men exasperated by opposition, and eager for revenge.
+In the outset he had admitted his gentle cousin Gertrude
+to his confidence, as one most suited, by her docility,
+to soothe without appearing to remark on his alarm, but
+when, little suspecting the true motive of her agitation,
+he saw her evince an emotion surpassing his own, and
+admitting and giving way to fears beyond any he would
+openly avow, he grew impatient and disappointed, and
+preferring rather to hear the tocsin of alarm sounded
+from his own heart than from the lips of another, he
+suddenly, and much to the surprise of the affectionate
+girl, discontinued all allusion to the subject. But
+Henry's anxiety was not the less poignant from being
+confined within his own breast, and although it gratified
+him to find that flattering mention was frequently made
+of his brother at the mess-table, coupled with regret
+for his absence, it was reserved for his hours of privacy
+and abstraction to dwell upon the fears which daily became
+more harrassing and perplexing.
+
+On the present occasion, even while his brother officers
+had thought nor ear but for the terrible tempest that
+raged without, and at one moment threatened to bury them
+beneath the trembling roof, the mind of Henry was full
+of his absent brother, whom, more than ever, he now seemed
+to regret, from the association of the howling tempest
+with the wild element on which he had last beheld him;
+and so complete at length had become the ascendancy of
+his melancholy, that when the storm had been in some
+degree stilled, and the rain abated, he look an early
+leave of his companions, with a view to indulge in privacy
+the gloomy feelings by which be felt himself oppressed.
+
+In passing through the gate of the Fort, on his way into
+the town, his attention was arrested by several groups
+of persons, consisting of soldiers, Indians, and
+inhabitants, who, notwithstanding the inclemency of the
+hour, were gathered on the high bank in front of the
+demi-lune battery, eagerly bending their gaze upon the
+riser. Half curious to know what could have attracted
+them in such weather from shelter, Henry advanced and
+mingled in the crowd, which gave way at his approach.
+Although the fury of the tempest had spent itself, there
+was still wind enough to render it a matter of necessary
+precaution that the bystanders should secure a firm
+footing on the bank, while the water, violently agitated
+and covered with foam, resembled rather a pigmy sea than
+an inland river--so unusual and so vast were its waves.
+The current, moreover, increased in strength by the sudden
+swelling of the waters, dashed furiously down, giving
+its direction to the leaping billows that rode impatiently
+upon its surface; and at the point of intersection by
+the island of Bois Blanc, formed so violent an eddy within
+twenty feet of the land, as to produce the effect of a
+whirlpool, while again, between the island and the Canadian
+shore, the current, always rapid and of great force, flew
+boiling down its channel, and with a violence almost
+quadrupled.
+
+Amid this uproar of the usually placid river, there was
+but one bark found bold enough to venture upon her angered
+bosom, and this, although but an epitome of those that
+have subdued the world of waters, and chained them in
+subservience to the will of man, now danced gallantly,
+almost terrifically, from billow to billow, and, with
+the feathery lightness of her peculiar class, seemed
+borne onward, less by the leaping waves themselves than
+by the white and driving spray that fringed their summits.
+This bark--a canoe evidently of the smallest description
+--had been watched in its progress, from afar, by the
+groups assembled on the bank, who had gathered at each
+other's call, to witness and marvel at the gallant daring
+of those who had committed it to the boiling element.
+Two persons composed her crew--the one, seated in the
+stern, and carefully guiding the bark so as to enable
+her to breast the threatening waves, which, in quick
+succession, rose as if to accomplish her overthrow--the
+other, standing at her bows, the outline of his upper
+figure designed against the snow-white sail, and, with
+his arms folded across his chest, apparently gazing
+without fear on the danger which surrounded him. It was
+evident, from their manner of conducting the bark, that
+the adventurers were not Indians, and yet there was
+nothing to indicate to what class of the white family
+they belonged. Both were closely wrapped in short, dark
+coloured pea coats, and their heads were surmounted with
+glazed hats--a species of costume that more than any
+thing else, proved their familiarity with the element
+whose brawling they appeared to brave with an indifference
+bordering on madness.
+
+Such was the position of the parties, at the moment when
+Henry Grantham gained the bank. Hitherto the canoe, in
+the broad reach that divided the island from the American
+mainland, had had merely the turbulence of the short
+heavy waves, and a comparatively modified current, to
+contend against. Overwhelming even as these difficulties
+would have proved to men less gifted with the power of
+opposing and vanquishing them, they were but light in
+comparison with what remained to be overcome. The canoe
+was now fast gaining the head of the island, and pursuing
+a direct course for the whirlpool already described. The
+only means of avoiding this was by closely hugging the
+shore, between which and the violent eddy without, the
+water, broken in its impetuosity by the covering head
+land, presented a more even and less agitated surface.
+This head land once doubled, the safety of the adventurers
+was ensured, since, although the tremendous current which
+swept through the inner channel must have borne them
+considerably downwards, still the canoe would have
+accomplished the transit below the town in perfect safety.
+The fact of this opportunity being neglected, led at once
+to the inference that the adventurers were total strangers,
+and distinct voices were now raised by those on the bank,
+to warn them of their danger--but whether it was that
+they heard not, or understood not, the warning was
+unnoticed. Once indeed it seemed as if he who so ably
+conducted the course of the bark, had comprehended and
+would have followed the suggestion so earnestly given,
+for his tiny sail was seen to flutter for the first time
+in the wind, as with the intention to alter his course.
+But an impatient gesture from his companion in the bow,
+who was seen to turn suddenly round, and utter something,
+(which was however inaudible to those onshore,) again
+brought the head of the fragile vessel to her original
+course, and onward she went leaping and bounding, apparently
+with the design to clear the whirlpool at a higher point
+of the river. Nothing short of a miracle could now possibly
+enable them to escape being drawn into the boiling vortex,
+and, during the moments that succeeded, every heart beat
+high with fearful expectation as to the result. At length
+the canoe came with a sudden plunge into the very centre
+of the current, which, all the skill of the steersman
+was insufficient to enable him to clear. Her bow yawed,
+her little sail fluttered--and away she flew, broadside
+foremost, down the stream with as little power of resistance
+as a feather or a straw. Scarcely had the eye time to
+follow her in this peculiar descent, when she was in the
+very heart of the raging eddy. For a moment she reeled
+like a top, then rolled two or three times over, and
+finally disappeared altogether. Various expressions of
+horror broke from the several groups of whites and Indians,
+all of whom had anticipated the catastrophe without the
+power of actively interposing. Beyond the advice that
+was given, not a word was uttered, but every eye continued
+fixed on the whirlpool, as though momentarily expecting
+to see something issue from its bosom. After the lapse
+of a minute, a dark object suddenly presented itself some
+twenty yards below, between the island and the town. It
+was the canoe which, bottom upwards, and deprived of its
+little mast and sail, had again risen to the surface,
+and was floating rapidly down with the current. Presently
+afterwards two heads were seen nearly at the point where
+the canoe had again emerged. They were the unfortunate
+adventurers, one of whom appeared to be supporting his
+companion with one arm, whilst with the other he dashed
+away the waters that bore them impetuously along. The
+hats of both had fallen off, and as he who exerted himself
+so strenuously, rose once or twice in the vigour of his
+efforts above the element with which he contended, he
+seemed to present the grisly, woolly hair, and the sable
+countenance of an aged negro. A vague surmise of the
+truth now flashed upon the mind, of the excited officer,
+but when, presently afterwards, he saw the powerful form
+once more raised, and in a voice that made itself distinctly
+heard above the howling of the wind, exclaim: "Help a
+dare," there was no longer a doubt, and he rushed towards
+the dock yard, to gain which the exertions of the negro
+were now directed.
+
+On reaching it, he found both Gerald and his faithful
+attendant just touching the shore. Aroused by the cry
+for help which Sambo had pealed forth, several of the
+workmen had quitted the shelter of the block houses in
+which they were lodged, and hastened to the rescue of
+him whom they immediately afterwards saw struggling
+furiously to free himself and companion from the violent
+current. Stepping to the extremity on some loose timber
+which lay secured to the shore, yet floating in the
+river--they threw out poles, one of which Sambo seized
+like an enraged mastiff in his teeth, and still supporting
+the body, and repelling the water with his disengaged
+arm, in this manner succeeded in gaining the land. The
+crews of the little fleet, which lay armed a hundred
+yards lower down, had also witnessed the rapid descent
+of two apparently drowning men, and ropes had every where
+been thrown out from the vessels. As for lowering a boat
+it was out of the question, for no boat could have resisted
+the violence of the current, even for some hours after
+the storm had wholly ceased.
+
+It may be easily conceived with what mingled emotions
+the generous Henry, whose anxiety had been so long excited
+in regard to his brother's fate, now beheld that brother
+suddenly restored to him. Filled with an affection, that
+was rendered the more intense by the very fact of the
+danger from which he had just seen him rescued, he,
+regardless of those around, and in defiance of his wet
+and dripping clothes, sprang eagerly to his embrace, but
+Gerald received him with a cold--almost averted air.
+Suffering, rather than sharing, this mark of his fraternal
+love, he turned the instant afterwards to his servant,
+and in a tone of querulousness, said--"Sambo, give me
+more wine."
+
+Inexpressibly shocked, and not knowing what to make of
+this conduct, Henry bent his glance upon the negro. The
+old man shook his head mournfully, and even with the
+dripping spray that continued to fall from his woollen
+locks upon his cheeks, tears might be seen to mingle. A
+dreadful misgiving came over the mind of the youth, and
+he felt his very hair rise thrillingly, as he for a moment
+admitted the horrible possibility, that the shock produced
+by his recent accident had affected his brother's intellect.
+Sambo replied to his master's demand, by saying "there
+was no wine--the canoe and its contents had been utterly
+lost."
+
+All this passed during the first few moments of their
+landing. The necessity for an immediate change of apparel
+was obvious, and Gerald and his servant were led into
+the nearest block house, where each of the honest fellows
+occupying it was eager in producing whatever his rude
+wardrobe afforded. The brothers then made the best of
+their way, followed by the negro, to their own abode in
+the town.
+
+The evening being damp and chilly, a fire was kindled in
+the apartment in which Gerald dined--the same in which
+both had witnessed the dying moments of their mother,
+and Henry those of their father. It had been chosen by
+the former, in the height of her malady, for its
+cheerfulness, and she had continued in it until the hour
+of her decease; while Major Grantham had selected it for
+his chamber of death, for the very reason, that it had
+been that of his regretted wife. Henry, having already
+dined, sat at the opposite extremity of the table, watching
+his brother whose features he had so longed to behold
+once more; yet, not without a deep and bitter feeling of
+grief that those features should have undergone so complete
+a change in their expression towards himself. Gerald had
+thrown off the temporary and ill fitting vestments
+exchanged for his own wet clothing, and now that he
+appeared once more in his customary garb, an extraordinary
+alteration was perceptible in his whole appearance.
+Instead of the blooming cheek, and rounded and elegant
+form, for which he had always been remarkable, he now
+offered to the eye of his anxious brother an emaciated
+figure, and a countenance pale even unto wanness--while
+evidence of much care, and inward suffering, might be
+traced in the stern contraction of his hitherto open
+brow. There was also a dryness in his speech that startled
+and perplexed even more than the change in his person.
+The latter might be the effect of imprisonment, and its
+anxiety and privation, coupled with the exhaustion arising
+from his recent accident, but how was the first to be
+accounted for, and wherefore was he, after so long a
+separation, and under such circumstances, thus
+uncommunicative and unaffectionate? All these reflections
+occurred to the mind of the sensitive Henry, as he sat
+watching, and occasionally addressing a remark to, his
+taciturn brother, until he became fairly bewildered in
+his efforts to find a clue to his conduct. The horrible
+dread which had first suggested itself, of the partial
+overthrow of intellect, had passed away, but to this had
+succeeded a discovery, attended by quite as much concern
+--although creating less positive alarm. He had seen,
+with inexpressible pain, that Gerald ate but little,
+seeming rather to loathe his food, while on the other
+hand, he had recourse more frequently to wine, drinking
+off bumpers with greedy avidity, until, yielding at length
+to the excess of his potations, he fell fast asleep in
+the arm chair he had drawn to the fire, overcome by the
+mingled influence of wine, fatigue, and drowsiness.
+
+Bitter were the feelings of Henry Grantham, as thus he
+gazed upon his sleeping brother. Fain would he have
+persuaded himself, that the effect he now witnessed was
+an isolated instance, and occurring only under the peculiar
+circumstances of the moment. It was impossible to recal
+the manner in which he had demanded "wine," from their
+faithful old servant and friend, and not feel satisfied,
+that the tone proclaimed him one who had been in the
+frequent habit of repeating that demand, as the prepared,
+yet painful manner of the black, indicated a sense of
+having been too frequently called upon to administer to
+it. Alas, thought the heart-stricken Henry, can it really
+be, that he whom I have cherished in my heart of hearts,
+with more than brother's love has thus fallen? Has Gerald,
+formerly as remarkable for sobriety, as for every honorable
+principle, acquired even during the months I have so
+wretchedly mourned his absence, the fearful propensities
+of the drunkard. The bare idea overpowered him, and with
+difficulty restraining his tears, he rose from his seat,
+and paced the room for some time, in a state of
+indescribable agitation. Then again he stopped, and when
+he looked in the sleeping face of his unconscious brother,
+he was more than ever struck by the strange change which
+had been wrought in his appearance. Finding that Gerald
+still slept profoundly, he took the resolution of instantly
+questioning Sambo, as to all that had befallen them during
+their absence, and ascertaining, if possible, to what
+circumstance the mystery which perplexed him was
+attributable. Opening and reclosing the door with caution,
+he hastened to the room, which, owing to his years and
+long and faithful services, had been set apart for the
+accommodation of the old man when on shore. Here he found
+Sambo, who had dispatched his substantial meal, busily
+occupied in drying his master's wet dress, before a large
+blazing wood fire--and laying out, with, the same view,
+certain papers, the contents of a pocket book, which had
+been completely saturated with water. A ray of satisfaction
+lighted the dark, but intelligent face of the negro,
+which the instant before, had worn an expression of
+suffering, as the young officer, pressing his hand with
+warmth, thanked him deeply and fervently, for the noble,
+almost superhuman exertions he had made that day, to
+preserve his brother's life.
+
+"Oh Massa Henry," was all the poor creature could say in
+reply, as he retained the pressure with an emphasis that
+spoke his profound attachment to both. Then leaning his
+white head upon his hand against the chimney, and bursting
+into tears; "berry much change, he poor broder Geral, he
+not a same at all."
+
+Here was a sad opening indeed to the subject. The heart
+of the youth sank within him, yet feeling the necessity
+of knowing all connected with his brother's unhappiness,
+he succeeded in drawing the old man into conversation,
+and finally into a narration of all their adventures, as
+far, at least, as he had personal knowledge, from the
+moment of their leaving Detroit in the preceding autumn.
+
+When, after the expiration of an hour, he returned to
+the drawing room, Gerald was awake, and so far restored
+by the effect of his sound sleep, as to be, not only more
+communicative, but more cordial towards his brother. He
+even reverted to past scenes, and spoke of the mutual
+frolics of their youth, with a cheerfulness bordering on
+levity; but this pained Henry the more, for he saw in it
+but the fruit of a forced excitement--as melancholy in
+adoption as pernicious in effect--and his own heart
+repugned all participation in so unnatural a gaiety,
+although, he enforced himself to share it to the outward
+eye. Fatigue at length compelled Gerald to court the
+quiet of his pillow, and, overcome as his senses were
+with wine, he slept profoundly until morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+When they met at breakfast, Henry was more than ever
+struck and afflicted by the alteration in his brother's
+person and manner. All traces of the last night's excitement
+had disappeared with its cause, and pale, haggard, and
+embarrassed, he seemed but the shadow of his former self,
+while the melancholy of his countenance had in it something
+wild and even fierce. As at their first meeting, his
+language was dry and reserved, and he seemed rather
+impatient of conversation, as though it interfered with
+the indulgence of some secret and all absorbing reflection,
+while, to Henry's affectionate questioning of his adventures
+since they first parted, he replied in the vague
+unsatisfactory manner of one who seeks to shun the subject
+altogether. At another moment, this apparent prostration
+of the physical man might have been ascribed to his long
+immersion of the preceding day, and the efforts that were
+necessary to rescue him from a watery grave; but, from
+the account Sambo had given him, Henry had but too much
+reason to fear that the disease of body and mind which
+had so completely encompassed his unfortunate brother,
+not only had its being in a different cause, but might
+be dated from an earlier period. Although burning with
+desire to share that confidence which it grieved him to
+the soul to find thus unkindly withheld, he made no effort
+to remove the cloak of reserve in which his brother had
+invested himself. That day they both dined at the garrison
+mess, and Henry saw, with additional pain, that the warm
+felicitation of his brother officers on his return, were
+received by Gerald with the same reserve and indifference
+which had characterized his meeting with him, while he
+evinced the same disinclination to enter upon the solicited
+history of his captivity, as well as the causes which
+led to his bold venture, and consequent narrow escape,
+of the preceding day. Finding him thus uncommunicative,
+and not comprehending the change in his manner, they
+rallied him; and, as the bottle circulated, he seemed
+more and more disposed to meet their raillery with a
+cheerfulness and good humour that brought even the color
+into his sunken cheeks; but when, finally, some of them
+proceeded to ask him, in their taunting manner, what he
+had done with his old flame and fascinating prisoner,
+Miss Montgomerie, a deadly paleness overspread his
+countenance, and he lost in the moment, all power of
+disguising his feelings. His emotion was too sudden, and
+too palpable not to be observed by those who had unwillingly
+called it forth, and they at once, with considerate tact,
+changed the conversation. Hereupon Gerald again made an
+effort to rally, but no one returned to the subject.
+Piqued at this conduct, he had more frequent recourse to
+the bottle, and laughed and talked in a manner that proved
+him to be laboring under the influence of extraordinary
+excitement. When he took leave of his brother to retire
+to rest, he was silent, peevish, dissatisfied--almost
+angry.
+
+Henry passed a night of extreme disquiet. It was evident
+from what had occurred at the mess-table, in relation to
+the beautiful American, that to her was to be ascribed
+the wretchedness to which Gerald had become a victim,
+and he resolved, on the following morning, to waive all
+false delicacy, and, throwing himself upon his affection,
+to solicit his confidence, and offer whatever counsel he
+conceived would best tend to promote his peace of mind.
+
+At breakfast the conversation turned on the intended
+movement, which was to take place within three days, and,
+on this subject, Gerald evinced a vivacity that warmed
+into eagerness. He had risen early that morning, with a
+view to obtain the permission of the Commodore to make
+one of the detachment of sailors who were to accompany
+the expedition, and, having succeeded in obtaining the
+command of one of the two gun-boats which were destined
+to ascend the Miami, and form part of the battering force,
+seemed highly pleased. This apparent return to himself
+might have led his brother into the belief that his
+feelings had indeed undergone a reaction, had he not,
+unfortunately, but too much reason to know that the
+momentary gaiety was the result of the very melancholy
+which consumed him. However, it gave him a more favorable
+opportunity to open the subject next his heart, and, as
+a preparatory step, he dexterously contrived to turn the
+conversation into the channel most suited to his purpose.
+
+The only ill effect arising from Gerald's recent immersion
+was a sense of pain in that part of his arm which had
+been bitten by the rattle snake, on the day of the pic-nic
+to Hog Island, and it chanced that this morning especially
+it had a good deal annoyed him, evincing some slight
+predisposition to inflammation. To subdue this, Henry
+applied, with his own hand, a liniment which had been
+recommended, and took occasion, when he had finished, to
+remark on the devotedness and fearlessness Miss Montgomerie
+had manifested in coming so opportunely to his rescue--
+in all probability, thereby preserving his life.
+
+At the sound of this name Gerald, started, and evinced
+the same impatience of the subject he had manifested on
+the preceding day. Henry keenly remarked his emotion,
+and Gerald was sensible that he did.
+
+Both sat for some minutes gazing at each other in expressive
+silence, the one as if waiting to hear, the other as if
+conscious that he was expected to afford some explanation
+of the cause of so marked an emotion. At length Gerald
+said, and in a tone of deep and touching despondency,
+"Henry, I fear you find me very unamiable and much altered;
+but indeed I am very unhappy."
+
+Here was touched the first chord of their sympathies.
+Henry's already on the elan, flew to meet this demonstration
+of returning confidence, and he replied in a voice broken
+by the overflowing of his full heart.
+
+"Oh, my beloved brother, changed must you indeed be, when
+even the admission that you are unhappy, inspires me with
+a thankfulness such as I now feel. Gerald, I entreat, I
+implore, you by the love we have borne each other from
+infancy to disguise nothing from me. Tell me what it is
+that weighs so heavily at your heart. Repose implicit
+confidence in me, your brother, and let me assist and
+advise you in your extremity, as my poor ability will
+permit. Tell me Gerald, wherefore are you thus altered--
+what dreadful disappointment has thus turned the milk of
+your nature into gall?"
+
+Gerald gazed at him a moment intently. He was much
+affected, and a sudden and unbidden tear stole down his
+pallid cheek. "If YOU have found the milk of my nature
+turned into gall, then indeed am I even more wretched
+than I thought myself. But, Henry, you ask me what I
+cannot yield--my confidence--and, even were it so, the
+yielding would advantage neither. I am unhappy, as I have
+said, but the cause of that unhappiness must ever remain
+buried here," and he pointed to his chest. This was said
+kindly, yet determinedly.
+
+"Enough, Gerald," and his brother spoke in tones of deep
+reproach, "since you persist in withholding your confidence,
+I will no longer urge it; but you cannot wonder that I
+who love but you alone on earth, should sorrow as one
+without hope, at beholding you subject to a grief so
+overwhelming as to have driven you to seek refuge from
+it, in an unhallowed grave."
+
+"I do not understand you--what mean you?" quickly
+interrupted Gerald, raising his head from the hand which
+supported it upon the breakfast table, while he colored
+faintly.
+
+"You cannot well be ignorant of my meaning," pursued
+Henry in the same tone, "if you but recur to the
+circumstances attending your arrival here."
+
+"I am still in the dark," continued Gerald, with some
+degree of impatience.
+
+"Because you know not that I am acquainted with all that
+took place on the melancholy occasion. Gerald," he pursued,
+"forgive the apparent harshness of what I am about to
+observe--but was it generous--was it kind in you to incur
+the risk you did, when you must have known that your
+death would have entailed upon me an eternal grief? Was
+it worthy of yourself, moreover, to make the devoted
+follower of your fortunes, a sharer in the danger you so
+eagerly and wantonly courted!"
+
+"Nay, my good brother," and Gerald made an attempt at
+levity, "you are indeed an unsparing monitor; but suppose
+I should offer in reply, that a spirit of enterprize was
+upon me on the occasion to which you allude, and that,
+fired by a desire to astonish you all with a bold feat,
+I had resolved to do what no other had done before me,
+yet without apprehending the serious consequences which
+ensued--or even assuming the danger to have been so
+great."
+
+"All this, Gerald, you might, yet would not say; because,
+in saying it, would have to charge yourself with a gross
+insincerity, and although you do not deem me worthy to
+share your confidence, I still have pleasure in knowing
+that my affection will not be repaid with deceit--however
+plausible the motives for its adoption may appear--by
+the substitution in short, of that which is not for that
+which is."
+
+"A gross insincerity?" repeated Gerald, again slightly
+coloring.
+
+"Yes, my brother--I say it not in anger, nor in reproach.--
+but a gross insincerity it would certainly be. Alas,
+Gerald, your motives are but too well known to me. The
+danger you incurred was incurred wilfully, wantonly, and
+with a view to your own destruction."
+
+Gerald started. The color had again fled from his sunken
+cheek, and he was ashy pale; "And HOW knew you this," he
+asked with a trembling voice.
+
+"Even, Gerald, as I know that you have been driven to
+seek in wine that upbearing against the secret grief
+which consumes you, which should be found alone in the
+fortitude of a strong mind, and the consciousness of an
+untainted honor. Oh, Gerald, had these been your supporters,
+you never would have steeped your reason so far in
+forgetfulness, as to have dared what you did on that
+eventful day. Good Heaven! how little did I ever expect
+to see the brother of my love degenerated so far as to
+border on the character of the drunkard and the suicide."
+
+The quick, but sunken eyes of the sailor flashed fire;
+and he pressed his lips, and clenched his teeth together
+as one strongly attempting to restrain his indignation.
+It was but a momentary flashing of the chafed and bruised
+spirit.
+
+"You probe me deeply, Henry," he said calmly, and in a
+voice of much melancholy. "These are severe expressions
+for a brother to use--but you are right--I did seek
+oblivion of my wretchedness in that whirlpool, as the
+only means of destroying the worm that feeds incessantly
+upon my heart; but Providence has willed it otherwise--
+and, moreover, I had not taken the danger of my faithful
+servant into the account. Had Sambo not saved me, I must
+have perished, for I made not the slightest effort to
+preserve myself. However it matters but little, the mere
+manner of one's death," he pursued with increased
+despondency. "It is easy for you, Henry, whose mind is
+at peace with itself and the world, to preach fortitude
+and resignation, but, felt you the burning flame which
+scorches my vitals, you would acknowledge the wide, wide
+difference between theory and practice."
+
+Henry rose deeply agitated--he went to the door and
+secured the bolt, then returning, knelt at his brother's
+feet. Gerald had one hand covering his eyes from which,
+however, the tears forced themselves through his closed
+fingers. The other was seized and warmly pressed in his
+brother's grasp.
+
+"Gerald," he said in the most emphatic manner, "by the
+love you ever bore to our sainted parents, in whose
+chamber of death I now appeal to your better feelings--
+by the friendship that has united our hearts from youth
+to manhood--by all and every tie of affection, let me
+implore you once more to confide this dreadful grief to
+me, that I may share it with you, and counsel you for
+your good. Oh, my brother, on my bended knees, do I
+solicit your confidence. Believe me no mean curiosity
+prompts my prayer. I would soothe, console, assist
+you--aye, even to the very sacrifice of life."
+
+The feelings of the sailor were evidently touched, yet
+he tittered not a word. His hand still covered his face,
+and the tears seemed to flow even faster than before.
+
+"Gerald," pursued his brother with bitterness; "I see
+with pain, that I have not your confidence, and I
+desist--yet answer me one question. From the faithful
+Sambo, as you must perceive, I have learnt all connected
+with your absence, and from him I have gained that, during
+your captivity, you were much with Miss Montgomerie, (he
+pronounced the name with an involuntary shuddering), all
+I ask, therefore, is whether your wretchedness proceeds
+from the rejection of your suit, or from any levity or
+inconstancy you may have found in her?"
+
+Gerald raised his head from his supporting hand, and
+turned upon his brother a look, in which mortified pride
+predominated over an infinitude of conflicting emotions.
+
+"Rejected, Henry, MY suit rejected--oh, no! In supposing
+my grief to originate with her, you are correct, but
+imagine not it is because my suit is rejected--certainly
+not."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Henry with generous emphasis, while he
+pressed the thin hand which he held more closely between
+his own, "Why not marry her?"
+
+Gerald started.
+
+"Yes, marry her," continued Henry; "marry her and be at
+peace. Oh! Gerald, you know not what sad agency I attached
+to that insidious American from the first moment of her
+landing on this shore--you know not how much I have
+disliked, and still dislike her--but what are these
+considerations when my brother's happiness is at stake
+--Gerald, marry her--and be happy."
+
+"Impossible," returned the sailor in a feeble voice, and
+again his head sank upon the open palm of his hand.
+
+"Do you no longer love her then?" eagerly questioned the
+astonished youth.
+
+Once more Gerald raised his head, and fixed his large,
+dim, eyes full upon those of his brother. "To madness!"
+he said, in a voice, and with a look that made Henry
+shudder. There was a moment of painful pause. The latter
+at length ventured to observe.
+
+"You speak in riddles, Gerald. If you love this Miss
+Montgomerie to madness, and are, as you seem to intimate
+loved by her in return, why not, as I have urged, marry
+her?"
+
+"Because," replied the sailor, turning paler than before,
+and almost gasping for breath, "there is a condition
+attached to the possession of her hand."
+
+"And that is?" pursued Henry inquiringly, after another
+long and painful pause.
+
+"My secret," and Gerald pointed significantly to his
+breast.
+
+"True," returned Henry, slightly coloring; "I had
+forgotten--but what condition, Gerald, (and here he spoke
+as if piqued at the abrupt manner in which his brother
+had concluded his half confidence), what condition, I
+ask, may a woman entitled to our respect, as well as to
+our love, propose, which should be held of more account
+than that severest of offences against the Divine will--
+self murder--nay, look not thus surprised, for have you
+not admitted that you had guiltily attempted to throw
+away your life--to commit suicide in short--rather than
+comply with an earthly condition?"
+
+"What if in this," returned Gerald, with a smile of
+bitterness, "I have preferred the lesser guilt to the
+greater?"
+
+"I can understand no condition, my brother, a woman worthy
+of your esteem could impose, which should one moment
+weigh in the same scale against the inexpiable crime of
+self destruction. But, really, all this mystery so startles
+and confounds me, that I know not what to think--what
+inference to draw."
+
+"Henry," observed the sailor, with some show of impatience
+--"considering your promise not to urge it further, it
+seems to me you push the matter to an extremity."
+
+The youth made no reply, but, raising himself from his
+knees, moved towards the door, which he again unbolted.
+He then walked to the window at the further end of the
+apartment.
+
+Gerald saw that he was deeply pained; and impatient, and
+angry with himself, he also rose and paced the room with
+hurried steps. At length he stopped, and putting one hand
+upon the shoulder of his brother, who stood gazing vacantly
+from the window, pointed with the other towards that part
+of the apartment in which both their parents had breathed
+their last.
+
+"Henry, my kind, good, Henry," he said, with a voice
+faltering with emotion, "do you recollect the morning,
+when, on our return from school, we found our young
+holiday joy changed into heart-breaking and mourning by
+the sight of our dying mother?"
+
+"Remember it, Gerald! aye, even as though it had been
+yesterday. Oh, my brother, little did I think at the
+moment, when, with hands closely clasped together, we
+sank, overcome with grief, upon our bended knees, to
+receive that mother's blessing, a day would ever arrive
+when the joy or sorrow of the one, should form no portion
+of the joy or sorrow of the other."
+
+"It was there," pursued Gerald, and without noticing the
+interruption, "that we solemnly pledged ourselves to do
+the will and bidding of our father in all things."
+
+"Even so, Gerald, I remember it well."
+
+"And it was there," continued the sailor, with the emphasis
+of strong emotion, "that, during my unfortunate absence
+from the death bed of our yet surviving parent, you gave
+a pledge for BOTH, that no action of our lives should
+reflect dishonor on his unsullied name."
+
+"I did. Both in your name and in my own, I gave the
+pledge, well knowing that, in that, I merely anticipated
+your desire."
+
+"Most assuredly--what then would be your sensations were
+you to know that I had violated that sacred obligation?"
+
+"Deep, poignant, ceaseless, regret, that my once noble
+and high spirited brother, should have been so lost to
+respect for his father's memory, and to himself." This
+was uttered, not without deep agitation.
+
+"You are right, Henry," added Gerald mournfully;
+"better--far better--is it to die, than live on in the
+consciousness of having forfeited all claim to esteem."
+
+The young soldier started as if a viper had stung him.
+"Gerald," he said eagerly, "you have not dishonored
+yourself. Oh no--tell me, my brother, that you have not."
+
+"No," was the cold, repulsive answer, "although my peace
+of mind is fled," he pursued, rather more mildly, "my
+honor, thank heaven, remains as pure as when you first
+pledged yourself for its preservation."
+
+"Thanks, my brother, for that. But can it really be
+possible, that the mysterious condition attached to Miss
+Montgomerie's love, involves the loss of honor?"
+
+Gerald made no answer.
+
+"And can YOU really be weak enough to entertain a passion
+for a woman, who would make the dishonoring of the fair
+fame of him she professes to love, the fearful price at
+which her affection is to be purchased?"
+
+Gerald seemed to wince at the word "weak," which was
+rather emphatically pronounced, and looked displeased at
+the concluding part of the sentence.
+
+"I said not that the condition attached to her LOVE," he
+remarked, with the piqued expression of a wounded vanity;
+"her affection is mine, I know, beyond her own power of
+control--the condition, relates not to her heart, but to
+her hand."
+
+"Alas, my poor infatuated brother. Blinding indeed must
+be. the delusions of passion, when a nature so sensitive
+and so honorable shrinks not from such a connexion. My
+only surprise is, that, with such a perversion of judgment,
+you have returned at all."
+
+"No more of this Henry. It is not in man to control his
+destiny, and mine appears to be to love with a fervor
+that must bear me, ere long, to my grave. Of this, however,
+be assured--that, whatever my weakness, or infatuation,
+as you may be pleased to call it, THAT passion shall
+never be gratified at the expense of my honor. Deeply--
+madly as I doat upon her image, Miss Montgomerie and I
+have met for the last time."
+
+Overcome by the emotion with which he had thus expressed
+himself, Gerald could not restrain a few burning tears
+that forced their way down his hollow cheeks. Henry caught
+eagerly at this indication of returning softness, and
+again essayed, in reference to the concluding declaration
+of his brother, to urge upon him the unworthiness of her
+who had thus cast her deadly spell upon his happiness.
+But Gerald could ill endure the slightest allusion to
+the subject.
+
+"Henry," he said, "I have already told you that Miss
+Montgomerie and I have parted forever; but not the less
+devotedly do I love her. If, therefore, you would not
+further wring a heart already half broken with affliction,
+oblige me by never making the slightest mention of her
+name in my presence--or ever adverting again to our
+conversation of this morning. I am sure Henry, you will
+not deny me this."
+
+Henry offered no other reply than by throwing himself
+into the arms that were extended to receive him. The
+embrace of the brothers was long and fervent, and, although
+there was perhaps more of pain than pleasure, in their
+mutual sense of the causes which had led to it in the
+present instance--still was it productive of a luxury
+the most heartfelt. It seemed to both as if the spirits
+of their departed parents hovered over, and blessed them
+in this indication of their returning affection, hallowing,
+with their invisible presence, a scene connected with
+the last admonitions from their dying lips. When they
+had thus given vent to their feelings, although the sense
+of unhappiness continued undiminished, their hearts
+experienced a sensible relief; and when they separated
+for the morning, in pursuit of their respective avocations,
+it was with a subdued manner on the part of Gerald, and
+a vague hope with Henry, that his brother's disease would
+eventually yield to various influences, and that other
+and happier days were yet in store for both.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Meanwhile the preparations for the departure of the
+expedition for the Miami were rapidly completing. To the
+majority of the regular force of the two garrisons were
+added several companies of militia, and a considerable
+body of Indians, under Tecumseh--the two former portions
+of the force being destined to advance by water, the
+latter by land. The spring had been unusually early,
+and the whole of April remarkably warm; on some occasions
+sultry to oppressiveness--as for instance on the morning
+of the tempest. They were now in the first days of the
+last week of that month, and every where a quick and
+luxuriant vegetation had succeeded to the stubborn
+barrenness and monotony of winter. Not a vestige of that
+dense mass of ice which, three months previously, had
+borne them over lake and river, was now to be seen. The
+sun danced joyously and sportively on the golden wave,
+and where recently towered the rugged surface of the tiny
+iceberg, the still, calm, unbroken level of the mirroring
+lake was only visible. On the beach, just below the town,
+and on a line with the little fleet, that lay at anchor
+between the island and the main, were drawn up numerous
+batteaux, ready for the reception of the troops, while
+on the decks of two gun boats, that were moored a few
+yards without them, were to be seen the battering train
+and entrenching tools intended to accompany the expedition.
+Opposite to each bateau was kindled a fire, around which
+were grouped the voyageurs composing the crew, some
+dividing their salt pork or salt fish upon their bread,
+with a greasy clasped knife, and quenching the thirst
+excited by this with occasional libations from tin cans,
+containing a mixture of water and the poisonous distillation
+of the country, miscalled whiskey. In other directions,
+those who had dined sat puffing the smoke from their
+dingy pipes, while again, they who had sufficiently
+luxuriated on the weed, might be seen sleeping, after
+the manner of the Indians, with their heads resting on
+the first rude pillow that offered itself, and their feet
+close upon the embers of the fire on which they had
+prepared their meal. The indolence of inactivity was more
+or less upon all, but it was the indolence consequent on
+previous exertion, and a want of further employment. The
+whole scene was characteristic of the peculiar manners
+of the French Canadian boatmen.
+
+Since the morning of the long and partial explanation
+between the brothers, no further allusion had been made
+to the forbidden subject. Henry saw, with unfeigned
+satisfaction, that Gerald not only abstained from the
+false excitement to which he had hitherto had recourse,
+but that he apparently sought to rally against his
+dejection. It is true that whenever he chanced to surprise
+him alone, he observed him pale, thoughtful, and full of
+care, but, as he invariably endeavored to hide the feeling
+at his approach, he argued favorably even from the effort.
+Early on the day previous to that of the sailing of the
+expedition, Gerald asked leave for a visit of a few hours
+to Detroit, urging a desire to see the family of his
+uncle, who still remained quartered at that post, and
+whom he had not met since his return from captivity.
+This had been readily granted by the Commodore, in whom
+the change in the health and spirits of his young favorite
+had excited both surprise and concern, and who, anxious
+for his restoration, was ready to promote whatever might
+conduce to his comfort. He had even gone so far as to
+hint the propriety of his relinquishing his intention of
+accompanying the expedition, (which was likely to be
+attended with much privation and exposure to those engaged
+in it,) and suffering another officer to be substituted
+to his command, while he remained at home to recruit his
+health. But Gerald heard the well meant proposal with
+ill disguised impatience, and he replied, with a burning
+cheek, that if his absence for a day could not be allowed
+without inconvenience to the service, he was ready to
+submit; but, as far as regarded his making one of the
+expedition, nothing short of a positive command should
+compel him to remain behind. Finding him thus obstinate,
+the Commodore good humouredly called him a silly, wilful,
+fellow, and bade him have his own way; however he felt
+confident that, if he accompanied the Miami expedition
+in his then state of health, he never would return from it.
+
+Gerald admitted it was probable enough he should not,
+but, although he deeply felt the kindness of his Commander's
+motive in wishing him to remain, he was not the less
+determined, since the matter was left to his own choice,
+to go where his duty led him. Then, promising to be back
+long before the hour fixed for sailing the ensuing day,
+he warmly pressed the cordially extended hand, and soon
+afterwards, accompanied by Sambo, whose skill as a rider
+was in no way inferior to his dexterity as a steersman,
+mounted a favorite horse, and was soon far on his road
+to Detroit.
+
+Towards midnight of that day, two men were observed by
+the American tanner, to enter by the gate that led into
+the grounds of the cottage, and, after lingering for a
+few moments, near the graves to which tradition had
+attached so much of the marvellous, to disappear round
+the angle of the building into the court behind. Curiosity
+induced him to follow and watch their movements, and,
+although he could not refrain from turning his head at
+least a dozen times, as if expecting at each moment to
+encounter some dread inhabitant of the tomb, he at length
+contrived to place himself in the very position in which
+Gerald had formerly been a witness of the attempt at
+assassination. From the same window now flashed a strong
+light upon the court below, and by this the features of
+the officer and his servant were distinctly revealed to
+the astonished tanner, who, ignorant of their return,
+and scarcely knowing whether he gazed upon the living or
+the dead, would have fled, had he not, as he afterwards
+confessed, been rooted by fear, and a species of
+fascination, to the spot. The appearance and actions of
+the parties indeed seemed to justify, not only the
+delusion, but the alarm of the worthy citizen. Both Gerald
+and Sambo were disguised in large dark cloaks, and as
+the light fell upon the thin person and pale, attenuated,
+sunken countenance of the former, he could scarcely
+persuade himself this was the living man, who a few months
+before, rich in beauty and in health, had questioned him
+of the very spot in which he now, under such strange
+circumstances, beheld him. Nor was the appearance of the
+negro more assuring. Filled with the terror that ever
+inspired him on approaching this scene at past horrors,
+his usually dark cheek wore the dingy paleness
+characteristic of death in one of his colour, while every
+muscle, stiff, set, contracted by superstitious fear,
+seemed to have lost all power of relaxation. The solemnity
+moreover of the manner of both, was in strict keeping
+with their personal appearance, so that it can scarcely
+be wondered that in a mind not the strongest nor the most
+free from a belief in the supernatural, a due quantum of
+awe and alarm should have been instilled. Fear, however,
+had not wholly subdued curiosity, and even while trembling
+to such a degree that he could scarcely keep his teeth
+from chattering, the tanner followed with eager eye the
+movements of those he knew not whether to look upon as
+ghosts or living beings. The room was exactly in the
+state in which we last described it, with this difference
+merely, that the table, on which, the lamp and books had
+been placed now lay overturned, as if in the course of
+some violent scuffle, and its contents distributed over
+the floor. The bed still remained, in the same corner,
+unmade, and its covering tossed. It was evident no one
+had entered the apartment since the night of the attempted
+assassination.
+
+The first act of Gerald, who bore the light, followed
+closely by Sambo, was to motion the latter to raise the
+fallen table. When this was done be placed his lamp upon
+it, and sinking upon the foot of the bed, and covering
+his eyes with his hands, seemed for some moments utterly
+absorbed in bitter recollections. The negro, meanwhile,
+an apparent stranger to the scene, cast his eyes around
+him with the shrinking caution of one who finds himself
+in a position of danger, and fears to encounter some
+terrific sight, then, as if the effort was beyond his
+power, he drew the collar of his cloak over his face,
+and shuffling to get as near as possible to the bed as
+though in the act he came more immediately under the
+protection of him who sat upon it, awaited, in an attitude
+of statue-like immobility, the awakening of his master
+from his reverie.
+
+Gerald at length withdrew his hands from his pallid face,
+on which the glare of the lamp rested forcibly, and, with
+a wild look and low, but imperative, voice, bade the old
+negro seat himself beside him still lower on the bed.
+
+"Sambo," he inquired abruptly--" how old were you when
+the Indian massacre took place near this spot. You were
+then, I think I have heard it stated, the servant of Sir
+Everard Valletort?"
+
+The old negro looked aghast. It was long since direct
+allusion had been made to his unfortunate master or the
+events of that period. Questioned in such a spot, and at
+such an hour, he could not repress the feeling of terror
+conjured up by the allusion. Scarcely daring to exceed
+a whisper, he answered.
+
+"Oh Massa Geral, for Hebben's sake no talkee dat. It
+berry long time ago, and break poor nigger heart to tink
+ob it--"
+
+"But I insist on knowing," returned Gerald loudly and
+peremptorily; "were you old enough to recollect the curse
+that poor heart-broken woman, Ellen Halloway, uttered on
+all our race, and if so what was it?"
+
+"No, Massa Geral, I no sabby dat. Sambo den only piccaninny
+and Sir Ebbered make him top in e fort--oh berry bad times
+dat, Massa Geral. Poor Frank Hallabay e shot fust, because
+e let he grand fadder out ob e fort, and den ebery ting
+go bad--berry bad indeed."
+
+"But the curse of Ellen Halloway, Sambo--you must have
+heard of it surely--even if you were not present at the
+utterance. Did she not," he continued, finding that the
+other replied not: "Did she not pray that the blood of
+my great grand father's children might be spilt on the
+very spot that had been moistened with that of her ill
+fated husband--and, that if any of the race should survive,
+it might be only with a view to their perishing in some
+unnatural and horrible manner. Was not this the case?"
+
+"Oh yes, Massa Geral, berry bad tongue Ellen, affir he
+lose he husband--but, poor ting, he half mad and no sabby
+what he say. He time to start for he gun boat, Massa
+Geral."
+
+The part Sambo had sustained in this short dialogue was
+a forced one. He had answered almost mechanically, and
+not altogether without embarrassment, the few queries
+that were put to him. Nay, so far was he governed by
+surrounding local influences, that the anguish he would,
+under other circumstances, have experienced, at this
+raking up of recollections he so sedulously avoided, was
+lost in terror, produced by his near and midnight
+propinquity to the fatal theatre of death. His only idea
+now was to leave the spot as quickly as he could.
+
+Gerald had again covered his face with his hands, and
+appeared to be laboring under strong agitation of mind.
+At length he started abruptly up, and seizing the light,
+held it forward, stooping over the bed, as if gazing
+fixedly on some object within.
+
+"No," he said with vehemence, "it shall never be. That
+part of the malediction, at least, shall NOT be
+accomplished. For once shall the curse of the innocent
+be unheeded."
+
+The strange action and words of the excited officer, by
+no means contributed to allay the nervousness of the
+brave but superstitious negro. He had approached as near
+as he could to Gerald, without actually touching him;
+but when he remarked his abrupt movement, and heard the
+sudden outburst of feeling which accompanied it, he half
+fancied he was apostrophizing some spirit visible only
+to himself, and shocked and terrified at this idea, he
+turned away his head.
+
+Sambo's alarm was not to terminate here. Scarcely had he
+bent his glance upon the window when he beheld two glaring
+eyes, magnified by his fear into thrice their natural
+size, fixed intently on that part of the room in which
+they stood. He attempted to cry out, but the sound was
+stifled in his throat, and he sank upon his knees, holding
+up his hands in an attitude of prayer--his teeth chattering,
+and his eyes fascinated by those which had produced in
+him this paroxysm of terror. Presently he thought he saw
+a mouth open, and a row of large and ragged teeth display
+themselves in a grin of derision. With a desperate effort
+he broke the spell that seemed to enchain every faculty,
+and called piteously and imploringly on the name of
+Gerald. The officer, who had continued gazing on the
+untenanted bed in deep abstraction, and seeming
+forgetfulness of all surrounding objects, turned hastily
+round, and was much concerned to observe the terrified
+expression of the old man's countenance.--Following the
+direction of his fixed gaze, he looked towards the window
+for a solution of the cause. At that moment a noise was
+heard without, as of a falling body. Gerald sprang towards
+the window, and hastily lifting it, thrust the lamp
+through; but nothing was visible, neither was there sound
+of footsteps to be heard.
+
+Before daybreak on the following morning, the poor old
+negro, whom no living danger could daunt, had given but
+too alarming evidence that his reason was utterly alienated.
+His ravings were wild and fearful, and nothing could
+remove from his mind that the face he had beheld was that
+of the once terrible Wacousta--the same face which had
+presented itself, under such extraordinary circumstances,
+at the window of the Canadian's hut, on the night of the
+departure of his master, Sir Everard Valletort, and
+Captain De Haldimar, for Michilimackinac in 1763. Nay,
+so rooted was this belief, that, with the fervor of that
+zeal which had governed his whole life and conduct towards
+each succeeding generation of the family, he prayed and
+obtained, during a momentary gleam of reason, the promise
+of the much shocked Gerald, that he would never again
+set foot within the precincts of those fatal grounds.
+
+Inexpressibly grieved as Gerald was at this sad and
+unexpected termination to his adventure, he had no time
+to linger near his unfortunate servant. The expedition
+was to set out in a few hours, and he had too completely
+bent his mind upon accompanying it to incur the slightest
+chance of a disappointment. Leaving the faithful and
+unfortunate creature to the care of his uncle's family,
+by every member of whom he was scarcely less loved than
+by himself, he took the ferry to the opposite shore within
+an hour after day break, and made such speed that, when
+Henry came down to breakfast he found, to his surprise,
+his brother already there.
+
+During his ride, Gerald had had leisure to reflect on
+the events of the preceding night, and bitterly did he
+regret having yielded to a curiosity which had cost the
+unfortunate Sambo so much. He judged correctly that they
+had been followed in their nocturnal excursion, and that
+it was the face of some prying visitant which Sambo's
+superstitious dread had transformed into a hideous vision
+of the past. He recalled the insuperable aversion the
+old man had ever entertained to approach of even make
+mention of the spot, and greatly did he blame himself
+for having persisted in offering a violence to his nature,
+the extent of which had been made so fearfully obvious.
+It brought no consolation to him to reflect that the spot
+itself contained nought that should have produced so
+alarming an effect on a mind properly constituted. He
+felt that, knowing his weakness as he did, he ought not
+to have trifled with it, and could not deny to himself,
+that in enforcing his attendance, (with a view to obtain
+information on several points connected with the past),
+he had been indirectly the destroyer of his reason. There
+had been a season when the unhappy sailor would have felt
+a sorrow even deeper than he did, but Gerald was indeed
+an altered being--too much rapt in himself to give heed
+to others.
+
+The painful nature of his reflections, added to the
+fatigue he had undergone, had given to his countenance
+a more than usually haggard expression. Henry remarked
+it and inquired the cause, when his brother, in a few
+brief sentences, explained all that had occurred during
+his absence. Full of affection as he was for the old man,
+and utterly unprepared for such a communication, Henry
+could not avoid expressing deep vexation that his brother,
+aware as he was of the peculiar weakness of their aged
+friend, should have been inconsiderate enough to have
+drawn him thither. Gerald felt the reproof to be just,
+and for that very reason grew piqued under it. Shocked
+as he was at the condition of Sambo, Henry was even more
+distressed at witnessing the apparent apathy of his
+brother for the fate of one, who had not merely saved
+his life on a recent occasion, but had evinced a
+devotedness--a love for him--in every circumstance of
+life, which seldom had had their parallel in the annals
+of human servitude. It was in vain that he endeavored
+to follow the example of Gerald, who, having seated
+himself at the breakfast table, was silently appeasing
+an appetite such as he had not exhibited since his return.
+Incapable of swallowing his food, Henry paced up and down
+the room, violently agitated and sick at heart. It seemed
+to him as if Sambo had been a sort of connecting link
+between themselves and the departed parents; and now that
+he was suddenly and fearfully afflicted, he thought he
+could see in the vista of futurity a long train of evils
+that threw their shadows before, and portended the
+consummation of some unknown, unseen affliction; having
+its origin in the incomprehensible alienation of his
+brother's heart from the things of his early love.
+
+While he was yet indulging in these painful thoughts,
+the firing of a gun from the harbour--the signal for the
+embarkation of the troops--brought both Gerald and himself
+to a sense of other considerations. The latter was the
+first to quit the house. "Henry," he said with much
+emotion, "God bless you. It is possible that, as our
+service lies in different lines, we shall see but little
+of each other during this expedition--Of one thing
+however be assured--that although I am an unhappy man I
+am any thing but dead to feeling--Henry," he continued
+pressing his hand with warmth, "think not unkindly
+hereafter of your poor brother Gerald." A long embrace,
+in which each, although in silence, seemed to blend heart
+with heart, ensued, and both greatly relieved, as they
+always were after this generous expansion of their
+feelings, separated forthwith whither their respective
+duties summoned them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Seldom has there been witnessed a more romantic or
+picturesque sight than that presented by an expedition
+of batteaux moving across one of the Canadian lakes,
+during a season of profound calm. The uniform and steady
+pull of the crew, directed in their time by the wild
+chaunt of the steersman, with whom they ever and anon
+join in fall chorus--the measured plash of the oars into
+the calm surface of the water--the joyous laugh and rude,
+but witty, jest of the more youthful and buoyant of the
+soldiery, from whom, at such moments, although in presence
+of their officers, the trammels of restraint are partially
+removed--all these, added to the inspiriting sight of
+their gay scarlet uniforms, and the dancing of the sunbeams
+upon their polished arms, have a tendency to call up
+impressions of a wild interest, tempered only by the
+recollection that many of those who move gaily on, as if
+to a festival--bright in hope as though the season of
+existence were to last for ever, may never more set eye
+upon the scenes they are fast quitting, with the joyousness
+produced by the natural thirst of the human heart for
+adventure, and a love of change.
+
+On the second day of its departure, from Amherstburg,
+the expedition, preceded by the gun boats, entered the
+narrow river of the Miami, and, the woods on either shore
+being scoured by the Indians, gained without opposition
+the point of debarkation. Batteries having, under great
+difficulties, been erected on the right bank, immediately
+opposite to, and about six hundred yards from the American
+fort, which had been recently and hurriedly constructed,
+a heavy and destructive fire was, on the morning of the
+third day, opened from them, supported by the gun boats,
+one of which, commanded by Gerald Grantham, had advanced
+so close to the enemy's position as to have diverted upon
+herself the fire which would else have been directed to
+the demolition of a British battery, hastily thrown up
+on the left bank. The daring manifested by the gallant
+sailor was subject of surprise and admiration at once to
+friends and foes, and yet, although his boat lay moored
+within musket shot of the defences, he sustained but
+trifling loss. The very recklessness and boldness of his
+advance had been the means of his preservation, for, as
+almost all the shots from the battery flew over him, it
+was evident he owed his safety to the difficulty the
+Americans, found in depressing their guns sufficiently
+to bear advantageously upon the boat, which, if anchored
+fifty yards beyond, they might have blown out of the
+water.
+
+The limits of our story will not admit of a further detail
+of the operations of this siege. Suffice it that,
+notwithstanding the entire defeat and capture of a strong
+corps of the enemy, who were advancing to relieve the
+place, in the course of which a handful of British troops
+rendered themselves as conspicuous for valour, as the
+noble Tecumseh did for valour and clemency united, the
+siege, (a second time attempted,) was, after a final but
+fruitless attempt to decoy the enemy from his defences,
+abandoned as hopeless, and the expedition re-embarked
+and directed against Fort Sandusky, a post of the Americans,
+situate on the river of that name, and running also into
+Lake Erie.
+
+Here, once more, was the British Artillery landed, while,
+under a heavy fire from the fort, the troops advanced
+within range, to take possession of an eminence whereon
+it was intended to erect the batteries. Two days were
+passed in incessant cannonading, but, as at the Miami,
+without making the slightest impression on the green
+wood, that opened to receive each ball and closed unshaken
+the moment afterwards. Finding all idea of a practicable
+breach hopeless, it was at length resolved that an attempt
+at assault should be made, and, with this view, the troops
+were, on the afternoon of the second day, ordered to hold
+themselves in immediate readiness.
+
+In consequence of the shallowness of the river, it had
+been found necessary to moor the gun boats at a point
+considerably below, and out of sight of the fort. Gerald
+Grantham had obtained permission to leave his command,
+and take charge of one of the batteries, which, however,
+he relinquished on the day of the assault, having
+successfully petitioned to be suffered to join the attack
+as a volunteer. In the dress of a grenadier soldier,
+disabled during the siege, he now joined the party of
+animated officers, who, delighted at the prospect of
+being brought once more in close contact with their
+enemies, after so many wearying days of inaction, were
+seated at a rude but plentiful repast in Captain Cranstoun's
+tent, and indulging in remarks which, although often
+uttered without aim or ill-nature, are as often but too
+bitter subject of after self-reproach to those who have
+uttered them. Of those who had originally set out on the
+expedition, the only officer of the ---- Regiment absent
+was Henry Grantham, who, having been slightly wounded at
+the Miami, had, much against his inclination, been ordered
+back to Amherstburgh, in charge of the sick and wounded
+of the detachment, and this so suddenly, that he had not
+had an opportunity of taking leave of his brother.
+
+"Ha! Gerald, my fine fellow," exclaimed Captain Molineux,
+as the youth now joined their circle, "so you have clapped
+on the true harness at last. I always said that your
+figure became a red jacket a devilish deal better than
+a blue. But what new freak is this? Had you not a close
+enough berth to Jonathan in the Miami, without running
+the risk of a broken head with us today in his trenches?"
+
+"No such luck is there in store for my juniors, I fancy,"
+replied Grantham, swallowing off a goblet of wine, which
+had been presented to him--"but if I do fall, it will be
+in good company. Although the American seems to lie
+quietly enough within his defences, there is that about
+him which promises us rather a hot reception.".
+
+"So much the better," said Villiers; "there will be broken
+heads for some of us--who do you think we have booked for
+a place to the other world?"
+
+Gerald made no answer, but his look and manner implied
+that he understood himself to be the party thus favored.
+
+"Not so," returned Villiers, "we can't afford to spare
+you yet besides the death of a blue jacket can in no way
+benefit us. What's the use of 'a bloody war and a sickly
+season,' that standard toast at every West India mess,
+if the juniors are to go off and not the seniors--
+Cranstoun's the man we've booked."
+
+"Captain Cranstoun, I have the honor of wishing you a
+safe passage, and speedy promotion in Heaven," said
+Middlemore, draining off his glass. "Devilish good port
+this of yours. By the bye, as you have a better port in
+view, you cannot do better than assign over what is left
+of this to me."
+
+"Thonk ye, Mr. Meeddlemore," retorted Cranstoun drily,
+yet good humouredly; "yeet as ye're to be attoched to my
+deveesion y'ell perhops roon jeest the same reesk, and
+as it may be that y'ell not want more wine than we've
+taken the day, any moore than mysel', a pleedge ye, in
+retoorn, a safe possage to Heeven, when a troost ye will
+be joodged for better qualities than ye poossess as a
+poonster."
+
+"What," asked Gerald, with an unfeigned surprise, when
+the laugh against Middlemore had subsided; "and is it
+really in his own wine that you have all thus been
+courteously pledging Captain Cranstoun's death?"
+
+"Even so," said Middlemore, rallying and returning to
+the attack, "he invited us all to lunch in his tent, and
+how could we better repay him for opening his hampers,
+than by returning his SPIRIT SCOT-FREE and UNHAMPERED to
+Heaven,"
+
+"Oh, oh, oh," ejaculated St. Clair, stopping his ears
+and throwing up his eyes; "surely, Middlemore, if you
+are not shot this day, it must be that you were born to
+be hanged--no man can perpetrate so horrible a pun, and
+expect to live."
+
+"I'm hanged if I am then," returned the other; "but,
+talking of being shot--is a there another shot in the
+locker, Cranstoun--another bottle of port?"
+
+"The shot that is reserved for you, will bring you
+acquainted with another locker than Cranstoun's I suspect,"
+said Villiers; "one Mr. David Jones' locker--hit there eh?"
+
+The low roll of a muffled drum, suddenly recalled the
+party from their trifling to considerations of a graver
+interest. It was the signal for forming the columns of
+attack. In a moment the tone--the air of ribaldry was
+exchanged for a seriousness that befitted the occasion,
+and it seemed as if a momentary reproach passed over the
+minds of those who had most amused themselves at the
+expense of Cranstoun, for each, as he quitted the tent,
+gave his extended hand to his host, who pressed it in a
+manner to show all was forgiven.
+
+The English batteries had been constructed on the skirt
+of the wood surrounding the fort, from which latter they
+were separated by a meadow covered with long grass, about
+six hundred yards across at the narrowest point. Behind
+these the columns of attack, three in number, were now
+rapidly and silently formed. To that commanded by Captain
+Cranstoun, on the extreme left, and intended to assault
+the fort at the strongest point, Gerald Grantham had
+attached himself, in the simple dress, as we have observed,
+of a private soldier, and armed with a common musket. In
+passing, with the former officer, to take his position
+in front of the column, he was struck by the utter want
+of means for executing, with success, the duty assigned
+to the several divisions. Each column was provided with
+a certain number of axemen, selected to act as pioneers;
+but not one of the necessary implements was in a condition
+to be used; neither had a single fascine or ladder been
+provided, although it was well known a deep ditch remained
+to be passed before the axes, inefficient as they were,
+could be brought into use.
+
+"Sooch," said Captain Cranstoun, with a sneer of much
+bitterness, and pointing to the blunted and useless
+implements, "are the peetiful theengs on which hong the
+lives of our brave fallows. Nae doot the next dispotches
+will say a great deal aboot the eexcellent arrangements
+for attock; but if ye do not fall, Geerald, a hope ye'll
+make a proper repreesentation of the affair. As ye belong
+to the other seervice, there's leetle fear the Geeneral
+can hurt your promotion for jeest speaking the truth. A
+Geeneral indeed! who'll say Fortune is not bleind to make
+a Geeneral of sooch as he?"
+
+It was not an usual thing for Cranstoun to express himself
+thus in regard to his superiors; but he was really vexed
+at the idea of the sacrifice of human life that must
+attend this wantonness of neglect, and imbecility of
+arrangement. He had, moreover, taken wine enough, not in
+any way to intoxicate, but sufficient to thaw his habitual
+caution and reserve. Fearless as his sword, he cared
+not for his own life; but, although a strict officer, he
+was ever attentive to the interests of his men, who, in
+their turn, admired him for his cool, unflinching courage,
+and would have dared any thing, under the direction of
+their Captain.
+
+It was evident that the contempt of the sailor for the
+capacity of the leader, to whom it was well known, all
+the minute arrangements were submitted, was not one whit
+inferior to what was entertained by the brave and honest
+Cranstoun. He, however, merely answered, as they both
+assumed their places in front, and with the air of one
+utterly indifferent to these disadvantages.
+
+"No matter, Cranstoun, the greater the obstacles we have
+to contend against, the more glorious will he our victory.
+Where you lead, however, we shall not be long in following."
+
+"Hem! since it is to be a game of follow-my-leader," said
+Middlemore, who now joined them, "I must not be far
+behind. A month's pay with either of you I reach the
+stockade first."
+
+"Doone, Meeddlemore, doone," eagerly replied Cranstoun,
+and they joined hands in confirmation of the bet.
+
+This conversation had taken place during the intervals
+occupied by the movements of the right and centre columns
+along the skirt of the wood, to equidistant points in
+the half circle embraced in the plan of attack. A single
+blast of the bugle now announced that the furthermost
+had reached its place of destination, when suddenly a
+gun--the first fired since noon from the English batteries
+--gave the signal for which all were now prepared.
+
+In the next minute the heads of the several columns
+debouched from the wood, and, the whole advancing in
+double quick time, with their arms at the trail, moved
+across the meadow in the several directions assigned
+them. The space to be traversed by Captain Cranstoun's
+division was considerably the shortest of the three; but,
+on the other hand, he was opposed to that part of the
+enemy's defences where there was the least cover afforded
+to an assailing force. Meanwhile there was an utter repose
+in the fort; which for some moments induced the belief
+that the Americans were preparing to surrender their
+trust without a struggle, and loud yells from the Indians,
+who, from their cover in the rear, watched the progress
+of the troops with admiration and surprise, were pealed
+forth as if in encouragement to the latter to proceed.
+But the American Commander had planned his defence with
+skill. No sooner had the several columns got within half
+musket shot, than a tremendous fire of musketry and rifles
+was opened upon them from two distinct faces of the
+stockade. Captain Cranstoun's division, being the nearest,
+was the first attacked, and suffered considerably without
+attempting to return a shot. At the first discharge, the
+two leading sergeants, and many of the men, were knocked
+down; but neither Cranstoun, nor Middlemore, nor Grantham,
+were touched.
+
+"Foorward men, foorward," shouted the former, brandishing
+his sword, and dashing down a deep ravine, that separated
+them from the trenches.
+
+"On, my gallant fellows, on!--the left column for ever,"
+cried Middlemore, imitating the example of his Captain,
+and, in his eagerness to reach the ditch first, leaving
+his men to follow as they could.
+
+Few of these, however, needed the injunction. Although
+galled by the severe fire of the enemy, they followed
+their leaders down the ravine with a steadiness worthy
+of a better result; then, climbing up the opposite ascent,
+under a shower of bullets, yet without pulling a trigger
+themselves, made for the ditch their officer had already
+gained.
+
+Cranstoun, still continuing in advance, was the first
+who arrived on the brink. For a moment he paused, as if
+uncertain what course to pursue, then, seeing Middlemore
+close behind him, he leaped in, and striking a blow of
+his sabre upon the stockade, called loudly upon the axemen
+to follow. While he was yet shouting, a ball from a
+loop-hole, not three feet above his head, entered his
+brain, and he fell dead across the trench.
+
+"Ha! well have you won your wager, my noble Captain!"
+exclaimed Middlemore, putting his hand to his chest, and
+staggering from the effect of a shot he had that instant
+received. "You are indeed the BETTER man," (he continued
+excited beyond his usual calm by the circumstances in
+which he found himself placed, yet unable to resist his
+dominating propensity, even at such a moment,) "and
+deserve the palm of honor this day. Forward, men, forward:
+--axemen do your duty. Down with the stockade, my lads,
+and give them a bellyfull of steel."
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, when a second discharge from the
+same wall-piece that had killed Cranstoun passed through
+his throat. "Forward," he again but more faintly shouted,
+with the gurgling tone of suffocation peculiar to a wound
+in that region, then, falling headlong into the ditch,
+was in the next instant trodden under by the advance of
+the column who rushed forward, though fruitlessly, to
+avenge the deaths of their officers.
+
+All was now confusion, noise, and carnage. Obeying the
+command of their leader, the axemen had sprung into the
+ditch, and, with efforts nerved by desperation, applied
+themselves vigorously to the task allotted them. But as
+well might they have attempted to raze the foundation of
+the globe itself. Incapable from their bluntness of making
+the slightest impression on the obstinate wood, the iron
+at each stroke rebounded off, leaving to the eye no
+vestige of where it had rested. Filled with disappointment
+and rage, the brave and unfortunate fellows dashed the
+useless metal to the earth, and endeavored to escape from
+the ditch back into the ravine, where, at least, there
+was a prospect of supplying themselves with more serviceable
+weapons from among their slain comrades; but the ditch
+was deep and slimy and the difficulty of ascent great.
+Before they could accomplish it, the Americans opened a
+fire from a bastion, the guns of which, loaded with slugs
+and musket balls, raked the trench from end to end, and
+swept away all that came within its range. This was the
+first check given to the division of the unfortunate
+Cranstoun. Many of the leading sections had leaped,
+regardless of all obstacles, into the trench, with a view
+of avenging their slaughtered officers; but these, like
+the axemen, had been carried away by the discharges from
+the bastion and the incessant fire poured upon them from
+the loop-holes of the stockade. Despairing of success,
+without fascines to fill up the ditch, or a ladder to
+scale the picketing that afforded cover to their enemies,
+there was no alternative but to remain and be cut down
+to a man, where they stood, or to retire into the brushwood
+that lined the ravine. The latter was finally adopted;
+but not before one third of the column had paid the
+penalty of their own daring, and what the brave Cranstoun
+had sneeringly termed the "General's excellent
+arrangements," with their lives. The firing at this time
+had now almost wholly ceased between the enemy and the
+columns on the right and centre, neither of which had
+penetrated beyond the ravine, and at a late hour in the
+evening the whole were drawn off.
+
+Meanwhile, steady at his post at the head of the division,
+Gerald Grantham had continued to act with the men as
+though he had been one of themselves. During the whole
+course of the advance, he neither joined in the cheers
+of the officers, nor uttered word of encouragement to
+those who followed. But in his manner there was remarked
+a quietness of determination, a sullen disregard of
+danger, that seemed to denote some deeper rooted purpose
+than the mere desire of personal distinction. His ambition
+appeared to consist, not in being the first to reach or
+scale the fort, but in placing himself wherever the balls
+of the enemy flew thickest. There was no enthusiasm in
+his mien, no excitement in his eye; neither had his step
+the buoyancy that marks the young heart wedded to valorous
+achievement, but was, on the contrary, heavy, measured,
+yet firm. His whole manner and actions, in short, as
+reported to his brother on the return of the expedition
+by those who had been near him throughout the affair,
+was that of a man who courts not victory but death.
+Planted on the brow of the ditch, at the moment when
+Middlemore fell, he had deliberately discharged his musket
+into the loop-hole whence the shot had been fired; but
+although, as he seemed to expect, the next instant brought
+several barrels to bear upon himself, not one of these
+had taken effect. A moment after and he was in the ditch,
+followed by some twenty or thirty of the leading men of
+the column, and advancing towards the bastion, then
+preparing to vomit forth its fire upon the devoted axemen.
+Even here, Fate, or Destiny, or whatever power it be that
+wills the nature of the end of man, turned aside the
+death with which he already seemed to grapple. At the
+very moment when the flash rose from the havoc-dealing
+gun, he chanced to stumble over the dead body of a soldier,
+and fell flat upon his face. Scarcely had he touched the
+ground when he was again upon his feet; but even in that
+short space of time he alone, of those who had entered
+the ditch, had been left unscathed. Before him came
+bellying along the damp trench, the dense smoke from the
+fatal bastion, as it were a funeral shroud for its victims;
+and behind him were to be seen the mangled and distorted
+forms of his companions, some dead, others writhing in
+acute agony, and filling the air with shrieks, and groans,
+and prayers for water wherewith to soothe their burning
+lips, that mingled fearfully, yet characteristically,
+with the unsubdued roar of small arms.
+
+It was now, for the first time, that Gerald evinced any
+thing like excitement, but it was the excitement of bitter
+disappointment. He saw those to whom the preservation of
+life would have been a blessing, cut down and slaughtered;
+while he, whose object it was to lay it down for ever,
+was, by some strange fatality, wholly exempt.
+
+The reflections that passed with lightning quickness
+through his mind, only served to stimulate his determination
+the more. Scarcely had the smoke which had hitherto kept
+him concealed from the battery, passed beyond him, when,
+rushing forward, and shouting--"To the bastion, men--to
+the bastion!" he planted himself in front of the gun,
+and not three yards from its muzzle. Prevented by the
+dense smoke that choked up the trench, from ascertaining
+the extent of execution produced by their discharge, the
+American artillerymen, who had again loaded, were once
+more on the alert and preparing to repeat it. Already
+was the match in the act of descending, which would have
+blown the unfortunate Gerald to atoms, when suddenly an
+officer, whose uniform bespoke him to be of some rank,
+and to whose quick eye it was apparent the rash assailant
+was utterly unsupported, sprang upon the bastion, and,
+dashing the fuze from the hand of the gunner, commanded
+that a small sally-port, which opened into the trench a
+few yards beyond the point where he stood, should be
+opened, and the brave soldier taken prisoner without
+harm. So prompt was the execution of this order, that,
+before Gerald could succeed in clambering up the ditch
+which, with the instinctive dread of captivity, he
+attempted, he was seized by half a dozen long legged
+backwoodsmen, and, by these, borne hurriedly back through
+the sally-port which was again closed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+Defeated at every point and with great loss, the British
+columns had retired into the bed of the ravine, where,
+shielded from the fire of the Americans, they lay several
+hours shivering with cold and ankle deep in mud and water;
+yet consoling themselves with the hope that the renewal
+of the assault, under cover of the coming darkness, would
+he attended with a happier issue. But the gallant General,
+who appeared in the outset to have intended they should
+make picks of their bayonets, and scaling-ladders of each
+others bodies, now that a mound sufficient for the latter
+purpose could be raised of the slain, had altered his
+mind, and alarmed, and mayhap conscience stricken at the
+profuse and unnecessary sacrifice of human life which
+had resulted from the first wanton attack, adopted the
+resolution of withdrawing his troops. This was at length
+finally effected, and without further loss.
+
+Fully impressed with the belief that the assailants would
+not be permitted to forego the advantage they still
+possessed in their near contiguity to the works, without
+another attempt at escalade, the Americans had continued
+calmly at their posts; with what confidence in the nature
+of their defences, and what positive freedom from danger,
+may be inferred from the fact of their having lost but
+one man throughout the whole affair, and that one killed
+immediately through the loop-hole by the shot that avenged
+the death of poor Middlemore. When at a late hour they
+found that the columns were again in movement, they could
+scarcely persuade themselves they were not changing their
+points of attack. A very few minutes however sufficed to
+show their error, for in the indistinct light of a new
+moon, the British troops were to be seen ascending the
+opposite face of the ravine and in full retreat. Too well
+satisfied with the successful nature of their defence,
+the Americans made no attempt to follow, but contented
+themselves with pouring in a parting volley, which however
+the obscurity rendered ineffectual. Soon afterwards the
+sally-port was again opened, and such of the unfortunates
+as yet lingered alive in the trenches were brought in,
+and every attention the place could afford paid to their
+necessities.
+
+An advanced hour of the night brought most of the American
+officers together in their rude mess-room, where the
+occurrences of the day were discussed with an enthusiasm
+of satisfaction natural to the occasion. Each congratulated
+each on the unexpected success, but commendation was more
+than usually loud in favor of their leader, to whose
+coolness and judgment, in reserving his fire until the
+approach of the enemy within pistol shot, was to be
+attributed the severe loss and consequent check they had
+sustained.
+
+Next became the topic of eulogium the gallantry of those
+who had been worsted in all but their honor, and all
+spoke with admiration of the devotedness of the two
+unfortunate officers who had perished in the trenches--
+a subject which, in turn, led to a recollection of the
+brave soldier who had survived the sweeping discharge
+from the bastion, and who had been so opportunely saved
+from destruction by the Commandant himself.
+
+"Captain Jackson," said that officer, addressing one of
+the few who wore the regular uniform of the United States'
+army, "I should like much to converse with this man, in
+whom I confess, as in some degree the preserver of his
+life, I feel an interest. Moreover, as the only uninjured
+among our prisoners, he is the one most calculated to
+give us information in regard to the actual force of
+those whom we have this day had the good fortune to
+defeat, as well as of the ultimate destination of the
+British General. Notes of both these important particulars,
+if I can possibly obtain them, I wish to make in a despatch
+of which I intend you to be the bearer."
+
+The Aid-de-Camp, for in that capacity was he attached to
+the person of Colonel Forrester, immediately quitted the
+room, and presently afterwards returned ushering in the
+prisoner.
+
+Although Gerald was dressed, as we have said, in the
+uniform of the private grenadier, there was that about
+him which, in defiance of a person covered from head to
+foot with the slimy mud of the trenches, and a mouth
+black as ink with powder from the cartridges he had
+bitten, at once betrayed him for something more than he
+appeared.
+
+There was a pause for some moments after he entered. At
+length Colonel Forrester inquired, in a voice strongly
+marked by surprise:--
+
+"May I ask, sir, what rank you hold in the British army?"
+
+"But that I have unfortunately suffered more from your
+mud than your fire," replied Gerald coolly, and with
+undisguised bitterness of manner, "the question would at
+once be answered by a reference my uniform."
+
+"I understand you, sir; you would have me to infer you
+are what your dress, and your dress alone, denotes--a
+private soldier?"
+
+Gerald made no answer.
+
+"Your name, soldier?"
+
+"My name!"
+
+"Yes; your name. One possessed of the gallantry we
+witnessed this day cannot be altogether without a name."
+
+The pale cheek of Gerald was slightly tinged. With all
+his grief, he still was man. The indirect praise lingered
+a moment at his heart, then passed off with the slight
+blush that as momentarily dyed his cheek.
+
+"My name, sir, is a humble one, and little worthy to be
+classed with those who have this day written theirs in
+the page of honor with their heart's blood. I am called
+Gerald Grantham."
+
+"Gerald Grantham!" repeated the Commandant, musingly, as
+though endeavoring to bring back the recollection of such
+a name.
+
+The prisoner looked at him stedfastly in return, yet
+without speaking.
+
+"Is there another of your name in the British squadron?"
+continued Colonel Forrester, fixing his eye full upon
+his prisoner.
+
+"There are many in the British squadron whose names are
+unknown to me," replied Gerald, evasively, and faintly
+coloring.
+
+"Nay," said Colonel Forrester, "that subterfuge more than
+any thing betrays you. Though not answered, I am satisfied.
+How we are to account for seeing a gallant sailor attacking
+us in our trenches, in the humble garb of a private soldier,
+and so out of his own element, I cannot understand; but
+the name of Gerald Grantham, coupled with your manner and
+appearance, assures us we are making personal acquaintance
+with one to whose deeds we are not strangers. Gentlemen,"
+addressing his officers, "this is the Lieutenant Grantham,
+whose vessel was captured last autumn at Buffalo, and of
+whose gallant defence, my cousin, Captain Edward Forrester,
+has spoken so highly. Lieutenant Grantham," he pursued,
+advancing, and offering his hand, "when I had the happiness
+to save your life this day, by dashing aside the fuze that
+would have been the agent in your destruction, I saw in
+you but the brave and humble soldier, whom it were disgrace
+not to have spared for so much noble daring. Judge how
+great must be my satisfaction to know that I have been the
+means of preserving, to his family and country, one whose
+name stands so high even in the consideration of his
+enemies."
+
+Poor Gerald! how bitter and conflicting must have been
+his feelings at that moment. On the one side, touched by
+the highest evidences of esteem a brave and generous
+enemy could proffer--on the other, annoyed beyond expression
+at the recollection of an interposition which had thwarted
+him in his fondest, dearest hope--that of losing, at the
+cannon's mouth, the life he loathed. What had been done
+in mercy and noble forbearance, was to him the direst
+punishment that could be inflicted:--yet how was it
+possible to deny gratitude for the motive which had
+impelled his preservation, or fail in acknowledgment of
+the appreciation in which he thus found himself personally
+held.
+
+"It would be idle, Colonel Forrester," he said, taking
+the proffered hand, "after the manner in which you have
+expressed yourself, to deny that I am the officer to whom
+you allude. I feel deeply these marks of your regard,
+although I cannot but consider any little merit that may
+attach to me very much overrated by them. My appearance
+in this dress, perhaps requires some explanation.
+Presented by the shallowness of the river from co-operating
+with the army in my gun-boat, and tired of doing nothing,
+I had solicited and obtained permission to become one of
+the storming party in the quality of volunteer, which of
+necessity induced the garb in which you now behold me.
+You know the rest."
+
+"And yet, Colonel," said a surly-looking backwoodsman,
+who sat with one hand thrust into the bosom of a hunting
+frock, and the other playing with the richly ornamented
+hilt of a dagger, while a round hat, surmounted by a huge
+cockade, was perched knowingly over his left ear, covering,
+or rather shadowing, little more than one fourth of his
+head--"I reckon as how this here sort of thing comes
+within the spy act. Here's a commissioned officer of
+King George, taken not only in our lines, but in our very
+trenches in the disguise of a private soger. What say
+you, Captain Buckhorn?" turning to one somewhat younger
+and less uncouth, who sat nest him habited in a similar
+manner. "Don't you think it comes within the spy act?"
+
+Captain Buckhorn, however, not choosing to hazard an
+opinion on the subject, merely shrugged his shoulders,
+puffed his cigar, and looked at the Colonel as if he
+expected him to decide the question.
+
+"As I am a true Tennessee man, bred and born, Major
+Killdeer," said the Aid-de-Camp Jackson, "I can't see
+how that can lie. To come within the spy act, a man must
+be in plain clothes, or in the uniform of his enemy. Now,
+Liftenant Grantham, I take it, comes in the British
+uniform, and what signifies a whistle if he wears gold
+lace or cotton tape, provided it be stuck upon a scarlet
+coat, and that in the broad face of day, with arms in
+his hand,--aye, and a devil of a desperation to make good
+use of them too"--he added, with a good naturedly malicious
+leer of the eye towards the subject of his defence.
+
+"At all events, in my conceit, it's an attempt to undervally
+himself," pursued the tenacious Kentuckian Major. "Suppose
+his name warn't known as it is, he'd have passed for a
+private soger, and would have been exchanged for one,
+without our being any the wiser; whereby the United
+States' service, I calculate, would have lost an officer
+in the balance of account."
+
+"Although there cannot be the slightest difficulty,"
+observed Colonel Forrester, "in determining on the doubt
+first started by you, Major Killdeer, I confess, that
+what you have now suggested involves a question of some
+delicacy. In the spirit, although not altogether in the
+letter, of your suggestion, I agree; so much so, Mr.
+Grantham," he added, turning to Gerald, "that in violence
+to the inclination I should otherwise have felt to send
+you back to your lines, on parole of honor, I shall be
+compelled to detain you until the pleasure of my government
+be known as to the actual rank in which you are to be
+looked upon. I should say that, taken in arms as a
+combatant without rank, we have no right to know you as
+any thing else; but as I may be in error, I am sure you
+will see how utterly impossible it is for me to take any
+such responsibility upon myself, especially after the
+difficulty you have just heard started."
+
+Gerald, who had listened to this discussion with some
+astonishment, was not sorry to find the manner of its
+termination. In the outset he had not been without alarm
+that the hero of one hour might be looked upon and hanged
+as the spy of the next; and tired as he was of life, much
+as he longed to lay it down, his neck had too invincible
+a repugnance to any thing like contact with a cord to
+render him ambitious of closing his existence in that
+way. He was not at all sorry, therefore, when he found
+the surly looking Major Killdeer wholly unsupported in
+his sweeping estimate of what he called the "spy act."
+The gentlemanly manner of Colonel Forrester, forming as
+it did so decided a contrast with the unpolished--even
+rude frankness of his second in command, was not without
+soothing influence upon his mind, and to his last
+observation he replied, as he really felt, that any change
+in his views as to his disposal could in no way effect
+him, since it was a matter of total indifference whether
+he returned to Amherstburg, or was detained where he was.
+In neither case could he actively rejoin the service
+until duly exchanged, and this was the only object embraced
+in any desire he might entertain of the kind.
+
+"Still," added the Colonel, "although I may not suffer
+you to return yet into Canada, I can see no objection to
+according you the privilege of parole of honor, without
+at all involving the after question of whether you are
+to be considered as the soldier or the officer. From this
+moment therefore, Mr. Grantham, you will consider yourself
+a prisoner at large within the fort--or, should you prefer
+journeying into the interior, to sharing the privations
+and the dullness inseparable from our isolated position,
+you are at liberty to accompany Captain Jackson, my
+Aid-de-Camp, who will leave this within thirty-six hours,
+charged with dispatches for the Governor of Kentucky."
+
+Gerald had already acknowledged to himself that, if any
+thing could add to his wretchedness, it would he a
+compulsory residence in a place not only destitute itself
+of all excitement, but calling up, at every hour, the
+images of his brave companions in danger--men whom he
+had known when the sun of his young hopes shone unclouded,
+and whom he had survived but to be made sensible of the
+curse of exemption from a similar fate; still, with that
+instinctive delicacy of a mind whose natural refinement
+not even a heavy weight of grief could wholly deaden, he
+felt some hesitation in giving expression to a wish, the
+compliance with which would, necessarily, separate him
+from one who had so courteously treated him, and whom he
+feared to wound by an appearance of indifference.
+
+"I think, Mr. Grantham," pursued Colonel Forrester,
+remarking his hesitation, "I can understand what is
+passing in your mind. However I beg you will suffer no
+mere considerations of courtesy to interfere with your
+inclination. I can promise you will find this place most
+dismally dull, especially to one who has no positive duty
+to perform in it. If I may venture to recommend, therefore,
+you will accompany Captain Jackson. The ride will afford
+you more subject for diversion than any thing we can
+furnish here."
+
+Thus happily assisted in his decision. Gerald said,
+"since, Sir, you leave it optional with me, I think I
+shall avail myself of your kind offer and accompany
+Captain Jackson. It is not a very cheering sight," he
+pursued, anxious to assign a satisfactory reason for his
+choice, "to have constantly before one's eyes the scene
+of so signal a discomfiture as that which our arms have
+experienced this day."
+
+"And yet," said Colonel Forrester, "despite of that
+discomfiture, there was nothing in the conduct of those
+engaged that should call a blush into the cheek of the
+most fastidious stickler for national glory. There is
+not an officer here present," he continued, "who is not
+prepared to attest with myself, that your column in
+particular behaved like heroes. By the way, I could wish
+to know, (but you will use your own discretion in answering
+or declining the question, recollect,) what was the actual
+strength of your attacking force?"
+
+"I can really see no objection to a candid answer to your
+question, Colonel," returned Gerald, after a moment's
+consideration. "Each division was, I believe, for I cannot
+state with certainty, little more than two hundred strong,
+making in all, perhaps, from six hundred to six hundred
+and fifty men. In return, may I ask, the number of those
+who so effectually repulsed us?"
+
+"Why I guess only one hundred and fifty, and most all my
+volunteers," somewhat exultingly exclaimed Major Killdeer.
+
+"Only one hundred and fifty men!" repeated Gerald, unable
+to disguise his vexation and astonishment.
+
+"That ere's a poser for him," said the Major, turning
+and addressing Captain Buckhorn in an undertone, who
+replied to him with a wink from his nearest eye.
+
+"Even so, Mr. Grantham," replied the Colonel. "One hundred
+and fifty men of all arms, save artillery, composed my
+force at the moment when your columns crossed the plain.
+To-night we muster one hundred and forty nine."
+
+"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Gerald warming into excitement,
+with vexation and pique, "what a disgraceful affair."
+
+"Disgraceful, yes--but only in as far as regards those
+who planned, and provided (or rather ought to have
+provided) the means of attack. I can assure you, Mr.
+Grantham, that although prepared to defend my post to
+the last, when I saw your columns first emerge from the
+wood, I did not expect, with my small force, to have been
+enabled to hold the place one hour; for who could have
+supposed that even a school boy, had such been placed at
+the head of an army, would have sent forward a storming
+party, without either fascines to fill a trench, or
+ladders to ascend from it when filled. Had these been
+provided, there can be no doubt of the issue, for, to
+repulse the attempt at escalade in one quarter, I must
+have concentrated the whole of my little force--and
+thereby afforded an unopposed entrance to the other
+columns--or even granting my garrison to have been
+sufficient to keep two of your divisions in check, there
+still remained a third to turn the scale of success
+against us."
+
+"I can understand the satisfaction with which you discovered
+this wretched bungling on the part of our leaders," remarked
+Gerald with vexation.
+
+"No sooner had I detected the deficiency," pursued Colonel
+Forrester, "than I knew the day would be my own, since
+the obstacles opposed to your attempt would admit of my
+spreading my men over the whole line embraced within the
+attack. The result, you see has justified my expectation.
+But enough of this. After the fatigues of the day you
+must require both food and rest. Captain Jackson, I leave
+it to you to do the honors of hospitality towards Mr.
+Grantham, who will so shortly become your fellow traveller,
+and if, when he has performed the ablutions he seems so
+much to require, my wardrobe can furnish any thing your
+own cannot supply to transform him into a backwoodsman,
+(in which garb I would strongly advise him to travel,)
+I beg it may be put under contribution without ceremony."
+
+So saying, Colonel Forrester departed to the rude log
+hut that served him for his head quarters, first enjoining
+his uncouth second to keep a sufficient number of men on
+the alert, and take such other precautions as were
+necessary to guard against surprise--an event, however,
+of which little apprehension was entertained, now that
+the British troops appeared to have been wholly withdrawn.
+
+Sick, wearied, and unhappy, Gerald was but too willing
+to escape to the solitude of retirement, to refuse the
+offer which Captain Jackson made of his own bed, it being
+his intention to sit up all night in the mess room, ready
+to communicate instantly with the Colonel in the event
+of any alarm. Declining the pressing invitation of the
+officers to join in the repast they were about to make
+for the first time since the morning, and more particularly
+that of Captain Buckhorn, who strongly urged him to "bring
+himself to an anchor and try a little of the Wabash," he
+took a polite but hasty leave of them all, and was soon
+installed for the night in the Aid-de-Camp's dormitory.
+
+It would be idle to say that Gerald never closed his eyes
+that night--still more idle would it be to attempt a
+description of all that passed through a mind whose extent
+of wretchedness may be inferred from his several desperate,
+although unsuccessful, efforts at the utter annihilation
+of all thought. When he met Colonel Forrester and his
+officers in the mess room at breakfast, he was dressed,
+as had been recommended, in the hunting frock and belt
+of a backwoodsman; and in this, his gentlemanly figure
+looked to such advantage as to excite general attention
+--so much so indeed, that Major Killdeer was more than
+once detected in eying his own heavy and uncouth person,
+as if to ascertain if the points of excellence were
+peculiar to the dress or to the man. Sick and dispirited
+as he was, Gerald felt the necessity of an attempt to
+rally, and however the moralist may condemn the principle,
+there is no doubt that he was considerably aided in his
+effort by one or two glasses of bitters which Captain
+Buckhorn strongly recommended as being of his wife's
+making, and well calculated to put some colour into a
+man's face--an advantage in which, he truly remarked,
+Grantham was singularly deficient.
+
+Accurate intelligence having been obtained from a party
+of scouts, who had been dispatched early in the morning
+to track their course, that the British General with his
+troops and Indians had finally departed, preparations
+were made about midday for the interment of the fallen.
+Two large graves were accordingly dug on the outer brow
+of the ravine, and into these the bodies of the fallen
+soldiers were deposited with all the honors of war. A
+smaller grave, within the fort, and near the spot where
+they so nobly fell, was considerately allotted to Cranstoun
+and Middlemore. There was a composedness on the brow of
+the former that likened him, even in death, to the living
+man; while, about the good-humoured mouth of poor
+Middlemore, played the same sort of self satisfied smile
+that had always been observable there, when about to
+deliver himself of a sally. Gerald, who had imposed upon
+himself the painful duty of attending to their last
+committal to earth, could not help fancying that Middlemore
+must have breathed his last with an inaudible pun upon
+his lips--an idea that inexpressibly affected him. Weighed
+down with sorrow as was his own soul, he had yet a tear
+for the occasion--not that his brave comrades were dead,
+but that they had died with so much to attach them to
+life--while he whose hope was in death alone had been
+chained, as by a curse, to an existence compared with
+which death was the first of human blessings.
+
+On the following morning, after an early breakfast, he
+and Captain Jackson quitted the fort--Colonel Forrester,
+(who had appeared to remark that the brusque manner of
+his Aid-de-Camp was not altogether understood by his
+charge,) taking occasion at parting to assure the latter
+that, with all his eccentricity he was a kind hearted
+man, whom he had selected to be near him more for his
+personal courage, zeal, and general liberality of feeling,
+than for any qualifications of intellect he possessed.
+
+The means provided for their transport into the interior
+were well assimilated to the dreariness of the country
+through which they passed. Two common pack horses, lean,
+galled by the saddle, and callous from long acquaintance
+with the admonitory influence both of whip and spur, had
+been selected by Captain Jackson as the best within the
+fort, and, as a first evidence of the liberality ascribed
+to him by his Commander, the fastest of these (if a choice
+there was) he selected for his own use. Neither were the
+trappings out of keeping with the steeds they decked.
+Moth eaten saddles, almost black with age, beneath which
+were spread pieces of dirty blanket to prevent further
+excoriation of the already bared and reeking back--bridles,
+the original thickness of which had been doubled by the
+incrustation of mould and dirt that pertinaciously adhered
+to them--stirrups and bits, with their accompanying
+buckles (the absence of curb chains being supplied by
+pieces of rope) covered with the rust of half a century
+--all afforded evidence of the wretchedness of resource
+peculiar to a back settlement population. Over the hard
+saddles, however, had been strapped the blankets which,
+when the travellers were fortunate enough to meet with
+a hut at the close of their day's ride, or, as was more
+frequently the case, when compelled to bivouac in the
+forest before the fire kindled by the industry of the
+hardy Aid-de-Camp, served them as their only couch of
+rest, while the small leather valise tied to the pummel
+of the saddle, and containing their scanty wardrobe, was
+made to do the duty of the absent pillow. The blanket
+Gerald found to be the greatest advantage of his grotesque
+equipment--so much so indeed, that when compelled, by
+the heavy rains which took place shortly after their
+departure, to make it serve after the fashion of a
+backwoodsman as a covering for his loins and shoulders,
+he was obliged to own that his miseries, great as they
+were, were yet susceptible of increase.
+
+Notwithstanding Captain Jackson had taken what, he
+considered to be, the best of the two Rosinantes for
+himself, Gerald had no reason to deny the character for
+kind-heartedness given of him by Colonel Forrester.
+Frequently, when winding through some dense forest, or
+moving over some extensive plain where nothing beyond
+themselves told of the existence of man, his companion
+would endeavour to divert him from the abstraction and
+melancholy in which he was usually plunged, and, ascribing
+his despondency to an unreal cause, seek to arouse him
+by the consolatory assurance that he was not the first
+man who had been taken prisoner--adding, that there was
+no use in snivelling, as "what was done couldn't be
+undone, and no great harm neither, as there was some as
+pretty gals in Kaintuck as could be picked out in a day's
+ride; and that to a good looking young fellow like himself,
+with nothing to do but to make love to them, THAT ought
+to be no mean consideration, enabling him, as it would,
+to while away the tedium of captivity." At other times
+he would launch forth into some wild rhapsody, the
+invention of the moment, or seek to entertain his companion
+with startling anecdotes connected with his encounters
+with the Indians on the Wabash, (where he had formerly
+served,) in the course of which much of the marvellous,
+to call it by the most indulgent term, was necessarily
+mixed up--not perhaps that he was quite sensible of this
+himself, but because he possessed a constitutional
+proneness to exaggeration that rendered him even more
+credulous of the good things he uttered than those to
+whom he detailed them.
+
+But Gerald heard without being amused, and, although he
+felt thankful for the intention, was distressed that his
+abstraction should be the subject of notice, and his
+despondency the object of care. To avoid this he frequently
+suffered Jackson to take the lead, and following some
+distance in the rear with his arms folded and the reins
+loose upon his horse's neck, often ran the risk of having
+his own neck broken by the frequent stumbling of the
+unsure-footed beast. But the Captain as often returned
+to the charge, for, in addition to a sincere desire to
+rally his companion, he began at length to find it
+exceedingly irksome to travel with one who neither spoke
+himself nor appeared to enjoy speech in another; and when
+he had amused himself with whistling, singing, hallooing,
+and cutting a thousand antics with his arms, until he
+was heartily tired of each of these several diversions,
+he would rein in his horse to suffer Gerald to come up,
+and, after a conciliating offer of his rum flask,
+accompanied by a slice of hung beef that lined the wallet
+depending from his shoulder, (neither of which were often
+refused,) enter upon some new and strange exploit, of
+which he was as usual the hero. Efforced in a degree to
+make some return for the bribe offered to his patience,
+Gerald would lend--all he could--his ear to the tale;
+but long before the completion he would give such evidence
+of his distraction as utterly to disconcert the narrator,
+and cause him finally to have recourse to one of the
+interludes above described.
+
+In this manner they had journeyed some days, when the
+rains suddenly commenced with a violence, and continued
+with a pertinacity, that might have worn out the
+cheerfulness of much less impatient spirits than those
+of our travellers, who, without any other protection than
+what was afforded by the blanket tightly girt round the
+loins, and fastened over the shoulder, in front of the
+chest, presented an appearance quite as wild as the waste
+they traversed. It was in vain, that in order to promote
+a more rapid circulation, they essayed to urge their
+jaded beasts out of the jog-trot in which they had set
+out. Accustomed to this from the time when they first
+emerged from colthood into horsehood, the aged steeds,
+like many aged senators of their day, were determined
+enemies to any thing like innovation on the long established
+customs of their caste; and although, unlike the said
+senators, they were made to bear all the burdens of the
+state, still did they not suffer themselves to be driven
+out of the sluggish habits in which sluggish animals, of
+every description, seem to feel themselves privileged to
+indulge. Whip and spur therefore were alike applied in
+vain, as to any accelerated motion in themselves; but
+with this advantage at least to their riders, that, while
+the latter toiled vigorously for an increase of vital
+warmth, through the instrumentality of their con-complying
+hacks, they found it where they least seemed to look for
+it--in the mingled anger and activity which kept them
+at the fruitless task.
+
+It was at the close of one of those long days of wearying
+travel throughout a vast and unsheltered plain, (where
+only here and there rose an occasional cluster of trees,
+like oases in the desert,) that, drenched to the skin
+with the steady rain which, commencing with the dawn,
+had continued without a moment's intermission, they
+arrived at a small log-hut, situate on the skirt of a
+forest forming one of the boundaries of the vast savannah
+they had traversed. Such was the unpromising appearance
+of this apology for a human dwelling that, under any
+other circumstances, even the "not very d----d particular"
+Jackson, as the Aid-de-Camp often termed himself, would
+have passed it by without stopping; but after a long
+day's ride, and suffering from the greatest evils to
+which a traveller can well be subjected--cold, wet, and
+hunger--even so wretched a resting-place as this was not
+to be despised; and accordingly a determination was formed
+to stop there for the night. On riding up to the door,
+it was opened to their knock, when a tall man--apparently
+its only occupant, came forth--and, after surveying the
+travellers a moment with a suspicious eye, inquired "what
+the stranngers wanted?"
+
+"Why, I guess," said Jackson, "it doesn't need much
+conjuration to tell that. Food and lodging for ourselves,
+to be sure; and a wisp of hay and tether for our horses.
+--Hospitality in short; and that's what no true Tennessee
+man, bred and born, ever refused yet. No, not even to an
+enemy, such a night as this."
+
+"Then you must go further in search of it," replied the
+woodsman, surlily, "I don't keep no tavern, and ha'nt
+got no accommodation; and what's more, I reckon, I'm no
+Tennessee man."
+
+"But any accommodation will do, friend. If you hav'nt
+got beds, we'll sit up all night, and warm our toes at
+the fire, and spin long yarns, as they tell in the Eastern
+sea-ports. Anything but turn a fellow out such a night
+as this."
+
+"But I say, strannger," returned the man, fiercely and
+determinedly, "I a'nt got no room any how, and you shan't
+bide here."
+
+"Oh, ho! my old cock, that's the ticket, is it? but you'll
+see whether an old stager, like me, is to be turned out
+of any man's house such a night as this. I hav'nt served
+two campaigns against the Ingins and the British for
+nothing; and here I rest for the night."
+
+So saying, the determined Jackson coolly dismounted from
+his horse, and unbuckling the girth, proceeded to deposit
+the saddle, with the valise attached to it, within the
+hut the door of which still stood open.
+
+The woodsman, perceiving his object, made a movement, as
+if to bar the passage; but Jackson, with great activity,
+seized him by the wrist of the left hand, and, all powerful
+as the ruffian was, sent him dancing some few yards in
+front of the threshold before he was aware of his intention,
+or could resist the peculiar knack with which it was
+accomplished. The Aid-de-Camp, meanwhile, had deposited
+his saddle in a corner near the fire, and on his return
+to the door, met the inhospitable woodsman advancing as
+if to court a personal encounter.
+
+"Now, I'll tell you what it is, friend," he said calmly,
+throwing hack at the same time the blanket that concealed
+his uniform, and--what was more imposing--a brace of
+large pistols stuck in his belt. "you'd better have no
+nonsense with me, I promise you, or--" and he tapped with
+the fore finger of his right hand upon the butt of one
+of them, with an expression that could not be misunderstood.
+
+The woodsman seemed little awed by this demonstration.
+He was evidently one on whom it might have been dangerous
+for one man, however well armed, to have forced his
+presence, so far away from every other human habitation;
+and it is probable that his forbearance then arose from
+the feet of their being two opposed to him, for he glanced
+rapidly from one to the other, nor was it until he seemed
+to have mentally decided that the odds of two to one were
+somewhat unequal, that he at length withdrew himself out
+of the door-way, as if in passive assent to the stay he
+could not well prevent.
+
+"Just so, my old cock," continued Jackson, finding that
+he had gained his point, "and when you speak of this
+again, don't forget to say it was a true Tennessee man,
+bred and born, that gave you a lesson in what no American
+ever wanted--hospitality to a stranger. Suppose you begin
+and make yourself useful, by tethering and foddering old
+spare bones."
+
+"I reckon as how you've hands as well as me," rejoined
+the surly woodsman, "and every man knows the ways of his
+own beast best. As for fodder, they'll find it on the
+skirt of the wood, and where natur' planted it."
+
+Gerald meanwhile, finding victory declare itself in favor
+of his companion, had followed his example and entered
+the hut with his saddle. As he again quitted it, a sudden
+flash of light from the fire, which Jackson was then in
+the act of stirring, fell upon the countenance of the
+woodsman who stood without, his arms folded and his brow
+scowling, as if planning some revenge for the humiliation
+to which he had been subjected. In the indistinct dusk
+of the evening Grantham had not been able to remark more
+than the outline of the figure; but the voice struck him
+as one not unknown to him, although somewhat harsher in
+its tones than that which his faint recollection of the
+past supplied. The glance he had now obtained, momentary
+as it was, put every doubt to rest. What his feelings
+were in recognizing in the woodsman the traitor settler
+of the Canadas, Jeremiah Desborough, we leave to our
+readers to infer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+There was a time when to have met his father's enemy
+thus, would have been to have called into activity all
+the dormant fierceness of Gerald's nature; but since they
+had last parted, a new channel had been opened to his
+feelings, and the deep and mysterious grief in which we
+have seen him shrouded, had been of so absorbing and
+selfish a nature, as to leave him little consideration
+for sorrows not his own. The rash impetuosity of his
+former character, which had often led him to act even
+before he thought, and to resent an injury before it
+could well be said to have been offered, had moreover
+given place to a self-command, the fruit of the reflective
+habits and desire of concealment which had made him
+latterly almost a stranger to himself.
+
+Whatever his motives for outwardly avoiding all recognition
+of the settler, certain it is that, so far from this, he
+sought sedulously to conceal his own identity, by drawing
+the slouched hat, which formed a portion of his new
+equipment, lower over his eyes. Left to do the duties of
+the rude hostelry, Captain Jackson and he now quitted
+the hut, and leading their jaded, smoking, steeds a few
+rods off to the verge of the plain they had so recently
+traversed, prepared to dispose of them for the night,
+Gerald had by this time become too experienced in the
+mode of travelling through an American wilderness, not
+to understand that he who expects to find a companion in
+his horse in the morning, must duly secure him with the
+tether at night. Following, therefore, the example of
+the Aid-de-Camp, he applied himself, amid the still
+pelting rain, to the not very cleanly task of binding
+round the fetlock joints of his steed several yards of
+untanned hide strips, with which they were severally
+provided for the purpose. Each gave his steed a parting
+slap on the buttock with the hard bridle, Jackson
+exclaiming, "go ye luxurious beasts, ye have a whole
+prairie of wet grass to revel in for the night," and then
+left them to make the best of their dainty food.
+
+While returning, Grantham took occasion to observe, that
+he had reason to think he knew the surly and inhospitable
+woodsman, by whom however he was not desirous of being
+recognized, and therefore begged as a favor that Captain
+Jackson would not, in the course of the night, mention
+his name, or even allude to him in any way that could
+lead to an inference that he was any other than he seemed,
+a companion and brother officer of his own; promising,
+in conclusion, to give him, in the course of the next
+day's journey, some little history of the man which would
+fully explain his motives. With this request Jackson
+unhesitatingly promised compliance, adding, good humouredly,
+that he was not sorry to pledge himself to any thing that
+would thaw his companion's tongue into sociability, and
+render himself, for the first time since their departure,
+a listener. Before entering the hut Gerald further observed
+in a whisper, that the better to escape recognition, he
+would, as much as possible, avoid joining in any
+conversation which might ensue, and therefore hoped his
+companion would not think it rude if he suffered him to
+bear the tax. Jackson again promised to keep the attention
+of the woodsman directed as much as possible to himself,
+observing, that he thought Gerald had already, to his
+cost, discovered he was not one easily tired out by
+conversation, should their host be that way inclined.
+
+On opening the door of the cabin, they found that the
+woodsman, or more properly the settler as we shall again
+term him, making a virtue of necessity, had somewhat
+cheered its interior. A number of fine logs, sufficient
+to last throughout the night had been heaped upon the
+hearth, and these, crackling and fizzing, and emitting
+sparks in all the burly of a hickory wood-fire, gave
+promise of a night of comparative comfort. Ensconced in
+the farther corner of the chimney, the settler had already
+taken his seat, and, regardless of the entrance of the
+strangers, (with his elbows resting on his knees, and
+his face buried in his large palms), kept his eyes fixed
+upon the fire, as if with a sullen determination neither
+to speak nor suffer himself to be questioned. But the
+Aid-de-Camp was by no means disposed to humour him in
+his fancy. The idea of passing some eight or ten consecutive
+hours in company with two fellow beings, without calling
+into full play the bump of loquacity, with which nature
+had largely endowed him, was, in his view, little better
+than the evil from which his perseverance had just enabled
+him to escape. Making himself perfectly at home, he
+unbuckled the wet blanket from his loins, and spreading
+it, with that of Gerald, to dry upon the rude floor before
+the fire, drew forward a heavy uncouth looking table,
+(which, with two or three equally unpolished chairs,
+formed the whole of the furniture), and deposited thereon
+the wallet or haversack in which remained a portion of
+provision. He then secured the last vacant chair, and
+taking up a position on the right of the table which lay
+between himself and Gerald, let it fall upon the dry clay
+hearth, with a violence that caused the settler to quit
+his attitude of abstraction for one of anger and surprise.
+
+"Sorry to disturb you, friend," he said; "but these chairs
+of yours are so curst heavy, there's no handling them
+decently; specially with cold fingers."
+
+"Beggars, I reckon, have no right to be choosers," returned
+the settler; "the chairs is quite good enough for me--and
+no one axed you to sit on em."
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, old cock," continued the
+Aid-de-Camp, edging his seat closer, and giving his host
+a smart friendly slap upon the thigh, "this dull life of
+yours don't much improve your temper. Why, as I am a true
+Tennessee man, bred and born, I never set eyes upon such
+a crab apple in all my life--you'd turn a whole dairy of
+the sweetest milk that ever came from prairie grass sour
+in less than no time. I take it, you must be crossed in
+love old boy, eh?"
+
+"Crossed in hell," returned the settler, savagely. "I
+reckon as how it don't consarn you whether I look sour
+or sweet--what you want is a night's lodgin', and you've
+got it, so don't trouble me no more."
+
+"Very sorry, but I shall," said Jackson, secretly
+congratulating himself that, now he had got the tongue
+of his host in motion, he had a fair chance of keeping
+it so. "I must trouble you for some bread, and whatever
+else your larder may afford. I'll pay you honestly for
+it, friend."
+
+"I should guess," said the settler, his stern features
+brightening for the first time into a smile of irony,
+"as how a man who had served a campaign agin the Ingins
+and another agin the British, might contrive to do without
+sich a luxury as bread. You'll find no bread here I
+reckon."
+
+"What, not even a bit of corn bread! Try, my old cock,
+and rummage up a crust or two, for hung beef is devilish
+tight work for the teeth, without a little bread of some
+sort for a relish."
+
+"If you'd ha' used your eyes you'd ha' seen nothin' like
+a corn patch for twenty mile round about this. Bread
+never entered this hut since I been here. I don't eat
+it."
+
+"More's the pity," replied Jackson, with infinite drollery;
+but though you may not like it yourself, your friends may."
+
+"I HAVE no friends--I WISH to have no friends," was the
+sullen reply.
+
+"More's the pity still," pursued the Aid-de-Camp, "but what
+do you live on then, old cock, if you don't eat bread?"
+
+"Human flesh. Take that as a relish to your hung beef."
+
+Scarcely had the strange confession escaped the settler's
+lips, when Jackson, active as a deer, was at the farther
+end of the hut, one hand holding the heavy chair as a
+shield before him, the other placed upon the butt of one
+of his pistols. The settler at the same moment quitted
+his seat, and stretching his tall and muscular form to
+its utmost height, burst into a laugh that sounded more
+like that of some wild beast than a human being. The
+involuntary terror produced in his guest was evidently
+a source of exultation to him, and he seemed gratified
+to think he had at length discovered the means of making
+himself looked upon with something like fear.
+
+On entering the hut, Gerald had taken his seat at the
+opposite corner of the fire, yet in such a manner as to
+admit of his features being shaded by the projection of
+the chimney. The customs of the wilderness moreover
+rendering it neither offensive, nor even worthy of remark,
+that he should retain his hat, he had, as in the first
+instance, drawn it as much over his eyes as he conceived
+suited to his purpose of concealment, without exciting
+a suspicion of his design; and, as the alteration in his
+dress was calculated to deceive into a belief of his
+being an American, he had been enabled to observe the
+settler without much fear of recognition in return. A
+great change had taken place in the manner of Desborough.
+Ferocious he still was, but it was a ferocity, wholly
+unmixed with the cunning of his former years, that he
+now exhibited. He had evidently suffered much, and there
+was a stamp of thought on the heavy countenance that
+Gerald had never remarked there before. There was also
+this anomaly in the man, that while ten years appeared
+to have been added to his age--his strength was increased
+in the same proportion--a change that made itself evident
+by the attitude in which he stood.
+
+"Why now I take it you must be jesting" at length exclaimed
+the Aid-de-Camp doubtingly, dropping at the same time
+the chair upon the floor, yet keeping it before him as
+though not quite safe in the presence of this self-confessed
+anthropophagos; "you surely don't mean to say you kill
+and pickle every unfortunate traveller that comes by
+here. If so I most apprehend you in the name of the United
+States Government."
+
+"I rather calculate not Mister," sneered the settler.
+"Besides I don't eat the United States subjects;
+consequently they've no claim to interfere."
+
+"Who the devil do you eat then," asked Jackson, gathering
+courage with his curiosity, and advancing a pace or two
+nearer the fire, "or is it all a hum?"
+
+The settler approached the fire, stooped a little, and
+applying his shoulder to the top of the opening, thrust
+his right hand and arm up the chimney.
+
+"I reckon that's no hum," he said, producing and throwing
+upon the table a piece of dark dry flesh, that resembled
+in appearance the upper part of a human arm. "If you're
+fond of a relish," he pursued with a fierce laugh; "you'll
+find that mighty well suited to the palate--quite as
+sweet as a bit of smok'd venison."
+
+"Why you don't really mean to say that's part of a man?"
+demanded Jackson, advancing cautiously to the table, and
+turning over the shrivelled mass with the point of his
+dagger. "Why, I declare, its just the color of my dried
+beef."
+
+"But I do though--and what's more, of my own killin' and
+dryin'. Purty naturist you must be not to see that's off
+an Ingin's arm."
+
+"Oh an Ingin's only, is it?" returned the Aid-de-Camp,
+whose apprehension began rapidly to subside, now that he
+had obtained the conviction that it was not the flesh of
+a white man. "Well, I'm sure! who'd have thought it. I
+take it, old cock, you've been in the wars as well as
+myself."
+
+"A little or so I reckon, and I expect to be in them agin
+shortly--as soon as my stock of food's out. I've only a
+thigh bone to pick after this, and then I'm off. But why
+don't you take your seat at the fire. There's nothin' so
+out of the way in the sight of a naked arm, is there? I
+reckon if you're a soger, you must have seen many a one
+lopped off in the wars."
+
+"Yes, friend," said Jackson, altering the position of
+the table and placing it between the settler and himself;
+"a good many lopped off, as you say, and in a devil of
+a stew, but not exactly eaten. However be so good as to
+return this to the chimney, and when I've eaten something
+from my bag I'll listen to what you have to say about
+it."
+
+"Jist so, and go without my own supper I suppose, to
+please you. But tarnation, while you're eatin' a bit of
+your hung beef I'll try a snack of mine."
+
+So saying he deliberately took from the table the dried
+arm he had previously flung there, and, removing a large
+clasp knife from a pocket beneath his coarse hunting
+frock, proceeded to help himself to several thin slices,
+corresponding precisely in appearance with those which
+the Aid-de-Camp divided in the same manner.
+
+Jackson had managed to swallow three or four pieces of
+his favorite hung beef with all the avidity of an appetite,
+rendered keen by the absence of every other stimulant
+than hunger; but no sooner did he perceive his host
+fastening with a degree of fury on his unnatural food,
+than, sick and full of loathing, his stomach rejected
+further aliment, and he was compelled to desist. During
+all this time Grantham, who, although he had assumed the
+manner and attitude of a sleeping man, was a watchful
+observer of all that passed, neither moved nor uttered
+a syllable, except on one occasion to put away from him
+the food Jackson had offered.
+
+"Sorry to see your ride has given you so poor an appetite,"
+said the settler, with a look expressive of the savage
+delight he felt in annoying his visitor. "I reckon that's
+rather unsavory stuff you've got there, that you can't
+eat it without bread. I say young man"--addressing
+Grantham, "can't you find no appetite neither, that you
+sit there snorin', as if you never meant to wake agin."
+
+Gerald's head sunk lower on his chest, and his affectation
+of slumber became more profound.
+
+"Try a drop of this," said Jackson, offering his canteen,
+after having drank himself, and with a view to distract
+attention from his companion. "You seem to have no liquor
+in the house, and I take it you require something hot as
+h-ll, and strong as d--n----n, after that ogre like repast
+of yours."
+
+The settler seized the can, and raised it to his lips.
+It contained some of the fiery whiskey we have already
+described as the common beverage in most parts of America.
+This, all powerful as it was, he drained off as though
+it had been water, and with the greedy avidity of one
+who finds himself suddenly restored to the possession of
+a favorite and long absent drink.
+
+"Hollo, my friend," exclaimed the angry Aid-de-Camp, who
+had watched the rapid disappearance of his "travellers
+best companion," as he quaintly enough termed it, down
+the capacious gullet of the settler--and snatching at
+the same moment the nearly emptied canteen from his hands.
+"I take it, that's not handsome. As I'm a true Tennessee
+man, bred and born, it aint at all hospitable to empty
+off a pint of raw liquor at a spell, and have not so much
+as a glass of methiglin to offer in return. What the hell
+do you suppose we're to do tomorrow for drink, during a
+curst long ride through the wood, and not a house of call
+till nightfall along the road."
+
+The settler drew a breath long and heavy in proportion
+to the draught he had swallowed, and when his lungs had
+again recovered their play, answered blusteringly, in a
+voice that betokened incipient intoxication.
+
+"Roar me up a saplin' Mister, but you're mighty stingy
+of the Wabash. I reckon as how I made you a free offer
+of my food, and it war'nt no fault of mine if you did'nt
+choose to take it. It would only have been relish for
+relish after all--and that's what I call fair swap."
+
+"Well, no matter," said Jackson soothingly; "what's done
+can't be undone, therefore I take it its no use argufying
+--however, my old cock, when next you got the neck of
+a canteen of mine, twixt your lips, I hope it may do the
+cockles of your heart good; that's all. But lets hear
+how you came by them pieces of nigger's flesh, and how
+it is you've taken it into your head to turn squatter
+here. You seem," glancing around, "to have no sleeping
+room to spare, and one may as well sit up and chat as
+have one's bones bruised to squash on the hard boards."
+
+"It's a sad tale," said the settler gruffly and with a
+darkening brow, "and brings bitter thoughts with it; but
+as the liquor has cheered me up a bit, I don't much mind
+if I do tell you how I skivered the varmint. Indeed," he
+pursued savagely, "that always gives me a pleasure to
+think of, for I owed them a desperate grudge--the bloody
+red skins and imps of hell. I was on my way to Detroit,
+to see the spot once more where my poor boy Phil lay
+rottin', and one dark night (for I only ventured to move
+at night,) I came slick upon two Ingins as was lying fast
+asleep before their fire in a deep ravine. The one nearest
+to me had his face unkivered, and I knew the varmint for
+the tall dark Delaweer chief as made one of the party
+after poor Phil and me, a sight that made me thirst for
+the blood of the heathens as a child for mother's milk.
+Well, how do you suppose I managed them. I calculate
+you'd never guess. Why, I stole as quiet as a fox until
+I got jist atween them, and then holdin' a cocked pistol
+to each breast, I called out in a thunderin' voice that
+made the woods ring agin Kit-chimocomon, which you know,
+as you've been in the wars, signifies long knife or
+Yankee. You'd a laugh'd fit to split your sides I guess,
+to see the stupid stare of the devils, as startin' out
+of their sleep, they saw a pistol within three inches of
+each of'em. 'Ugh,' says they, as if they did'nt know well
+whether to take it as a joke or not. 'Yes, 'ugh' and be
+damn'd to you,' say's I: you may go and 'ugh' in hell
+next--and with that snap went the triggers, and into
+their curst carcasses went the balls. The one I killed
+outright but t'other the Delaweer chief, was by a sudden
+shift only slightly wounded, and he sprung on his feet
+and out with his knife. But I had a knife too, and all
+a disappinted father's rage to boot, so at it we' went
+closin' and strikin' with our knives like two fierce
+fiends of the forest. It was noble sport sure-LY. At last
+the Delaweer fell over the bleedin' body of his warrior
+and I top of him. As he fell the knife dropt from his
+hand and he could'nt reach it no how, while I still
+gripped mine fast. 'Ugh,' he muttered agin, as if askin'
+to know what I meant to do next. 'Ugh,' and be damn'd to
+you once more, say's I--and the pint of my long knife
+was soon buried in his black heart. Then, when I see them
+both dead I eat my own meal at their fire, for I was
+tarnation hungry, and while I was eatin' a thought came
+across me that it would be good fun to make smoked meat
+of the varmint, so when I had tucked it in purty
+considerably, what with hominy and dried bear's meat,
+moistened with a little Wabash I found in the Delaweer
+chief's canteen, I set to and regularly quartered them.
+The trunks I left behind, but the limbs I packed up in
+the blankets that had been used to kiver them, I reckon;
+and with them slung across my shoulders, like a saddle
+bag across a horse, I made tracks through the swamps and
+the prairies for this here hut, which I know'd no livin'
+soul had been nigh for many a long year. And now," he
+concluded with a low drunken laugh, "you've the history
+of the dried meat. There isn't much left but when all is
+gone I'm off to the wars, for I can't find no peace I
+reckon without my poor boy Phil." He paused a moment,
+and then, as if suddenly influenced by some painful
+recollection, he struck his hand with startling violence
+upon the table, and, while every feature of his iron
+countenance seemed worked up to a pitch of intensity,
+added with fearful calmness, "May God's curse light upon
+me if I don't have my revenge of them Granthams yet:--yes"
+he continued with increased excitement of voice and
+manner, while he kicked one of the blazing hickory logs
+in the chimney with all the savageness of drunken rage,
+causing a multitude of sparks to spit forth as from the
+anvil of a smith,--"jist so would I kick them both to
+hell for having murdered my poor boy."
+
+"Why, surely, Liftenant Grantham, he can't meant you?"
+abruptly questioned the Aid-de-Camp, drawing back his
+chair and resting the palms of his hands upon his knees,
+while he fixed his eye keenly and inquiringly upon Gerald.
+
+But Gerald had no time to answer him--Scarcely had the
+name escaped the lips of the incautious Jackson, when a
+yell of exultation from the settler drew him quickly to
+his feet, and in the next moment he felt one hand of his
+enemy grappling at his throat, while the fingers of the
+other were rapidly insinuating themselves into the hair
+that shadowed one of his temples, with the evident
+intention to "gouge" him. Weak and emaciated as he was,
+Gerald was soon made sensible of the disproportion of
+physical strength thus suddenly brought into the struggle,
+and as the savage laugh of the settler, as his fingers
+wound themselves closer and closer within the clustering
+hair, proclaimed his advantage, he felt that his only
+chance of saving the threatened eye was by having recourse
+to some sudden and desperate attempt to free himself from
+the gripe of his opponent. Summoning all his strength
+into one vigorous effort, he rushed forward upon his
+enemy with such force, raising himself at the same time
+in a manner to throw the whole weight of his person upon
+him, that the latter reeled backwards several paces
+without the power of resistance, and falling over the
+table towards which he had been intentionally propelled,
+sank with a heavy crash to the floor, still however
+retaining his firm hold of his enemy and dragging him
+after him.
+
+Half throttled, maddened with pain, and even more bitterly
+stung by a sense of the humiliating position in which he
+found himself, the feelings of Gerald became uncontrolable,
+until his anxiety to inflict a mortal injury upon his
+enemy became in the end as intense as that of the settler.
+In their fall the table had been overturned, and with it
+the knife which Desborough had used with his horrid
+repast. As the light from the blazing fire fell upon the
+blade, it had once caught the unassailed eye of the
+officer, and was the next moment clutched in his grasp.
+He raised it with a determination, inspired by the agony
+he endured, at once to liberate himself and to avenge
+his father's murder, but the idea that there was something
+assassin-like in the act as suddenly arrested him, and
+ere he had time to obey a fresh impulse of his agony,
+the knife was forcibly stricken from his hand. A laugh
+of triumph burst from the lips of the half intoxicated
+Desborough, but it was scarcely uttered before it was
+succeeded by a yell of pain, and the hand that had
+contrived to entwine itself, with resistless force and
+terrible intent, in the waving hair of the youth, fell
+suddenly from its grasp, enabling its victim at length
+to free himself altogether and start once more to his
+feet.
+
+Little more than a minute had been passed in the enactment
+of this strange scene. The collision, the overthrow, the
+upraising of the knife had followed each other in such
+rapid succession that, until the last desperate intention
+of Gerald was formed, the Aid-de-Camp had not had time
+to interpose himself in any way between the enraged
+combatants. His first action had been to strike away
+the murderous knife with the heavy butt of one of his
+pistols, the other to plant such a blow upon the "gouging"
+hand of the settler from the same butt, as effectually
+to compel him to relinquish his ferocious clutch. In both
+objects, as we have seen, he fully succeeded.
+
+But although his right hand had been utterly disabled by
+the blow from Jackson's pistol, the fury of Desborough,
+fed as it was by the fumes of the liquor he had swallowed,
+was too great to render him heedful of aught but the
+gratification of his vengeance. Rolling rapidly over to
+the point where the knife had fallen he secured it in
+his left hand, and then, leaping nimbly to his feet,
+gathered himself into a spring upon his unarmed but
+watchful enemy. But before the bound could be taken, the
+active Aid-de-Camp, covering Gerald with his body and
+presenting a cocked pistol, had again thwarted him in
+his intention.
+
+"I say now, old cock, you'd much better be quiet I guess,
+for them sort of tantrums won't suit me. If this here
+Liftenant killed your son why he'll answer for it later,
+but I can't let you murder my prisoner in that flumgustious
+manner. I'm responsible for him to the United States
+Government, therefore just drop that knife clean and
+slick upon the floor, and let's have no more of this
+nonsense for the night."
+
+But even the cocked pistol had not power to restrain the
+fierce--almost brutal--rage of the settler, whose growing
+intoxication added fuel to the fire which the presence
+of his enemy had kindled in his heart. Heedless of the
+determined air and threatening posture of the Aid-de-Camp,
+he made a bound forward, uttering a sound that resembled
+the roar of a wild beast rather than the cry of a human
+being, and struck over Jackson's shoulder at the chest
+of the officer. Gerald, whose watchful eye marked the
+danger, had however time to step back and avoid the blow.
+In the next moment the Aid-de-Camp, overborne by the
+violence of the collision, fell heavily backwards upon
+the rude floor, and in his fall the pistol went off
+lodging the ball in the sinewy calf of Desborough's leg.
+Stung with acute animal pain, the whole rage of the latter
+was now diverted from Gerald to the Aid-de-Camp, on whom
+(assuming the wound to have been intentional) he threw
+himself with the fury of a tiger, grappling as he closed
+with him at his throat. But the sailor in his turn now
+came to the rescue of his companion, and the scene for
+some time, as the whole party struggled together upon
+the floor in the broad red glare of the wood fire, was
+one of fearful and desperate character. At length after
+an immense effort, and amid the most horrid imprecations
+of vengeance upon them, the officers succeeded in disarming
+and tying the hands of the settler behind his back, after
+which dragging him to a distant corner of the hut, they
+secured him firmly to one of the open and mis-shapen logs
+which composed its frame. This done, Jackson divided the
+little that had been left of his "Wabash" with his charge,
+and then stretching himself at his length, with his feet
+to the fire, and his saddle for a pillow, soon fell
+profoundly asleep.
+
+Too much agitated by the scene which had just passed,
+Gerald, although following the example of his companion,
+in stretching himself before the cheerful fire, was in
+no condition to enjoy repose. Indeed, whatever his
+inclination, the attempt would have been vain, for so
+dreadful were the denunciations of Desborough throughout
+the night, that sleep had no room to enter even into his
+thoughts. Deep and appalling were the curses and threats
+of vengeance which the enraged settler uttered upon all
+who bore the name of Grantham; and with these were mingled
+lamentations for his son, scarcely less revolting in
+their import than the curses themselves. Nor was the
+turbulence of the enraged man confined to mere excitement
+of language. His large and muscular form struggled in
+every direction, to free himself from the cords that
+secured him to the logs, and finding these too firmly
+bound to admit of the accomplishment of his end, he kicked
+his brawny feet against the floor with all the fury and
+impatience of a spirit, quickened into a livelier sense
+of restraint by the stimulus of intoxication. At length,
+exhausted by the efforts he had made, his struggles and
+his imprecations became gradually less frequent and less
+vigorous, until finally towards dawn they ceased altogether,
+and his deep and heavy breathing announced that he slept.
+
+Accustomed to rise with the dawn, the Aid-de-Camp was
+not long after its appearance, in shaking off the slumber
+in which he had so profoundly indulged. The first object
+that met his eye as he raised himself up in a sitting
+posture from his rude bed, was Gerald stooping over the
+sleeping Desborough, one hand reposing upon his chest,
+the other holding the knife already alluded to, while
+every feature of his face was kindled into loathing and
+abhorrence of his prostrate and sleeping enemy. Startled
+by the expression he read there, and with the occurrences
+of the past night rushing forcibly upon his memory, the
+Aid-de-Camp called quickly out, "Hold, Liftenant Grantham.
+Well, as I'm a true Tennessee man, bred and born, may I
+be most especially d----d, if I'd a thought you'd do so
+foul a deed. What! assassinate a sleeping drunken man?"
+
+"Assassinate! Captain Jackson," repeated Gerald, raising
+himself to his full height, while a crimson flush of
+indignation succeeded to the deadly paleness which had
+overspread his cheek.
+
+"Yes, assassinate," returned the Aid-de-Camp, fixing his
+eye upon that of his prisoner, yet without perceiving
+that it quailed under his penetrating glance. "It's an
+ugly word, I reckon, for you to hear, as it is for me to
+speak; but your quarrel last night--your fix just now--
+that knife,--Liftenant Grantham," and he pointed to the
+blade which still remained in the grasp of the accused.
+"Surely these things speak for themselves, and though
+the fellow has swallowed off all my Wabash, and be d----d
+to him, (making a fruitless attempt to extract a few
+drops from his canteen,) still I shouldn't like to see
+him murdered in that sort of way."
+
+"I cannot blame you, Captain Jackson," said Gerald calmly,
+his features resuming their pallid hue. "These appearances,
+I grant, might justify the suspicion, horrible as it is,
+in one who had known more of me than yourself; but was
+assassination even a virtue, worlds would not tempt me
+to assassinate that man--wretch though he be--or even to
+slay him in fair and open combat."
+
+"Then, I calculate, one night has made a pretty considerable
+change in your feelings, Liftenant," retorted the Aid-de-
+Camp. "You were both ready enough to go at it last night,
+when I knocked the knife out of your fist, and broke the
+knuckles of his gouging hand."
+
+"I confess," said Gerald, again coloring, "that excessive
+pain made me wild, and I should have been tempted to have
+had recourse to any means to thwart him in his diabolical
+purpose. As you have said, however, the past night has
+effected a change in my feelings towards the man, and
+death from my hand, under any circumstances, is the last
+thing he has now to apprehend." Gerald sank his head upon
+his chest, and sighed bitterly.
+
+"Well," said Jackson, "all this is queer enough; but what
+were you doing standing over the man just now with that
+knife, if it was not to harm him? And as for your
+countenance, it scowled so savage and passionate, I was
+almost afraid to look at it myself."
+
+"My motive for the action I must beg you to excuse my
+entering upon," replied Gerald. "Of this, however, be
+assured, Captain Jackson, that I had no intention to
+injure yon sleeping villain. On the word of an officer
+and a gentleman, and by the kindness you have shown me
+on all occasions since our journey commenced, do I solemnly
+assure you this is the fact."
+
+"And on the word of an officer, and a true Tennessee man,
+bred and born, I am bound to believe you," returned the
+American, much affected. "A man that could fight so
+wickedly in the field would never find heart, I reckon,
+to stick an enemy in the dark. No, Liftenant Grantham,
+you were not born to be an assassin. And now let's be
+starting--the day has already broke."
+
+"And yet," returned Gerald, with a smile of bitter
+melancholy, as they hurried towards the spot where they
+had left their horses, "if any man ever had reason to
+act so as to merit the imputation of being such, I have.
+In that savage woodsman, Captain Jackson, you have beheld
+the murderer--the self acknowledged murderer of my father."
+
+"God bless my soul!" cried Jackson, dropping the saddle
+which he carried, and standing still with very amazement.
+"A pretty fix I've got into, to be sure. Here's one man
+accuses another of murdering his son, and t'other, by
+way of quits, accuses him, in his turn, of murdering his
+father. Why, which am I to believe?"
+
+"Which you please, Captain Jackson," said the sailor
+coolly, yet painedly; and he moved forward in pursuit of
+his horse.
+
+"Nay, Liftenant Grantham," said the Aid-de-Camp, who had
+again resumed his burden, and was speedily at the side
+of his companion, "don't be offended. I've no doubt the
+thing's as you say, but you must make allowance for my
+ideas, never too much of the brightest, being conglomerated,
+after a fashion, by what I have seen and heard, since we
+let loose our horses last night upon this prairie."
+
+"I am not offended, only hurt," replied Gerald, shaking
+the hand that was cordially tendered to him; "hurt that
+you should doubt my word, or attach any thing to the
+assertion of that man beyond the mere ravings of a savage
+and diseased spirit. Justice to myself demands that I
+should explain every thing in detail."
+
+"Now that's what I call all right and proper," returned
+the Aid-de-Camp, "and should be done both for your sake
+and mine; but we will leave it till we get once more upon
+the road and in sight of a tavern, for its dry work
+talking and listening without even so much as a gum
+tickler of the Wabash to moisten one's clay."
+
+They found their horses not far from the spot where they
+had been left on the preceding night, and these being
+speedily untethered and saddled, the travellers again
+pursued their route towards the capital of the State in
+which they found themselves. As they passed the hut,
+which had been the scene of so much excitement to both,
+the voice of Desborough whom they had left fast asleep,
+was heard venting curses and imprecations upon them both,
+for having left him there to starve, bound and incapable
+of aiding himself. Wretch as the settler was, Gerald
+could not reconcile to himself the thought of his being
+left to perish thus miserably, and he entreated the
+Aid-de-Camp to enter and divide the cords. But Jackson
+declared this to be impolitic, urging as a powerful reason
+for declining, the probability of his having fire arms
+in the hut, with which (if released,) he might follow
+and overtake them in their route, and sacrifice one or
+the other to his vengeance--an object which it would be
+easy to accomplish without his ever being detected.
+However, that the villain might have sustenance until
+some chance traveller should come later to his assistance,
+or he could manage to get rid of his bonds himself (which
+he might do in time) he consented to place within his
+reach all the dried meat that had been left of his Indian
+foes, together with a pail of water--the latter by way
+of punishment for having swilled away at his Wabash in
+the ungracious manner he had.
+
+While Jackson was busied in this office of questionable
+charity, the rage and disappointment of the settler
+surpassed what it had hitherto been. Each vein of his
+dark brow rose distinctly and swelling from its surface,
+and he kicked and stamped with a fury that proclaimed
+the bitter tempest raging in his soul. When the Aid-de-Camp
+had again mounted, his shrieks and execrations became
+piercing, and for many minutes after they had entered
+into the heart of the forest in which the hut was situated,
+the shrill sounds continued to ring upon their ears in
+accents so fearful, that each felt a sensible relief when
+they were heard no more.
+
+On the evening of the third day after this event, Jackson
+and our hero, between whom a long explanation on the
+subject of the settler had taken place, alighted at the
+door of the principal inn in Frankfort, the capital of
+Kentucky, which was their ultimate destination. To mine
+host Gerald was introduced by his escort with the formality
+usual on such occasions in America, and with the earnest
+recommendation to that most respectable personage that,
+as his own friend, as well as that of Colonel Forrester,
+every indulgence should be shown to the prisoner, that
+was not inconsistent with his position.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Few situations in life are less enviable than that of
+the isolated prisoner of war. Far from the home of his
+affections, and compelled by the absence of all other
+companionship, to mix with those who, in manners, feelings,
+and national characteristics, form, as it were, a race
+apart from himself, his recollections, already sufficiently
+embittered by the depressing sense of captivity, are
+hourly awakened by some rude contrast wounding to his
+sensibilities, and even though no source of graver
+irritation should exist, a thousand petty annoyances,
+incident to the position, are magnified by chagrin from
+mole-hills into mountains. Such, however, would be the
+effect produced on one only, who, thrown by the accident
+of war into the situation of a captive, should have no
+grief more profound, no sorrow deeper seated than what
+arose from the being severed from old, and associated
+with new and undesired ties; one to whom life was full
+of the fairest buds of promise, and whose impatience of
+the present was only a burning desire to enter upon the
+future. Not so with Gerald Grantham. Time, place,
+circumstance, condition, were alike the same--alike
+indifferent to him. In the recollections of the scenes
+he had so lately quitted, and in which his fairer and
+unruffled boyhood had been passed, he took no pleasure,
+while the future was so enshrouded in gloom that he shrank
+from its very contemplation. So far from trying to wring
+consolation from circumstances, his object was to stupify
+recollection to the uttermost. He would fain have shut
+out both the past and the future, contenting himself as
+he might with the present, but the thing was impossible.
+The worm had eaten into his heart, and its gnawings were
+too painful, not poignantly to remind him of the manner
+in which it had been engendered.
+
+Upwards of a fortnight had elapsed since his arrival,
+and yet, although Captain Jackson, prior to his return
+to Sandusky, had personally introduced him to many highly
+respectable families in Frankfort, he uniformly abstained
+from cultivating their acquaintance, until at length he
+was, naturally enough, pronounced to be a most disagreeable
+specimen of a British officer. Even with the inmates of
+the hotel, many of whom were officers of his own age,
+and with whom he constantly sat down to the ordinary, he
+avoided every thing approaching to intimacy--satisfying
+himself merely with discharging his share of the commonest
+courtesies of life. They thought it pride--it was but an
+effect--an irremediable effect of the utter sinking of
+his sad and broken spirit. The only distraction in which
+he eventually took pleasure, or sought to indulge, was
+rambling through the wild passes of the chain of wooded
+hills, which almost encircles the Kentuckian capital,
+and extends for a considerable distance in a westerly
+direction. The dense gloom of these narrow vallies he
+had remarked on his entrance by the same route, and
+feeling them more in unison with his sick mind than the
+hum and bustle of a city, which offered nothing in common
+with his sympathies, he now frequently passed a great
+portion of the day in threading their mazes--returning
+however, at a certain hour to his hotel, conformably with
+the terms of his parole.
+
+On one occasion, tempted by the mellow beauty of the
+season (it was now the beginning of October) he had
+strayed so far, and through passes so unknown to him,
+that when the fast advancing evening warned him of the
+necessity of returning, he found he had utterly lost his
+way. Abstracted as he usually was, he had yet reflection
+enough to understand that his parole of honor required
+he should be at his hotel at an hour, which it would put
+his speed to the proof to accomplish. Despairing of
+finding his way by the circuitous route he had originally
+taken, and the proper clue to which he had moreover lost,
+he determined, familiar as he was with the general bearings
+of the capital, to effect his return in a direct line
+across the chain of hills already alluded to. The deepening
+shadows of the wild scene, as he proposed to ascend that
+immediately before him, told that the sun had sunk beneath
+the horizon, and when he gained its summit, the last
+faint corruscations of light were passing rapidly away
+in the west. Still, by the indistinct twilight he could
+perceive that at his feet lay a small valley, completely
+hemmed in by the circular ridge on which he stood. This
+traversed, it was but to ascend the opposite section of
+the ridge, and his destination would be gained. Unlike
+the narrow rocky passes, which divided the hills in every
+other direction, in which he had previously wandered,
+this valley was covered with a luxuriant verdure, and
+upon this the feet of Gerald moved inaudibly even to
+himself. As he advanced more into the centre of the little
+plain, he thought he could perceive, at its extremity on
+the right, the dark outline of a building--apparently a
+dwelling house--and while he yet hesitated, whether he
+should approach it and inquire his most direct way to
+the town, a light suddenly appeared at that point of the
+valley for which he was already making. A few minutes
+sufficed to bring him to the spot whence the light had
+issued. It was a small circular building, possibly intended
+for a summer-house, but more resembling a temple in its
+construction, and so closely bordering upon the forest
+ridge, by a portion of the foliage by which it had
+previously been concealed, as to be almost confounded
+with it. It was furnished with a single window, the same
+through which the light now issued, and this narrow,
+elongated, and studded with iron bars, was so placed as
+to prevent one even taller than our hero from gazing into
+the interior, without the aid of some elevation. But
+Gerald, independently of his anxiety to reach the town
+in time to prevent comment upon his absence, had no desire
+to occupy himself with subjects foreign to his object.
+Curiosity was a feeling dead within his bosom, and he
+was preparing, without once staying his course, to ascend
+the ridge at the side of the temple, when he fancied he
+heard a suppressed groan, as of one suffering from intense
+agony--Not the groan, but the peculiar tone in which it
+was uttered, arrested his attention, and excited a vague
+yet stirring interest in his breast. On approaching closer
+to the temple, he found that at its immediate basement
+the earth had been thrown up into a sort of mound, which
+so elevated the footing as to admit of his reaching the
+bars of the window with his hands. Active as we have
+elsewhere shown him to be, he was not long in obtaining
+a full view of the interior, when a scene met his eye
+which rivetted him, as well it might, in utter astonishment.
+Upon the rude uncarpeted floor knelt a female, who, with
+clasped and uplifted hands, had her eyes fixed upon a
+portrait that hung suspended from the opposite wall--her
+figure, clad in a loose robe of black, developing by its
+attitude a contour of such rich and symmetrical proportion
+as might be difficult for the imagination to embody.
+And who was the being upon whom his each excited sense
+now lingered with an admiration little short of idolatry?
+One whom, a moment before, he believed to be still far
+distant, whom he had only a few months previously fled
+from, as from a pestilence, and whom he had solemnly
+sworn never to behold again, yet whom he continued to
+love with a passion that defied every effort of his
+judgment to subdue, making his life a wilderness--Matilda
+Montgomerie--And if her beauty had THEN had such surpassing
+influence over his soul, what was not its effect when he
+beheld her NOW, every grace of womanhood exhibited in a
+manner to excite admiration the most intense!
+
+It would he vain to describe all that passed through the
+mind of Gerald Grantham, while he thus gazed upon her
+whose beauty was the rock on which his happiness had been
+wrecked. His first impulse had been to fly, but the
+fascination which rivetted him to the window deprived
+him of all power until eventually, of all the host of
+feelings that had crowded tumultuously upon his heart,
+passion alone remained triumphant. Unable longer to
+control his impatience, he was on the point of quitting
+his station, for the purpose of knocking and obtaining
+admission by a door which he saw opposite to him, when
+a sudden change in the attitude of Matilda arrested the
+movement.
+
+She had risen, and with her long and dark hair floating
+over her white shoulders, now advanced towards the
+portrait, on which her gaze had hitherto been so repeatedly
+turned. This was so placed that Gerald had not previously
+an opportunity of remarking more than the indistinct
+outline, which proved it to represent a human figure;
+but as she for a moment raised the light with one hand,
+while with the other she covered it with a veil which
+had been drawn aside, he distinctly saw that it was the
+portrait of an officer dressed in the American uniform;
+and it even occurred to him that he had before seen the
+face, although, in his then excited state he could not
+recollect where. Even had he been inclined to tax his
+memory, the effort would have been impracticable, for
+another direction was now given to his interest.
+
+On the left, and close under the window, stood a rude
+sofa and ruder table, the only pieces of furniture which
+Gerald could observe within the temple. Upon the former
+Matilda now reclined herself, and placing the candle upon
+the table at her side, proceeded to unfold and peruse a
+letter which she had previously taken from her pocket
+book. The same unconsciousness of observation inducing
+the same unstudiedness of action, the whole disposition
+of the form bore a character of voluptuousness, which
+the presumed isolation of her who thus exhibited herself,
+a model of living grace, alone could justify. But although
+the form was full of the eloquence of passion, one had
+but to turn to the pale and severe face, to find there
+was no corresponding expression in the heart. As
+heretofore, the brow of the American wore a cast of
+thought--only deeper, more decided--and even while her
+dark eyes flashed fire, as if in disappointment and anger
+at sundry passages in the letter over which she lingered,
+not once did the slightest color tinge her cheek, or the
+gloom dissipate itself from that cold brow. Emotion she
+felt, for this her heaving bosom and occasionally compressed
+lip betokened. Yet never was contrast more marked than
+that between the person and the face of Matilda Montgomerie,
+as Gerald Grantham then beheld her.
+
+On one who had seen her thus for the first time, the
+cold, calm countenance of the singular girl, would have
+acted as a chastener to the emotions called up by the
+glowing expression of her faultless form, but although
+there was now a character of severity on her features,
+which must have checked and chilled the ardent admiration
+produced by that form on a mere stranger, Gerald but too
+well remembered occasions when the harmony of both had
+been complete, and when the countenance, rich in all
+those fascinations, which, even in her hours of utmost
+collectedness, never ceased to attach to the person, had
+beamed upon him in a manner to stir his very soul into
+madness. There were other and later recollections too,
+that forced themselves upon his memory; but these, even
+though they recalled scenes in which the voluptuous beauty
+of Matilda shone paramount, were as blots upon the fair
+picture of the past, and he fain would have banished them
+from his mind for ever.
+
+The letter on which the American was now engaged, Grantham
+had recognized, from its fold and seal, to be one he had
+written prior to parting with her, as he had supposed,
+for ever. While he was yet dwelling on this singularity,
+Matilda threw the letter upon the table at her side, and
+leaning her head upon her hand, seemed as if musing deeply
+upon its contents. The contraction of her brow became
+deeper, and there was a convulsed pressure of her lips
+as of one forming some determination, requiring at once
+strong moral and physical energy to accomplish. A cold
+shudder crept through the reins of Gerald, for too well
+did he fancy he could divine what was passing in the soul
+of that strange yet fascinating woman. For a moment a
+feeling of almost loathing came over his heart, but when,
+in the next moment, he saw her rise from the sofa,
+revealing the most inimitable grace, he burned with
+impatience to throw himself reckless of consequences at
+her feet, and to confess his idolatry.
+
+After pacing to and fro for some moments, her dark and
+kindling eye alone betraying the excitement which her
+colorless cheek denied, Matilda again took up the light,
+and having once more approached the portrait, was in the
+act of raising the veil, when a slight noise made by
+Gerald, who in his anxiety to obtain a better view of
+her, had made a change in his position, arrested her ear;
+and she turned and fixed her eye upon the window, not
+with the disturbed manner of a person who fears observation,
+but with the threatening air of one who would punish an
+intrusion.
+
+Holding the light above her head, she advanced firmly
+across the room, and stopping beneath the window, fixed
+her eye steadily and unshrinkingly upon it. The mind of
+Gerald had become a chaos of conflicting and opposing
+feelings. Only an instant before and he would have
+coveted recognition, now his anxiety was to avoid it;
+but cramped in his attitude, and clinging as he was
+compelled, with his face close to the bars, his only
+means of doing so was by quitting his position altogether.
+He therefore loosened his hold, and dropped himself on
+the mound of earth from which he had contrived to ascend,
+but not so noiselessly, in the unbroken stillness of the
+night, as to escape the keen ear of the American. In
+the next moment Gerald heard a door open, and a well
+known voice demand, in tones which betrayed neither alarm
+nor indecision.
+
+"Who is there?"
+
+The question was repeated in echo from the surrounding
+woods, and then died away in distance.
+
+"Who of my people," again demanded Matilda, "has dared
+to follow me here in defiance of my orders?"
+
+Another echo of indistinct sounds, and all again was
+still.
+
+"Whoever you are, speak," resumed the courageous girl.
+"Nay," she pursued more decidedly, as having moved a pace
+or two from the door, she observed a human form standing
+motionless beneath the window. "Think not to escape me.
+Come hither slave that I may know you. This curiosity
+shall cost you dear."
+
+The blood of Gerald insensibly chilled at the harsh tone
+in which these words were uttered, and had he followed
+a first impulse he would at once have retired from the
+influence of a command, which under all the circumstances,
+occurred to him as being of prophetic import. But he had
+gazed on the witching beauty of the syren, until judgment
+and reason had yielded the rein to passion, and filled
+with an ungovernable desire to behold and touch that form
+once more--even although he should the next moment tear
+himself from it for ever--he approached and stood at the
+entrance of the temple, the threshold of which Matilda
+had again ascended.
+
+No exclamation of surprise escaped the lips of the ever-
+collected American; and yet, for the first time that
+night, her cheek was suffused with a deep glow, the effect
+of which was to give to her whole style of beauty a
+character of radiancy.
+
+"Gerald Grantham!"
+
+"Yes, Matilda," exclaimed the youth, madly heedless of
+the past, while he rivetted his gaze upon her dazzling
+loveliness with such strong excitement of expression as
+to cause her own to sink beneath it, "your own Gerald--
+your slave kneels before you," and he threw himself at
+her feet.
+
+"And what punishment does not that slave merit?" she
+asked, in a tone so different from that in which she had
+addressed her supposed domestic, that Gerald could scarcely
+believe it to be the same. "What reparation can he make
+for having caused so much misery to one who loved and
+cherished him so well. Oh! Gerald, what days, what nights
+of misery, have I not passed since you so unkindly left
+me." As she uttered the last sentence, she bent herself
+over the still kneeling form of her lover, while her long
+dark hair, falling forward, completely enveloped him in
+its luxuriant and waving folds.
+
+"You will be mine, Matilda," at length murmured the youth,
+as he sat at her side on the sofa, to which on rising he
+had conducted her.
+
+"Yours, only yours," returned the American, while she
+bent her face upon his shoulder. "But you know the terms
+of our union."
+
+Had a viper stung him, Gerald could not have recoiled
+with more dismay and horror from her embrace. Again the
+features of Matilda became colorless, and her brow assumed
+an expression of care and severity.
+
+"Then, if not to fulfil that compact, wherefore are you
+here?" and the question was put half querulously, half
+contemptuously.
+
+"Chance, Destiny, Fate,--call it what you will," cried
+Gerald, obeying the stronger impulse of his feelings,
+and clasping her once more to his beating heart. "Oh!
+Matilda, if you knew how the idea of that fearful condition
+has haunted me in my thoughts by day, and my dreams by
+night, you would only wonder that at this moment I retain
+my senses, filled as my soul is with maddening--with
+inextinguishable love for you."
+
+"And do you really entertain for me that deep, that
+excessive passion you have just expressed," at length
+observed Matilda, after some moments of silence, and with
+renewed tenderness of voice and manner, "and yet refuse
+the means by which you may secure me to you for ever?"
+
+"Matilda," said Gerald, with vehemence, "my passion for
+you is one which no effort of my reason can control; but
+let me not deceive you--it is NOW one of the senses."
+
+An expression of triumph, not wholly unmingled with scorn,
+animated the features of Matilda. It was succeeded by one
+of ineffable tenderness.
+
+"We will talk of this no more tonight, Gerald, but tomorrow
+evening, at the same hour, be here: then our mutual hopes,
+and fears, and doubts shall be then realized or
+disappointed, as the event may show. Tomorrow will
+determine if, as I cannot but believe, Destiny has sent
+you to me at this important hour. It is very singular,"
+she added, as if to herself, her features again becoming
+deadly pale--"very singular, indeed!"
+
+"What is singular, Matilda?" asked Gerald.
+
+"You shall know all tomorrow," she replied; "but mind,"
+and her dark eye rested on his with an expression of much
+tenderness, "that you come prepared to yield me all I ask."
+
+Gerald promised that he would, and Matilda, expressing
+a desire to hear what had so unexpectedly restored him
+to her presence, he entered into a detail of all that
+had befallen him from the moment of their separation.
+She appeared to be much touched by the relation, and, in
+return, gave him a history of what she too had felt and
+suffered. She, moreover, informed him that Major Montgomerie
+had died of his wound shortly after their parting, and
+that she had now been nearly two months returned to her
+uncle's estate at Frankfort, where she lived wholly
+secluded from society, and with a domestic establishment
+consisting of slaves. These short explanations having
+been entered into, they parted--Matilda to enter her
+dwelling, (the same Gerald had remarked in outline,) in
+which numerous lights were now visible, and her lover to
+make the best of his way to the town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Morning dawned, and yet no sleep had visited the eyes of
+Gerald Grantham. The image of Matilda floated in his
+mind, and, to the recollection of her beauty, he clung
+with an aching eagerness of delight that attested the
+extent of its influence over his imagination. Had there
+been nothing to tarnish that glorious picture of womanly
+perfection, the feelings it called up would have been
+too exquisite for endurance; but alas! with the faultless
+image, came also recollections, against which it required
+all the force of that beauty to maintain itself. One
+ineffaceable spot was upon the soul of that fascinating
+being; and though, like the spots on the sun's disk, it
+was hidden in the effulgence which surrounded it, still
+he could not conceal from himself that it DID exist, to
+deface the symmetry of the whole. It was his knowledge
+of that fearful blemish that had driven him to seek in
+drunkenness, and subsequently in death, a release from
+the agonizing tortures of his mind. Virtue and a high
+sense of honor had triumphed so far, as not merely to
+leave his own soul spotless, but to enable him to fly
+from her who would have polluted it with crime; yet,
+although respect and love--the pure sentiments by which
+he had originally been influenced--had passed away, the
+hour of their departure had been that of the increased
+domination of passion, and far from her whose beauty was
+ever present to his mind, his imagination had drawn and
+lingered on such pictures, that assured as he was they
+could never be realized, he finally resolved to court
+death wherever it might present itself.
+
+Restored thus unexpectedly to the presence of her who
+had been the unceasing subject of his thoughts, and under
+circumstances so well calculated to inflame his imagination,
+it cannot appear wonderful that Gerald should have looked
+forward to his approaching interview with emotions of
+the intensest kind. How fated, too, seemed the reunion.
+He had quitted Matilda with the firm determination never
+to behold her more, yet, by the very act of courting that
+death which would fully have accomplished his purpose,
+he had placed himself in the position he most wished to
+avoid. Presuming that Major Montgomerie, who had never
+alluded to Frankfort as his home, was still with his
+niece a resident in the distant State in which he had
+left them--he had gladly heard Colonel Forrester name
+the Kentucky capital as the place of his destination;
+for, deep and maddening as was his passion for Matilda,
+no earthly considerations could have induced him voluntarily
+to have sought her. Even since his arrival in Frankfort,
+it had been a source of consolation to him to feel that
+he was far removed from her who could have made him forget
+that, although the heart may wither and die, while
+self-esteem and an approving conscience remain to us,
+the soul shares not in the same decay--confesses not the
+same sting. Could he even have divined that in the temple
+to which his curiosity had led him, he should have beheld
+the being on whose image he doted, even while he shunned
+it, he would have avoided her as a pestilence.
+
+The result of this terrible struggle of his feelings was
+a determination to see her once more--to yield up his
+whole soul to the intoxication of her presence, and then,
+provided she should still refuse to unite her fate to
+his, unhampered by the terrible condition of past days,
+to tear himself from her for ever.
+
+Strong in this resolution, Gerald, to whom the hours bad
+appeared as days since his rising, and who quitted
+Frankfort about his usual time, and, in order to avoid
+observation, took the same retired and circuitous route
+by which he had reached the valley the preceding evening.
+As he descended into the plain, the light from the window
+of the temple was again perceptible--In a few minutes he
+was in the room.
+
+"Gerald--my own Gerald," exclaimed Matilda, as carefully
+closing the door after her lover, she threw herself into
+his embrace. Alas, weak man! Like the baseless fabric of
+a dream, disappeared all the lately formed resolutions
+of the youth.
+
+"Yes! Matilda, your own Gerald. Come what will henceforth,
+I am yours."
+
+A pause of some moments ensued, during which each felt
+the beating of the other's heart.
+
+"Will you swear it, Gerald?" at length whispered Matilda.
+
+"I will--I do swear it."
+
+There was a sudden kindling of the dark eye of the
+American, and an outswelling of the full bust, that seemed
+to betoken exultation in the power of her beauty; but
+this was quickly repressed, and sinking on the sofa at
+the side of her lover, her whole countenance was radiant
+with the extraordinary expression Gerald had, for the
+first time, witnessed while she lingered on the arm of
+his uncle, Colonel D'Egville.
+
+"Gerald," she said tenderly, "confirm the oath which is
+to unite us heart and soul, in one eternal Destiny. Swear
+upon this sacred volume, that your hand shall avenge the
+wrongs of your Matilda--of your wife. Ha! your wife,
+think of that," she added with sudden energy.
+
+Gerald caught the book eagerly to his lips. "I swear it,
+Matilda--he shall die."
+
+But scarcely had he sworn, when a creeping chill passed
+through his frame. His features lost all their animation,
+and throwing away the book on which the impious oath had
+been taken, he turned away his face from Matilda, and
+sinking his head upon his chest, groaned and wept bitterly.
+
+"What! already Gerald, do you repent? Nay, tell me not
+that one thus infirm of purpose, can be strong of passion.
+You love me not, else would the wrongs of her you love
+arm you with the fiercest spirit of vengeance against
+him who has so deeply injured her. But, if you repent,
+it is but to absolve you from your oath, and then the
+deed must be my own."
+
+The American spoke in tones in which reproach,
+expostulation, and wounded affection, were artfully and
+touchingly blended, and as she concluded, she too dropped
+her head upon her chest and sighed.
+
+"Nay, Matilda, you do me wrong. It is one thing to swerve
+from the guilty purpose to which your too seductive beauty
+has won my soul, another to mourn as man should mourn,
+the hour when virtue, honor, religion, all the nobler
+principles in which my youth has been nurtured, have
+proved too weak to stem the tide of guilty passion. You
+say I love you not!" and he laughed bitterly. "What
+greater proof would you require than the oath I have just
+taken?"
+
+"It's fulfilment," said Matilda, impressively.
+
+"It shall be fulfilled," he returned quickly, "but at
+least deny me not the privilege of cursing the hour when
+crime of so atrocious a dye could be made so familiar to
+my soul."
+
+"Crime is a word too indiscriminately bestowed," said
+Matilda, after a momentary pause. "What the weak in mind
+class with crime, the strong term virtue."
+
+"Virtue! what, to spill the blood of a man who has never
+injured me; to become a hired assassin, the price of
+whose guilt is the hand of her who instigates to the
+deed? If this be virtue, I am indeed virtuous."
+
+"Never injured you!" returned the American, while she
+bent her dark eyes reproachfully upon those of the unhappy
+Gerald. "Has he not injured ME; injured beyond all power
+of reparation, her who is to be the partner of your life?"
+
+"Nay, Matilda," and Gerald again passionately caught and
+enfolded her to his heart, "that image alone were sufficient
+to mould me to your will, even although I had not before
+resolved. And yet," he pursued, after a, short pause,
+"how base, how terrible to slay an unsuspecting enemy.
+Would we could meet in single combat--and why not? Yes
+it can--it shall be so. Fool that I was not to think, of
+it before. Matilda, my own love, rejoice with me, for
+there is a means by which your honor may be avenged, and
+my own soul unstained by guilt. I wilt seek this man,
+and fasten a quarrel upon him. What say you, Matilda--
+speak to me, tell me that you consent." Gerald gasped
+with agony.
+
+"Never, Gerald," she returned, with startling
+impressiveness, while the color, which during the warm
+embrace of her lover had returned to it once more, fled
+from her cheek. "To challenge him would be but to ensure
+your own doom, for few in the army of the United States
+equal him in the use of the pistol or the small sword;
+and, even were it otherwise," she concluded, her eye
+kindling into a fierce expression, "were he the veriest
+novice in the exercise of both, my vengeance would be
+incomplete, did he not go down to his grave with all his
+sins on his head. No, no, Gerald, in the fulness of the
+pride of existence must he perish. He must not dream of
+death until he feels the blow that is aimed at his heart."
+
+The agitation of Matilda was profound beyond any thing
+she had ever yet exhibited. Her words were uttered in
+tones that betrayed a fixed and unbroken purpose of the
+soul, and when she had finished, she threw her face upon
+the bosom of her lover, and ground her teeth together
+with a force that showed the effect produced upon her
+imagination, by the very picture of the death she had
+drawn.
+
+A pause of some moments ensued. Gerald was visibly
+disconcerted, and the arm which encircled the waist of
+the revengeful woman dropped, as if in disappointment,
+at his side.
+
+"How strange and inconsistent are the prejudices of man,"
+resumed Matilda, half mournfully, half in sarcasm; "here
+is a warrior--a spiller of human life by profession; his
+sword has been often dyed in the heart blood of his fellow
+man, and set he shudders at the thought of adding one
+murder more to the many already committed. What child-like
+weakness!"
+
+"Murder! Matilda; call you it murder to overcome the
+enemies of one's country in fair and honorable combat,
+and in the field of glory?"
+
+"Call YOU it what you will--disguise it under whatever
+cloak you may--it is no less murder. Nay, the worst of
+murders, for you but do the duty of the hireling slayer.
+In cold blood, and for a stipend, do you put an end to
+the fair existence of him who never injured you in thought
+or deed, and whom, under other circumstances, you would
+perhaps have taken to your heart in friendship."
+
+"This is true, but the difference of the motive, Matilda?
+The one approved of heaven and of man, the other alike
+condemned of both."
+
+"Approved of man, if you will; but that they have the
+sanction of heaven, I deny. Worldly policy and social
+interests alone have drawn the distinction, making the
+one a crime, the other a virtue; but tell me not that an
+all wise and just God sanctions or approves the slaying
+of his creatures because they perish, not singly at the
+will of one men, but in thousands and tens of thousands
+at the will of another. What is there more sacred in the
+brawls of Kings and Potentates, that the blood they cause
+to be shed in torrents for some paltry breach of etiquette,
+should sit more lightly on their souls than the few
+solitary drops, spilt by the hand of revenge, on that of
+him whose existence is writhing under a sense of acutest
+injury?"
+
+The energy with which she expressed herself, communicated
+a corresponding excitement to the whole manner and person
+of Matilda. Her eye sparkled and dilated, and the visible
+heaving of her bosom told how strongly her own feelings
+entered into the principles she had advocated. Never
+did her personal beauty shine forth more triumphantly or
+seducingly than at the moment when her lips were giving
+utterance to sentiments from which the heart recoiled.
+
+"Oh Matilda," sighed Gerald, "with what subtlety of
+argument do you seek to familiarize my soul with crime.
+But the attempt is vain. Although my hand is pledged to
+do your will, my heart must ever mourn its guilt."
+
+"Foolish Gerald," said Matilda; "why should that seem
+guilt to you, a man, which to me, a woman, is but justice;
+but that unlike me you have never entered into the calm
+consideration of the subject. Yes," she pursued with
+greater energy, "what you call subtlety of argument is
+but force of conviction. For two long years have I dwelt
+upon the deed, reasoning, and comparing, until at length
+each latent prejudice has been expelled, and to avenge
+my harrowing wrongs appeared a duty as distinctly marked
+as any one contained in the decalogue. You saw me once,
+Gerald, when my hand shrank not from what you term the
+assassin's blow, and had you not interfered then, the
+deed would not now remain to be accomplished."
+
+"Oh, why did I interfere? why did my evil Genius conduct
+me to such a scene. Then had I lived at least in ignorance
+of the fearful act."
+
+"Nay, Gerald, let it rather be matter of exultation with
+you that you did. Prejudiced as you are, this hand (and
+she extended an arm so exquisitely formed that one would
+scarce even have submitted it to the winds of Heaven)
+might not seem half so fair, had it once been dyed in
+human blood. Besides who so proper to avenge a woman's
+wrongs upon her destroyer, as the lover and the husband
+to whom she has plighted her faith for ever? No, no, it
+is much better as it is; and fate seems to have decreed
+that it should be so, else why the interruption by yourself
+on that memorable occasion, and why, after all your pains
+to avoid me, this our final union, at a moment when the
+wretch is about to return to his native home, inflated
+with pride and little dreaming of the fate that awaits
+him--Surely, Gerald, you will admit there is something
+more than mere chance in this?"
+
+"About to return," repeated Grantham shuddering. "When,
+Matilda?"
+
+"Within a week at the latest--perhaps within three days.
+Some unimportant advantage which he has gained on the
+frontier, has been magnified by his generous fellow
+citizens into a deed of heroism, and, from information
+conveyed to me, by a trusty and confidential servant, I
+find he has obtained leave of absence, to attend a public
+entertainment to be given in Frankfort, on which occasion
+a magnificent sword, is to be presented to him. Never,
+Gerald," continued Matilda her voice dropping into a
+whisper, while a ghastly smile passed over and convulsed
+her lips, "never shall he live to draw that sword. The
+night of his triumph is that which I have fixed for mine."
+
+"An unimportant advantage upon the frontier," asked Gerald
+eagerly and breathlessly. "To what frontier, Matilda, do
+you allude?"
+
+"The Niagara," was the reply.
+
+"Are you quite sure of this?"
+
+"So sure that I have long known he was there," returned
+Matilda.
+
+Gerald breathed more freely--but again he questioned:
+
+"Matilda, when first I saw you last night, you were gazing
+intently upon yon portrait, (he pointed to that part of
+the temple where the picture hung suspended.) and it
+struck me that I had an indistinct recollection of the
+features."
+
+"Nothing more probable," returned the American,
+answering his searching look with one of equal firmness. You
+cannot altogether have forgotten Major Montgomerie."
+
+"Nay, the face struck me not as his. May I look at it?"
+
+"Assuredly. Satisfy yourself."
+
+Gerald quitted the sofa, took up the light, and traversing
+the room raised the gauze curtain that covered the painting.
+It was indeed the portrait of the deceased Major, habited
+in full uniform.
+
+"How strange," he mused, "that so vague an impression
+should have been conveyed to my mind last night, when
+now I recal without difficulty those well remembered
+features." Gerald sighed as he recollected under what
+different circumstances he had first beheld that face,
+and dropping the curtain once more, crossed the room and
+flung himself at the side of Matilda.
+
+"For whom did you take it, if not for Major Montgomerie?"
+asked the American after a pause, and again her full dark
+eye was bent on his.
+
+"Nay I scarcely know myself, yet I had thought it had
+been the portrait of him I have sworn to destroy."
+
+There was a sudden change of expression in the countenance
+of Matilda, but it speedily passed away, and she said with
+a faint smile.
+
+"Whether is it more natural to find pleasure in gazing
+on the features of those who have loved, or those who
+have injured us!"
+
+"Then whose was the miniature on which you so intently
+gazed, on that eventful night at Detroit?" asked Gerald.
+
+"That," said Matilda quickly, and paling as she spoke--
+"that was HIS--I gazed on it only the more strongly to
+detest the original--to confirm the determination I had
+formed to destroy him."
+
+"If THEN," returned the youth, "why not NOW--may I not
+see that portrait Matilda? May I not acquire some knowledge
+of the unhappy man whose blood will so shortly stain my
+soul?"
+
+"Impossible," she replied. "The miniature I have since
+destroyed. While I thought the original within reach of
+my revenge, I could bear to gaze upon it, but no sooner
+had I been disappointed in my aim, than it became loathsome
+to me as the sight of some venemous reptile, and I
+destroyed it." This was said with undisguised bitterness.
+
+Gerald sighed deeply. Again he encircled the waist of
+his companion, and one of her fair, soft, velvet hands
+was pressed in his.
+
+"Matilda," he observed, "deep indeed must be the wrong
+that could prompt the heart of woman to so terrible a
+hatred. When we last parted you gave me but an indistinct
+and general outline of the injury you had sustained. Tell
+me now all--tell me every thing," he continued with
+energy, "that can infuse a portion of the hatred which
+fills your soul into mine, that my hand may be firmer--
+my heart more hardened to the deed.
+
+"The story of my wrongs must be told in a few words, for
+I cannot bear to linger on them," commenced the American,
+again turning deadly pale, while her quivering lips and
+trembling voice betrayed the excitement of her feelings.
+The monster was the choice of my heart--judge how much
+so when I tell you that, confiding in HIS honor, and in
+the assurance that our union would take place immediately,
+surrendered to him MINE. A constant visitor at Major
+Montgomerie's, whose brother officer he was, we had ample
+opportunities of being together. We were looked upon in
+society as affianced lovers, and in fact it was the
+warmest wish of Major Montgomerie that we should be
+united. A day had even been fixed for the purpose, and
+it wanted, but eight and forty hours of the time, when
+an occurrence took place which blasted all prospect of
+our union for ever.
+
+"I have already told you, I think," resumed Matilda,
+"that this little temple had been exclusively erected
+for my own use. Here however my false lover had constant
+ingress, and being furnished with a key, was in the habit
+of introducing himself at hours when, having taken leave
+of the family for the evening, he was supposed by Major
+Montgomerie and the servants to have retired to his own
+home. On the occasion to which I have just alluded, I
+had understood from him some business, connected with
+our approaching marriage, would detain him in the town
+to an hour too advanced to admit of his paying me his
+usual visit. Judge my surprise, and indeed my
+consternation, when at a late hour of the night I heard
+the lock of the door (from which I had removed my own
+key) turn, and my lover appear at the entrance."
+
+There was a short pause, and Matilda again proceeded.
+
+"Scarcely had he shown himself when he had again vanished,
+closing the door with startling violence. I sprang from
+the sofa and flew forth after him, but in vain. He had
+already departed, and with a heart sinking under an
+insurmountable dread of coming evil, I once more entered
+the temple, and throwing myself upon the sofa, gave vent
+to my feelings in an agony of tears."
+
+"But why his departure, and whence your consternation?"
+asked Gerald, whose curiosity had been deeply excited.
+
+"I was not alone," resumed Matilda, in a deep and solemn
+voice. "When he entered I was hanging on the neck of
+another."
+
+Gerald gave a half start of dismay, his arm dropped from
+the waist of the American, and he breathed heavily and
+quickly.
+
+Matilda remarked the movement, and a sickly and half
+scornful smile passed over her pale features. "Before we
+last parted, Gerald, I told you, not only that I was in
+no way connected with Major Montgomerie by blood, but
+that I was the child of obscure parents."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"The man on whose neck I hung was my own father."
+
+"It was Desborough!" said the youth, with an air and in
+a voice of extreme anguish.
+
+"It was," returned Matilda, her face crimsoning as she
+reluctantly acknowledged the parentage. "But how knew
+you it?"
+
+"Behold the proof," exclaimed Gerald, with uncontrollable
+bitterness, as he drew from his bosom the portrait of a
+child which, from its striking resemblance, could be
+taken for no other than her to whom he now presented it.
+
+"This is indeed mine," said Matilda, mournfully. "It was
+taken for me, as I have since understood, in the very
+year when I was laid an orphan and a stranger at the door
+of that good man, who calling himself my uncle, has been
+to me through life a more than father. Thank God," she
+pursued with greater animation, her large dark eyes
+upturned, and sparkling through the tears that forced
+themselves upwards, "thank, God he at least lives not to
+suffer through the acts of his adopted child. Where got
+you this, Gerald?" she proceeded, when after a short
+struggle she had succeeded in overcoming her emotion.
+
+Gerald, who in his narrative of events, had purposely
+omitted all mention of Desborough, now detailed the
+occurrence at the hut, and concluded what the reader
+already knows, by stating that he had observed and severed
+from the settler, as he slept heavily on the floor, the
+portrait in question, which, added to the previous
+declaration of Matilda as to the obscurity of her birth,
+connected with other circumstances on board his gun boat,
+on his trip to Buffalo, had left an impression little
+short of certainty that he was indeed the father of the
+woman whom he so wildly loved.
+
+For some minutes after this explanation there was a
+painful silence, which neither seemed anxious to
+interrupt--at length Gerald asked.
+
+"But what had a circumstance, so capable of explanation,
+to do with the breaking off of your engagement, Matilda,
+or, did he, more proud--perhaps I should say less
+debased--than myself, shrink from uniting his fate with
+the daughter of a murderer?"
+
+"True," said Matilda, musingly; "you have said, I think,
+that he slew your father. This thirst for revenge then
+would seem hereditary. THAT is the only, because it is
+the noblest, inheritance I would owe to such a being."
+
+"But your affair with your lover, Matilda--how terminated
+that?" demanded Gerald--with increasing paleness, and in
+a faltering tone.
+
+"In his falsehood and my disgrace. Early the next morning
+I sent to him, and bade him seek me in the temple at the
+usual hour. He came, but it was only to blast my hopes--
+to disappoint the passion of the woman who doated upon
+him. He accused me of a vile intercourse with a slave,
+and almost maddened me with ignoble reproaches. It was
+in vain that I swore to him most solemnly, the man he
+had seen was my father; a being whom motives of prudence
+compelled me to receive in private, even although my
+heart abhorred and loathed the relationship between us.
+He treated my explanation with deriding contempt, bidding
+me either produce that father within twenty-four hours,
+or find some easier fool to persuade--that one, wearing
+the hue and features of the black could, by human
+possibility, be the parent of a white woman. Again I
+explained the seeming incongruity, by urging that the
+hasty and imperfect view he had taken was of a mask,
+imitating the features of a negro, which my father had
+brought with him as a disguise, and which he had hastily
+resumed on hearing the noise of the key in the door. I
+even admitted, as an excuse for seeing him thus
+clandestinely, the lowly origin of my father, and the
+base occupation he followed of a treacherous spy who,
+residing in the Canadas, came, for the mere consideration
+of gold, to sell political information to the enemies of
+the country that gave him asylum and protection. I added
+that his visit to me was to extort money, under a threat
+of publishing our consanguinity, and that dread of his
+(my lover's) partiality being decreased by the disclosure,
+had induced me to throw my arms, in the earnestness of
+entreaty upon his neck, and implore his secrecy; promising
+to reward him generously for his silence. I moreover
+urged him, if he still doubted, to make inquiry of Major
+Montgomerie, and ascertain from him whether I was not
+indeed the niece of his adoption, and not of his blood.
+Finally I humbled myself in the dust and, like a fawning
+reptile, clasped his knees in my arms, entreating mercy
+and justice. But no," and the voice of Matilda grew
+deeper, and her form became more erect; "neither mercy
+nor justice dwelt in that hard heart, and he spurned me
+rudely from him. Nothing short of the production of him
+he persisted in calling my vile paramour, would satisfy
+him; but my ignoble parent had received from me the reward
+of his secrecy, and he had departed once more to the
+Canadas. And thus," pursued Matilda, her voice trembling
+with emotion, "was, I made the victim of the most diabolical
+suspicion that ever haunted the breast of man."
+
+Gerald was greatly affected. His passion for Matilda
+seemed to increase in proportion with his sympathy for
+her wrongs, and he clasped her energetically to his heart.
+
+"Finding him resolute in attaching to me the debasing
+imputation," pursued the American, "it suddenly flashed
+upon my mind, that this was but a pretext to free himself
+from his engagement, and that he was glad to accomplish
+his object through the first means that offered. Oh,
+Gerald, I cannot paint the extraordinary change that came
+over my feelings at this thought; much less give, you an
+idea of the rapidity with which that change was effected.
+One moment before and, although degraded and unjustly
+accused, I had loved him with all the ardour of which a
+woman's heart is capable: NOW I hated, loathed, detested
+him; and had he sunk at my feet, I would have spurned
+him from me with indignation and scorn. I could not but
+be conscious that the very act of having yielded myself
+up to him, had armed my lover with the power to accuse
+me of infidelity, and the more I fingered on the want of
+generosity such a suspicion implied, the more rooted
+became my dislike, the more profound my contempt for him,
+who could thus repay so great a proof of confidingness
+and affection."
+
+"It was even while I lay grovelling at his feet," pursued
+Matilda, after a momentary pause, during which she evinced
+intense agitation, "that this sadden change (excited by
+this most unheard of injustice) came over my mind--I rose
+and stood before him; then asked, in a voice in which no
+evidence of passion could be traced, what excuse he meant
+to make to Major Montgomerie, for having thus broken off
+his engagement. He started at my sudden calmness of
+manner, but said that he thought it might be as well for
+my sake to name, what I had already stated to him, in
+regard to the obscurity of my birth, as a plea for his
+seceding from the connexion. I told him that, under all
+the circumstances I thought this most advisable, and then
+pointing to the door, bade him begone, and never under
+any pretext whatever again to insult me with his presence.
+When he had departed, I burst into a paroxysm of tears,
+but they were tears shed not for the loss of him I now
+despised, but of wild sorrow at my unmerited degradation.
+That conflict over, the weakness had for ever passed
+away, and never since that hour, has tear descended cheek
+of mine, associated with the recollection of the villain
+who had thus dared to trifle with a heart, the full extent
+of whose passions he has yet to learn."
+
+There was a trembling of the whole person of Matilda,
+which told how much her feelings had been excited by the
+recollection of what she narrated, and Gerald, as he
+gazed on her beautiful form, could not but wonder at the
+apathy of the man who could thus have heartlessly thrown
+if from him for ever.
+
+"Had the injury terminated here," resumed Matilda, "bitter
+as my humiliation was my growing dislike for him who had
+so ungenerously inflicted it, might have enabled me to
+endure it. But, not satisfied with destroying the happiness
+of her who had sacrificed all for his sake, my perfidious
+lover had yet a blow in reserve for me, compared with
+which his antecedent conduct was mercy. Gerald," she
+continued, as she pressed his arm with a convulsive grasp,
+"will you believe that the monster had the infamy to
+confide to one of his most intimate associates, that his
+rupture with me was occasioned by his having discovered
+me in the arms of a slave--of one of those vile beings
+communion with whom my soul in any sense abhorred? How
+shall I describe the terrible feeling that came over my
+insulted heart at that moment. But no, no--description
+were impossible. This associate--this friend of his--
+dared, on the very strength of this infamous imputation,
+to pollute my ear with his disrespectful passion, and
+when, in a transport of contempt and anger, I spurned
+him from me, he taunted me with that which I believed
+confined to the breast, as it had been engendered only
+in the suspicion, of my betrayer. Oh! if it be dreadful
+to be falsely accused by those whom we have loved in
+intimacy, how much more so it to know that they have not
+had even the common humanity to conceal our supposed
+weakness from the world. From that moment revenge took
+possession of my soul, and I swore that my destroyer
+should perish by the hand of her whose innocence and
+whose peace he had blasted for ever."
+
+"Shortly after this event," resumed Matilda, "my base
+lover was ordered to join his Regiment then, stationed
+at Detroit. A year passed away, and during that period,
+my mind pondered unceasingly on the means of accomplishing
+my purpose of revenge; and so completely did I devote
+myself to a cool and unprejudiced examination of the
+subject, that what the vulgar crowd term guilt, appeared
+to me plain virtue. On the war breaking out, Major
+Montgomerie was also ordered to join the Regiment at
+Detroit, and thither I entreated him, to suffer me to
+accompany him. He consented, for knowing nothing of the
+causes which had turned my love into gall, he thought it
+not improbable that a meeting with my late lover might
+be productive of a removal of his prejudices, and our
+consequent reunion. Little did he dream that it was with
+a view to plunge a dagger into my destroyer's false heart,
+that I evinced so much eagerness to undertake so long,
+and so disagreeable a journey."
+
+"Little more remains to be added," pursued Matilda, as
+she fixed her dark eyes with a softened expression on
+those of Gerald, "since, with the occurrences at Detroit
+you are already sufficiently acquainted. Yet there is
+one point upon which I would explain myself. When I first
+became your prisoner, my mind had been worked up to the
+highest pitch of determination, and in my captor I at
+first beheld but an evil Genius who had interposed himself
+between me and my just revenge, when on the very eve of
+its consummation. Hence my petulance and impatience
+while in the presence of your noble General."
+
+"And whence that look Matilda, that peculiar glance,
+which you bestowed upon me even within the same hour?"
+
+Because in your frank and fearless mien I saw that manly
+honor and fidelity, the want of which had undone me;
+besides it flashed across my mind that daring, such as
+I have witnessed yours in the capture of our boat, might,
+if enlisted in my behalf, securely accomplish my revenge.
+
+"Then, if so, why the cold, the mortifying reserve, you
+manifested when we met at dinner at my uncle's table?"
+
+"Because I had also recollected that, degraded as I was,
+I ought not to seek the love of an honorable man, and
+that to win you to my interest would be of no avail, as,
+separated by the national quarrel, you could not, by
+possibility, be near to aid me in my plans."
+
+"Then," said Gerald reproachfully, "it was merely to make
+me an instrument of vengeance that you sought me. Unkind
+Matilda!"
+
+"Nay, Gerald,--recollect, that then I had not learnt to
+know you as I do now--I will not deny that when first I
+saw you, a secret instinct told me you were one whom I
+would have deeply loved had I never loved before; but
+betrayed and disappointed as I had been, I looked upon
+all men with a species of loathing--my kind, good,
+excellent, more than father, excepted--and yet, Gerald,
+there were moments when I wished even him dead." (Gerald
+started)--"yes! dead--because I knew the anguish that
+would crush his heart if he should ever learn that the
+false brand of the assassin: had been affixed to the brow
+of his adopted child." Matilda sighed profoundly, and
+then resumed. "Later however, when the absence of its
+object had in some degree abated the keenness of my thirst
+for revenge, and when more frequent intercourse had made
+me acquainted with the generous qualities of your mind,
+I loved you Gerald, although I would not avow it, with
+a fervor I had never believed myself a second time capable
+of entertaining."
+
+Again the countenance of Matilda was radiant with the
+expression just alluded to by her lover. Gerald gazed at
+her as though his very being hung upon the continuance
+of that fascinating influence, and again he clasped her
+to his heart.
+
+"Matilda! oh my own betrothed Matilda!" he murmured.
+
+"Yes your own betrothed," repeated the American highly
+excited, the wife of your affection and your choice, who
+has been held up to calumny and scorn. Think of that,
+Gerald; she on whose fond bosom you are to repose your
+aching head, she who glories in her beauty only because
+it is beauty in your eyes, has been, betrayed, accused
+of a vile passion for a slave; yet he--the fiend who has
+done this grievous wrong--he who has stamped your wife
+with ignominy, and even published her shame-still lives.
+Within a week," she resumed, in a voice hoarse from
+exertion. "Yes, within a week, Gerald, he will be
+here--perhaps to deride and contemn you for the choice
+you have made."
+
+"Within a week he dies," exclaimed the youth. "Matilda,
+come what will, he dies. Life is death without you, and
+with you even crime may sit lightly on my soul. But we
+will fly far from the habitations of man. The forest
+shall be our home, and when the past recurs to me you
+shall smile upon me with that smile--look upon me with
+that look, and I will forget it all. Yes" he pursued,
+with a fierce excitement snatching up the holy book, and
+again carrying it to his lips--"once more I repeat my
+oath. He who has thus wronged you, my own Matilda,
+dies--dies by the hand of Gerald Grantham--of your
+affianced husband."
+
+There was another long embrace, after which the plan of
+operations was distinctly explained and decided upon.
+They then separated for the night--the infatuated Gerald
+with a load of guilt at his heart, no effort of his reason
+could remove, returning by the route he had followed on
+the preceding evening to his residence in the town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Leaving the lost Gerald for a time to all the horrors of
+his position, in which it would be difficult to say
+whether remorse or passion (each intensest of its kind)
+predominated, let us return to the scene where we first
+introduced him to the reader, and take a review of the
+Military events passing in that quarter.
+
+After the defeat of the British columns at Sandusky, so
+far from any renewed attempt being made to interrupt the
+enemy in his strong holds, it became a question whether
+the position on the Michigan frontier could be much longer
+preserved. To the perseverance and promptitude of the
+Americans, in bringing new armies into the field, we have
+already had occasion to allude; but there was another
+quarter in which their strength had insensibly gathered,
+until it eventually assumed an aspect that carried
+apprehension to every heart. Since the loss of their
+flotilla at Detroit, in the preceding year, the Americans
+had commenced with vigour to equip one at Buffalo, which,
+in number and weight of metal, was intended to surpass
+the naval force on Lake Erie; and so silently and cautiously
+had they accomplished this task, that it was scarcely
+known at Amherstburg that a squadron was in the course
+of preparation, when that squadron (to which had been
+added the schooner captured from Gerald Grantham the
+preceding autumn) suddenly appeared off the harbour,
+defying their enemies to the combat. But the English
+vessels were in no condition to cope with so powerful an
+enemy, and although many a gallant spirit burned to be
+led against those who so evidently taunted them, the
+safety of the Garrisons depended too much on the issue,
+for that issue to be lightly tempted.
+
+But misfortune was now beginning to overcast the hitherto
+fair prospects of the British arms in the Western District
+of the Canadas; and what the taunts of an enemy, triumphing
+in the consciousness of a superior numerical force, could
+not effect, an imperative and miserably provided for
+necessity eventually compelled. Maintaining as we did a
+large body of wild and reckless warriors, together with
+their families, it may be naturally supposed the excesses
+of these people were not few; but it would have required
+one to have seen, to have believed, the prodigal waste
+of which they were often guilty. Acknowledging no other
+law than their own will, following no other line of
+conduct than that suggested by their own caprice, they
+had as little respect for the property of the Canadian
+inhabitant as they would have entertained for that of
+the American enemy. And hence it resulted, that if an
+Indian preferred a piece of fresh, to the salted meat
+daily issued from the Commissariat, nothing was more
+common than for him to kill the first head of cattle he
+found grazing on the skirt of the forest; secure the
+small portion he wanted; and leave the remainder to serve
+as carrion to the birds of prey of the country. Nay, to
+such an extent wax this wanton spoliation carried, that
+instances have repeatedly occurred wherein cattle have
+been slain and left to putrify in the sun, merely because
+a warrior found it the most convenient mode by which to
+possess himself of a powder horn. All this was done
+openly--in the broad face of day, and in the full cognizance
+of the authorities; yet was there no provision made to
+meet the difficulties so guilty a waste was certain
+eventually to entail. At length the effect began to make
+itself apparent, and it was shortly after the first
+appearance of the American fleet that the scarcity of
+food began to be so severely felt as to compel the English
+squadron, at all hazards, to leave the port in search of
+supplies.
+
+At this period, the vessel described in the commencement
+of our story, as having engaged so much of the interest
+and attention of all parties, had just been launched and
+rigged. Properly armed she was not, for there were no
+guns of the description used on ship board wherewith to
+arm her; but now that the occasion became imperative,
+all nicety was disregarded In the equipment; and guns
+that lately bristled from the ramparts of the fort were
+soon to be seen protruding their long and unequal necks
+from the ports. She was a gallant ship, notwithstanding
+the incongruity of her armament, and had her brave crew
+possessed but the experience of those who are nursed on
+the salt waves of ocean, might have fought a more fortunate
+fight (a better or a braver was impossible) than she did.
+But in the whole of the English fleet there could not be
+counted three score able or experienced seamen; the
+remainder were children of the Canadian Lakes, warm with
+the desire to distinguish themselves in the eyes of their
+more veteran European companions, but without the knowledge
+to make their enthusiasm sufficiently available. The
+Americans, on the contrary, were all sons of the ocean.
+
+It was a glorious day in September, the beautiful September
+of Canada, when the gallant Commodore Barclay sailed with
+his fleet, ostensibly in fulfilment on the mission for
+which it was dispatched, but in reality winder the firm
+expectation of being provoked to action by his stronger
+and better disciplined enemy. To say that he would have
+sought that enemy, under the disadvantages beneath which
+he knew himself to labor, would be to say that which
+would reflect little credit on his judgment; but, although
+not in a condition to hold forth the flag of defiance,
+where there was an inferiority in all but the skill of
+the leader and the personal courage of the men, he was
+not one to shun the battle that should be forced upon
+him. Still to him it was an anxious moment, because the
+fame of other days hung upon an issue over which no
+efforts of his own could hold mastery, and as he gazed
+at his armless sleeve, he sighed for the presence of
+those whose agency had coupled the recollection of past
+victory with that mutilated proof of honorable conduct.
+He knew, moreover, the magnitude of the stake for which
+he was thus compelled to play, and that defeat to him
+would be the loss of the whole of the Western District.
+While the British ascendancy could be maintained on the
+Lake, there was little fear, lined as the forests were
+with Indian warriors, that the Americans would push any
+considerable force beyond the boundaries they had assigned
+themselves at Sandusky and on the Miami; but a victory
+once obtained by their fleet, there could be nothing to
+oppose the passage of their army in vessels and boats
+across the Lake.
+
+Such were the thoughts that filled the mind of the
+Commodore (in common with all who calmly reasoned on the
+subject) as he crossed the bar that separated him from
+his enemy; but neither in look, nor word, nor deed, was
+there aught to reveal what was passing in the inward man;
+and when later the hostile fleet was signalized as bearing
+down upon them, he gave his orders to prepare formation,
+in the animated voice of one who finds certain victory
+within his reach, and exultingly hastens to secure it.
+
+The events of that day the page of History has already,
+recorded in terms alike flattering to the conqueror and
+the conquered. Let it suffice that the Americans triumphed.
+What the issue would have been, independently of all the
+disadvantages under which the English Commodore labored,
+had the latter not been borne severely wounded to his
+cabin early in the action, it is impossible to say; but
+as the final defeat was owing to his two principal vessels
+getting foul of each other, without being able to extricate
+themselves, it is not unfair to presume that his presence
+on deck would have done much to remedy the confusion
+produced by the accident.
+
+One incident only connected with this action, and in
+which two individuals with whom our readers have made
+partial acquaintance, were the principal performers, we
+will venture to relate. It will be recollected that at
+the dinner table at Colonel D'Egville's on the day of
+the capture of Major Montgomerie, and his party, among
+the guests were the chiefs Split-log and Walk-in-the-Water,
+the former distinguished by a huge bulbous excrescence
+miscalled a nose, and exquisitely slit ears that dangled
+gracefully upon his shoulders, at every movement of his
+Memnon-like head: the latter by his striking resemblance
+to the puritans of the days of the Commonwealth. Now it
+so happened that Messieurs Split-log and Walk-in-the-water
+were filled with an unconquerable desire to distinguish
+themselves at sea, as they had often done on terra firma,
+and they accordingly proffered their services in the
+forth-coming struggle. We hope we shall not be considered
+as detracting in the slightest degree from the courage
+of these chiefs, when we state that the position chosen
+by them on board the Commodore's ship, was one where they
+apprehended the least danger to themselves--namely in
+the tops; for although an Indian will scorn to shrink
+from a rifle bullet or tomahawk, it by no means enters
+into his code of bravery that he is to submit himself to
+the terrible ordeal of being battered to a jelly by a
+huge globe of solid iron. With, an alertness not common
+to the habits and corpulence of these celebrated chiefs,
+and fully calculating on exemption from danger while they
+plied their rifles successfully themselves, they ascended
+to the main top long before the action commenced. But
+they had counted without their host, for no sooner did
+the enemy begin to suffer from their fire, and perceive
+the quarter whence it came, when a swivel gun, loaded
+with grape, was brought to hear upon the point where they
+lay concealed. They had provided themselves with a breast
+work against small arms, but no breast work could resist
+the shower of iron hail that was directed towards them;
+and in proportion as the splinters and shot flew about
+their ears, so did their desire to distinguish themselves
+oze forth from the palms of Messrs. Split-log and
+Walk-in-the-Water; in so much so indeed that, without
+waiting to descend the rigging in the usual manner, each
+abandoning his rifle, slid down by the first rope on
+which he could lay his hands; nor stayed his course until
+he found himself squatted, out of all reach of danger in
+the lowest hold, and within the huge coils of a cable
+where already lay ensconced a black bear, the pet of one
+of the sailors. In this comfortable hiding place were
+Messrs Split-log and Walk-in-the-Water found, when at
+the close of the action they became, in common with those
+with whose fortunes they had identified themselves,
+prisoners of the Americans.
+
+The action between the adverse fleets had been witnessed
+by many of the inhabitants of Amherstburg, and by the
+officers of the Garrison who, at the first sounds of
+conflict, had ridden along the banks of the lake to be
+as near spectators of the event as the distance of the
+combatants, and the thick smoke in which they speedily
+became enveloped, would allow. High in hope, and strong
+in the reliance they placed upon the skill and experience
+of the English Commodore, each had looked forward with
+confidence to the overthrow of the enemy, even with the
+limited means and unequal resources placed at his disposal.
+Great therefore was the disappointment of all, when after
+the firing, which raged for two hours without intermission,
+had finally ceased, they found the English squadron lay
+a mere wreck upon the waters, and in the very act of
+being towed by their more fortunate enemies into the
+harbour they had but recently quitted to engage them.
+But on none did the disappointment of that hour sit more
+heavily than on Tecumseh. He had watched the whole conflict
+with an anxious eye and a swelling heart, for he well
+knew what important results to himself and kindred hung
+upon the issue; but filled with enthusiastic admiration
+as he was of the Naval Captain, he had believed that
+personal devotedness and heroism alone were sufficient
+to compensate for the absence of advantages he had heard
+named, without fully comprehending either their import
+or their influence upon the chances of victory. The event
+painfully undeceived him, and although his generous heart
+warmed with the same love for him whose valour, profitless
+even though it proved, was sufficiently attested by the
+shattered condition of almost every vessel of his little
+Squadron, he read in the downfall of him in whose aid he
+had so much confided, the annihilation of the English power
+in that remote region of the Canadas, and the consequent
+destruction of all his hopes of retrieving his race from
+the hated thraldom of American tyranny and American
+usurpation. Such was the first feeling of that noble Warrior,
+but his was not a soul to despond under the infliction of
+even a worse trial than that just recorded, and in proportion
+as the danger and difficulty increased, so rose his energy
+and his desire to surmount them.
+
+The result of the unlucky contest was, as had been
+anticipated, to open a free passage across the lake to
+the American armies, whose advance by land had been so
+repeatedly and effectually checked on former occasions,
+as to leave them little inclination for a renewal of an
+attempt in that quarter. Now however that they could
+forward a fleet of boats, under cover of the guns of
+their Squadron, to the very outworks of Amherstburg, the
+difficulty was at once removed; and an overwhelming army
+of not less than ten thousand men, were speedily assembled
+near Sandusky, with a view to the final invasion of
+Amherstburg and consequent recapture of Detroit.
+
+Under these disheartening circumstances--the want of
+provisions being daily more and more felt by the troops
+and inhabitants--it became necessary to hold a council
+of war, to determine upon the course that should be
+pursued. Accordingly the whole of the chiefs and officers
+of the Garrison met in the hall already described in the
+beginning of our narrative, when it was proposed by
+General Proctor, at the conclusion of a speech in which
+the increasing difficulties and privations of the garrison
+were emphatically enumerated, that the fortifications
+should be razed to the ground, the dock yards and other
+public works destroyed, and the allied forces of English
+and Indians make the best of their way by land to join
+the centre division of the army on the Niagara frontier.
+
+The indignation of Tecumseh, at what he conceived to be
+a base and cowardly abandonment of a position which stout
+hearts and willing hands might yet make available against
+any force the enemy should push forward for its reduction,
+was excessive and appropriately expressed. Filled with
+esteem as he was for the character and courage of General
+Brock, while a no less sincere admiration of the gallant
+but unfortunate Commodore Barclay animated his noble and
+generous heart, he could ill disguise his contempt for
+the successor of the former. Little familiarized as he
+was with the habits of European warfare, it could not
+escape the penetrating observation of such a mind, that
+the man who now proposed giving up his command without
+a struggle in its defence, was the same who, at French
+town, had suffered his troops to be cut to pieces, through
+mere nervousness to attack with the bayonet; and who,
+later at Sandusky, had through grossest neglect and
+ignorance, not only lost the means of securing a certain
+victory, but occasioned the most shameful waste of human
+life; neither had it escaped his observation that on
+almost every occasion wherein the hostile armies were
+brought in contact, he who called himself a leader was
+invariably a follower, and a follower at a most respectful
+distance--a mode of heading an army, so differing from
+Tecumseh's own view of the duties of a great chief, that
+he could not understand by what perversion of the judgment
+of his really brave fellows, who were erroneously called
+his followers, he had been suffered to continue in his
+command so long.
+
+Under this impression of feeling towards the General, it
+may readily be supposed that Tecumseh was not sparing of
+his censure on the mode of proceeding which had been
+suggested by that officer--nay, he even carried his
+contempt and indignation so far, as to term him the coward
+he believed him to be; and had this merit, that he told,
+in plain and unvarnished language, what many of the
+English officers most religiously believed also, although
+their tongues dared not of course give utterance to the
+thought. He threw additional force into his spirited and
+exciting speech, by instituting a comparison between him
+to whom he addressed himself, and the gallant but
+unfortunate officer whose defeat had driven them to the
+necessity of debating the unworthy question of flight--a
+comparison which tended but to show how high the one had
+been raised, how low the other had been sunk, in the
+estimation of the truly brave; and concluded by a vivid
+expression of his determination to remain with the warriors
+and maintain the contest alone.
+
+The animated delivery of the Warrior had communicated to
+the lesser chiefs an enthusiasm of approbation that
+carried them wholly beyond the bounds of the quiet and
+grave demeanor, so usually distinguishing their deliberative
+assemblies; and like the wild outburst of a fitful storm,
+rose the clamorous yells that told how responsively the
+heart of each excited chief beat to that of his great
+leader. There was a moment during that wild and tumultuous
+expression of the common feeling, when the British officers
+looked as if they expected some more serious results of
+the General's proposition than the mere utterance of the
+dissatisfaction it, had created. But the apprehension
+soon passed away, for a sudden and commanding movement
+of the proud Tecumseh stayed the tempest his own powerful
+eloquence had raised,--and the quiet and order of the
+scene were restored, with a promptitude not inferior to
+that with which it had been interrupted.
+
+The result of the proceedings of the day, was a compromise
+of the views of the two parties; and it was decided, that
+although the defences of Amherstburg and Detroit should
+be destroyed, and those forts evacuated, a final stand
+should be made near the Moravian village, on the banks
+of the narrow river Thames, on the line of communication
+with the Niagara frontier. If the opportunity permitted,
+and the Americans suffered them to remain unmolested,
+fortifications were to be constructed on this spot, and
+a rallying point for the numerous tribes of dispersed
+Indians finally preserved.
+
+A few days later, and the work of destruction was entered
+upon and soon completed. The little British Army, scarcely
+exceeding eight hundred men of all arms, commenced its
+march at night, lighted by the flames of the barracks
+which had given them shelter for the last time. As they
+passed the fort of Detroit the next day, dense columns
+of smoke and flame were to be seen rising high in air,
+from the various public edifices, affording a melancholy
+evidence of the destruction which usually tracks a
+retreating army. Many an American inhabitant looked on
+at the work of destruction, as if he would fain have
+arrested the progress of an element which at once defaced
+the beauty of the town, and promised much trouble and
+inconvenience to those whom they knew to be at hand, for
+their final deliverance frem the British yoke. But the
+Garrison continued stern spectators of the ruin--they
+had been compelled to effect, until the flames had attained
+a power which rendered their suppression an impossibility;
+then and then only, did they quit the scene of
+conflagration, and embarking in the boats which had been
+kept in readiness for their transport, joined their
+comrades, who waited for them on the opposite bank. The
+two Garrisons thus united; the whole preceded by a large
+body of Indians, were pushed forward to the position
+which had been selected on the Thames, and both shores
+of the Detroit were left an unresisting conquest to the
+Americans.
+
+Meanwhile, these latter had not been slow in profiting
+by the important advantages which had crowned their arms
+on the lake. On the third day after the retreat of the
+British Garrison from Amherstburg, a numerous fleet of
+large boats was discovered from the town pushing for
+Hartley's point, under cover of the united Squadrons.
+Unopposed as these were, their landing was soon effected,
+and a few hours later the American stars were to be seen
+floating over the still smoking ruins of the British
+fortress. Emboldened by the unexpected ease with which
+he had rendered himself finally master of a position so
+long coveted, the American General at once resolved to
+follow and bring his retreating enemy to action if
+possible. A force of five thousand men (fifteen hundred
+of whom were mounted rifles) was accordingly pushed
+forward; and so rapid and indefatigable was the march of
+these, that they came up with the retreating columns
+before they had succeeded in gaining the village, at
+which it was purposed that their final stand should be
+made. The anxiety of General Proctor to save the baggage
+waggons containing his own personal effects, had been
+productive of the most culpable delay, and at the moment
+when his little army should have been under cover of
+entrenchments, and in a position which offered a variety
+of natural defensive advantages, they found themselves
+suddenly overtaken by the enemy in the heart of a thick
+wood, where, fatigued by the long and tedious march they
+had made under circumstances of great privation, they
+had scarcely time to form in the irregular manner permitted
+by their broken position, before they found themselves
+attacked with great spirit, and on all sides by a force
+more than quadruple their own. The result may easily be
+anticipated. Abandoned by their General, who at the very
+first onset, drove his spurs into the flanks of his
+charger and fled disgracefully from the scene of action,
+followed by the whole of his personal staff, the irregularly
+formed line of the little British Army, was but ill
+prepared to make effectual resistance to the almost
+invisible enemy by whom it was encompassed; and those
+whom the rifle had spared, were to be seen, within an
+hour from the firing of the first shot, standing conquered
+and disarmed, between the closing lines of the victorious
+Americans.
+
+But although the English troops (sacrificed as they must
+be pronounced to have been, by their incapable leader)
+fell thus an easy prey to the overwhelming force brought
+against them, so did not their Indian allies, supported
+and encouraged as these were by the presence of their
+beloved Chieftain. It was with a sparkling eye and a
+glowing cheek that, just as the English troops had halted
+to give unequal battle to their pursuers, Tecumseh passed
+along the line, expressing in animated language the
+delight he felt at the forthcoming struggle, and when he
+had shaken hands with most of the officers (we fancy we
+can feel the generous pressure of his fingers even at
+this remote period) he moved into the dense forest where
+his faithful bands were lying concealed, with a bounding
+step that proved not only how much his heart had been
+set upon the cast, but how completely he confided in the
+result. And who shall say what that result might not have
+been even notwithstanding the discomfiture of the English
+had the heroic Chieftain been spared to his devoted
+country! But this was not fated to be. Early in the action
+he fell by the hand of a distinguished leader of the
+enemy, [Footnote: Colonel Johnson, now Vice-President of
+the United States.] and his death carried, as it could
+not fail to do, the deepest sorrow and dismay into the
+hearts of his followers, who although they continued the
+action long after his fall, and with a spirit that proved
+their desire to avenge the loss of their noble leader,
+it was evident, wanted the directing genius of him they
+mourned to sustain them in the effort. For several days
+after the action did they continue to hang upon the
+American rear, as the army again retired with its prisoners
+upon Detroit; but each day their attack became feebler
+and feebler, announcing that their numbers were fast
+dispersing into the trackless region from which they had
+been brought, until finally not a shot was to be heard
+disturbing the night vigils of the American sentinels.
+
+With the defeat of the British army, and the death of
+Tecumseh, perished the last hope of the Indians to sustain
+themselves as a people against the inroads of their
+oppressors. Dispirited and dismayed, they retired back
+upon the hunting grounds which still remained to them,
+and there gave way both to the deep grief with which
+every heart was overwhelmed at the loss of their truly
+great leader, and to the sad anticipations which the
+increasing gloom that clouded the horizon of their
+prospects naturally induced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+The interview so fatal in its results to Gerald's long
+formed resolutions of virtuous purpose was followed by
+others of the same description, and in the course of
+these, Matilda, profiting by her knowledge of the past,
+had the address so to rivet the chains which fettered
+the senses of her lover, by a well timed, although
+apparently unintentional display of the beauty which had
+enslaved him, that so far from shrinking from the fulfilment
+of the dreadful obligation he had imposed upon himself,
+the resolution of the youth became more confirmed as the
+period for its enactment drew nigher. There were moments
+when, his passion worked up to intensity by the ever-
+varying, over-exciting picture of that beauty would have
+anticipated the condition on which he was to become
+possessed of it for ever, but on these occasions the
+American would assume an air of wounded dignity, sometimes
+of deep sorrow; and alluding to the manner in which her
+former confidence had been repaid, reproach him with a
+want of generosity, in seeking to make her past weakness
+a pretext for his present advances. Yet even in the very
+moment she most denied him, she so contrived that the
+restrained fire should burn with tenfold fury within his
+heart--rendering him hourly more anxious for her possession,
+even as he became hourly less fastidious about the means
+of attainment.
+
+At length the day arrived when Gerald--the once high,
+generous and noble minded Gerald,--was to steep his soul
+in guilt--to imbrue his hands in the life blood of a
+fellow creature. The seducer of Matilda had arrived, and
+even in the hotel in which Grantham resided, the
+entertainment was to be given by his approving fellow
+citizens, in commemoration of the heroism which had won
+to him golden opinions from every class. It had already
+been arranged that the assassination was to take place
+on the departure of their victim from the banquet, and
+consequently at a moment when, overcome by the fumes of
+wine, he would be found incapable of opposing any serious
+resistance to their design. The better to facilitate his
+close and unperceived approach to the unhappy man, a pair
+of cloth shoes had been made for her lover by the white
+hands of Matilda, with a sort of hood or capuchin of the
+same material, to prevent recognition by any one who
+might accidentally pass him on the way to the scene of
+the contemplated murder. Much as Gerald objected to it,
+Matilda had peremptorily insisted on being present herself,
+to witness the execution of the deed, and the same
+description of disguise had been prepared for herself.
+In this resolution the American, independently of her
+desire to fortify the courage of her lover by her presence,
+was actuated by another powerful and fearful motive,
+which will be seen presently.
+
+The private residence of the officer was situated in a
+remote part of the town, and skirting that point of the
+circular ridge of hills where the lights in the habitation
+of Matilda had attracted the notice of Gerald, on the
+first night of his encounter. To one who viewed it from
+a distance, it would have seemed that the summit of the
+wood-crowned ridge must be crossed before communication
+could he held between the two dwellings which lay as it
+were back to back, on either side of the formidable
+barrier; but on a nearer approach, a fissure in the hill
+might be observed, just wide enough to admit of a narrow
+horse track or foot path, which wound its sinuous course
+from the little valley into the open space that verged
+upon the town, on gaining which the residence of the
+American officer was to be seen rising at the distance
+of twenty yards. It was in this path, which had been
+latterly pointed out to him by his guilty companion, that
+Gerald was to await the approach of the intended victim,
+who on passing his place of concealment, was to be
+cautiously followed and stabbed to the heart ere he could
+gain his door.
+
+Fallen as was Gerald from his high estate of honor, it
+was not without a deep sense of the atrocity of the act
+he was about to commit that he prepared for its
+accomplishment. It is true that, yielding to the sophistry
+of Matilda's arguments, he was sometimes led to imagine
+the avenging of her injuries an imperative duty; but such
+was his view of the subject only when the spell of her
+presence was upon him. When restored to his calmer and
+more unbiassed judgment, in the solitude of his own
+chamber, conscience resumed her sway, and no plausibility
+of pretence could conceal from himself that he was about
+to become that vilest of beings--a common murderer. There
+were moments even when the dread deed to which he had
+pledged himself appeared in such hideous deformity that
+he fain would have fled on the instant far from the
+influence of her who had incited him to its perpetration,
+but when the form of Matilda rose to his mental eye,
+remorse, conscience, every latent principle of virtue,
+dissolved away, and although he no longer sought to
+conceal from himself that what he meditated was crime of
+the blackest dye, his determination to secure entire
+possession of that beauty, even at the accursed price of
+blood, became but the more resolute and confirmed.
+
+The night previous to that fixed for the assassination
+was passed by the guilty Gerald in a state of dreadful
+excitement. Large drops fell from his forehead in agony,
+and when he arose at a late hour, his pale emaciated
+features and wavering step betrayed how little the mind
+or the body had tasted of repose. Accustomed however, as
+he had latterly been, to sustain his sinking spirits by
+artificial means, he was not long in having recourse to
+his wonted stimulants. He called for brandy to deaden
+the acuteness of his feelings, and give strength to his
+tottering limbs; and when he had drank freely of this,
+he sallied forth into the forest, where he wandered during
+the day without other aim or purpose than to hide the
+brand of guilt, which he almost felt upon his brow, from
+the curious gaze of his fellow men. It was dark when he
+returned to the hotel, and as, on his way to his own
+private apartment, he passed the low large room chiefly
+used as an ordinary, the loud hum of voices which met
+his ear, mingled with the drawing of corks and ringing
+of glasses, told him that the entertainment provided for
+his unconscious victim had already commenced. Moving
+hastily on, he gained his own apartment, and summoning
+one of the domestics, directed that his own frugal meal
+(the first he had tasted that day) should be brought up.
+But even for this he had no appetite, and he had recourse
+once more to the stimulant for assistance. As the night
+drew on he grew more nervous and agitated, yet without
+at all wavering in his purpose. At length ten o'clock
+struck. It was the hour at which he had promised to issue
+forth to join Matilda in the path, there to await the
+passage of his victim to his home. He cautiously descended
+the staircase, and in the confusion that reigned among
+the household, all of whom were too much occupied with
+the entertainment within to heed the movements of
+individuals, succeeded in gaining the street without
+notice. The room in which the dinner was given was on
+the ground floor, and looked through numerous low windows
+into the street, through which Gerald must necessarily
+pass to reach the place of his appointment. Sounds of
+loud revelry, mixed with laughter and the strains of
+music, now issued from these, attesting that the banquet
+was at its height, and the wine fast taking effect on
+its several participators.
+
+A momentary feeling of vague curiosity caused the degraded
+youth to glance his eye through one of the uncurtained
+windows upon the scene within, but scarcely had he caught
+an indistinct and confused view of the company, most of
+whom glittered in the gay trappings of military uniforms,
+when a secret and involuntary dread of distinguishing
+from his fellows the man whom he was about to slay, caused
+him as instantaneously to turn away. Guilty as he felt
+himself to be, he could not bear the thought of beholding
+the features of the individual he had sworn to destroy.
+As there were crowds of the humbler citizens of the place
+collected round the windows to view the revelry within,
+neither his appearance nor his action had excited surprise;
+nor indeed was it even suspected, habited as he was in
+the common garments of the country, that he was other
+than a native of the town.
+
+On gaining the narrow pass or lane, he found Matilda
+wrapped in her cloak, beneath which she carried the
+disguise prepared for both. The moon was in the last
+quarter, and as the fleecy clouds passed away from before
+it, he could observe that the lips and cheek of the
+American were almost livid, although her eyes sparkled
+with deep mental excitement. Neither spoke, yet their
+breathing was heavy and audible to each. Gerald seated
+himself on a projection of the hill, and removing his
+shoes, substituted those which his companion had wrought
+for him. He then assumed the hood, and dropping his head
+between his hands, continued for some minutes in that
+attitude, buried in profound abstraction.
+
+At length Matilda approached him. She seated herself at
+his side, threw her arms around his neck, called him in
+those rich and searching tones which were so peculiarly
+her own--her beloved and affianced husband; and bidding
+him be firm of purpose, as he valued the lives and
+happiness of both, placed in his hand a small dagger,
+the handle of which was richly mounted in silver. Gerald
+clutched the naked weapon with a convulsive grasp, while
+a hoarse low groan escaped him, and again he sank his
+head in silence upon his chest.
+
+Nearly an hour had passed in this manner, neither seeking
+to disturb the thoughts of the other, nor daring to break
+the profound silence that every where prevailed around
+them. At length a distant and solitary footstep was
+heard, and Matilda sprang to her feet, and with her head
+thrown eagerly forward, while one small foot alone
+supported the whole weight of her inclined body, gazed
+intently out upon the open space, and in the direction
+whence the sounds proceeded.
+
+"He comes, Gerald, he comes;" she at length whispered in
+a quick tone.
+
+Gerald, who had also risen, and now stood looking over
+the shoulder of the American, was not slow in discovering
+the tall figure of a man, whose outline, cloaked even as
+it was, bespoke the soldier, moving in an oblique direction
+towards the building already described.
+
+"It is he, too well do I know him," continued Matilda,
+in the same eager yet almost inaudible whisper, "and mark
+how inflated with the incense which has been heaped upon
+him this night does he appear. His proud step tells of
+the ambitious projects of his vile heart. Little does he
+imagine that this arm (and she tightly grasped that which
+held the fatal dagger) will crush them for ever in the
+bud. But hist!"
+
+The officer was now within a few paces of the path, in
+the gloom of which the guilty pair found ample concealment,
+and as he drew nearer and nearer their very breathing
+was stayed to prevent the slightest chance of a discovery
+of their presence. Gerald suffered him to pass some yards
+beyond the opening, and advanced with long yet cautious
+strides across the grass towards his victim. As he moved
+thus noiselessly along, he fancied that there was something
+in the bearing of the figure that reminded him of one he
+had previously known, but he had not time to pause upon
+the circumstance, for the officer was already within ten
+yards of his own door, and the delay of a single moment
+would not only deprive him of the opportunity on which
+he had perilled all in this world and in the next, but
+expose himself and his companion to the ignominy of
+discovery and punishment.
+
+A single foot of ground now intervened between him and
+the unhappy officer, whom wine, or abstraction, or both,
+had rendered totally unconscious of his danger. Already
+was the hand of Gerald raised to strike the fatal blow
+--another moment and it would have descended, but even
+in the very act he found his arm suddenly arrested.
+Turning quickly to see who it was who thus interfered
+with his purpose, he beheld Matilda.
+
+"One moment stay," she said in a hurried voice; "poor
+were my revenge indeed, were he to perish not knowing
+who planned his death;" then in a hoarser tone, in which
+could be detected the action of the fiercest passions of
+the human mind.--"Slanderer--villain--we meet again."
+
+Startled by the sound of a familiar voice, the officer
+turned hastily round, and seeing all his danger at a
+single glance, made a movement of his right hand to his
+side, as if he would have grasped his sword--but finding
+no weapon there he contented himself with throwing his
+left arm forward, covered with the ample folds of his
+cloak, with a view to the defence of his person.
+
+"Yes, Forrester," continued Matilda, in the same impassioned
+voice, "we meet again, and mark you," pulling back the
+disguise from Gerald, "'tis no vile slave, no sable
+paramour by whose hand you die--villain," she pursued,
+her voice trembling with excitement, "my own arm should
+have done the deed, but that he whose service I have
+purchased with the hand you rejected and despised, once
+baulked me of my vengeance when I had deemed it most
+secure. But enough! To his heart, Gerald, now that in
+the fulness of his wine and his ambition, he may the
+deeper feel the sting of death--strike to his heart--
+what! do you falter--do you turn coward?"
+
+Gerald neither moved nor spoke; his upraised hand had
+sunk at his side, at the first address of Matilda to her
+enemy, and the dagger had fallen from his hand upon the
+sward, where it might he seen glittering in the rays of
+the pale moon. His head was bent upon his chest in abject
+shame, and he seemed as one who had suddenly been turned
+to stone.
+
+"Gerald, my husband!" urged Matilda, rapidly changing
+her tone into that of earnest persuasion, "wherefore do
+you hesitate. Am I not your wife, your own wife, and is
+not yon monster the wretch who has consigned my fair fame
+to obloquy for ever--Gerald!" she added impetuously.
+
+But the spell had lost its power, and Gerald continued
+immoveable--apparently fixed to the spot on which he
+stood.
+
+"Gerald, Gerald!" repeated the officer, with the air of
+one endeavouring to recollect.
+
+At the sound of that voice, Gerald looked up. The moon
+was at that moment unobscured by a single cloud, and as
+the eyes of the murderer and his intended victim met,
+their recognition was mutual and perfect.
+
+"I had never expected to see Lieutenant Grantham figuring
+in the character of an assassin," said Colonel Forrester,
+in a voice of deep and bitter reproach, "still less to
+find his arm raised against the preserver of his life.
+This," he continued, as if speaking to himself, "will be
+a bitter tale to recount to his family."
+
+"Almighty God! have mercy!" exclaimed Gerald, as overcome
+with shame and misery, he threw himself upon the earth
+at his full length, his head nearly touching the feet of
+the officer. Then clasping his feet--"Oh! Colonel Forrester,
+lost, degraded as I am, believe me when I swear that I
+knew not against whom my arm was to be directed. Nay,
+that you live at this moment is the best evidence of the
+truth of what I utter, for I came with a heart made up
+to murder. But YOUR blood worlds could not tempt me to
+spill."
+
+"I believe you," said the American, feelingly. "Well do
+I know the arts of the woman who seems to have lured you
+into the depths of crime; yet low as you are fallen,
+Lieutenant Grantham--much as you have disgraced your
+country and profession, I cannot think you would willingly
+have sought the life of him who saved your own. And now
+rise, sir, and gain the place of your abode, before
+accident bring other eyes than my own to be witnesses of
+your shame. We will discourse of this tomorrow. Meanwhile,
+be satisfied with my promise, that your attempt shall
+remain a secret with myself."
+
+While he spoke, Colonel Forrester made a movement as if
+to depart. Aroused by the apprehension of losing her
+victim, Matilda, who had hitherto been an impatient
+listener, called wildly upon Gerald, who had now risen,
+to fulfil his compact; but the youth turned from her with
+a movement of disgust, exclaiming with bitterness--"leave
+me, woman, leave me!"
+
+Matilda looked after him for an instant with an expression
+of intensest scorn, then springing to, and snatching up
+the dagger, which lay glittering a few paces from the
+spot on which she stood, she advanced silently, but
+rapidly, upon her retreating enemy. Colonel Forrester
+had gained his threshhold, and had already knocked for
+admittance, when he heard the deep voice of Matilda at
+his ear, exclaiming in a triumphant tone,
+
+"Think you twice then to escape your doom, traitor?"
+
+Before he could make an attempt to shield himself, the
+fatal steel had entered deep into his side. Uttering a
+groan, he sank senseless on the steps, whither Gerald,
+who had watched the action of his companion, had flown
+in the hope of arresting the blow. Confused voices,
+mingled with the tramp of feet, were now heard within
+the hall. Presently the door opened, and a crowd of
+servants, chiefly blacks, appeared with lights. The view
+of their bleeding master, added to the disguise of Gerald,
+and the expression of triumph visible in the pale
+countenance of Matilda, at once revealed the truth. By
+some the former was borne to his apartment, while the
+greater portion busied themselves in securing the two
+latter, who however made not the slightest effort at
+resistance, but suffered themselves to be borne, amid
+hootings and execrations, from the spot.
+
+The different groups we have described as being gathered
+together in front of the hotel, had dispersed with the
+breaking up of the party, which Colonel Forrester, in
+compliment to those who entertained him, had been one of
+the last to quit; so that on passing through the streets
+not an idler was found to swell the sable crowd that bore
+the wretched prisoners onward to the common prison of
+the town. Just as they had arrived at this latter, and
+a tall and muscular negro, apparently enjoying some
+distinction in his master's household, was about to pull
+the bell for admission, a man came running breathlessly
+to the spot, and communicated to the negro just mentioned,
+a message, in which the name of Colonel Forrester was
+distinctly audible to the ear of Gerald. A retrograde
+movement was the immediate consequence of this interruption,
+and the party, came once more upon the open space they
+had so recently quitted. Stupified with the excess of
+abjectness in which he had continued plunged, from the
+moment of his discovery of the identity of his intended
+victim, Gerald had moved unconsciously and recklessly
+whithersoever his conductors led; but now that he expected
+to be confronted face to face with the dying man, as the
+sudden alteration in the movement of the party gave him
+reason to apprehend, he felt for the first time that his
+position, bitter as it was, might be rendered even worse.
+It was a relief to him, therefore, when he found that,
+instead of taking the course which led to the residence
+of Colonel Forrester, the head of the party, of which
+Matilda and himself were the centre, suddenly immerged
+into the narrow lane which conducted to the residence of
+that unhappy woman. Instead, however, of approaching
+this, Gerald remarked that they made immediately for the
+fatal temple. When they had reached this, the door was
+unlocked by the tall negro above described, who, with a
+deference in his manner not less at variance with the
+occasion than with the excited conduct of the whole party
+on their way to the prison, motioned both his prisoners
+to enter. They did so, and the lock having been turned
+and the key removed, they silently withdrew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Hours passed away without either of the guilty parties
+finding courage or inclination to address the other. The
+hearts of both were too full for utterance--and yet did
+they acknowledge no sympathy in common. Remorse, shame,
+fear, regret, simultaneously assailed and weighed down
+the mind of Gerald. Triumphant vengeance, unmixed with
+any apprehension of self, reigned exclusively in the
+bosom of Matilda. The intense passion of the former, like
+a mist that is dissipated before the strong rays of the
+sun, had yielded before the masculine and practical
+display of the energetic hate of its object, while on
+the contrary she, whose beauty of person was now to him
+a thing without price, acknowledged no other feeling than
+contempt for the vacillating character of her associate.
+In this only did they agree that each looked upon each
+in the light of a being sunk in crime--steeped in
+dishonor--and while the love of the one was turned to
+almost loathing at the thought, the other merely wondered
+how one so feeble of heart had ever been linked to so
+determined a purpose.
+
+The only light admitted into the temple was through the
+window already described, and this was so feeble as
+scarcely to allow of the more distant objects in the room
+being seen. Gradually, as the moon sunk beneath the
+forest ridge, the gloom increased, until in the end the
+darkness became almost profound. At their first entrance
+Matilda, enshrouding herself in the folds of her cloak,
+had thrown herself upon the sofa; while Gerald continued
+to pace up and down the apartment with hurried steps,
+and in a state of feeling it would be a vain attempt to
+describe. It was now for the first time that, uninfluenced
+by passion, the miserable young man had leisure to reflect
+on the past, and the chain of fatality which had led to
+his present disgraceful position. He recollected the
+conversation he had held with his brother on the day
+succeeding his escape from the storm; and as the pledge
+which had been given in his name to his dying father,
+that no action of his life should reflect dishonor on
+his family now occurred to him in all its force, he
+groaned in agony of spirit, less in apprehension of the
+fate that awaited him than in sorrow and in shame that
+that pledge should have been violated. By a natural
+transition of his feelings, his imagination recurred to
+the traditions connected with his family, and the dreadful
+curse which had been uttered by one on whom his ancestor
+was said to have heaped injury to the very extinction of
+reason--and associating as he did Matilda's visit to the
+Cottage at Detroit, on the memorable night when he had
+unconsciously saved the life of Colonel Forrester, with
+the fact of her having previously knelt and prayed upon
+the grave that was known to cover the ashes of the unhappy
+maniac, Ellen Halloway, he felt a shuddering conviction
+that she was in some way connected with that wretched
+woman. In the intenseness of his new desire to satisfy
+his doubts--a desire which in itself partook of the
+character of the fatality by which he was beset--he
+overcame the repugnance he had hitherto felt to enter
+into conversation with her, and advancing to the couch,
+seated himself upon its edge at her side.
+
+"Matilda" he said, after a few moments of silence, "by
+all the love you once bore me, I conjure you answer me
+one question while yet there is time."
+
+"Fool," returned the American, "I never loved you. A soul
+like mine feels passion but once. Hitherto I have played
+a part, hut the drama approaches to a close, and disguise
+of plot is no longer necessary. Gerald Grantham, you have
+been my dupe,--you came a convenient puppet to my hands,
+and as such I used you until the snapped wire proclaimed
+you no longer serviceable. No further."
+
+Shame, anguish, mortification--all the most humiliating
+sensations natural to man, for a moment assailed the
+breast of the unfortunate and guilty Grantham, rendering
+him insensible even to the greater evil which awaited
+him. In the bitterness of his agony he struck his clenched
+hand against his forehead, uttering curses upon himself
+for his weakness, in one breath, and calling upon his
+God, in the next, to pardon him for his crime.
+
+"This is good!" said Matilda. "To see you writhe thus,
+under the wound inflicted upon your vanity, is some small
+atonement for the base violation of your oath; yet what
+question would you ask, the solution of which can so much
+import one about to figure on the scaffold for a crime
+he has not even had the courage to commit?"
+
+The taunting manner in which the concluding part of the
+sentence was conveyed, had the effect of restoring Gerald
+in some degree to himself, and he said with considerable
+firmness:
+
+"What I would ask is of yourself,--namely, the relationship,
+if any, you bear to those who lie within the mound on
+which I beheld you kneeling, on the night of your first
+attempt on Colonel Forrester's life."
+
+"The very recollection of that ill-timed intrusion would
+prevent me from satisfying your curiosity, did not
+something whisper to me that, in so doing, I shall add
+another pang to those you already experience," returned
+the American with bitter sarcasm.
+
+"You are right," said Gerald hurriedly; "my miseries need
+but the assurance of your connexion with those mouldering
+bones to be indeed complete."
+
+"Then," said Matilda eagerly, and half raising her head,
+"your cup of misery may yet admit of increase. My mother
+and my father's mother both sleep within that grave."
+
+"How knew you this?" demanded Gerald quickly. "Instinct
+could not have guided you to the spot, and by your own
+admission you were taken from the place of your home
+while yet a mere child."
+
+"Not instinct, but my father Desborough, pointed out the
+spot, as he had long previously acquainted me with the
+history of my birth."
+
+"One question more--your grandmother's name?"
+
+"Mad Ellen she was called, an English soldier's wife,
+who died in giving birth to my father--and now that you
+are answered, leave me."
+
+"Almighty Providence," aspirated Gerald, in tones of
+inconceivable agony; "it is then as I had feared, and
+this woman has Destiny chosen to accomplish my ruin."
+
+He quitted the sofa and paced up and down the room in a
+state of mind bordering on distraction. The past crowded
+upon his mind in all the confused manner of a dream, and
+amid the chaos of contending feelings by which he was
+beset, one idea only was distinct--namely, that the
+wretched woman before him had been but the agent of Fate
+in effecting his destruction. Strange as it may appear,
+the idea, so far from increasing the acerbity of his
+feelings, had the tendency to soften his heart towards
+her. He beheld in her but a being whose actions had been
+fated like his own, and although every vestige of passion
+had fled--even although her surpassing beauty had lost
+its subjugating influence, his heart yearned towards her
+as one who, wrecked on the same shore, had some claim to
+his sympathy and compassion. All that was now left them
+was to make their peace with God, since with man their
+final account would be so speedily closed, and with a
+view to impress her with a sense of the religious aid
+from which alone they could hope for consolation, he
+again seated himself at her side on the edge of the sofa.
+
+"Matilda," he said, in a voice in which melancholy and
+sternness were blended, "We have been the children of
+guilt--the victims of our own evil passions; but God is
+merciful, and if our penitence be sincere, we may yet be
+forgiven in Heaven, although on earth there is no hope--even
+if after this we could wish to live. Matilda, let us pray
+together."
+
+There was no answer--neither did the slightest movement
+of her form indicate consciousness that she was addressed.
+"Matilda," repeated Gerald--still there was no answer.
+He placed his hand upon her cheek, and thought the touch
+was cold--he caught her hand, it too was cold and but
+for the absence of rigidity he would have deemed her
+dead.
+
+Scarcely knowing what he did, yet with an indefinable
+terror at his heart, he grasped and shook her by the arm,
+and again, but with greater vehemence, pronounced her
+name.
+
+"Who calls?" she said, in a faint but deep tone, as she
+raised her head slowly from the cushion which supported
+it. "Ha! I recollect. Tell me," she added more quickly,
+"was not the blow well aimed. Marked you how the traitor
+fell. Villain, to accuse the woman whose only fault was
+loving him too well, with ignominious commerce with a
+slave!"
+
+"Wretched woman," exclaimed Gerald with solemn emphasis,
+"instead of exulting over the evil we have done, let us
+rather make our peace with Heaven, during the few hours
+we have yet to live. Matilda Desborough--daughter of a
+murderer; thyself a murderess--the scaffold awaits us
+both."
+
+"Coward--fool--thou liest," she returned with suddenly
+awakened energy. "For one so changeling as thyself the
+scaffold were befitting;, but know, if I have had the
+heart to do this deed, I have also had the head to provide
+against its consequences--see--feel--."
+
+One of her cold hands was extended in search of Gerald's.
+They met, and a vial placed in the palm of the latter,
+betrayed the secret of her previous lassitude and
+insensibility.
+
+Even amid all the horrors which environed him, and called
+so largely on attention to his own personal danger, Gerald
+was inexpressibly shocked.
+
+"What! poisoned?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes--poisoned!" she murmured, and her hand again sank
+heavily at her side.
+
+Gerald dashed the vial away from him to the farther end
+of the apartment, and taking the cold hand of the unhappy
+woman, he continued:
+
+"Matilda--is this the manner in which you prepare yourself
+to meet the presence of your God. What! add suicide to
+murder?"
+
+But she spoke not--presently the hand he clasped sank
+heavily from his touch. Then there was a spasmodic
+convulsion of the whole frame. Then there burst a piercing
+shriek from her lips, as she half raised herself in agony
+from the sofa, and then each limb was set and motionless
+in the stern rigidity of death.
+
+While Gerald was yet bending over the body of his
+unfortunate companion, shocked, grieved and agitated
+beyond all expression, the door of the temple was unlocked,
+and a man enveloped in a cloak, and bearing a small dark
+lantern, suddenly appeared in the opening. He advanced
+towards the spot where Gerald, stupified with the events
+of the past night, stood gazing upon the corpse, almost
+unconscious of the presence of the intruder.
+
+"A pretty fix you have got into, Liftenant Grantham,"
+said the well known voice of Jackson, "and I little
+calculated, when I advised you to make love to the Kentucky
+gals to raise your spirits, that they would lead you into
+such a deuced scrape as this."
+
+"Captain Jackson," said Gerald imploringly; "I am
+sufficiently aware of all the enormity of my crime, and
+am prepared to expiate it; but in mercy spare the bitterness
+of reproach."
+
+"Now as I'm a true Tennessee man, bred and born, I meant
+no reproach, and why should I, since you could'nt help
+her doing it, (and he pointed to Matilda), yet you know
+its sometimes dangerous to be found in bad company. Every
+body might'nt believe you so innocent as we do.
+
+"Innocent! Captain Jackson," exclaimed Gerald, losing
+sight of all other feelings in unfeigned surprise--"I
+cannot say that I quite understand you."
+
+"Why, the meaning's plain enough, I take it. Others might
+be apt, I say, to think you had something to do with the
+thing as well as she, and therefore its just as well you
+should make yourself scarce. The Colonel says he would'nt,
+on any account, you shall even be suspected."
+
+"The Colonel says--not suspected," again exclaimed Gerald
+with increasing astonishment--then, suddenly recollecting
+the situation of the latter--"tell me," he continued,
+"is Colonel Forrester in danger--is his life despaired of?"
+
+"Worth a dozen dead men yet, or you would'nt see me taking
+the thing so coolly. The dagger certainly let the day
+light into him, but though the wound was pretty considerably
+deep, the doctors say its not mortal. He thinks it might
+have been worse if you had not come up, and partly stopped
+her arm when she struck at him."
+
+Gerald was deeply affected by what he had just heard. It
+was evident that Colonel Forrester had, with a generosity
+to which no gratitude of his own could render adequate
+justice, sought to exonerate him from all suspicion of
+participation in the guilty design upon his life, and as
+he glanced his eye again for a moment upon the lifeless
+form of his companion, he was at once sensible that the
+only being who could defeat the benevolent object of his
+benefactor had now no longer the power to do so.
+
+"She sleeps sound enough now," said Jackson, again pointing
+to the ill-fated and motionless girl, "but she'll sleep
+sounder still before long, I take it."
+
+"She will never sleep sounder than at this moment, Captain
+Jackson," said Gerald, with solemn emphasis.
+
+"Why, you don't mean to say she has cheated the hangman,
+Liftenant."
+
+As he spoke, Jackson approached the sofa, and turning
+the light full upon the face, saw indeed that she was
+dead. Gerald shuddered as the rays from the lamp revealed
+for the first time the appalling change which had been
+wrought upon that once beautiful countenance. The open
+and finely formed brow was deeply knit, and the features
+distorted by the acute agony which had wrung the shriek
+from her heart at the very moment of dissolution, were
+set in a stern expression of despair. The parted lips
+were drawn up at the corners in a manner to convey the
+idea of the severest internal pain, and there was already
+a general discoloration about the mouth, betraying the
+subtle influence of the poison which had effected her
+death.
+
+Gerald, after the first glance, turned away his head in
+horror from the view; but the Aid-de-Camp remained for
+some moments calmly regarding the remains of all that
+had once been most beautiful in nature.
+
+"She certainly is not like what she was when Colonel
+Forrester first knew her," he said, in the abstracted
+tone of one talking without reference to any other auditor
+than himself; "but this comes of prefering a nigger to
+a white man. Such unnatural courses never can prosper,
+I take it."
+
+"Captain Jackson," said Gerald, aroused by this remark,
+and with great emphasis of tone, while he laid his hand
+impressively on the shoulder of the other, "you do her
+wrong. Guilty she has been, fearfully guilty, but not in
+the sense you would imply."
+
+"How do you know this?" asked the Aid-de-Camp.
+
+"From her own solemn declaration at a moment when deception
+could avail her not. Even before she swallowed the fatal
+poison, her horror at the imputation, which drove her to
+the perpetration of murder, was expressed in terms of
+indignant warmth that belong to truth alone."
+
+"If this be so," said Jackson, musingly, "she is indeed
+a much injured woman, and deep I know will be the regret
+of Colonel Forrester when he hears it, for he himself
+has ever believed her guilty. But come, Liftenant Grantham,
+we have no time to lose. The day will soon break, and I
+expect you must be a considerable way from Frankfort
+before sunrise."
+
+I--from Frankfort--before sunrise!" exclaimed Gerald, in
+perfect astonishment.
+
+"Why, it's rather short warning to be sure; but the
+Colonel thinks you'd better start before the thing gets
+wind in the morning; for as so many of the niggers say
+you wore a sort of a disguise as well as the poor girl,
+he fears the citizens may suspect you of something more
+than an intrigue, and insult you desperately."
+
+"Generous, excellent man!" exclaimed Gerald, "how can I
+ever repay this most unmerited service?"
+
+"Why, the best way I take it, is to profit by the offer
+that is made you of getting back to Canada as fast as
+you can."
+
+"But how is this to be done, and will not the very fact
+of my flight confirm the suspicion it is intended to
+remove?"
+
+"As for the matter of how it is to be done, Liftenant,
+I have as slick a horse waiting outside for you as man
+ever crossed--one of the fleetest in Colonel Forrester's
+stud. Then as for suspicion, he means to set that at
+rest, by saying that he has taken upon himself to give
+you leave to return on parole to your friends, who wish
+to see you on a case of life and death, and now let's be
+moving."
+
+Oppressed with the weight of contending feelings, which
+this generous conduct had inspired, Gerald waited but to
+cast a last look upon the ill-fated Matilda; and then
+with a slow step and a heavy heart for ever quitted a
+scene fraught with the most exciting and the most painful
+occurrences of his life. The first rays of early dawn
+beginning to develop themselves as they issued from the
+temple, Jackson extinguished his lamp, and leading through
+the narrow pass that conducted to the town, made the
+circuit of the ridge of hills until they arrived at a
+point where a negro (the same who had led the party that
+bore Matilda and himself to the temple) was in waiting,
+with a horse ready saddled and the arms and accoutrements
+of a rifleman.
+
+The equipment of Gerald was soon completed, and with the
+shot-bag and powder-horn slung over his shoulder, and
+the long rifle in his hand, he soon presented the appearance
+of a backwoodsman hastening to the theatre of war.
+
+When he had seated himself in the saddle, Jackson drew
+forth a well filled purse, which he said he had been
+directed by Colonel Forrester to present him with to
+defray the expences of his journey to the frontier.
+
+Deeply affected by this new proof of the favor of the
+generous American, Gerald received the purse, saying, as
+he confided them to the breast of his hunting frock--
+
+"Captain Jackson, tell Colonel Forrester from me, that
+I accept his present merely because in doing so I give
+the best evidence of my appreciation of ALL he has done
+for me on this trying occasion. In his own heart, however,
+he must look for the only reward to which this most noble
+of actions justly entitles him."
+
+The frank-hearted Aid-de-Camp promised compliance with
+this parting message, and after pointing out the route
+it would be necessary to follow, warmly pressed the hand
+of his charge in a final grasp, that told how little he
+deemed the man before him capable of the foul intention
+with which his soul had been so recently sullied.
+
+How often during those hours of mad infatuation, when
+his weakened mind had been balancing between the possession
+of Matilda at the price of crime, and his abandonment of
+her at that of happiness, had the observation of the Aid-
+de-Camp, on a former occasion, that he "was never born
+to be an assassin," occurred to his mind, suffusing his
+cheek with shame and his soul with remorse. Now, too,
+that conscious of having fallen in all but the positive
+commission of the deed, he saw that the unsuspecting
+American regarded him merely as one whom accident or
+intrigue had made an unwilling witness of the deadly act
+of a desperate woman, his feelings were those of profound
+abasement and self disesteem.
+
+There was a moment, when urged by an involuntary impulse,
+he would have undeceived Captain Jackson as to his positive
+share in the transaction; but pride suddenly interposed
+and saved him from the degradation of the confession.
+He returned the pressure of the American's hand with
+emphasis, and then turning his horse in the direction
+which he had been recommended to take, quitted Frankfort
+for ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+While the success of the British and American arms had
+been alternating (with eventual triumph to the latter)
+in the manner we have shown during the campaign of 1813,
+on the Western District of Upper Canada, some highly
+important operations had taken place in the army of the
+centre. Of these our space will admit but of a detail of
+one, and we thus travel out of the scene to which we have
+hitherto confined our labors, not only because it was
+the most dashing affair that occurred during the war,
+but because it offers a striking parallel to the enterprise
+and daring which destroyed the American power, at the
+outset of hostilities, and was productive of similar
+results.
+
+Towards the close of May 1813, the Americans, after having
+hotly bombarded Fort George on the Niagara frontier, for
+two successive days, crossed the river and succeeded in
+establishing themselves in that post which was evacuated
+as untenable. The British loss on this occasion was
+considerable, and General Vincent, who commanded the army
+of the centre, retreated with much precipitation towards
+Burlington Heights, withdrawing at the same time the
+garrison from Fort Erie.
+
+Emboldened by the absence of serious opposition, the
+American Generals (Winder and Chandler) pushed forward
+a force, exceeding three thousand men, as far as Stoney
+Creek, close to the position then occupied by the little
+British army, not more than one fifth of this number.
+Here they halted for the night, evidently to refresh
+their troops for the attack, which was meditated for the
+following morning.
+
+The result of such attack, with so overwhelming a force,
+upon a small body of men dispirited, by recent discomfiture,
+and destitute of supplies or reserves, could scarcely
+have been doubtful. Fortunately however for the honor of
+the British arms, Colonel Harvey, to whose conduct on
+this occasion allusion has been incidentally made in an
+early chapter of the present volume, had recently joined
+the centre Division from Lower Canada, and to his quick
+and comprehensive mind it immediately suggested itself,
+that if the attack of the American army should be awaited,
+the result, under the circumstances already alluded to,
+and in the position occupied by the British force (literally
+a Cul-de-Sac) must inevitably be attended by their utter
+discomfiture, if not annihilation. On the contrary, he
+felt persuaded that, even with the small force at the
+disposal of the British General, there was every probability
+that a bold and well concerted night attack would have
+the effect of restoring to the assailants that confidence
+in themselves, which had been weakened by a series of
+reverses, while it must necessarily, and in the same
+proportion, carry dismay into the ranks of the hitherto
+victorious enemy.
+
+It was, we believe--indeed we have reason to know--a
+favorite military maxim with Colonel Harvey, and invariably
+acted up to whenever opportunity was afforded for its
+application, that defensive warfare, when the invading
+foe is greatly superior in number, is best carried on by
+a succession of bold and active offensive operations.
+The result of this theory was, in the instance under
+question, an offer to General Vincent to head a night
+attack and penetrate into the very heart of the enemy's
+encampment, as an only means of extricating the army from
+its perilous position, and restoring (if successful) to
+the victors that moral confidence which was necessary to
+the honor of the army, and the preservation of the country.
+Fortunately, we repeat, for the glory of the British
+arms, Colonel Harvey's proposal was accepted, although
+not without much doubt and indecision on the subject,
+and during the night of the 5th June the small band of
+heroes, destined to achieve so glorious a result, were
+silently get under arms for the disproportionate encounter.
+At the head of seven hundred and twenty bayonets Colonel
+Harvey dashed in upon his slumbering and unsuspecting
+enemy, amounting to more than quadruple his own force,
+and well provided with field artillery. So bold and
+unexpected was the attack, that the enemy fled, with the
+utmost precipitation, to a position called the forty mile
+creek, a distance of ten miles, leaving their Generals
+and a vast number of prisoners and military stores in
+the hands of the victors. Here they fell in with a
+reinforcement under General Lewis. So opportune however
+had been the blow struck by Colonel Harvey, and such the
+panic created by it in the American ranks, that even with
+this additional force, they, on the sudden appearance of
+the British fleet, with a small body of troops on board,
+after sustaining a short cannonade, continued their
+retreat to Fort George, leaving their tents standing,
+nor halting until they had gained their place of
+destination.
+
+Thus, by this judicious and by far the most brilliant
+achievement of the war, was the centre District freed
+from the triumphant presence of the enemy, as the western
+had been, in the preceding year, by the bold and well
+timed movement of General Brock upon Detroit, with an
+equally inferior force.
+
+The history of the war furnishes no similar enterprizes.
+Both were the results of a bold conception, and prompt
+and successful execution. Of the two, perhaps Stoney
+Creek was the most dashing and decided, since there the
+adverse armies actually came into collision.
+
+In October of the same year, [Footnote: The anachronism
+referred to in the Preface. The events here described,
+occurred in 1812, and not in 1813.] a numerous body of
+Americans, principally troops of the line, had been
+collected under the orders of General Van Ransaellar,
+and advantage was taken of a dark night in October to
+push them across the river, with a view to the occupation
+of the commanding heights above the village of Queenston.
+In this, favored by circumstances, the enemy were eminently
+successful.--
+
+They carried the batteries, and at day break the heights
+were to be seen covered with their battalions, before
+whom were thrown out a considerable body of tirailleurs,
+or riflemen. At the first alarm, the little detachment
+stationed at Queenston, marched out to dislodge them;
+but such was the impatient gallantry of General Brock,
+who had succeeded to the command on this line of frontier,
+that without waiting for the main body from Fort George
+to come up, he threw himself at the head of the flank
+companies of the Forty-Ninth, and moving forward in double
+quick time, soon came within sight of the enemy.
+
+Among the General's Aides-de-Camps, was Henry Grantham,
+who having succeeded in making his escape at the fatal
+defeat of the Moravian Village, with a few men of his
+company, had in the absence of his Regiment, (then
+prisoners of war) and from considerations of personal
+esteem, been attached as a supernumerary to his staff.
+With him at this moment was the light hearted De Courcy,
+and as the young men rode a little in rear of their Chief,
+they were so rapt in admiration of his fine form and
+noble daring, (as he still kept dashing onward, far in
+advance even of the handful of troops who followed eagerly
+and rapidly in his rear,) that they utterly forgot the
+danger to which he was exposed.
+
+On arriving at the ascent, the General for a moment.
+reined in his charger, in order to give time to the rear
+to close in, then removing and waving his plumed hat,
+
+"Hurrah, Forty-Ninth!" he exclaimed, in language suited
+to those he addressed. "Up these heights lies our road--on
+ourselves depends the victory. Not a shot till we gain
+the summit--then three cheers for old England--a volley--and
+the bayonet must do the rest!"
+
+So saying, he resumed his hat, and wheeling his horse,
+once more led his gallant little band up the hill.
+
+But it was not likely that the Americans would suffer
+the approach of so determined an enemy without attempting
+to check their progress in the most efficient manner.
+Distinguished from those around him by his commanding
+air, not less than by the military insignia that adorned
+him, the person of the General was at once recognized
+for one bearing high rank, and as such became an object
+of especial attention to the dispersed riflemen. Shot
+after shot flew past the undaunted officer, carrying
+death into the close ranks that followed noiselessly in
+his rear, yet without harming him. At length he was seen
+by his Aides-de-Camps, both of whom had kept their eyes
+upon him, to reel in his saddle. An instant brought the
+young men to his side, De Courcy on his right and Grantham
+on his left hand. They looked up into his face. It was
+suffused with the hues of death. A moment afterwards and
+he fell from his horse, with his head reclining upon the
+chest of Henry Grantham. There was a momentary halt in
+the advancing column; all were dismayed at the dreadful
+event.
+
+De Courcy and Grantham, having abandoned their horses,
+now bore their beloved leader to the side of the road,
+in order to admit of the unimpeded progress of the men.
+Even in his last moments the General had no other thought
+but for the duty in which he was engaged.
+
+"Bid them move on, De Courcy," he said in a faint voice,
+as he remarked the sudden check which had been given to
+the advance by his fall. Then, as if obedient to the
+command, they renewed the ascent, each man eyeing him as
+he past with a look in which deep sorrow and a desire to
+avenge his death were intimately blended. "Forty-Ninth,
+I have served with you from boyhood, and if ye would I
+die with honor this day--carry those heights."
+
+There was a deep murmur through the ranks of both
+companies, that showed how each and all were affected by
+this appealing address of the dying officer. At that
+moment there arose a loud shout from the hill, as of
+triumph at the fall of him they mourned. They answered
+it with the fierce expression of men resolved to turn
+that shout of triumph into a cry of woe; and excited,
+maddened, infuriated, yet with a steadiness of movement
+that claimed the admiration even of their enemies, dashed,
+heedless of the galling fire of the riflemen, up the steep.
+
+Left alone with the dying General, it became a first
+consideration with the young officers to convey him
+(provided he could bear removal) to some spot out of
+reach of the enemy's fire, where he might breathe his
+last moments in peace.
+
+As Henry Grantham glanced his eye towards an old untenanted
+building, that lay some fifty yards off the road, and
+which he conceived fully adapted to the purpose, he saw
+the form of a rifleman partly exposed at a corner of the
+building, whose action at the moment was evidently that
+of one in the act of loading his piece. The idea that
+this skulking enemy might have been the same who had
+given the fatal death-wound to his beloved Chief, added
+to the conviction that he was preparing to put the coup
+de grace to his work, filled him with the deepest desire
+of vengeance. As the bodies of several men, picked off
+by the tirailleurs, lay along the road, (one at no great
+distance from the spot on which he stood,) he hastened
+to secure the nearest musket, which, as no shot had yet
+been fired by the English, he knew to be loaded.
+
+Leaving De Courcy to support the head of the General,
+the young Aid-de-Camp moved with due caution towards the
+building; but ere he had gone ten paces, he beheld the
+object of his pursuit issue altogether from the cover of
+the building, and advance towards him with his rifle at
+the trail. More and more convinced that his design was
+to obtain a nearer approach, with a view to a more certain
+aim, he suddenly halted, and raised the musket to his
+shoulder. In vain was a shout to desist uttered by the
+advancing man--in vain was his rifle thrown aside as if
+in token of the absence of all hostile purpose. The
+excited Henry Grantham heeded not the words--saw not the
+action. He thought only of the danger of his General,
+and of his desire to avenge his fall. He fired--the
+rifleman staggered, and putting his hand to his breast--
+
+"My brother! oh, my unhappy brother!" he exclaimed, and
+sank senseless to the earth.
+
+Who shall tell the horror of the unfortunate young Aid-de-
+Camp, at recognizing in the supposed enemy his long
+mourned and much loved Gerald--motion, sense, life, seemed
+for the instant annihilated by the astounding consciousness
+of the fratricidal act: the musket fell from his hands,
+and he who had never known sorrow before, save through
+those most closely linked to his warm affections, was
+now overwhelmed, crushed by the mountain of despair that
+fell upon his heart. It was some moments before he could
+so far recover from the stupor into which that dear and
+well remembered voice had plunged him, as to perceive
+the possibility of the wound not being mortal. The thought
+acted like electricity upon each stupified sense, and
+palsied limb; and eager with the renewed hope, he bounded
+forward to the spot where lay the unfortunate Gerald,
+writhing in his agony. He had fallen on his face, but as
+Henry approached him, he raised himself with one hand,
+and with the other beckoned to his brother to draw near.
+
+"Great God, what have I done!" exclaimed the unhappy
+Henry, throwing himself in a paroxysm of despair upon
+the body of his bleeding brother. "Gerald, my own beloved
+Gerald, is it thus we meet again. Oh! if you would not
+kill me, tell me that your wound is not mortal. Assure
+me that I am not a fratricide. Oh, Gerald, Gerald! my
+brother, tell me that you are not dying."
+
+A faint smile passed over the pale haggard features of
+Gerald: he grasped the hand of his brother and pressed
+it fervently, saying--
+
+"Henry, the hand of fate is visible in all this, therefore
+condemn not yourself for that which was inevitable. I
+knew of the attempt of the Americans to possess themselves
+of the heights, and I crossed over with them under favor
+of this disguise, determined to find death, combatting
+at the side of our gallant General. Detaching myself from
+the ranks, I but waited the advance of the British column
+to remove from my concealment--you know the rest. But
+oh, Henry! if you could divine what a relief it is to me
+to part with existence, you would not wish the act undone.
+This was all I asked: to see you once more--to embrace
+you--and to die. Life offered me no hope but this."
+
+Gerald expressed himself with the effort of one laboring
+under strong bodily pain; and as he spoke he again sank
+exhausted upon the ground.
+
+"This packet," he continued, taking one from the breast
+of the hunting frock he wore, and handing it to his
+brother, who, silent and full of agony, had again raised
+his head from the ground and supported it on his shoulder;
+"this packet, Henry, written at various times during the
+last fortnight, will explain all that has passed since
+we last parted, in the Miami. When I am no more, read
+it; and while you mourn over his dishonor, pity the
+weakness and the sufferings of the unhappy Gerald."
+
+Henry was nearly frantic, the hot tears fell from his
+burning eyes upon the pale emaciated cheek of his
+brother--and he groaned in agony.
+
+"Oh, God!" he exclaimed, "how shall I ever survive this
+blow--my brother! oh, my brother! tell me that you
+forgive me."
+
+"Most willingly; yet what is there to be forgiven? You
+took me for an enemy and hence alone your error. It was
+fate, Henry. A dreadful doom has long been prophesied to
+the last of our race. We are the last--and this is the
+consummation. Let it console you however to think that,
+though your hand had not slain me another's would. In
+the ranks of the enemy I should have found--Henry, my
+kind, my affectionate brother--your hand--there--there--
+what dreadful faintness at my heart--Matilda, it is my
+turn now--Oh, God have mercy, oh--"
+
+While this scene was passing by the road side between
+the unfortunate brothers, the main body of the British
+force had come up to the spot where the General still
+lay expiring in the arms of De Courcy, and surrounded by
+the principal of the medical staff. The majority of these
+were of the Regiment previously named--veterans who had
+known and loved their gallant leader during the whole
+course of his spotless career, and more than one rude
+hand might be seen dashing the tear that started
+involuntarily to the eye. As the colors of the Forty-Ninth
+passed before him, the General made an effort to address
+some language of encouragement to his old corps, but the
+words died away in indistinct murmurs, and waving his
+hand in the direction of the heights, he sank back
+exhausted with the effort, and resigned his gallant
+spirit for ever.
+
+For some minutes after life had departed, Henry Grantham
+continued to hang over the body of his ill-fated brother,
+with an intenseness of absorption that rendered him
+heedless even of the rapid fire of musketry in the advance.
+The sound of De Courcy's voice was the first thing that
+seemed to call him to consciousness. De Courcy had heard
+the cry uttered by the latter, on receiving the fatal
+shot, and his imagination had too faithfully portrayed
+the painful scene that had ensued. A friend of both
+brothers, and particularly attached of late to the younger
+from the similar nature of their service, he was
+inexpressibly shocked, but still cherishing a hope that
+the wound might not be attended with loss of life, he
+expected to find his anticipations realized by some
+communication from his friend. Finding however that the
+one rose not, and remarking that the general demeanour
+of the other was that of profound despair, he began at
+length to draw the most unfavorable conclusion, and
+causing the body of his Commander to be borne under cover
+of the building, until proper means of transport could
+be found, he hastened to ascertain the full extent of
+the tragedy.
+
+The horror and dismay depicted in his friend's countenance
+were speedily reflected on his own, when he saw that the
+unfortunate Gerald, whose blood had completely saturated
+the earth on which he lay, was indeed no more. Language
+at such a moment would not only have been superfluous,
+but an insult. De Courcy caught and pressed the hand of
+his friend in silence. The unfortunate young man pointed
+to the dead body of his brother, and burst into tears.
+While these were yet flowing in a fulness that promised
+to give relief to his oppressed heart, a loud shout from
+the British ranks arrested the attention of both. The
+sound seemed to have an electric effect on the actions
+of Henry Grantham. For the first time he appeared
+conscious there was such a thing as a battle being fought.
+
+"De Courcy!" he said starting up, and with sudden animation,
+"why do we linger here--the dead," and he pointed first
+to the body of the General in the distance--and then to
+his brother "the wretched dead claim no service from us
+now."
+
+"You are right, Henry, our interest in those beloved
+objects has caused us to be mindless of our duty to
+ourselves.--See, too, how the flankers have cleared the
+brow of the hill for the advance of the main body. Victory
+is our own--but alas! how dearly purchased!"
+
+"How dearly purchased, indeed!" responded Henry, in a
+tone of such heart-rending agony as caused his friend to
+repent the allusion. "De Courcy keep this packet, and
+should I fall, let it be sent to my uncle, Colonel
+D'Egville."
+
+De Courcy accepted the trust, and the young men mounted
+their horses, which a Canadian peasant had held for them
+in the mean time, and dashing up the ascent, soon found
+themselves where the action was hottest.
+
+Burning with revenge, the flank companies had already
+succeeded, despite of a hot and incessant fire, in gaining
+the heights, and here for a considerable time they
+maintained the struggle unsupported against the whole
+force of the enemy. Already their bayonets had cleared
+for themselves a passage to the more even ground, and
+the Americans, dismayed at the intrepidity of this handful
+of assailants, were evidently beginning to waver in their
+ranks. A shout of victory, which was answered by the main
+body of the English troops, just then gaining the summit
+of the hill, completed their disorder. They stood the
+charge but for a moment, then broke and fled, pursued by
+their excited enemies in every direction. The chief object
+of the Americans was to gain the cover of a wood that
+lay at a short distance in their rear, but a body of
+militia with some Indians having been sent round to occupy
+it the moment the landing of the Americans was made known,
+they were driven back from this their last refuge upon
+the open ground, and with considerable loss.
+
+Thus hemmed in on both sides--the rifles of the militia
+and Indians on one hand; the bayonets of the British
+force on the other--the Americans had no other alternative
+than throw down their arms or perish to the last. Many
+surrendered at discretion, and those who resisted were
+driven at the point of the bayonet, to the verge of the
+terrific precipices which descend abruptly from the
+Heights of Queenston. Here their confusion was at the
+highest--some threw down their arms and were saved, others
+precipitated themselves down the abyss, where their bodies
+were afterwards found, crushed and mangled in a manner
+to render them scarcely recognizable even as human beings.
+
+It was at the moment when the Americans, driven back by
+the fire from the wood, were to be seen flying in despair
+towards the frowning precipices of Queenston, that De
+Courcy and Grantham, quitting their horses at the brow
+of the hill, threw themselves in front of the victorious
+and still leading flank companies. Carried away by the
+excitement of his feelings, Grantham was considerably in
+advance of his companion, and when the Americans, yielding
+to the panic which had seized them, flew wildly, madly,
+and almost unconscious of the danger, towards the precipice,
+he suddenly found himself on the very verge, and amid a
+group of irregulars, who arriving at the brink and seeing
+the hell that yawned beneath, had turned to seek a less
+terrific death at the hands of their pursuers. Despair,
+rage, agony, and even terror, were imprinted on the
+countenances of these, for they fought under an apparent
+consciousness of disadvantage, and utterly as men without
+hope.
+
+"Forward! victory!" shouted Henry Grantham, and his sword
+was plunged deep into the side of his nearest enemy.
+The man fell, and writhing in the last agonies of death,
+rolled onward to the precipice, and disappeared for ever
+from the view.
+
+The words--the action had excited the attention of a
+tall, muscular, ferocious looking rifleman, who, hotly
+pursued by a couple of Indians, was crossing the open
+ground at his full speed to gain the main body of his
+comrades. A ball struck him just as he had arrived within
+a few feet of the spot where Henry stood, yet still
+leaping onward, he made a desparate blow at the head of
+the officer with the butt end of his rifle. A quick
+movement disappointed the American of his aim, yet the
+blow fell so violently on the shoulder that the stock
+snapped suddenly asunder at the small of the butt. Stung
+with pain, Henry Grantham turned to behold his enemy.
+It was Desborough! The features of the settler expressed
+the most savage and vindictive passions, as with the
+barrel of the rifle upraised and clenched in both his
+iron hands, he was about to repeat his blow. Ere it could
+descend Grantham had rushed in upon him, and his sword
+still reeking with the blood it had so recently spilt,
+was driven to the very hilt in the body of the settler.
+The latter uttered a terrific scream in which all the
+most infernal of human passions were wildly blended, and
+casting aside his rifle, seized the young officer in his
+powerful gripe. Then ensued a contest the most strange
+and awful; the settler using every endeavour to gain the
+edge of the precipice, the other struggling, but in vain,
+to free himself from his hold. As if by tacit consent,
+both parties discontinued the struggle, and became mere
+spectators of the scene.
+
+"Villain!" shouted De Courcy, who saw with dismay the
+terrible object of the settler, whose person he had
+recognized--"if you would have quarter, release your
+hold."
+
+But Desborough, too much given to his revenge to heed
+the words of the Aid-de-Camp, continued silently, yet
+with advantage, to drag his victim nearer and nearer to
+the fatal precipice; and every man in the British ranks
+felt his blood to creep as they beheld the unhappy officer
+borne, notwithstanding a desperate resistance, at each
+moment nigher to the brink.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, advance and seize him" exclaimed the
+terrified De Courcy, leaping forward to the rescue.
+
+Acting on the hint, two or three of the most active of
+the light infantry rushed from the ranks in the direction
+taken by the officer.
+
+Desborough saw the movement, and his exertions to defeat
+its object became, considering the loss of blood he had
+sustained from his wounds, almost Herculean. He now stood
+on the extreme verge of the precipice, where he paused
+for a moment as if utterly exhausted with his previous
+efforts. De Courcy was now within a few feet of his
+unhappy friend, who still struggled ineffectually to free
+himself, when the settler, suddenly collecting all his
+energy into a final and desparate effort, raised the
+unfortunate Grantham from the ground, and with a loud
+and exulting laugh, dashed his foot violently against
+the edge of the crag, and threw himself backward into
+the hideous abyss.
+
+A cry of horror from the lips of De Courcy was answered
+by a savage shout of vengeance from the British ranks.
+On rushed the line with their glittering bayonets, and
+at a pace which scarcely left their enemies time to sue
+for, much less obtain quarter--shrieks and groans rent
+the atmosphere, and above the horrid din, might be heard
+the wild and greeting cry of the vulture and the buzzard,
+as the mangled bodies of the Americans rolled from rock
+to rock, crashing the autumnal leaves and dried underwood
+in their fall, some hanging suspended by their rent
+garments to the larger trees encountered in their
+course--yet by far the greater number falling into the
+bottom of a chasm into which the sunbeam had never yet
+penetrated. The picked and whitened bones may be seen,
+shining through the deep gloom that envelopes every part
+of the abyss, even to this day.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Canadian Brothers (Volume II)
+by John Richardson
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CANADIAN BROTHERS ***
+
+This file should be named 5107.txt or 5107.zip
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