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diff --git a/8382.txt b/8382.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a9c3c66 --- /dev/null +++ b/8382.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8388 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Canadian Crusoes, by Catherine Parr Traill + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Canadian Crusoes + A Tale of The Rice Lake Plains + +Author: Catherine Parr Traill + +Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8382] +Posting Date: August 4, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADIAN CRUSOES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Widger, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + +CANADIAN CRUSOES. + +A TALE OF THE RICE LAKE PLAINS + + +By Catharine Parr Traill + +Authoress Of "The Backwoods Of Canada, Etc." + +Edited By Agnes Strickland + +Illustrated By Harvey + + + + London: + + Arthur Hall, Virtue, & Co. + + 25, Paternoster Row. + + 1852. + + + Dedicated + + To The Children Of The Settlers + + On + + The Rice Lake Plains, + + By Their + + Faithful Friend And Well-Wisher + + THE AUTHORESS. + + OAKLANDS, RICE LAKE, + + 15th Oct 1850 + + + + +PREFACE + +IT will be acknowledged that human sympathy irresistibly responds to any +narrative, founded on truth, which graphically describes the +struggles of isolated human beings to obtain the aliments of life. +The distinctions of pride and rank sink into nought, when the mind +is engaged in the contemplation of the inevitable consequences of the +assaults of the gaunt enemies, cold and hunger. Accidental circumstances +have usually given sufficient experience of their pangs, even to the +most fortunate, to make them own a fellow-feeling with those whom the +chances of shipwreck, war, wandering, or revolutions have cut off from +home and hearth, and the requisite supplies; not only from the +thousand artificial comforts which civilized society classes among the +necessaries of life, but actually from a sufficiency of "daily bread." + +Where is the man, woman, or child who has not sympathized with the poor +seaman before the mast, Alexander Selkirk, typified by the genius of +Defoe as his inimitable Crusoe, whose name (although one by no means +uncommon in middle life in the east of England,) has become synonymous +for all who build and plant in a wilderness, "cut off from humanity's +reach?" Our insular situation has chiefly drawn the attention of the +inhabitants of Great Britain to casualties by sea, and the deprivations +of individuals wrecked on some desert coast; but it is by no means +generally known that scarcely a summer passes over the colonists +in Canada, without losses of children from the families of settlers +occurring in the vast forests of the backwoods, similar to that on which +the narrative of the Canadian Crusoes is founded. Many persons thus lost +have perished in the wilderness; and it is to impress on the memory +the natural resources of this country, by the aid of interesting the +imagination, that the author of the well-known and popular work, "The +Backwoods of Canada," has written the following pages. + +She has drawn attention, in the course of this volume, to the practical +solution _[FN: See Appendix A; likewise p. 310.]_ of that provoking +enigma, which seems to perplex all anxious wanderers in an unknown land, +namely, that finding themselves, at the end of a day's toilsome march, +close to the spot from which they set out in the morning, and that this +cruel accident will occur for days in succession. The escape of Captain +O'Brien from his French prison at Verdun, detailed with such spirit in +his lively autobiography, offers remarkable instances of this propensity +of the forlorn wanderer in a strange land. A corresponding incident is +recorded in the narrative of the "Escape of a young French Officer from +the depot near Peterborough during the Napoleon European war." He found +himself thrice at night within sight of the walls of the prison from +which he had fled in the morning, after taking fruitless circular walks +of twenty miles. I do not recollect the cause of such lost labour being +explained in either narrative; perhaps the more frequent occurrence of +the disaster in the boundless backwoods of the Canadian colonies, forced +knowledge, dearly bought, on the perceptions of the settlers. Persons +who wander without knowing the features and landmarks of a country, +instinctively turn their faces to the sun, and for that reason always +travel in a circle, infallibly finding themselves at night in the very +spot from which they started in the morning. The resources and natural +productions of the noble colony of Canada are but superficially known. +An intimate acquaintance with its rich vegetable and animal productions +is most effectually made under the high pressure of difficulty and +necessity. Our writer has striven to interest children, or rather young +people approaching the age of adolescence, in the natural history of +this country, simply by showing them how it is possible for children to +make the best of it when thrown into a state of destitution as forlorn +as the wanderers on the Rice Lake Plains. Perhaps those who would +not care for the berry, the root, and the grain, as delineated and +classified technically in books of science, might remember their uses +and properties when thus brought practically before their notice as the +aliments of the famishing fellow-creature, with whom their instinctive +feelings must perforce sympathies. When parents who have left home +comforts and all the ties of gentle kindred for the dear sakes of their +rising families, in order to place them in a more independent position, +it is well if those young minds are prepared with some knowledge of what +they are to find in the adopted country; the animals, the flowers, the +fruits, and even the minuter blessings which a bountiful Creator has +poured forth over that wide land. + +The previous work of my sister, Mrs. Traill, "The Backwoods of Canada, +by the Wife of an Emigrant Officer," published some years since by Mr. +C. Knight, in his Library of Useful Knowledge, has passed through many +editions, and enjoyed, (anonymous though it was,) too wide a popularity +as a standard work for me to need to dwell on it, further than to say +that the present is written in the same _naive_, charming style, with +the same modesty and uncomplaining spirit, although much has the sweet +and gentle--author endured, as every English lady must expect to do who +ventures to encounter the lot of a colonist. She has now devoted her +further years of experience as a settler to the information of the +younger class of colonists, to open their minds and interest them in +the productions of that rising country, which will one day prove the +mightiest adjunct of the island empire; our nearest, our soundest +colony, unstained with the corruption of convict population; where +families of gentle blood need fear no real disgrace in their alliance; +where no one need beg, and where any one may dig without being ashamed. + + + + +LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. + +LOUIS CONFESSING HIS DECEPTION OF CATHARINE + +FIRST BREAKFAST, THE + +CATHARINE FOUND BY THE OLD DOG + +WOLF FINDING THE WOUNDED DOE + +HECTOR BRINGING THE INDIAN GIRL + +KILLING WILD FOWL + +INDIAN WOMAN AT THE DOOR OF THE HUT + +CATHARINE CARRIED OFF + +INDIANA BEFORE THE BALD EAGLE + +INDIANA AT THE STAKE + +ATTACK ON THE DEER + +RETURN HOME THE + +CANADIAN CRUSOES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "The morning had shot her bright streamers on high, + O'er Canada, opening all pale to the sky; + + Still dazzling and white was the robe that she wore, + Except where the ocean wave lash'd on the shore." + _Jacobite Song._ + +THERE lies between the Rice Lake and the Ontario, a deep and fertile +valley, surrounded by lofty wood-crowned hills, the heights of which +were clothed chiefly with groves of oak and pine, though the sides of +the hills and the alluvial bottoms gave a variety of noble timber +trees of various kinds, as the maple, beech, hemlock, and others. This +beautiful and highly picturesque valley is watered by many clear +streams of pure refreshing water, from whence the spot has derived its +appropriate appellation of "Cold Springs." At the time my little +history commences, this now highly cultivated spot was an unbroken +wilderness,--all tut two small farms, where dwelt the only occupiers of +the soil,--which owned no other possessors than the wandering hunting +tribes of wild Indians, to whom the right of the hunting grounds north +of Rice Lake appertained, according to their forest laws. + +To those who travel over beaten roads, now partially planted, among +cultivated fields and flowery orchards, and see cleared farms and herds +of cattle and flocks of sheep, the change would be a striking one. I +speak of the time when the neat and flourishing town of Cobourg, now +an important port on the Ontario, was but a village in embryo--if it +contained even a log-house or a block-house it was all that it did, and +the wild and picturesque ground upon which the fast increasing village +of Port Hope is situated, had not yielded one forest tree to the axe +of the settler. No gallant vessel spread her sails to waft the abundant +produce of grain and Canadian stores along the waters of that noble +sheet of water; no steamer had then furrowed its bosom with her iron +wheels, bearing the stream of emigration towards the wilds of our +Northern and Western forests, there to render a lonely trackless desert +a fruitful garden. What will not time and the industry of man, assisted +by the blessing of a merciful God, effect? To him be the glory and +honour; for we are taught, that "without the Lord build the city, their +labour is but lost that build it; without the Lord keep the city, the +watchman waketh but in vain." + +But to my tale. And first it will be necessary to introduce to the +acquaintance of my young readers the founders of our little settlement +at Cold Springs. + +Duncan Maxwell was a young Highland soldier, a youth of eighteen, at the +famous battle of Quebec, where, though only a private, he received the +praise of his colonel for his brave conduct. At the close of the battle +Duncan was wounded, and as the hospital was full at the time with sick +and disabled men, he was lodged in the house of a poor French Canadian +widow in the Quebec suburb; here, though a foreigner and an enemy, he +received much kind attention from his excellent hostess and her +family, which consisted of a young man about his own age, and a pretty +black-eyed lass not more than sixteen. The widow Perron was so much +occupied with other-lodgers--for she kept a sort of boarding-house--that +she had not much time to give to Duncan, so that he was left a great +deal to her son Pierre, and a little to Catharine, her daughter. + +Duncan Maxwell was a fine, open-tempered, frank lad, and he soon won the +regard of Pierre and his little sister. In spite of the prejudices of +country, and the difference of language and national customs, a steady +and increasing friendship grew up between the young Highlander and the +children of his hostess; therefore it was not without feelings of deep +regret that they heard the news, that the corps to which Duncan +belonged was ordered for embarkation to England, and Duncan was so far +convalescent as to be pronounced quite well enough to join them. Alas +for poor Catharine! she now found that parting with her patient was a +source of the deepest sorrow to her young and guileless heart; nor was +Duncan less moved at the separation from his gentle nurse. It might be +for years, and it might be for ever, he could not tell; but he could not +tear himself away without telling the object of his affections how dear +she was to him, and to whisper a hope that he might yet return one day +to claim her as his bride; and Catharine, weeping and blushing, promised +to wait for that happy day, or to remain single for his sake, while +Pierre promised to watch over his friend's interests and keep alive +Catharine's love; for, said he, artlessly, "la belle Catrine is pretty +and lively, and may have many suitors before she sees you again, mon +ami." + +They say the course of true love never did run smooth; but, with the +exception of this great sorrow, the sorrow of separation, the love of +our young Highland soldier and his betrothed knew no other interruption, +for absence served only to strengthen the affection which was founded on +gratitude and esteem. + +Two long years passed, however, and the prospect of re-union was yet +distant, when an accident, which disabled Duncan from serving his +country, enabled him to retire with the usual little pension, and return +to Quebec to seek his affianced. Some changes had taken place during +that short period: the widow Perron was dead; Pierre, the gay, +lively-hearted Pierre, was married to the daughter of a lumberer; and +Catharine, who had no relatives in Quebec, had gone up the country with +her brother and his wife, and was living in some little settlement above +Montreal with them. + +Thither Duncan, with the constancy of his nature, followed, and shortly +afterwards was married to his faithful Catharine. On one point they had +never differed, both being of the same religion. Pierre had seen a +good deal of the fine country on the shores of the Ontario; he had been +hunting with some friendly Indians between the great waters and the Rice +Lake, and he now thought if Duncan and himself could make up their minds +to a quiet life in the woods, there was not a better spot than the hill +pass between the plains and the big lake to fix themselves upon. Duncan +was of the same opinion when he saw the spot. It was not rugged and bare +like his own Highlands, but softer in character, yet his heart yearned +for the hill country. In those days there was no obstacle to taking +possession of any tract of land in the unsurveyed forests, therefore +Duncan agreed with his brother-in-law to pioneer the way with him, get a +dwelling put up and some ground prepared and "seeded down," and then to, +return for their wives and settle themselves down at once as farmers. +Others had succeeded, had formed little colonies, and become the heads +of villages in due time; why should not they? And now behold our two +backwoodsmen fairly commencing their arduous life; but it was nothing, +after all, to Pierre, by previous occupation a hardy lumberer, or the +Scottish soldier, accustomed to brave all sorts of hardships in a wild +country, himself a mountaineer, inured to a stormy climate, and scanty +fare, from his earliest youth. But it is not my intention to dwell upon +the trials and difficulties courageously met and battled with by our +settlers and their young wives. + +There was in those days a spirit of resistance among the first settlers +on the soil, a spirit to do and bear, that is less commonly met with +now. The spirit of civilization is now so widely diffused, that her +comforts are felt even in the depths of the forest, so that the newly +come emigrant feels comparatively few of the physical evils that were +endured by the older inhabitants. + +The first seed-wheat that was cast into the ground by Duncan and Pierre, +was brought with infinite trouble a distance of fifty miles in a little +skiff, navigated along the shores of the Ontario by the adventurous +Pierre, and from the nearest landing-place transported on the shoulders +of himself and Duncan to their homestead:--a day of great labour but +great joy it was when they deposited their precious freight in safety +on the shanty floor. They were obliged to make two journeys for the +contents of the little craft. What toil, what privation they endured for +the first two years! and now the fruits of it began slowly to appear. +No two creatures could be more unlike than Pierre and Duncan. The +Highlander, stern, steady, persevering, cautious, always giving ample +reasons for his doing or his not doing. The Canadian, hopeful, lively, +fertile in expedients, and gay as a lark; if one scheme failed another +was sure to present itself. Pierre and Duncan were admirably suited to +be friends and neighbours. The steady perseverance of the Scot helped +to temper the volatile temperament of the Frenchman. They generally +contrived to compass the same end by different means, as two streams +descending from opposite hills will meet in one broad river in the same +valley. + +Years passed on; the farm, carefully cultivated, began to yield its +increase, and food and warm clothing were not wanted in the homesteads. +Catharine had become, in course of time, the happy mother of four +healthy children; her sister-in-law had even exceeded her in these +welcome contributions to the population of a new colony. Between the +children of Pierre and Catharine the most charming harmony prevailed; +they grew up as one family, a pattern of affection and early friendship. +Though different in tempers and dispositions, Hector Maxwell, the eldest +son of the Scottish soldier, and his cousin, young Louis Perron, were +greatly attached; they, with the young Catharine and Mathilde, formed +a little coterie of inseparables; their amusements, tastes, pursuits, +occupations, all blended and harmonized delightfully; there were none +of those little envyings and bickerings among them that pave the way to +strife and disunion in after life. + +Catharine Maxwell and her cousin Louis were more like brother and sister +than Hector and Catharine, but Mathilde was gentle and dove-like, and +formed a contrast to the gravity of Hector and the vivacity of Louis and +Catharine. + +Hector and Louis were fourteen--strong, vigorous, industrious and hardy, +both in constitution and habits. The girls were turned of twelve. It is +not with Mathilde that our story is connected, but with the two lads +and Catharine. With the gaiety and naivete of the Frenchwoman, Catharine +possessed, when occasion called it into action, a thoughtful and +well-regulated mind, abilities which would well have repaid the care +of mental cultivation; but of book-learning she knew nothing beyond a +little reading, and that but imperfectly, acquired from her father's +teaching. It was an accomplishment which he had gained when in the army, +having been taught by his colonel's son, a lad of twelve years of age, +who had taken a great fancy to him, and had at parting given him a +few of his school-books, among which was a Testament, without cover +or title-page. At parting, the young gentleman recommended its daily +perusal to Duncan. Had the gift been a Bible, perhaps the soldier's +obedience to his priest might have rendered it a dead letter to him, +but as it fortunately happened, he was unconscious of any prohibition +to deter him from becoming acquainted with the truths of the Gospel. He +communicated the power of perusing his books to his children Hector and +Catharine, Duncan and Kenneth, in succession, with a feeling of intense +reverence; even the labour of teaching was regarded as a holy duty in +itself, and was not undertaken without deeply impressing the obligation +he was conferring upon them whenever they were brought to the task. It +was indeed a precious boon, and the children learned to consider it +as the pearl beyond all price in the trials that awaited them in their +eventful career. To her knowledge of religious truths young Catharine +added an intimate acquaintance with the songs and legends of her +father's romantic country, which was to her even as fairyland; often +would her plaintive ballads and old tales, related in the hut or the +wigwam to her attentive auditors, wile away heavy thoughts; Louis and +Mathilde, her cousins, sometimes wondered how Catharine had acquired +such a store of ballads and wild tales as she could tell. + +It was a lovely sunny day in the flowery month of June; Canada had not +only doffed that "dazzling white robe" mentioned in the songs of her +Jacobite emigrants, but had assumed the beauties of her loveliest +season, the last week in May and the first three of June being parallel +to the English May, full of buds and flowers and fair promise of +ripening fruits. The high sloping hills surrounding the fertile vale +of Cold Springs were clothed with the blossoms of the gorgeous scarlet +enchroma, or painted-cup; the large pure white blossoms of the lily-like +trillium; the delicate and fragile lilac geranium, whose graceful +flowers woo the hand of the flower-gatherer only to fade almost within +his grasp; the golden cyprepedium, or mocassin flower, so singular, so +lovely in its colour and formation, waved heavily its yellow blossoms as +the breeze shook the stems; and there, mingling with a thousand various +floral beauties, the azure lupine claimed its place, shedding almost a +heavenly tint upon the earth. Thousands of roses were blooming on the +more level ground, sending forth their rich fragrance, mixed with the +delicate scent of the feathery ceanothus, (New Jersey tea.) The vivid +greenness of the young leaves of the forest, the tender tint of the +springing corn, were contrasted with the deep dark fringe of waving +pines on the hills, and the yet darker shade of the spruce and balsams +on the borders of the creeks, for so our Canadian forest rills are +universally termed. The bright glancing wings of the summer red-bird, +the crimson-headed woodpecker, the gay blue-bird, and noisy but splendid +plumed jay, might be seen among the branches; the air was filled with +beauteous sights and soft murmuring melodies. Under the shade of the +luxuriant hop-vines, that covered the rustic porch in front of the +little dwelling, the light step of Catharine Maxwell might be heard +mixed with the drowsy whirring of the big wheel, as she passed to and +fro guiding the thread of yarn in its course: and now she sang snatches +of old mountain songs, such as she had learned from her father; and now, +with livelier air, hummed some gay French tune to the household melody +of her spinning wheel, as she advanced and retreated with her thread, +unconscious of the laughing black eye that was watching her movements +from among the embowering foliage that shielded her from the morning +sun. + +"Come, ma belle cousine," for so Louis delighted to call her. "Hector +and I are waiting for you to go with us to the 'Beaver Meadow.' The +cattle have strayed, and we think we shall find them there. The day is +delicious, the very flowers look as if they wanted to be admired +and plucked, and we shall find early strawberries on the old Indian +clearing." + +Catharine cast a longing look abroad, but said, "I fear, Louis, I cannot +go to-day, for see, I have all these rolls of wool to spin up, and my +yarn to wind off the reel and twist; and then, my mother is away." + +"Yes, I left her with mamma." replied Louis, "and she said she would be +home shortly, so her absence need not stay you. She said you could take +a basket and try and bring home some berries for sick Louise. Hector is +sure he knows a spot where we shall get some fine ones, ripe and red." +As he spoke Louis whisked away the big wheel to one end of the porch, +gathered up the hanks of yarn and tossed them into the open wicker +basket, and the next minute the large, coarse, flapped straw hat, that +hung upon the peg in the porch, was stuck not very gracefully on the +top of Catharine's head and tied beneath her chin, with a merry rattling +laugh, which drowned effectually the small lecture that Catharine began +to utter, by way of reproving the light-hearted boy. + +"But where is Mathilde?" + +"Sitting like a dear good girl, as she is, with sick Louise's head on +her lap, and would not disturb the poor sick thing for all the fruit and +flowers in Canada. Marie cried sadly to go with us, but I promised her +and petite Louise lots of flowers and berries if we get them, and the +dear children were as happy as queens when I left them." + +"But stay, cousin, you are sure my mother gave her consent to my going? +We shall be away chief part of the day. You know it is a long walk to +the Beaver Meadow and back again," said Catharine, hesitating as Louis +took her hand to lead her out from the porch. + +"Yes, yes, ma belle," said the giddy boy, quickly; "so come along, for +Hector is waiting at the barn; but stay, we shall be hungry before +we return, so let us have some cakes and butter, and do not forget a +tin-cup for water." + +Nothing doubting, Catharine, with buoyant spirits, set about her little +preparations, which were soon completed; but just as she was leaving the +little garden enclosure, she ran back to kiss Kenneth and Duncan, her +young brothers. In the farm yard she found Hector with his axe on his +shoulder. "What are you taking the axe for, Hector? you will find it +heavy to carry," said his sister. + +"In the first place, I have to cut a stick of blue-beech to make a broom +for sweeping the house, sister of mine; and that is for your use, Miss +Kate; and in the next place, I have to find, if possible, a piece of +rock elm or hiccory for axe handles; so now you have the reason why I +take the axe with me." + +The children now left the clearing, and struck into one of the deep +defiles that lay between the hills, and cheerfully they laughed and sung +and chattered, as they sped on their pleasant path; nor were they both +to exchange the glowing sunshine for the sober gloom of the forest +shade. What handfuls of flowers of all hues, red, blue, yellow and +white, were gathered only to be gazed at, carried for a while, then cast +aside for others fresher and fairer. And now they came to cool rills +that flowed, softly murmuring, among mossy limestone, or blocks of red +or grey granite, wending their way beneath twisted roots and fallen +trees; and often Catharine lingered to watch the eddying dimples of +the clear water, to note the tiny bright fragments of quartz or +crystallized limestone that formed a shining pavement below the stream; +and often she paused to watch the angry movements of the red squirrel, +as, with feathery tail erect, and sharp scolding note, he crossed +their woodland path, and swiftly darting up the rugged bark of some +neighbouring pine or hemlock, bade the intruders on his quiet haunts +defiance; yet so bold in his indignation, he scarcely condescended to +ascend beyond their reach. + +The long-continued hollow tapping of the large red-headed woodpecker, or +the singular subterranean sound caused by the drumming of the partridge, +striking his wings upon his breast to woo his gentle mate, and the +soft whispering note of the little tree-creeper, as it flitted from +one hemlock to another, collecting its food between the fissures of the +bark, were among the few sounds that broke the noontide stillness of the +woods; but to all such sights and sounds the lively Catharine and +her cousin were not indifferent. And often they wondered, that Hector +gravely pursued his onward way, and seldom lingered as they did to mark +the bright colours of the flowers, or the bright sparkling of the forest +rill. + +"What makes Hec so grave?" said Catharine to her companion, as they +seated themselves upon a mossy trunk, to await his coming up, for they +had giddily chased each other till they had far outrun him. + +"Hector, sweet coz, is thinking perhaps of how many bushels of corn or +wheat this land would grow if cleared, or he may be examining the soil +or the trees, or is looking for his stick of blue-beech for your broom, +or the hiccory for his axe handle, and never heeding such nonsense as +woodpeckers and squirrels, and lilies and moss and ferns, for Hector is +not a giddy thing like his cousin Louis, or--" + +"His sister Kate," interrupted Catharine, merrily; "but when shall we +come to the Beaver Meadow?" + +"Patience, ma belle, all in good time. Hark, was not that the ox-bell? +No; Hector whistling." And soon they heard the heavy stroke of his +axe ringing among the trees, for he had found the blue-beech, and was +cutting it to leave on the path, that he might take it home on their +return; he had also marked some hiccory of a nice size for his axe +handles, to bring home at some future time. + +The children had walked several miles, and were not sorry to sit down +and rest till Hector joined them. He was well pleased with his success, +and declared he felt no fatigue. "As soon as we reach the old Indian +clearing, we shall find strawberries," he said, "and a fresh cold +spring, and then we will have our dinners." + +"Come, Hector,--come, Louis," said Catharine, jumping up, "I long to +be gathering the strawberries; and see, my flowers are faded, so I +will throw them away, and the basket shall be filled with fresh fruit +instead, and we must not forget petite Marie and sick Louise, or dear +Mathilde. Ah, how I wish she were here at this minute! But here is the +opening to the Beaver Meadow." + +And the sunlight was seen streaming through the opening trees as they +approached the cleared space, which some called the "Indian clearing," +but is now more generally known as the little Beaver Meadow. It was +a pleasant spot, green, and surrounded with light bowery trees and +flowering shrubs, of a different growth from those that belong to the +dense forest. Here the children found, on the hilly ground above, fine +ripe strawberries, the earliest they had seen that year, and soon all +weariness was forgotten while pursuing the delightful occupation of +gathering the tempting fruit; and when they had refreshed themselves, +and filled the basket with leaves and fruit, they slaked their thirst +from the stream, which wound its way among the bushes. Catharine +neglected not to reach down flowery bunches of the fragrant white-thorn +and of the high-bush cranberry, then radiant with nodding umbels of +snowy blossoms, or to wreath the handle of the little basket with the +graceful trailing runners of the lovely twin-flowered plant, the Linnaea +borealis, which she always said reminded her of the twins, Louise and +Marie, her little cousins. And now the day began to wear away, for they +had lingered long in the little clearing; they had wandered from the +path by which they entered it; and had neglected, in their eagerness to +look for the strawberries, to notice any particular mark by which they +might regain it. Just when they began to think of returning, Louis +noticed a beaten path, where there seemed recent prints of cattle hoofs +on a soft spongy soil beyond the creek. + +"Come, Hector," said he gaily, "this is lucky; we are on the cattle +path; no fear but it will lead us directly home, and that by a nearer +track." + +Hector was undecided about following it, he fancied it bent too much +towards the setting sun; but his cousin overruled his objection. "And is +not this our own creek?" he said: "I have often heard my father say it +had its rise somewhere about this old clearing." + +Hector now thought Louis might be right, and they boldly followed the +path among the poplars and thorns and bushes that clothed its banks, +surprised to see how open the ground became, and how swift and clear the +stream swept onward. + +"Oh, this dear creek," cried the delighted Catharine, "how pretty it is! +I shall often follow its course after this; no doubt it has its source +from our own Cold Springs." + +And so they cheerfully pursued their way, till the sun, sinking behind +the range of westerly hills, soon left them in gloom; but they anxiously +hurried forward when the stream wound its noisy way among steep stony +banks, clothed scantily with pines and a few scattered silver-barked +poplars. And now they became bewildered by two paths leading in opposite +directions; one upward among the rocky hills, the other through the +opening gorge of a deep ravine. + +Here, overcome with fatigue, Catharine seated herself on a large block +of granite, near a great bushy pine that grew beside the path by +the ravine, unable to proceed, and Hector, with a grave and troubled +countenance, stood beside her, looking round with an air of great +perplexity. Louis, seating himself at Catharine's feet, surveyed the +deep gloomy valley before them, and sighed heavily. The conviction had +now forcibly struck him that they had mistaken the path altogether. The +very aspect of the country was different; the growth of the trees, the +flow of the stream, all indicated a change of soil and scene. Darkness +was fast drawing its impenetrable veil around them; a few stars were +stealing out, and gleaming down as if with pitying glance upon the young +wanderers; but they could not light up their pathway, or point their +homeward track. The only sound, save the lulling murmur of the rippling +stream below, was the plaintive note of the whip-poor-will, from a +gnarled oak that grew near them, and the harsh grating scream of the +night hawk, darting about in the higher regions of the air, pursuing +its noisy congeners, or swooping down with that peculiar hollow rushing +sound, as of a person blowing into some empty vessel, when it seizes +with wide-extended bill its insect prey. + +Hector was the first to break the silence. "Cousin Louis, we were wrong +in following the course of the stream; I fear we shall never find our +way back to-night." + +Louis made no reply; his sad and subdued air failed not to attract the +attention of his cousins. "Why, Louis, how is this? you are not used to +be cast down by difficulties," said Hector, as he marked something like +tears glistening in the dark eyes of his cousin. + +Louis's heart was full, he did not reply, but cast a troubled glance +upon the weary Catharine, who leaned heavily against the tree beneath +which she sat. + +"It is not," resumed Hector, "that I mind passing a summer's night under +such a sky as this, and with such a dry grassy bed below me; but I do +not think it is good for Catharine to sleep on the bare ground in +the night dews,--and then they will be so anxious at home about our +absence." + +Louis burst into tears, and sobbed out,--"And it is all my doing that +she came out with us; I deceived her, and my aunt will be angry and much +alarmed, for she did not know of her going at all. Dear Catharine, good +cousin Hector, pray forgive me!" But Catharine was weeping too much to +reply to his passionate entreaties, and Hector, who never swerved from +the truth, for which he had almost a stern reverence, hardly repressed +his indignation at what appeared to him a most culpable act of deceit on +the part of Louis. + +The sight of her cousin's grief and self-abasement touched the tender +heart of Catharine, for she was kind and dove-like in her disposition, +and loved Louis, with all his faults. Had it not been for the painful +consciousness of the grief their unusual absence would occasion at home, +Catharine would have thought nothing of their present adventure; but she +could not endure the idea of her high-principled father taxing her with +deceiving her kind indulgent mother and him: it was this humiliating +thought which wounded the proud heart of Hector, causing him to upbraid +his cousin in somewhat harsh terms for his want of truthfulness, +and steeled him against the bitter grief that wrung the heart of the +penitent Louis, who, leaning his wet cheek on the shoulder of the kinder +Catharine, sobbed as if his heart would break, heedless of her soothing +words and affectionate endeavours to console him. + +"Dear Hector," she said, turning her soft, pleading eyes on the stem +face of her brother, "you must not be so very angry with poor Louis; +remember it was to please me, and give me the enjoyment of a day of +liberty with you and himself in the woods, among the flowers and trees +and birds, that he committed this fault." + +"Catharine, Louis spoke an untruth and acted deceitfully, and look at +the consequences,--we shall have forfeited our parents' confidence, and +may have some days of painful privation to endure before we regain our +home, if we ever do find our way back to Cold Springs," replied Hector. + +"It is the grief and anxiety our dear parents will endure this night," +answered Catharine, "that distresses my mind; but," she added in more +cheerful tones, "let us not despair, no doubt to-morrow we shall be able +to retrace our steps." + +With the young there is ever a magical spell in that little word +_to-morrow_,--it is a point which they pursue as fast as it recedes from +them; sad indeed is the young heart that does not look forward with hope +to the morrow! + +The cloud still hung on Hector's brow, till Catharine gaily exclaimed, +"Come, Hector! come, Louis! we must not stand idling thus; we must think +of providing some shelter for the night; it is not good to rest upon the +bare ground exposed to the night dews.--See, here is a nice hut, half +made," pointing to a large upturned root which some fierce whirlwind had +hurled from the lofty bank into the gorge of the dark glen. + +"Now you must make haste, and lop off a few pine boughs, and stick them +into the ground, or even lean them against the roots of this old oak, +and there, you see, will be a capital house to shelter us. To work, to +work, you idle boys, or poor wee Katty must turn squaw and build her own +wigwam," she playfully added, taking up the axe which rested against the +feathery pine beneath which Hector was leaning. Now, Catharine cared +as little as her brother and cousin about passing a warm summer's night +under the shade of the forest trees, for she was both hardy and healthy; +but her woman's heart taught her that the surest means of reconciling +the cousins would be by mutually interesting them in the same +object,--and she was right. In endeavouring to provide for the comfort +of their dear companion, all angry feelings were forgotten by Hector, +while active employment chased away Louis's melancholy. + +Unlike the tall, straight, naked trunks of the pines of the forest, +those of the plains are adorned with branches often to the very ground, +varying in form and height, and often presenting most picturesque +groups, or rising singly among scattered groves of the silver-barked +poplar or graceful birch-trees; the dark, mossy greenness of the stately +pine contrasting finely with the light waving foliage of its slender +graceful companions. + +Hector, with his axe, soon lopped boughs from one of the adjacent pines, +which Louis sharpened with his knife, and with Catharine's assistance +drove into the ground, arranging them in such a way as to make the +upturned oak, with its roots and the earth which adhered to them, form +the back part of the hut, which, when completed, formed by no means +a contemptible shelter. Catharine then cut fern and deer grass with +Louis's _couteau-de-chasse_, which he always carried in a sheath at his +girdle, and spread two beds, one, parted off by dry boughs and bark, +for herself in the interior of the wigwam, and one for her brother and +cousin nearer the entrance. When all was finished to her satisfaction, +she called the two boys, and, according to the custom of her parents, +joined them in the lifting up of their hands as an evening sacrifice of +praise and thanksgiving. Nor were these simple-hearted children backward +in imploring help and protection from the Most High. They earnestly +prayed that no dangerous creature might come near to molest them during +the hours of darkness and helplessness, no evil spirit visit them, no +unholy or wicked thoughts intrude into their minds; but that holy angels +and heavenly thoughts might hover over them, and fill their hearts with +the peace of God which passeth all understanding.--And the prayer of the +poor wanderers was heard, for they slept that night in peace, unharmed +in the vast solitude. So passed their first night on the Plains. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows." + +The sun had risen in all the splendour of a Canadian summer morning, +when the sleepers arose from their leafy beds. In spite of the novelty +of their situation, they had slept as soundly and tranquilly as if they +had been under the protecting care of their beloved parents, on their +little paliasses of corn straw; but they had been cared for by Him who +neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, and they waked full of youthful hope, +and in fulness of faith in His mercy into whose hands they had commended +their souls and bodies before they retired to rest. + +While the children slept in peace and safety, what terrors had filled +the minds of their distracted parents! what a night of anguish and +sorrow had they passed! + +When night had closed in without bringing back the absent children, the +two fathers, lighting torches of fat pine, went forth in search of the +wanderers. How often did they raise their voices in hopes their loud +halloos might reach the hearing of the lost ones! How often did they +check their hurried steps to listen for some replying call! But the +sighing breeze in the pine tops, or sudden rustling of the leaves +caused by the flight of the birds, startled by the unusual glare of the +torches, and the echoes of their own voices, were the only sounds that +met their anxious ears. At daybreak they returned, sad and dispirited, +to their homes, to snatch a morsel of food, endeavour to cheer the +drooping hearts of the weeping mothers, and hurry off, taking different +directions. But, unfortunately, they had little clue to the route which +Hector and Louis had taken, there being many cattle paths through the +woods. Louis's want of truthfulness had caused this uncertainty, as he +had left no intimation of the path he purposed taking when he quitted +his mother's house: he had merely said he was going with Hector +in search of the cattle, giving no hint of his intention of asking +Catharine to accompany them: he had but told his sick sister, that +he would bring home strawberries and flowers, and that he would soon +return. Alas, poor thoughtless Louis, how little did you think of the +web of woe you were then weaving for yourself, and all those to whom you +and your giddy companions were so dear! Children, think twice, ere ye +deceive once! Catharine's absence would have been quite unaccountable +but for the testimony of Duncan and Kenneth, who had received her +sisterly caresses before she joined Hector at the barn; and much her +mother marvelled what could have induced her good dutiful Catharine to +have left her work and forsaken her household duties to go rambling away +with the boys, for she never left the house when her mother was absent +from, it, without her express permission, and now she was gone--lost +to them, perhaps for ever. There stood the wheel she had been turning, +there hung the untwisted hanks of yarn, her morning task,--and there +they remained week after week and month after month, untouched, a +melancholy memorial to the hearts of the bereaved parents of their +beloved. + +It were indeed a fruitless task to follow the agonized fathers in their +vain search for their children, or to paint the bitter anguish that +filled their hearts as day passed after day, and still no tidings of +the lost ones. As hope faded, a deep and settled gloom stole over the +sorrowing parents, and reigned throughout the once cheerful and gladsome +homes. At the end of a week the only idea that remained was, that one +of these three casualties had befallen the lost children:--death, a +lingering death by famine; death, cruel and horrible, by wolves or +bears; or yet more terrible, with tortures by the hands of the dreaded +Indians, who occasionally held their councils and hunting parties on the +hills about the Rice Lake, which was known only by the elder Perron +as the scene of many bloody encounters between the rival tribes of the +Mohawks and Chippewas: its localities were scarcely ever visited by +our settlers, lest haply they should fall into the hands of the bloody +Mohawks, whose merciless dispositions made them in those days a by-word +even to the less cruel Chippewas and other Indian nations. + +It was not in the direction of the Rice Lake that Maxwell and his +brother-in-law sought their lost children; and even if they had done so, +among the deep glens and hill passes of what is now commonly called +the Plains, they would have stood little chance of discovering the poor +wanderers. After many days of fatigue of body and distress of mind, the +sorrowing parents sadly relinquished the search as utterly hopeless, +and mourned in bitterness of spirit over the disastrous fate of their +first-born and beloved children.--"There was a voice of woe, and +lamentation, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, +and refusing to be comforted, because they were not." The miserable +uncertainty that involved the fate of the lost ones was an aggravation +to the sufferings of the mourners: could they but have been certified of +the manner of their deaths, they fancied they should be more contented; +but, alas! this fearful satisfaction was withheld. + + "Oh, were their tale of sorrow known, + 'Twere something to the breaking heart, + The pangs of doubt would then be gone, + And fancy's endless dreams depart." + +But let us quit the now mournful settlement of the Cold Springs, and see +how it really fared with the young wanderers. + +When they awoke the valley was filled with a white creamy mist, that +arose from the bed of the stream, (now known as Cold Creek,) and gave an +indistinctness to the whole landscape, investing it with an appearance +perfectly different to that which it had worn by the bright, clear +light of the moon. No trace of their footsteps remained to guide them in +retracing their path; so hard and dry was the stony ground that it left +no impression on its surface. It was with some difficulty they found +the creek, which was concealed from sight by a lofty screen of gigantic +hawthorns, high-bush cranberries, poplars, and birch-trees. The hawthorn +was in blossom, and gave out a sweet perfume, not less fragrant than +the "May" which makes the lanes and hedgerows of "merrie old England" so +sweet and fair in May and June, as chanted in many a genuine pastoral +of our olden time; but when our simple Catharine drew down the flowery +branches to wreathe about her hat, she loved the flowers for their own +native sweetness and beauty, not because poets had sung of them;--but +young minds have a natural poetry in themselves, unfettered by rule or +rhyme. + +At length their path began to grow more difficult. A tangled mass of +cedars, balsams, birch, black ash, alders, and _tamarack_ (Indian name +for the larch), with a dense thicket of bushes and shrubs, such as love +the cool, damp soil of marshy ground, warned our travellers that +they must quit the banks of the friendly stream, or they might become +entangled in a trackless swamp. Having taken copious and refreshing +draughts from the bright waters, and bathed their hands and faces, they +ascended the grassy bank, and again descending, found themselves in one +of those long valleys, enclosed between lofty sloping banks, clothed +with shrubs and oaks, with here and there a stately pine. Through this +second valley they pursued their way, till emerging into a wider space, +they came among those singularly picturesque groups of rounded gravel +hills, where the Cold Creek once more met their view, winding its way +towards a grove of evergreens, where it was again lost to the eye. + +This lovely spot is now known as Sackville's Mill-dike. The hand of +man has curbed the free course of the wild forest stream, and made it +subservient to his will, but could not destroy the natural beauties of +the scene. _[FN: This place was originally owned by a man of taste, +who resided for some time upon the spot, till finding it convenient to +return to his native country, the saw-mill passed into other hands. The +old log-house on the green bank above the mill-stream is still standing, +though deserted; the garden fence, broken and dilapidated, no longer +protects the enclosure, where the wild rose mingles with that of +Provence,--the Canadian creeper with the hop.]_ + +Fearing to entangle themselves in the swamp, they kept the hilly ground, +winding their way up to the summit of the lofty ridge of the oak hills, +the highest ground they had yet attained; and here it was that the +silver waters of the Rice Lake in all its beauty burst upon the eyes of +the wondering and delighted travellers. There it lay, a sheet of liquid +silver just emerging from the blue veil of mist that hung upon its +surface, and concealed its wooded shores on either side. All feeling of +dread and doubt and danger was lost, for the time, in one rapturous glow +of admiration at a scene so unexpected and so beautiful as that which +they now gazed upon from the elevation they had gained. From this ridge +they looked down the lake, and the eye could take in an extent of many +miles, with its verdant wooded islands, which stole into view one by one +as the rays of the morning sun drew up the moving curtain of mist +that enveloped them; and soon both northern and southern shores became +distinctly visible, with all their bays and capes and swelling oak and +pine-crowned hills. + +And now arose the question, "Where are we? What lake is this? Can it be +the Ontario, or is it the Rice Lake? Can yonder shores be those of the +Americans, or are they the hunting-grounds of the dreaded Indians?" +Hector remembered having often heard his father say that the Ontario was +like an inland sea, and the opposite shores not visible unless in some +remarkable state of the atmosphere, when they had been occasionally +discerned by the naked eye, while here they could distinctly see objects +on the other side, the peculiar growth of the trees, and even flights of +wild fowl winging their way among the rice and low bushes on its margin. +The breadth of the lake from shore to shore could not, they thought, +exceed three or four miles; while its length, in an easterly direction, +seemed far greater beyond--what the eye could take in. _[FN: The +length of the Rice Lake, from its headwaters near Black's Landing to the +mouth of the Trent, is said to be twenty-five miles; its breadth from +north to south varies from three to six.]_ + +They now quitted the lofty ridge, and bent their steps towards the lake. +Wearied with their walk, they seated themselves beneath the shade of +a beautiful feathery pine, on a high promontory that commanded a +magnificent view down the lake. + +"How pleasant it would be to have a house on this delightful bank, +overlooking the lake," said Louis; "only think of the fish we could +take, and the ducks and wild fowl we could shoot! and it would be no +very hard matter to hollow out a log canoe, such a one as I have heard +my father say he has rowed in across many a lake and broad river--below, +when he was lumbering." + +"Yes, it would, indeed, be a pleasant spot to live upon," _[FN: +Now the site of a pleasant cottage, erected by an enterprising gentleman +from Devonshire, who has cleared and cultivated a considerable portion +of the ground described above; a spot almost unequalled in the plains +for its natural beauties and extent of prospect.]_ said Hector, "though +I am not quite sure that the land is as good just here as it is at Cold +Springs; but all these flats and rich valleys would make fine pastures, +and produce plenty of grain, too, if cultivated." + +"You always look to the main chance, Hec," said Louis, laughing; "well, +it was worth a few hours' walking this morning to look upon so lovely a +sheet of water as this. I would spend two nights in a wigwam,--would not +you, ma belle?--to enjoy such a sight." + +"Yes, Louis," replied his cousin, hesitating as she spoke; "it is very +pretty, and I did not mind sleeping in the little hut; but then I cannot +enjoy myself as much as I should have done had my father and mother been +aware of my intention of accompanying you. Ah, my dear, dear parents!" +she added, as the thought of the anguish the absence of her companions +and herself would cause at home came over her. "How I wish I had +remained at home! Selfish Catharine! foolish idle girl!" + +Poor Louis was overwhelmed with grief at the sight of his cousin's +tears, and as the kind-hearted but thoughtless boy bent over her to +soothe and console her, his own tears fell upon the fair locks of the +weeping girl, and bedewed the hand he held between his own. + +"If you cry thus, cousin," he whispered, "you will break poor Louis's +heart, already sore enough with thinking of his foolish conduct." "Be +not cast down, Catharine," said her brother, cheeringly: "we may not be +so far from home as you think. As soon as you are rested we will set out +again, and we may find something to eat; there must be strawberries on +these sunny banks." + +Catharine soon yielded to the voice of her brother, and drying her eyes, +proceeded to descend the sides of the steep valley that lay to one side +of the high ground where they had been sitting. + +Suddenly darting down the bank, she exclaimed, "Come, Hector; come, +Louis: here indeed is provision to keep us from starving:"--for her eye +had caught the bright red strawberries among the flowers and herbage on +the slope; large ripe strawberries, the very finest she had ever seen. + +"There is indeed, ma belle," said Louis, stooping as he spoke to gather +up, not the fruit, but a dozen fresh partridge eggs from the inner +shade of a thick tuft of grass and herbs that grew beside a fallen +tree. Catharine's voice and sudden movements had startled the partridge +_[FN: The Canadian partridge is a species of grouse, larger than +the English or French partridge. We refer our young readers to the +finely arranged specimens in the British Museum, (open to the public,) +where they may discover "Louis's partridge."]_ from her nest, and the +eggs were soon transferred to Louis's straw hat, while a stone flung +by the steady hand of Hector stunned the parent bird. The boys laughed +exultingly as they displayed their prizes to the astonished Catharine, +who, in spite of hunger, could not help regretting the death of the +mother bird. Girls and women rarely sympathise with men and boys in +their field sports, and Hector laughed at his sister's doleful looks as +he handed over the bird to her. + +"It was a lucky chance," said he, "and the stone was well aimed, but it +is not the first partridge that I have killed in this way. They are so +stupid you may even run them down at times; I hope to get another before +the day is over. Well, there is no fear of starving to-day, at all +events," he added, as he inspected the contents of his cousin's hat; +"twelve nice fresh eggs, a bird, and plenty of fruit." + +"But how shall we cook the bird and the eggs? We have no means of +getting a fire made," said Catharine. + +"As to the eggs," said Louis, "we can eat them raw; it is not for hungry +wanderers like us to be over nice about our food." + +"They would satisfy us much better were they boiled, or roasted in the +ashes," observed Hector. + +"True. Well, a fire, I think, can be got with a little trouble." + +"But how?" asked Hector. "Oh, there are many ways, but the readiest +would be a flint with the help of my knife." + +"A flint?" + +"Yes, if we could get one--but I see nothing but granite, which crumbles +and shivers when struck--we could not get a spark. However, I think it's +very likely that one of the round pebbles I see on the beach yonder may +be found hard enough for the purpose." + +To the shore they bent their steps as soon as the little basket had +been well filled with strawberries, and descending the precipitous bank, +fringed with young saplings, birch, ash, and poplars, they quickly found +themselves beside the bright waters of the lake. A flint was soon found +among the water-worn stones that lay thickly strewn upon the shore, and +a handful of dry sedge, almost as inflammable as tinder, was collected +without trouble; though Louis, with the recklessness of his nature, had +coolly proposed to tear a strip from his cousin's apron as a substitute +for tinder,--a proposal that somewhat raised the indignation of the tidy +Catharine, whose ideas of economy and neatness were greatly outraged, +especially as she had no sewing implements to assist in mending the +rent. Louis thought nothing of that; it was a part of his character to +think only of the present, little of the past, and to let the future +provide for itself. Such was Louis's great failing, which had proved a +fruitful source of trouble both to himself and others. In this respect +he bore a striking contrast to his more cautious companion, who +possessed much of the gravity of his father. Hector was as heedful and +steady in his decisions as Louis was rash and impetuous. + +After many futile attempts, and some skin knocked off their knuckles +through awkward handling of the knife and flint, a good fire was at last +kindled, as there was no lack of dry wood on the shore; Catharine then +triumphantly produced her tin pot, and the eggs were boiled, greatly +to the satisfaction of all parties, who were by this time sufficiently +hungry, having eaten nothing since the previous evening more substantial +than the strawberries they had taken during the time they were gathering +them in the morning. + +Catharine had selected a pretty, cool, shady recess, a natural bower, +under the overhanging growth of cedars, poplars, and birch, which were +wreathed together by the flexile branches of the vine and bitter-sweet, +which climbed to a height of fifteen feet _[FN: Solatnum +dulcamara,--Bitter-sweet or Woody nightshade. This plant, like the +red-berried briony of England, is highly ornamental. It possesses +powerful properties as a medicine, and is in high reputation among the +Indians.]_ among the branches _[Illustration: THE FIRST BREAKFAST]_ of +the trees, which it covered as with a mantle. A pure spring of cold, +delicious water welled out from beneath the twisted roots of an old +hoary-barked cedar, and found its way among the shingles on the beach +to the lake, a humble but constant tributary to its waters. Some large +blocks of water-worn stone formed convenient seats and a natural table, +on which the little maiden arranged the forest fare; and never was a +meal made with greater appetite or taken with more thankfulness than +that which our wanderers ate that morning. The eggs (part of which they +reserved for another time) were declared to be better than those that +were daily produced from the little hen-house at Cold Springs. The +strawberries, set out in little pottles made with the shining leaves of +the oak, ingeniously pinned together by Catharine with the long spurs +of the hawthorn, _[FN: The long-spurred American hawthorn may be +observed by our young readers among that beautiful collection of the +hawthorn family and its affinities, which flourish on the north side +of Kensington Gardens.]_ were voted delicious, and the pure water most +refreshing, that they drank, for lack of better cups, from a large +mussel-shell which Catharine had picked up among the weeds and pebbles +on the beach. + +Many children would have wandered about weeping and disconsolate, +lamenting their sad fate, or have embittered the time by useless +repining, or, perhaps, by venting their uneasiness in reviling the +principal author of their calamity--poor, thoughtless Louis; but such +were not the dispositions of our young Canadians. Early accustomed to +the hardships incidental to the lives of the settlers in the bush, +these young people had learned to bear with patience and cheerfulness +privations that would have crushed the spirits of children more +delicately nurtured. They had known every degree of hunger and +nakedness; during the first few years of their lives they had often +been compelled to subsist for days and weeks upon roots and herbs, wild +fruits, and game which their fathers had learned to entrap, to decoy, +and to shoot. Thus Louis and Hector had early been initiated into the +mysteries of the chase. They could make deadfalls, and pits, and traps, +and snares,--they were as expert as Indians in the use of the bow,--they +could pitch a stone, or fling a wooden dart at partridge, hare, and +squirrel, with almost unerring aim; and were as swift of foot as young +fawns. Now it was that they learned to value in its fullest extent +this useful and practical knowledge, which enabled them to face with +fortitude the privations of a life so precarious as that to which they +were now exposed. + +It was one of the elder Maxwell's maxims,--Never let difficulties +overcome you, but rather strive to conquer them; let the head direct the +hand, and the hand, like a well-disciplined soldier, obey the head +as chief. When his children expressed any doubts of not being able to +accomplish any work they had begun, he would say, "Have you not hands, +have you not a head, have you not eyes to see, and reason to guide +you? As for impossibilities, they do not belong to the trade of a +soldier,--he dare not see them." Thus were energy and perseverance early +instilled into the minds of his children; they were now called upon +to give practical proofs of the precepts that had been taught them +in childhood. Hector trusted to his axe, and Louis to his +_couteau-de-chasse_ and pocket-knife; the latter was a present from an +old forest friend of his father's, who had visited them the previous +winter, and which, by good luck, Louis had in his pocket--a capacious +pouch, in which were stored many precious things, such as coils of twine +and string, strips of leather, with odds and ends of various kinds; +nails, bits of iron, leather, and such miscellaneous articles as find +their way most mysteriously into boys' pockets in general, and Louis +Perron's in particular, who was a wonderful collector of such small +matters. + +The children were not easily daunted by the prospect of passing a few +days abroad on so charming a spot, and at such a lovely season, where +fruits were so abundant; and when they had finished their morning +meal, so providentially placed within their reach, they gratefully +acknowledged the mercy of God in this thing. + +Having refreshed themselves by bathing their hands and faces in the +lake, they cheerfully renewed their wanderings, though something both +to leave the cool shade and the spring for an untrodden path among the +hills and deep ravines that furrow the shores of the Rice Lake in so +remarkable a manner; and often did our weary wanderers pause to look +upon the wild glens and precipitous hills, where the fawn and the shy +deer found safe retreats, unharmed by the rifle of the hunter,--where +the osprey and white-headed eagle built their nests, unheeding and +unharmed. Twice that day, misled by following the track of the deer, had +they returned to the same spot,--a deep and lovely glen, which had once +been a water-course, but now a green and shady valley. This they named +the Valley of the Rock, from a remarkable block of red granite that +occupied a central position in the narrow defile; and here they prepared +to pass the second night on the Plains. A few boughs cut down and +interlaced with the shrubs round a small space cleared with Hector's +axe, formed shelter, and leaves and grass, strewed on the ground, formed +a bed, though not so smooth, perhaps, as the bark and cedar-boughs that +the Indians spread within their summer wigwams for carpets and couches, +or the fresh heather that the Highlanders gather on the wild Scottish +hills. + +While Hector and Louis were preparing the sleeping-chamber, Catharine +busied herself in preparing the partridge for their supper. Having +collected some thin peelings from the ragged bark of a birch-tree, that +grew on the side of the steep bank to which she gave the appropriate +name of the "Birken shaw," she dried it in her bosom, and then beat it +fine upon a big stone, till it resembled the finest white paper. This +proved excellent tinder, the aromatic oil contained in the bark of the +birch being highly inflammable, Hector had prudently retained the flint +that they had used in the morning, and a fire was now lighted in front +of the rocky stone, and a forked stick, stuck in the ground, and bent +over the coals, served as a spit, on which, gipsy-fashion, the partridge +was suspended,--a scanty meal, but thankfully partaken of, though they +knew not how they should breakfast next morning, The children felt they +were pensioners on God's providence not less than the wild denizens of +the wilderness around them. + +When Hector--who by nature was less sanguine than his sister or +cousin--expressed some anxiety for their provisions for the morrow, +Catharine, who had early listened with trusting piety of heart to the +teaching of her father, when he read portions from the holy word of God, +gently laid her hand upon her brother's head, which rested on her knees, +as he sat upon the grass beside her, and said, in a low and earnest +tone, "'Consider the fowls of the air; they sow not, neither do they +reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are +ye not much better than they?' Surely, my brother, God careth for us as +much as for the wild creatures, that have no sense to praise and glorify +his holy name. God cares for the creatures He has made, and supplies +them with knowledge where they shall find food when they hunger and +thirst. So I have heard my father say; and surely our father knows, for +is he not a wise man, Hector?" + +"I remember," said Louis, thoughtfully, "hearing my mother repeat the +words of a good old man she knew when she lived in Quebec;--'When you +are in trouble, Mathilde,' he used to say to her, 'kneel down, and ask +God's help, nothing doubting but that He has the power as well as the +will to serve you, if it be for your good; for He is able to bring all +things to pass. It is our own want of faith that prevents our prayers +from being heard. And, truly, I think the wise old man was right," he +added. + +It was strange to hear grave words like these from the lips of the giddy +Louis. Possibly they had the greater weight on that account. And Hector, +looking up with a serious air, replied, "Your mother's friend was a good +man, Louis. Our want of trust in God's power must displease Him. And +when we think of all the great and glorious things He has made,--that +blue sky, those sparkling stars, the beautiful moon that is now shining +down upon us, and the hills and waters, the mighty forest, and little +creeping plants and flowers that grow at our feet,--it must, indeed, +seem foolish in his eyes that we should doubt his power to help us, who +not only made all these things, but ourselves also." + +"True," said Catharine; "but then, Hector, we are not as God made us; +for the wicked one cast bad seed in the field where God had sown the +good." + +"Let us, however, consider what we shall do for food; for, you know, +God helps those that help themselves," said Louis. "Let us consider a +little. There must be plenty of fish in the lake, both small and great." + +"But how are we to get them out of it?" rejoined Catharine. "I doubt the +fish will swim at their ease there, while we go hungry." + +"Do not interrupt me, ma chere. Then, we see the track of deer, and the +holes of the wood-chuck; we hear the cry of squirrels and chipmunks, and +there are plenty of partridges, and ducks, and quails, and snipes; of +course, we have to contrive some way to kill them. Fruits there are in +abundance, and plenty of nuts of different kinds. At present we have +plenty of fine strawberries, and huckleberries will be ripe soon in +profusion, and bilberries too, and you know how pleasant they are; as +for raspberries, I see none; but by-and-by there will be +May-apples--I see great quantities of them in the low grounds, grapes, +high-bush-cranberries, haws as large as cherries, and sweet too; +squaw-berries, wild plums, choke-cherries, and bird-cherries. As +to sweet acorns, there will be bushels and bushels of them for the +roasting, as good as chestnuts, to my taste; and butter-nuts, and +hickory-nuts,--with many other good things." And here Louis stopped for +want of breath to continue his catalogue of forest dainties. + +"Yes; and there are bears, and wolves, and racoons, too, that will eat +us for want of better food," interrupted Hector, slyly. "Nay, Katty, +do not shudder, as if you were already in the clutches of a big bear. +Neither bear nor wolf shall make mincemeat of thee, my girl, while Louis +and thy brother are near, to wield an axe or a knife in thy defence." + +"Nor catamount spring upon thee, ma belle cousine," added Louis, +gallantly, "while thy bold cousin Louis can scare him away." + +"Well, now that we know our resources, the next thing is to consider +how we are to obtain them, my dears," said Catharine. "For fishing, +you know, we must have a hook and line, a rod, or a net. Now, where are +these to be met with?" + +Louis nodded his head sagaciously. "The line I think I can provide; the +hook is more difficult, but I do not despair even of that. As to the +rod, it can be cut from any slender sapling on the shore. A net, ma +chere, I could make with very little trouble, if I had but a piece of +cloth to sew over a hoop." + +Catharine laughed. "You are very ingenious, no doubt, Monsieur Louis, +but where are you to get the cloth and the hoop, and the means of sewing +it on?" + +Lords took up the corner of his cousin's apron with a provoking look. + +"My apron, sir, is not to be appropriated for any such purpose. You seem +to covet it for everything." + +"Indeed, ma petite, I think it very unbecoming and very ugly, and never +could see any good reason why you and Mamma and Mathilde should wear +such frightful things." + +"It is to keep our gowns clean, Louis, when we are milking and +scrubbing, and doing all sorts of household duties," said Catharine. + +"Well, ma belle, you have neither cows to milk, nor house to clean," +replied the annoying boy; "so there can be little want of the apron. I +could turn it to fifty useful purposes." + +"Pooh, nonsense," said Hector, impatiently, "let the child alone, and do +not tease her about her apron." + +"Well, then, there is another good thing I did not think of before, +water mussels. I have heard my father and old Jacob the lumberer say, +that, roasted in their shells in the ashes, with a seasoning of salt and +pepper, they are good eating when nothing better is to be got." + +"No doubt, if the seasoning can be procured," said Hector, "but, alas +for the salt and the pepper!" + +"Well, we can eat them with the best of all sauces--hunger; and then, +no doubt, there are crayfish in the gravel under the stones, but we must +not mind a pinch to our fingers in taking them." + +"To-morrow then let us breakfast on fish," said Hector. "You and I will +try our luck, while Kate gathers strawberries; and if our line should +break, we can easily cut those long locks from Catharine's head, and +twist them into lines,"--and Hector laid his hands upon the long fair +hair that hung in shining curls about his sister's neck. + +"Cut my curls! This is even worse than cousin Louis's proposal of making +tinder and fishing-nets of my apron," said Catharine, shaking back the +bright tresses, which, escaping from the snood that bound them, fell in +golden waves over her shoulders. + +"In truth, Hec, it were a sin and a shame to cut her pretty curls, that +become her so well," said Louis. "But we have no scissors, ma belle, so +you need fear no injury to your precious locks." + +"For the matter of that, Louis, we could cut them with your +_couteau-de-chasse_. I could tell you a story that my father told me, +not long since, of Charles Stuart, the second king of that name in +England. You know he was the grand-uncle of the young Chevalier Charles +Edward, that my father talks of, and loves so much." + +"I know all about him," said Catharine, nodding sagaciously; "let us +hear the story of his grand-uncle. But I should like to know what my +hair and Louis's knife can have to do with King Charles." + +"Wait a bit, Kate, and you shall hear, that is, if you have patience," +said her brother. "Well then, you must know, that after some great +battle, the name of which I forget, _[FN: Battle of Worcester.]_ in +which the King and his handful of brave soldiers were defeated by the +forces of the Parliament, (the Roundheads, as they were called,) the +poor young king was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains; a large +price was set on his head, to be given to any traitor who should slay +him, or bring him prisoner to Oliver Cromwell. He was obliged to +dress himself in all sorts of queer clothes, and hide in all manner of +strange, out of the way places, and keep company with rude and humble +men, the better to hide his real rank from the cruel enemies that sought +his life. Once he hid along with a gallant gentleman, _[FN: Colonel +Careless.]_ one of his own brave officers, in the branches of a great +oak. Once he was hid in a mill; and another time he was in the house of +one Pendril, a woodman. The soldiers of the Parliament, who were always +prowling about, and popping in unawares wherever they suspected the +poor king to be hidden, were, at one time, in the very room where he was +standing beside the fire." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Catharine, "that was frightful. And did they take him +prisoner?" + +"No; for the wise woodman and his brothers, fearing lest the soldiers +should discover that he was a cavalier and a gentleman, by the +long curls that the king's men all wore in those days, and called +_lovelocks_, begged of his majesty to let his hair be cropped close to +his head." + +"That was very hard, to lose his nice curls." + +"I dare say the voting king thought so too, but it was better to lose +his hair than his head. So, I suppose, the men told him, for he suffered +them to cut it all close to his head, laying down his head on a rough +deal table, or a chopping-block, while his faithful friends with a large +knife trimmed off the curls." + +"I wonder if the young king thought at that minute of his poor father, +who, you know, was forced by wicked men to lay down his head upon a +block to have it cut from his shoulders, because Cromwell, and others as +hard-hearted as himself, willed that he should die." "Poor king!" +said Catharine, sighing, "I see that it is better to be poor children, +wandering on these plains under God's own care, than to be kings and +princes at the mercy of bad and sinful men." + +"Who told your father all these things, Hec?" said Louis. + +"It was the son of his brave colonel, who knew a great deal about +the history of the Stuart kings, for our colonel had been with Prince +Charles, the young chevalier, and fought by his side when he was in +Scotland; he loved him dearly, and, after the battle of Culloden, where +the Prince lost all, and was driven from place to place, and had not +where to lay his head, he went abroad in hopes of better times; (but +those times did not come for the poor Prince; and our colonel) after a +while, through the friendship of General Wolfe, got a commission in the +army that was embarking for Quebec, and, at last, commanded the regiment +to which my father belonged. He was a kind man, and my father loved both +him and his son, and grieved not a little when he parted from him." + +"Well," said Catharine, "as you have told me such a nice story, Mister +Hec, I shall forgive the affront about my curls." + +"Well, then, to-morrow we are to try our luck at fishing, and if we +fail, we will make us bows and arrows to kill deer or small game; I +fancy we shall not be over particular as to its of quality. Why should +not we be able to find subsistence as well as the wild Indians?" + +"True," said Hector, "the wild men of the wilderness, and the animals +and birds, all are fed by the things that He provideth; then, wherefore +should His white children fear?" + +"I have often heard my father tell of the privations of the lumberers, +when they have fallen short of provisions, and of the contrivances of +himself and old Jacob Morelle, when they were lost for several days, +nay, weeks I believe it was. Like the Indians, they made themselves bows +and arrows, using the sinews of the deer, or fresh thongs of leather, +for bow-strings; and when they could not get game to eat, they boiled +the inner bark of the slippery elm to jelly, or birch bark, and drank +the sap of the sugar maple when they could get no water but melted +snow only, which is unwholesome; at last, they even boiled their own +mocassins." + +"Indeed, Louis, that must have been a very unsavoury dish," said +Catharine. + +"That old buckskin vest would have made a famous pot of soup of itself," +added Hector, "or the deer-skin hunting shirt." "Well, they might have +been reduced even to that," said Louis, laughing, "but for the good +fortune that befel them in the way of a half-roasted bear." + +"Nonsense, cousin Louis, bears do not run about ready roasted in the +forest, like the lambs in the old nursery tale." + +"Well now, Kate, this was a fact; at least, it was told as one by old +Jacob, and my father did not deny it; shall I tell you about it? After +passing several hungry days with no better food to keep them alive than +the scrapings of the inner bark of the poplars and elms, which was not +very substantial for hearty men, they encamped one night in a thick +dark swamp,--not the sort of place they would have chosen, but that they +could not help themselves, having been enticed into it by the tracks of +a deer or a moose,--and night came upon them unawares, so they set to +work to kindle up a fire with spunk, and a flint and knife; rifle they +had none, or maybe they would have had game to eat. Old Jacob fixed upon +a huge hollow pine, that lay across their path, against which he soon +piled a glorious heap of boughs and arms of trees, and whatever wood he +could collect, and lighted up a fine fire. You know what a noble hand +old Jacob used to be at making up a roaring fire; he thought, I suppose, +if he could not have warmth within, he would have plenty of it without. +The wood was dry pine and cedar and birch, and it blazed away, and +crackled and burnt like a pine-torch. By-and-by they heard a most awful +growling close to them. 'That's a big bear, as I live,' said old Jacob, +looking all about, thinking to see one come out from the thick bush; +but Bruin was nearer to him than he thought, for presently a great +black bear burst out from the but-end of the great burning log, and made +towards Jacob; just then the wind blew the flame outward, and it caught +the bear's thick coat, and he was all in a blaze in a moment. No doubt +the heat of the fire had penetrated to the hollow of the log, where he +had lain himself snugly up for the winter, and wakened him; but Jacob +seeing the huge black brute all in a flame of fire, began to think it +was Satan's own self come to carry him off, and he roared with fright, +and the bear roared with pain and rage, and my father roared with +laughing to see Jacob's terror; but he did not let the bear laugh at +him, for he seized a thick pole that he had used for closing in the +brands and logs, and soon demolished the bear, who was so blinded with +the fire and smoke that he made no fight; and they feasted on roast +bear's flesh for many days, and got a capital skin to cover them +beside." + +"What, Louis, after the fur was all singed?" said Catharine. + +"Kate, you are too particular," said Louis; "a story never loses, you +know." + +Hector laughed heartily at the adventure, and enjoyed the dilemma of the +bear in his winter quarter; but Catharine was somewhat shocked at the +levity displayed by her cousin and brother, when recounting the terror +of old Jacob and the sufferings of the poor bear. + +"You boys are always so unfeeling," she said, gravely. + +"Indeed, Kate," said her brother, "the day may come when the sight of a +good piece of roast bear's flesh, will be no unwelcome sight. If we do +not find our way back to Cold Springs before the winter sets in, we may +be reduced to as bad a state as poor Jacob and my uncle were in the pine +swamps, on the banks of the St. John." + +"Ah!" said Catharine, trembling, "that would be too bad to happen." + +"Courage, ma belle, let us not despair for the morrow. Let us see what +to-morrow will do for us; meantime, we will not neglect the blessings we +still possess; see, our partridge is ready, let us eat our supper, and +be thankful; and for grace let us say, 'Sufficient unto the day is the +evil thereof.'" + +Long exposure to the air had sharpened their appetites--the hungry +wanderers needed no further invitation, the scanty meal, equally +divided, was soon despatched. + +It is a common saying, but excellent to be remembered by any wanderers +in our forest wilds, that those who travel by the sun travel in a +circle, and usually find themselves at night in the same place from +whence they started in the morning; so it was with our wanderers. At +sunset, they found themselves once more in the ravine, beside the big +stone, in which they had rested at noon. They had imagined themselves +miles and miles distant from it; they were grievously disappointed. They +had encouraged each other with the confident hope that they were drawing +near to the end of their bewildering journey; they were as far from +their home as ever, without the slightest clue to guide them to the +right path. Despair is not a feeling which takes deep root in the +youthful breast. The young are always hopeful; so confident in their +own wisdom and skill in averting or conquering danger; so trusting; so +willing to believe that there is a peculiar Providence watching over +them. Poor children! they had indeed need of such a belief to strengthen +their minds and encourage them to fresh exertions, for new trials were +at hand. + +The broad moonlight had already flooded the recesses of the glen with +light, and all looked fresh and lovely in the dew, which glittered on +tree and leaf, on herb and flower. Catharine, who, though weary with +her fatiguing wanderings, could not sleep, left the little hut of boughs +which her companions had put up near the granite rock in the valley for +her accommodation, and ascended the western bank, where the last jutting +spur of its steep side formed a lofty clifflike promontory, at the +extreme verge of which the roots of one tall spreading oak formed a most +inviting seat, from whence the traveller looked down into a level track, +which stretched away to the edge of the lake. This flat had been the +estuary of the mountain stream, which had once rushed down between the +hills, forming a narrow gorge; but now, all was changed; the water +had ceased to flow, the granite bed was overgrown, and carpeted with +deer-grass and flowers of many hues, wild fruits and bushes, below; +while majestic oaks and pines towered above. A sea of glittering foliage +lay beneath Catharine's feet; in the distance the eye of the young girl +rested on a belt of shining waters, which girt in the shores like a +silver zone; beyond, yet more remote to the northward, stretched the +illimitable forest. + +Never had Catharine looked upon a scene so still or so fair to the +eye; a holy calm seemed to shed its influence over her young mind, and +peaceful tears stole down her cheeks. Not a sound was there abroad, +scarcely a leaf stirred; she could have stayed for hours there gazing +on the calm beauty of nature, and communing with her own heart, when +suddenly a stirring rustling sound caught her car; it came from a hollow +channel on one side of the promontory, which was thickly overgrown with +the shrubby dogwood, wild roses and bilberry bushes. Imagine the terror +which seized the poor girl, on perceiving a grisly beast breaking +through the covert of the bushes. With a scream and a bound, which the +most deadly fear alone could have inspired, Catharine sprung from the +supporting trunk of the oak, dashed, down the precipitous side of the +ravine; now clinging to the bending sprays of the flexile dogwood--now +to some fragile birch or poplar--now trusting to the yielding heads of +the sweet-scented _ceanothus_, or filling her hands with sharp thorns +from the roses that clothed the bank; flowers, grass, all were alike +clutched at in her rapid and fearful descent. A loose fragment of +granite on which she had unwittingly placed her foot rolled from +under her; unable to regain her balance she fell forwards, and was +precipitated through the bushes into the ravine below, conscious only +of unspeakable terror and an agonising pain in one of her ancles, which +rendered her quite powerless. The noise of the stones she had dislodged +in her fall and her piteous cries, brought Louis and Hector to her side, +and they bore her in their arms to the hut of boughs and laid her down +upon her bed of leaves and grass and young pine boughs. When Catharine +was able to speak, she related to Louis and Hector the cause of her +fright. She was sure it must have been a wolf by his sharp teeth, long +jaws, and grisly coat. The last glance she had had of him had filled her +with terror, he was standing on a fallen tree with his eyes fixed upon +her--she could tell them no more that happened, she never felt the +ground she was on, so great was her fright. + +Hector was half disposed to scold his sister for rambling over the hills +alone, but Louis was full of tender compassion for _la belle cousine_, +and would not suffer her to be chidden. Fortunately, no bones had been +fractured, though the sinews of her ankle were severely sprained; but +the pain was intense, and after a sleepless night, the boys found to +their grief and dismay, that Catharine was unable to put her foot to the +ground. This was an unlooked-for aggravation of their misfortunes; to +pursue their wandering was for the present impossible; rest was their +only remedy, excepting the application of such cooling medicaments as +circumstances would supply them with. Cold water constantly applied to +the swollen joint, was the first thing that was suggested; but, +simple as was the lotion, it was not easy to obtain it in sufficient +quantities. They were a full quarter of a mile from the lake shore, and +the cold springs near it were yet further off; and then the only vessel +they had was the tin-pot, which hardly contained a pint; at the same +time the thirst of the fevered sufferer was intolerable, and had also to +be provided for. Poor Catharine, what unexpected misery she now endured! + +The valley and its neighbouring hills abounded in strawberries; they +were now ripening in abundance; the ground was scarlet in places +with this delicious fruit; they proved a blessed relief to the poor +sufferer's burning thirst. Hector and Louis were unwearied in supplying +her with them. + +Louis, ever fertile in expedients, crushed the cooling fruit and applied +them to the sprained foot; rendering the application still more grateful +by spreading them upon the large smooth leaves of the sapling oak; +these he bound on with strips of the leathery bark of the moose-wood, +_[FN: "_Dirca palustris_,"--Moose-wood. American mezereon, +leather-wood. From the Greek, _dirka_, a fountain or wet place, its +usual place of growth.]_ which he had found growing in great abundance +near the entrance of the ravine. Hector, in the meantime, was not idle. +After having collected a good supply of ripe strawberries, he climbed +the hills in search of birds' eggs and small game. About noon he +returned with the good news of having discovered a spring of fine +water in an adjoining ravine, beneath a clump of bass-wood and black +cherry-trees; he had also been so fortunate as to kill a woodchuck, +having met with many of their burrows in the gravelly sides of the +hills. The woodchuck seems to be a link between the rabbit and badger; +its colour is that of a leveret; it climbs like the racoon and burrows +like the rabbit; its eyes are large, full, and dark, the lip cleft, the +soles of the feet naked, claws sharp, ears short; it feeds on grasses, +grain, fruit, and berries. The flesh is white, oily, and, in the summer, +rank, but is eaten in the fall by the Indians and woodsmen; the skin is +not much valued. They are easily killed by dogs, though, being expert +climbers, they often baffle their enemies, clinging to the bark beyond +their reach; a stone or stick well-aimed soon kills them, but they often +bite sharply. + +The woodchuck proved a providential supply, and Hector cheered his +companions with the assurance that they could not starve, as there were +plenty of these creatures to be found. They had seen one or two about +the Cold Springs, but they are less common in the deep forest lands than +on the drier, more open plains. + +"It is a great pity we have no larger vessel to bring our water from +the spring in," said Hector, looking at the tin-pot, "one is so apt to +stumble among stones and tangled underwood. If we had only one of our +old bark dishes we could get a good supply at once." + +"There is a fallen birch not far from this," said Louis; "I have here +my trusty knife; what is there to hinder us from manufacturing a vessel +capable of holding water, a gallon if you like?" + +"How can you sew it together, cousin?" asked Catharine; "you have +neither deer sinews, nor war-tap." _[The Indian name for the flexible +roots of the tamarack, or swamp larch, which they make use of in +manufacturing the birch baskets and canoes.]_ "I have a substitute at +hand, ma belle," and Louis pointed to the strips of leatherwood that he +had collected for binding the dressings on his cousin's foot. + +When an idea once struck Louis, he never rested till he worked it out in +some way. In a few minutes he was busily employed, stripping sheets of +the ever-useful birch-bark from the trunk that had fallen at the foot +of the "Wolf's Crag," for so the children had named the memorable spot +where poor Catharine's accident had occurred. + +The rough outside coatings of the bark, which are of silvery whiteness, +but are ragged from exposure to the action of the weather in the larger +and older trees, he peeled off, and then cutting the bark so that the +sides lapped well over, and the corners were secured from cracks, he +proceeded to pierce holes opposite to each other, and with some trouble +managed to stitch them tightly together, by drawing strips of the moose +or leather-wood through and through. The first attempt, of course, was +but rude and ill-shaped, but it answered the purpose, and only leaked a +little at the corners for want of a sort of flap, which he had forgotten +to allow in cutting out the bark; this flap in the Indian baskets and +dishes turns up, and keeps all tight and close. The defect he remedied +in his subsequent attempts. In spite of its deficiencies, Louis's +water-jar was looked upon with great admiration, and highly commended by +Catharine, who almost forgot her sufferings--while watching her cousin's +proceedings. + +Louis was elated by his own successful ingenuity, and was for running +off directly to the spring. "Catharine shall now have cold water to +bathe her poor ancle with, and to quench her thirst," he said, joyfully +springing to his feet, ready for a start up the steep bank: but Hector +quietly restrained his lively cousin, by suggesting the possibility of +his not finding the "fountain in the wilderness," as Louis termed the +spring, or losing himself altogether. + +"Let us both go together, then." cried Louis. Catharine cast on her +cousin an imploring glance. + +"Do not leave me, dear Louis; Hector, do not let me be left alone." Her +sorrowful appeal stayed the steps of the volatile Louis. + +"Go you, Hector, as you know the way: I will not leave you, Kate, since +I was the cause of all you have suffered; I will abide by you in joy or +in sorrow till I see you once more safe in your own dear mother's arms." + +Comforted by this assurance, Catharine quickly dashed away the gathering +tears from her checks, and chid her own foolish fears. + +"But you know, dear cousin," she said, "I am so helpless, and then the +dread of that horrible wolf makes a coward of me." + +After some little time had elapsed, Hector returned; the bark vessel had +done its duty to admiration, it only wanted a very little improvement to +make it complete. The water was cold and pure. Hector had spent a little +time in deepening the mouth of the spring, and placing some stones about +it. He described the ravine as being much deeper and wider, and more +gloomy than the one they occupied. The sides and bottom were clothed +with magnificent oaks. It was a grand sight, he said, to stand on the +jutting spurs of this great ravine, and look down upon the tops of the +trees that lay below, tossing their rounded heads like the waves of a +big sea. There were many lovely flowers, vetches of several kinds, blue, +white, and pencilled, twining among the grass. A beautiful white-belled +flower, that was like the "Morning glory," (_Convolvulus major,_) and +scarlet-cups _[FN: _Erichroma,_ or painted cup]_ in abundance, with +roses in profusion. The bottom of this ravine was strewed in places with +huge blocks of black granite, cushioned with thick green moss; it opened +out into a wide flat, similar to the one at the mouth of the valley +of the Big Stone. _[FN: The mouth of this ravine is now under the +plough, and waving fields of golden grain and verdant pastures have +taken place of the wild shrubs and flowers that formerly adorned it. The +lot belongs to G. Ley, Esq.]_ + +These children were not insensible to the beauties of nature, and both +Hector and his sister had insensibly imbibed a love of the grand and +the picturesque, by listening with untiring interest to their father's +animated and enthusiastic descriptions of his Highland home, and the +wild mountainous scenery that surrounded it. Though brought up in +solitude and uneducated, yet there was nothing vulgar or rude in the +minds or manners of these young people. Simple and untaught they were, +but they were guileless, earnest, and unsophisticated; and if they +lacked the knowledge that is learned from books, they possessed much +that was useful and practical, which had been taught by experience and +observation in the school of necessity. + +For several days the pain and fever arising from her sprain rendered +any attempt at removing Catharine from the valley of the "Big Stone" +impracticable. The ripe fruit began to grow less abundant in their +immediate vicinity, and neither woodchuck, partridge, nor squirrel had +been killed; and our poor wanderers now endured the agonising pains of +hunger. Continual exposure to the air by night and by day contributed +not a little to increase the desire for food. It is true, there was the +yet untried lake, "bright, boundless, and free," gleaming in silvery +splendour, but in practice they knew nothing of the fisher's craft, +though, as a matter of report, they were well acquainted with all +the mysteries of it, and had often listened with delight to the feats +performed by their respective fathers in the art of angling, spearing +and netting. + +"I have heard my father say, that so bold and numerous were the fish in +the lakes and rivers he was used to fish in, that they could be taken +by the hand, with a crooked pin and coarse thread, or wooden spear; but +that was in the lower province; and oh, what glorious tales I have heard +him tell of spearing fish by torchlight!" + +"The fish may be wiser or not so numerous in this lake," said Hector; +"however, if Kate can bear to be moved, we will go down to the shore +and try our luck; but what can we do? we have neither hook nor line +provided." + +Louis nodded his head, and sitting down on a projecting root of a scrub +oak, produced from the depths of his capacious pocket a bit of tin, +which he carefully selected from among a miscellaneous hoard of +treasures. "Here." said he, holding it up to the view as he spoke; "here +is the slide of an old powder-flask, which I picked up from among some +rubbish that my sister had thrown out the other day." + +"I fear you will make nothing of that," said Hector, "a bit of bone +would be better. If you had a file now you might do something." + +"Stay a moment, Monsieur Hec., what do you call this?" and Louis +triumphantly handed out of his pocket the very instrument in question, +a few inches of a broken, rusty file; very rusty, indeed, it was, but +still it might be made to answer in such ingenious hands as those of +our young French Canadian. "I well remember, Katty, how you and Mathilde +laughed at me for treasuring up this old thing months ago. Ah, Louis. +Louis, you little knew the use it was to be put to then," he added +thoughtfully, apostrophising himself; "how little do we know what is to +befall us in our young days!" "God knows it all," said Hector, gravely, +"we are under His good guidance." + +"You are right, Hec., let us trust in His mercy and He will take good +care of us. Come, let us go to the lake," Catharine added, and sprung +to her feet, but as quickly sunk down upon the grass, and regarded her +companions with a piteous look, saying, "I cannot walk one step; alas, +alas! what is to become of me; I am only a useless burden to you. If you +leave me here, I shall fall a prey to some savage beast, and you cannot +carry me with you in your search for food." + +"Dry your tears, sweet cousin, you shall go with us. Do you think that +Hector or Louis would abandon you in your helpless state, to die of +hunger or thirst, or to be torn by wolves or bears? We will carry you +by turns; the distance to the lake is nothing, and you are not so very +heavy, ma belle cousine; see, I could dance with you in my arms, you are +so light a burden,"--and Louis gaily caught the suffering girl up in his +arms, and with rapid steps struck into the deer path that wound through +the ravine towards the lake, but when they reached a pretty rounded +knoll, (where Wolf Tower _[FN: See account of the "Wolf Tower," in +the Appendix.]_ now stands,) Louis was fain to place his cousin on a flat +stone beneath a big oak that grew beside the bank, and fling himself +on the flowery ground at her feet, while he drew a long breath, and +gathered the fruit that grew among the long grass to refresh himself +after his fatigue; and then, while resting on the "Elfin Knowe," as +Catharine called the hill, he employed himself with manufacturing a rude +sort of fish-hook with the aid of his knife, the bit of tin, and the +rusty file; a bit of twine was next produced,--boys have always a bit +of string in their pockets, and Louis, as I have before hinted, was a +provident hoarder of such small matters. The string was soon attached +to the hook, and Hector was not long in cutting a sapling that answered +well the purpose of a fishing-rod, and thus equipped they proceeded +to the lake shore, Hector and Louis carrying the crippled Catharine by +turns. When there, they selected a sheltered spot beneath a grove of +over-hanging cedars and birches, festooned with wild vines, which, +closely woven, formed a natural bower, quite impervious to the rays of +the sun. A clear spring flowing from the upper part of the bank among +the hanging network of loose fibres and twisted roots, fell tinkling +over a mossy log at her feet, and quietly spread itself among the round +shingly pebbles that formed the beach of the lake. Beneath this pleasant +bower Catharine could repose, and watch her companions at their novel +employment, or bathe her feet and infirm ancle in the cool streamlet +that rippled in tiny wavelets over its stony bed. + +If the amusement of fishing prove pleasant and exciting when pursued +for pastime only, it may readily be conceived that its interest must +be greatly heightened when its object is satisfying a craving degree of +hunger. Among the sunny spots on the shore, innumerable swarms of the +flying grasshopper or field crickets were sporting, and one of these +proved an attractive bait. The line was no sooner cast into the water, +than the hook was seized, and many were the brilliant specimens of +sun-fish that our eager fishermen cast at Catharine's feet, all gleaming +with gold and azure scales. Nor was there any lack of perch, or that +delicate fish commonly known in these waters as the pink roach. + +Tired at last with their easy sport, the hungry boys next proceeded to +the grateful task of scaling and dressing their fish, and this they did +very expeditiously, as soon as the more difficult part, that of kindling +up a fire on the beach, had been accomplished with the help of the +flint, knife, and dried rushes. The fish were then suspended, Indian +fashion, on forked sticks stuck in the ground and inclined at a suitable +angle towards the glowing embers,--a few minutes sufficed to cook them. + +"Truly," said Catharine, when the plentiful repast was set before her, +"God hath, indeed, spread a table for us here in the wilderness;" so +miraculous did this ample supply of delicious food seem in the eyes of +this simple child of nature. + +They had often heard tell of the facility with which the fish could be +caught, but they had known nothing of it from their own experience, +as the streams and creeks about Cold Springs afforded them but little +opportunity for exercising their skill as anglers; so that, with the +rude implements with which they were furnished, the result of their +morning success seemed little short of divine interference in their +behalf. Happy and contented in the belief that they were not forgotten +by their heavenly Father, these poor "children in the wood" looked up +with gratitude to that beneficent Being who suffereth not even a sparrow +to fall unheeded. + +Upon Catharine, in particular, these things made a deep impression, and +there as she sat in the green shade, soothed by the lulling sound of the +flowing waters, and the soft murmuring of the many-coloured insects that +hovered among the fragrant leaves which thatched her sylvan bower, +her young heart was raised in humble and holy aspirations to the great +Creator of all things living. A peaceful calm diffused itself over her +mind, as with hands meekly folded across her breast, the young girl +prayed with the guileless fervour of a trusting and faithful heart. + +The sun was just sinking in a flood of glory behind the dark pine-woods +at the head of the lake, when Hector and Louis, who had been carefully +providing fish for the morrow, (which was the Sabbath,) came loaded +with their finny prey carefully strung upon a willow wand, and found +Catharine sleeping in her bower. Louis was loth to break her tranquil +slumbers, but her careful brother reminded him of the danger to which +she was exposed, sleeping in the dew by the water side; "Moreover," he +added, "we have some distance to go, and we have left the precious axe +and the birch-bark vessel in the valley." + +These things were too valuable to be lost, and so they roused the +sleeper, and slowly recommenced their toilsome way, following the same +path that they had made in the morning. Fortunately, Hector had taken +the precaution to bend down the flexile branches of the dogwood and +break the tops of the young trees that they had passed between on their +route to the lake, and by this clue they were enabled with tolerable +certainty to retrace their way, nothing doubting of arriving in time at +the wigwam of boughs by the rock in the valley. + +Their progress was, however, slow, burdened with the care of the lame +girl, and heavily laden with the fish. The purple shades of twilight +soon clouded the scene, deepened by the heavy masses of foliage, which +cast a greater degree of obscurity upon their narrow path; for they had +now left the oak-flat and entered the gorge of the valley. The utter +loneliness of the path, the grotesque shadows of the trees, that +stretched in long array across the steep banks on either side, taking, +now this, now that wild and fanciful shape, awakened strange feelings +of dread in the mind of these poor forlorn wanderers; like most persons +bred up in solitude, their imaginations were strongly tinctured with +superstitious fears. Here then, in the lonely wilderness, far from their +beloved parents and social hearth, with no visible arm to protect them +from danger, none to encourage or to cheer them, can it be matter of +surprise if they started with terror-blanched cheeks at every fitful +breeze that rustled the leaves or waved the branches above them? The gay +and lively Louis, blithe as any wild bird in the bright sunlight, was +the most easily oppressed by this strange superstitious fear, when +the shades of evening were closing round, and he would start with +ill-disguised terror at every sound or shape that met his ear or eye, +though the next minute he was the first to laugh at his own weakness. In +Hector, the feeling was of a graver, more solemn cast, recalling to his +mind all the wild and wondrous tales with which his father was wont to +entertain the children, as they crouched round the huge log-fire of an +evening. It is strange the charm these marvellous tales possess for the +youthful mind, no matter how improbable, or how often told; year after +year they will be listened to with the same ardour, with an interest +that appears to grow with repetition. And still, as they slowly wandered +along, Hector would repeat to his breathless auditors those Highland +legends that were as familiar to their ears as household words, and +still they listened with fear and wonder, and deep awe, till at each +pause he made, the deep-drawn breath and half-repressed shudder might +be heard. And now the little party paused irresolutely, fearing to +proceed,--they had omitted to notice some land-mark in their progress; +the moon had not long been up, and her light was as yet indistinct; so +they sat them down on a little grassy spot on the bank, and rested till +the moon should lighten their path. + +Louis was confident they were not far from "the bigstone," but careful +Hector had his doubts, and Catharine was weary. The children had already +conceived a sort of home feeling for the valley and the mass of stone +that had sheltered them for so many nights, and soon the dark mass came +in sight, as the broad full light of the now risen moon fell upon its +rugged sides; they were nearer to it than they had imagined. "Forward +for 'the big stone' and the wigwam," cried Louis. + +"Hush!" said Catharine, "look there," raising her hand with a warning +gesture. + +"Where? what?" + +"The wolf! the wolf!" gasped out the terrified girl. There indeed, upon +the summit of the block, in the attitude of a sentinel or watcher, stood +the gaunt-figured animal, and as she spoke, a long wild cry, the sound +of which seemed as if it came midway between the earth and the tops of +the tall pines on the lofty ridge above them, struck terror into their +hearts, as with speechless horror they gazed upon the dark outline +of the terrible beast. There it stood, with its head raised, its neck +stretched outward, and ears erect, as if to catch the echo that gave +back those dismal sounds; another minute and he was gone, and the +crushing of branches and the rush of many feet on the high bank above, +was followed by the prolonged cry of some poor fugitive animal,--a doe, +or fawn, perhaps,--in the very climax of mortal agony; and then the +lonely recesses of the forest took up that fearful death-cry, the +far-off shores of the lake and the distant islands prolonged it, and the +terrified children clung together in fear and trembling. + +A few minutes over, and all was still. The chase had turned across the +hills to some distant ravine; the wolves were all gone--not even the +watcher was left, and the little valley lay once more in silence, with +all its dewy roses and sweet blossoms glittering in the moonlight; +but though around them all was peace and loveliness, it was long +ere confidence was restored to the hearts of the panic-stricken and +trembling children. They beheld a savage enemy in every mass of leafy +shade, and every rustling bough struck fresh terrors into their excited +minds. They might have exclaimed with the patriarch Jacob, "How dreadful +is this place!" + +With hand clasped in hand, they sat them down among the thick covert of +the bushes, for now they feared to move forward, lest the wolves should +return; sleep was long a stranger to their watchful eyes, each fearing +to be the only one left awake, and long and painful was their vigil. Yet +nature, overtasked, at length gave way, and sleep came down upon their +eyelids; deep, unbroken sleep, which lasted till the broad sunlight +breaking through the leafy curtains of their forest-bed, and the sound +of waving boughs and twittering birds, once more wakened them to life +and light; recalling them from happy dreams of home and friends, to an +aching sense of loneliness and desolation. This day they did not wander +far from the valley, but took the precaution, as evening drew on, to +light a large fire, the blaze of which they thought would keep away any +beast of prey. They had no want of food, as the fish they had caught the +day before proved an ample supply. The huckle-berries were ripening too, +and soon afforded them a never-failing source of food; there were also +an abundance of bilberries, the sweet rich berries of which proved a +great treat, besides being very nourishing. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "Oh for a lodge in the vast wilderness, + The boundless contiguity of shade!" + +A fortnight had now passed, and Catharine still suffered so much from +pain and fever, that they were unable to continue their wanderings; all +that Hector and his cousin could do, was to carry her to the bower +by the lake, where she reclined whilst they caught fish. The painful +longing to regain their lost home had lost nothing of its intensity; and +often would the poor sufferer start from her bed of leaves and boughs, +to wring her hands and weep, and call in piteous tones upon that dear +father and mother, who would have given worlds had they been at their +command, to have heard but one accent of her beloved voice, to have felt +one loving pressure from that fevered hand. Hope, the consoler, hovered +over the path of the young wanderers, long after she had ceased to +whisper comfort to the desolate hearts of the mournful parents. + +Of all that suffered by this sad calamity, no one was more to be pitied +than Louis Perron: deeply did the poor boy lament the thoughtless folly +which had involved his cousin Catharine in so terrible a misfortune. "If +Kate had not been with me," he would say, "we should not have been lost; +for Hector is so cautious and so careful, he would not have left the +cattle-path; but we were so heedless, we thought only of flowers and +insects, of birds, and such trifles, and paid no heed to our way." +Louis Perron, such is life. The young press gaily onward, gathering the +flowers, and following the gay butterflies that attract them in the +form of pleasure and amusement; they forget the grave counsels of the +thoughtful, till they find the path they have followed is beset with +briers and thorns; and a thousand painful difficulties that were unseen, +unexpected, overwhelm and bring them to a sad sense of their own folly; +and perhaps the punishment of their errors does not fall upon +themselves alone, but upon the innocent, who have unknowingly been made +participators in their fault. + +By the kindest and tenderest attention to all her comforts, Louis +endeavoured to alleviate his cousin's sufferings, and soften her +regrets; nay, he would often speak cheerfully and even gaily to her, +when his own heart was heavy, and his eyes ready to overflow with tears. +"If it were not for our dear parents and the dear children at home," +he would say, "we might spend our time most happily upon these charming +plains; it is much more delightful here than in the dark thick woods; +see how brightly the sunbeams come down and gladden the ground, and +cover the earth with fruit and flowers. It is pleasant to be able to +fish and hunt, and trap the game. Yes, if they were all here, we would +build us a nice log-house, and clear up these bushes on the flat near +the lake. This 'Elfin Knowe,' as you call it, Kate, would be a nice spot +to build upon. See these glorious old oaks; not one should be cut +down, and we would have a boat and a canoe, and voyage across to yonder +islands. Would it not be charming, ma belle?" and Catharine, smiling +at the picture drawn so eloquently, would enter into the spirit of the +project, and say,-- + +"Ah! Louis, that would be pleasant." + +"If we had but my father's rifle now," said Hector, "and old Wolfe." + +"Yes, and Fanchette, dear little Fanchette, that trees the partridges +and black squirrels," said Louis. + +"I saw a doe and a half-grown fawn beside her this very morning, at +break of day," said Hector. "The fawn was so little fearful, that if I +had had a stick in my hand, I could have killed it.--I came within ten +yards of the spot where it stood. I know it would be easy to catch one +by making a dead-fall." _[A sort of trap in which game is taken in the +woods, or on the banks of creeks.]_ + +"If we had but a dear fawn to frolic about us, like Mignon, dear +innocent Mignon," cried Catharine, "I should never feel lonely then." + +"And we should never want for meat, if we could catch a fine fawn from +time to time, ma belle." + +"Hec., what are you thinking of?" + +"I was thinking, Louis, that If we were doomed to remain here all our +lives, we must build a house for ourselves; we could not live in the +open air without shelter as we have done. The summer will soon pass, and +the rainy season will come, and the bitter frosts and snows of winter +will have to be provided against." + +"But, Hector, do you really think there is no chance of finding our way +back to Cold Springs? We know it must be behind this lake," said Louis. + +"True, but whether east, west, or south, we cannot tell; and whichever +way we take now is but a chance, and if once we leave the lake and get +involved in the mazes of that dark forest, we should perish, for we know +there is neither water nor berries, nor game to be had as there is here, +and we might be soon starved to death. God was good who led us beside +this fine lake, and upon these fruitful plains." + +"It is a good thing that I had my axe when we started from home," said +Hector. "We should not have been so well off without it; we shall find +the use of it if we have to build a house. We must look out for some +spot where there is a spring of good water, and--" + +"No horrible wolves," interrupted Catharine: "though I love this pretty +ravine, and the banks and braes about us, I do not think I shall like to +stay here. I heard the wolves only last night, when you and Louis were +asleep." + +"We must not forget to keep watch-fires." + +"What shall we do for clothes?" said Catharine, glancing at her +home-spun frock of wool and cotton plaid. + +"A weighty consideration, indeed," sighed Hector; "clothes must be +provided before ours are worn out, and the winter comes on." + +"We must save all the skins of the wood-chucks and squirrels," suggested +Louis; "and fawns when we catch them." + +"Yes, and fawns when we get them," added Hector; "but it is time enough +to think of all these things; we must not give up all hope of home." + +"I give up all hope? I shall hope on while I have life," said Catharine. +"My dear, dear father, he will never forget his lost children; he will +try and find us, alive or dead; he will never give up the search." + +Poor child, how long did this hope burn like a living torch in thy +guileless breast. How often, as they roamed those hills and valleys, +were thine eyes sent into the gloomy recesses of the dark ravines and +thick bushes, with the hope that they would meet the advancing form and +outstretched arms of thy earthly parents: all in vain--yet the arms of +thy heavenly Father were extended over thee, to guide, to guard, and to +sustain thee. + +How often were Catharine's hands filled with wild-flowers, to carry +home, as she fondly said, to sick Louise, or her mother. Poor Catharine, +how often did your bouquets fade; how often did the sad exile water them +with her tears,--for hers was the hope that keeps alive despair. + +When they roused them in the morning to recommence their fruitless +wanderings, they would say to each other: "Perhaps we shall see our +father, he may find us here to-day;" but evening came, and still he came +not, and they were no nearer to their father's home than they had been +the day previous. + +"If we could but find our way back to the 'Cold Creek,' we might, by +following its course, return to Cold Springs," said Hector. + +"I doubt much the fact of the 'Cold Creek' having any connexion with our +Spring," said Louis; "I think it has its rise in the 'Beaver-meadow,' +and following its course would only entangle us among those wolfish +balsam and cedar swamps, or lead us yet further astray into the thick +recesses of the pine forest. For my part, I believe we are already fifty +miles from Cold Springs." + +It is one of the bewildering mistakes that all persons who lose their +way in the pathless woods fall into, they have no idea of distance, or +the points of the compass, unless they can see the sun rise and set, +which is not possible to do when surrounded by the dense growth of +forest-trees; they rather measure distance by the time they have been +wandering, than by any other token. + +The children knew that they had been a long time absent from home, +wandering hither and thither, and they fancied their journey had been as +long as it had been weary. They had indeed the comfort of seeing the sun +in his course from east to west, but they knew not in what direction the +home they had lost lay; it was this that troubled them in their choice +of the course they should take each day, and at last determined them to +lose no more time so fruitlessly, where the peril was so great, but seek +for some pleasant spot where they might pass their time in safety, and +provide for their present and future wants. + + "The world was all before them, where to choose + Their place of rest, and Providence their guide." + +Catharine declared her ancle was so much stronger than it had been since +the accident, and her health so much amended, that the day after the +conversation just recorded, the little party bade farewell to the valley +of the "big stone," and ascending the steep sides of the hills, bent +their steps eastward, keeping the lake to their left hand; Hector led +the way, loaded with their household utensils, which consisted only of +the axe, which he would trust to no one but himself, the tin-pot, and +the birch-basket. Louis had his cousin to assist up the steep banks, +likewise some fish to carry, which had been caught early in the morning. + +The wanderers thought at first to explore the ground near the lake +shore, but soon abandoned this resolution, on finding the under-growth +of trees and bushes become so thick, that they made little progress, and +the fatigue of travelling was greatly increased by having continually to +put aside the bushes or bend them down. + +Hector advised trying the higher ground: and after following a deer-path +through a small ravine that crossed the hills, they found themselves +on a fine extent of table-land, richly, but not too densely wooded with +white and black oaks, diversified with here and there a solitary pine, +which reared its straight and pillar-like trunk in stately grandeur +above its leafy companions: a meet eyrie for the bald-eagle, that kept +watch from its dark crest over the silent waters of the lake, spread +below like a silver zone studded with emeralds. + +In their progress, they passed the head of many small ravines, which +divided the hilly shores of the lake into deep furrows; these furrows +had once been channels, by which the waters of some upper lake (the site +of which is now dry land) had at a former period poured down into the +valley, filling the basin of what now is called the Rice Lake. These +waters with resistless course had ploughed their way between the hills, +bearing in their course those blocks of granite and limestone which +are so widely scattered both on the hill-tops and the plains, or form +a rocky pavement at the bottom of the narrow denies. What a sight of +sublime desolation must that outpouring of the waters have presented, +when those steep banks were riven by the sweeping torrents that were +loosened from their former bounds. The pleased eye rests upon these +tranquil shores, now covered with oaks and pines, or waving with a flood +of golden grain, or varied by neat dwellings and fruitful gardens; and +the gazer on that peaceful scene scarcely pictures to himself what it +must have been when no living eye was there to mark the rushing floods, +when they scooped to themselves the deep bed in which they now repose. + +Those lovely islands that sit like stately crowns upon the waters, were +doubtless the wreck that remained of the valley; elevated spots, whose +rocky basis withstood the force of the rushing waters, that carried +away the lighter portions of the soil. The southern shore, seen from the +lake, seems to lie in regular ridges running from south to north; some +few are parallel with the lake-shore, possibly where some surmountable +impediment turned the current the subsiding waters; but they all find an +outlet through their connexion with ravines communicating with the lake. + +There is a beautiful level tract of land, with only here and there a +solitary oak growing upon it, or a few stately pines; it is commonly +called the "upper Race-course," merely on account of the smoothness of +the surface; it forms a high tableland, nearly three hundred feet above +the lake, and is surrounded by high hills. This spot, though now dry and +covered with turf and flowers, and low bushes, has evidently once been +a broad sheet of water. To the eastward lies a still more lovely and +attractive spot, known as the "lower Race-course;" it lies on a lower +level than the former one, and, like it, is embanked by a ridge of +distant hills; both have ravines leading down to the Rice Lake, and +may have been the sources from whence its channel was filled. Some +convulsion of nature at a remote period, by raising the waters above +their natural level, might have caused a disruption of the banks, and +drained their beds, as they now appear ready for the ploughshare or the +spade. In the month of June these flats are brilliant with the splendid +blossoms of the _enchroma_, or painted cup, the azure lupine and snowy +_trillium_ roses scent the evening air, and grow as if planted by the +hand of taste. + +A carpeting of the small downy saxifrage _[FN: Saxifraga nivalis.]_ +with its white silky leaves covers the ground in early spring. In the +fall, it is red with the bright berries and dark box-shaped leaves of a +species of creeping winter-green, that the Indians call spiceberry; the +leaves are highly aromatic, and it is medicinal as well as agreeable +to the taste and smell. In the month of July a gorgeous assemblage +of martagon lilies take the place of the lupine and trilliums; these +splendid lilies vary from orange to the brightest scarlet; various +species of sunflowers and _coreopsis_ next appear, and elegant white +_pyrolas_ _[FN: Gentiana linearis, G. crenata.]_ scent the air and +charm the eye. The delicate lilac and white shrubby asters next appear, +and these are followed by the large deep blue gentian, and here and +there by the elegant fringed gentian. _[FN: Pyrola rotundifolia, +P. asarifolia.]_ These are the latest and loveliest of the flowers +that adorn this tract of land. It is indeed a garden of nature's own +planting, but the wild garden is being converted into fields of grain, +and the wild flowers give place to a new race of vegetables, less +ornamental, but more useful to man and the races of domestic animals +that depend upon him for their support. + +Our travellers, after wandering over this lovely plain, found +themselves, at the close of the day, at the head of a fine ravine, +_[FN: _Pedophyllnm galmata_,--Mandrake, or May-apple.]_ where they +had the good fortune to perceive a spring of pure water, oozing beneath +some large moss-covered blocks of black waterworn granite; the ground +was thickly covered with moss about the edges of the spring, and many +varieties of flowering shrubs and fruits were scattered along the +valley and up the steep sides of the surrounding hills. There were +whortleberries, or huckleberries, as they are more usually called, in +abundance; bilberries dead ripe, and falling from the bushes at a touch. +The vines that wreathed the low bushes and climbed the trees were +loaded with clusters of grapes, but these were yet hard and green; dwarf +filberts grew on the dry gravelly sides of the hills, yet the rough +prickly calyx that enclosed the nut, filled their fingers with minute +thorns, that irritated the skin like the stings of the nettle; but +as the kernel when ripe was sweet and good, they did not mind the +consequences. The moist part of the valley was occupied by a large bed +of May-apples, _[FN: Kilvert's Ravine, above Pine-tree Point.]_ the +fruit of which was of unusual size, but they were not ripe, August being +the month when they ripen; there were also wild plums still green, and +wild cherries and blackberries ripening; there were great numbers of the +woodchucks' burrows on the hills, while partridges and quails were seen +under the thick covert of the blue-berried dog-wood, _[FN: _Cornus +sericea_. The blue berries of this shrub are eaten by the partridge +and wild-ducks; also by the pigeons and other birds. There are several +species of this shrub common to the Rice Lake.]_ that here grew in +abundance at the mouth of the ravine where it opened to the lake. As +this spot offered many advantages, our travellers halted for the night, +and resolved to make it their head-quarters for a season, till they +should meet with an eligible situation for building a winter shelter. + +Here, then, at the head of the valley, sheltered by one of the rounded +hills that formed its sides, our young people erected a summer hut, +somewhat after the fashion of an Indian wigwam, which was all the +shelter that was requisite while the weather remained so warm. Through +the opening at the gorge of this ravine they enjoyed a peep at the +distant waters of the lake which terminated the vista, while they were +quite removed from its unwholesome vapours. + +The temperature of the air for some days had been hot and sultry, +scarcely modified by the cool delicious breeze that usually sets in +about nine o'clock, and blows most refreshingly till four or five in +the afternoon. Hector and Louis had gone down to fish for supper, while +Catharine busied herself in collecting leaves and dried deer-grass, moss +and fern, of which there was abundance near the spring. The boys had +promised to cut some fresh cedar boughs near the lake shore, and +bring them up to form a foundation for their bed, and also to strew +Indian-fashion over the floor of the hut by way of a carpet. This sort +of carpeting reminds one of, the times when the palaces of our English +kings were strewed with rushes, and brings to mind the old song:-- + + "Oh! the golden days of good Queen Bess, + When the floors were strew'd with rushes, + And the doors went on the latch----" + +Despise not then, you, my refined young readers, the rude expedients +adopted by these simple children of the forest, who knew nothing of the +luxuries that were to be met with in the houses of the great and the +rich. The fragrant carpet of cedar or hemlock-spruce sprigs strewn +lightly over the earthen floor, was to them a luxury as great as if +it had been taken from the looms of Persia or Turkey, so happy and +contented were they in their ignorance. Their bed of freshly gathered +grass and leaves, raised from the earth by a heap of branches carefully +arranged, was to them as pleasant as beds of down, and the rude hut of +bark and poles, as curtains of silk or damask. + +Having collected as much of these materials as she deemed sufficient +for the purpose, Catharine next gathered up dry oak branches, plenty of +which lay scattered here and there, to make a watch-fire for the night, +and this done, weary and warm, she sat down on a little hillock, beneath +the cooling shade of a grove of young aspens, that grew near the hut; +pleased with the dancing of the leaves, which fluttered above her head, +and fanned her warm cheek with their incessant motion, she thought, like +her cousin Louise, that the aspen was the merriest tree in the forest, +for it was always dancing, dancing, dancing, even when all the rest were +still. + +She watched the gathering of the distant thunder-clouds, which cast a +deeper, more sombre shade upon the pines that girded the northern shores +of the lake as with an ebon frame. Insensibly her thoughts wandered far +away from the lonely spot whereon she sat, to the stoup _[FN: +The Dutch word for verandah, which is still in common use among the +Canadians.]_ in front of her father's house, and in memory's eye she +beheld it all exactly as she had left it. There stood the big spinning +wheel, just as she had set it aside; the hanks of dyed yarn suspended +from the rafters, the basket filled with the carded wool ready for +her work. She saw in fancy her father, with his fine athletic upright +figure, his sunburnt cheeks and clustering sable hair, his clear +energetic hazel eye ever beaming upon her, his favourite child, with +looks of love and kindness as she moved to and fro at her wheel. +_[FN: Such is the method of working at the large wool wheel, +unknown or obsolete in England.]_ There, too, was her mother, with her +light step and sweet cheerful voice, singing as she pursued her daily +avocations; and Donald and Kenneth driving up the cows to be milked, or +chopping firewood. And as these images, like the figures of the magic +lantern, passed in all their living colours before her mental vision, +her head drooped heavier and lower till it sunk upon her arm, and then +she started, looked round, and slept again, her face deeply buried in +her young bosom; and long and peacefully the young girl slumbered. + +A sound of hurrying feet approaches, a wild cry is heard and panting +breath, and the sleeper with a startling scream sprang to her feet: she +dreamed that she was struggling in the fangs of a wolf--its grisly +paws were clasped about her throat; the feeling was agony and +suffocation--her languid eyes open. Can it be?--what is it that she +sees? Yes, it is Wolfe; not the fierce creature of her dreams by night +and her fears by day, but her father's own brave devoted dog. What joy, +what hope rushed to her heart! She threw herself upon the shaggy neck of +the faithful beast, and wept from the fulness of heart. + +"Yes," she joyfully cried, "I knew that I should see him again. My own +dear, dear, loving father! Father! father! dear, dear father, here are +your children. Come, come quickly!" and she hurried to the head of +the valley, raising her voice, that the beloved parent, who she now +confidently believed was approaching, might be guided to the spot by the +well-known sound of her voice. + +Poor, child! the echoes of thy eager voice, prolonged by every +projecting headland of the valley, replied in mocking tones, "Come +quickly!" + +Bewildered she paused, listened breathlessly and again she called, +"Father, come quickly, come!" and again the deceitful sounds were +repeated, "Quickly come!" + +The faithful dog, who had succeeded in tracking the steps of his lost +mistress, raised his head and erected his ears, as she called on her +father's name; but he gave no joyful bark of recognition as he was wont +to do when he heard his master's step approaching. Still Catharine could +not but think that Wolfe had only hurried on before, and that her father +must be very near. + +The sound of her voice had been heard by her brother and cousin, who, +fearing some evil beast had made its way to the wigwam, hastily wound up +their line, and left the fishing-ground to hurry to her assistance. They +could hardly believe their eyes when they saw Wolfe, faithful old Wolfe, +their earliest friend and playfellow, named by their father after the +gallant hero of Quebec. And they too, like Catharine, thought that their +friends were not far distant, and joyfully they climbed the hills and +shouted aloud, and Wolfe was coaxed and caressed, and besought to follow +them to point out the way they should take: but all their entreaties +were in vain; worn out with fatigue and long fasting, the poor old +dog refused to quit the embers of the fire, before which he stretched +himself, and the boys now noticed his gaunt frame and wasted flesh--he +looked almost starved. The fact now became evident that he was in a +state of great exhaustion. Catharine thought he eyed the spring with +wishful looks, and she soon supplied him with water in the bark dish, to +this great relief. + +Wolfe had been out for several days with his master, who would repeat, +in tones of sad earnestness, to the faithful creature, "Lost, lost, +lost!" It was his custom to do so when the cattle strayed, and Wolfe +would travel in all directions till he found them, nor ceased his search +till he discovered the objects he was ordered to bring home. The last +night of the father's wanderings, when, sick and hopeless, he came back +to his melancholy home, as he sat sleeplessly rocking himself to and +fro, he involuntarily exclaimed, wringing his hands, "Lost, lost, lost!" +Wolfe heard what to him was an imperative command; he rose, and stood +at the door, and whined; mechanically his master rose, lifted the latch, +and again exclaimed in passionate tones those magic words, that sent the +faithful messenger forth into the dark forest path. Once on the trail he +never left it, but with ah instinct incomprehensible as it was powerful, +he continued to track the woods, lingering long on spots where the +wanderers had left any signs of their sojourn; he had for some time +been baffled at the Beaver Meadow, and again where they had crossed Cold +Creek, but had regained the scent and traced them to the valley of +the "big stone," and then with the sagacity of the bloodhound and the +affection of the terrier he had, at last, discovered the objects of his +unwearied, though often baffled search. + +What a state of excitement did the unexpected arrival of old Wolfe +create! How many questions were put to the poor beast, as he lay with +his head pillowed on the knees of his loving mistress! Catharine knew it +was foolish, but she could not help talking to the dumb animal, as if +he had been conversant with her own language. Ah, old Wolfe, if your +homesick nurse could but have interpreted those expressive looks, those +eloquent waggings of your bushy tail, as it flapped upon the grass, or +waved from side to side; those gentle lickings of the hand, and mute +sorrowful glances, as though he would have said, "Dear mistress, I know +all your troubles. I know all you say, but I cannot answer you!" There +is something touching in the silent sympathy of the dog, to which only +the hard-hearted and depraved can be quite insensible. I remember once +hearing of a felon, who had shown the greatest obstinacy and callous +indifference to the appeals of his relations, and the clergyman that +attended him in prison, whose heart was softened by the sight of a +little dog, that had been his companion in his days of comparative +innocence, forcing its way through the crowd, till it gained the foot of +the gallows; its mute look of anguish and affection unlocked the fount +of human feeling, and the condemned man wept--perhaps the first tears he +had shed since childhood's happy days. + +The night closed in with a tempest of almost tropical violence. The +inky darkness of the sky was relieved, at intervals, by sheets of lurid +flame, which revealed, by its intense brightness, every object far off +or near. The distant lake, just seen amid the screen of leaves through +the gorge of the valley, gleamed like a sea of molten sulphur; the deep +narrow defile, shut in by the steep and wooded hills, looked deeper, +more wild and gloomy, when revealed by that vivid glare of light. + +There was no stir among the trees, the heavy rounded masses of foliage +remained unmoved; the very aspen, that tremulous sensitive tree, +scarcely stirred; it seemed as if the very pulses of nature were at +rest. The solemn murmur that preceded the thunder-peal might have been +likened to the moaning of the dying. The children felt the loneliness of +the spot. Seated at the entrance of their sylvan hut, in front of which +their evening fire burned brightly, they looked out upon the storm in +silence and in awe. Screened by the sheltering shrubs that grew near +them, they felt comparatively safe from the dangers of the storm, which +now burst in terrific violence above the valley. Cloud answered to +cloud, and the echoes of the hills prolonged the sound, while shattered +trunks and brittle branches filled the air, and shrieked and groaned in +that wild war of elements. + +Between the pauses of the tempest the long howl of the wolves, from +their covert in some distant cedar swamp at the edge of the lake, might +be heard from time to time,--a sound that always thrilled their hearts +with fear. To the mighty thunder-peal that burst above their heads they +listened with awe and wonder. It seemed, indeed, to them as if it were +the voice of Him who "sendeth out his voice, yea, and that a mighty +voice." And they bowed and adored his majesty; but they shrank with +curdled blood from the cry of the _felon wolf._ + +And now the storm was at its climax, and the hail and rain came down +in a whitening flood upon that ocean of forest leaves; the old grey +branches were lifted up and down, and the stout trunks rent, for they +would not bow down before the fury of the whirlwind, and were scattered +all abroad like chaff before the wind. + +The children thought not of danger for themselves, but they feared for +the safety of their fathers, whom they believed to be not far off from +them. And often 'mid the raging of the elements, they fancied they could +distinguish familiar voices calling upon their names. "If our father had +not been near, Wolfe would not have come hither." + +"Ah, if our father should have perished in this fearful storm," said +Catharine, weeping, "or have been starved to death while seeking for +us!" and Catharine covered her face and wept more bitterly. + +But Louis would not listen to such melancholy forebodings. Their fathers +were both brave hardy men, accustomed to every sort of danger and +privation; they were able to take care of themselves. Yes, he was sure +they were not far off; it was this unlucky storm coming on that had +prevented them from meeting. + +"To-morrow, ma chere, will be a glorious day after the storm; it will +be a joyful one too, we shall go out with Wolfe, and he will find his +master, and then--oh, yes! I dare say my dear father will be with yours. +They will have taken good heed to the track, and we shall soon see our +dear mothers and chere petite Louise." + +The storm lasted till past midnight, when it gradually subsided, and the +poor wanderers glad to see the murky clouds roll off, and the stars +peep forth among their broken masses; but they were reduced to a pitiful +state, the hurricane having beaten down their little hut, and their +garments were drenched with rain. However, the boys made a good fire +with some bark and boughs they had in store; there were a few sparks +in their back log unextinguished, and this they gladly fanned up into a +blaze, with which they dried their wet clothes, and warmed themselves. +The air was now cool almost to chilliness, and for some days the weather +remained unsettled, and the sky overcast with clouds, while the lake +presented a leaden hue, crested with white mimic waves. + +They soon set to work to make another hut, and found close to the head +of the ravine a great pine uprooted, affording them large pieces of +bark, which proved very serviceable in thatching the sides of the hut. +The boys employed themselves in this work, while Catharine cooked the +fish they had caught the night before, with a share of which old Wolfe +seemed to be mightily well pleased. After they had breakfasted, they +all went up towards the high table-land above the ravine, with Wolfe, to +look round in hope of getting sight of their friends from Cold Springs, +but though they kept an anxious look out in every direction, they +returned, towards evening, tired and hopeless. Hector had killed a red +squirrel, and a partridge which Wolfe "treed,"--that is, stood barking +at the foot of the tree in which it had perched,--and the supply of meat +was a seasonable change. They also noticed, and marked, with the axe, +several trees where there were bees, intending to come in the cold +weather, and cut them down. Louis's father was a great and successful +bee-hunter; and Louis rather prided himself on having learned something +of his father's skill in that line. Here, where flowers were so abundant +and water plentiful, the wild bees seemed to be abundant also; besides, +the open space between the trees, admitting the warm sunbeam freely, +was favourable both for the bees and the flowers on which they fed, and +Louis talked joyfully of the fine stores of honey they should collect +in the fell. He had taught little Fanchon, a small French spaniel of his +father's, to find out the trees where the bees hived, and also the +nests of the ground-bees, and she would bark at the foot of the tree, +or scratch with her feet on the ground, as the other dogs barked at the +squirrels or the woodchucks; but Fanchon was far away, and Wolfe was +old, and would learn no new tricks, so Louis knew he had nothing but his +own observation and the axe to depend upon for procuring honey. + +The boys had been unsuccessful for some days past in fishing; neither +perch nor sunfish, pink roach nor mud-pouts _[FN: All these fish +are indigenous to the fresh waters of Canada.]_ were to be caught. +However, they found water-mussels by groping in the sand, and cray-fish +among the gravel at the edge of the water only; the last pinched their +fingers very spitefully. The mussels were not very palateable, for want +of salt; but hungry folks must not be dainty, and Louis declared +them very good when well roasted, covered up with hot embers. "The +fish-hawks," said he, "set us a good example, for they eat them, and so +do the eagles and herons. I watched one the other day with a mussel in +his bill; he flew to a high tree, let his prey fall, and immediately +darted down to secure it; but I drove him off, and, to my great +amusement, perceived the wise fellow had just let it fall on a stone, +which had cracked the shell for him just in the right place. I often see +shells lying at the foot of trees, far up the hills, where these birds +must have left them. There is one large thick-shelled mussel, that I +have found several times with a round hole drilled through the shell, +just as if it had been done with a small auger, doubtless the work of +some bird with a strong beak." + +"Do you remember," said Catharine, "the fine pink mussel-shell that Hec. +picked up in the little corn-field last year; it had a hole in one of +the shells too; _[FN: This ingenious mode of cracking the shells +of mussels is common to many birds. The crow (_Corvus corone_) has been +long known by American naturalists to break the thick shells of the +river mussels, by letting them fall from a height on to rocks and +stones.]_ and when my uncle saw it, he said it must have been dropped by +some large bird, a fish-hawk possibly, or a heron, and brought from the +great lake, as it had been taken out of some deep water, the mussels in +our creeks being quite thin-shelled and white." + +"Do you remember what a quantity of large fish bones we found in the +eagle's nest on the top of our hill, Louis?" said Hector. + +"I do; those fish must have been larger than our perch and sun-fish; +they were brought from this very lake, I dare say." + +"If we had a good canoe now, or a boat, and a strong hook and line, we +might become great fishermen." + +"Louis," said Catharine, "is always thinking about canoes, and boats, +and skiffs; he ought to have been a sailor." + +Louis was confident that if they had a canoe he could soon learn to +manage her; he was an excellent sailor already in theory. Louis never +saw difficulties; he was always hopeful, and had a very good opinion +of his own cleverness; he was quicker in most things, his ideas flowed +faster than Hector's, but Hector was more prudent, and possessed one +valuable quality--steady perseverance; he was slow in adopting an +opinion, but when once convinced, he pushed on steadily till he mastered +the subject or overcame the obstacle. + +"Catharine," said Louis, one day, "the huckleberries age now very +plentiful, and I think it would be a wise thing to gather a good store +of them, and dry them for the winter. See, ma chere, wherever we turn +our eyes, or place our feet, they are to be found; the hill sides are +purple with them. We may, for aught we know, be obliged to pass the rest +of our lives here; it will be well to prepare for the winter when no +berries are to be found." + +"It will be well, mon ami, but we must not dry them in the sun; for +let me tell you, Mr. Louis, that they will be quite tasteless--mere dry +husks." + +"Why so, ma belle?" + +"I do not know the reason, but I only know the fact, for when our +mothers dried the currants and raspberries in the sun, such was the +case, but when they dried them on the oven floor, or on the hearth, they +were quite nice." + +"Well, Cath., I think I know of a flat thin stone that will make a good +hearthstone, and we can get sheets of birch bark and sew into flat bags, +to keep the dried fruit in." + +They now turned all their attention to drying huckleberries (or +whortleberries). _[FN: From the abundance of this fruit, the +Indians have given the name of Whortleberry Plain to the lands on the +south shore. During the month of July and the early part of August, +large parties come to the Rice Lake Plains to gather huckleberries, +which they preserve by drying, for winter use. These berries make a +delicious tart or pudding, mixed with bilberries and red-currants, +requiring little sugar.]_ Catharine and Louis (who fancied nothing could +be contrived without his help) attended to the preparing and making of +the bags of birch bark; but Hector was soon tired of girl's work, as he +termed it, and, after gathering some berries, would wander away over +the hills in search of game, and to explore the neighbouring hills and +valleys, and sometimes it was sunset before he made his appearance. +Hector had made an excellent strong-bow, like the Indian bow, out of a +tough piece of hickory wood, which he found in one of his rambles, and +he made arrows with wood that he seasoned in the smoke, sharpening the +heads with great care with his knife, and hardening them by exposure to +strong heat, at a certain distance from the fire. The entrails of the +woodchucks, stretched, and scraped and dried, and rendered pliable by +rubbing and drawing through the hands, answered for a bowstring; but +afterwards, when they got the sinews and hide of the deer, they used +them, properly dressed for the purpose. + +Hector also made a cross-bow, which he used with great effect, being a +true and steady marksman. Louis and he would often amuse themselves with +shooting at a mark, which they would chip on the bark of a tree; even +Catharine was a tolerable archeress with the longbow, and the hut was +now seldom without game of one kind or other. Hector seldom returned +from his rambles without partridges, quails, or young pigeons, which +are plentiful at this season of the year; many of the old ones that pass +over in their migratory flight in the spring, stay to breed, or return +thither for the acorns and berries that are to be found in great +abundance. Squirrels, too, are very plentiful at this season. Hector and +Louis remarked that the red and black squirrels never were to be found +very near each other. It is a common belief, that the red squirrels make +common cause with the grey, and beat the larger enemy off the ground. +The black squirrel, for a succession of years, was very rarely to be met +with on the Plains, while there were plenty of the red and grey in the +"oak openings." _[FN: Within the last three years, however, the +black squirrels have been very numerous, and the red are less frequently +to be seen. The flesh of the black squirrel is tender, white, and +delicate, like that of a young rabbit.]_ Deer, at the time our young +Crusoes were living on the Rice Lake Plains, were plentiful, and, of +course, so were those beasts that prey upon them,--wolves, bears, and +wolverines, besides the Canadian lynx, or catamount, as it is here +commonly called, a species of wild-cat or panther. These wild animals +are now no longer to be seen; it is a rare thing to hear of bears or +wolves, and the wolverine and lynx are known only as matters of history +in this part of the country; these animals disappear as civilization +advances, while some others increase and follow man, especially many +species of birds, which seem to pick up the crumbs that fall from the +rich man's board, and multiply about his dwelling; some adopt new habits +and modes of building and feeding, according to the alteration and +improvement in their circumstances. + +While our young people seldom wanted for meat, they felt the privation +of the tread to which they had teen accustomed very sensibly. One day, +while Hector and Louis were busily engaged with their assistant, Wolfe, +in unearthing a woodchuck, that had taken refuge in his burrow, on +one of the gravelly hills above the lake, Catharine amused herself +by looking for flowers; she had filled her lap with ripe May-apples, +_[FN: _Podophyllum peltatum_-May-apple, or Mandrake. The fruit of +the May-apple, in rich moist soil, will attain to the size of the magnum +bonum, or egg-plum, which it resembles in colour and shape. It makes +a delicious preserve, if seasoned with cloves or ginger; when eaten +uncooked, the outer rind, which is thick and fleshy, and has a rank +taste, should be thrown aside; the fine acid pulp in which the seeds are +imbedded alone should be eaten. The root of the Podophyllum is used as +a cathartic by the Indians. The root of this plant is reticulated, +and when a large body of them are uncovered, they present a singular +appearance, interlacing each other in large meshes, like an extensive +net-work; these roots are white, as thick as a man's little finger, and +fragrant, and spread horizontally along the surface. The blossom is like +a small white rose.]_ but finding them cumbersome in climbing the steep +wooded hills, she deposited them at the foot of a tree near the boys, +and pursued her search; and it was not long before she perceived some +pretty grassy-looking plants, with heads of bright lilac flowers, and on +plucking some pulled up the root also. The root was about the size +and shape of a large crocus, and, on biting it, she found it far +from disagreeable, sweet, and slightly astringent; it seemed to be a +favourite root with the wood-chucks, for she noticed that it grew about +their burrows on dry gravelly soil, and many of the stems were bitten, +and the roots eaten, a warrant in full of wholesomeness. Therefore, +carrying home a parcel of the largest of the roots, she roasted them +in the embers, and they proved almost as good as chestnuts, and more +satisfying than the acorns of the white oak, which they had often +roasted in the fire, when they were out working on the fallow, at the +log heaps. Hector and Louis ate heartily of the roots, and commended +Catharine for the discovery. Not many days afterwards, Louis +accidentally found a much larger and more valuable root, near the +lake shore. He saw a fine climbing shrub, with close bunches of +dark reddish-purple pea-shaped flowers, which scented the air with a +delicious perfume. The plant climbed to a great height over the young +trees, with a profusion of dark green leaves and tendrils. Pleased with +the bowery appearance of the plant, he tried to pull one up, that he +might show it to his cousin, when the root displayed a number of large +tubers, as big as good-sized potatoes, regular oval-shaped; the inside +was quite white, tasting somewhat like a potato, only pleasanter, when +in its raw state, than an uncooked potato. Louis gathered his pockets +full, and hastened home with his prize, and, on being roasted, these +new roots were decided to be little inferior to potatoes, at all events, +they were a valuable addition to their slender stores, and they procured +as many as they could find, carefully storing them in a hole, which they +dug for that purpose in a corner of their hut. _[FN: This plant +appears to me to be a species of the _Psoralea esculenta_, or Indian +bread-root, which it resembles in description, excepting that the root +of the above is tuberous oval, and connected by long filaments. +The largest tubers are farthest from the stem of the plant.]_ Hector +suggested that these roots would be far better late in the fall, or +early in the spring, than during the time that the plant was in bloom, +for he knew from observation and experience that at the flowering +season the greater part of the nourishment derived from the soil goes to +perfect the flower and the seeds. Upon scraping the cut tuber, there was +a white floury powder produced resembling the starchy substance of the +potato. + +"This flour," said Catharine, "would make good porridge with milk." + +"Excellent, no doubt, my wise little cook and housekeeper," said Louis, +laughing, "but ma belle cousine, where is the milk, and where is the +porridge-pot to come from?" + +"Indeed," said Catharine, "I fear, Louis, we must wait long for both." + +One fine day, Louis returned home from the lake shore in great haste, +for the bows and arrows, with the interesting news that a herd of five +deer were in the water, and making for Long Island. + +"But, Louis, they will be gone out of sight and beyond the reach of the +arrows," said Catharine, as she handed him down the bows and a sheaf of +arrows, which she quickly slung round his shoulders by the belt of skin, +which, the young hunter had made for himself. + +"No fear, ma chere; they will stop to feed on the beds of rice and +lilies. We must have Wolfe. Here, Wolfe, Wolfe, Wolfe,--here, boy, +here!" + +Catharine caught a portion of the excitement that danced in the bright +eyes of her cousin, and declaring that she too would go and witness +the hunt, ran down the ravine by his side, while Wolfe, who evidently +understood that they had some sport in view, trotted along by his +mistress, wagging his great bushy tail, and looking in high good humour. + +Hector was impatiently waiting the arrival of the bows and Wolfe. The +herd of deer, consisting of a noble buck, two full-grown females, and +two young half-grown males, were quietly feeding among the beds of +rice and rushes, not more than fifteen or twenty yards from the shore, +apparently quite unconcerned at the presence of Hector, who stood on +a fallen trunk eagerly eyeing their motions; but the hurried steps of +Louis and Catharine, with the deep sonorous baying of Wolfe, soon roused +the timid creatures to a sense of danger, and the stag, raising his head +and making, as the children thought, a signal for retreat, now struck +boldly out for the nearest point of Long Island. + +"We shall lose them," cried Louis, despairingly, eyeing the long bright +track that cut the silvery waters, as the deer swam gallantly out. + +"Hist, hist, Louis," said Hector, "all depends upon Wolfe. Turn them, +Wolfe; hey, hey, seek them, boy!" + +Wolfe dashed bravely into the lake. + +"Head them! head them!" shouted Hector. + +Wolfe knew what was meant; with the sagacity of a long-trained hunter, +he made a desperate effort to gain the advantage by a circuitous route. +Twice the stag turned irresolute, as if to face his foe, and Wolfe, +taking the time, swam ahead, and then the race began. As soon as the +boys saw the herd had turned, and that Wolfe was between them and the +island, they separated, Louis making good his ambush to the right among +the cedars, and Hector at the spring to the west, while Catharine was +stationed at the solitary pine-tree, at the point which commanded the +entrance of the ravine. + +"Now, Cathy," said her brother, "when you see the herd making for the +ravine, shout and and, clap your hands, and they will turn either to the +ten right or to the left. Do not let them land, or we shall lose them. +We must trust to Wolfe for their not escaping to the island. Wolfe is +well trained, he knows what he is about." + +Catharine proved a dutiful ally, she did as she was bid; she waited +till the deer were within a few yards of the shore, then she shouted and +clapped her hands. Frightened at the noise and clamour, the terrified +creatures coasted along for some way, till within a little distance of +the thicket where Hector lay concealed, the very spot from which they +had emerged when they first took to the water; to this place they boldly +steered. Louis, who had watched the direction the herd had taken with +breathless interest, now noiselessly hurried to Hector's assistance, +taking an advantageous post for aim, in case Hector's arrow missed, or +only slightly wounded one of the deer. + +Hector, crouched beneath the trees, waited cautiously till one of the +does was within reach of his arrow, and so good and true was his aim, +that it hit the animal hi the throat a little above the chest; the stag +now turned again, but Wolfe was behind, and pressed him forward, and +again the noble animal strained every nerve for the shore. Louis now +shot his arrow, but it swerved from the mark, he was too eager, it +glanced harmlessly along the water; but the cool, unimpassioned hand of +Hector sent another arrow between the eyes of the doe, stunning her with +its force, and then, another from Louis laid her on her side, dying, and +staining the water with her blood. + +The herd, abandoning their dying companion, dashed frantically to the +shore, and the young hunters, elated by their success, suffered them to +make good their landing without further molestation. Wolfe, at a signal +from his master, ran in the quarry, and Louis declared exultingly, that +as his last arrow had given the _coup de grace_, he was entitled to the +honour of cutting the throat of the doe; but this, the stern Highlander +protested against, and Louis, with a careless laugh, yielded the point, +contenting himself with saying, "Ah, well, I will get the first steak +of the venison when it is roasted, and that is far more to my taste." +Moreover, he privately recounted to Catharine the important share he had +had in the exploit, giving her, at the same time, full credit for the +worthy service she had performed, in withstanding the landing of the +herd. Wolfe, too, came in for a large share of the honour and glory of +the chase. + +The boys were soon hard at work, skinning the animal, and cutting it up. +This was the most valuable acquisition they had yet effected, for many +uses were to be made of the deer, besides eating the flesh. It was a +store of wealth in their eyes. + +During the many years that their fathers had sojourned in the country, +there had been occasional intercourse with the fur traders and trappers, +and, sometimes, with friendly disposed Indians, who had called at the +lodges of their white brothers for food and tobacco. + +From all these men, rude as they were, some practical knowledge had been +acquired, and their visits, though few and far between, had left good +fruit behind them; something to think about and talk about, and turn to +future advantage. + +The boys had learned from the Indians how precious were the tough sinews +of the deer for sewing. They knew how to prepare the skins of the deer +for mocassins, which they could cut out and make as neatly as the squaws +themselves. They could fashion arrow-heads, and knew how best to season +the wood for making both the long and cross-bow; they had seen the +fish-hooks these people manufactured from bone and hard wood; they knew +that strips of fresh-cut skins would make bow-strings, or the entrails +of animals dried and rendered pliable. They had watched the squaws +making baskets of the inner bark of the oak, elm, and basswood, and mats +of the inner bark of the cedar, with many other ingenious works that +they now found would prove useful to them, after a little practice +had perfected their inexperienced attempts. They also knew how to dry +venison as the Indians and trappers prepare it, by cutting the thick +fleshy portions of the meat into strips, from four to six inches in +breadth, and two or more in thickness. These strips they strung upon +poles supported on forked sticks, and exposed them to the drying action +of the sun and wind. Fish they split open, and removed the back and head +bones, and smoked them slightly, or dried them in the sun. + +Their success in killing the doe greatly raised their spirits; in +their joy they embraced each other, and bestowed the most affectionate +caresses on Wolfe for his good conduct. + +"But for this dear, wise old fellow, we should have had no venison for +dinner to-day," said Louis; "and so, Wolfe, you shall have a choice +piece for your own share." + +Every part of the deer seemed valuable in the eyes of the young hunters; +the skin they carefully stretched out upon sticks to dry gradually, and +the entrails they also preserved for bow-strings. The sinews of the legs +and back, they drew out, and laid carefully aside for future use. + +"We shall be glad enough of these strings by-and-by," said careful +Hector; "for the summer will soon be at an end, and then we must turn +our attention to making ourselves winter clothes and mocassins." + +"Yes, Hec., and a good warm shanty; these huts of bark and boughs will +not do when once the cold weather sets in." + +"A shanty would soon be put up," said Hector; "for even Kate, wee bit +lassie as she is, could give us some help in trimming up the logs. + +"That I could, indeed," replied Catherine; "for you may remember, Hec., +that the last journey my father made to the Bay, _[FN: Bay of +Quints.]_ with the pack of furs, that you and I called a _Bee_ + +_[FN: A Bee is a practical instance of duty to a neighbour. We +fear it is peculiar to Canada, although deserving of imitation in all +Christian colonies. When any work which requires many hands is in +the course of performance, as the building of log-houses, barns, +or shanties, all the neighbours are summoned, and give their best +assistance in the construction. Of course the assisted party is liable +to be called upon by the community in turn, to repay in kind the help he +has received.]_ + +to put up a shed for the new cow that he was to drive back with him, and +I am sure Mathilde and I did as much good as you and Louis. You know you +said you could not have got on nearly so well without our help." + +"Yes, and you cried because you got a fall off the shed when if was only +four logs high." + +"It was not for the fall that I cried," said Catharine, resentfully, +"but because cousin Louis and you laughed at me, and said, 'Cats, you +know, have nine lives, and seldom are hurt, because they light on their +feet,' and I thought it was very cruel to laugh at me when I was in +pain. Beside, you called me 'puss,' and 'poor pussie' all the rest of +the _Bee_." + +"I am sure, ma belle, I am very sorry if I was rude to you," said Louis, +trying to look penitent for the offence. "For my part, I had forgotten +all about the fall; I only know that we passed a very merry day. Dear +aunt made us a fine Johnny-cake for tea, with lots of maple molasses; +and the shed was a capital shed, and the cow must have thought us fine +builders, to have made such a comfortable shelter for her, with no +better help." + +"After all," said Hector, thoughtfully; "children can do a great many +things if they only resolutely set to work, and use the wits and the +strength that God has given them to work with. A few weeks ago, and we +should have thought it utterly impossible to have supported ourselves +in a lonely wilderness like this by our own exertions in fishing and +hunting." + +"If we had been lost in the forest, we must have died with hunger," said +Catharine; "but let us be thankful to the good God who led us hither, +and gave us health and strength to help ourselves." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + "Aye from the sultry heat, + We to our cave retreat, + O'ercanopied by huge roots, intertwined, + Of wildest texture, blacken'd o'er with age, + Bound them their mantle green the climbers twine. + Beneath whose mantle--pale, + Fann'd by the breathing gale, + We shield us from the fervid mid-day rage, + Thither, while the murmuring throng + Of wild bees hum their drowsy song."--COLERIDGE. + +"Louis, what are you cutting out of that bit of wood?" said Catharine, +the very next day after the first ideas of the shanty had been started. + +"Hollowing out a canoe." + +"Out of that piece of stick?" said Catharine, laughing. "How many +passengers is it to accommodate, my dear." + +"Don't teaze, ma belle. I am only making a model. My canoe will be made +out of a big pine log, and large enough to hold three." + +"Is it to be like the big sap-trough in the sugar-bush at home?" Louis +nodded assent. + +"I long to go over to the island; I see lots of ducks popping in and +out of the little bays beneath the cedars, and there are plenty of +partridges, I am sure, and squirrels,--it is the very place for them." + +"And shall we have a sail as well as oars?" + +"Yes; set up your apron for a sail." + +Catharine cast a rueful look upon the tattered remnant of the apron. + +"It is worth nothing now," she said, sighing; "and what am I to do when +my gown is worn out? It is a good thing it is so strong; if it had been +cotton, now, it would have been torn to bits among the bushes." + +"We must make clothes of skins as soon as we get enough," said Hector; +"Louis, I think you can manufacture a bone needle; we can pierce the +holes with the strong thorns, or a little round bone bodkin, that can be +easily made." + +"The first rainy day, we will see what we can do," replied Louis; "but I +am full of my canoe just now." + +"Indeed, Louis, I believe you never think of anything else; but even +if we had a canoe to-morrow, I do not think that either you or I could +manage one," said cautions Hector. + +"I could soon learn, as others have done before me. I wonder who first +taught the Indians to make canoes, and venture out on the lakes and +streams. Why should we be more stupid than these untaught heathens? I +have listened so often to my father's stories and adventures when he was +out lumbering on the St. John's river, that I am as familiar with the +idea of a boat, as if I had been born in one. Only think now, ma belle," +he said, turning to Catharine; "just think of the fish--the big ones we +could get if we had but a canoe to push out from the shore beyond those +rush-beds." + +"It strikes me, Louis, that those rush-beds, as you call them, must be +the Indian rice that we have seen the squaws make their soup of." + +"Yes; and you remember old Jacob used to talk of a fine lake that he +called Rice Lake, somewhere to the northward of the Cold Springs, where +he said there was plenty of game of all kinds, and a fine open place, +where people could see through the openings among the trees. He said it +was a great hunting-place for the Indians in the fall of the year, and +that they came there to gather in the harvest of wild rice." + +"I hope the Indians will not come here and find us out," said Catharine, +shuddering; "I think I should be more frightened at the Indians than at +the wolves. Have we not heard fearful tales of their cruelty?" + +"But we have never been harmed by them; they have always been civil +enough when they came to the Springs." "They came, you know, for +food, or shelter, or something that they wanted from us; but it may +be different when they find us alone and unprotected, encroaching upon +their hunting grounds." + +"The place is wide enough for us and them; we will try and make them our +friends." + +"The wolf and the lamb do not lie down in the fold together," observed +Hector. "The Indian is treacherous. The wild man and the civilized man +do not live well together, their habits and dispositions are so contrary +the one to the other. We are open, and they are cunning, and they +suspect our openness to be only a greater degree of cunning than their +own--they do not understand us. They are taught to be revengeful, and we +are taught to forgive our enemies. So you see that what is a virtue with +the savage, is a crime with the Christian. If the Indian could be +taught the word of God, he might be kind and true, and gentle as well as +brave." + +It was with conversations like this that our poor wanderers wiled away +their weariness. The love of life, and the exertions necessary for +self-preservation, occupied so large a portion of their thoughts and +time, that they had hardly leisure for repining. They mutually cheered +and animated each other to bear up against the sad fate that had thus +severed them from every kindred tie, and shut them out from that home to +which their young hearts were bound by every endearing remembrance from +infancy upwards. + +One bright September morning, our young people set off on an exploring +expedition, leaving the faithful Wolfe to watch the wigwam, for they +well knew he was too honest to touch their store of dried fish and +venison himself, and too trusty and fierce to suffer wolf or wild cat +near it. + +They crossed several narrow deep ravines, and the low wooded flat +_[FN: Now the fertile firm of Joe Harris, a Yankee settler whose +pleasant meadows and fields of grain form a pretty feature from the +lake. It is one of the oldest clearings on the shore, and speaks well +for the persevering industry of the settler and his family.]_ along the +lake shore, to the eastward of Pine-tree Point. Finding it difficult +to force their way through the thick underwood that always impedes the +progress of the traveller on the low shores of the lake, they followed +the course of an ascending narrow ridge, which formed a sort of natural +causeway between two parallel hollows, the top of this ridge being in +many places, not wider than a cart or waggon could pass along. The sides +were most gracefully adorned with flowering shrubs, wild vines, creepers +of various species, wild cherries of several kinds, hawthorns, bilberry +bushes, high-bush cranberries, silver birch, poplars, oaks and pines; +while in the deep ravines on either side grew trees of the largest +growth, the heads of which lay on a level with their path. Wild cliffy +banks, beset with huge boulders of red and grey granite and water-worn +limestone, showed that it had once formed the boundary of the lake, +though now it was almost a quarter of a mile in its rear. Springs of +pure water were in abundance, trickling down the steep rugged sides of +this wooded glen. The children wandered onwards, delighted with the wild +picturesque path they had chosen, sometimes resting on a huge block of +moss-covered stone, or on the twisted roots of some ancient grey old oak +or pine, while they gazed with curiosity and interest on the lonely but +lovely landscape before them. Across the lake, the dark forest shut all +else from their view, rising in gradual far-off slopes, till it reached +the utmost boundary of sight. Much the children marvelled what country +it might be that lay in the dim, blue, hazy distance,--to them, indeed, +a _terra incognita_--a land of mystery; but neither of her companions +laughed when Catharine gravely suggested the probability of this unknown +shore to the northward being her father's beloved Highlands. Let not +youthful and more learned reader smile at the ignorance of the Canadian +girl; she knew nothing of maps, and globes, and hemispheres,--her only +book of study had been the Holy Scriptures, her only teacher a poor +Highland soldier. + +Following the elevated ground above this deep valley, the travellers at +last halted on the extreme, edge of a high and precipitous mound, that +formed an abrupt termination to the deep glen. They found water not far +from this spot fit for drinking, by following a deer-path a little to +the southward. And there, on the borders of a little basin on a pleasant +brae, where the bright silver birch waved gracefully over its sides, +they decided upon building a winter house. They named the spot Mount +Ararat: "For here." said they, "we will build us an ark of refuge and +wander no more." And mount Ararat is the name which the spot still +bears. Here they sat them down on a fallen tree, and ate a meal of dried +venison, and drank of the cold spring that welled out from beneath the +edge of the bank. Hector felled a tree to mark the site of their house +near the birches, and they made a regular blaze on the trees as they +returned home towards the wigwam, that they might not miss the place. +They found less difficulty in retracing their path than they had +formerly, a there were some striking peculiarities to mark it, and +they had learned to be very minute in the remarks they made as they +travelled, so that they now seldom missed the way they came by. A few +days after this, they removed all their household stores, viz. the axe, +the tin pot, bows and arrows, baskets, and bags of dried fruit, the +dried venison and fish, and the deerskin; nor did they forget the deer +scalp, which they bore away as a trophy, to be fastened up over the door +of their new dwelling, for a memorial of their first hunt on the shores +of the Rice Lake. The skin was given to Catharine to sleep on. + +The boys were now busy from morning till night chopping down trees for +house-logs. It was a work of time and labour, as the axe was blunt, and +the oaks hard to cut; but they laboured on without grumbling, and Kate +watched the fall of each tree with lively joy. They were no longer dull; +there was something to look forward to from day to day-they were going +to commence housekeeping in good earnest and they should be warm and +well lodged before the bitter frosts of winter could come to chill their +blood. It was a joyful day when the log walls of the little shanty were +put up, and the door hewed out. Windows they had none, so they did +not cut out the spaces for them; _[FN: Many a shanty is put up in +Canada without windows, and only an open space for a door, with a rude +plank set up to close it in at night.]_ they could do very well without, +as hundreds of Irish and Highland emigrants have done before and since. + +A pile of stones rudely cemented together with wet clay and ashes +against the logs, and a hole cut in the roof, formed the chimney +and hearth in this primitive dwelling. The chinks were filled with +wedge-shaped pieces of wood, and plastered with clay: the trees, +being chiefly oaks and pines, afforded no moss. This deficiency rather +surprised the boys, for in the thick forest and close cedar swamps, moss +grows in abundance on the north side of the trees, especially on the +cedar, maple, beech, bass, and iron wood; but there were few of these, +excepting a chance one or two in the little basin in front of the house. +The roof was next put on, which consisted of split cedars; and when the +little dwelling was thus far habitable, they were all very happy. While +the boys had been putting on the roof, Catharine had collected the +stones for the chimney, and cleared the earthen floor of the chips and +rubbish with a broom of cedar boughs, bound together with a leathern +thong. She had swept it all clean, carefully removing all unsightly +objects, and strewing it over with fresh cedar sprigs, which gave out +a pleasant odour, and formed a smooth and not unseemly carpet for their +little dwelling. How cheerful was the first fire blazing up on their own +hearth! It was so pleasant to sit by its gladdening light, and chat away +of all they had done and all that they meant to do. Here was to be a set +of split cedar shelves, to hold their provisions and baskets; there a +set of stout pegs were to be inserted between the logs for hanging up +strings of dried meat, bags of birch-bark, or the skins of the animals +they were to shoot or trap. A table was to be fixed on posts in the +centre of the floor. Louis was to carve wooden platters and dishes, and +some stools were to be made with hewn blocks of wood, till something +better could be devised. Their bedsteads were rough poles of iron-wood, +supported by posts driven into the ground, and partly upheld by the +projection of the logs at the angles of the wall. Nothing could be more +simple. The framework was of split cedar; and a safe bed was made by +pine boughs being first laid upon the frame, and then thickly covered +with dried grass, moss, and withered leaves. Such were the lowly but +healthy couches on which these children of the forest slept. + +A dwelling so rudely framed and scantily furnished would be regarded +with disdain by the poorest English peasant. Yet many a settler's family +have I seen as roughly lodged, while a better house was being prepared +for their reception; and many a gentleman's son has voluntarily +submitted to privations as great as these, from the love of novelty and +adventure, or to embark in the tempting expectation of realizing money +in the lumbering trade, working hard, and sharing the rude log shanty +and ruder society of those reckless and hardy men, the Canadian +lumberers. During the spring and summer months, these men spread +themselves through the trackless forests, and along the shores of +nameless lakes and unknown streams, to cut the pine or oak lumber, such +being the name they give to the felled stems of trees, which are then +hewn, and in the winter dragged out upon the ice, where they are formed +into rafts, and floated down the waters till they reach the great +St. Lawrence, and are, after innumerable difficulties and casualties, +finally shipped for England. I have likewise known European gentlemen +voluntarily leave the comforts of a civilized home, and associate +themselves with the Indian trappers and hunters, leading lives as +wandering and as wild as the uncultivated children of the forest. The +nights and early mornings were already growing sensibly more chilly. The +dews at this season fall heavily, and the mists fill the valleys, till +the sun has risen with sufficient heat to draw up the vapours. It was a +good thing that the shanty was finished so soon, or the exposure to the +damp air might have been productive of ague and fever. Every hour almost +they spent in making little additions to their household comforts, but +some time was necessarily passed in trying to obtain provisions. One +day Hector, who had been out from dawn till moonrise, returned with the +welcome news that he had shot a young deer, and required the assistance +of his cousin to bring it up the steep bank--(it was just at the +entrance of the great ravine)--below the precipitous cliff near the +lake; he had left old Wolfe to guard it in the meantime. They had now +plenty of fresh broiled meat, and this store was very acceptable, as +they were obliged to be very careful of the dried meat that they had. + +This time Catharine adopted a new plan. Instead of cutting the meat in +strips, and drying it, (or jerking it, as the lumberers term it,) she +roasted it before the fire, and hung it up, wrapping it in thin sheets +of birch bark. The juices, instead of being dried up, were preserved, +and the meat was more palatable. Catharine found great store of wild +plums in a beautiful valley, not far from the shanty; these she dried +for the winter store, eating sparingly of them in their fresh state; she +also found plenty of wild black currants, and high-bush cranberries, +on the banks of a charming creek of bright water that flowed between +a range of high pine hills, and finally emptied itself into the +lake._[FN: This little stream flows through the green meadows +of "Glenlynden," watering the grounds of Mr. Alfred Hayward, whose +picturesque cottage forms a most attractive object to the eye of the +traveller.]_ There were great quantities of water-cresses in this pretty +brook; they grew in bright round cushion-like tufts at the bottom of the +water, and were tender and wholesome. These formed an agreeable addition +to their diet, which had hitherto been chiefly confined to animal food, +for they could not always meet with a supply of the bread-roots, as +they grew chiefly in damp, swampy thickets on the lake shore, which +were sometimes very difficult of access; however, they never missed any +opportunity of increasing their stores, and laying up for the winter +such roots as they could procure. + +As the cool weather and frosty nights drew on, the want of warm +clothes and bed-covering became more sensibly felt: those they had were +beginning to wear out. Catharine had managed to wash her clothes at the +lake several times, and thus preserved them clean and wholesome; but she +was often sorely puzzled how the want of her dress was to be supplied as +time wore on, and many were the consultations she held with the boys +on the important subject. With the aid of a needle she might be able to +manufacture the skins of the small animals into some sort of jacket, +and the doe-skin and deer-skin could be made into garments for the boys. +Louis was always suppling and rubbing the skins to make them soft. They +had taken off the hair by sprinkling it with wood ashes, and rolling +it up with the hairy side inwards. Out of one of these skins he made +excellent mocassins, piercing the holes with a sharpened bone bodkin, +and passing the sinews of the deer through, as he had seen his father +do, by fixing a stout fish-bone to the deer-sinew thread; thus he had an +excellent substitute for a needle, and with the aid of the old file he +sharpened the point of the rusty nail, so that he was enabled, with +a little trouble, to drill a hole in a bone needle, for his cousin +Catharine's use. After several attempts, he succeeded in making some of +tolerable fineness, hardening them by exposure to a slow steady degree +of heat, till she was able to work with them, and even mend her clothes +with tolerable expertness. By degrees, Catharine contrived to cover +the whole outer surface of her homespun woollen frock with squirrel and +mink, musk-rat and woodchuck skins. A curious piece of fur patchwork of +many hues and textures it presented to the eye,--a coat of many colours, +it is true; but it kept the wearer warm, and Catharine was not a little +proud of her ingenuity and industry: every new patch that was added was +a source of fresh satisfaction, and the mocassins, that Louis fitted so +nicely to her feet, were great comforts. A fine skin that Hector brought +triumphantly in one day, the spoil from a fox that had been caught in +one of his deadfalls, was in due time converted into a dashing cap, the +brush remaining as an ornament to hang down on one shoulder. Catharine +might have passed for a small Diana, when she went out with her fur +dress and bow and arrows to hunt with Hector and Louis. + +Whenever game of any kind was killed, it was carefully skinned and +stretched upon bent sticks, being first turned, so as to present the +inner part to the drying action of the air. The young hunters were most +expert in this work, having been accustomed for many years to assist +their fathers in preparing the furs which they disposed of to the fur +traders, who visited them from time to time, and gave them various +articles in exchange for their peltries; such as powder and shot, and +cutlery of different kinds, as knives, scissors, needles, and pins, with +gay calicoes, and cotton handkerchiefs for the women. + +As the evenings lengthened, the boys employed themselves with carving +wooden platters: knives and forks and spoons they fashioned out of the +larger bones of the deer, which they often found bleaching in the sun +and wind, where they had been left by their enemies the wolves; baskets +too they made, and birch dishes, which they could now finish so well, +that they held water, or any liquid; but their great want was some +vessel that would bear the heat of the fire. The tin pot was so small +that it could be made little use of in the cooking way. Catharine had +made an attempt at making tea, on a small scale, of the leaves of the +sweet fern,--a graceful woody fern, with a fine aromatic scent like +nutmegs; this plant is highly esteemed among the Canadians as a +beverage, and also as a remedy against the ague; it grows in great +abundance on dry sandy lands and wastes, by waysides. + +"If we could but make some sort of earthen pot that would stand the heat +of the fire," said Louis, "we could get on nicely with cooking." But +nothing like the sort of clay used by potters had been seen, and they +were obliged to give up that thought, and content themselves with +roasting or broiling their food. Louis, however, who was fond of +contrivances, made an oven, by hollowing out a place near the hearth, +and lining it with stones, filling up the intervals with wood ashes and +such clay as they could find, beaten into a smooth mortar. Such cement +answered very well, and the oven was heated by filling it with hot +embers; these were removed when it was sufficiently heated, and the meat +or roots placed within, the oven being covered over with a flat stone +previously heated before the fire, and covered with live coals. This +sort of oven had often been described by old Jacob, as one in common +use among some of the Indian tribes in the lower province, in which they +cook small animals, and make excellent meat of them; they could bake +bread also in this oven, if they had had flour to use. _[FN: This +primitive oven is much like what voyagers have described as in use among +the natives of many of the South Sea islands.]_ + +Since the finishing of the house and furnishing it, the young people +were more reconciled to their lonely life, and even entertained decided +home feelings for their little log cabin. They never ceased, it is true, +to talk of their parents, and brothers, and sisters, and wonder if all +were well, and whether they still hoped for their return, and to recall +all their happy days spent in the home which they now feared they +were destined never again to behold. About the same time they lost the +anxious hope of meeting some one from home in search of them at every +turn when they went out. Nevertheless they were becoming each day more +cheerful and more active. Ardently attached to each other, they seemed +bound together by a yet more sacred tie of brotherhood. They were now +all the world to one another, and no cloud of disunion came to mar +their happiness. Hector's habitual gravity and caution were tempered +by Louis's lively vivacity and ardour of temper, and they both loved +Catharine, and strove to smoothe, as much as possible, the hard life to +which she was exposed, by the most affectionate consideration for her +comfort, and she in return endeavoured to repay them by cheerfully +enduring all privations, and making light of all their trials, and +taking a lively interest in all their plans and contrivances. + +Louis had gone out to fish at the lake one autumn morning. During his +absence, a sudden squall of wind came on, accompanied with heavy rain. +As he stayed longer than usual, Hector began to feel uneasy, lest some +accident had befallen him, knowing his adventurous spirit, and that he +had for some days previous been busy constructing a raft of cedar logs, +which he had fastened together with wooden pins. This raft he had nearly +finished, and was even talking of adventuring over to the nearest island +to explore it, and see what game, and roots, and fruits it afforded. + +Bidding Catharine stay quietly within-doors till his return, Hector +ran off, not without some misgivings of evil having befallen his rash +cousin, which fears he carefully concealed from his sister, as he did +not wish to make her needlessly anxious. When he reached the shore, his +mind was somewhat relieved by seeing the raft on the beach, just as it +had been left the night before, but neither Louis nor the axe was to be +seen, nor the fishing-rod and line. + +"Perhaps," thought he, "Louis has gone further down to the mouth of the +little creek, in the flat east of this, where we caught our last fish: +or maybe he has gone up to the old place at Pine-tree Point." + +While he yet stood hesitating within himself which way to turn, he heard +steps as of some one running, and perceived his cousin hurrying through +the bushes in the direction of the shanty. It was evident by his +disordered air, and the hurried glances that he cast over his shoulder +from time to time, that something unusual had occurred to disturb him. + +"Halloo! Louis, is it bear, wolf, or catamount that is on your trail?" +cried Hector, almost amused by the speed with which his cousin hurried +onward. "Why, Louis, whither away?" + +Louis now turned and held up his hand, as if to enjoin silence, till +Hector came up to him. + +"Why, man, what ails you? what makes you run as if you were hunted down +by a pack of wolves?" + +"It is not wolves, or bears either," said Louis, as soon as he could get +breath to speak, "but the Indians are all on Bare-hill, holding a war +council, I suppose, for there are several canoe-loads of them." + +"How came you to see them?" + +"I must tell you that when I parted from you and Cathy, instead of going +down to my raft, as I thought at first I would do, I followed the deer +path through the little ravine, and then ascending the side of the +valley, I crossed the birch grove, and kept down the slope within sight +of the creek. While I was looking out upon the lake, and thinking how +pretty the islands were, rising so green from the blue water, I was +surprised by seeing several dark spots dotting the lake. At first, you +may be sure, I thought they must be a herd of deer, only they kept too +far apart, so I sat down on a log to watch, thinking if they turned out +to be deer, I would race off for you and Wolfe, and the bows and arrows, +that we might try our chance for some venison; but as the black specks +came nearer and nearer, I perceived they were canoes with Indians in +them, three in each. They made for the mouth of the creek, and ran +ashore among the thick bushes. I watched them with a beating heart, and +lay down flat, lest they should spy me out; for those fellows have eyes +like catamounts, so keen and wild--they see everything without seeming +to cast a glance on it. Well, I saw them wind up the ridge till they +reached the Bare-hill. _[FN: Supposed to be a council hill. It is +known by the name of Bare-hill, from the singular want of verdure on its +surface. It is one of the steepest on the ridge above the little creek, +being a picturesque object, with its fine pine-trees, seen from Mr. +Hayward's grounds, and forms, I believe, a part of his property.]_ You +remember that spot; we called it so from its barren appearance. In a few +minutes a column of smoke rose and curled among the pine-trees, and then +another and another, till I counted five fires burning brightly; and, +as I stood on the high ground, I could distinguish the figures of many +naked savages moving about, running to and fro like a parcel of black +ants on a cedar log; and by-and-by I heard them raise a yell like a +pack of ravenous wolves on a deer track. It made my heart leap up in my +breast. I forgot all the schemes that had just got into my wise head, +of slipping quietly down, and taking off one of the empty birch canoes, +which you must own would have been a glorious thing for us; but when I +heard the noise these wild wretches raised. I darted off, and ran as +if the whole set were at my heels. I think I just saved my scalp." And +Louis put his hand to his head, and tugged his thick black curls, as if +to ascertain that they were still safe from the scalping knives of his +Indian enemies. + +"And now, Hec, what is to be done? We must hide ourselves from the +Indians; they will kill us, or take us away with them if they find us." + +"Let us go home and talk over our plans with Cathy." + +"Yes; for I have heard my father say two heads are better than one, and +so three of course must be still better than two." + +"Why," said Hector, laughing, "it depends upon the stock of practical +wisdom in the heads, for two fools, you know, Louis, will hardly form +one rational plan." + +Various were the schemes devised for their security. Hector proposed +pulling down the shanty, and dispersing the logs, so as to leave no +trace of the little dwelling; but to this neither his cousin nor his +sister would agree. To pull down the new house that had cost them so +much labour, and which had proved such a comfort to them, they could not +endure even in idea. + +"Let us put out the fire, and hide ourselves in the big ravine below +Mount Ararat, dig a cave in one of the hills, and convey our house-hold +goods thither." Such was Louis's plan. + +"The ravines would be searched directly," suggested Hector; "besides, +the Indians know they are famous coverts for deer and game of all sorts; +they might chance to pop upon us, and catch us like woodchucks in a +burrow." + +"Yes, and burn us," said Catharine, with a shudder. "I know the path +that leads direct to the 'Happy Valley,' (the name she had given to the +low flat, now known as the 'lower Race-course,') and it is not far +from here, only ten minutes' walk in a straight line. We can conceal +ourselves below the steep bank that we descended the other day; and +there are several springs of fresh water, and plenty of nuts and +berries; and the trees, though few, are so thickly covered with close +spreading branches that touch the very ground, that we might hide +ourselves from a hundred eyes were they ever so cunning and prying." + +Catharine's counsel was deemed the most prudent, and the boys +immediately busied themselves with hiding under the broken branches of a +prostrate tree such articles as they could not conveniently carry +away, leaving the rest to chance; with the most valuable they loaded +themselves, and guided by Catharine, who, with her dear old dog, marched +forward along the narrow footpath that had been made by some wild +animals, probably deer, in their passage from the lake to their +feeding-place, or favorite covert, on the low sheltered plain; where, +being quite open, and almost, in parts, free from trees, the grass and +herbage were sweeter and more abundant, and the springs of water fresh +and cool. + +Catharine cast many a fearful glance through the brushwood as they moved +onward, but saw no living thing, excepting a family of chipmunks gaily +chasing each other along a fallen branch, and a covey of quails, that +were feeding quietly on the red berries of the _Mitchella repens,_ or +twinberry, _[FN: Also partridge-berry and checker-berry, a lovely +creeping winter-green, with white fragrant flowers, and double scarlet +berry.]_ as it is commonly called, of which the partridges and quails +are extremely fond; for Nature, with liberal hand, has spread abroad +her bounties for the small denizens, furred or feathered, that haunt the +Rice Lake and its flowery shores. + +After a continued but gentle ascent through the oak opening, they halted +at the foot of a majestic pine, and looked round them. It was a lovely +spot as any they had seen; from west to east, the lake, bending like +a silver crescent, lay between the boundary hills of forest trees; in +front, the long lines of undulating wood-covered heights faded away +into mist, and blended with the horizon. To the east, a deep and fertile +valley lay between the high lands, on which they rested, and the far +ridge of oak hills. From their vantage height, they could distinguish +the outline of the Bare-hill, made more distinct by its flickering fires +and the smoke wreaths that hung like a pearly-tinted robe among the +dark pines that grew upon its crest. Not long tarrying did our fugitives +make, though perfectly safe from detection by the distance and their +shaded position, for many a winding vale and wood-crowned height lay +between them and the encampment. + +But fear is not subject to the control of reason, and in the present +instance it invested the dreaded Indians with superhuman powers of sight +and of motion. A few minutes' hasty flight brought our travellers to the +brow of a precipitous bank, nearly a hundred feet above the level open +plain which they sought. Here, then, they felt comparatively safe: they +were out of sight of the camp fires, the spot they had chosen was open, +and flight, in case of the approach of the Indians, not difficult, while +hiding-places were easy of access. They found a deep, sheltered hollow +in the bank, where two mighty pines had beep torn up by the roots, and +prostrated headlong down the steep, forming a regular cave, roofed by +the earth and fibres that had been uplifted in their fall. Pendent +from these roots hung a luxuriant curtain of wild grapevines and other +creepers, which formed a leafy screen, through which the most curious +eye could scarcely penetrate. This friendly vegetable veil seemed as +if provided for their concealment, and they carefully abstained from +disturbing the pendent foliage, lest they should, by so doing, betray +their hiding-place to their enemies. They found plenty of long grass, +and abundance of long soft green moss and ferns near a small grove of +poplars, which surrounded a spring of fine water. They ate some dried +fruit and smoked fish, and drank some of the clear spring; and +after they had said their evening prayers, they laid down to sleep, +Catharine's head pillowed on the neck of her faithful guardian, Wolfe. +In the middle of the night a startling sound, as of some heavy body +falling, wakened them all simultaneously. The night was so dark +they could see nothing, and terror-struck, they sat gazing into the +impenetrable darkness of their cave, not even daring to speak to each +other, hardly even to breathe. Wolfe gave a low grumbling bark, and +resumed his couchant posture as if nothing worthy of his attention was +near to cause the disturbance. Catharine trembled and wept, and prayed +for safety against the Indians and beasts of prey, and Hector and Louis +listened, till they fell asleep in spite of their fears. In the morning, +it seemed as if they had dreamed some terrible dream, so vague were +their recollections of the fright they had had, but the cause was soon +perceived. A large stone that had been heaved up with the clay that +adhered to the roots and fibres, had been loosened, and had fallen on +the ground, close to the spot where Catharine lay. So ponderous was the +mass, that had it struck her, death must have been the consequence of +the blow; and Hector and Louis beheld it with fear and amazement, while +Catharine regarded it as a proof of Divine mercy and protection from +Him in whose hand her safety lay. The boys, warned by this accident, +carefully removed several large stones from the roof, and tried the +safety of their clay walls with a stout staff, to ascertain that all was +secure, before they again ventured to sleep beneath this rugged canopy. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"The soul of the wicked desireth evil; his neighbour findeth no favour +in his eyes."--_Proverbs_. + +FOR several days, they abstained from lighting a fire, lest the smoke +should be seen; but this, the great height of the bank would have +effectually prevented. They suffered much cold at night from the copious +dews, which, even on sultry summer's evenings, is productive of much +chilling. They could not account for the fact that the air, at night, +was much warmer on the high hills than in the low valleys; they were +even sensible of a rush of heat as they ascended to the higher ground. +These simple children had not been taught that it is the nature of the +heated air to ascend, and its place to be supplied by the colder and +denser particles. They noticed the effects, but understood nothing of +the causes that ruled them. + +The following days they procured several partridges, but feared to cook +them; however, they plucked them, split them open, and dried the flesh +for a future day. A fox or racoon attracted by the smell of the birds, +came one night, and carried them off, for in the morning they were gone. +They saw several herd of deer crossing the plain, and one day Wolfe +tracked a wounded doe to a covert under the poplars, near a hidden +spring, where she had lain herself down to die in peace, far from the +haunts of her fellows. The arrow was in her throat; it was of white +flint, and had evidently been sent from an Indian bow. It was almost +with fear and trembling that they availed themselves of the venison thus +providentially thrown in their way, lest the Indians should track the +blood of the doe, and take vengeance on them for appropriating it for +their own use. Not having seen anything of the Indians, who seemed to +confine themselves to the neighbourhood of the lake, after many days had +passed, they began to take courage, and even lighted an evening fire, at +which they cooked as much venison as would last them for several days, +and hung the remaining portions above the smoke to preserve it from +injury. + +One morning, Hector proclaimed his intention of ascending the hills, in +the direction of the Indian camp. "I am tired of remaining shut up in +this dull place, where we can see nothing but this dead flat, bounded by +those melancholy pines in the distance that seem to shut us in." Little +did Hector know that beyond that dark ridge of pine hills lay the home +of their childhood, and but a few miles of forest intervened to hide +it from their sight. Had he known it how eagerly would his feet have +pressed onward in the direction of that dark barrier of evergreens! + +Thus is it often in this life: we wander on, sad and perplexed, our path +beset with thorns and briars. We cannot see our way clear; doubts and +apprehensions assail us. We know not how near we are to the fulfilment +of our wishes: we see only the insurmountable barriers, the dark +thickets and thorns of our way; and we know not how near we are to our +Father's home, where he is waiting to welcome the wanderers of the flock +back to the everlasting home, the fold of the Good Shepherd. + +Hector became impatient of the restraint that the dread of the Indians +imposed upon his movements; he wanted to see the lake again and to roam +abroad free and uncontrolled. + +"After all," said he; "we never met with any ill treatment from the +Indians that used to visit us at Cold Springs; we may even find old +friends and acquaintances among them." + +"The thing is possible, but not very likely," replied Louis. +"Nevertheless, Hector, I would not willingly put myself in their power. +The Indian has his own notion of things, and might think himself +quite justified in killing us, if he found us on his hunting-grounds. +_[FN: George Copway, an intelligent Rice Lake Indian, says the +Indian hunting-grounds are parcelled out, and secured by right of law +and custom among themselves, no one being allowed to hunt upon another's +grounds uninvited. If any one belonging to another family or tribe is +found trespassing, all his goods are taken from him; a handful of powder +and shot, as much as he would need to shoot game for his sustenance in +returning straight home, and his gun, knife, and tomahawk only are left, +but all his game and furs are taken from him: a message is sent to +his chief, and if he transgresses a third time, he is banished and +outlawed.--_Life of G. Copway, Missionary, written by himself._]_ I +have heard my father say,--and he knows a great deal about these +people,--that their chiefs are very strict in punishing any strangers +that they find killing game on their bounds uninvited. They are both +merciless and treacherous when angered, and we could not even speak to +them in their own language, to explain by what chance we came here." + +This was very prudent of Louis, uncommonly so, for one who was naturally +rash and headstrong, but unfortunately Hector was inflexible and wilful: +when once he had made up his mind upon any point, he had too good an +opinion of his own judgment to give it up. At last, he declared his +intention, rather than remain a slave to such cowardly fears as he now +deemed them, to go forth boldly, and endeavour to ascertain what the +Indians were about, how many there were of them, and what real danger +was to be apprehended from facing them. + +"Depend upon it," he added, "cowards are never safer than brave men. +The Indians despise cowards, and would be more likely to kill us if they +found us cowering here in this hole like a parcel of wolf-cubs, than if +we openly faced them and showed that we neither feared them, nor cared +for them." + +"Hector, dear Hector, be not so rash!" cried his sister, passionately +weeping. "Ah! if we were to lose you, what would become of us?" + +"Never fear, Kate; I will run into no needless danger. I know how to +take care of myself. I am of opinion, that the Indian camp is broken up; +they seldom stay long in one place. I will go over the hills and examine +the camp at a distance and the lake shore. You and Louis may keep watch +for my return from the big pine that we halted under on our way hither." + +"But, Hector, if the savages should see you and take you prisoner," +said Catharine, "what would you do?" "I will tell you what I would do. +Instead of running away, I would boldly walk up to them, and by signs +make them understand that I am no scout, but a friend in need of nothing +but kindness and friendship. I never yet heard of the Indian that would +tomahawk the defenceless stranger that sought his camp openly in peace +and goodwill." + +"If you do not return by sunset, Hector, we shall believe that you +have fallen into the hands of the savages," said Catharine, mournfully +regarding her brother. + +"If it were not for Catharine," said Louis, "you should not go alone, +but, if evil befel this helpless one, her blood would be upon my head, +who led her out with us, tempting her with false words." + +"Never mind that now, dearest cousin," said Catharine, tenderly laying +her hand on his arm. "It is much better that we should have been all +three together; I should never have been happy again if I had lost both +Hec and you. It is better as it is; you and Hec would not have been +so well off if I had not been with you to help you, and keep up your +spirits by my songs and stories." + +"It is true, ma chere; but that is the reason that I am bound to take +care of my little cousin, and I could not consent to exposing you to +danger, or leaving you alone; so, if Hec will be so headstrong, I will +abide by you." + +Hector was so confident that he should return in safety, that at last +Louis and Catharine became more reconciled to his leaving them, and soon +busied themselves in preparing some squirrels that Louis had brought in +that morning. + +The day wore away slowly, and many were the anxious glances that +Catharine cast over the crest of the high bank to watch for her +brother's return; at last, unable to endure the suspense, she with Louis +left the shelter of the valley; they ascended the high ground, and bent +their steps to the trysting tree, which commanded all the country within +a wide sweep. + +A painful and oppressive sense of loneliness? and desolation came over +the minds of the cousins as they sat together at the foot of the pine, +which cast its lengthened shadow upon the ground before them. The shades +of evening were shrouding them, wrapping the lonely forest in gloom. The +full moon had not yet risen, and they watched for the first gleam that +should break above the eastern hills to cheer them, as for the coming of +a friend. + +Sadly these two poor lonely ones sat hand in hand, talking of the happy +days of childhood, or the perplexing present and the uncertain future. +At last, wearied out with watching and anxiety, Catharine leaned her +head upon the neck of old Wolfe and fell asleep, while Louis restlessly +paced to and fro in front of the sleeper; now straining his eye to +penetrate the surrounding gloom, now straining his ear to catch the +first sound that might indicate the approach of his absent cousin. + +It was almost with a feeling of irritability that he heard the quick +sharp note of the "Whip-poor-will," as she flew from bough to bough of +an old withered tree beside him. Another, and again another of +these midnight watchers took up the monotonous never-varying cry of +"Whip-poor-will, Whip-poor-will;" and then came forth, from many a +hollow oak and birch, the spectral night-hawk from hidden dens, where +it had lain hushed in silence all day, from dawn till sunset. Sometimes +their sharp hard wings almost swept his cheek as they wheeled round and +round in circles, first narrow, then wide, and wider extending, till at +last they soared far above the tallest tree-tops and launching out in +the high regions of the air, uttered from time to time a wild shrill +scream, or hollow booming sound, as they suddenly descended to pounce +with wide-extended throat upon some hapless moth or insect, that sported +all unheeding in mid air, happily unconscious of the approach of so +unerring a foe. + +Petulantly Louis chid these discordant minstrels of the night, and +joyfully he hailed the first gush of moonlight that rose broad and full +and red, over the Oak-hills to the eastward. + +Louis envied the condition of the unconscious sleeper, who lay in happy +forgetfulness of all her sorrows, her fair curls spread in unbound +luxuriance over the dark shaggy neck of the faithful Wolfe, who seemed +as if proud of the beloved burden that rested so trustingly upon him. +Sometimes the careful dog just unclosed his large eyes, raised his nose +from his shaggy paws, snuffed the night air, growled in a sort of under +tone, and dosed again, but watchfully. + +It would be no easy task to tell the painful feelings that agitated +young Louis's breast. He was angry with Hector, for having thus madly, +as he thought, rushed into danger. "It was wilful and almost cruel," +he thought "to leave them the prey of such tormenting fears on his +account;" and then the most painful fears for the safety of his beloved +companion took the place of less kindly thoughts, and sorrow filled +his heart. The broad moon now flooded the hills and vales with light, +casting broad checkering shadows of the old oaks' grey branches and now +reddened foliage across the ground. + +Suddenly the old dog raises his head, and utters a short half angry +note: slowly and carefully he rises, disengaging himself gently from +the form of the sleeping girl, and stands forth in the full light of the +moon. It is an open cleared space, that mound beneath the pine-tree; a +few low shrubs and seedling pines, with the slender waving branches of +the late-flowering pearly tinted asters, the elegant fringed gentian, +with open bells of azure blue, the last and loveliest of the fall +flowers and winter-greens, brighten the ground with wreaths of shining +leaves and red berries. + +Louis is on the alert, though as yet he sees nothing. It is not a full +free note of welcome, that Wolfe gives; there is something uneasy and +half angry in his tone. Yet it is not fierce, like the bark of angry +defiance he gives, when wolf, or bear, or wolverine is near. + +Louis steps forward from the shadow of the pine branches, to the edge +of the inclined plane in the foreground. The slow tread of approaching +steps is now distinctly heard advancing--it may be a deer. Two figures +approach, and Louis moves a little, within the shadow again. A clear +shrill whistle meets his ear. It is Hector's whistle, he knows that, and +assured by its cheerful tone, he springs forward and in an instant is at +his side, but starts at the strange, companion that he half leads, +half carries. The moonlight streams broad and bright upon the shrinking +figure of an Indian girl, apparently about the same age as Catharine: +her ashy face is concealed by the long masses of raven black hair, which +falls like a dark veil over her features; her step is weak and unsteady, +and she seems ready to sink to the earth with sickness or fatigue. +Hector, too, seems weary. The first words that' Hector said were, "Help +me, Louis, to lead this poor girl to the foot of the pine; I am so tired +I can hardly walk another step." + +Louis and his cousin together carried the Indian girl to the foot of the +pine. Catharine was just rousing herself from sleep, and she gazed with +a bewildered air on the strange companion that Hector had brought with +him. The stranger lay down, and in a few minutes sank into a sleep +so profound it seemed to resemble that of death itself. Pity and deep +interest soon took the place of curiosity and dread in the heart of +the gentle Catharine, and she watched the young stranger's slumber +as tenderly as though she had been a sister, or beloved friend, while +Hector proceeded to relate in what manner he had encountered the Indian +girl. + +"When I struck the high slope near the little birch grove we called the +_'birken shaw,'_ I paused to examine if the council-fires were still +burning on Bare-hill, but there was no smoke visible, neither was there +a canoe to be seen at the lake shore where Louis had described their +landing-place at the mouth of the creek. All seemed as silent and still +as if no human footstep had trodden the shore. I sat down and watched +for nearly an hour till my attention was attracted by a noble eagle, +which was sailing in wide circles over the tall pine-trees on Bare-hill. +Assured that the Indian camp was broken up, and feeling some curiosity +to examine the spot more closely, I crossed the thicket of cranberries +and cedars and small underwood that fringed the borders of the little +stream, and found myself, after a little pushing and scrambling, among +the bushes at the foot of the hill. + +"I thought it not impossible I might find something to repay me for my +trouble--flint arrow-heads, a knife, or a tomahawk--but I little +thought of what these cruel savages had left there,--a miserable wounded +captive, bound by the long locks of her hair to the stem of a small +tree, her hands, tied by thongs of hide to branches which they had bent +down to fasten them to her feet, bound fast to the same tree as that +against which her head was fastened; her position was one that must +have been most painful: she had evidently been thus left to perish by +a miserable death, of hunger and thirst; for these savages, with a +fiendish cruelty, had placed within sight of their victim an earthen jar +of water, some dried deers' flesh, and a cob _[FN: A head of the +Maize, or Indian corn, is called a "cob."]_ of Indian corn. I have the +corn here," he added, putting his hand in his breast, and displaying it +to view. + +"Wounded she was, for I drew this arrow from her shoulder," and he +showed the flint head as he spoke, "and fettered; with food and drink in +sight, the poor girl was to perish, perhaps to become a living prey to +the wolf, and the eagle that I saw wheeling above the hill top. The poor +thing's lips were black and parched with pain and thirst; she turned her +eyes piteously from my face to the water jar as if to implore a draught. +This I gave her, and then having cooled the festering wound, and cut +the thongs that bound her, I wondered that she still kept the same +immoveable attitude, and thinking she was stiff and cramped with +remaining so long bound in one position, I took her two hands and tried +to induce her to move. I then for the first time noticed that she was +tied by the hair of her head to the tree against which her back was +placed; I was obliged to cut the hair with my knife, and this I did not +do without giving her pain, as she moaned impatiently. She sunk her head +on her breast, and large tears fell over my hands, as I bathed her face +and neck with the water from the jar; she then seated herself on the +ground, and remained silent and still for the space of an hour, nor +could I prevail upon her to speak, or quit the seat she had taken. +Fearing that the Indians might return, I watched in all directions, and +at last I began to think it would be best to carry her in my arms; but +this I found no easy task, for she seemed greatly distressed at any +attempt I made to lift her, and by her gestures I fancy she thought I +was going to kill her. At last my patience began to be exhausted, but I +did not like to annoy her. I spoke to her as gently and soothingly as I +could. By degrees she seemed to listen with more composure to me, though +she evidently knew not a word of what I said to her. She rose at last, +and taking my hands, placed them above her head, stooping low as she +did so, and this seemed to mean, she was willing at last to submit to +my wishes; I lifted her from the ground, and carried her for some little +way, but she was too heavy for me,--she then suffered me to lead her +along whithersoever I would take her, but her steps were so slow and +feeble, through weakness, that many times I was compelled to rest while +she recovered herself. She seems quite subdued now, and as quiet as a +lamb." + +Catharine listened, not without tears of genuine sympathy, to the +recital of her brother's adventures. She seemed to think he had been +inspired by God to go forth that day to the Indian camp, to rescue the +poor forlorn one from so dreadful a death. + +Louis's sympathy was also warmly aroused for the young savage, and he +commended Hector for his bravery and humanity. + +He then set to work to light a good fire, which was a great addition +to their comfort as well as cheerfulness. They did not go back to their +cave beneath the upturned trees, to sleep, preferring lying, with their +feet to the fire, under the shade of the pine. Louis, however, was +despatched for water and venison for supper. + +The following morning, by break of day, they collected their stores, +and conveyed them back to the shanty. The boys were thus employed, while +Catharine watched beside the wounded Indian girl, whom she tended with +the greatest care. She bathed the inflamed arm with water, and bound the +cool healing leaves of the _tacamahac_ _[FN: Indian balsam.]_ about +it with the last fragment of her apron, she steeped dried berries in +water, and gave the cooling drink to quench the fever-thirst that burned +in her veins, and glittered in her full soft melancholy dark eyes, which +were raised at intervals to the face of her youthful nurse, with a timid +hurried glance, as if she longed, yet feared to say, "Who are you that +thus tenderly bathe my aching head, and strive to soothe my wounded +limbs, and cool my fevered blood? Are you a creature like myself, or a +being sent by the Great Spirit, from the far-off happy land to which +my fathers have gone, to smooth my path of pain, and lead me to those +blessed fields of sunbeams and flowers where the cruelty of the enemies +of my people will no more have power to torment me?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + "Here the wren of softest note + Builds its nest and warbles well; + Here the blackbird strains his throat; + Welcome, welcome to our cell."--COLERIDGE. + +The day was far advanced, before the sick Indian girl could be brought +home to their sylvan lodge, where Catharine made up a comfortable couch +for her, with boughs and grass, and spread one of the deer-skins over +it, and laid her down as tenderly and carefully as if she had been a +dear sister. This good girl was overjoyed at having found a companion +of her own age and sex. "Now," said she, "I shall no more be lonely, I +shall have a companion and friend to talk to and assist me;" but when +she turned in the fulness of her heart to address herself to the +young stranger, she felt herself embarrassed in what way to make her +comprehend the words she used to express the kindness that she felt for +her, and her sorrow for her sufferings. + +The young stranger would raise her head, look intently at her, as if +striving to interpret her words, then sadly shake her head, and utter +her words in her own plaintive language, but, alas! Catharine felt it +was to her as a sealed book. + +She tried to recall some Indian words of familiar import, that she had +heard from the Indians when they came to her father's house, but in +vain; not the simplest phrase occurred to her, and she almost cried +with vexation at her own stupidity; neither was Hector or Louis more +fortunate in attempts at conversing with their guest. + +At the end of three days, the fever began to abate; the restless eye +grew more steady in its gaze, the dark flush faded from the cheek, +leaving it of a grey ashy tint, not the hue of health, such as even the +swarthy Indian shows, but wan and pallid, her eyes bent mournfully on +the ground. + +She would sit quiet and passive while Catharine bound up the long +tresses of her hair, and smoothed them with her hands and the small +wooden comb that Louis had cut for her use. Sometimes she would raise +her eyes to her new friend's face, with a quiet sad smile, and once she +took her hands within her own, and gently pressed them to her breast and +lips and forehead in token of gratitude, but she seldom gave utterance +to any words, and would remain with her eyes fixed vacantly on some +object which seemed unseen or to awaken no idea in her mind. At such +times the face of the young squaw wore a dreamy apathy of expression, or +rather it might with more propriety have been said, the absence of all +expression, almost as blank as that of an infant of a few weeks old. + +How intently did Catharine study that face, and strive to read what was +passing within her mind! how did the lively intelligent Canadian girl, +the offspring of a more intellectual race, long to instruct her Indian +friend, to enlarge her mind by pointing out such things to her attention +as she herself took interest in! She would then repeat the name of the +object that she showed her several times over, and by degrees the young +squaw learned the names of all the familiar household articles about the +shanty, and could repeat them in her own soft plaintive tone; and when +she had learned a new word, and could pronounce it distinctly, she would +laugh, and a gleam of innocent joy and pleasure would lighten up her +fine dark eyes, generally so fixed and sad-looking. + +It was Catharine's delight to teach her pupil to speak a language +familiar to her own ears; she would lead her out among the trees, and +name to her all the natural objects that presented themselves to view. +And she in her turn made "Indiana" (for so they named the young squaw, +after a negress that she had heard her father tell of, a nurse to one +of his Colonel's infant children,) tell her the Indian names for each +object they saw. Indiana soon began to enjoy in her turn the amusement +arising from instructing Catharine and the boys, and often seemed to +enjoy the blunders they made in pronouncing the words she taught them. +When really interested in anything that was going on, her eyes would +beam out, and her smile gave an inexpressible charm to her face, for her +lips were red and her teeth even and brilliantly white, so purely white +that Catharine thought she had never seen any so beautiful in her life +before; at such times her face was joyous and innocent as a little +child's, but there were also hours of gloom, that transformed it into an +expression of sullen apathy; then a dull glassy look took possession +of her eye, the full lip drooped and the form seemed rigid and stiff; +obstinate determination neither to move nor speak characterised her in +what Louis used to call the young squaw's "_dark hour._" Then it was +that the savage nature seemed predominant, and her gentle nurse almost +feared to look at her protegee or approach her. + +"Hector," said Louis, "you spoke about a jar of water being left at the +camp; the jar would be a great treasure to us, let us go over for it." +Hector assented to the proposal. "And we may possibly pick up a few +grains of Indian corn, to add to what you showed us." + +"If we are here in the spring," said Hector, "you and I will prepare a +small patch of ground and plant it with this corn;" and he sat down on +the end of a log and began carefully to count the rows of grain on the +cob, and then each corn grain by grain. "Three hundred and ten sound +grains. Now if every one of these produces a strong plant, we shall have +a great increase, and beside seed for another year, there will be, if it +is a good year, several bushels to eat." + +"We shall have a glorious summer, mon ami, no doubt, and a fine +flourishing crop, and Kate is a good hand at making supporne." +_[FN: Supporne, probably an Indian word for a stir-about, or +porridge, made of Indian meal, a common dish in every Canadian or Yankee +farmer's house.]_ + +"You forget we have no porridge pot." + +"I was thinking of that Indian jar all the time. You will see what fine +cookery we will make when we get it, if it will but stand fire. Come, +let us be off, I am impatient till we get it home;" and Louis, who had +now a new crotchet at work in his fertile and vivacious brain, was quite +on the _qui vive_, and walked and danced along at a rate which proved +a great disturbance to his graver companion, who tried to keep down his +cousin's lively spirits, by suggesting the probability of the jar being +cracked, or that the Indians might have returned for it; but Louis was +not one of the doubting sort, and Louis was right in not damping the +ardour of his mind by causeless fears. The jar was there at the deserted +camp, and though it had been knocked over by some animal, it was sound +and strong, and excited great speculation in the two cousins, as to the +particular material of which it was made, as it was unlike any sort of +pottery they had ever before seen. It seemed to have been manufactured +from some very dark red earth, or clay mixed up with pounded granite, +as it presented the appearance of some coarse crystals; it was very hard +and ponderous, and the surface was marked over in a rude sort of pattern +as if punctured and scratched with some pointed instrument. It seemed +to have been hardened by fire, and, from the smoked hue of one side, +had evidently done good service as a cooking utensil. Subsequently they +learned the way in which it was used:_[FN: Pieces of this rude +pottery are often found along the shores of the inland lakes, but I have +never met with any of the perfect vessels in use with the Indians, who +probably find it now easier to supply themselves with iron pots and +crockery from the towns of the European settlers.]_ the jar being placed +near but not on the fire, was surrounded by hot embers, and the water +made to boil by stones being made red hot and plunged into it: in this +way soup and other food were prepared, and kept stewing, with no further +trouble after once the simmering began, than adding a few fresh embers +at the side furthest from the fir; a hot stone also placed on the top, +facilitated the cooking process. + +Louis, who like all French people was addicted to cookery,--indeed it +was an accomplishment he prided himself on,--was enchanted with the +improvement made in their diet by the acquisition of the said earthen +jar, or pipkin, and gave Indiana some praise for initiating his cousin +in the use of it. Catharine and Hector declared that he went out with +his bow and arrows, and visited his dead-falls and snares, ten times +oftener than he used to do, just for the sake of proving the admirable +properties of this precious utensil, and finding out some new way of +dressing his game. At all events there was a valuable increase of furs, +for making up into clothing, caps, leggings, mitts, and other articles. + +From the Indian girl Catharine learned the value of many of the herbs +and shrubs that grew in her path, the bark and leaves of various trees, +and many dyes she could extract, with which she stained the quills of +the porcupine and the strips of the wood of which she made baskets +and mats. The little creeping winter-green, _[FN: Gualtheria +procumbens,--Spice Winter-green.]_ with its scarlet berries, that grows +on the dry flats, or sandy hills, which the Canadians call spice-berry, +she showed them was good to eat, and she would crush the leaves, draw +forth their fine aromatic flavour in her hands, and then inhale their +fragrance with delight. She made an infusion of the leaves, and drank it +as a tonic. The inner bark of the wild black cherry, she said was good +to cure ague and fever. The root of the _dulcamara_, or bitter-sweet, +she scraped down and boiled in the deer-fat, or the fat of any other +animal, and made an ointment that possessed very healing qualities, +especially as an immediate application to fresh burns. + +Sometimes she showed a disposition to mystery, and would conceal the +knowledge of the particular herbs she made use of; and Catharine several +times noticed that she would go out and sprinkle a portion of the food +she had assisted her in preparing, on the earth, or under some of the +trees or bushes. When she was more familiar with their language, she +told Catharine this was done in token of gratitude to the Good Spirit, +who had given them success in hunting or trapping; or else it was to +appease the malice of the Evil Spirit, who might bring mischief or loss +to them, or sickness or death, unless his forbearance was purchased by +some particular mark of attention. _[FN: By the testimony of many +of the Indians themselves, they appear to entertain a certain Polytheism +in their belief. "We believed in one great wise benevolent being, +Thesha-mon-e-doo, whose dwelling was in the sun. We believed also +in many other lesser spirits--gods of the elements, and in one bad +unappeasable spirit, Mah-je-mah-ne-doo, to whom we attributed bad +luck, evil accidents, and sickness and death. This bad spirit has to +be conciliated with meat and drink offerings."--_Life of George Copway, +Native Missionary_]_ + +Attention, memory, and imitation, appeared to form the three most +remarkable of the mental faculties developed by the Indian girl. She +examined (when once her attention was roused) any object with critical +minuteness. Any knowledge she had once acquired, she retained; her +memory was great, she never missed a path she had once trodden; she +seemed even to single out particular birds in a flock, to know them from +their congeners. Her powers of imitation were also great; she brought +patience and perseverance to assist her, and when once thoroughly +interested in any work she began, she would toil on untiringly till it +was completed; and then what triumph shone in her eyes! At such times +they became darkly brilliant with the joy that filled her heart. But she +possessed little talent for invention; what she had seen done, after a +few imperfect attempts, she could do again, but she rarely struck out +any new path for herself. + +At times she was docile and even playful, and appeared grateful for the +kindness with which she was treated; each day seemed to increase her +fondness for Catharine, and she appeared to delight in doing any little +service to please and gratify her, but it was towards Hector that she +displayed the deepest feeling of affection and respect. It was to him +her first tribute of fruit or flowers, furs, mocassins, or ornamental +plumage of rare birds was offered. She seemed to turn to him as to a +master and protector. He was in her eyes the _"Chief,"_ the head of his +tribe. His bow was strung by her, and stained with quaint figures and +devices; his arrows were carved by her; the sheath of deer-skin was made +and ornamented by her hands, that he carried his knife in; and the case +for his arrows, of birch-bark, was wrought with especial neatness, and +suspended by thongs to his neck, when he was preparing to go out in +search of game. She gave him the name of the "Young Eagle." While she +called Louis, "Nee-chee," or friend; to Catharine she gave the poetical +name of, "Music of the Winds,"--Ma-wah-osh. + +When they asked her to tell them her own name, she would bend down her +head in sorrow and refuse to pronounce it. She soon answered to the name +of Indiana, and seemed pleased with the sound. + +But of all the household, next to Hector, old Wolfe was her greatest +favourite. At first, it is true, the old dog regarded the new inmate +with a jealous eye, and seemed uneasy when he saw her approach to +caress him, but Indiana soon reconciled him to her person, and a mutual +friendly feeling became established between them, which seemed daily and +hourly to increase, greatly to the delight of the young stranger. She +would seat herself Eastern fashion, cross-legged on the floor of the +shanty, with the capacious head of the old dog in her lap, and address +herself to this mute companion, in wailing tones, as if she would +unburthen her heart by pouring into his unconscious ear her tale of +desolation and woe. + +Catharine was always very particular and punctual in performing her +personal ablutions, and she intimated to Indiana that it was good for +her to do the same; but the young girl seemed reluctant to follow her +example, till daily custom had reconciled her to what she evidently at +first regarded as an unnecessary ceremony; but she soon took pleasure in +dressing her dark hair, and suffering Catharine to braid it, and polish +it till it looked glossy and soft. Indiana in her turn would adorn +Catharine with the wings of the blue-bird or red-bird, the crest of +the wood-duck, or quill feathers of the golden-winged flicker, which +is called in the Indian tongue the shot-bird, in allusion to the round +spots on its cream-coloured breast: _[FN: The Golden-winged Flicker +belongs to a sub-genus of woodpeckers; it is very handsome, and is said +to be eatable; it lives on fruits and insects.]_ but it was not in these +things alone she showed her grateful sense of the sisterly kindness that +her young hostess showed to her; she soon learned to lighten her labours +in every household work, and above all, she spent her time most usefully +in manufacturing clothing from the skins of the wild animals, and in +teaching Catharine how to fit and prepare them; but these were the +occupation of the winter months. I must not forestall my narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"Go to the ant."--_Proverbs._ + +IT was now the middle of September: the weather, which had continued +serene and beautiful for some time, with dewy nights and misty mornings, +began to show symptoms of the change of season usual at the approach +of the equinox. Sudden squalls of wind, with hasty showers, would come +sweeping over the lake; the nights and mornings were damp and chilly. +Already the tints of autumn were beginning to crimson the foliage of the +oaks, and where the islands were visible, the splendid colours of +the maple shone out in gorgeous contrast with the deep verdure of the +evergreens and light golden-yellow of the poplar; but lovely as they now +looked, they had not yet reached the meridian of their beauty, which +a few frosty nights at the close of the month was destined to bring to +perfection--a glow of splendour to gladden the eye for a brief space, +before the rushing winds and rains of the following month were to sweep +them away, and scatter them abroad upon the earth. + +One morning, just after a night of heavy rain and wind, the two boys +went down to see if the lake was calm enough for trying the raft, which +Louis had finished before the coming on of the bad weather. The water +was rough and crested with mimic waves, and they felt not disposed to +launch the raft on so stormy a surface, but they stood looking out over +the lake and admiring the changing foliage, when Hector pointed out to +his cousin a dark speck dancing on the waters, between the two nearest +islands. The wind, which blew very strong still from the north-east, +brought the object nearer every minute. At first they thought it might +be a pine-branch that was floating on the surface, when as it came +bounding over the waves, they perceived that it was a birch-canoe, but +impelled by no visible arm. It was a strange sight upon that lonely lake +to see a vessel of any kind afloat, and, on first deciding that it was +a canoe, the boys were inclined to hide themselves among the bushes, for +fear of the Indians, but curiosity got the better of their fears. + +"The owner of yonder little craft is either asleep or absent from her; +for I see no paddle, and it is evidently drifting without any one to +guide it," said Hector, after intently watching the progress of the +tempest-driven vessel; assured as it approached nearer that such was +the case, they hurried to the beach just as a fresh gust had lodged the +canoe among the branches of a fallen cedar which projected out some way +into the water. + +By creeping along the trunk of the tree, and trusting at times to the +projecting boughs, Louis, who was the most active and the lightest of +weight, succeeded in getting within reach of the canoe, and with some +trouble and the help of a stout branch that Hector handed to him, he +contrived to moor her in safety on the shore, taking the precaution of +hauling her well up on the shingle, lest the wind and water should set +her afloat again. "Hec, there is something in this canoe, the sight of +which will gladden your heart," cried Louis with a joyful look. "Come +quickly, and see my treasures." + +"Treasures! You may well call them treasures," exclaimed Hector, as he +helped Louis to examine the contents of the canoe, and place them on the +shore, side by side. + +The boys could hardly find words to express their joy and surprise at +the discovery of a large jar of parched rice, a tomahawk, an Indian +blanket almost as good as new, a large mat rolled up with a bass bark +rope several yards in length wound round it, and what was more precious +than all, an iron three-legged pot in which was a quantity of Indian +corn. These articles had evidently constituted the stores of some Indian +hunter or trapper; possibly the canoe had been imperfectly secured and +had drifted from its moorings during the gale of the previous night, +unless by some accident the owner had fallen into the lake and been +drowned; this was of course only a matter of conjecture on which it was +useless to speculate, and the boys joyfully took possession of the good +fortune that had so providentially been wafted, as it were, to their +very feet. + +"It was a capital chance for us, that old cedar having been blown down +last night just where it was," said Louis; "for if the canoe had not +been drawn into the eddy, and stopped by the branches, we might have +lost it. I trembled when I saw the wind driving it on so rapidly that it +would founder in the deep water, or go off to Long Island." + +"I think we should have got it at Pine-tree Point," said Hector, "but +I am glad it was lodged so cleverly among the cedar boughs. I was half +afraid you would have fallen in once or twice, when you were trying to +draw it nearer to the shore." "Never fear for me, my friend; I can cling +like a wild cat when I climb. But what a grand pot! What delightful +soups, and stews, and boils, Catharine will make! Hurrah!" and Louis +tossed up his new fur cap, that he had made with great skill from an +entire fox skin, in the air, and cut sundry fantastic capers which +Hector gravely condemned as unbecoming his mature age; (Louis was turned +of fifteen;) but with the joyous spirit of a little child he sung, and +danced, and laughed, and shouted, till the lonely echoes of the islands +and far-off hills returned the unusual sound, and even his more steady +cousin caught the infection, and laughed to see Louis so elated. + +Leaving Hector to guard the prize, Louis ran gaily off to fetch +Catharine to share his joy, and come and admire the canoe, and the +blanket, and the tripod, and the corn, and the tomahawk. Indiana +accompanied them to the lake shore, and long and carefully she examined +the canoe and its contents, and many were the plaintive exclamations she +uttered as she surveyed the things piece by piece, till she took notice +of the broken handle of an Indian paddle which lay at the bottom of the +vessel; this seemed to afford some solution to her of the mystery, and +by broken words and signs she intimated that the paddle had possibly +broken in the hand of the Indian, and that in endeavouring to regain the +other part, he had lost his balance and been drowned. She showed Hector +a rude figure of a bird engraved with some sharp instrument, and rubbed +in with a blue colour. This, she said, was the totem or crest of the +chief of the tribe, and was meant to represent a _crow_. The canoe had +belonged to a chief of that name. While they were dividing the contents +of the canoe among them to be carried to the shanty, Indiana, taking up +the bass-rope and the blanket, bundled up the most of the things, and +adjusting the broad thick part of the rope to the front of her head, she +bore off the burden with great apparent ease, as a London or Edinburgh +porter would his trunks and packages, turning round with a merry glance +and repeating some Indian words with a lively air as she climbed with +apparent ease the steep bank, and soon distanced her companions, to her +great enjoyment. That night, Indiana cooked some of the parched rice, +Indian fashion, with venison, and they enjoyed the novelty very much--it +made an excellent substitute for bread, of which they had been so long +deprived. + +Indiana gave them to understand that the rice harvest would soon be +ready on the lake, and that now they had got a canoe, they would go out +and gather it, and so lay by a store to last them for many months. + +This little incident furnished the inhabitants of the shanty with +frequent themes for discussion. Hector declared that the Indian corn was +the most valuable of their acquisitions. "It will insure us a crop, and +bread and seed-corn for many years," he said; he also highly valued the +tomahawk, as his axe was worn and blunt. + +Louis was divided between the iron pot and the canoe. Hector seemed +to think the raft, after all, might have formed a substitute for the +latter; besides, Indiana had signified her intention of helping him to +make a canoe. Catharine declared in favour of the blanket, as it would +make, after thorough ablutions, warm petticoats with tight bodices for +herself and Indiana. With deer-skin leggings, and a fur jacket, they +should be comfortably clad. Indiana thought the canoe the most precious, +and was charmed with the good jar and the store of rice: nor did she +despise the packing rope, which she soon showed was of use in carrying +burdens from place to place, Indian fashion: by placing a pad of soft +fur in front of the head, she could carry heavy loads with great ease. +The mat, she said, was useful for drying the rice she meant to store. +The very next day after this adventure, the two girls set to work, and +with the help of Louis's large knife, which was called into requisition +as a substitute for scissors, they cut out the blanket dresses, and in +a short time made two comfortable and not very unsightly garments: the +full, short, plaited skirts reached a little below the knee; light vests +bordered with fur completed the upper part, and leggings, terminated +at the ankles by knotted fringes of the doe-skin, with mocassins turned +over with a band of squirrel fur, completed the novel but not very +unbecoming costume; and many a glance of innocent satisfaction did our +young damsels cast upon each other, when they walked forth in the pride +of girlish vanity to display their dresses to Hector and Louis, who, for +their parts, regarded them as most skilful dress-makers, and were never +tired of admiring and commending their ingenuity in the cutting, making +and fitting, considering what rude implements they were obliged to use +in the cutting out and sewing of the garments. + +The extensive rice beds on the lake had now begun to assume a +golden tinge which contrasted very delightfully with the deep blue +waters--looking, when lighted up by the sunbeams, like islands of +golden-coloured sand. The ears, heavy laden with the ripe grain, drooped +towards the water. The time of the rice-harvest was at hand, and with +light and joyous hearts our young adventurers launched the canoe, and, +guided in their movements by the little squaw, paddled to the extensive +aquatic fields to gather it in, leaving Catharine and Wolfe to watch +their proceedings from the raft, which Louis had fastened to a +young tree that projected out over the lake, and which made a good +landing-place, likewise a wharf where they could stand and fish very +comfortably. As the canoe could not be overloaded on account of the +rice-gathering, Catharine very readily consented to employ herself with +fishing from the raft till their return. + +The manner of procuring the rice was very simple. One person steered the +canoe with the aid of the paddle along the edge of the rice beds, and +another with a stick in one hand, and a curved sharp-edged paddle in +the other, struck the heads off as they bent them over the edge of the +stick; the chief art was in letting the heads fall into the canoe, which +a little practice soon enabled them to do as expertly as the mower lets +the grass fall in ridges beneath his scythe. + +Many bushels of wild rice were thus collected. Nothing could he more +delightful than this sort of work to our young people, and merrily they +worked, and laughed, and sung, as they came home each day with their +light bark, laden with a store of grain that they knew would preserve +them from starving through the long, dreary winter that was coming on. + +The canoe was a source of great comfort and pleasure to them; they were +now able to paddle out into the deep water, and fish for masquinonje and +black bass, which they caught in great numbers. + +Indiana seemed quite another creature when, armed with a paddle of her +own carving, she knelt at the head of the canoe and sent it flying over +the water; then her dark eyes, often so vacant and glassy, sparkled with +delight, and her teeth gleamed with ivory whiteness as her face broke +into smiles and dimples. + +It was delightful then to watch this child of nature, and see how +innocently happy she could be when rejoicing in the excitement of +healthy exercise, and elated by a consciousness of the power she +possessed of excelling her companions in feats of strength and skill +which they had yet to acquire by imitating her. + +Even Louis was obliged to confess that the young savage knew more of +the management of a canoe, and the use of the bows and arrows, and the +fishing-line, than either himself or his cousin. Hector was lost in +admiration of her skill in all these things; and Indiana rose highly in +his estimation, the more he saw of her usefulness. + +"Every one to his craft," said Louis, laughing; "the little squaw has +been brought up in the knowledge and practice of such matters from her +babyhood; perhaps if we were to set her to knitting, and spinning, and +milking of cows, and house-work, and learning to read, I doubt if she +would prove half as quick as Catharine or Mathilde." + +"I wonder if she knows anything of God or our Saviour," said Hector, +thoughtfully. + +"Who should have taught her? for the Indians are all heathens;" replied +Louis. + +"I have heard my dear mother say, the Missionaries have taken great +pains to teach the Indian children down about Quebec and Montreal, and +that so far from being stupid, they learn very readily," said Catharine. + +"We must try and make Indiana learn to say her prayers; she sits quite +still, and seems to take no notice of what we are doing when we kneel +down, before we go to bed," observed Hector. + +"She cannot understand what we say," said Catharine; for she knows so +little of our language yet, that of course she cannot comprehend the +prayers, which are in other sort of words than what we use in speaking +of hunting, and fishing, and cooking, and such matters." + +"Well, when she knows more of our way of speaking, then we must teach +her; it is a sad thing for Christian children to live with an untaught +pagan," said Louis, who, being rather bigoted in his creed, felt a sort +of uneasiness in his own mind at the poor girl's total want of the rites +of his church; but Hector and Catharine regarded her ignorance with +feelings of compassionate interest, and lost no opportunity that +offered, of trying to enlighten her darkened mind on the subject of +belief in the God who made, and the Lord who saved them. Simply and +earnestly they entered into the task as a labour of love, and though for +a long time Indiana seemed to pay little attention to what they said, by +slow degrees the good seed took root and brought forth fruit worthy of +Him whose Spirit poured the beams of spiritual light into her heart: +but my young readers must not imagine these things were the work of a +day--the process was slow, and so were the results, but they were good +in the end. + +And Catharine was glad when, after many go months of patient teaching, +the Indian girl asked permission to kneel down with her white friend, +and pray to the Great Spirit and His Son in the same words that Christ +Jesus gave to his disciples; and if the full meaning of that holy +prayer, so full of humility and love, and moral justice, was not fully +understood by her whose lips repeated it, yet even the act of worship +and the desire to do that which she had been told was right, was, +doubtless, a sacrifice better than the pagan rites which that young +girl had witnessed among her father's people, who, blindly following the +natural impulse of man in his depraved nature, regarded deeds of blood +and cruelty as among the highest of human virtues, and gloried in those +deeds of vengeance at which the Christian mind revolts with horror. + +Indiana took upon herself the management of the rice, drying, husking +and storing it, the two lads working under her direction. She caused +several forked stakes to be cut and sharpened and driven into the +ground; on these were laid four poles, so as to form a frame, over which +she then stretched the bass-mat, which she secured by means of forked +pegs to the frame on the mat; she then spread out the rice thinly, and +lighted a fire beneath, taking good care not to let the flame set fire +to the mat, the object being rather to keep up a strong, slow heat, by +means of the red embers. She next directed the boys to supply her +with pine or cedar boughs, which she stuck in close together, so as +to enclose the fire within the area of the stakes. This was done to +concentrate the heat and cause it to bear upwards with more power; the +rice being frequently stirred with a sort of long-handled, flat shovel. +After the rice was sufficiently dried, the next thing to be done was +separating it from the husk, and this was effected by putting it by +small quantities into the iron pot, and with a sort of wooden pestle +or beetle, rubbing it round and round against the sides. _[FN: +The Indians often make use of a very rude, primitive sort of mortar, +by hollowing out a bass-wood stump, and rubbing the rice with a wooden +pounder.]_ If they had not had the iron pot, a wooden trough must have +been substituted in its stead. + +When the rice was husked, the loose chaff was winnowed from it in a flat +basket like a sieve, and it was then put by in coarse birch baskets, +roughly sewed with leather-wood bark, or bags made of matting, woven by +the little squaw from the cedar-bark. A portion was also parched, which +was simply done by putting the rice dry into the iron pot, and setting +it on hot embers, stirring the grain till it burst: it was then stored +by for use. Rice thus prepared is eaten dry, as a substitute for bread, +by the Indians. The lake was now swarming with wild fowl of various +kinds; crowds of ducks were winging their way across it from morning +till night, floating in vast flocks upon its surface, or rising in noisy +groups if an eagle or fish-hawk appeared sailing with slow, majestic +circles above them, then settling down with noisy splash upon the calm +water. The shores, too, were covered with these birds, feeding on the +fallen acorns which fell ripe and brown with every passing breeze; the +berries of the dogwood also furnished them with food; but the wild rice +seemed the great attraction, and small shell-fish and the larvae of +many insects that had been dropped into the waters, there to come to +perfection in due season, or to form a provision for myriads of wild +fowl that had come from the far north-west to feed upon them, guided by +that instinct which has so beautifully been termed by one of our modern +poetesses, "God's gift to the weak" _[FN: Mrs. Southey.]_ + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"Oh, come and hear what cruel wrongs Befel the Dark Ladye."--COLERIDGE. + +THE Mohawk girl was in high spirits at the coming of the wild fowl to +the lake; she would clap her hands and laugh with almost childish glee +as she looked at them darkening the lake like clouds resting on its +surface. + +"If I had but my father's gun, his good old gun, now!" would Hector say, +as he eyed the timorous flocks as they rose and fell upon the lake; "but +these foolish birds are so shy, that they are away before an arrow can +reach them." + +Indiana smiled in her quiet way; she was busy filling the canoe with +green boughs, which she arranged so as completely to transform the +little vessel into the semblance of a floating island of evergreen; +within this bower she motioned Hector to crouch down, leaving a small +space for the free use of his bow, while concealed at the prow she +gently and noiselessly paddled the canoe from the shore among the +rice-beds, letting it remain stationary or merely rocking to and fro +with the undulatory motion of the waters. The unsuspecting birds, +deceived into full security, eagerly pursued their pastime or their +prey, and it was no difficult matter for the hidden archer to hit many a +black duck or teal or whistlewing, as it floated securely on the placid +water, or rose to shift its place a few yards up or down the stream. +Soon the lake around was strewed with the feathered game, which Wolfe, +cheered on by Lewis, who was stationed on the shore, brought to land. + +Indiana told Hector that this was the season when the Indians made great +gatherings on the lake for duck-shooting, which they pursued much after +the same fashion as that which has been described, only instead of one, +a dozen or more canoes would be thus disguised with boughs, with others +stationed at different parts of the lake, or under the shelter of the +island, to collect the birds. This sport was generally finished by a +great feast. + +The Indians offered the first of the birds as an oblation to the Great +Spirit, as a grateful acknowledgment of his bounty in having allowed +them to gather food thus plentifully for their families; sometimes +distant tribes with whom they were on terms of friendship were invited +to share the sport and partake of the spoils. Indiana could not +understand why Hector did not follow the custom of her Indian fathers, +and offer the first duck or the best fish to propitiate the Great +Spirit. Hector told her that the God he worshipped desired no sacrifice; +that his holy Son, when he came down from heaven and gave himself as a +sacrifice for the sins of the world, had satisfied his Father, the Great +Spirit, an hundred-fold. + +They feasted now continually upon the waterfowl, and Catharine learned +from Indiana how to skin them, and so preserve the feathers for making +tippets, and bonnets, and ornamental trimmings, which are not only warm, +but light and very becoming. They split open any of the birds that they +did not require for present consumption, and these they dried for winter +store, smoking some after the manner that the Shetlanders and Orkney +people smoke the solan geese: their shanty displayed an abundant store +of provisions, fish, flesh, and fowl, besides baskets of wild rice, and +bags of dried fruit. + +One day Indiana came in from the brow of the hill, and told the boys +that the lake eastward was covered with canoes; she showed, by holding +up her two hands and then three fingers, that she had counted thirteen. +The tribes had met for the annual duck-feast, and for the rice harvest. +She advised them to put out the fire, so that no smoke might be seen to +attract them; but said they would not leave the lake for hunting over +the plains just then, as the camp was lower down on the point _[FN: +This point, commonly known as _Anderson's Point_, now the seat of the +Indian village, used in former times to be a great place of rendezvous +for the Indians, and was the site of a murderous carnage or massacre +that took place about eighty years ago; the war-weapons and bones of the +Indians are often turned up with the plough at this day.]_ east of the +mouth of a big river, which she called "Otonabee." + +Hector asked Indiana if she would go away and leave them, in the event +of meeting with any of her own tribe. The girl cast her eyes on the +earth in silence; a dark cloud seemed to gather over her face. + +"If they should prove to be any of your father's people, or a friendly +tribe, would you go away with them?" he again repeated, to which she +solemnly replied, + +"Indiana has no father, no tribe, no people; no blood of her father's +warms the heart of any man, woman or child, saving myself alone; but +Indiana is a brave, and the daughter of a brave, and will not shrink +from danger: her heart is warm; red blood flows warm here," and she laid +her hand on her heart. Then lifting up her hand, she said with slow but +impassioned tone, "They left not one drop of living blood to flow in +any veins but these," and her eyes were raised, and her arms stretched +upwards towards heaven, as though calling down vengeance on the +murderers of her father's house. + +"My father was a Mohawk, the son of a great chief, who owned these +hunting-grounds far as your eye can see to the rising and setting sun, +along the big waters of the big lakes; but the Ojebwas, a portion of the +Chippewa nation, by treachery cut off my father's people by hundreds in +cold blood, when they were defenceless and at rest. It was a bloody day +and a bloody deed." + +Instead of hiding herself, as Hector and Louis strongly advised the +young Mohawk to do, she preferred remaining as a scout, she said, under +the cover of the bushes on the edge of the steep that overlooked +the lake, to watch their movements. She told Hector to be under no +apprehension if the Indians came to the hut; not to attempt to conceal +themselves, but offer them food to eat and water to drink. "If they come +to the house and find you away, they will take your stores and burn your +roof, suspecting that you are afraid to meet them openly; but they will +not harm you if you meet them with open hand and fearless brow: if they +eat of your bread, they will not harm you; me they would kill by a +cruel death--the war-knife is in their heart against the daughter of the +_brave_." + +The boys thought Indiana's advice good, and they felt no fear for +themselves, only for Catharine, whom they counselled to remain in the +shanty with Wolfe. + +The Indians seemed intent only on the sport which they had come +to enjoy, seeming in high glee, and as far as they could see quite +peaceably disposed; every night they returned to the camp on the north +side, and the boys could see their fires gleaming among the trees on the +opposite shore, and now and then in the stillness of the evening their +wild shouts of revelry would come faintly to their ears, borne by the +breeze over the waters of the lake. + +The allusion that Indiana had made to her own history, though conveyed +in broken and hardly intelligible language, had awakened feelings of +deep interest for her in the breasts of her faithful friends. Many +months after this she related to her wondering auditors the fearful +story of the massacre of her kindred, and which I may as well relate, +as I have raised the curiosity of my youthful readers, though to do so +I must render it in my own language, as the broken half-formed sentences +in which its facts were conveyed to the ears of my Canadian Crusoes +would be unintelligible to my young friends. _[FN: The facts of +this narrative were gathered from the lips of the eldest son of a Rice +Lake chief. I have preferred giving it in the present form, rather +than as the story of the Indian girl. Simple as it is, it is matter of +history.]_ + +There had been for some time a jealous feeling existing between the +chiefs of two principal tribes of the Ojebwas and the Mohawks, which +like a smothered fire had burnt in the heart of each, without having +burst into a decided blaze--for each strove to compass his ends and +obtain the advantage over the other by covert means. The tribe of the +Mohawks of which I now speak, claimed the southern shores of the Rice +Lake for their hunting grounds, and certain islands and parts of the +lake for fishing, while that of the Ojebwas considered themselves +masters of the northern shores and certain rights of water beside. +Possibly it was about these rights that the quarrel originated, but if +so, it was not openly avowed between the "Black Snake," (that was the +totem borne by the Mohawk chief,) and the "Bald Eagle" (the totem of the +Ojebwa). + +These chiefs had each a son, and the Bald Eagle had also a daughter of +great and rare beauty, called by her people, "The Beam of the Morning;" +she was the admiration of Mohawks as well as Ojebwas, and many of the +young men of both the tribes had sought her hand, but hitherto in vain. +Among her numerous suitors, the son of the Black Snake seemed to be the +most enamoured of her beauty; and it was probably with some intention of +winning the favour of the young Ojebwa squaw for his son, that the Black +Snake accepted the formal invitation of the Bald Eagle to come to his +hunting grounds during the rice harvest, and shoot deer and ducks on +the lake, and to ratify a truce which had been for some time set on foot +between them; but while outwardly professing friendship and a desire for +peace, inwardly the fire of hatred burned fiercely in the breast of the +Black Snake against the Ojebwa chief and his only son, a young man of +great promise, renowned among his tribe as a great hunter and warrior, +but who had once offended the Mohawk chief by declining a matrimonial +alliance with one of the daughters of a chief of inferior rank, who was +closely connected to him by marriage. This affront rankled in the heart +of the Black Snake, though outwardly he affected to have forgiven and +forgotten the slight that had been put upon his relative. The hunting +had been carried on for some days very amicably, when one day the Bald +Eagle was requested, with all due attention to Indian etiquette, to go +to the wigwam of the Black Snake. On entering the lodge, he perceived +the Mohawk strangely disordered; he rose from his mat, on which he had +been sleeping, with a countenance fearfully distorted, his eyes glaring +hideously, his whole frame convulsed, and writhing as in fearful bodily +anguish, and casting himself upon the ground, he rolled and grovelled on +the earth, uttering frightful yells and groans. + +The Bald Eagle was moved at the distressing state in which he found his +guest, and asked the cause of his disorder, but this the other refused +to tell. After some hours the fit appeared to subside, but the chief +remained moody and silent. The following day the same scene was +repeated, and on the third, when the fit seemed to have increased in +bodily agony, with great apparent reluctance, wrung seemingly from him +by the importunity of his host, he consented to reveal the cause, which +was, that the Bad Spirit had told him that these bodily tortures could +not cease till the only son of his friend, the Ojebwa chief, had been +sacrificed to appease his anger--neither could peace long continue +between the two nations until this deed had been done; and not only must +the chief's son be slain, but he must be pierced by his own father's +hand, and his flesh served up at a feast at which the father must +preside. The Black Snake affected the utmost horror and aversion at so +bloody and unnatural a deed being committed to save his life and the +happiness of his tribe, but the peace was to be ratified for ever if the +sacrifice was made,--if not, war to the knife was to be ever between the +Mohawks and Ojebwas. + +The Bald Eagle seeing that his treacherous guest would make this an +occasion of renewing a deadly warfare, for which possibly he was not at +the time well prepared, assumed a stoical calmness, and replied, + +"Be it so; great is the power of the Bad Spirit to cause evil to the +tribes of the chiefs that rebel against his will. My son shall be +sacrificed by my hand, that the evil one may be appeased, and that the +Black Snake's body may have ease, and his people rest beside the fires +of their lodges in peace." + +"The Bald Eagle has spoken like a chief with a large heart," was the +specious response of the wily Mohawk; "moreover, the Good Spirit also +appeared, and said, 'Let the Black Snake's son and the Bald Eagle's +daughter become man and wife, that peace may be found to dwell among the +lodges, and the war-hatchet be buried for ever.'" + +"The Beam of the Morning shall become the wife of the Young Pine," was +the courteous answer; but stern revenge lay deep hidden beneath the +unmoved brow and passionless lip. + +The fatal day arrived; the Bald Eagle, with unflinching hand and eye +that dropped no human tear of sorrow for the son of his love, plunged +the weapon into his heart with Spartan-like firmness. The fearful feast +of human flesh was prepared, and that old chief, pale but unmoved, +presided over the ceremonies. The war-dance was danced round the +sacrifice, and all went off well, as if no such fearful rite had been +enacted: but a fearful retribution was at hand. The Young Pine sought +the tent of the Bald Eagle's daughter that evening, and was received +with all due deference, as a son of so great a chief as the Black Snake +merited; he was regarded now as a successful suitor, and intoxicated +with the beauty of the Beam of the Morning, pressed her to allow the +marriage to take place in a few days. The bride consented, and a day was +named for the wedding feast to be celebrated, and that due honour +might be given to so great an event, invitations were sent out to the +principal families of the Mohawk tribe, and these amounted to several +hundreds of souls, while the young Ojebwa hunters were despatched up +the river and to different parts of the country, avowedly to collect +venison, beaver, and other delicacies to regale their guests, but in +reality to summon by means of trusty scouts a large war party from the +small lakes, to be in readiness to take part in the deadly revenge that +was preparing for their enemies. + +Meantime the squaws pitched the nuptial tent, and prepared the bridal +ornaments. A large wigwam capable of containing all the expected guests +was then constructed, adorned with the thick branches of evergreens so +artfully contrived as to be capable of concealing the armed Ojebwas and +their allies, who in due time were introduced beneath this leafy screen, +armed with the murderous tomahawk and scalping-knife with which to +spring upon their defenceless and unsuspecting guests. According to the +etiquette always observed upon such occasions, all deadly weapons were +left outside the tent. The bridegroom had been conducted with songs and +dancing to the tent of the bride. The guests, to the number of several +hundred naked and painted warriors were assembled. The feast was +declared to be ready; a great iron pot or kettle occupied the centre +of the tent. According to the custom of the Indians, the father of the +bridegroom was invited to lift the most important dish from the pot, +whilst the warriors commenced their wardance around him. This dish +was usually a bear's head, which was fastened to a string left for the +purpose of raising it from the pot. + +"Let the Black Snake, the great chief of the Mohawks, draw up the head +and set it on the table, that his people may eat and make merry, and +that his wise heart may be glad;" were the scornful words of the Bald +Eagle. + +A yell of horror burst from the lips of the horror-stricken father, as +he lifted to view the fresh and gory head of his only son, the _happy_ +bridegroom of the lovely daughter of the Ojebwa chief. + +"Ha!" shouted the Bald Eagle, "is the great chief of the Mohawks a +squaw, that his blood grows white and his heart trembles at the sight of +his son, the bridegroom of the Beam of the Morning? The Bald Eagle gave +neither sigh nor groan when he plunged the knife into the heart of his +child. Come, brother, take the knife; taste the flesh and drink the +blood of thy son: the Bald Eagle shrank not when you bade him partake of +the feast that was prepared from his young warrior's body." The wretched +father dashed himself upon the earth, while his cries and howlings rent +the air; those cries were answered by the war-whoop of the ambushed +Ojebwas, as they sprang to their feet, and with deafening yells attacked +the guests, who, panic-stricken, naked and defenceless, fell an easy +prey to their infuriated enemies. Not one living foe escaped to tell the +tale of that fearful marriage feast. A second Judith had the Indian +girl proved. It was her plighted hand that had severed the head of her +unsuspecting bridegroom to complete the fearful vengeance that had been +devised in return for the merciless and horrible murder of her brother. + +Nor was the sacrifice yet finished, for with fearful cries the Indians +seized upon the canoes of their enemies, and with the utmost speed, +urged by unsatisfied revenge, hurried down the lake to an island where +the women and children and such of the aged or young men as were +not included among the wedding guests, were encamped in unsuspecting +security. Panic-stricken, the Mohawks offered no resistance, but fell +like sheep appointed for the slaughter: the Ojebwas slew there the +grey-head with the infant of days. But while the youths and old men +tamely yielded to their enemies, there was one, whose spirit roused to +fury by the murder of her father, armed herself with the war club and +knife, and boldly withstood the successful warriors. At the door of the +tent of the slaughtered chief the Amazon defended her children: while +the war lightning kindled in her dark eye, she called aloud in scornful +tones to her people to hide themselves in the tents of their women, who +alone were _braves_, and would fight their battles. Fiercely she taunted +the men, but they shrank from the unequal contest, and she alone +was found to deal the death-blow upon the foe, till overpowered with +numbers, and pierced with frightful wounds, she fell singing her own +death-song and raising the wail for the dead who lay around her. Night +closed in, but the work of blood still continued, till not a victim was +found, and again they went forth on their exterminating work. Lower +down they found another encampment, and there also they slew all the +inhabitants of the lodges; they then returned back to the island, to +gather together their dead and collect the spoils of their tents. They +were weary with the fatigue of the slaughter of that fearful day; they +were tired of blood-shedding; the retribution had satisfied even their +love of blood: and when they found, on returning to the spot where the +heroine had stood at bay, one young solitary female sitting beside the +corpse of that dauntless woman, her mother, they led her away, and did +all that their savage nature could suggest to soften her anguish and dry +her tears. They brought her to the tents of their women, and clothed and +fed her, and bade her be comforted; but her young heart burned within +her, and she refused consolation. She could not forget the wrongs of +her people: she was the only living creature left of the Mohawks on that +island. The young girl was Indiana, the same whom Hector Maxwell had +found, wounded and bound, to perish with hunger and thirst on Bare-hill. + +Brooding with revenge in her heart, the young girl told them that she +had stolen unperceived into the tent of the Bald Eagle, and aimed a +knife at his throat, but the fatal blow was arrested by one of the +young men, who had watched her enter the old chiefs tent. A council was +called, and she was taken to Bare-hill, bound, and left in the sad state +already described. + +It was with feelings of horror and terror that the Christian children +listened to this fearful tale, and Indiana read in their averted eyes +and pale faces the feelings with which the recital of the tale of blood +had inspired them. And then it was that as they sat beneath the shade +of the trees, in the soft misty light of an Indian summer moon, that +Catharine, with simple earnestness, taught her young disciple those +heavenly lessons of mercy and forgiveness which her Redeemer had set +forth by his life, his doctrines, and his death. + +And she told her, that if she would see that Saviour's face in Heaven, +and dwell with him in joy and peace for ever, she must learn to pray for +those dreadful men who had made her fatherless and motherless, and her +home a desolation; that the fire of revenge must be quenched within her +heart, and the spirit of love alone find place within it, or she could +not become the child of God and an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven. +How hard were these conditions to the young heathen,--how contrary to +her nature, to all that she had been taught in the tents of her fathers, +where revenge was virtue, and to take the scalp of an enemy a glorious +thing! + +Yet when she contrasted the gentle, kind, and dovelike characters of her +Christian friends, with the fierce bloody people of her tribe and of her +Ojebwa enemies, she could not but own they were more worthy of love and +admiration: had they not found her a poor miserable trembling captive, +unbound her, fed and cherished her, pouring the balm of consolation into +her wounded heart, and leading her in bands of tenderest love to forsake +those wild and fearful passions that warred in her soul, and bringing +her to the feet of the Saviour, to become his meek and holy child, a +lamb of his "extended fold?"* + +_[*Footnote: The Indian who related this narrative to me was a son of a +Rice Lake chief, Mosang Poudash by name, who vouched for its truth as an +historic fact remembered by his father, whose grandsire had been one of +the actors in the massacre. Mosang Poudash promised to write down +the legend, and did so in part, but made such confusion between his +imperfect English and Indian language, that the MS. was unavailable for +copying.]_ + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"The horn of the hunter is heard on the hill" _Irish Song._ + +WHILE the Indians were actively pursuing their sports on the lake, +shooting wild fowl, and hunting and fishing by torch-light, so exciting +was the amusement of watching them, that the two lads, Hector and Louis, +quite forgot all sense of danger, in the enjoyment of lying or sitting +on the brow of the mount near the great ravine, and looking at their +proceedings. Once or twice the lads were near betraying themselves to +the Indians, by raising a shout of delight, at some skilful manoeuvre +that excited their unqualified admiration and applause. + +At night, when the canoes had all retired to the camp on the north +shore, and all fear of detection had ceased for the time, they lighted +up their shanty fire, and cooked a good supper, and also prepared +sufficiency of food for the following day. The Indians remained for a +fortnight; at the end of that time Indiana, who was a watchful spy on +their movements, told Hector and Louis that the camp was broken up, and +that the Indians had gone up the river, and would not return again for +some weeks. The departure of the Indians was a matter of great rejoicing +to Catharine, whose dread of these savages had greatly increased since +she had been made acquainted with the fearful deeds which Indiana had +described; and what reliance could she feel in people who regarded deeds +of blood and vengeance as acts of virtuous heroism? + +Once, and only once during their stay, the Indians had passed within a +short distance of their dwelling; but they were in full chase of a bear, +which had been seen crossing the deep ravine near Mount Ararat, and they +had been too intent upon their game to notice the shanty, or had taken +it for the shelter of some trapper if it had been seen, for they never +turned out of their path, and Catharine, who was alone at the time, +drawing water from the spring, was so completely concealed by the high +bank above her, that she had quite escaped their notice. Fortunately, +Indiana gave the two boys a signal to conceal themselves when she saw +them enter the ravine; and effectually hidden among the thick grey +mossy trunks of the cedars at the lake shore, they remained secure from +molestation, while the Indian girl dropped noiselessly down among the +tangled thicket of wild vines and brushwood, which she drew cautiously +over her, and closed her eyes, lest, as she naively remarked, their +glitter should be seen and betray her to her enemies. + +It was a moment of intense anxiety to our poor wanderers, whose terrors +were more excited on behalf of the young Mohawk than for themselves, and +they congratulated her on her escape with affectionate warmth. + +"Are my white brothers afraid to die?" was the young squaw's +half-scornful reply. "Indiana is the daughter of a brave; she fears not +to die?" + +The latter end of September, and the first week in October, had been +stormy and even cold. The rainy season, however, was now over; the +nights were often illuminated by the Aurora borealis, which might be +seen forming an arch of soft and lovely brightness over the lake, to the +north and north-eastern portions of the horizon, or shooting upwards, +in ever-varying shafts of greenish light, now hiding, now revealing the +stars, which shone with softened radiance through the silvery veil +that dimmed their beauty. Sometimes for many nights together the same +appearance might be seen, and was usually the forerunner of frosty +weather, though occasionally it was the precursor of cold winds, and +heavy rains. + +The Indian girl regarded it with superstitious feelings, but whether as +an omen for good or ill, she would not tell. On all matters connected +with her religions notions she was shy and reserved, though occasionally +she unconsciously revealed them. Thus the warnings of death or +misfortunes were revealed to her by certain ominous sounds in the woods, +the appearance of strange birds or animals, or the meanings of others. +The screeching of the owl, the bleating of the doe, or barking of the +fox, were evil auguries, while the flight of the eagle and the croaking +of the raven were omens of good. She put faith in dreams, and would +foretel good or evil fortune from them; she could read the morning and +evening clouds, and knew from various appearances of the sky, or +the coming or departing of certain birds or insects, changes in the +atmosphere. Her ear was quick in distinguishing the changes in the +voices of the birds or animals; she knew the times of their coming and +going, and her eye was quick to see as her ear to detect sounds. Her +voice was soft, and low, and plaintive, and she delighted in imitating +the little ballads or hymns that Catharine sung; though she knew nothing +of their meaning, she would catch the tunes, and sing the song with +Catharine, touching the hearts of her delighted auditors by the melody +and pathos of her voice. + +The season called Indian summer had now arrived: the air was soft +and mild, almost oppressively warm; the sun looked red as though seen +through the smoke clouds of a populous city. A soft blue haze hung on +the bosom of the glassy lake, which reflected on its waveless surface +every passing shadow, and the gorgeous tints of its changing woods on +shore and island. Sometimes the stillness of the air was relieved by a +soft sighing wind, which rustled the dying foliage as it swept by. + +The Indian summer is the harvest of the Indian tribes. It is during this +season that they hunt and shoot the wild fowl that come in their annual +flights to visit the waters of the American lakes and rivers; it is then +that they gather in their rice, and prepare their winter stores of meat, +and fish, and furs. The Indian girl knew the season they would resort +to certain hunting grounds. They were constant, and altered not their +customs; as it was with their fathers, so it was with them. + +Louis had heard so much of the Otonabee river from Indiana, that he was +impatient to go and explore the entrance, and the shores of the lake on +that side, which hitherto they had not ventured to do for fear of being +surprised by the Indians. "Some fine day," said Louis, "we will go out +in the canoe, explore the distant islands, and go up the river a little +way." + +Hector advised visiting all the islands by turns, beginning at the +little islet which looks in the distance like a boat in full sail; it is +level with the water, and has only three or four trees upon it. The name +they had given to it was "Ship Island." The Indians have some name +for it which I have forgotten; but it means, I have been told, "Witch +Island." Hector's plan met with general approbation, and they resolved +to take provisions with them for several days, and visit the islands and +go up the river, passing the night under the shelter of the thick trees +on the shore wherever they found a pleasant halting-place. + +The weather was mild and warm, the lake was as clear and calm as a +mirror, and in joyous mood our little party embarked and paddled up the +lake, first to Ship Island, but this did not detain them many minutes; +they then went to Grape Island, which they so named from the abundance +of wild vines, now rich with purple clusters of the ripe grapes,--tart, +but still not to be despised by our young adventurers; and they brought +away a large birch basket heaped up with the fruit. "Ah, if we had but +a good cake of maple sugar, now, to preserve our grapes with, and make +such grape jelly as my mother makes!" said Louis. + +"If we find out a sugar-bush we will manage to make plenty of sugar," +said Catharine; "there are maples not two hundred yards from the shanty, +near the side of the steep bank to the east. You remember the pleasant +spot which we named the Happy Valley, _[FN: A lovely valley to the +east of Mount Ararat, now belonging to a worthy and industrious family +of the name of Brown. I wish Hector could see it as it now is,--a +cultivated fertile farm.]_ where the bright creek runs, dancing along so +merrily, below the pine-ridge?" + +"Oh, yes, the same that winds along near the foot of Bare-hill, where +the water-cresses grow." + +"Yes, where I gathered the milk-weed the other day." + +"What a beautiful pasture-field that will make, when it is cleared!" +said Hector, thoughtfully. + +"Hector is always planning about fields, and clearing great farms," +said Louis, laughing. "We shall see Hec a great man one of these days; I +think he has in his own mind brushed, and burned, and logged up all the +fine flats and table-land on the plains before now, ay, and cropped it +all with wheat, and peas, and Indian corn." + +"We will have a clearing and a nice field of corn next year, if we +live," replied Hector; "that corn that we found in the canoe will be a +treasure." + +"Yes, and the corn-cob you got on Bare-hill," said Catherine. "How lucky +we have been! We shall be so happy when we see our little field of corn +flourishing round the shanty! It was a good thing, Hec, that you went +to the Indian camp that day, though both Louis and I were very miserable +while you were absent; but you see, God must have directed you, that the +life of this poor girl might be saved, to be a comfort to us. Everything +has prospered well with us since she came to us. Perhaps it is +because we try to make a Christian of her, and so God blesses all our +endeavours." + +"We are told," said Hector, "that there is joy with the angels of God +over one sinner that repenteth; doubtless, it is a joyful thing when +the heathen that knew not the name of God are taught to glorify his holy +name." + +Indiana, while exploring, had captured a porcupine; she declared that +she should have plenty of quills for edging baskets and mocassins; +beside, she said, the meat was white and good to eat. Hector looked +with a suspicious eye upon the little animal, doubting the propriety of +eating its flesh, though he had learned to eat musk rats, and consider +them good meat, baked in Louis's Indian oven, or roasted on a forked +stick, before the fire. The Indian porcupine is a small animal, not a +very great deal larger than the common British hedgehog; the quills, +however, are longer and stronger, and varied with alternate clouded +marks of pure white and dark brownish grey; they are minutely barbed, so +that if one enters the flesh it is with difficulty extracted, but will +work through of itself in an opposite direction, and can then be easily +pulled out. Dogs and cattle often suffer great inconvenience from +getting their muzzles filled with the quills of the porcupine, +the former when worrying the poor little animal, and the latter by +accidentally meeting a dead one among the herbage; great inflammation +will sometimes attend the extraction. Indians often lose valuable hounds +from this cause. Beside porcupines, Indiana told her companions, there +were some fine butter-nut trees on the island, and they could collect a +bag full in a very short time. This was good news, for the butter-nut +is sweet and pleasant, almost equal to the walnut, of which it is a +species. The day was passed pleasantly enough in collecting nuts and +grapes; but as this island did not afford any good cleared spot for +passing the night, and, moreover, was tenanted by black snakes, several +of which made their appearance among the stones near the edge of the +water, they agreed by common council to go to Long Island, where Indiana +said there was an old log-house, the walls of which were still standing, +and where there was dry moss in plenty, which would make them a +comfortable bed for the night. This old log-house she said had been +built, she heard the Indians say, by a French Canadian trapper, who +used to visit the lake some years ago; he was on friendly terms with the +chiefs, who allowed him many privileges, and he bought their furs, and +took them down the lake, through the river Trent, to some station-house +on the great lake. They found they should have time enough to land and +deposit their nuts and grapes and paddle to Long Island before sunset. +Upon the western part of this fine island they had several times landed +and passed some hours, exploring its shores; but Indiana told them, to +reach the old log-house they must enter the low swampy bay to the east, +at an opening which she called Indian Cove. To do this required some +skill in the management of the canoe, which was rather over-loaded for +so light a vessel; and the trees grew so close and thick that they had +some difficulty in pushing their way through them without injuring its +frail sides. These trees or bushes were chiefly black elder, high-bush +cranberries, dogwood, willows, and, as they proceeded further, and there +was ground of a more solid nature, cedar, poplar, swamp oak, and soft +maple, with silver birch and wild cherries. Long strings of silvery-grey +tree-moss hung dangling over their heads, the bark and roots of the +birch and cedars were covered with a luxuriant growth of green moss, but +there was a dampness and closeness in this place that made it far from +wholesome, and the little band of voyagers were not very sorry when the +water became too shallow to admit of the canoe making its way through +the swampy channel, and they landed on the banks of a small circular +pond, as round as a ring, and nearly surrounded by tall trees, hoary +with moss and lichens; large water-lilies floated on the surface of +this miniature lake, and the brilliant red berries of the high-bush +cranberry, and the purple clusters of grapes, festooned the trees. + +"A famous breeding place this must be for ducks," observed Louis. + +"And for flowers," said Catharine, "and for grapes and cranberries. +There is always some beauty or some usefulness to be found, however +lonely the spot." + +"A fine place for musk-rats, and minks, and fishes," said Hector, +looking round. "The old trapper knew what he was about when he made his +lodge near this pond. And there, sure enough, is the log-hut, and not +so bad a one either," and scrambling up the bank he entered the deserted +little tenement, well pleased to find it in tolerable repair. There were +the ashes on the stone hearth, just as it had been left years back by +the old trapper; some rough hewn shelves, a rude bedstead of cedar poles +still occupied a corner of the little dwelling; heaps of old dry moss +and grass lay upon the ground; and the little squaw pointed with one of +her silent laughs to a collection of broken egg-shells, where some wild +duck had sat and hatched her downy brood among the soft materials which +she had found and appropriated to her own purpose. The only things +pertaining to the former possessor of the log-hut were an old, rusty, +battered tin pannikin, now, alas! unfit for holding water; a bit of a +broken earthen whisky jar; a rusty nail, which Louis pounced upon, and +pocketed, or rather pouched,--for he had substituted a fine pouch of +deer-skin for his worn-out pocket; and a fishing-line of good stout +cord, which was wound on a splinter of red redar, and carefully stuck +between one of the rafters and the roof of the shanty. A rusty but +efficient hook was attached to the line, and Louis, who was the finder, +was quite overjoyed at his good fortune in making so valuable an +addition to his fishing-tackle. Hector got only an odd worn-out +mocassin, which he chucked into the little pond in disdain; while +Catharine declared she would keep the old tin pot as a relic, and +carefully deposited it in the canoe. + +As they made their way into the interior of the island, they found that +there were a great many fine sugar maples which had been tapped by some +one, as the boys thought, by the old trapper; but Indiana, on examining +the incisions in the trees, and the remnants of birch-bark vessels that +lay mouldering on the earth below them, declared them to have been the +work of her own people; and long and sadly did the young girl look +upon these simple memorials of a race of whom she was the last living +remnant. The young girl stood there in melancholy mood, a solitary, +isolated being, with no kindred tie upon the earth to make life dear to +her; a stranger in the land of her fathers, associating with those whose +ways were not her ways, nor their thoughts her thoughts; whose language +was scarcely known to her, whose God was not the God of her fathers. +Yet the dark eyes of the Indian girl were not dimmed with tears as she +thought of these things; she had learned of her people to suffer, and be +still. + +Silent and patient she stood, with her melancholy gaze bent on the +earth, when she felt the gentle hand of Catharine laid upon her arm, and +then kindly and lovingly passed round her neck, as she whispered,-- + +"Indiana, I will be to you as a sister, and will love you and cherish +you, because you are an orphan girl, and alone in the world; but God +loves you, and will make you happy. He is a Father to the fatherless, +and the Friend of the destitute, and to them that have no helper." + +The words of kindness and love need no interpretation; no book-learning +is necessary to make them understood. The young, the old, the deaf, the +dumb, the blind, can read this universal language; its very silence is +often more eloquent than words--the gentle pressure of the hand, the +half-echoed sigh, the look of sympathy will penetrate to the very heart, +and unlock its hidden stores of human tenderness and love. The rock +is smitten and the waters gush forth, a bright and living stream, to +refresh and fertilize the thirsty soul. The heart of the poor mourner +was touched; she bowed down her head upon the hand that held her so +kindly in its sisterly grasp, and wept soft sweet human tears full of +grateful love, while she whispered, in her own low plaintive voice, "My +white sister, I kiss you in my heart; I will love the God of my white +brothers, and be his child." + +The two friends now busied themselves in preparing the evening meal: +they found Louis and Hector had lighted up a charming blaze on the +desolate hearth. A few branches of cedar twisted together by Catharine, +made a serviceable broom, with which she swept the floor, giving to the +deserted dwelling a neat and comfortable aspect; some big stones were +quickly rolled in, and made to answer for seats in the chimney corner. +The new-found fishing-line was soon put into requisition by Louis, and +with very little delay a fine dish of black bass, broiled on the coals, +was added to their store of dried venison and roasted bread-roots, +which they found in abundance on a low spot on the island. Grapes and +butternuts which Hector cracked with stones by way of nut-crackers, +finished their sylvan meal. The boys stretched themselves to sleep on +the ground, with their feet, Indian fashion, to the fire; while the two +girls occupied the mossy couch which they had newly spread with fragrant +cedar and hemlock boughs. + +The next island that claimed their attention was Sugar-Maple Island, +_[FN: Sugar Island, a charming object from the picturesque cottage +of Alfred Hayward, Esq.]_ a fine, thickly-wooded island, rising with +steep rocky banks from the water. A beautiful object, but too densely +wooded to admit of our party penetrating beyond a few yards of its +shores. + +The next island they named the Beaver, _[FN: The Beaver, commonly +called Sheep Island, from some person having pastured a few sheep upon +it some few years ago. I have taken the liberty of preserving the name, +to which it bears an obvious resemblance; the nose of the Beaver lies +towards the west, the tail to the east. This island is nearly opposite +to Gore's Landing, and forms a pleasing object from the windows and +verandah of Claverton, the house of my esteemed friend, William Falkner, +Esq., the Patriarch of the Plains, as he has often been termed; one of +the only residents on the Rice Lake plains for many years; one of the +few gentlemen who had taste enough to be charmed with this lovely tract +of country, and to appreciate its agricultural resources, which, of +late, have been so fully developed.]_ from its resemblance in shape to +that animal. A fine, high, oval island beyond this they named Black +Island, _[FN: Black Island, the sixth from the head of the lake; an +oval island, remarkable for its evergreens.]_ from its dark evergreens; +the next was that which seemed most to excite the interest of their +Indian guide, although but a small stony island, scantily clothed +with trees, lower down the lake. This place she called Spooke Island, +_[FN: Appendix H.]_ which means in the Indian tongue, a place for +the dead; it is sometimes called Spirit Island, and here, in times past, +used the Indian people to bury their dead. The island is now often the +resort of parties of pleasure, who, from its being grassy and open, find +it more available than those which are densely wooded. The young Mohawk +regarded it with feelings of superstitious awe, and would not suffer +Hector to land the canoe on its rocky shores. + +"It is a place of spirits," she said; "the ghosts of my fathers will be +angry if we go there." Even her young companions felt that, they were +upon sacred ground, and gazed with silent reverence upon the burial +isle. + +Strongly imbued with a love of the marvellous, which they had derived +from their Highland origin, Indiana's respect for the spirits of her +ancestors was regarded as most natural, and in silence, as if fearing to +disturb the solemnity of the spot, they resumed their paddles, and after +awhile reached the mouth of the river Otonabee, which was divided into +two separate channels by a long, low point of swampy land covered with +stunted, mossy bushes and trees, rushes, driftwood, and aquatic plants. +Indiana told them this river flowed from the north, and that it was many +days' journey up to the lakes; to illustrate its course, she drew with +her paddle a long line with sundry curves and broader spaces, some +longer, some smaller, with Bays and inlets, which she gave them to +understand were the chain of lakes that she spoke of. There were +beautiful hunting grounds on the borders of these lakes, and many fine +water-falls and rocky islands; she had been taken up to these waters +during the time of her captivity. The Ojebwas, she said, were a branch +of the great Chippewa nation, who owned much land and great waters +thereabouts. + +Compared with the creeks and streams that they had seen hitherto, the +Otonabee appeared a majestic river, and an object of great admiration +and curiosity, for it seemed to them as if it were the high road leading +up to an unknown far-off land--a land of dark, mysterious, impenetrable +forests,--flowing on, flowing on, in lonely majesty, reflecting on its +tranquil bosom the blue sky, the dark pines, and grey cedars,--the pure +ivory water-lily, and every passing shadow of bird or leaf that flitted +across its surface--so quiet was the onward flow of its waters. + +A few brilliant leaves yet lingered on the soft maples and +crimson-tinted oaks, but the glory of the forest had departed; the +silent fall of many a sear and yellow leaf told of the death of summer +and of winter's coming reign. Yet the air was wrapt in a deceitful +stillness; no breath of wind moved the trees or dimpled the water. +Bright wreaths of scarlet berries and wild grapes hung in festoons among +the faded foliage. The silence of the forest was unbroken, save by the +quick tapping of the little midland wood-pecker, or the shrill scream +of the blue jay; the whirring sound of the large white and grey duck, +(called by the frequenters of these lonely waters the whistle-wing,) as +its wings swept the waters in its flight; or the light dripping of the +paddle;--so still, so quiet was the scene. + +As the day was now far advanced, the Indian girl advised them either +to encamp for the night on the river bank, or to use all speed in +returning. She seemed to view the aspect of the heavens with some +anxiety. Vast volumes of light copper-tinted clouds were rising, the +sun seen through its hazy veil looked red and dim, and a hot sultry air +unrelieved by a breath of refreshing wind oppressed our young voyagers; +and though the same coppery clouds and red sun had been seen for several +successive days, a sort of instinctive feeling prompted the desire +in all to return; and after a few minutes' rest and refreshment, they +turned their little bark towards the lake; and it was well that they did +so: by the time they had reached the middle of the lake, the stillness +of the air was rapidly changing. The rose-tinted clouds that had lain so +long piled upon each other in mountainous ridges, began to move upwards, +at first slowly, then with rapidly accelerated motion. There was a +hollow moaning in the pine tops, and by fits a gusty breeze swept +the surface of the water, raising it into rough, short, white-crested +ridges. + +These signs were pointed out by Indiana as the harbinger of a rising +hurricane; and now a swift spark of light like a falling star glanced on +the water, as if there to quench its fiery light. Again the Indian girl +raised her dark hand and pointed to the rolling storm-clouds, to the +crested, waters and the moving pine tops; then to the head of the +Beaver Island--it was the one nearest to them. With an arm of energy she +wielded the paddle, with an eye of fire she directed the course of their +little vessel, for well she knew their danger and the need for straining +every nerve to reach the nearest point of land. Low muttering peals of +thunder were now heard, the wind was rising with electric speed. Away +flew the light bark, with the swiftness of a bird, over the water; the +tempest was above, around and beneath. The hollow crash of the forest +trees as they bowed to the earth could be heard, sullenly sounding +from shore to shore. And now the Indian girl, flinging back her black +streaming hair from her brow, knelt at the head of the canoe, and with +renewed vigour plied the paddle. The waters, lashed into a state of +turbulence by the violence of the storm, lifted the canoe up and down, +but no word was spoken--they each felt the greatness of the peril, but +they also knew that they were in the hands of Him who can say to the +tempest-tossed waves, "Peace, be still," and they obey Him. + +Every effort was made to gain the nearest island; to reach the mainland +was impossible, for the rain poured down a blinding deluge; it was with +difficulty the little craft was kept afloat, by baling out the water; to +do this, Louis was fain to use his cap, and Catharine assisted with the +old tin-pot which she had fortunately brought from the trapper's shanty. + +The tempest was at its height when they reached the nearest point of +the Beaver, and joyful was the grating sound of the canoe as it was +vigorously pushed up on the shingly beach, beneath the friendly shelter +of the overhanging trees, where, perfectly exhausted by the exertions +they had made, dripping with rain and overpowered by the terrors of the +storm, they threw themselves on the ground, and in safety watched its +progress--thankful for an escape from such imminent peril. + +Thus ended the Indian summer--so deceitful in its calmness and its +beauty. The next day saw the ground white with snow, and hardened into +stone by a premature frost. Our poor voyagers were not long in quitting +the shelter of the Beaver Island, and betaking them once more to their +ark of refuge--the log-house on Mount Ararat. + +The winter, that year, set in with unusual severity some weeks sooner +than usual, so that from the beginning of November to the middle of +April the snow never entirely left the ground. The lake was soon covered +with ice, and by the month of December it was one compact solid sheet +from shore to shore. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "Scared by the red and noisy light."--COLERIDGE. + +Hector and Louis had now little employment, excepting chopping +fire-wood, which was no very arduous task for two stout healthy lads, +used from childhood to handling the axe. Trapping, and hunting, +and snaring hares, were occupations which they pursued more for the +excitement and exercise than from hunger, as they had laid by abundance +of dried, venison, fish, and birds, besides a plentiful store of rice. +They now visited those trees that they had marked in the summer, where +they had noticed the bees hiving, and cut them down; in one they got +more than a pailful of rich honey-comb, and others yielded some more, +some less; this afforded them a delicious addition to their boiled +rice, and dried acid fruits. They might have melted the wax, and burned +candles of it; but this was a refinement of luxury that never once +occurred to our young house-keepers: the dry pine knots that are found +in the woods are the settlers' candles; but Catharine made some very +good vinegar with the refuse of the honey and combs, by pouring water on +it, and leaving it to ferment in a warm nook of the chimney, in one of +the birch-bark vessels, and this was an excellent substitute for salt as +a seasoning to the fresh meat and fish. Like the Indians, they were now +reconciled to the want of this seasonable article. + +Indiana seemed to enjoy the cold weather; the lake, though locked up +to every one else, was open to her; with the aid of the tomahawk she +patiently made an opening in the ice, and over this she built a little +shelter of pine boughs stuck into the ice. Armed with a sharp spear +carved out of hardened wood, she would lie upon the ice and patiently +await the rising of some large fish to the air-hole, when dexterously +plunging it into the unwary creature, she dragged it to the surface. +Many a noble fish did the young squaw bring home, and lay at the feet +of him whom she had tacitly elected as her lord and master; to him she +offered the voluntary service of a faithful and devoted servant--I might +almost have said, slave. + +During the middle of December there were some days of such intense cold, +that even our young Crusoes, hardy as they were, preferred the blazing +log-fire and warm ingle nook, to the frozen lake and cutting north-west +wind which blew the loose snow in blinding drifts over its bleak, +unsheltered surface. Clad in the warm tunic and petticoat of Indian +blanket with fur-lined mocassins, Catharine and her Indian friend felt +little cold excepting to the face when they went abroad, unless the wind +was high, and then experience taught them to keep at home. And these +cold gloomy days they employed in many useful works. Indiana had +succeeded in dyeing the quills of the porcupine that she had captured on +Grape Island; with these she worked a pair of beautiful mocassins and +an arrow case for Hector, besides making a sheath for Louis's +_couteau-du-chasse_, of which the young hunter was very proud, bestowing +great praise on the workmanship. + +Indiana appeared to be deeply engrossed with some work that she was +engaged in, but preserved a provoking degree of mystery about it, to the +no small annoyance of Louis, who, among his other traits of character, +was remarkably inquisitive, wanting to know the why and wherefore of +everything he saw. + +Indiana first prepared a frame of some tough wood, it might be the inner +bark of the oak or elm or hiccory; this was pointed at either end, and +wide in the middle--not very much unlike the form of some broad, flat +fish; over this she wove an open network of narrow thongs of deer-hide, +wetted to make it more pliable, and securely fastened to the frame: when +dry, it became quite tight, and resembled a sort of coarse bamboo-work +such as you see on cane-bottomed chairs and sofas. + +"And now, Indiana, tell us what sort of fish you are going to catch in +your ingenious little net," said Louis, who had watched her proceedings +with great interest. The girl shook her head, and laughed till she +showed all her white teeth, but quietly proceeded to commence a second +frame like the first. + +Louis put it on his head. No: it could not be meant to be worn there, +that was plain. He turned it round and round. It must be intended for +some kind of bird-trap: yes, that must be it; and he cast an inquiring +glance at Indiana. She blushed, shook her head, and gave another of her +silent laughs. + +"Some game like battledore and shuttlecock,"--and snatching up a light +bass-wood chip, he began tossing the chip up and catching it on the +netted frame. The little squaw was highly amused, but rapidly went on +with her work. Louis was now almost angry at the perverse little savage +persevering in keeping him in suspense. She would not tell him till the +other was done: then there were to be a pair of these curious articles: +and he was forced at last to sit quietly down to watch the proceeding of +the work. It was night before the two were completed, and furnished with +straps and loops. When the last stroke was put to them, the Indian girl +knelt down at Hector's feet, and binding them on, pointed to them with a +joyous laugh, and said, "Snow-shoe--for walk on snow--good!" + +The boys had heard of snow-shoes, but had never seen them, and now +seemed to understand little of the benefit to be derived from the use +of them. The young Mohawk quickly transferred the snow-shoes to her own +feet, and soon proved to them that the broad surface prevented those +who wore them from sinking into the deep snow. After many trials Hector +began to acknowledge the advantage of walking with the snow-shoes, +especially on the frozen snow on the ice-covered lake. Indiana was well +pleased with the approbation that her manufactures met with, and very +soon manufactured for "Nee-chee," as they all now called Louis, a +similar present As to Catharine, she declared the snow-shoes made her +ancles ache, and that she preferred the mocassins that her cousin Louis +made for her. During the long bright days of February they made several +excursions on the lake, and likewise explored some of the high hills +to the eastward. On this ridge there were few large trees; but it was +thickly clothed with scrub oaks, slender poplars, and here and there +fine pines, and picturesque free-growing oaks of considerable size and +great age--patriarchs, they might be termed, among the forest growth. +_[FN: One of these hoary monarchs of the Oak-lulls still stands +at the head of the lawn at Oaklands, formerly the property of Mr. W. +Falkner, now the residence of the Authoress.]_ Over this romantic range +of hill and dale, free as the air they breathed, roamed many a gallant +herd of deer, unmolested unless during certain seasons when the Indians +came to hunt over these hills. Surprised at the different growth of +the oaks on this side the plains, Hector could not help expressing his +astonishment to Indiana, who told him that it was caused by the custom +that her people had had from time immemorial of setting fire to the +bushes in the early part of spring. This practice, she said, promoted +the growth of the deer-grass, made good cover for the deer themselves, +and effectually prevented the increase of the large timbers. This +circumstance gives a singular aspect to this high ridge of hills when +contrasted with the more wooded portions to the westward. From the lake +these eastern hills look verdant, and as if covered with tall green +fern. In the month of October a rich rosy tint is cast upon the leaves +of the scrub oaks by the autumnal frosts, and they present a glowing +unvaried crimson of the most glorious hue, only variegated in spots by +a dark feathery evergreen, or a patch of light waving poplars turned by +the same wizard's wand to golden yellow. + +There were many lovely spots,--lofty rounded hills, and deep shady +dells, with extended tableland, and fine lake views; but on the whole +our young folks preferred the oak openings and the beautiful wooded +glens of the western side, where they had fixed their home. + +There was one amusement that they used greatly to enjoy during the cold +bright days and moonlight nights of midwinter. This was gliding down +the frozen snow on the steep side of the dell near the spring, seated on +small hand-sleighs, which carried them down with great velocity. Wrapped +in their warm furs, with caps fastened closely over their ears, what +cared they for the cold? Warm and glowing from head to foot, with cheeks +brightened by the delightful exercise, they would remain for hours +enjoying the amusement of the snow-slide; the bright frost gemming the +ground with myriads of diamonds, sparkling in their hair, or whitening +it till it rivalled the snow beneath their feet. Then, when tired out +with the exercise, they returned to the shanty, stirred up a blazing +fire, till the smoked rafters glowed in the red light; spread their +simple fare of stewed rice sweetened with honey, or maybe a savoury +soup of hare or other game; and then, when warmed and fed, they kneeled +together, side by side, and offered up a prayer of gratitude to their +Maker, and besought his care over them during the dark and silent hours +of night. + +Had these young people been idle in their habits and desponding in +their tempers, they must have perished with cold and hunger, instead of +enjoying many necessaries and even some little luxuries in their lonely +forest home. Fortunately they had been brought up in the early practice +of every sort of usefulness, to endure every privation with cheerful +fortitude; not, indeed, quietly to sit down and wait for better times, +but vigorously to create those better times by every possible exertion +that could be brought into action to assist and ameliorate their +condition. + +To be up and doing, is the maxim of a Canadian; and it is this that +nerves his arm to do and bear. The Canadian settler, following in +the steps of the old Americans, learns to supply all his wants by the +exercise of his own energy. He brings up his family to rely upon their +own resources, instead of depending upon his neighbours. + +The children of the modern emigrant, though enjoying a higher degree of +civilization and intelligence, arising from a liberal education, might +not have fared so well under similar circumstances as did our Canadian +Crusoes, because, unused to battle with the hardships incidental to a +life of such privation as they had known, they could not have brought +so much experience, or courage, or ingenuity to their aid. It requires +courage to yield to circumstances, as well as to overcome them. + +Many little useful additions to the interior of their dwelling were made +by Hector and Louis during the long winter. They made a smoother and +better table than the first rough one that they put together. They also +made a rough partition of split cedars, to form a distinct and +separate sleeping-room for the two girls; but as this division greatly +circumscribed their sitting and cooking apartment, they resolved, as +soon as the spring came, to cut and draw in logs for putting up a better +and larger room to be used as a summer parlour. Indiana and Louis made a +complete set of wooden trenchers out of butter-nut, a fine hard wood of +excellent grain, and less liable to warp or crack than many others. + +Louis's skill as a carpenter was much greater than that of his cousin. +He not only possessed more judgment and was more handy, but he had a +certain taste and neatness in finishing his work, however rough his +materials and rude his tools. He inherited some of that skill in +mechanism for which the French have always been remarked. With his knife +and a nail he would carve a plum-stone into a miniature basket, with +handle across it, all delicately wrought with flowers and checker-work. +The shell of a butter-nut would be transformed into a boat, with +thwarts, and seats, and rudder; with sails of bass-wood or birch-bark. +Combs he could cut out of wood or bone, so that Catharine could dress +her hair, or confine it in braids or bands at will. This was a source of +great comfort to her; and Louis was always pleased when he could in any +way contribute to his cousin's happiness. These little arts Louis +had been taught by his father. Indeed, the entire distance that their +little, settlement was from any town or village had necessarily forced +their families depend on their own ingenuity and invention to +supply many of their wants. Once or twice a year they saw a trading +fur-merchant, as I before observed; and those were glorious days for +Hector and Louis, who were always on the alert to render the strangers +any service in their power, as by that means they sometimes received +little gifts from them, and gleaned up valuable information as to their +craft as hunters and trappers. And then there were wonderful tales of +marvellous feats and hair-breadth escapes to listen to, as they sat +with eager looks and open ears round the blazing log-fire in the old +log-house. Now they would in their turns have tales to tell of strange +adventures, and all that had befallen them since the first day of their +wanderings on the Rice Lake Plains. + +The long winter passed away unmarked by any very stirring event. The +Indians had revisited the hunting-grounds; but they confined themselves +chiefly to the eastern side of the plains, the lake, and the islands, +and did not come near their little dwelling to molest them. The latter +end of the month of March presented fine sugar-making weather; and as +they had the use of the big iron pot, they resolved to make maple sugar +and some molasses. Long Island was decided upon as the most eligible +place: it had the advantage over Maple Island of having a shanty ready +built for a shelter during the time they might see fit to remain, and a +good boiling-place, which would be a comfort to the girls, as they need +not be exposed to the weather during the process of sugaring. The two +boys soon cut down some small pines and bass-woods, which they hewed out +into sugar-troughs; Indiana manufactured some rough pails of birch-bark; +and the first favourable day for the work they loaded up a hand-sleigh +with their vessels, and marched forth over the ice to the island, and +tapped the trees they thought could yield sap for their purpose. And +many pleasant days they passed during the sugar-making season. They did +not leave the sugar-bush for good till the commencement of April, when +the sun and wind beginning to unlock the springs that fed the lake, and +to act upon its surface, taught them that it would not long be +prudent to remain on the island. The loud booming sounds that were now +frequently heard of the pent-up air beneath striving to break forth from +its icy prison, were warnings not to be neglected. Openings began +to appear, especially at the entrance of the river, and between the +islands, and opposite to some of the larger creeks; blue streams that +attracted the water-fowl, ducks, and wild geese, that came, guided by +that instinct that never errs, from their abiding-places in far-off +lands; and Indiana knew the signs of the wild birds coming and going +with a certainty that seemed almost marvellous to her simple-minded +companions. + +How delightful were the first indications of the coming spring! How +joyously our young Crusoes heard the first tapping of the redheaded +woodpecker, the low, sweet, warbling note of the early song-sparrow, and +twittering chirp of the snow-bird, or that neat quakerly-looking bird, +that comes to cheer us with the news of sunny days and green buds, the +low, tender, whispering note of the chiccadee, flitting among the pines +or in the thick branches of the shore-side trees! The chattering note of +the little striped chitmunk, as it pursued its fellows over the fallen +trees, and the hollow sound of the male partridge heavily striking his +wings against his sides to attract the notice of the female birds--were +among the early spring melodies, for such they seemed to our forest +dwellers, and for such they listened with eager ears, for they told +them-- + + "That winter, cold winter, was past, + And that spring, lovely spring, was approaching at last." + +They watched for the first song of the robin, _[FN: Turdus +miyratorius, or American robin.]_ and the full melody of the red thrush +_[FN: Turdus melodus, or wood-thrush.]_; the rushing sound of the +passenger-pigeon, as flocks of these birds darted above their heads, +sometimes pausing to rest on the dry limb of some withered oak, or +darting down to feed upon the scarlet berries of the spicy winter-green, +the acorns that still lay upon the now uncovered ground, or the berries +of hawthorn and dogwood that still hung on the bare bushes. The pines +were now putting on their rich, mossy, green spring dresses; the skies +were deep blue; nature, weary of her long state of inaction, seemed +waking into life and light. + +On the Plains the snow soon disappears, for the sun and air has access +to the earth much easier than in the close, dense forest; and Hector and +Louis were soon able to move about with axe in hand, to cut the logs for +the addition to the house which they proposed making. They also set to +work as soon as the frost was out of the ground, to prepare their little +field for the Indian corn. This kept them quite busy. Catharine attended +to the house, and Indiana went out fishing and hunting, bringing in +plenty of small game and fish every day. After they had piled and burned +up the loose boughs and trunks that encumbered the space which they had +marked out, they proceeded to enclose it with a "brush fence", which +was done by felling the trees that stood in the line of the field, and +letting them fall so as to form the bottom log of the fence, which +they then made of sufficient height by piling up arms of trees and +brush-wood. Perhaps in this matter they were too particular, as there +was no fear of "breachy cattle," or any cattle, intruding on the crop; +but Hector maintained that deer and bears were as much to be guarded +against as oxen and cows. + +The little enclosure was made secure from any such depredators, and was +as clean as hands could make it, and the two cousins were sitting on a +log, contentedly surveying their work, and talking of the time when the +grain was to be put in. It was about the beginning of the second week +in May, as near as they could guess from the bursting of the forest buds +and the blooming of such of the flowers as they were acquainted with. +Hector's eyes had followed the flight of a large eagle that now, turning +from the lake, soared away majestically towards the east or Oak-hills. +But soon his eye was attracted to another object. The loftiest part of +the ridge was enveloped in smoke. At first he thought it must be some +mist-wreath hovering over its brow; but soon the dense rolling clouds +rapidly spread on each side, and he felt certain that it was from fire, +and nothing but fire,_[FN: Appendix I.]_ that those dark volumes +arose. + +"Louis, look yonder! the hills to the east are on fire." + +"On fire, Hector? you are dreaming!" + +"Nay, but look there!" + +The hills were now shrouded in one dense, rolling, cloud; it moved on +with fearful rapidity down the shrubby side of the hill, supplied by +the dry, withered foliage and deer-grass, which was like stubble to the +flames. + +"It is two miles off, or more," said Louis; "and the creek will stop its +progress long before it comes near us--and the swamp there, beyond Bare +Hill." + +"The cedars are as dry as tinder; and as to the creek, it is so narrow, +a burning tree falling across would convey the fire to this side; +besides, when the wind rises, as it always does when the bush is on +fire, you know how far the burning leaves will fly. Do you remember when +the forest was on fire last spring, how long it continued to burn, and +how fiercely it raged! It was lighted by the ashes of your father's +pipe, when he was out in the new fallow; the leaves were dry, and +kindled; and before night the woods were burning for miles." "It was +a grand spectacle, those pine-hills, when the fire got in among them," +said Louis.. "See, see how fast the fires kindle; that must be some +fallen pine that they have got hold of; now, look at the lighting up of +that hill--is it not grand?" + +"If the wind would but change, and blow in the opposite direction!" said +Hector, anxiously. + +"The wind, mon ami, seems to have little influence; for as long as +the fire finds fuel from the dry bushes and grass, it drives on, even +against the wind." + +As they spoke the wind freshened, and they could plainly see a long line +of wicked, bright flames, in advance of the dense mass of vapour +which hung in its rear. On it came, that rolling sea of flame, with +inconceivable rapidity, gathering strength as it advanced. The demon +of destruction spread its red wings to the blast, rushing on with fiery +speed; and soon hill and valley were wrapped in one sheet of flame. + +"It must have been the work of the Indians," said Louis. "We had better +make a retreat to the island, in case of the fire crossing the valley. +We must not neglect the canoe; if the fire sweeps round by the swamp, it +may come upon us unawares, and then the loss of the canoe would prevent +escape by the lake. But here are the girls; let us consult them. + +"It is the Indian burning," said Indiana; "that is the reason there are +so few big trees on that hill; they burn it to make the grass better for +the deer." + +Hector had often pointed out to Louis the appearance of fire having +scorched the bark of the trees, where they were at work, but it seemed +to have been many years back; and when they were digging for the site +of the root-house _[FN: Root-houses are built over deep excavations +below the reach of the frost, or the roots stored would be spoiled.]_ +below the bank, which they had just finished, they had met with charred +wood, at the depth of six feet below the soil, which must have lain +there till the earth had accumulated over it; a period of many years +must necessarily have passed since the wood had been burned, as it was +so much decomposed as to crumble beneath the wooden shovel which they +were digging with. + +All day they watched the progress of that, fiery sea whose waves were +flame--red, rolling flame. Onward it came, with resistless speed, +overpowering every obstacle, widening its sphere of action, till it +formed a perfect semicircle about them. As the night drew on, the +splendour of the scene became more apparent, and the path of the fire +better defined; but there was no fear of the conflagration spreading as +it had done in the daytime. The wind had sunk, and the copious dews of +evening effectually put a stop to the progress of the fire. The children +could now gaze in security upon the magnificent spectacle before them, +without the excitement produced by its rapid spread during the daytime. +They lay down to sleep in perfect security that night, but with the +consciousness that, as the breeze sprung up in the morning, they must be +on the alert to secure their little dwelling and its contents from the +devastation that threatened it. They knew that they had no power to stop +its onward course, as they possessed no implement better than a rough +wood shovel, which would be found very ineffectual in opening a trench +or turning the ground up, so as to cut off the communication with the +dry grass, leaves, and branches, which are the fuel for supplying the +fires on the Plains. The little clearing on one side the house they +thought would be its safeguard, but the fire was advancing on three +sides of them. + +"Let us hold a council, as the Indians do, to consider what is to be +done." + +"I propose," said Louis, "retreating, bag and baggage, to the nearest +point of Long Island." "My French cousin has well spoken," said Hector, +mimicking the Indian mode of speaking; "but listen to the words of the +wise. I propose to take all our household stores that are of the most +value, to the island, and lodge the rest safely in our new root-house, +first removing from its neighbourhood all such light, loose matter as is +likely to take fire; the earthen roof will save it from destruction; as +to the shanty, it must take its chance to stand or fall." + +"The fence of the little clearing will be burned, no doubt. Well, never +mind, better that than our precious selves; and the corn, fortunately, +is not yet sown," said Louis. + +Hector's advice met with general applause, and the girls soon set to +work to secure the property they meant to leave. + +It was a fortunate thing that the root-house had been finished, as +it formed a secure storehouse for their goods, and would also be made +available as a hiding-place from the Indians, in time of need. The boys +carefully scraped away all the combustible matter from its vicinity, and +also from the house; but the rapid increase of the fire now warned them +to hurry down to join Catharine and the young Mohawk, who had gone off +to the lake shore, with such things as they required to take with them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + "I know a lake where the cool waves break, + And softly fall on the silver sand, + And no stranger intrudes on that solitude, + And no voices but ours disturb the strand." + IRISH SONG + +The breeze had sprung up, and had already brought the fire down as far +as the creek. The swamp had long been on fire, and now the flames were +leaping among the decayed timbers, roaring and crackling among the +pines, and rushing to the tops of the cedars, springing from heap to +heap of the fallen branches, and filling the air with dense volumes +of black and suffocating smoke. So quickly did the flames advance that +Hector and Louis had only time to push off the canoe before the heights +along the shore were wrapped in smoke and fire. Many a giant oak and +noble pine fell crashing to the earth, sending up showers of red sparks, +as its burning trunk shivered in its fall. Glad to escape from the +suffocating vapour, the boys quickly paddled out to the island, enjoying +the cool, fresh air of the lake. Reposing on the grass beneath the +trees, they passed the day, sheltered from the noonday sun, and watched +the progress of the fires upon the shore. At night the girls slept +securely under the canoe, which they raised on one side by means of +forked sticks stuck in the ground. + +It was a grand sight to see the burning plains at night, reflected on +the water. A thousand naming torches flickered upon its still surface, +to which the glare of a gas-lighted city would have been dim and dull by +contrast. + +Louis and Hector would speculate on the probable chances of the shanty +escaping from the fire, and of the fence remaining untouched. Of the +safety of the root-house they entertained no fear, as the grass was +already springing green on the earthen roof; and below they had taken +every precaution to secure its safely, by scraping up the earth near it. +_[FN: Many a crop of grain and comfortable homestead has been saved +by turning a furrow round the field; and great conflagrations have been +effectually stopped by men beating the fire out with spades, and hoeing +up the fresh earth so as to cut off all communication with the dry +roots, grass, and leaves that feed its onward progress. Water, even +could it be got, which is often impossible, is not near so effectual in +stopping the progress of fire; even women and little children can assist +in such emergencies.]_ + +Catharine lamented for the lovely spring-flowers that would be destroyed +by the fire. "We shall have neither huckleberries nor strawberries this +summer," she said, mournfully; "and the pretty roses and bushes will be +scorched, and the ground black and dreary." + +"The fire passes so rapidly over that it does not destroy many of the +forest trees, only the dead ones are destroyed; and that, you know, +leaves more space for the living ones to grow and thrive in," said +Hector. "I have seen, the year after a fire has run in the bush, a new +and fresh set of plants spring up, and even some that looked withered +recover; the earth is renewed and manured by the ashes; and it is not so +great a misfortune as it at first appears." + +"But how black and dismal the burnt pine-woods look for years!" said +Louis; "I do not think there is a more melancholy sight in life than one +of those burnt pine-woods. There it stands, year after year, the black, +branchless trees pointing up to the blue sky, as if crying for vengeance +against those that kindled the fires." + +"They do, indeed, look ugly," said Catharine; "yet the girdled ones look +very nearly as ill." _[FN: The girdled pines are killed by barking +them round, to facilitate the clearing.]_ + +At the end of two days the fires had ceased to rage, though the dim +smoke-wreaths to the westward showed where the work of destruction was +still going on. + +As there was no appearance of any Indians on the lake, nor yet at the +point (Andersen's Point, as it is now called), on the other side, they +concluded the fires had possibly originated by accident,--some casual +hunter or trapper having left his camp-fire unextinguished; but as they +were not very likely to come across the scene of the conflagration, they +decided on returning back to their old home without delay; and it was +with some feeling of anxiety that they hastened to see what evil had +befallen their shanty. + +"The shanty is burned!" was the simultaneous exclamation of both Louis +and Hector, as they reached the rising ground that should have commanded +a view of its roof. "It is well for us that we secured our things in the +root-house," said Hector. + +"Well, if that is safe, who cares? we can soon build up a new house, +larger and better than the old one," said Louis. "The chief of our fence +is gone, too, I see; but that we can renew at our leisure; no hurry, if +we get it done a month hence, say I. Come, _ma belle_, do not look so +sorrowful. There is our little squaw will help us to set up a capital +wigwam, while the new house is building." "But the nice table that you +made, Louis, and the benches and shelves!" + +"Never mind, Cathy, we will have better tables, and benches, and shelves +too. Never fear, _ma chere_, the same industrious Louis will make things +comfortable. I am not sorry the old shanty is down; we shall have a +famous one put up, twice as large, for the winter. After the corn is +planted we shall have nothing else to do but to think about it." + +The next two or three days was spent in erecting a wigwam, with poles +and birch bark; and as the weather was warm and pleasant, they did +not feel the inconvenience so much as they would have done had it been +earlier in the season. The root-house formed an excellent store-house +and pantry; and Indiana contrived, in putting up the wigwam, to leave +certain loose folds between the birch-bark lining and outer covering, +which formed a series of pouches or bags, in which many articles could +be stowed away out of sight. _[FN: In this way the winter wigwams +of the Indians are constructed so as to give plenty of stowing room for +all their little household matters, materials for work, &c.]_ + +While the girls were busy contriving the arrangements of the wigwam, +the two boys were not idle. The time was come for planting the corn; a +succession of heavy thunder-showers had soaked and softened the scorched +earth, and rendered the labour of moving it much easier than they had +anticipated. They had cut for themselves wooden trowels, with which they +raised the hills for the seed. The corn planted, they next turned their +attention to cutting house-logs; those which they had prepared had been +burned up; so they had their labour to begin again. + +The two girls proved good helps at the raising; and in the course of a +few weeks they had the comfort of seeing a more commodious dwelling than +the former one put up. The finishing of this, with weeding the Indian +corn, renewing the fence, and fishing, and trapping, and shooting +partridges and ducks and pigeons, fully occupied their time this summer. +The fruit season was less abundant this year than the previous one. The +fire had done this mischief, and they had to go far a-field to collect +fruits during the summer months. + +It so happened that Indiana had gone out early one morning with the +boys, and Catharine was alone. She had gone down to the spring for +water, and on her return was surprised at the sight of a squaw and her +family of three half-grown lads, and an innocent little brown papoose. +_[FN: An Indian baby; but "papoose" is not an Indian word. It is +probably derived from the Indian imitation of the word "baines."]_ +In their turn the strangers seemed equally astonished at Catharine's +appearance. + +The smiling aspect and good-natured laugh of the female, however, soon +reassured the frightened girl, and she gladly gave her the water which +she had in her birch dish, on her signifying her desire for drink. To +this Catharine added some berries, and dried venison, and a bit of maple +sugar, which was received with grateful looks by the boys; she patted +the brown baby, and was glad when the mother released it from its wooden +cradle, and fed and nursed it. The squaw seemed to notice the difference +between the colour of her young hostess's fair skin and her own swarthy +hue; for she often took her hand, stripped up the sleeve of her dress, +and compared her arm with her own, uttering exclamations of astonishment +and curiosity; possibly Catharine was the first of a fair-skinned race +this poor savage had ever seen. After her meal was finished, she set +the birchen dish on the floor, and restrapping the papoose in its +cradle prison, she slipped the basswood-bark rope over her forehead, and +silently signing to her sons to follow her, she departed. That evening +a pair of ducks were found fastened to the wooden latch of the door, a +silent offering of gratitude for the refreshment that had been afforded +to this Indian woman and her children. + +Indiana thought, from Catharine's description, that these were Indians +with whom she was acquainted she spent some days in watching the lake +and the ravine, lest a larger and more formidable party should be +near. The squaw, she said, was a widow, and went by the name of Mother +Snow-storm, from having been lost in the woods, when a little child, +during a heavy storm of snow, and nearly starved to death. She was a +gentle, kind woman, and, she believed, would not do any of them hurt. +Her sons were good hunters; and though so young, helped to support their +mother, and were very good to her and the little one. + +I must now pass over a considerable interval of time, with merely a +brief notice that the crop of corn was carefully harvested, and proved +abundant, and a source of great comfort. The rice was gathered and +stored, and plenty of game and fish laid by, with an additional store of +honey. + +The Indians, for some reason, did not pay their accustomed visit to the +lake this season. Indiana said they might be engaged with war among some +hostile tribes, or had gone to other hunting grounds. The winter +was unusually mild, and it was long before it set in. Yet the spring +following was tardy, and later than usual. It was the latter end of May +before vegetation had made any very decided progress. + +The little loghouse presented a neat and comfortable appearance, both +within and without. Indiana had woven a handsome mat of bass bark for +the floor; Louis and Hector had furnished it with very decent seats +and a table, rough, but still very respectably constructed, considering +their only tools were a tomahawk, a knife, and wooden wedges for +splitting the wood into slabs. These Louis afterwards smoothed with +great care and patience. Their bedsteads were furnished with thick, soft +mate, woven by Indiana and Catharine, from rushes which they cut +and dried; but the little squaw herself preferred lying on a mat or +deer-skin on the floor before the fire, as she had been accustomed. + +A new field had been enclosed, and a fresh crop of corn planted, and +was now green and flourishing. Peace and happiness dwelt within the +loghouse;--but for the regrets that ever attended the remembrance of all +they had left and lost, no cloud would have dimmed the serenity of those +who dwelt beneath its humble roof. + +The season of flowers had again arrived,--the earth, renovated by the +fire of the former year, bloomed with fresh beauty,--June, with +its fragrant store of roses and lilies, was now far advanced,--the +anniversary of that time when they had left their beloved parents' +roofs, to become sojourners in the lonely wilderness, had returned. Much +they felt they had to be grateful for. Many privations, it is true, and +much anxiety they had felt; but they had enjoyed blessings above all +that they could have expected, and they might, like the Psalmist when +recounting the escapes of the people of God, have said,--"Oh that men +would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and the wonders that +he doeth for the children of men." And now they declared no greater +evil could befal them than to lose one of their little party, for even +Indiana had become as a dear and beloved sister; her gentleness, her +gratitude and faithful trusting love, seemed each day to increase. Now, +indeed, she was bound to them by a yet more sacred tie, for she knelt +to the same God, and acknowledged, with fervent love, the mercies of her +Redeemer. She had made great progress in learning their language, and +had also taught her friends to speak and understand much of her own +tongue; so that they were now no longer at a loss to converse with her +on any subject. Thus was this Indian girl united to them in bonds of +social and Christian love. + +Hector, Louis, and Indiana had gone over the hills to follow the track +of a deer which had paid a visit to the young corn, now sprouting and +showing symptoms of shooting up to blossom. Catharine usually preferred +staying at home, and preparing the meals against their return. She had +gathered some fine ripe strawberries, which, with plenty of stewed rice, +Indian meal cake, and maple sugar, was to make their dinner. She was +weary and warm, for the day had been hot and sultry. Seating herself on +the threshold of the door, she leaned her tack against the doorpost, and +closed her eyes. Perhaps the poor child's thoughts were wandering back +to her far-off, never-to-be-forgotten home, or she might be thinking +of the hunters and their game. Suddenly a vague, undefinable feeling of +dread stole over her mind: she heard no steps, she felt no breath, she +saw no form; but there was a strange consciousness that she was not +alone--that some unseen being was near, some eye was upon her. I +have heard of sleepers starting from sleep the most profound when the +noiseless hand of the assassin has been raised to destroy them, as if +the power of the human eye could be felt through the closed lid. + +Thus fared it with Catharine: she felt as if some unseen enemy was +near her; and, springing to her feet, she cast a wild, troubled glance +around. No living being met her eye; and, ashamed of her cowardice, she +resumed her seat. The tremulous cry of her little grey squirrel, a pet +which she had tamed and taught to run to her and nestle in her bosom, +attracted her attention. + +"What aileth thee, wee dearie?" she said, tenderly, as the timid little +creature crept, trembling, to her breast. "Thy mistress has scared thee +by her own foolish fears. See now, there is neither cat-a-mount nor +weasel here to seize thee, silly one;" and as she spoke she raised her +head, and flung back the thick clusters of soft fair hair that shaded +her eyes. The deadly glare of a pair of dark eyes fixed upon her met +her terrified gaze, gleaming with sullen ferocity from the angle of the +door-post, whence the upper part of the face alone was visible, partly +concealed by a mat of tangled, shaggy, black hair. Paralysed with fear, +the poor girl neither spoke nor moved; she uttered no cry; but pressing +her hands tightly across her breast, as if to still the loud beating +of her heart, she sat gazing upon that fearful appearance, while, with +stealthy step, the savage advanced from his lurking-place, keeping, +as he did so, his eyes riveted upon hers, with such a gaze as the wily +serpent is said to fascinate his prey. His hapless victim moved not; +whither could she flee to escape one whose fleet foot could so easily +have overtaken her in the race? where conceal herself from him whose +wary eye fixed upon her seemed to deprive her of all vital energy? + +Uttering that singular, expressive guttural which seems with the Indian +to answer the purpose of every other exclamation, he advanced, and +taking the girl's ice-cold hands in his, tightly bound them with a thong +of deer's hide, and led her unresistingly away. By a circuitous path +through the ravine they reached the foot of the mount, where lay a birch +canoe, rocking gently on the waters, in which a middle-aged female and a +young girl were seated. The females asked no questions, and expressed +no word indicative of curiosity or surprise, as the strong arm of the +Indian lifted his captive into the canoe, and made signs to the elder +squaw to push from the shore. When all had taken their places, the +woman, catching up a paddle from the bottom of the little vessel, stood +up, and with a few rapid strokes sent it skimming over the lake. + +The miserable captive, overpowered with the sense of her calamitous +situation, bowed down her head upon her knees, and concealing her +agitated face in her garments, wept in silent agony. Visions of horror +presented themselves to her bewildered brain--all that Indiana had +described of the cruelty of this vindictive race, came vividly before +her mind. Poor child, what miserable thoughts were thine during that +brief voyage! + +Had the Indians also captured her friends? or was she alone to be the +victim of their vengeance? What would be the feelings of those I beloved +ones on returning to their home and finding it desolate! Was there no +hope of release? As these ideas chased each other through her agitated +mind, she raised her eyes all streaming with tears to the faces of the +Indian and his companions with so piteous a look, that any heart but the +stoical one of an Indian would have softened at its sad appeal; but no +answering glance of sympathy met hers, no eye gave back its silent look +of pity--not a nerve or a muscle moved the cold apathetic features of +the Indians, and the woe-stricken girl again resumed her melancholy +attitude, burying her face in her heaving bosom to hide its bitter +emotions from the heartless strangers. + +She was not folly aware that it is part of the Indian's education to +hide the inward feelings of the heart, to check all those soft and +tender emotions which distinguish the civilized man from the savage. + +It does indeed need the softening influence of that powerful Spirit, +which was shed abroad into the world to turn the hearts of the +disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to break down the strongholds +of unrighteousness, and to teach man that he is by nature the child of +wrath and victim of sin, and that in his unregenerated nature his whole +mind is at enmity with God and his fellow-men, and that in his flesh +dwelleth no good thing. And the Indian has acknowledged that power,--he +has cast his idols of cruelty and revenge, those virtues on which he +prided himself in the blindness of his heart, to the moles and the bats; +he has bowed and adored at the foot of the Cross;--but it was not so in +the days whereof I have spoken. _[FN: Appendix K.]_ + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + "Must this sweet new-blown rose find such, a winter + Before her spring be past?" + BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER + +The little bark touched the stony point of Long Island. The Indian +lifted his weeping prisoner from the canoe, and motioned to her to move +forward along the narrow path that led to the camp, about twenty yards +higher up the bank, where there was a little grassy spot enclosed, with +shrubby trees--the squaws tarried at the lake-shore to bring up the +paddles and secure the canoe. + +It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an enemy, but doubly so, +when that enemy is a stranger to the language in which we would plead +for mercy--whose God is not our God, nor his laws those by which we +ourselves are governed. Thus felt the poor captive as she stood alone, +mute with terror among the half-naked dusky forms with which she now +found herself surrounded. She cast a hurried glance round that strange +assembly, if by chance her eye might rest upon some dear familiar face, +but she saw not the kind but grave face of Hector, nor met the bright +sparkling eye of her cousin Louis, nor the soft, subdued, pensive +features of the Indian girl, her adopted sister--she stood alone among +those wild gloomy-looking men; some turned away their eyes as if they +would not meet her woe-stricken countenance, lest they should be moved +to pity her sad condition; no wonder that, overcome by the sense of her +utter friendliness, she hid her face with her fettered hands and wept +in despair. But the Indian's sympathy is not moved by tears and sighs; +calmness, courage, defiance of danger and contempt of death, are what he +venerates and admires even in an enemy. + +The Indians beheld her grief unmoved. At length the old man, who seemed +to be a chief among the rest, motioned to one of the women who leant +against the side of the wigwam, to come forward and lead away the +stranger; Catharine, whose senses were beginning to be more collected, +heard the old man give orders that she was to be fed and cared for. +Gladly did she escape from the presence of those pitiless men, from +whose gaze she shrunk with maidenly modesty. And now when alone with +the women she hesitated not to make use of that natural language which +requires not the aid of speech to make itself understood; clasping +her hands imploringly, she knelt at the feet of the Indian woman, her +conductress--kissed her dark hands and bathed them with her fast flowing +tears, while she pointed passionately to the shore where lay the happy +home from which she had been so suddenly torn. + +The squaw, though she evidently comprehended the meaning of her +imploring gestures, shook her head, and in plaintive earnest tone +replied in her own language, that she must go with the canoes to the +other shore,--and she pointed to the north as she spoke. She then +motioned to the young girl--the same that had been Catharine's companion +in the canoe--to bring a hunting knife, which was thrust into one of +the folds of the birch-bark of the wigwam. Catharine beheld the deadly +weapon in the hands of the Indian woman with a pang of agony as great as +if its sharp edge was already at her throat. So young--so young, to die +by a cruel bloody death! what had been her crime?--how should she find +words to soften the heart of her murderess? The power of utterance +seemed denied--she cast herself on her knees and held up her hands in +silent prayer; not to the dreaded Indian woman, but to Him who heareth +the prayer of the poor destitute--who alone can order the unruly wills +and affections of men. + +The squaw stretched forth one dark hand and grasped the arm of the +terror-struck girl, while the other held the weapon of destruction; with +a quick movement she severed the thongs that bound the fettered wrists +of the pleading captive, and with a smile that seemed to light up her +whole face she raised her from her prostrate position, laid her hand +upon her young head, and with an expression of good-humoured surprise +lifted the flowing tresses of her sunny hair and spread them over +the back of her own swarthy hand; then, as if amused by the striking +contrast, she shook down her own jetty-black hair and twined a tress of +it with one of the fair haired girl's--then laughed till her teeth shone +like pearls within her red lips. Many were the exclamations of childish +wonder that broke from the other females, as they compared the snowy arm +of the stranger with their own dusky skins; it was plain that they had +no intention of harming her, and by degrees distrust and dread of her +singular companions began in some measure to subside. + +The squaw motioned her to take a seat on a mat beside her, and gave her +a handful of parched rice and some deer's flesh to eat; but Catharine's +heart was too heavy; she was suffering from thirst, and on pronouncing +the Indian word for water, the young girl snatched up a piece of +birch-bark from the floor of the tent, and gathering the corners +together, ran to the lake, and soon returned with water in this most +primitive drinking vessel, which she held to the lips of her guest, and +she seemed amused by the long deep draught with which Catharine slaked +her thirst; and something like a gleam of hope came over her mind as she +marked the look of kindly feeling with which she caught the young Indian +girl regarding her, and she strove to overcome the choking sensation +that would from time to time rise to her throat, as she fluctuated +between hope and fear. The position of the Indian camp was so placed +that it was quite hidden from the shore, and neither could Catharine +see the mouth of the ravine, nor the steep side of the mount that her +brothers were accustomed to ascend and descend in their visits to the +lake shore, nor had she any means of making a signal to them even if she +had seen them on the beach. + +The long, anxious, watchful night passed, and soon after sunrise, while +the morning mists still hung over the lake, the canoes of the Indians +were launched, and long before noon they were in the mouth of the river. +Catharine's heart sunk within her as the fast receding shores of the +lake showed each minute fainter in the distance. At midday they halted +at a fine bend in the river, where a small open place and a creek +flowing down through the woods afforded them cool water; and here they +found several tents put up and a larger party awaiting their return. The +river was here a fine, broad, deep and tranquil stream; trees of many +kinds fringed the edge; beyond was the unbroken forest, whose depths had +never been pierced by the step of man--so thick and luxuriant was the +vegetation that even the Indian could hardly have penetrated through +its dark swampy glades: far as the eye could reach, that impenetrable +interminable wall of verdure stretched away into the far off distance. + +On that spot where our Indian camp then stood, are now pleasant open +meadows, with an avenue of fine pines and balsams; showing on the +eminence above, a large substantial dwelling-house surrounded by +a luxuriant orchard and garden, the property of a naval officer, +_[FN: Lt. Rubidge, whose interesting account of his early +settlement may be read in a letter inserted in Captain Basil Hall's +Letters from Canada.]_ who with the courage and perseverance that mark +brave men of his class, first ventured to break the bush and locate +himself and his infant family in the lonely wilderness, then far from +any beaten road or the haunts of his fellow-men. + +But at the period of which I write, the axe of the adventurous settler +had not levelled one trunk of that vast forest, neither had the fire +scathed it; no voices of happy joyous children had rung through those +shades, nor sound of rural labour nor bleating flock awakened its +echoes. + +All the remainder of that sad day, Catharine sat on the grass under a +shady tree, her eyes mournfully fixed on the slow flowing waters, and +wondering at her own hard fate in being thus torn from her home and its +dear inmates. Bad as she had thought her separation from her father +and mother and her brothers, when she first left her home to become +a wanderer on the Rice Lake Plains, how much more dismal now was her +situation, snatched from the dear companions who had upheld and cheered +her on in all her sorrows! But now she was alone with none to love or +cherish or console her, she felt a desolation of spirit that almost made +her forgetful of that trust that had hitherto always sustained her in +time of trouble or sickness. She looked round, and her eye fell on the +strange unseemly forms of men and women, who cared not for her, and to +whom she was an object of indifference or aversion: she wept when she +thought of the grief that her absence would occasion to Hector and +Louis; the thought of their distress increased her own. + +The soothing quiet of the scene, with the low lulling sound of the +little brook as its tiny wavelets fell tinkling over the massy roots +and stones that impeded its course to the river, joined with fatigue and +long exposure to the sun and air, caused her at length to fall asleep. +The last rosy light of the setting sun was dyeing the waters with a +glowing tint when she awoke; a soft blue haze hung upon the trees; +the kingfisher and dragon-fly, and a solitary loon, were the only +busy things abroad on the river; the first darting up and down from +an upturned root near the water's edge, feeding its youngings; the +dragon-fly hawking with rapid whirring sound for insects, and the loon, +just visible from above the surface of the still stream, sailed quietly +on companionless, like her who watched its movements. + +The bustle of the hunters returning with game and fish to the encampment +roused many a sleepy brown papoose, the fires were renewed, and the +evening meal was now preparing,--and Catharine, chilled by the falling +dew, crept to the enlivening warmth. And here she was pleased at +being recognised by one friendly face--it was the mild and benevolent +countenance of the widow Snowstorm, who, with her three sons, came to +bid her to share their camp fire and food. The kindly grasp of the hand, +the beaming smile that was given by this good creature, albeit she was +ugly and ill-featured, cheered the sad captive's heart. She had given +her a cup of cold water and what food her log-cabin afforded, and in +return the good Indian took her to her wigwam and fed, and warmed, and +cherished her with the loving-kindness of a Christian; and during all +her sojourn in the Indian camp she was as a tender mother over her, +drying her tears and showing her those little acts of attention that +even the untaught Indians know are grateful to the sorrowful and +destitute. Catharine often forgot her own griefs to repay this worthy +creature's kindness, by attending to her little babe and assisting her +in some of her homely preparations of cookery or household work. She +knew that a selfish indulgence in sorrow would do her no good, and after +the lapse of some days she so well disciplined her own heart as to check +her tears at least in the presence of the Indian women, and to assume an +air of comparative cheerfulness. Once she found Indian words enough to +ask the Indian widow to convey her back to the lake, but she shook her +head and bade her not think anything about it; and added, that in the +fall, when the ducks came to the rice-beds, they should all return, and +then if she could obtain leave from the chief, she would restore her to +her lodge on the plains; but signified to her that patience was her only +present remedy, and that submission to the will of the chief was her +wisest plan. Comforted by this vague promise, Catharine strove to be +reconciled to her strange lot, and still stranger companions. She could +not help being surprised at the want of curiosity respecting her that +was shown by the Indians in the wigwam, when she was brought thither; +they appeared to take little notice that a stranger and one so +dissimilar to themselves had been introduced into the camp, for before +her they asked no questions about her, whatever they might do when she +was absent, though they surveyed her with silent attention. Catharine +learned, by long acquaintance with this people, that an outward +manifestation of surprise _[FN: See Appendix L.]_ is considered a +want of etiquette and good breeding, or rather a proof of weakness and +childishness. The women, like other females, are certainly less disposed +to repress this feeling of inquisitiveness than the men, and one of +their great sources of amusement, when Catharine was among them, was +examining the difference of texture and colour of her skin and hair, +and holding long consultations over them. The young girl and her mother, +those who had paddled the canoe the day she was carried away to the +island, showed her much kindness in a quiet way. The young squaw +was granddaughter to the old chief, and seemed to be regarded with +considerable respect by the rest of the women; she was a gay lively +creature, often laughing, and seemed to enjoy an inexhaustible fund +of good humour. She was inclined to extend her patronage to the young +stranger, making her eat out of her own bark dish, and sit beside her on +her own mat. She wove a chain of the sweet-scented grass with which +the Indians delight in adorning themselves, likewise in perfuming their +lodges with bunches or strewings upon the floor. She took great pains +in teaching her how to acquire the proper attitude of sitting, after the +fashion of the Eastern nations, which position the Indian women assume +when at rest in their wigwams. The Indian name of this little damsel +signified the Snow-bird. She was, like that lively restless bird, always +flitting to and fro from tent to tent, as garrulous and as cheerful too +as that merry little herald of the spring. + +Once she seemed particularly attracted by Catharine's dress, which she +examined with critical minuteness, evincing great surprise at the cut +fringes of dressed doeskin with which Indiana had ornamented the border +of the short jacket which she had manufactured for Catharine. These +fringes she pointed out to the notice of the women, and even the old +chief was called in to examine the dress; nor did the leggings and +mocassins escape their observation. There was something mysterious about +her garments. Catharine was at a loss to imagine what caused those deep +guttural exclamations, somewhat between a grunt and a groan, that burst +from the lips of the Indians, as they one by one examined them with +deep attention. These people had recognised in these things the peculiar +fashion and handiwork of the young Mohawk girl whom they had exposed to +perish by hunger and thirst on Bare Hill, and much their interest was +excited to know by what means Catharine had become possessed of a dress +wrought by the hand of one whom they had numbered with the dead. Strange +and mysterious did it seem to them, and warily did they watch the +unconscious object of their wonder. + +The knowledge that she possessed of the language of her friend Indiana, +enabled Catharine to comprehend a great deal of what was said; yet she +prudently refrained from speaking in the tongue of one, to whose +whole nation she knew these people to be hostile, but she sedulously +endeavoured to learn their own peculiar dialect, and in this she +succeeded in an incredibly short time, so that she was soon able to +express her own wants, and converse a little with the females who were +about her. + +She had noticed that among the tents there was one which stood +apart from the rest, and was only visited by the old chief and his +granddaughter, or by the elder women. At first she imagined it was some +sick person, or a secret tent set apart for the worship of the Great +Spirit; but one day when the chief of the people had gone up the river +hunting, and the children were asleep, she perceived the curtain of +skins drawn back, and a female of singular and striking beauty appeared +standing in the open space in front. She was habited in a fine tunic of +white dressed doeskin richly embroidered with coloured beads and stained +quills, a full petticoat of dark cloth bound with scarlet descended +to her ancles, leggings fringed with deer-skin knotted with bands of +coloured quills, with richly wrought mocassins on her feet. On her +head she wore a coronet of scarlet and black feathers; her long shining +tresses of raven hair descended to her waist, each thick tress confined +with a braided band of quills dyed scarlet and blue; her stature was +tall and well-formed; her large, liquid, dark eye wore an expression so +proud and mournful that Catharine felt her own involuntarily fill with +tears as she gazed upon this singular being. She would have approached +nearer to her, but a spell seemed on her; she shrunk back timid and +abashed beneath that wild melancholy glance. It was she, the Beam of the +Morning, the self-made widow of the young Mohawk, whose hand had wrought +so fearful a vengeance on the treacherous destroyer of her brother. She +stood there, at the tent door, arrayed in her bridal robes, as on the +day when she received her death-doomed victim. And when she recalled her +fearful deed, shuddering with horror, Catharine drew back and shrouded +herself within the tent, fearing again to fall under the eye of that +terrible woman. She remembered how Indiana had told her that since +that fatal marriage-feast she had been kept apart from the rest of the +tribe,--she was regarded by her people as a sacred character, a great +_Medicine_, a female _brave_, a being whom they regarded with mysterious +reverence. She had made this great sacrifice for the good of her nation. +Indiana said it was believed among her own folks that she had loved the +young Mohawk passionately, as a tender woman loves the husband of her +youth; yet she had hesitated not to sacrifice him with her own hand. +Such was the deed of the Indian heroine--and such were the virtues of +the unregenerated Greeks and Romans! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + "Now where the wave, with loud unquiet song, + Dash'd o'er the rocky channel, froths along, + Or where the silver waters soothed to rest, + The tree's tall shadow sleeps upon its breast." + COLERIDGE. + +The Indian camp remained for nearly three weeks on this spot, _[FN: +Now known by the name of Cambelltown, though, there is but one log-house +and some pasture fields; it is a spot long used as a calling place for +the steamer that plies on the Otoanbee, between Gore's Landing on the +Rice Lake and Peterborough, to take in fire-wood.]_ and then early one +morning the wigwams were all taken down, and the canoes, six in number, +proceeded up the river. There was very little variety in the scenery to +interest Catharine; the river still kept its slow flowing course between +low shores, thickly clothed with trees, without an opening through +which the eye might pierce to form an idea of the country beyond; not a +clearing, not a sight or sound of civilized man was there to be seen or +heard; the darting flight of the wild birds as they flitted across from +one side to the other, the tapping of the woodpeckers or shrill cry of +the blue jay, was all that was heard, from sunrise to sunset, on that +monotonous voyage. After many hours a decided change was perceived in +the current, which ran at a considerable increase of swiftness, so that +it required the united energy of both men and women to keep the light +vessels from drifting down the river again. They were in the Rapids, +_[FN: Formerly known as Whitla's Rapids, now the site of the +Locks.]_ and it was hard work to stem the tide, and keep the upward +course of the waters. At length the rapids were passed, and the weary +Indian voyagers rested for a space on the bosom of a small but tranquil +lake. _[FN: The little lake about a mile below Peterborough and +above the Locks, formerly girt in by woods of pine and beech and maple, +now entirely divested of trees and forming part of the suburbs of the +town. ]_ The rising moon shed her silvery light upon the calm waters, +and heaven's stars shone down into its quiet depths, as the canoes with +their dusky freight parted the glittering rays with their light paddles. +As they proceeded onward the banks rose on either side, still fringed +with pine, cedar and oaks. At an angle of the lake the banks on either +side ran out into two opposite peninsulas, forming a narrow passage or +gorge, contracting the lake once more into the appearance of a broad +river, much wider from shore to shore than any other part they had +passed through since they had left the entrance at the Rice Lake. + +Catharine became interested in the change of scenery, her eye dwelt with +delight on the forms of glorious spreading oaks and lofty pines, green +cliff-like shores and low wooded islands; while as they proceeded the +sound of rapid flowing waters met her ear, and soon the white and broken +eddies rushing along with impetuous course were seen by the light of +the moon; and while she was wondering if the canoes were to stem those +rapids, at a signal from the old chief, the little fleet was pushed +to shore on a low flat of emerald verdure nearly opposite to the last +island. _[FN: Over the Otonabee, just between the rapids and the +island, a noble and substantial bridge has been built.]_ + +Here, under the shelter of some beautiful spreading black oaks, the +women prepared to set up their wigwams. They had brought the poles and +birch-bark covering from the encampment below, and soon all was +bustle and business; unloading the canoes, and raising the tents. Even +Catharine lent a willing hand to assist the females in bringing up the +stores, and sundry baskets containing fruits and other small wares. She +then kindly attended to the Indian children, certain dark-skinned babes, +who, bound upon their wooden cradles, were either set up against the +trunks of the trees, or swung to some lowly depending branch, there to +remain helpless and uncomplaining spectators of the scene. + +Catharine thought these Indian babes were almost as much to be pitied +as herself, only that they were unconscious of their imprisoned state, +having from birth been used to no better treatment, and moreover they +were sure to be rewarded by the tender caresses of living mothers +when the season of refreshment and repose arrived; but she alas! was +friendless and alone, an orphan girl, reft of father, mother, kindred +and friends. One Father, one Friend, poor Catharine, thou hadst, even +He--the Father of the fatherless. + +That night when the women and children were sleeping, Catharine stole +out of the wigwam, and climbed the precipitous bank beneath the shelter +of which the lodges had been erected. She found herself upon a grassy +plain, studded with majestic oaks and pines, so beautifully grouped that +they might have been planted by the hand of taste upon that velvet turf. +It was a delightful contrast to those dense dark forests through +which for so many many miles the waters of the Otonabee had flowed +on monotonously; here it was all wild and free, dashing along like a +restive steed rejoicing in its liberty, uncurbed and tameless. + +Yes, here it was beautiful! Catharine gazed with joy upon the rushing +river, and felt her own heart expand as she marked its rapid course, as +it bounded murmuring and fretting over its rocky bed. "Happy, glorious +waters! you are not subject to the power of any living creature, no +canoe can ascend those surging waves; I would that I too, like thee, +were free to pursue my onward way--how soon would I flee away and be at +rest!" Such thoughts perhaps might have passed through the mind of the +lonely captive girl, as she sat at the foot of one giant oak, and looked +abroad over those moonlit waters, till, oppressed by the overwhelming +sense of the utter loneliness of the scene, the timid girl with +faltering step hurried down once more to the wigwams, silently crept +to the mat where her bed was spread, and soon forgot all her woes and +wanderings in deep tranquil sleep. + +Catharine wondered that the Indians in erecting their lodges always +seemed to prefer the low, level, and often swampy grounds by the lakes +and rivers in preference to the higher and more healthy elevations. So +disregardful are they of this circumstance, that they do not hesitate to +sleep where the ground is saturated with moisture. They will then lay a +temporary flooring of cedar or any other bark beneath their feet, rather +than remove the tent a few feet higher up, where a drier soil may always +be found. This either arises from stupidity or indolence, perhaps from +both, but it is no doubt the cause of much of the sickness that prevails +among, them. With his feet stretched to the fire the Indian cares for +nothing else when reposing in his wigwam, and it is useless to urge the +improvement that might be made in his comfort; he listens with a face of +apathy, and utters his everlasting guttural, which saves him the trouble +of a more rational reply. + +"Snow-bird" informed Catharine that the lodges would not again be +removed for some time, but that the men would hunt and fish, while the +squaws pursued their domestic labours. Catharine perceived that the +chief of the laborious part of the work fell to the share of the +females, who were very much more industrious and active than their +husbands; these, when not out hunting or fishing, were to be seen +reposing in easy indolence under the shade of the trees, or before the +tent fires, giving themselves little concern about anything that was +going on. The squaws were gentle, humble, and submissive; they bore +without a murmur pain, labour, hunger, and fatigue, and seemed to +perform every task with patience and good humour. They made the canoes, +in which the men sometimes assisted them, pitched the tents, converted +the skins of the animals which the men shot into clothes, cooked the +victuals, manufactured baskets of every kind, wove mats, dyed the quills +of the porcupine, sewed the mocassins, and in short performed a thousand +tasks which it would be difficult to enumerate. + +Of the ordinary household work, such as is familiar to European females, +they of course knew nothing; they had no linen to wash or iron, no +floors to clean, no milking of cows, nor churning of butter. + +Their carpets were fresh cedar boughs spread upon the ground, and only +renewed when they became offensively dirty from the accumulation of fish +bones and other offal, which are carelessly flung down during meals. Of +furniture they had none, their seat the ground, their table the +same, their beds mats or skins of animals,--such were the domestic +arrangements of the Indian camp. _[FN: Much improvement has taken +place of late years in the domestic economy of the Indians, and some of +their dwellings are clean and neat even for Europeans.]_ In the tent to +which Catharine belonged, which was that of the widow and her sons, a +greater degree of order and cleanliness prevailed than in any other, for +Catharine's natural love of neatness and comfort induced her to strew +the floor with fresh cedar or hemlock every day or two, and to sweep +round the front of the lodge, removing all unseemly objects from its +vicinity. She never failed to wash herself in the river, and arrange her +hair with the comb that Louis had made for her; and took great care +of the little child, which she kept clean and well fed. She loved this +little creature, for it was soft and gentle, meek and playful as a +little squirrel, and the Indian mothers all looked with kinder eyes +upon the white maiden, for the loving manner in which she tended their +children. The heart of woman is seldom cold to those who cherish +their offspring, and Catharine began to experience the truth, that the +exercise of those human charities is equally beneficial to those who +give and those that receive; these things fall upon the heart as dew +upon a thirsty soil, giving and creating a blessing. But we will leave +Catharine for a short season, among the lodges of the Indians, and +return to Hector and Louis. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + "Cold and forsaken, destitute of friends, + And all good comforts else, unless some tree + Whose speechless chanty doth better ours, + With which the bitter east-winds made their sport + And sang through hourly, hath invited thee + To shelter half a day. Shall she be thus, + And I draw in soft slumbers?" + BRAUMONT AND FLETCHER. + +It was near sunset before Hector and his cousin returned on the evening +of the eventful day that had found Catharine a prisoner on Long Island. +They had met with good success in hunting, and brought home a fine +half-grown fawn, fat and in good order. They were surprised at finding +the fire nearly extinguished, and no Catharine awaiting their return. +There, it is true, was the food that she had prepared for them, but she +was not to be seen; supposing that she had been tired of waiting for +them, and had gone out to gather strawberries, they did not at first +feel very anxious, but ate some of the rice and honey, for they were +hungry with long fasting; and taking some Indian meal cake in their +hands, they went out to call her in, but no trace of her was visible. +They now became alarmed, fearing that she had set off by herself to seek +them, and had missed her way home again. + +They hurried back to the happy valley--she was not there; to Pine-tree +Point--no trace of her there; to the edge of the mount that overlooked +the lake--no, she was not to be seen; night found them still +unsuccessful in their search. Sometimes they fancied that she had seated +herself beneath some tree and fallen asleep; but no one imagined the +true cause, having seen nothing of the Indians. + +Again they retraced their steps back to the house; but they found her +not there. They continued their unavailing search till the moon setting +left them in darkness, and they laid down to rest, but not to sleep. The +first streak of dawn saw them again hurrying to and fro, calling in +vain upon the name of the loved and lost companion of their wanderings. +Desolation had fallen upon their house, and the evil which of all others +they had most feared, had happened to them. + +Indiana, whose vigilance was more untiring, for she yielded not so +easily to grief and despair, now returned with the intelligence that +she had discovered the Indian trail, through the big ravine to the lake +shore; she had found the remains of a wreath of oak leaves which had +been woven by Catharine, and probably been about her hair; and she had +seen the mark of feet, Indian feet, on the soft clay, at the edge of the +lake, and the furrowing of the shingles by the pushing off of a canoe. +It was evident that she had been taken away from her home by these +people. Poor Louis gave way to transports of grief and despair; he +knew the wreath, it was such as Catharine often made for herself, and +Mathilde, and petite Louise, and Marie; his mother had taught her to +make them; they were linked together by the stalks, and formed a sort +of leaf chain. The remembrance of many of their joyous days of childhood +made Louis weep sorrowful tears for happy days, never to return again; +he placed the torn relic in his breast, and sadly turned away to hide +his grief from Hector and the Indian girl. + +Indiana now proposed searching the island for further traces, but +advised wariness in so doing. They saw, however, no smoke nor canoes. +The Indians had departed while they were searching the ravines and flats +round Mount Ararat, and the lake told no tales, The following day they +ventured to land on Long Island, and on going to the north side saw +evident traces of a temporary encampment having been made. This was all +they could do, further search was unavailing; as they found no trace of +any violence having been committed, they still cherished hopes that +no personal harm had been done to the poor captive, It was Indiana's +opinion that, though a prisoner, she was unhurt, as the Indians rarely +killed women and children, unless roused to do so by some signal act +on the part of their enemies, when an exterminating spirit of revenge +induced them to kill and spare not; but where no offence had been +offered, they were not likely to take the life of an helpless, +unoffending female. + +The Indian is not cruel for the wanton love of blood, but to gratify +revenge for some injury done to himself, or to his tribe; but it was +difficult to still the terrible apprehensions that haunted the minds of +Louis and Hector. They spent much time in searching the northern shores +and the distant islands, in the vain hope of finding her, as they still +thought the camp might have been moved to the opposite side of the lake. + +Inconsolable for the loss of their beloved companion, Hector and Louis +no longer took interest in what was going on; they hardly troubled +themselves to weed the Indian corn, in which they had taken such great +delight; all now seemed to them flat, stale, and unprofitable; they +wandered listlessly to and fro, silent and sad; the sunshine had +departed from their little dwelling; they ate little, and talked less, +each seeming absorbed in his own painful reveries. + +In vain the gentle Indian girl strove to revive their drooping spirits; +they seemed insensible to her attentions, and often left her for hours +alone. They returned one evening about the usual hour of sunset, and +missed their meek, uncomplaining guest from the place she was wont to +occupy. They called, but there was none to reply--she too was gone. They +hurried to the shore just time enough to see the canoe diminishing to a +mere speck upon the waters, in the direction of the mouth of the river; +they called to her in accents of despair, to return, but the wind wafted +back no sound to their ears, and soon the bark was lost to sight, and +they sat them down disconsolately on the shore. + +"What is she doing?" said Hector; "this is cruel to abandon us thus." + +"She has gone up the river, with the hope of bringing us some tidings +of Catharine," said Louis. "How came you to think that such is her +intention?" + +"I heard her say the other day that she would go and bring her back, or +die." + +"What! do you think she would risk the vengeance of the old chief whose +life she attempted to take?" + +"She is a brave girl; she does not fear pain or death to serve those she +loves." + +"Alas!" said Hector, "she will perish miserably and to no avail; they +would not restore our dear sister, even at the sacrifice of Indiana's +life." + +"How can she, unprotected and alone, dare such perils? Why did she not +tell us? we would have shared her danger." + +"She feared for our lives more than for her own; that poor Indian girl +has a noble heart. I care not now what befals us, we have lost all that +made life dear to us," said Louis gloomily, sinking his head between his +knees. + +"Hush, Louis, you are older than I, and ought to bear these trials with +more courage. It was our own fault, Indiana's leaving us, we left her so +much alone to pine after her lost companion; she seemed to think that we +did not care for her. Poor Indiana, she must have felt lonely and sad." +"I tell you what we will do, Hec.--make a log canoe. I found an old +battered one lying on the shore, not far from Pine-tree Point; we have +an axe and a tomahawk,--what should hinder us from making one like it?" + +"True! we will set about it to-morrow." + +"I wish it were morning, that we might set to work to cut down a good +pine for the purpose." + +"As soon as it is done, we will go up the river; anything is better than +this dread suspense and inaction." + +The early dawn saw the two cousins busily engaged chopping at a tree of +suitable dimensions, and they worked hard all that day, and the next, +and the next, before the canoe was hollowed out, and then, owing to +their inexperience and the bluntness of their tools, their first attempt +proved abortive; it was too heavy at one end, and did not balance well +in the water. + +Louis, who had been quite sure of success, was disheartened; not so +Hector. + +"Do not let us give it up; my maxim is perseverance; let us try again, +and again--aye! and a third and a fourth time. I say, never give it up, +that is the way to succeed at last." + +"You have ten times my patience, Hec." "Yes! but you are more ingenious +than I, and are excellent at starting an idea." + +"We are a good pair then for partnership." + +"We will begin anew; and this time I hope we shall profit by our past +blunders." + +"Who would imagine that it is now more than a month since we lost +Catharine!" + +"I know it, a long, long, weary month," replied Louis, and he struck his +axe sharply into the bark of the pine as he spoke, and remained silent +for some minutes. The boys, wearied by chopping down the tree, rested +from their work, and sat down on the side of the condemned canoe to +resume their conversation. Suddenly Louis grasped Hector's arm, and +pointed to a bark canoe that appeared making for the westernmost point +of the island. Hector started to his feet, exclaiming, "It is Indiana +returned!" + +"Nonsense! Indiana!--it is no such thing. Look you, it is a stout man in +a blanket coat." + +"The Indians?" asked Hector inquiringly. + +"I do not think he looks like an Indian; but let us watch. What is he +doing?" + +"Fishing. See now, he has just caught a fine bass--another--he has great +luck-now he is pushing the canoe ashore." + +"That man does not move like an Indian--hark! he is whistling. I ought +to know that tune. It sounds like the old chanson my father used to +sing;" and Louis, raising his voice, began to sing the words of an old +French Canadian song, which we will give in the English as we heard it +sung by an old lumberer. + + "Down by those banks where the pleasant waters flow, + Through the wild woods we'll wander, and we'll chase the buffalo. + And we'll chase the buffalo." + +"Hush, Louis! you will bring the man over to us," said Hector. + +"The very thing I am trying to do mon ami. This is our country, and that +may be his; but we are lords here, and two to one--so I think he will +not be likely to treat us ill. I am a man now, and so are you, and he is +but one, so he must mind how he affronts us," replied Louis laughing. + +"I wish the old fellow was inclined to be sociable. Hark, if he is +not singing now! aye, and the very chorus of the old song,"--and Louis +raised his voice to its highest pitch as he repeated, + + "Through the wild woods well wander, + And well chase the buffalo-- + And we'll chase the buffalo." + +"What a pity I have forgotten the rest of that dear old song. I used to +listen with open ears to it when I was a boy. I never thought to hear it +again, and to hear it here of all places in the world!" + +"Come, let us go on with our work," said Hector, with something like +impatience in his voice; and the strokes of his axe fell once more +in regular succession on the log; but Louis's eye was still on the +mysterious fisher, whom he could discern lounging on the grass and +smoking his pipe. "I do not think he sees or hears us," said Louis to +himself, "but I think I'll manage to bring him over soon"--and he set +himself busily to work to scrape up the loose chips and shavings, and +soon began to strike fire with his knife and flint. + +"What are you about, Louis?" asked Hector. "Lighting a fire." + +"It is warm enough without a fire, I am sure." + +"I know that, but I want to attract the notice of yonder tiresome +fisherman." + +"And perhaps bring a swarm of savages down upon us, who may be lurking +in the bushes of the island." + +"Pooh, pooh! Hec.:--there are no savages. I am weary of this +place--anything is better than this horrible solitude." And Louis fanned +the flame into a rapid blaze, and heaped up the light dry branches till +it soared up among the bushes. Louis watched the effect of his fire, +and rubbed his hands gleefully as the bark canoe was pushed off from the +island, and a few vigorous strokes of the paddle sent it dancing over +the surface of the calm lake. + +Louis waved his cap above his head with a cheer of welcome as the vessel +lightly glided into the little cove, near the spot where the boys were +chopping, and a stout-framed, weather-beaten man, in a blanket coat, +also faded and weather-beaten, with a red worsted sash and worn +mocassins, sprung upon one of the timbers of Louis's old raft, and gazed +with a keen eye upon the lads. Each party silently regarded the other. A +few rapid interrogations from the stranger, uttered in the broad patois +of the Lower Province, were answered in a mixture of broken French and +English by Louis. + +A change like lightning passed over the face of the old man as he cried +out--"Louis Perron, son of my ancient compagnon." + +"Oui! oui!"--with eyes sparkling through tears of joy, Louis threw +himself into the broad breast of Jacob Morelle, his father's friend and +old lumbering comrade. + +"Hector, son of la belle Catharine Perron,--and Hector, in his turn, +received the affectionate embrace of the warm-hearted old man. + +"Who would have thought of meeting with the children of my old comrade +here at the shore of the Rice Lake?--oh! what a joyful meeting!" + +Jacob had a hundred questions to ask: Where were their parents? did they +live on the Plains now? how long was it since they had left the Cold +Springs? were there any more little ones? and so forth. + +The boys looked sorrowfully at each other. At last the old man stopped +for want of breath, and remarked their sad looks. + +"What, mes fils, are your parents dead? Ah well! I did not think to have +outlived them; but they have not led such healthy lives as old Jacob +Morelle--hunting, fishing, lumbering, trapping,--those are the things to +harden a man and make him as tough as a stock-fish--eh! mes enfans, is +it not so?" + +Hector then told the old lumberer how long they had been separated from +their families, and by what sad accident they had been deprived of the +society of their beloved sister. When they brought their narrative down +to the disappearance of Catharine, the whole soul of the old trapper +seemed moved--he started from the log on which they were sitting, and +with one of his national asseverations, declared "That la bonne fille +should not remain an hour longer than he could help among those savage +wretches. Yes, he, her father's old friend, would go up the river and +bring her back in safety, or leave his grey scalp behind him among the +wigwams." + +"It is too late, Jacob, to think of starting today," said Hector. "Come +home with us, and eat some food, and rest a bit." + +"No need of that, my son. I have a lot of fish here in the canoe, +and there is an old shanty on the island yonder, if it be still +standing,--the Trapper's Fort I used to call it some years ago. We will +go off to the island and look for it." + +"No need for that," replied Louis, "for though I can tell you the old +place is still in good repair, for we used it this very spring as a +boiling house for our maple sap, yet we have a better place of our own +nearer at hand--just two or three hundred yards over the brow of yonder +hill. So come with us, and you shall have a good supper, and bed to lie +upon." + +"And you have all these, boys!" said Jacob opening his merry black eyes, +as they came in sight of the little log-house and the field of green +corn. The old man praised the boys for their industry and energy. "Ha! +here is old Wolfe too," as the dog roused himself from the hearth and +gave one of his low grumbling growls. He had grown dull and dreamy, and +instead of going out as usual with the young hunters, he would lie +for hours dozing before the dying embers of the fire. He pined for the +loving hand that used to pat his sides, and caress his shaggy neck, and +pillow his great head upon her lap, or suffer him to put his huge paws +upon her shoulders, while he licked her hands and face; but she was +gone, and the Indian girl was gone, and the light of the shanty had gone +with them. Old Wolfe seemed dying of sorrow. + +That evening as Jacob sat on the three-legged stool, smoking his short +Indian pipe, he again would have the whole story of their wanderings +over, and the history of all their doings and contrivances. + +"And how far, mes enfans, do you think you are from the Cold Springs?" + +"At least twenty miles, perhaps fifty, for it is a long long time now +since we left home, three summers ago." + +"Well, boys, you must not reckon distance by the time you have been +absent," said the old "Now I know the distance through the woods, for I +have passed through them on the Indian trail, and by my reckoning as +the bee flies, it cannot be more than seven or eight miles--no, nor that +either." + +The boys opened their eyes. "Jacob, is this possible? So near, and yet +to us the distance has been as great as though it were a hundred miles +or more." + +"I tell you what, boys, that is the provoking part of it. I remember +when I was out on the St. John's, lumbering, missing my comrades, and I +was well-nigh starving, when I chanced to come back to the spot where we +parted; and I verily believe I had not been two miles distant the whole +eight days that I was moving round and round, and backward and forward, +just in a circle, because, d'ye see, I followed the sun, and that led me +astray the whole time." + +"Was that when you well-nigh roasted the bear?" asked Louis, with a sly +glance at Hector. + +"Well, no; that was another time; your father was out with me then." +And old Jacob, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, settled himself to +recount the adventure of the bear. Hector, who had heard Louis's edition +of the roast bear, was almost impatient at being forced to listen to old +Jacob's long-winded history, which included about a dozen other stories, +all tagged on to this, like links of a lengthened chain; and was not +sorry when the old lumberer, taking his red nightcap out of his pocket, +at last stretched himself out on a buffalo skin that he had brought up +from the canoe, and soon was soundly sleeping. + +The morning was yet grey when the old man shook himself from his +slumber, which, if not deep, had been loud; and after having roused up +a good fire, which, though the latter end of July, at that dewy hour +was not unwelcome, he lighted his pipe, and began broiling a fish on +the coals for his breakfast; and was thus engaged when Hector and Louis +wakened. + +"Mes enfans," said Jacob, "I have been turning over in my mind about +your sister, and have come to the resolution of going up the river +alone without any one to accompany me. I know the Indians; they are a +suspicious people, they deal much in stratagems, and they are apt to +expect treachery in others. Perhaps they have had some reason; for the +white men have not always kept good faith with them, which I take to be +the greater shame, as they have God's laws to guide and teach them to +be true and just in their dealing, which the poor benighted heathen have +not, the more's the pity. Now, d'ye see, if the Indians see two stout +lads with me, they will say to themselves, there may be more left +behind, skulking in ambush. So, boys, I go to the camp alone; and, God +willing, I will bring back your sister, or die in the attempt. I shall +not go single-handed; see, I have here scarlet-cloth, beads, and powder +and shot. I carry no firewater; it is a sin and a shame to tempt these +poor wretches to their own destruction; it makes fiends of them at +once." + +It was to no purpose that Hector and Louis passionately besought old +Jacob to let them share the dangers of the expedition; the old man was +firm, and would not be moved from his purpose. + +"Look you, boys," he said, "if I do not return by the beginning of the +rice harvest, you may suppose that evil has befallen me and the girl; +then I would advise you to take care for your own safety, for if they +do not respect my grey head, neither will they spare your young ones. +In such case, make yourselves a good canoe--a dug-out _[FN: Log +canoe.]_ will do--and go down the lake till you are stopped by the +rapids; _[FN: Crook's Rapids.]_ make a portage there; but as your +craft is too weighty to carry far, e'en leave her and chop out another, +and go down to the Falls; _[FN: Heeley's Falls, on the Trent.]_ +then, if you do not like to be at any further trouble, you may make out +your journey to the Bay _[FN: Bay Quinte.]_ on foot, coasting along +the river; there you will fall in with settlers who know old Jacob +Morelle--aye, and your two fathers--and they will put you in the way of +returning home. If I were to try ever so to put you on the old Indian +trail in the woods, though I know it myself right well, you might be +lost, and maybe never return home again. I leave my traps and my rifle +with you; I shall not need them: if I come back I may claim the things; +if not, they are yours. So now I have said my say, had my _talk_, as the +Indians say. Farewell. But first let us pray to Him who alone can bring +this matter to a safe issue." And the old man devoutly kneeled down, +and prayed for a blessing on his voyage and on those he was leaving; and +then hastened down to the beach, and the boys, with full hearts, watched +the canoe till it was lost to their sight on the wide waters of the +lake. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + "Where wild in woods the lordly savage ran." + DRYDEN. + +What changes a few years make in places! That spot over which the +Indians roved, free of all control, is now a large and wide-spreading +town. Those glorious old trees are fast fading away, the memory only +of them remains to some of the first settlers, who saw them twenty-five +years ago, shadowing the now open market-place; the fine old oaks have +disappeared, but the green emerald turf that they once shaded still +remains. The wild rushing river still pours down its resistless spring +floods, but its banks have been levelled, and a noble bridge now spans +its rapid waters. It has seen the destruction of two log-bridges, +but this new, substantial, imposing structure bids fair to stand from +generation to generation. The Indian regards it with stupid wonder: he +is no mechanic; his simple canoe of birch bark is his only notion of +communication from one shore to another. The towns-people and country +settlers view it with pride and satisfaction, as a means of commerce and +agricultural advantage. That lonely hill, from which Catharine viewed +the rapid-flowing river by moonlight, and marvelled at its beauty and +its power, is now the Court-house Hill, the seat of justice for the +district,--a fine, substantial edifice; its shining roof and pillared +portico may be seen from every approach to the town. That grey village +spire, with its groves of oak and pine, how invitingly it stands! +those trees that embower it, once formed a covert for the deer. Yonder +scattered groups of neat white cottages, each with its garden of flowers +and fruit, are spread over what was once an open plain, thinly planted +with poplar, oaks, and pine. See, there is another church; and nearer, +towards the west end of the town, on that fine slope, stands another, +and another. That sound that falls upon the ear is not the rapids of the +river, but the dash of mill wheels and mill dams, worked by the waters +of that lovely winding brook which has travelled far through woods and +deep forest dingles to yield its tribute to the Otonabee. There is the +busy post-office, on the velvet carpet of turf; a few years, yes, even +a few years ago, that spot was a grove of trees. The neat log building +that stood then alone there, was inhabited by the Government Agent, now +Colonel Macdonald, and groups of Indians might be seen congregated on +the green, or reposing under the trees, forming meet subjects for the +painter's pencil, for he knew them well, and was kind to them. + +The Indian only visits the town, once the favourite site for his hunting +lodge, to receive his annual government presents, to trade his simple +wares of basket and birch-bark work, to bring in his furs, or maybe +to sell his fish or venison, and take back such store goods as his +intercourse with his white brethren has made him consider necessary +to his comforts, to supply wants which have now become indispensable, +before undreamed of. He traverses those populous, busy streets, he looks +round upon dwellings, and gay clothes, and equipages, and luxuries which +he can neither obtain nor imitate; and feels his spirit lowered--he is +no more a people--the tide of intellect has borne him down, and swept +his humble wigwam from the earth. He, too, is changing: he now dwells, +for the most part, in villages, in houses that cannot be moved away at +his will or necessity; he has become a tiller of the ground, his +hunting expeditions are prescribed within narrow bounds, the forest is +disappearing, the white man is everywhere. The Indian must also yield to +circumstances; he submits patiently. Perhaps he murmurs in secret; +but his voice is low, it is not heard; he has no representative in the +senate to take interest in his welfare, to plead in his behalf. He is +anxious, too, for the improvement of his race: he gladly listens to the +words of life, and sees with joy his children being brought up in the +fear and nurture of the Lord; he sees with pride some of his own blood +going forth on the mission of love to other distant tribes; he is proud +of being a Christian; and if there be some that still look back to the +freedom of former years, and talk of "the good old times," when they +wandered free as the winds and waters through those giant woods, they +are fast fading away. A new race is rising up, and the old hunter will +soon become a being unknown in Canada. + +There is an old gnarled oak that stands, or lately stood, on the turfy +bank, just behind the old Government-house (as the settlers called it), +looking down the precipitous cliff on the river and the islands. +The Indians called it "the white girl's rest," for it was there that +Catharine delighted to sit, above the noise and bustle of the camp, to +sing her snatches of old Scottish songs, or pray the captive exile's +prayer, unheard and unseen. + +The setting sun was casting long shadows of oak and weeping elm athwart +the waters of the river; the light dip of the paddle had ceased on +the water, the baying of hounds and life-like stirring sounds from the +lodges came softened to the listening ear. The hunters had come in with +the spoils of a successful chase; the wigwam fires are flickering and +crackling, sending up their light columns of thin blue smoke among the +trees; and now a goodly portion of venison is roasting on the forked +sticks before the fires. Each lodge has its own cooking utensils. That +jar embedded in the hot embers contains sassafras tea, an aromatic +beverage, in which the squaws delight when they are so fortunate as to +procure a supply. This has been brought from the Credit, far up in the +west, by a family who have come down on a special mission from some +great chief to his brethren on the Otonabee, and the squaws have cooked +some in honour of the guests. That pot that sends up such a savoury +steam is venison pottage, or soup, or stew, or any name you choose to +give the Indian mess that is concocted of venison, wild rice, and herbs. +Those tired hounds that lay stretched before the fire have been out, and +now they enjoy the privilege of the fire, some praise from the hunters, +and receive withal an occasional reproof from the squaws, if they +approach their wishful noses too close to the tempting viands. + +The elder boys are shooting at a mark on yonder birch-tree; the girls +are playing or rolling on the grass; "The Snow-bird" is seated on +the floor of the wigwam braiding a necklace of sweet grass, which she +confines in links by means of little bands of coloured quills; Catharine +is working mocassins beside her;--a dark shadow falls across her work +from the open tent door--an exclamation of surprise and displeasure from +one of the women makes Catharine raise her eyes to the doorway; there, +silent, pale, and motionless, the mere shadow of her former self, stands +Indiana--a gleam of joy lights for an instant her large lustrous eyes. +Amazement and delight at the sight of her beloved friend for a moment +deprives Catharine of the power of speech; then terror for the safety of +her friend takes place of her joy at seeing her. She rises regardless of +the angry tones of the Indian woman's voice, and throws her arms about +Indiana as if to shield her from threatened anger, and sobs her welcome +in her arms. + +"Indiana, dear sister! how came you hither, and for what purpose?" + +"To free you, and then die," was the soft low tremulous answer. "Follow +me." Catharine, wondering at the calm and fearless manner with which the +young Mohawk waved back the dusky matron who approached as if with the +design of laying hands upon her unwelcome guest, followed with beating +heart till they stood in the entrance of the lodge of the Bald Eagle; +it was filled with the hunters, who were stretched on skins on the floor +reposing in quiet after the excitement of the chase. + +The young Mohawk bent her head down and crossed her arms, an attitude +of submission, over her breast as she stood in the opening of the +lodge; but she spoke no word till the old chief waving back the men, who +starting to their feet were gathering round him as if to shield him from +danger, and sternly regarding her, demanded from whence she came and for +what purpose. + +"To submit myself to the will of my Ojebwa father," was the meek reply. +"May the daughter of the Bald Eagle's enemy speak to her great father?" + +"Say on," was the brief reply, "the Bald Eagle's ears are open." + +"The Bald Eagle is a mighty chief, the conqueror of his enemies and the +father of his people," replied the Mohawk girl, and again was silent. +"The Mohawk squaw speaks well; let her say on." + +"The heart of the Mohawk is an open flower, it can be looked upon by the +eye of the Great Spirit. She speaks the words of truth. The Ojebwa chief +slew his enemies, they had done his good heart wrong; he punished them +for the wrong they wrought; he left none living in the lodges of +his enemies save one young squaw, the daughter of a brave, the +grand-daughter of the Black Snake. The Bald Eagle loves even an enemy +that is not afraid to raise the war-whoop or fling the tomahawk in +battle. The young girl's mother was a _brave."_ She paused, while her +proud eye was fixed on the face of her aged auditor. He nodded assent, +and she resumed, while a flush of emotion kindled her pale cheek and +reddened her lips,-- + +"The Bald Eagle brought the lonely one to his lodge, he buried the +hatchet and the scalping knife, he bade his squaws comfort her; but her +heart was lonely, she pined for the homes of her fathers. She said, I +will revenge my father, my mother, and my brothers and sisters; and her +heart burned within her: but her hand was not strong to shed blood, +the Great Spirit was about my Ojebwa father; she failed, and would have +fled, for an arrow was in her flesh. The people of the Bald Eagle took +her, they brought her down the great river to the council hill, they +bound her with thongs and left her to die. She prayed, and the Great +Spirit heard her prayer and sent her help. The white man came; his heart +was soft; he unbound her, he gave water to cool her hot lips, he led her +to his lodge. The white squaw (and she pointed to Catharine) was there, +she bound up her wounds, she laid her on her own bed, she gave her meat +and drink, and tended her with love. She taught her to pray to the Good +Spirit, and told her to return good for evil, to be true and just, kind +and merciful. The hard heart of the young girl became soft as clay when +moulded for the pots and she loved her white sister and brothers, and +was happy. The Bald Eagle's people came when my white brothers were at +peace, they found a trembling fawn within the lodge, they led her away, +they left tears and loneliness where joy and peace had been. The Mohawk +squaw could not see the hearth of her white brothers desolate; she took +the canoe, she to the lodge of the great father of his tribe, and she +says to him, 'Give back the white squaw to her home on the Rice Lake, +and take in her instead the rebellious daughter of the Ojebwa's enemy, +to die or be his servant; she fears nothing now the knife or the +tomahawk, the arrow or the spear: her life is in the hand of the great +chief.'" She sank on her knees as she spoke these last words and bowing +down her head on her breast remained motionless as a statue. + +There was silence for some minutes, and then the old man rose and +said:-- + +"Daughter of a brave woman, thou hast spoken long, and thou hast spoken +well; the ears of the Bald Eagle have been open. The white squaw shall +be restored to her brother's lodge--but thou remainest. I have spoken." + +Catharine in tears cast her arms around her disinterested friend and +remained weeping--how could she accept this great sacrifice? She in +her turn pleaded for the life and liberty of the Mohawk, but the chief +turned a cold ear to her passionate and incoherent pleading. He was +weary--he was impatient of further excitement--he coldly motioned to +them to withdraw; and the friends in sadness retired to talk over all +that had taken place since that sad day when Catharine was taken from +her home. While her heart was joyful at the prospect of her own release, +it was clouded with fears for the uncertain fate of her beloved friend. + +"They will condemn me to a cruel death," said Indiana, "but I can suffer +and die for my white sister." + +That night the Indian girl slept sweetly and tranquilly beside +Catharine; but Catharine could not sleep; she communed with her own +heart in the still watches of the night--it seemed as if a new life had +been infused within her. She no longer thought and felt as a child; +the energies of her mind had been awakened, ripened into maturity as +it were, and suddenly expanded. When all the inmates of the lodges were +profoundly sleeping, Catharine arose,--a sudden thought had entered into +her mind, and she hesitated not to put her design into execution. There +was no moon, but a bright arch of light spanned the forest to the north; +it was mild and soft as moonlight, but less bright, and cast no shadow +across her path; it showed her the sacred tent of the widow of the +murdered Mohawk. With noiseless step she lifted aside the curtain of +skins that guarded it, and stood at the entrance. Light as was her step, +it awakened the sleeper; she raised herself on her arm and looked up +with a dreamy and abstracted air as Catharine, stretching forth her hand +in tones low and tremulous, thus addressed her in the Ojebwa tongue:-- + +"The Great Spirit sends me to thee, O woman of much sorrow; he asks of +thee a great deed of mercy and goodness. Thou hast shed blood, and he +is angry. He bids thee to save the life of an enemy--the blood of thy +murdered husband flows in her veins. See that thou disobey not the words +that he commands." + +She dropped the curtain and retired as she had come, with noiseless +step, and lay down again in the tent beside Indiana. Her heart beat +as though it would burst its way through her bosom. What had she +done?--what dared? She had entered the presence of that terrible woman +alone, at the dead hour of night! she had spoken bold and presumptuous +words to that strange being whom even her own people hardly dared to +approach uncalled-for! Sick with terror at the consequences of her +temerity, Catharine cast her trembling arms about the sleeping Indian +girl, and hiding her head in her bosom, wept and prayed till sleep came +over her wearied spirit. It was late when she awoke. She was alone: the +lodge was empty. A vague fear seized her: she hastily arose to seek her +friend. It was evident that some great event was in preparation. The +Indian men had put on the war-paint, and strange and ferocious eyes +were glancing from beneath their shaggy locks. A stake was driven in the +centre of the cleared space in front of the chief's lodge: there, bound, +she beheld her devoted friend; pale as ashes, but with a calm unshaken +countenance, she stood. There was no sign of woman's fear in her fixed +dark eye, which quailed not before the sight of the death-dooming men +who stood round her, armed with their terrible weapons of destruction. +Her thoughts seemed far away: perhaps they were with her dead kindred, +wandering in that happy land to which the Indian hopes to go after life; +or, inspired with the new hope which had been opened to her, she was +looking to Him who has promised a crown of life to such as believe in +His name. She saw not the look of agony with which Catharine regarded +her; and the poor girl, full of grief, sunk down at the foot of a +neighbouring tree, and burying her face between her knees, wept and +prayed--oh! how fervently! A hope crept to her heart--even while the +doom of Indiana seemed darkest--that some good might yet accrue from +her visit to the wigwam of the Great Medicine squaw. She knew that the +Indians have great belief in omens, and warnings, and spirits, both good +and evil; she knew that her mysterious appearance in the tent of the +Mohawk's widow would be construed by her into spiritual agency; and her +heart was strengthened by this hope. Yet just now there seems little +reason to encourage hope: the war-whoop is given, the war-dance is +begun--first slow, and grave, and measured; now louder, and quicker, and +more wild become both sound and movement. But why is it hushed again? +See, a strange canoe appears on the river; anon an old weather-beaten +man, with firm step, appears on the greensward and approaches the area +of the lodge. + +The Bald Eagle greets him with friendly courtesy; the dance and +death-song are hushed; a treaty is begun. It is for the deliverance +of the captives. The chief points to Catharine--she is free: his white +brother may take her--she is his. But the Indian law of justice must +take its course; the condemned, who raised her hand against an Ojebwa +chief, must die. In vain were the tempting stores of scarlet cloth and +beads for the women, with powder and shot, laid before the chief: the +arrows of six warriors were fitted to the string, and again the dance +and song commenced, as if, like the roll of the drum and clangour of +the trumpet, it were necessary to the excitement of strong and powerful +feelings, and the suppression of all tenderer emotions. + +And now a wild and solemn voice was heard, unearthly in its tones, +rising above the yells of those savage men. At that sound every cheek +became pale: it struck upon the ear as some funeral wail. Was it the +death-song of the captive girl bound to that fearful stake? No; for she +stands unmoved, with eyes raised heavenward, and lips apart-- + + "In still, but brave despair." + +Shrouded in a mantle of dark cloth, her long black hair unbound and +streaming over her shoulders, appears the Mohawk widow, the daughter of +the Ojebwa chief. The gathering throng fall back as she approaches, awed +by her sudden appearance among them. She stretches out a hand on which +dark stains are visible--it is the blood of her husband, sacrificed by +her on that day of fearful deeds: it has never been effaced. In the +name of the Great Spirit she claims the captive girl--the last of that +devoted tribe--to be delivered over to her will. Her right to this +remnant of her murdered husband's family is acknowledged. A knife is +placed in her hand, while a deafening yell of triumph bursts from the +excited squaws, as this their great high-priestess, as they deemed her, +advanced to the criminal. But it was not to shed the heart's blood of +the Mohawk girl, but to severe the thongs that bound her to the deadly +stake, for which that glittering blade was drawn, and to bid her depart +in peace whithersoever she would go. + +Then, turning to the Bald Eagle, she thus addressed him: "At the dead +of night, when the path of light spanned the sky, a vision stood before +mine eyes. It came from the Great and Good Spirit, and bade me to set +free the last of a murdered race whose sun had gone down in blood shed +by my hand and by the hands of my people. The vision told me that if I +did this my path should henceforth be peace, and that I should go to the +better land and be at rest if I did this good deed." She then laid +her hands on the head of the young Mohawk, blessed her, and enveloping +herself in the dark mantle, slowly retired back to her solitary tent +once more. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + "Hame, hame, hame, + Hame I soon shall be, + Hame, hame, hame, + In mine own countrie."--_Scotch Ballad._ + +Old Jacob and Catharine, who had been mute spectators of the scene so +full of interest to them, now presented themselves before the Ojebwa +chief, and besought leave to depart. The presents were again laid before +him, and this time were graciously accepted. Catharine in distributing +the beads and cloth took care that the best portion should fall to the +grand-daughter of the chief, the pretty good-humoured Snowbird. The old +man was not insensible to the noble sacrifice which had been made by +the devoted Indiana, and he signified his forgiveness of her fault +by graciously offering to adopt her as his child, and to give her in +marriage to one of his grandsons, an elder brother of the Snowbird; but +the young girl modestly but firmly refused this mark of favour, for her +heart yearned for those whose kindness had saved her from death, and who +had taught her to look beyond the things of this world to a brighter and +a better state of being. She said, "She would go with her white sister, +and pray to God to bless her enemies, as the Great Spirit had taught her +to do." + +It seems a lingering principle of good in human nature, that the +exercise of mercy and virtue opens the heart to the enjoyment of social +happiness. The Indians, no longer worked up by excitement to deeds of +violence, seemed disposed to bury the hatchet of hatred, and the lodge +was now filled with mirth, and the voice of gladness, feasting, and +dancing. A covenant of peace and good-will was entered upon by old Jacob +and the chief, who bade Catharine tell her brothers that from henceforth +they should be free to hunt the deer, fish, or shoot the wild fowl of +the lake, whenever they desired to do so, "he the Bald Eagle had said +so." + +On the morrow, with the first dawn of day, the old trapper was astir; +the canoe was ready, with fresh cedar boughs strewed at the bottom. A +supply of parched rice and dried fish had been presented by the Indian +chief for the voyage, that his white brother and the young girls might +not suffer, from want. At sun-rise the old man led his young charges to +the lodge of the Bald Eagle, who took a kindly farewell of them. "The +Snow-bird" was sorrowful, and her bright laughing eyes were dimmed with +tears at parting with Catharine; she was a gentle loving thing, as soft +and playful as the tame fawn that nestled its velvet head against her +arm. She did not let Catharine depart without many tokens of her regard, +the work of her own hands,--bracelets of porcupine quills cut in fine +pieces and strung in fanciful patterns, _[FN: Appendix M]_ mocassins +richly wrought, and tiny bark dishes and boxes, such as might have +graced a lady's work-table, so rare was their workmanship. + +Just as they were about to step into the canoe "the Snow-bird" +reappeared, bearing a richly worked bark box, "From the Great Medicine," +she said in a low voice, "To the daughter of the Mohawk _brave._" The +box contained a fine tunic, soft as a lady's glove, embroidered and +fringed, and a fillet of scarlet and blue feathers, with the wings +and breast of the war-bird, as shoulder ornaments. It was a token of +reconciliation and good-will worthy of a generous heart. + +The young girl pressed the gifts to her bosom and to her lips +reverentially, and the hand that brought them to her heart, as she said +in her native tongue, "Tell the Great Medicine I kiss her in my heart, +and pray that she may have peace and joy till she departs for the +spirit-land." + +With joyful heart they bade adieu to the Indian lodges, and rejoiced in +being once more afloat on the bosom of the great river. To Catharine the +events of the past hours seemed like a strange bewildering dream; she +longed for the quiet repose of home; and how gladly did she listen to +that kind old man's plans for restoring her brothers and herself to the +arms of their beloved parents. How often did she say to herself, Oh that +I had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away and be at rest!--in +the shelter of that dear mother's arms whom she now pined for with a +painful yearning of the heart that might well be called home sickness. +But in spite of anxious wishes, the little party were compelled to halt +for the night some few miles above the lake. There is on the eastern +bank of the Otonabee, a pretty rounded knoll, clothed with wild +cherries, hawthorns and pine-trees, just where a creek half hidden by +alder and cranberry bushes, works its way below the shoulder of the +little eminence; this creek grows broader and becomes a little stream, +through which the hunters sometimes paddle their canoes, as a short cut +to the lower part of the lake near Crook's Rapids. To this creek old +Jacob steered his light craft, and bidding the girls collect a few dry +sticks and branches for an evening fire on the sheltered side of the +little bank, he soon lighted the pile into a cheerful blaze by the aid +of birch bark, the hunter's tinder--a sort of fungus that is found in +the rotten oak and maple-trees--and a knife and flint; he then lifted +the canoe, and having raised it on its side, by means of two small +stakes which he cut from a bush hard by, then spread down his buffalo +robe on the dry grass. "There is a tent fit for a queen to sleep under, +mes cheres filles," he said, eyeing his arrangements for their night +shelter with great satisfaction. + +He then proceeded to bait his line, and in a few minutes had a dish of +splendid bass ready for the coals. Catharine selected a large flat block +of limestone on which the fish when broiled was laid; but old Jacob +opened his wide mouth and laughed, when she proceeded to lay her bush +table with large basswood leaves for platters. Such nicety he professed +was unusual on a hunter's table. He was too old a forester to care how +his food was dished, so that he had wherewithal to satisfy his hunger. + +Many were the merry tales he told and the songs he sung, to wile away +the time, till the daylight faded from the sky, and the deep blue +heavens were studded with bright stars, which were mirrored in countless +hosts deep deep down in that calm waveless river, while thousands of +fireflies lighted up the dark recesses of the forest's gloom. High +in the upper air the hollow booming of the night-hawk was heard at +intervals, and the wild cry of the night-owl from a dead branch, +shouting to its fellow, woke the silence of that lonely river scene. + +The old trapper stretched before the crackling fire, smoked his pipe +or hummed some French voyageur's song. Beneath the shelter of the canoe +soundly slept the two girls; the dark cheek of the Indian girl pillowed +on the arm of her fairer companion, her thick tresses of raven hair +mingling with the silken ringlets of the white maiden. They were a +lovely pair--one fair as morning, the other dark as night. + +How lightly did they spring from their low bed, wakened by the early +song of the forest birds! The light curling mist hung in fleecy volumes +upon the river, like a flock of sheep at rest--the tinkling sound of +the heavy dew-drops fell in mimic showers upon the stream. See that red +squirrel, how lightly he runs along that fallen trunk--how furtively he +glances with his sharp bright eye at the intruders on his sylvan haunts! +Hark! there is a rustling among the leaves--what strange creature works +its way to the shore? A mud turtle--it turns, and now is trotting along +the little sandy ridge to some sunny spot, where, half buried, it may +lie unseen near the edge of the river. See that musk-rat, how boldly he +plunges into the stream, and, with his oarlike tail, stems the current +till he gains in safety the sedges on the other side. + +What gurgling sound is that?--it attracts the practised ear of the old +hunter. What is that object which floats so steadily down the middle +of the stream, and leaves so bright a line in its wake?--it is a noble +stag. Look at the broad chest, with which he breasts the water so +gallantly; see how proudly he carries his antlered head; he has no fear +in those lonely solitudes--he has never heard the crack of the hunter's +rifle--he heeds not the sharp twang of that bowstring, till the arrow +rankles in his neck, and the crimson flood dyes the water around him--he +turns, but it is only to present a surer mark for the arrow of the old +hunter's bow; and now the noble beast turns to bay, and the canoe is +rapidly launched by the hand of the Indian girl--her eye flashes with +the excitement--her whole soul is in the chase--she stands up in the +canoe, and steers it full upon the wounded buck, while a shower of blows +are dealt upon his head and neck with the paddle. Catharine buries her +face in her hands--she cannot bear to look upon the sufferings of the +noble animal. She will never make a huntress--her heart is cast in too +soft a mould. See they have towed the deer ashore, and Jacob is in +all his glory,--the little squaw is an Indian at heart--see with +what expertness she helps the old man; and now the great business +is completed, and the venison is stowed away at the bottom of the +canoe--they wash their hands in the river and come at Catharine's +summons to eat her breakfast. + +The sun is now rising high above the pine-trees, the morning mist is +also rising and rolling off like a golden veil as it catches those +glorious rays--the whole earth seems wakening into new life--the dew +has brightened every leaf and washed each tiny flower-cup--the pines and +balsams give out their resinous fragrance--the aspens flutter and dance +in the morning breeze and return a mimic shower of dew-drops to the +stream--the shores become lower and flatter--the trees less lofty and +more mossy--the stream expands and wide beds of rushes spread out on +either side--what beds of snowy water-lilies--how splendid the rose +tint of those perseicarias that glow so brightly in the morning sun--the +rushes look like a green meadow, but the treacherous water lies deep +below their grassy leaves--the deer delights in these verdant aquatic +fields, and see what flocks of red-wings rise from among them as the +canoe passes near--their bright shoulder-knots glance like flashes of +lightning in the sun-beams. + +This low swampy island, filled with driftwood, these grey hoary trees, +half choked and killed with grey moss and lichens--those straggling +alders and black ash look melancholy--they are like premature old age, +grey-headed youths. That island divides the channel of the river--the +old man takes the nearest, the left hand, and now they are upon the +broad Rice Lake, and Catharine wearies her eye to catch the smoke of the +shanty rising among the trees--one after another the islands steal out +into view--the capes, and bays, and shores of the northern side are +growing less distinct, Yon hollow bay, where the beaver has hidden till +now, backed by that bold sweep of hills that look in the distance as if +only covered with green ferns, with here and there a tall tree, stately +as a pine or oak--that is the spot where Louis saw the landing of the +Indians--now a rising village--Gores' Landing. On yon lofty hill now +stands the village church, its white tower rising amongst the trees +forms a charming object from the lake, and there a little higher up, not +far from the plank road, now stand pretty rural cottages--one of these +belong to the spirited proprietor of the village that bears his name. +That tasteful garden before the white cottage, to the right, is Colonel +Brown's, and there are pretty farms and cultivated spots; but silence +and loneliness reigned there at the time of which I write. + +Where those few dark pines rise above the oak groves like the spires of +churches in a crowded city, is Mount Ararat. _[FN: Appendix N.]_ The +Indian girl steers straight between the islands for that ark of refuge, +and Catharine's eyes are dimmed with grateful tears as she pictures to +herself the joyful greeting in store for her. In the overflowings of her +gladness she seizes the old man's rugged hand and kisses it, and flings +her arms about the Indian girl and presses her to her heart, when the +canoe has touched the old well-remembered landing place, and she finds +herself so near, so very near her lost home. How precious are such +moments--how few we have in life--they are created from our very +sorrows--without our cares our joys would be less lively; but we have +no time to moralize--Catharine flies with the speed of a young fawn, to +climb the steep cliff-like shoulder of that steep bank, and now, out of +breath, stands at the threshold of her log-house--how neat and nice +it looks compared with the Indians' tents--the little field of corn is +green and flourishing--there is Hector's axe in a newly-cut log--it is +high noon--the boys ought to have been there taking their mid-day +meal, but the door is shut. Catharine lifts the wooden latch, and steps +in--the embers are nearly burned out, to a handful of grey ashes--old +Wolfe is not there--all is silent--and Catharine sits down to still the +beating of her heart and await the coming up of her slower companions, +and gladdens her mind with the hope that her brother and Louis will soon +be home--her eye wanders over every old familiar object--all things +seem much as she had left them, only the maize is in the ear and the top +feather waves gracefully with the summer breeze--it promises an abundant +crop; but that harvest is not to be gathered by the hands of the young +planters--it was left to the birds of the air and the beasts of the +field--to those humble reapers who sow not, neither do they gather +into barns, for their Heavenly Father feedeth them. While the two girls +busied themselves in preparing a fine roast of venison old Jacob stalked +away over the hills to search for the boys, and it was not long before +he returned with Hector and Louis. + +I must not tell tales, or I might say what tears of joy were mingled +with the rapturous greetings with which Louis embraced his beloved +cousin; or I might tell that the bright flush that warmed the dusky +cheek of the young Indian, and the light that danced in her soft black +eyes, owed its origin to the kiss that was pressed on her red lips by +her white brother. Nor will we say whose hand held hers so long in his +while Catharine related the noble sacrifice made for her sake, and the +perils encountered by the devoted Indiana--whose eyes were moistened +with tears as the horrors of that fearful trial were described--or who +stole out alone over the hills, and sat him down in the hush and silence +of the summer night to think of the acts of heroism displayed by that +untaught Indian girl, and to dream a dream of youthful love; but with +these things, my young readers, we have nothing to do. + +"And now, my children," said old Jacob, looking round the little +dwelling, "have you made up your minds to live and die here on the +shores of this lake, or do you desire again to behold your father's +home? Do your young hearts yearn after the hearth of your childhood?" +"After our fathers' home!" was Louis's emphatic reply. "After the home +of our childhood!" was Catharine's earnest answer. Hector's lips echoed +his sister's words, while a furtive troubled glance fell upon the orphan +stranger; but her timid eye was raised to his young face with a trusting +look, as she would have said. "Thy home shall be my home, thy God my +God." + +"Well, mon ami, I believe, if my old memory fails me not, I can strike +the Indian trail that used to lead to the Cold Springs over the pine +hills. It will not be difficult for an old trapper to find his way." + +"For my part, I shall not leave this lovely spot without regret," said +Hector. "It would be a glorious place for a settlement--all that one +could desire--hill, and valley, and plain, wood and water. Well, I +will try and persuade my father to leave the Cold Springs, and come +and settle hereabouts. It would be delightful, would it not, Catharine, +especially now we are friends with the Indians." + +With their heads full of pleasant schemes for the future, our young +folks laid them down that night to rest. In the morning they rose, +packed up such portable articles as they could manage to carry, and with +full hearts sat down to take their last meal in their home--in that home +which sheltered them so long--and then, with one accord, they knelt down +upon its hearth, so soon to be left in loneliness, and breathed a prayer +to Him who had preserved them thus far in their eventful lives, and +then they journeyed forth once more into the wilderness. There was one, +however, of their little band they left behind: this was the faithful +old dog Wolfe. He had pined during the absence of his mistress, and only +a few days before Catharine's return he had crept to the seat she was +wont to occupy, and there died. Louis and Hector buried him, not without +great regret, beneath the group of birch-trees on the brow of the slope +near the corn-field. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + "I will arise, and go to my father."--_New Testament_. + +It is the hour of sunset; the sonorous sound of the cattle bells is +heard, as they slowly emerge from the steep hill path that leads +to Maxwell and Louis Perron's little clearing; the dark shadows are +lengthening that those wood-crowned hills cast over that sunny spot, an +oasis in the vast forest desert that man, adventurous, courageous man, +has hewed for himself in the wilderness. The little flock are feeding +among the blackened stumps of the uncleared chopping; those timbers have +lain thus untouched for two long years; the hand was wanting that should +have given help in logging and burning them up. The wheat is ripe for +the sickle, and the silken beard of the corn is waving like a fair +girl's tresses in the evening breeze. The tinkling fall of the cold +spring in yonder bank falls soothingly on the ear. Who comes from +that low-roofed log cabin to bring in the pitcher of water, that pale, +careworn, shadowy figure that slowly moves along the green pasture, as +one without hope or joy; her black hair is shared with silver, her cheek +is pale as wax, and her hand is so thin, it looks as though the +light might be seen through if she held it towards the sun? It is the +heart-broken mother of Catharine and Hector Maxwell. Her heart has been +pierced with many sorrows; she cannot yet forget the children of her +love, her first-born girl and boy. Who comes to meet her, and with +cheerful voice chides her for the tear that seems ever to be lingering +on that pale cheek,--yet the premature furrows on that broad, sunburnt, +manly brow speak, too, of inward care? It is the father of Hector and +Catharine. Those two fine, healthy boys, in homespun blouses, that are +talking so earnestly, as they lean across the rail fence of the little +wheat field, are Kenneth and Donald; their sickles are on their arms; +they have been reaping. They hear the sudden barking of Bruce and +Wallace, the hounds, and turn to see what causes the agitation they +display. + +An old man draws near; he has a knapsack on his shoulders, which he +casts down on the corner of the stoup; he is singing a line of an old +French ditty; he raps at the open door. The Highlander bids him welcome, +but starts with glad surprise as his hand is grasped by the old trapper. +"Ha, Jacob Morelle, it is many a weary year since your step turned this +way." The tear stood in the eye of the soldier as he spoke. + +"How is ma chere mere, and the young ones?" asked the old man, in a +husky voice--his kind heart was full. "Can you receive me, and those I +have with me, for the night? A spare corner, a shake-down, will do; we +travellers in the bush are no wise nice." + +"The best we have, and kindly welcome; it is gude for saer een to see +you, Jacob. How many are ye in all?" + +"There are just four, beside myself,--young people; I found them where +they had been long living, on a lonely lake, and I persuaded them to +come with me." + +The strong features of the Highlander worked convulsively, as he drew +his faded blue bonnet over his eyes. "Jacob, did ye ken that we lost +our eldest bairns, some three summers since?" he faltered, in a broken +voice. + +"The Lord, in his mercy, has restored them to you, Donald, by my hand," +said the trapper. + +"Let me see, let me see my children. To him be the praise and the +glory," ejaculated the pious father, raising his bonnet reverently from +his head; "and holy and blessed be his name for ever. I thought not +to have seen this day. Oh! Catharine, my dear wife, this joy will kill +you." + +In a moment his children were enfolded in his arms. It is a mistaken +idea that joy kills, it is a life restorer. Could you, my young readers, +have seen how quickly the bloom of health began to reappear on the faded +cheek of that pale mother, and how soon that dim eye regained its bright +sparkle, you would have said that joy does not kill. + +"But where is Louis, dear Louis, our nephew, where is he?" + +Louis whose impetuosity was not to be restrained by the caution of old +Jacob, had cleared the log fence at a bound, had hastily embraced his +cousins Kenneth and Donald, and in five minutes more had rushed into his +father's cottage, and wept his joy in the arms of father, mother, and +sisters by turns, before old Jacob had introduced the impatient Hector +and Catharine to their father. + +"But while joy is in our little dwelling, who is this that sits apart +upon that stone by the log fence, her face bent sadly down upon het +knees, her long raven hair shading her features as with a veil," +asked the Highlander Maxwell, pointing as he spoke' to the spot where, +unnoticed and unsharing in the joyful recognition, sat the poor Indian +girl. There was no paternal embrace for her, no tender mother's kiss +imprinted on that dusky cheek and pensive brow--she was alone and +desolate, in the midst of that scene of gladness. + +"It is my Indian sister," said Catharine, "she also must be your child;" +and Hector hurried to Indiana and half leading, half carrying the +reluctant girl, brought her to his parents and bade them be kind to and +cherish the young stranger, to whom they all owed so much. + +I will not dwell upon the universal joy that filled that humble +dwelling, or tell the delight of Kenneth and Donald at the return of +their lost brother and sister, for my story hurries to a close. + +Time passes on--years, long years have gone by since the return of +the lost children to their homes, and many changes have those years +effected. The log-houses have fallen to decay--a growth of young pines, +a waste of emerald turf with the charred logs that once formed part +of the enclosure, now, hardly serve to mark out the old settlement--no +trace or record remains of the first breakers of the bush, another +race occupy the ground. The traveller as he passes along on that smooth +turnpike road that leads from Coburg to Cold Springs, and from thence +to Gore's Landing, may notice a green waste by the road-side on either +hand, and fancy that thereabouts our Canadian Crusoes' home once +stood--he sees the lofty wood-crowned hill, and sees in spring-time, +for in summer it is hidden by the luxuriant foliage, the little forest +creek, and he may if thirsty, taste of the pure fresh icy water, as it +still wells out from a spring in the steep bank, rippling through the +little cedar-trough that Louis Perron placed there for the better speed +of his mother when filling her water jug. All else is gone. And what +wrought the change?--a few words will suffice to tell. Some travelling +fur merchants brought the news to Donald Maxwell, that a party of +Highlanders had made a settlement above Montreal, and among them were +some of his kindred. The old soldier resolved to join them, and it was +not hard to prevail upon his brother-in-law to accompany him, for they +were all now weary of living so far from their fellow-men; and bidding +farewell to the little log-houses at Cold Springs, they now journeyed +downwards to the new settlement, where they were gladly received, their +long experience of the country making their company a most valuable +acquisition to the new colonists. + +Not long after the Maxwells took possession of a grant of land, and +cleared and built for themselves and their family. That year Hector, +now a fine industrious young man, presented at the baptismal font as a +candidate for baptism, the Indian girl, and then received at the +altar his newly baptized bride. As to Catharine and Louis, I am not +sufficiently skilled in the laws of their church to tell how the +difficulty of nearness of kin was obviated, but they were married on the +same day as Hector and Indiana, and lived a happy and prosperous life; +and often by their fireside would delight their children by recounting +the history of their wanderings on the Rice Lake Plains. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +APPENDIX A.--_Preface._ + +Page vii. + +Sarah Campbell, of Windsor, who was lost in the woods on the 11th of +August, 1848, returned to her home on the 31st, having been absent +twenty-one days. A friend has sent us a circumstantial account of her +wanderings, of the efforts made in her behalf, and her return home, from +which we condense the following statements:-- + +It appears that on the 11th of August, in company with two friends, +she went fishing on the north branch of Windsor-brook; and that on +attempting to return she became separated from her companions, who +returned to her mother's, the Widow Campbell, expecting to find her +at home. Several of her neighbours searched for her during the night, +without success. The search was continued during Sunday, Monday, and +Tuesday, by some fifty or sixty individuals, and although her tracks, +and those of a dog which accompanied her, were discovered, no tidings of +the girl were obtained. A general sympathy for the afflicted widow and +her lost daughter was excited, and notwithstanding the busy season of +the year, great numbers from Windsor and the neighbouring townships of +Brompton, Shipton, Melbourne, Durham, Oxford, Sherbrooke, Lennoxville, +Stoke, and Dudswell, turned out with provisions and implements for +camping in the woods, in search of the girl, which was kept up without +intermission for about fourteen days, when it was generally given up, +under the impression that she must have died, either from starvation, or +the inclemency of the weather, it having rained almost incessantly for +nearly a week of the time. On the 3lst her brother returned home from +Massachusetts, and with two or three others renewed the search, but +returned the second day, and learned to their great joy that the lost +one had found her way home the evening previous. + +On hearing of her return, our correspondent made a visit to Widow +Campbell, to hear from her daughter the story of her wanderings. She was +found, as might be supposed, in a very weak and exhausted condition, but +quite rational, as it seems she had been during the whole period of her +absence. From her story the following particulars were gathered:-- + +When first lost she went directly from home down "Open Brooke," to a +meadow, about a mile distant from where she had left her companions, +which she mistook for what is called the "_Oxias_ opening," a mile +distant in the opposite direction. On Sabbath morning, knowing that she +was lost, and having heard that lost persons might be guided by the +sun, she undertook to follow the sun during the day. In the morning she +directed her steps towards the East, crossed the north Branch, mistaking +it for "Open Brooke," and travelled, frequently running, in a south-east +direction (her way home was due north) seven or eight miles till she +came to the great Hay-meadow in Windsor. There she spent Sabbath night, +and on Monday morning directed her course to, and thence down, the South +Branch in the great Meadow. + +After this, she appears to have spent her time, except while she was +searching for food for herself and dog, in walking and running over +the meadow, and up and down the south branch, in search of her home, +occasionally wandering upon the highlands, and far down towards the +junction of the two main streams, never being more than seven or eight +miles from home. + +For several days, by attempting to follow the sun, she travelled in a +circle, finding herself at night near the place where she left in the +morning. Although she often came across the tracks of large parties +of men, and their recently-erected camps, and knew that multitudes of +people were in search of her, she saw no living person, and heard no +sound of trumpet, or other noise, except the report of a gun, as she lay +by a brook, early on Thursday morning, the sixth day of her being lost. +Thinking the gun to have been fired not more than half a mile distant, +she said she "screamed and run" to the place from whence she supposed +the noise came, but found nothing. Early in the day, however, she came +to the camp where this gun was fired, but not until after its occupants +had left to renew their search for her. This camp was about four miles +from the great meadow, where she spent the Sabbath previous. There she +found a fire, dried her clothes, and found a partridge's gizzard, which +she cooked and ate, and laid down and slept, remaining about twenty-four +hours. + +In her travels she came across several other camps, some of which she +visited several times, particularly one where she found names cut upon +trees, and another in which was a piece of white paper. Except three or +four nights spent in these camps, she slept upon the ground, sometimes +making a bed of moss, and endeavouring to shelter herself from the +drenching rains with spruce boughs. For the two first weeks she suffered +much from the cold, shivering all night, and sleeping but little. The +last week she said she had got "toughened," and did not shiver. When +first lost she had a large trout, which was the only food she ate, +except choke-berries, the first week, and part of this she gave to her +dog, which remained with her for a week, day and night. The cherries, +which she ate greedily, swallowing the stones, she found injured her +health; and for the last two weeks she lived upon cranberries and wood +sorrel. While the dog remained with her, she constantly shared her food +with him, but said she was glad when he left her, as it was much trouble +to find him food. + +On Thursday of last week she followed the south towards the junction +with the north branch, where it appeared she had been before, but could +not ford the stream; and in the afternoon of Friday crossed the north, a +little above its junction with the south branch, and following down +the stream, she found herself in the clearing, near Moor's Mill. Thence +directing her steps towards home, she reached Mr. McDale's, about a +mile from her mother's, at six o'clock, having walked five miles in two +hours, and probably ten miles during the day. Here she remained till the +next day, when she was carried home, and was received by friends almost +as one raised from the dead. Her feet and ankles were very much swollen +and lacerated; but strange to say, her calico gown was kept whole, with +the exception of two small rents. + +Respecting her feelings during her fast in the wilderness, she says she +was never frightened, though sometimes, when the sun disappeared, she +felt disheartened, expecting to perish; but when she found, by not +discovering any new tracks, that the people had given over searching +for her, she was greatly discouraged. On the morning of Friday, she +was strongly inclined to give up, and lie down and die; but the hope of +seeing her mother stimulated her to make one more effort to reach home, +which proved successful. When visited, she was in a state of feverish +excitement and general derangement of the system, and greatly emaciated, +with a feeble voice, but perfectly sane and collected. + +It is somewhat remarkable that a young girl (aged seventeen), thinly +clad, could have survived twenty-one days, exposed as she was to such +severe storms, with no other food but wild berries. It is also very +strange that she should have been so frequently on the tracks of those +in search of her, sleeping in the camps, and endeavouring to follow +their tracks home, and not have heard any of their numerous trumpets, or +been seen by any of the hundreds of persons who were in search for her. + +A more dismal result than the deprivations endured by Sarah Campbell, +is the frightful existence of a human creature, called in the American +papers, the "Wild Man of the far West." From time to time, these details +approach the terrific, of wild men who have grown up from childhood in +a state of destitution in the interminable forests, especially of this +one, who, for nearly a quarter of a century, has occasionally been seen, +and then either forgotten, or supposed to be the mere creation of +the beholder's brain. But it appears that he was, in March, 1850, +encountered by Mr. Hamilton, of Greene County, Arkansas, when hunting. +The wild man was, likewise, chasing his prey. A herd of cattle fled past +Mr. Hamilton and his party, in an agony of terror, pursued by a giant, +bearing a dreadful semblance to humanity. His face and shoulders were +enveloped with long streaming hair, his body was entirely hirsute, his +progression was by great jumps of twelve or thirteen feet at a leap. The +creature turned and gazed earnestly on the hunters, and fled into the +depths of the forest, where he was lost to view. His foot-prints were +thirteen inches long. Mr. Hamilton published the description of the +savage man in the _Memphis Inquirer_. Afterwards several planters +deposed to having, at times, for many years, seen this appearance. All +persons generally agreed that it was a child that had been lost in the +woods, at the earthquake in 1811, now grown to meridian strength, in a +solitary state. Thus the possibility of an European child living, even +unassisted, in the wilderness, is familiar to the inhabitants of the +vast American continent. Although we doubt that any human creature would +progress by leaps, instead of the paces familiar to the human instinct. +It is probable that the wild man of the Arkansas is, in reality, some +species of the oran-outang, or chimpanzee. + + +APPENDIX B. + +Page 72.--_"where Wolf Tower now stands."_ + +The Wolf Tower is among the very few structures in Canada not devoted to +purposes of strict utility. It was built by a gentleman of property as a +_belle vue,_ or fanciful prospect residence, in order to divert his mind +from the heavy pressure of family affliction. It was once lent by him to +the author, who dwelt here some time during the preparation of another +house in the district. + + +APPENDIX C. + +Page 113.--_"... as civilization advances."_ + +Formerly the Rice Lake Plains abounded in deer, wolves, bears, raccoons, +wolverines, foxes, and wild animals of many kinds. Even a few years ago, +and bears and wolves were not unfrequent in their depredations; and the +ravines sheltered herds of deer; but now the sight of the former is +a thing of rare occurrence, and the deer are scarcely to be seen, +so changed is this lovely wilderness, that green pastures and yellow +cornfields now meet the eye on every side, and the wild beasts retire to +the less frequented depths of the forest. + +From the undulating surface, the alternations of high hills, deep +valleys, and level table-lands, with the wide prospect they command, the +Rice Lake Plains still retain their picturesque beauty, which cannot be +marred by the hand of the settler even be he ever so devoid of taste; +and many of those who have chosen it as their home are persons of taste +and refinement, who delight in adding to the beauty of that which Nature +had left so fair. + +APPENDIX D. Page 157, _note_. + +"I will now," says our Indian historian, "narrate a single circumstance +which will convey a correct idea of the sufferings to which Indians were +often exposed. To obtain furs of different kinds for the traders, we had +to travel far into the woods, and remain there the whole winter. Once we +left Rice Lake in the fall, and ascended the river in canoes as far as +Belmont Lake. There were five families about to hunt with my father +on his ground. The winter began to set in, and the river having frozen +over, we left the canoes, the dried venison, the beaver, and some flour +and pork; and when we had gone further north, say about sixty miles from +the white settlements, for the purpose of hunting, the snow fell for +five days in succession, to such a depth, that it was impossible to +shoot or trap anything; our provisions were exhausted, and we had no +means of procuring any more. Here we were, the snow about five feet +deep, our wigwam buried, the branches of the trees falling all about us, +and cracking with the weight of the snow. + +"Our mother (who seems, by-the-bye, from the record of her son, to have +been a most excellent woman) boiled birch-bark for my sister and myself, +that we might not starve. On the seventh day some of us were so weak +they could not guard themselves, and others could not stand alone. They +could only crawl in and out of the wigwam. We parched beaver skins and +old mocassins for food. On the ninth day none of the men could go abroad +except my father and uncle. On the tenth day, still being without +food, the only ones able to walk about the wigwam were my father, my +grandmother, my sister, and myself. Oh, how distressing to see +the starving Indians lying about the wigwam with hungry and eager +looks!--the children would cry for something to eat! My poor mother +would heave bitter sighs, of despair, the tears falling profusely +from her cheeks as she kissed us! Wood, though in plenty, could not be +obtained on account of the feebleness of our limbs. My father would +at times draw near the fire and rehearse some prayer to the gods. It +appeared to him that there was no way of escape; the men, women, and +children, dying; some of them were speechless, the wigwam was cold and +dark, and covered with snow! + +"On the eleventh day, just before daylight, my father fell into a sleep; +he soon awoke, and said to me: 'My son, the good Spirit is about to +bless us this night; in my dream I saw a person coming from the east +walking on the tops of the trees; he told me we should obtain two +beavers about nine o'clock. Put on your mocassins, and go along with me +to the river, and we will hunt beaver, perhaps, for the last time.' I +saw that his countenance beamed with delight and hope; he was full of +confidence. I put on my mocassins and carried my snow-shoes, staggering +along behind him about half a mile. Having made a fire near the river, +where there was an air-hole through which the beaver had come up during +the night, my father tied a gun to a stump with the muzzle towards the +air-hole; he also tied a string to the trigger, and said, 'Should you +see the beaver rise pull the string, and you will kill it.' I stood by +the fire, with the string in my hand; I soon heard the noise occasioned +by the blow of his tomahawk; he had killed a beaver and brought it to +me. As he laid it down, he said, 'Then the great Spirit will not let +us die here;' adding, as before, 'if you see the beaver rise, pull +the string;' and he left me. I soon saw the nose of one, but I did not +shoot. Presently, another came up; I pulled the trigger, and off the +gun went. I could not see for some moments for the smoke. My father +ran towards me with the two beavers, and laid them side by side; then, +pointing to the sun,--'Do you see the sun?' he said; 'the great Spirit +informed me that we should kill these two about this time in the +morning. We will yet see our relatives at Rice Lake. Now let us go home, +and see if our people are yet alive.' We arrived just in time to save +them from death. Since which we have visited the same spot the year the +missionaries came among us. + +"My father knelt down, with feelings of gratitude, on the very spot +where we had nearly perished. Glory to God! I have heard of many who +have perished in this way far up in the woods."--_Life of George Copway, +written by himself_, p. 44. + +APPENDIX E. + +Page 184.--"_... on first deciding that it was a canoe._" + +The Indians say, that before their fathers had tools of iron and steel +in common use, a war canoe was the labour of three generations. It was +hollowed out by means of fire, cautiously applied, or by stone hatchets; +but so slowly did the work proceed, that years were passed in its +excavation. When completed, it was regarded as a great achievement, +and its launching on the waters of the lake or river was celebrated by +feasting and dancing. The artizans were venerated as great patriots. +Possibly the birch-bark canoe was of older date, as being more easily +constructed, and needing not the assistance of the axe in forming it; +but it was too frail to be used in war, or in long voyages, being liable +to injuries. + +The black stone wedges, so often found on the borders of our inland +waters, were used by the Indians in skinning the deer and bear. Their +arrow-heads were of white or black flint, rudely chipped into shape, and +inserted in a cleft stick. A larger sort were used for killing deer; +and blunt wooden ones were used by the children, for shooting birds and +small game. + +APPENDIX F. + +Page 195.--_"... the Christian mind revolts with horror."_ + +There is, according to the native author, George Copway, a strong +feeling in the Indians for conversion and civilization, and a +concentration of all the Christianised tribes, now scattered far and +wide along the northern banks of the lakes and rivers, into one nation, +to be called by one name, and united in one purpose--their general +improvement. To this end, one of the most influential of their chiefs, +John Jones, of Dover Sound, offered to give up to his Indian brethren, +free of all cost, a large tract of unceded land, that they might be +gathered together as one nation. + +In the council held at Sangeeny, where were convened Indian chiefs from +lakes St. Clare, Samcoe, Huron, Ontario, and Rice, and other lakes, it +was proposed to devise a plan by which the tract owned by the Sangeenys +could be held for the benefit of the Ojebwas, to petition Government for +aid in establishing a manual-labour school, and to ascertain the general +feeling of the chiefs in relation to forming one large settlement at +Owen's Sound. At this meeting forty-eight chiefs were assembled. + +There is much to admire in the simple, earnest, and courteous style of +the oration delivered by Chief John Jones, and will give to my readers +some idea of the intelligence of an educated Indian:-- + +"Brothers, you have been called from all your parts of Canada, even from +the north of Georgian Bay. You are from your homes, your wives, and your +children. We might regret this, were it not for the circumstances that +require you here. + +"Fellow-chiefs and brothers, I have pondered with deep solicitude our +present condition and the future welfare of our children, as well as of +ourselves. I have studied deeply and anxiously, in order to arrive at +a true knowledge of the proper course to be pursued to secure to us and +our descendants, and even to those around us, the greatest amount of +peace, health, happiness, and usefulness. The interests of the Ojebwas +and Ottawas are near and dear to my heart; for them I have often +passed sleepless nights, and have suffered from an agitated mind. These +nations, I am proud to say, are my brothers, many of them bone of my +bone; and for them, if needs be, I would willingly sacrifice anything. +Brothers, you see my heart." _[Here he held out a piece of white paper, +emblematical of a pure heart.]_ + +"Fellow-chiefs and warriors, I have looked over your wigwams throughout +Canada, and have come to the conclusion that you are in a warm place +_[query, too hot to hold you]_. The whites are kindling fires all round +you _[i.e. clearing land]_. + +"One purpose for which you have been called together, is to devise some +plan by which we can live together, and become a happy people; so that +our dying fires may not go out, _i.e._ our people become extinct, but +may be kindled, and burn brightly, in one place. We now offer you any +portion of the land we own in this region, that we may smoke the pipe +of peace, and live and die together, and see our children play and +be reared on the same spot. We ask no money of you. We love you; and +because we love you, and feel for you, we propose this. + +"My chiefs, brothers, warriors. This morning" _[the speaker now pointed +with his finger towards the heavens]_, "look up and see the blue sky: +there are no clouds; the sun is bright and clear. Our fathers taught us, +that when the sky was without clouds, the Great Spirit was smiling upon +them. May he now preside over us, that we may make a long, smooth, and +straight path for our children. It is true I seldom see you all, but +this morning I shake hands with you all, in my heart. + +"Brothers, this is all I have to say." + + * * * * * + +APPENDIX G. + +Page 213.--_"... and aimed a knife at his throat"_ + +The period at which these events are said to have occurred was some +sixty or eighty years ago, according to the imperfect chronology of my +informant. At first, I hesitated to believe that such horrible deeds as +those recorded could have taken place almost within the memory of men. +My Indian narrator replied--"Indians, no Christians in those days, do +worse than that very few years ago,--do as bad now in far-west." + +The conversion of the Rice Lake Indians, and the gathering them together +in villages, took place, I think, in the year 1825, or thereabouts. +The conversion was effected by the preaching of missionaries from +the Wesleyan Methodist Church; the village was under the patronage of +Captain Anderson, whose descendants inherit much land on the north shore +on and about Anderson's Point, the renowned site of the great battle. +The war-weapon and bones of the enemies the Ojebwas are still to be +found in this vicinity. + + * * * * * + +APPENDIX H. + +Page 232.--_"This place she called Spooke Island"_ + +Spooke Island. A singular and barren island in the Rice Lake, seventh +from the head of the lake, on which the Indians used formerly to bury +their dead, for many years held as a sacred spot, and only approached +with reverence. Now famous for two things, _picnics_ and _poison ivy, +rhus toxicodendron,_--many persons having suffered for their temerity in +landing upon it and making it the scene of their rural festivities. + + +APPENDIX I. + +Page 253.--_"and nothing but fire."_ + +The Indians call the Rice Lake, in allusion to the rapidity with +which fires run over the dry herbage, the Lake of the Burning Plains. +Certainly, there is much poetical fitness and beauty in many of the +Indian names, approximating very closely to the figurative imagery of +the language of the East; such is "Mad-wa-osh," the music of the winds. + + +APPENDIX K. + +Page 272.--_"but it was not so in the days whereof I have spoken."_ + +_From George Copway's Life._ + +Converted Indians are thus described in the "Life" of their literary +countryman, George Copway:-- + +_Chippewas of the River Credit._--These Indians are the remnant of a +tribe which formerly possessed a considerable portion of the Elome and +Gore Districts, of which, in 1818, they surrendered the greater part for +an annuity of 532_l._ 10_s._ reserving only certain small tracts at the +River Credit; and at sixteen and twelve miles creeks they were the first +tribe converted to Christianity. Previous to the year 1823 they were +wandering pagans. In that year Peter Jones, and John his brother, +the sons of a white by a Mississaga woman, having been converted to +Christianity, and admitted as members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, +became anxious to redeem their countrymen from their degraded state +of heathenism and spiritual destitution. They collected a considerable +number together, and by rote and frequent repetitions, taught the first +principles of Christianity to such as were too old to learn to read, and +with the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and Commandments, were thus committed +to memory. As soon as the tribes were converted they perceived the evils +attendant on their former state of ignorance and vagrancy. They began to +work, which they had never done before; they recognised the advantage +of cultivating the soil; they gave up drinking, to which they had been +greatly addicted, and became sober, consistent, industrious Christians. + +J. Sawyer, P. Jones, Chiefs; J. Jones, War-chief. + +The _Chippewas of Alnwick_ were converted in 1826-7 They were wandering +pagans, in the neighbourhood of Belleville, Kingston, and Gannoyne, +commonly known as Mississagas of the Bay of Quinte; they resided on +Grape Island, in the Bay of Quinte, six miles from Belleville. +They resided eleven years on the island, subsisting by hunting and +agriculture. Their houses were erected partly by their own labour and by +the Wesleyan Missionary funds; these consist of twenty-three houses, +a commodious chapel and school, an infant school, hospital, smithy, +shoemaker's shop and joiner's. There are upwards of 300 of these +Indians. + +The chiefs are--Sunday; Simpson; G. Corrego, chief and missionary +interpreter. + +_Rice Lake Chippewas_.--In 1818 the greater part of the Newcastle and +Colburn districts were surrendered, for an annuity of 940_l_. These +Indians have all been reclaimed from their wandering life, and settled +in their present locations, within the last ten or twelve years. +_[FN: I think G. Copway is incorrect as to the date of the settling +of the village, as it was pointed out to me in 1832. Note,--In the year +1822 the larger part of the Indian village on Anderson's Point was built +and cultivated.]_ The settlement is on the north side of the lake, twelve +miles from Peterborough. Number of Indians, 114; possessing 1,550 acres, +subdivided in 50-acre lots. + +Chiefs--Pondash, Copway, Crow. + +Deer were plenty a few years ago, but now only few can be found. The +Ojebwas are at present employed in farming instead of hunting; many of +them have good and well-cultivated farms; they not only raise grain, +enough, for their own use, but often sell much to the whites. + + +APPENDIX L. + +Page 282.--_"... that an outward manifestation of surprise."_ + +A young friend, who was familiar with Indian character from frequent +intercourse with them in his hunting expeditions, speaking of their +apparent absence of curiosity, told me that, with a view to test it, he +wound up a musical snuff-box, and placed it on a table in a room where +several Indian hunters and their squaws were standing together, and +narrowly watched their countenances, but they evinced no sort of +surprise by look or gesture, remaining apathetically unmoved. He retired +to an adjoining room, where, unseen, he could notice what passed, and +was amused at perceiving, that the instant they imagined themselves free +from his surveillance, the whole party mustered round the mysterious +toy like a parcel of bees, and appeared to be full of conjecture +and amazement, but they did not choose to be entrapped into showing +surprise. This perfect command over the muscles of the face, and +the glance of the eye, is one of the remarkable traits in the +Indian character. The expression of the Indian face, if I may use so +paradoxical a term, consists in a want of expression--like the stillness +of dark deep water, beneath which no object is visible. APPENDIX M. + +Page 332.--_"bracelets of porcupine quills cut in fine pieces and strung +in fanciful patterns."_ + +The Indian method of drawing out patterns on the birch bark, is simply +scratching the outline with some small-pointed instrument, Canadian +thorn, a bodkin of bone, or a sharp nail. These outlines are then +pierced with parallel rows of holes, into which the ends of the +porcupine quills are inserted, forming a rich sort of embroidery on the +surface of the bark. + +The Indian artistes have about as much notion of perspective, or the +effects of light and shade, as the Chinese or our own early painters; +their attempts at delineating animals, or birds, are flat, sharp, and +angular; and their groups of flowers and trees not more graceful or +natural than those on a china plate or jar; nevertheless, the effect +produced is rich and striking, from the vivid colours and the variety +of dyes they contrive to give to this simple material, the porcupine +quills. The sinew of the deer, and some other animals, furnish the +Indian women with thread, of any degree of fineness or strength. The +wants of these simple folk are few, and those easily supplied by the +adaptation of such materials as they can command with ease, in their +savage state. + + +APPENDIX N. + +Page 339.--_"is Mount Ararat."_ + +Mount Ararat, the highest elevation on the Rice Lake Plains, for nearly +two years the residence of the Authoress and her family. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Canadian Crusoes, by Catherine Parr Traill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADIAN CRUSOES *** + +***** This file should be named 8382.txt or 8382.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/3/8/8382/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Widger, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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