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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

ilwalbs of empire

BEING
THE STORY OF ONE RAMSAY STANHOPE

LinrrniAMT to Piuu Radiuon in tmi No.th.ii. Fo. T.aii.

A. C. LAUT

AUTHOR OF LORDS OF THE NORTH

TORONTO, CANADA

WILLIAM BRIGGS
1902

EnteKd uconlliic to Act of the

P»rii«inent of CaiwU in the y«« ,,o2

By A. C. LAUT

•« the Deputment of Agileultun

^tt ritUt nmvtd

DEDICATED
TO

THE NEW WORLD NOBILITY

Jl»ow S leanuii iM tfte man mu^ babe

frtt »Bten U ttt about conquning t|» ttmtntt, *uS»
Duint lant anb tta anb irabagnr. Wnb in tbat titt
tbe tfonuric gteatne^jl of m$ baft fmft gum Wetib
of ouc^. gaut 4Mb C^otlb tttm taht^ uy tbe nnfin.-
irtrt tttrt lift if gtnnation^ of men. gout JUm
Wotn beto btgin^ at tbe ptiftine ta;rt. 9 ;ta; ;ou,
»bo ate batn to tbe nobilitp of tbe gua »ot», forget
not tbe Blotp of ;out beritaae ; fot tbe place uibicb
<Bob batb Bibw pou in tbe biftarp of tbe tate If one
tobieb men muft bott in enbp wben noman pattician
anb Jftotman conquetot anb lobbei baron ate a^ fot-
Botten at tbe Wnglp line^ of olb tfgf Jt-

CONTENTS

FOUWORD

PART I
I. What ark King-Kiixers?
II. I Rescue and am Rescued

III. Touching Witchcraft

IV. Rebecca and Jack Battle conspire
V. M. Radisson again ....

FAGI
I

31
48
66

PART 11

VI. The Roaring Forties 73

VII. M. de Radisson acts gy

VIII. M. DE Radisson cokes to his Own 98

IX. V-",ixoRS

X. ; Cause of the Firing

XI. Mure of M. Radisson's Rivals

XII. M. Radisson begins the Game

XIH. The White Darkness 173

XIV. A Challenge 183

XV. The Battle not to the Strong ... 196

XVI. We seek the Inlanders 210

XVII. A Bootless Sacrifice 323

XVIII. Facing the End 334

vii

113
124
143
150

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

CHAirni

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

Aftibwamj ....
Who th« Pikates wuh

How TM PlKATIS CAJIB

W« i-'AV« THE North Sba .

PART III
A Change of Fartnbm
Under the Mais o» the Court
Jack Battle again
At Oxford
Home from the Bay
Rebecca and I fau, out
The King's Pleasure .

rum
138

«47
ate

»1S

387
agi
318
331
338
348
363

VIH

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

FOREWORD

I SEE him yet — swarthy, straight as a lance,
keen as steel, in his eyes the restless fire that
leaps to red when sword cuts sword. I see him
yet — ^beating about the high seas, a lone adven-
turer, tracking forest wastes where no man else
dare go, pitting his wit against the intrigue of
king and court and empire. Prince of path-
finders, prince of pioneers, prince of gamesters,
he played the game for love of the game, caring
never a rush for the gold which pawns other
men's souls. How miich of good was in his ill,
how much of ill in his good, let his life de-
clare! He played fast and loose with truth,
I know, till all the world played fast and loose
with him. He juggled with empires as with
puppets, but he died not a groat the richer,
I

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

which is better record than greater men can
boast.

Of enemies, Sieur Radisson had a-plenty,
for which, methinks, he had that lying tongue
of his to thank. Old France and New France,
Old England and New England, would have
paid a price for his head; but Pierre Radisson's
head held afar too much cunning for any hang-
dog of an assassin to try " fall-back, iall-edge "
on him. In spite of all the malice with which
his enemies fouled him living and dead, Sieur
Radisson was never the common buccaneer
which your cheap pamphleteers have painted
him; though, i' faith, buccaneers stood high
enough in my day, when Prince Rupert himself
turned robber and pirate of the high seas. Pierre
Radisson held his title of nobility from the king;
so did all those young noblemen who went with
him to the north, as may be seen from M. Col-
bert's papers in the records de la marine. Nor
was the disembarking of furs at Isle Percee an
attempt to steal M. de la Chesnaye's cargo, as
slanderers would have us believe, but a way of
escape from those vampires sucking the Hfe-

, vi Miji'»£. ,i-i,.

FOREWORD

blood of New France — the farmers of the rev-
enue. Indeed, His Most Christian Majesty him-
self commanded those robber rulers of Quebec
to desist from meddling with the northern ad-
venturers. And if some gentleman who has never
been farther from city cobblestones than to ride
afield with the hounds or take waters at foreign
baths, should protest that no maid was ever in
so desolate a case as Mistress Hortense, I an-
swer there are to-day many in the same region
keeping themselves pure as pond-lilies in a
brackish pool, at the forts of their fathers and
husbands in the fur-trading country.*

And as memory looks back to those far days,
there is another — a poor, shambling, mean-
spoken, mean-clad fellow, with the scars of con-
vict gyves on his wrists and the dumb love of a
faithful spaniel in his eyes. Compare these two
as I may — Pierre Radisson, the explorer with

• In confirmation of which reference may be called to the
daughter of Governor Norton in Prince of Wales Fort, north
of Nelson. Hearne reports that the poor creature died from
exposure about the time of her father's death, which was
many years after Mr. Stanhope had written the last words of
this recoid. — Author,

HERALDS OF EMPIRE
fame like a meteor that drops in the dark; Jack
Battle, the wharf-rat-for the life of me I can-
not tell which memory grips tht more.

One played the game, the other paid the
pawn. Both were misunderstood. One took
no thought but of self; the other, no thought
o self at all. But where the great man won
glory that was a target for envy, the poor sailor
lad garnered quiet happiness.

PART I

CHAPTER I

WHAT ARE KING-KILLERS?

My father— peace to his soul I— had been of
those who thronged London streets with wine
tubs to drink the restored king's health on
bended knee; but he, poor gentleman, departed
this life before his monarch could restore a
wasted patrimony. For old Tibbie, the nurse,
there was nothing left but to pawn the family
plate and take me, a spoiled lad in his teens,
out to Puritan kin of Boston Town.

On the night my father died he had spoken
remorsefully of the past to the lord bishop at
his bedside.

" Tush, man, have a heart," cries his lord-
ship. "Thou'lt see pasch and yule yet forty
year, Sta- hope. Tush, man, 'tis thy liver, or a
touch of _he gout. Take here a smack of port.
Sleep sound, man, sleep sound."

And my father slept so sound he never
wakened more.

So I came to my Uncle Kirke, whose vir-
7

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

tues were of the acid sort that curdles the milk
of human kindness.

With him, goodness meant gloom. If the
sweet joy of living ever sang to him in his youth,
he shut his ears to the sound as to siren tempt-
ings, and sternly set himself to the fierce de-
light of being miserable.

For misery he had reason enough. Having
writ a book in which he called King Charles
" a man of blood and everlasting abomination "
— ^whatever that might mean — Eli Kirke got
himself star-chambered. When, in the language
of those times, he was examined " before tor-
ture, in torture, between torture, and after tor-
ture"— the torture of the rack and the t", umb-
kins and the boot — he added to his former testi-
mony that the queen was a " Babylonish wom-
an, a Potiphar, a Jezebel, a "

There his mouth was gagged, head and
heels roped to the rack, and a wrench given
the pulleys at each end that nigh dismembered
his poor, torn body. And what words, think
you, came quick on top of his first sharp out-
cry?

"Wisdom is justified of her children! The
wicked shall he pull down and the humble shall
he exalt!"

And when you come to ihink of it, Charles
8

WHAT ARE KING-KILLERS?

Stuart lost his head on the block five years from
that day.

When Eli Kirke left jail to take ship for
Boston Town both ears had been cropped. On
his forehead the letters S L — seditious libeler —
were branded deep, though not so deep as the
bitterness burned into his soul.

There comes before me a picture of my land-
ing, showing as clearly as it were threescore
years ago that soft, summer night, the harbour
waters molten gold in a harvest moon, a waiting
group of figures grim above the quay. No firing
of muskets and drinking of flagons and ringing
of bells to welcome us, for each ship brought
out court minions to whip Boston into line with
the Restoration — as hungry a lot of rascals as
ever gathered to pick fresh bones.

Old Tibbie had pranked me out in brave
finery: the close-cut, black-velvet waistcoat that
young royalists then wore; a scarlet doublet,
flaming enough to set the turkey yard afire; the
silken hose and big shoe-buckles late introduced
from France by the king; and a beaver hat with
plumes a-nodding like my lady's fan. My curls,
I mind, tumbled forward thicker than those fop-
pish French perukes.

" There is thy Uncle Kirke," whispers Nurse
9

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Tibbie. "Pay thy best devoirs. Master Ram-
say, and she pushes me to the fore of those
crowdmg up the docks.

A thin, pale man with a scarred face silently
permitted me to salute four limp fingers. His
eyes swept me with chill disapproval. My hat
clapped on a deal faster than it had come off
for you must know *e unhatted in those days
with a grand, slow bow.

m."J^^u^^''r ^"**''" '^y' '^''^^'^' ""dging
me; for had I stood from that day to this

I^jas bound that cold man should speak

To my aunt the beaver came oflf in its grand-
est flounsh. The pressure of a dutiful kiss
touched my forehead, and I minded the passion
kjsses of a dead mother.

Those errant curls blew out in the wind
_^ Ramsay Stanhope," begins my uncle sour-
y. what do you with uncropped hair and the
toolish trappings of vanity.? "

As I live, those were the first words he ut-
tered to me.

h,-c r ^7"'!^ '"''*" ^"*"'''" ""y J'^' ^'earing
his throp^t and lowering his glance down my per

son Many a good man hath exchanged silk
tor hemp, my fine gentleman! " ,

"An the hemp hold like silk, 'twere a fair
lo

WHAT ARE KING-KILLERS?

exchange sir." I returned; though I knew very
the ca:;e '° ''°" "'" "'° ""'^ ^-^ f-

thT u ; ^^'"'^^' '^'^^ y^""- neck out of
that collar; for the vanities of the wicked are a
yoke leading captive the foolish > "

Now. my collar was point-de-vice of prime

Tafrn'oreTh''"' "'"^- ^^ ""^'^'^ -'--
was more than a vam lad could stomach- and

what youth of his first teens hath not a van'y

hidden about him somewhere?

und'e7tSr, '''"* T ^"' '^^ ^""''^ ^"-^ the ass
under the same yoke, sir," said I. drawing mvself
up far as ever high heels would lift ^

me St "h*?'*^ t"^^ ^°' " ™""*^- Then he told
"ess ht 'P^'^^^°"'^^™'n& «y spiritual blind-

tne error of my way.

At that, old nurse must needs take fire.

passiot!!" T ' ^^^ ^'■°'" '^^ ^^'' °' «'<^h com-
prettv hLv '■ ''f' '" *^^ ^^^'^ Lord makes

sCi^to hf T- !"'"■' *^''^'"^ P^^^'« before
swine to shave his head like a cannon-ball "-
th.s with a look at my uncle's crown-" or to
tSL:^ ""'^ ^-'-- «^e a ragged

"Tibbie, hold your tongue!" I order.
' II

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Silence were fitter for fools and children,"
says Eli Kirke loftily.

There comes a time when every life must
choose whether to laugh or weep over trivial
pains, and when a cut may be broken on the
foil of that glancing mirth which the good Crea-
tor gave mankind to keep our race from going
mad. It me to rr.i^ on the night of my arrival
on the wharves of Boston Town.

We lumbered up through the straggling vil-
lage in one of those clumsy coaches that had late
become the terror of foot-passengers in Lon-
don crowds. My aunt pointed with a pride that
was colonial to the fine light which the towns-
people had erected on Beacon Hill; and told
me pretty legends of Rattlesnake Hill that fired
the desire to explore those inland dangers. I
noticed that the rubble-faced houses showed
lanterns in iron clamps above most of the door-
ways. My kinsman's house stood on the verge
of the wilds — rough stone below, timbered plas-
ter above, with a circle of bay windows mid-
way, like an umbrella. High windows were
safer in case of attack from savages. Aunt Ruth
explained; and I mentally set to scaling rope
ladders in and out of those windows.

We drew up before the front garden and
entered by a turnstile with flying arms* Many
13

WHAT ARE KING-KILLERS?

a ride have little Rebecca Stocking, of the
court-house, and Ben Gillam, the captain's son.
and Jack Battle, the sailor lad, had, perched on
that turnstile, while I ran pushing and jumping
on, as the arms flew creaking round.

The home-coming was not auspicious. Yet
I thought no resentment against my uncle I
realized too well how the bloody revenge of the
royalists was turning the hearts of England to
stone. One morning I recall, when my poor
father lay a-bed of the gout and there came a
roar through London streets as of a burst ocean
dike. Before Tibbie could say no, I had
snatched up a cap and was off.

God spare me another such sight! In all
my wild wanderings have I never seen savages
do worse.

Through the streets of London before the
shoutmgs of a rabble rout was whipped an old
white-haired man. In front of him rumbled a
cart; in the cart, the axeman, laving wet hands-
at the axeman's feet, the head of a regicide-^
all to intimidate that old, white-haired man
fearlessly erect, singing a psalm. When they
reached the shambles, know you what they did?
Go read the old court records and learn what
that sentence meant when a man's body was
cast into fire before his living eyes! All the

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

while, watching from a window were the princes
and their shameless ones.

Ah, yes! God wot, I understood Eli Kirke's
bitterness!

But the beginning was not auspicious, and
my best intentions presaged worse. For in-
stance, one morning my uncle was sounding my
convictions — he was ever sounding other peo-
ple's convictions — "touching the divine right
of kings." Thinking to give strength to con-
tempt for that doctrine, I applied to it one for-
cible word I had oft heard used by gentlemen
of the cloth. Had I shot a gun across the table,
the effect could not have been worse. The serv-
ing maid fell all of a heap against the pantry
door. Old Tibbie yelped out with laughter, and
then nigh choked. Aunt Ruth glanced from me
to Eli Kirke with a timid look in her eye; but
Eli Kirke gazed stolidly into my soul as he
would read whether I scoffed or no.

Thereafter he nailed up a little box to re-
ceive fines for blasphemy.

" To be plucked as a brand from the burn-
ing," I hear him say, fetching a mighty sigh.

But sweet, calm Aunt Ruth, stitching at
some spotless kerchief, intercedes.

"Let us be thankful the lad hath come
to us."

WHAT ARE KING-KILLERS?

TT 'i^^""f ^*'* '" ^°'^' °^ ^*"»ty/' deplores
Uncle Kirke.

"But all things are possible," Aunt Ruth
softly interposes.

" All things are possible," concedes Eli Kirke
grudgingly, " but thou knowest, Ruth, all things
are not probable! " ' s»

And I, knowing my uncle loved an argument
as dearly as merry gentlemen love a glass, slip
away leg-bail for the docks, where sits Ben Gil-
lam among the spars spinning sailor yams to
Jack Battle of the great north sea, whither his

he half-wild Frenchman, who married an Eng-
lish kinswoman of Eli Kirke's and went where
never man went and came back with so many
pelts that the Quebec governor wanted to build
a fortress of beaver fur;* or of the English
squadron, rocking to the harbour tide, fresh
from winning the Dutch of Manhattan, and
ready to subdue malcontents of Boston Town

Then Jack Battle, the sailor lad from no one
knows where, liv i ng no one knows how, digs

non with fact. Radisson was fined for going overland to

butrfo'rra.''^hr«!'' '""-r'' p-™'-'-. '"«"-;:

daThter ^f I T k l""^' ^" ^'"^"'^ kinswoman was a

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

his bare toes into the sand and asks under his
breath if we have heard about king-killers.

"What are king-killers?" demands young
Gillam.

I discreetly hold my tongue; for a gentleman
v/ho supped late with my uncle one night has
strangely disappeared, and the rats in the attic
have grown boldly loud.

" What are king-killers? " asks Gillam.

"Them as sent Charles I to his death"
explains Jack. "They do say," he whispers
fearfully, "one o' them is hid hereabouts now!
The king's commission hath ordered to have
hounds and Indians run him down."

"Pah!" says Gillam, making little of what
he had not known, " hounds are only for run-
aways," this with a sneering look at odd marks
round Jack's wrists.

" I am no slave! " vows Jack in crestfallen
tones.

" Who said ' slave '? " laughs Gillam trium-
phantly. " My father saith he is a runaway rat
from the Barbadoes," adds Ben to me.

With the fear of a hunted animal under his
shaggy brows, little Jack tries to read how much
is guess.

" I am no slave, Ben Gillam," he flings back
at hazard; but his voice is thin from fright
i6

WHAT ARE KING-KILLERS?

" My father saith some planter hath lost ten
pound on thee, little slavie," continues Ben.
" Pah! Ten pound for such a scrub! He's not
worth six! Look at the marks on his arms, Ram-
say "—catching the sailor roughly by the wrist.

He can say what he likes. He knows chains."
Little Jack jerked free and ran along the
sands as hard as his bare feet could carry h-m
Then I turned to Ben, who had always bullied
us both. Dropping the solemn " thou's " which
our elders still used, I let him have plain

you's."

" You— you— mean coward! I've a mind
to knock you into the sea! "

" Grow bigger first, little billycock," taunts
Ben.

By the next day I was big enough.

Mistress Hortense Hillary was down on the
beach with M. Picot's blackamoor, who dogged
her heels wherever she went; and presently
comes Rebecca Stocking to shovel sand too.
Then Ben must show what a big fell-- v he is
by kicking over the little maid's cart-loau.

" Stop that ! " commands Jack Battle, spring-
ing of a sudden from the beach.

For an instant, Ben was taken aback.

Then the insolence that provokes its own
punishment broke forth.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Go play with your equals, jack-pudding!
Jailbirds who ape their betters are strangled
up in Quebec," and he kicked down Rebecca's
pile too.

Rebecca's doll-blue eyes spilled over with
tears, but Mistress Hortense was the high-
mettled, high-stepping little dame. She fairly
stamped her wrath, and to Jack's amaze took
him by the hand and marched off with the hau-
teur of an empress.

Then Ben must call out something about M.
PJcot, the French doctor, not being what he
ought, and little Hortense having no mother.

"Ben," said I quietly, "come out on the
pier." The pier ran to deep water. At the far
end I spoke.

"Not another word against Hortense and
Jack! Promise me!"

His back was to the water, mine to the shore.
He would have promised readily enough, I think,
if the other monkeys had not followed— Re-
becca with big tear-drops on both cheeks, Hor-
tense quivering with wrath. Jack flushed, half
shy and half shamed to be championed by a
girl.

"Come, Ben; 'fore I count three, prom-
ise "

But he lugged at me. 1 dodged. With a
i8

WHAT ARE KING^KILLERS?

splash that doused us four, Ben went headlong
into the sea. The uplift of the waves caught
him. He threw back his arms with a cry. Then
he sank like lead.

The sailor son of the famous captain could
not swim. Rebecca's eyes nigh jumped from
her head with fright. Hortense grew white to
the hps and shouted for that lout of a blacka-
moor sound asleep on the sand.

Before I could get my doublet off to dive.
Jack Battle was cleaving air like a leaping fish
and the waters closed over his heels.

Bethink you, who are not withered into for-
getfulness of your own merry youth, whether
our hearts stopped beating then!

But up comes that water-dog of a Jack grip-
ping Ben by the scrufJ of the neck; and when
by our united strength we had hauled them both
on the pier, little Mistress Hortense was the
one to roll Gillam on his stomach and bid us
Quick! Stand him on his head and pour the
water out!"

From that day Hortense was Jack's slave.
Jack was mine, and Ben was a pampered hero
because he never told and took the punishment
like a man. But there was never a word more
slurring Hortense's unknown origin and Jack's
strange wrist marks.

CHAPTER II

I RESCUE AND AM RESCUED

So the happy childhood days sped on, a
swift stream past flowered banks. Ben went
off to sail the north sea in Captain Gillam's
ship. M. Picot. the French doctor, brought a
governess from Paris for Hortense, so that we
saw little of our playmate, and Jack Battle con-
tinued to live like a hunted rat at the docks.

My uncle and Rebecca's father, who were
beginning to dabble in the fur trade, had joint-
ly hired a peripatetic dominie to give us young-
sters lessons in Bible history and the three R's.
At nr.^n hour I initiated Rebecca into all the
thrilling dangers of Indian warfare, and many
a time have we had wild escapes from imaginary
savages by scaling a rope ladder of my own mak-
ing up to the high nursery window. By-and-
bye, when school was in and the dominie dozed,
I would lower that timid little whiffet of a Puri-
tan maid out through the window to the turn-
stile. Then I would ride her round till our heads
whirled. If Jack Battle came along, Rebecca

I RESCUE AND AM RESCUED

would jump down primly and run in, for Jack
was unknown in the meeting-house, and the
meeting-house was Rebecca's measure of the
whole world.

One day Jacl: lingered. He was carrying
something tenderly in a red cambric handker-
chief.

"Where is Mistress Hortense?" he asked
sheepishly.

" That silly French woman keeps her caged
like a squirrel."

Little Jack began tittering and giggling.
"Why— that's what I have here," he ex-
plained, slipping a bundle of soft fur in my hand.
" It's tame! It's for Hortense," said he.
" Why don't you take it to her. Jack? "
" Take it to her? " reiterated he in a daze.
"As long as she gets it, what does it matter
who takes it?"

With that, he was off across the marshy com-
mons, leaving the squirrel in my hand.

Forgetting lessons, I ran to M. Picot's house.
Th-r.t governess answered the knocker.

From Jack Battle to Mistress Hortense! "
And I proflfered the squirrel.

Though she smirked a world of thanks, she
would not take it. Then Hortense came dan-
cing d-)wn the hall.

.^.^-:t..^1^M''

III

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"Am I not grown tall?" she ,.sl.ed, mis-
chievously shaking her curls.

" No," suid I, looking down to her feet cased
in those high slippers French ladies then wore,
"'tis your heels!"

And we all laughed. Catching sight of the
squirrel, Hortense snatched it up with caresses
against her neck, and the French governess
sputtered out something of which I knew only
the word " beau."

" Jack is no beau, mademoiselle," said I loft-
ily. "Pah! He's a wharf lad."

I had thought Hortense would die in fits.

" Mademoiselle means the squirrel, Ram-
say," she said, choking, her handkerchief to her
lips. "Tell Jack thanks, with my love," she
called, floating back up the stairs.

And the governess set to laughing in the
pleasant French way that shakes all over and*
has no spite. Emboldened, I asked why Hor-
tense could not play with us any more. Hor-
tense, she explained, was become too big to
prank on the commons.

" Faith, mademoiselle," said I ruefully, " an
jhe mayn't play war on the commons, what may
she play?"

"Beau!" teases mademoiselle, perking her
lips saucily; and she shut the door in my face.

I RESCUE AND AM RESCUED

It seemed a silly answer enough, but it put
a notion in a lad's head. I would try it on
Rebecca.

When I re-entered the window, the dominie
still slept. Rebecca, the demure monkey, bent
over her lesson book as innocently as though
there were no turnstiles.

" Rebecca," I whispered, leaning across the
bench, "you are big enough to have a— what?
Guess."

"Go away, Ramsay Stanhope!" snapped
Rebecca, grown mighty good of a sudden, with
glance fast on her white stomacher.

"0-ho! Crosspatch," thought I; and from
no other motive than transgressing the forbid-
den, I reached across to distract the attentive
goodness of the prim little baggag- • but— an
iron grip lifted me bodily from the bench.

It was Eli Kirke, wry-faced, tight-lipped.
He had seen all! This was the secret of Mis-
tress Rebecca's new-found d igence. No sylla-
ble was uttered, but it was the awfullest silence
that ever a lad heard. I was lifted rather than
led upstairs and left a prisoner in locked room
with naught to do but gnaw my conscience and
gaze at the woods skirting the crests of the in-
land hills.

Those rats in the attic grew noisier, and pres-
23

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

ently sounds a mighty hallooing outside, with
a blowing of hunting-horns and baying of
hounds. What ado was this in Boston, where
men were only hunters of souls and chasers of
devils? The rats fell to sudden quiet, and from
the yells of the rabble crowd I could make out
only "King-killers! King-killers!" These
were no Puritans shouting, but the blackguard
sailors and hirelings of the English squadron set
loose to hunt down the refugees. The shouting
became a roar. Then in burst Eli Kirke's front
door. The house was suddenly filled with
swearings enough to cram his blasphemy box
to the brim. There was a trampling of feet on
the stairs, followed by the crashing of over-
turned furniture, and the rabble had rushed up
with neither let nor hindranL- and were search-
ing every room.

Who had turned informer on my uncle?
Was I not the only royalist in the house?
Would suspicion fall on me? But questions
were put to flight by a thunderous rapping on
the door. It gave as it had been cardboard,
and in tumbled a dozen ruffians with gold-lace
doublets, cockades and clanking swords.

Behind peered Eli Kirke, pale with fear, his
eyes asking mine if I knew. True as eyes can
speak, mine told him that I knew as well as he.
24

I RESCUE AND AM RESCUED

"Bodyo'mel What-a-deuce? Only a lit-
tle fighting sparrow of a royalist! " cried a swae-
genng colt of a fellow in officer's uniform
" ^° °"^ J^ere, lad? " demanded a second
And I saw Eli Kirke close his eyes as in
prayer.

« T 1 ^^^'" ^^''^ ^' *^"w*n& "myself up on my heels,
1 don t understand you. I— am here."
They bellowed a laugh and were tumblin?
over one another in their haste up the attic
stairs. Then my blood went cold with fear, for
the memory of that poor old man going to the
shambles of London flashed back.

A window lifted and fell in the attic gable
With a rush I had slammed the door and was
cranmg out full length from the window-sill
Against the lattice timber-work of the plastered
wall below the attic window clung a figure in
Geneva cloak, with portmanteau under arm It
was the man who had supped so late with Eli
Kirke.

" Sir," I whispered, fearing to startle him
from perilous footing, " let me hold your port-
manteau. Jump to the slant roof below."

For a second his face went ashy, but he
tossed me the bag, gained the shed roof at a
leap, snatched back the case, and with a " Lord
bless thee, child! " was down and away.
2S

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

The spurred boots of the searchers clanked
on the stairs. A blowing of horns! They were
all to horse and off as fast as the hounds coursed
away. The deep, far baying of the dogs, now
loud, now low, as the trail ran avay or the wind
blew clear, told where the chase led inland. If
the fugitive but hid till the dogs passed he was
safe enough; but of a sudden came the hoarse,
furious barkings that signal hot scent.

What had happened was plain.

The poor wretch had crossed the road and
given the hounds clew. The baying came nearer.
He had discovered his mistake and was trying
to regain the house.

Balaam stood saddled to carry Eli Kirke to
the docks. 'Twas a wan hope, but in a twinkling
I was riding like wind for the barking behind
the hill. A white-faced man broke from the
brush at crazy pace.

" God ha' mercy, sir," I cried, leaping off;
"to horse and away! Ride up the brook bed
to throw the hounds off."

I saw him in saddle, struck Balaam's flank
a blow that set pace for a gallop, turned, and —
for a second time that day was lifted from the
ground.

" Pardieu! Clean done! " says a low voice.
" 'Tis a pretty trick! "

'!(:;

I RESCUE AND AM RESCUED

And I felt myself set up before a rider.
" To save thee from the hounds," says the
voice.

Scarce knowing whether I dreamed, I looked
over my shoulder to see one who was neither
royalist nor Puritan— a thin, swarth man, tall
and straight as an Indian, bare-shaven and
scarred from war, with long, wiry hair and black
eyes full of sparks.

The pack came on in a whirl to lose scent
at the stream, and my rescuer headed our horse
away from the rabble, doffing his beaver famil-
iarly to the officers galloping past.

"Ha!" called one, reining his horse to its
haunches, " did that snivelling knave pass this
way? "

" Do you mean this little gentleman? "
The officer galloped oflf. " Keep an eye
open, Radisson," he shouted over his shoulder.

"'Twere better shut," says M. Radisson
softly; and at his name my blood pricked to
a jump.

Here was he of whom Ben Gillam told, the
half-wild Trenchman, who had married the roy-
alist kinswoman of Eli Kirke; the hero of Span-
ish fights and Turkish wars; the bold explorer
of the north sea, who brought back such wealth
from an unknown land, governors and merchant
3 27

HERALDS OF EMPIRE "

princes were spying his heels like pirates a treas-
ure ship.

" 'Tis more sport hunting than being hunt-
ed," he remarked, with an air of quiet reipinis-
cence.

His suit was fine-tanned, cream buckskin,
garnished with gold braid like any courtier's,
with a deep collar of otter. Unmindful of man-
ners, I would have turned again to stare, but
he bade me guide the horse back to my home.

" Lest the hunters ask questions," he ex-
plained. "And what," he demanded, "what
doth a Httle cavalier in a Puritan hotbed? "

" I am even where God hath been pleased to
set me, sir."

" 'Twas a ticklish place he set thee when
I came up."

" By your leave, sir, 'tis a higher place than
I ever thought to know."

M. Radisson laughed a low, mellow laugh,
and, vowing I should be a court gallant, put
me down before Eli Kirke's turnstile.

My uncle came stalking forth, his lips pale
with rage. He had blazed out ere I could ex-
plain one word.

" Have I put bread in thy mouth, Ramsay
Stanhope, that thou shouldst turn traitor? Vi-
per and imp of Satan ! " he shouted, shaking his
38 ^

I RESCUE AND AM RESCUED

clinched fist in my face. " Was it not enough
that thou wert utterly bound in iniquity with-
out persecuting the Lord's anointed? "

I took a breath.

" Where is Balaam? " he demanded, seizing
me roughly.

" Sir," said I, " for leaving the room with-
out leave, I pray you to flog me as I deserve.
As for the horse, he is safe and I hope far
away under the gentleman I helped down from
the attic."

His face fell a-blank. M. Radisson dis-
mounted laughing.

"Nay, nay, Eli Kirk'e, I protest 'twas to
the lad's credit. 'Twas this way, kinsman," and
he told all, with many a strange-sounding, for-
eign expression that must have put the Puri-
tan's nose out of joint, for Eli Kirke began blow-
ing like a trumpet.

Then out comes Aunt Ruth to insist that
M. Radisson share a haunch of venison at our
noonday meal.

And how I wish I could tell you of that
dinner, and of all that M. Radisson talked; of
captivity among Iroquois and imprisonment in
Spain and wars in Turkey; of his voyage over
land and lake to a far north sea, and of the
conspiracy among merchant princes of Quebec
29

I !

HIRALDS OF EMPIRE

to ruin him. By-and-bye Rebecca stocking's
father came in, and the three sat iaiking plans
for the northern trade till M. R; di.^son let drop
that the English commissioners were keen to
join the enterprise. Then the two Puritans
would have naught to do with it.

Long ago, as you know, we dined at mid-
day; but so swiftly had the hour flown with M
Radisson's tales of daring that Tibbie was al-
ready lighting candles when we rose from the
dinner table.

"And now," cried M. Radisson, lifting a
stirrup-cup of home-brewed October. " health
to the little gentleman who saved a life to-day!
Health to mine host! And a cup fathoms deep
to his luck when Ramsay sails yon sea! "
" He might do worse," said Eli Kirke grimly.
And the words come back like the echo of
a prophecy.

I would have escaped my uncle, but he way-
laid me in the dark at the foot of the stairs.
" Ramsay," said he gently.
". fi^ " ^^^^ ^' '«'°"«^ering if flint could melt.
Tne Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the
Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be
gracious unto thee: the Lord li.t up his counte-
nance upon thee, and give thee peace! ' "
30

CHAPTER III

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

t«W" '°'"'°°"' "»" »««' I fed b„„ i„

Aunt rr'?''/'''' '"^'" ^ •"^^"d to keep."
whed .„ » 'r^'' "P '^°'" ''^^ ^P'nning-

nal EH l^T Y ^'^ ''^^°"'^ «" ^'^^'n sig-
nal- El, Kirke glanced dubiously to the blas-
Phemy b as though „y words' were action-
loom tJl r/"r/°""' '"* ^''^ ^-- °^ the
'oom till I shpped from the room. Then they

..Il

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

both began to talk. Soon after came transfer
from the counting-house to the fur trade. That
took me through the shadowy forests from town
to town, and when I returned my old comrades
seemed shot of a sudden from youth to man-
hood.

There was Ben Gillam, a giff-gaffing blade
home from the north sea, so topful of spray
that salt water spilled over at every word.

" Split me fore and aft," exclaims Ben, " if
I sail not a ship of my own next year! I'll take
the boat without commission. Stocking and my
father have made an offer," he hinted darkly.
"I'll go without commission!"

"And risk being strangled for't, if the
French governor catch you."

"Body o' me!" flouts Ben, ripping out a
peck of oaths that had cost dear and meant a
day in the stocks if the elders heard, "who's
going to inform when my father sails the only
other ship in the bay? Devil sink my soul to
the bottom of the sea if I don't take a boat to
Hudson Bay under the French governor's
nose! "

" A boat of your own," I laughed. " What
for, Ben? "

" For the same as your Prince Rupert,
Prince Robber, took his. Go out light as a
32

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

cork, come back loaded with Spanish gold to
the water-line." Ben paused to take a pinch of
snuff and display his new embroidered waist-
coat.

" Look you at the wealth in the beaver
trade," he added. " M. Radisson went home
with George Carteret not worth a curse, formed
the Fur Company, and came back from Hud-
son Bay with pelts packed to the quarter-deck.
Devil sink me! but they say, after the fur sale,
the gentlemen adventurers had to haul the gold
through London streets with carts! Bread o'
grace, Ramsay, have half an eye for your own
purse! " he urged. " There is a life for a man
o' spirit! Why don't you join the beaver trade,
Ramsay? "

Why not, indeed? 'Twas that or turn cut-
purse and road-lifter for a youth of birth with-
out means in those days.

Of Jack Battle I saw less. He shipped with
the fishing boats in the summer and cruised with
any vagrant craft for the winter. When he came
ashore he was as small and eel-like and shy and
awkward as ever, with the same dumb fidelity
in his eyes.

And what a snowy maid had Rebecca be-
come! Sitting behind her spinning-wheel, with
her dainty fingers darting in the sunlight, she
33

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

seemed the pink and whitest thing that ever
grew, with a look on her face of apple-blossoms
in June; but the sly wench had grown mighty
der with me. When I laughed over that
ending to our last lesson, she must affect an
air o mjury. 'Twas neither her fault nor mine.
1 declare, coaxing back her good-humour; 'twas
the fault of the face. I wanted to see where the
white began and the pink ended. Then Re-
becca, with cheeks a-bloom under the hiding of
her bonnet, quickens steps to the meeting-house;
but as a matter of course we walk home to-
gether, for behind march the older folk, staidly
discoursing of doctrine.

"Rebecca." I say. "you did not take your
eyes off the preacher for one minute."

" How do you know. Ramsay? " retorts Re-
becca, turning her face away with a dimple trem-
bling in her chin, albeit it was the Sabbath.

" That preacher is too handsome to be sound
m his doctrine, Rebecca."

Then she grows so mighty prim she must
ask which heading of the sermon pleases me
best.

" I liked the last," I declare; and with that
we are at the turnstile.

Hortense became a vision of something lost
a type of what I had known when great ladies
34

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

came to our country hall. M. Picot himself
took her on the grand tour of the Continent.
How much we had been hoping to see more of
her I did not realize till she came back and we
saw less.

Once I encountered M. Picot and his ward
on the wharf. Her curls were more wayward
than of old and her large eyes more lustrous,
full of deep, new lights, dark like the flash of a
black diamond. Her form appeared slender
against the long, flowing mantilla shot with gold
like any grand dame's. She wore a white beaver
with plumes sweeping down on her curls. In-
deed, little Hortense seemed altogether such a
great lady that I held back, though she was
looking straight towards me.

" Give you good-e'en, Ramsay," salutes M.
Picot, a small, thin man with pointed beard, eye-
brows of a fierce curlicue, and an expression
under half-shut lids like cat's eyes in the dark.
"Give you good-e'en 1 Can you guess who
this is? "

As if any one could forget Hortense! But
I did not say so. Instead, I begged leave to
welcome her back by saluting the tips of her
gloved fingers. She asked me if I minded that
drowning of Ben long ago. Then she wanted
to know of Jack.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" I hear you are fur trading, Ramsay? " re-
marks M. Picot with th", inflection of a ques-

I told him somewhat of the trade, and he
broke out in almost the same words as Ben Gil-

wT" 77f\'^' "^' ^°' ^ gentleman of spirit.
Why didn t I join the beaver trade of Hudson
Bay? And did I know of any secret league be-
tween Captain Zachariah Gillam and Mr Stock-
mg to trade withput commission?

"Ah, Hillary," he sighed, "had we been
beaver tradmg like Radisson instead of pound-

iefto^ed "'■ ""' '"'"^' ^^"" ^^'^ ""'^ ^°'''^''
"Restored!" thought I. And M. Picot

Tolrt, fr '"^. '"'P"'^' ^°^ ^' d'^^ back

o h.s shell hke a pncked snail. Observing that

ti^^wmd was chill, he bade me an icy |ood-

uJi^^^ 1^ ^^^''^ *° P'^ '"*° ^- P'cot's secrets,

fur trade. From that 'twas but a step to the
guess that he had come to New England to
amass wealth to restore Mistress Hortense

sharo'T '"■ '° f''^- "^^^^^ ' P""«d up

sharp. Twas none of my aflfair; and yet, in spite

of resolves, ,t daily became more of my affair

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

Do what I would, spending part of every day
with Rebecca, that image of lustrous eyes un-
der the white beaver, the plume nodding above
the curls, the slender figure outlined against the
gold-shot mantilla, became a haunting memory.
Countless times I blotted out that mental pic-
ture with a sweep of common sense. " Shr was
a pert miss, with her head full of French non-
sense and a nose held too high in air." Then
a memory of the eyes under the beaver, and fancy
was at it again spinning cobwebs in moonshine.

M. Picot.kept more aloof than formerly, and
was as heartily hated for it as the little minds
of a little place ever hate those apart.

Occasionally, in the forest far back from the
settlement, I caught a flying glimpse of Lincoln
green; and Hortense went through the woods,
hard as her Irish hunter could gallop, followed
by the blackamoor, churning up and down on
a blowing nag. Once I had the good luck to
restore a dropped gauntlet befc.'e the blacka-
moor could come. With eyes alight she threw
me a flashing thanks and r as off, a sunbeam
through the forest shades; and something was
thumping under a velvet waistcoat faster than
the greyhound's pace. A moment later, back
came the hound in springy stretches, with the
riders at full gallop.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

tunf "" "^^'^ ^'"' ^"' '^^ *'"•= '^^ did not

But when I carried the whip to the doctor's

h^u« that nigh, M. Picot received it with sSnt

Whisper^gall-midges among evil tongues
-were ra.smg a buzz that bodedlll for the do -
tor. France had paid spies among the English
some sad. Deliveranr*. n^KK- *= ^"S"sn,

fi7D-,-o. r.( r^"^^'^3"ce Dobbins, a frumpish,
fizgig of a maid, ever complaining of bodily ills
though her chuffy cheeks were red as pippin
reported that one day when she had gonTfor

jars of M. Plot's dispensaiy. At this I laughed
as Rebecca told it me, and old Tibbie winked

fath rf 5"^' ^""^^" --d'^ ''-d; for mj
father, hke the princes, had known that love o^

gentlemen. Had I not noticed the mole on the
French doctor's cheekP Rebecca asked. I ha'd!

"The crops have been blighted," says Re-
bec^; though what connection that ha5 ,^tt
M. Picot's mole, I could not see

oainl-t^'Tl °°^'''"' °^* ^^'^ "--^king
w2h "^^ u'^'""' ^'''^ '^^' ^'^ °f injury
which became her demure dimples so well.

Urat that Deliverance Dobbins for a low-
38

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

bred mongrel mischief-maker! " cries old Tibbie
from the pantry door.

" Tibbie," I order, " hold your tongue and
drop an angel in the blasphemy box."

" Twas good coin wasted," the old nurse
vowed; but I must needs put some curb on her
royalist tongue, which was ever running a-riot
in that Puritan household.

It was an accident, in the end, that threw
me across M. Picot's path. I had gone to have
him bind up a splintered wrist, and he invited
me to stay for a round of piquet. I, having
only one hand, must beg Mistress Hortense to
sort the cards for me.

She sat so near that I could not see her.
You may guess I lost every game.

"Tut! tut! Hillary dear, 'tis a poor helper
Ramsay gained when he asked your hand. Pish!
pish!" he added, seeing our faces crimson;
" come away," and he carried me off to the dis-
pensary, as though his preserved reptiles would
be more interesting than Hortense.

With an indifference a trifle too marked, he
brought me round to the fur trade and wanted
to know whether I would be willing to risk trad-
ing without a license, on shares with a partner.

"Quick wealth that way, Ramsay, an you
have courage to go to the north. An it were
39

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

not for Hortense, I'd hire that young rapscal
I'on of a Gillam to take me north " ^

th./i'""^''' ^'' '^""' ""^ •'^d to tell him
court """' '° "^ "^ '°'^""^ - ^^« English
But he paid small heed to what I said, gaz-
ing absently at the creatures in the jars. ^

Twould be devilish dangerous for a girl "
he muttered, pulling fiercely at his mustafhe
Do you mean the court, sir? "I asked.

th.. ^'' T'"™"'^ '''" ^°"'°'" ^'th a dry laugh
that meant the opposite of his words. " An you
inchne to the court, learn the tricks o' the foT
or rogues will slit both purse and throat •'
And all the while he war smiling as though

^^ If I could bu and a master," I lamented.
" T'l. r°"l! *° "' °^ ^" evening," says M. Picot.
trade."'' '^°"' '""^ ^'''" ''" *^" ""^ °^ ^^^^ ^^^

cn„M°"ivr^-^' '"'" ^ ^""* -' °^t^" as ever I
could. M. P.cot took me upstairs to a sort o
huntmg room. It had a great many ponderous
oak p eces carved after the Flemish pattern and

w r o :^"''-'^^^^' *^'^'^^ ^"^ ^"^^^™bTes
with courtly scenes painted on top, which he

Z ^:lr% ""TT^ ""'' broughfback as o
the latest French fashion. The blackamoor

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

drew close the iron shutters; for, though those
in the world must know the ways of the world
worldling practices were a sad oflFence to New
England. Shoving the furnishings aside M
Picot picked from the armory rack two slim
foils resembling Spanish rapiers and prepared to
give me my lesson. Carte and tierce, low carte
and flanconnade, he laught me with many a
nngmg clash of steel till beads were dripping
from our brows like rain-drops.
^^ "Bravo!" shouted M. Picot in a pause.
Are you son o' the Stanhope that fought on
the king's side?"
I said that I was.

" I knew the rascal that got the estate from
the king," says M. Picot, with a curious look
from Hortense to me; and he told me of Blood,
the freebooter, who stole the king's crown but
won royal favour by his bravado and entered
court service for the doing of deeds that bore
not the light of day.

Nightly I went to the French doctor's house,
and I learned every wicked trick of thrust and
parry that M. Picot knew. Once when I bun-
gled a foul lunge, which M. Picot said was a
habit of the infamous Blood, his weapon touched
my chest, and Mistress Hortense uttered a sharp
cry.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

exclaims M. Picot,

" What— what—what! '
whirling on her.

her'li'^**' «° '■«*''" murmurs Hortense, biting

After that she sat still enough. Then the
steel was exchanged for cards; and when I lost
too steadily M. Picot broke out: "Pish bov
your luck fails here! Hillary, child, go practise
thy songs on the spinet."

Or: "Hortense, go mull us a smack o'
wme!

Or: "Ha, ha, little witch! Up yet' Late
hours make old ladies."

And Hortense must go oflF, so that I never
saw her alone but once. 'Twas the night before
1 was to leave for the trade.

The blackamoor appeared to say that De-
liverance Dobbins was "a-goin' in fits" on the
dispensary floor.

" Faith, doctor," said I, " she used to have
dumps on our turnstile."

"Yes" laughed Hortense, "small wonder
she had dumps on that turnstile! Ramsay used
to tilt her backward."

M. Picot hastened away, laughing. Hor-
tense was in a great carved high-back chair with
chtmsy, wooden cupids floundering all about the
tall head-rest. Her face was alight in soft-hued
42 o

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

crimson flaming from an Arabian cresset stuck
m sockets against the Flemish cabinet.

"A child's trick," began Hortense, catchine
at the shafts of light.

"I often think of those old days on the
beach."

" So do I," said Hortense.

" I wish they could come back."

" So do I." smiled Hortense. Then, as if to
check more: " I suppose, Ramsay, you would
want to drown us all— Ben and Jack and Re-
becca and me."

" And I suppose you would want to stand
us all on our heads," I retorted.

Then we both laughed, and Hortense de-
manded if I had as much skill with the lyre as
with the sword. She had heard that I was much
given to chanting vain airs and wanton songs
she said.

And this is what I sang, with a heart that
knocked to the notes of the old madrigal like
the precentor's tuning-fork to a meeting-house
psalm:

" Lady, when I behold the roses sprouting,

Which, clad in damask mantles, deck the arbours.
And then behold your lips where sweet love harbours.
My eyes perplex me with a double doubting.
Whether the roses be your lips, or your lips the roses."
■» 43

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Barely had I finished when Mistress Hor-
tense seats herself at the spinet, and, changing
the words to suit her saucy fancy, trills oflf that
ballad but newly writ by one of our English
courtiers: "

" Shall I, wasting; in despair.
Die beautae—Jleiecea' J— fair}
Or make pale my cheeks with care
'Cause Retecca't rosier are ? "

"Hortense!^' I protested.
" Be it fairer than the day
Or the June-field coils of hay;
If ^« be not so to me.
What care I how fine he be? "

There was such merriment in the dark-
ashed eyes, I defy Eli Kirke himself to have
taken offence; and so, like many another youth.
I was all too ready to be the pipe on which
a dainty lady played her stops. As the song
faded to the last tinkling notes of the spinet
her fingers took to touching low, tuneless melo-
dies like thoughts creeping into thoughts, or
perfume of flowers in the dark. The melting
airs slipped into silence, and Hortense shut her
eyes, " to get the memory of it," she said. I
thought she meant some new-fangled tune.

" This is memory enough for me," said I.

" Oh? " asked Hortense, and she uncovered
44 J

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

all the blaze of the dark lights hid in those
eyes.

"Faith, Hortense," I answered, like a
moth gone giddy in flame, "your naughty mu-
sic wakes echoes of what souls must hear in
paradise."

" Then it isn't naughty," said Hortense, be-
ginnmg to play fiercely, striking false notes and
discords and things.

" Hortense," said I.

"No—Ramsay!" cried Hortense, janeline
harder than ever.

" But— yes I — Hortense "

And in bustled M. Picot, hastier than need
methought. '

"What, Hillary? Not a-bed yet, child?
Ha!— crow's-feet under eyes to-morrow! Bed
httle baggage! Forget not thy prayers! Pish!
Pish! Good-night! Good-night 1"

That is the way an older man takes it.

"Now, devil fly away with that prying

wench of a Deliverance Dobbins! " ejaculated

M. Picot, stamping about. " Oh, I'll cure her

fanciful fits! Pish! Pish! That frump and her

fits! Bad blood, Ramsay; low-bred, low-bred!

Tis ever the way of her kind to blab of aches

and stuffed stomachs that were well if left empty.

An she come prying into my chemicals, taking

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

fits when she's caught, I'll mix her a pill o' De-
liverance!" And AI. Picot laughed heartily at
his own joke.

The next morning I was off to the trade.
Though I hardly acknowledged the reason to
myself, any youth can guess why I made excuse
to come back soon. As I rode up, Rebecca
stood at our gate. She had no smile. Had I
not been thinking of another, I had noticed the
sadness of her face; but when she moved back
a pace, I flung out some foolishness about a
gate being no bar if one had a mind to jump.
Then she brought me sharp to my senses as I
sprang to the ground.

Ramsay," she exclaimed, " M. Picot and
Mistress Hortense are in jail charged with sor-
cery! M. Picot is like to be hanged! An they
do not confess, they may be set in the bilboes
and whipped. There is talk of putting Mistress
Hortense to the test."
"The test!"

'Twas as if a great weight struck away power
to think, for the test meant neither more nor
less than torture till confession were wrung from
agony. The night went black and Rebecca's
voice came as from some far place.

" Ramsay, you are hurting— you are crush-
ing my hands! "

TOUCHING WITCHCRAFT

Poor child, she was crying; and the words I
would have said stuck fast behind sealed lips.
She seemed to understand, for she went on:

"Deliverance Dobbins saw strange things
in his house. She went to spy. He hath crazed
her intellectuals. She hath dumb fits."

Now I understood. This trouble was the
result of M. Picot's threat; but little Rebecca's
voice was tinkling on like a b;ll in a dome.

" My father hath the key to their ward. My
father saith there is like to be trouble if they

do not confess "

"Confess!" I broke out. "Confess what?
If they confess the lie they will be burned for
witchcraft. And if they refuse to confess, they
will be hanged. for not telling the lie. Pretty
justice! And your holy men fined one fellow a
hundred pounds for calling their justices a pack

of jackasses "

" Sentence is to be pronounced to-morrow
after communion," said Rebecca.

" After communion? " I could say no more.
On that of all days for tyranny's crime!

God forgive me for despairing of mankind
that night. I thought freedom had been won
in the Commonwealth war, but that was only
freedom of body. A greater strife was to wage
for freedom of soul.

CHAPTER IV

REBECCA AND JACK BATTLE CONSPIRE

TwAS cocl:cxow when I left pacing the
shore where we had so often played in child-
hood; and through the darkness came the howl
of M. Picot's hound, scratching outside the
prison gate.

As well reason with maniacs as fanatics, say
I. for they hide as much folly under the mask
of conscience as ever court fool wore 'neath
painted face. There was Mr. Stocking, as well-
meamng a man as trod earth, obdurate beyond
persuasion against poor M. Picot under his
charge. Might I not speak to the French doc-
tor through the bars of his window? By no
means, Mr. Stocking assured. If once the great
door were unlocked, who could tell what black
arts a sorcerer might use?

" Look you, Ramsay lad," says he, " I've
had this brass key made against his witchcraft,
and I do not trust it to the hands of the jailer."
Then, I fear, I pleaded too keenly; for, sus-
48

.Ji.

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

pecting collusion with M. Picot, the warden of
the court-house grew frigid and bade me ask
Eli Kirke's opinion on witchcraft.

Thou Shalt not suffer a witch to live,' "
rasped Eli Kirke, his stern eyes ablaze from an
inner fire. " 'A man also, or woman, that hath
a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely
be put to death.' Think you M. Picot burns
incense to the serpent in his jars for the healing
of mankind? " he demanded fiercely.

"Yes," said I, "'tis for the healing of
mankind by experimentation with chemicals.
Knowledge of God nor chemicals springs full
grown from man's head, Uncle Eli. Both must
be learned. That is all the meaning of his jars
and crucibles. He is only trying to learn what
laws God ordained among materials. And when
M. Picot makes mistakes, it is the same as when
the Church makes mistakes and learns wisdom
by blunders."

Eli Kirke blinked his eyes as though my
monstrous pleadings dazed him.

Thou Shalt not suffer a witch to live,' " he
cried doggedly. " Do the Scriptures lie, Ram-
say Stanhope? Tell me that?"

"No," said I. "The Scriptures condemn
liars, and the man who pretends witchcraft is a
liar. There's no such thing. That is why the
49

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Scriptures command burning." I paused H.
made no answer, and I pleafed on ^'

But M. Picot denies witchcraff an^
would bum him for not lyinr" ^°"

fppf Jn o c r ^-TKe, lor he leaped to his

HoVvVr'"^""^^^"^^^^^-cease'iugg,ing

snouted. T,s abomination! It shall utterlv
be put away from you! Because of th h S
n.qu.ty the colony hath fallen on evil da^s ^
It perish root and branch!"

But Tibbie breaks in upon his declamation bv

•■God ™ awakening the charches by mar-

H^d^^S^Slcl^S.^^^-^^"-'-^^^

'Have we not wrestled mightily for signs
SO

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

and wonders?" demanded another with jaw of
steel. And one description of the generation
seeking signs was all but off the tip of my
tongue. ^ '

"Some aver there be no witches-so fear-
hally hath error gone abroad," lamentech young
Mather keen to be heard then, as he always
was. Brethren, toleration would nake a kinir-

bnT"° ^^^°'' ^ ^°''*""' ^ ^°"'°"^^' a Baby-

Faith, it needed no horoscope to forecast
that young divine's dark future!

I stood it as long as I could, with palms
tching to knock their solemn heads together
like so many bowling balls; but when one cadav-
erous-faced fellow, whose sanctity had gone bil-
ious from lack of sunshine, whined out against
the saucy miss," meaning thereby Mistress
Hortense, and another prayed Heaven through
his nose that his daughter might "lie in her
grave ere she minced her steps with such dis-
soluteness of hair and unseemly broideries and
bnght^ cotours, showing the lightness of her
mmd and a third averred that " a cucking-stool
would teach a maid to walk more shamefaced-
ly, I whirled upon them in a fury that had
disinherited me from Eli Kirke's graces ere I
spake ten words.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"Sirs," said I, "your slatternly wenches
may be dead ere they match Mistress Hortensel
As for wearing light colours, the devil himself
IS painted black. Let them who are doing
shameful acts to the innocent walk shamefaced-
ly! i<or shan.e, sirs, to cloak malice and jeal-
ousy of M. Picot under religion! New England
will remember this blot against you and curse
you for It! An you listen to Deliverance Dob-
bins s lies what hfnders any lying wench sending
good men to the scaffold r "

At first they listened agape, but now the hot
blood rushed to their faces.

" Hold thy tongue, lad! " roared Eli Kirke.
Ihen, as if to atone for that violence: "The
Lord rebuke thee," he added solemly.

And I flung from the house dumb with im-
potent rage.

My thoughts were as the snatched sleep of
a sick man's dreams. Again the hideous night-
mare of the old martyr at the shambles; but
now the shambles were in the New World and
the martyr was M. Picot. Something cold
touched my hand through the dark, and there
crouched M. Picot's hound, whining for its mas-
ter. Automatically I followed across the com-
mons to the court-house square. It stopped at
the pnson gate, sniffing and whining and beg-
5* ,

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

ging in. Poor dog! What could I do? I tried
to coax it away, but it lay at the wall like a
stone.

Of the long service in the new-built meet-
ing-house I remember very little. Beat of
drums, not bells, called to church in those days,
and the beat was to me as a funeral march!
The pale face of the preacher in the high pul-
pit overtowering us all was alight with stern
zeal. The elders, sitting in a row below the pul-
pit facing us, listened to the fierce diatribe
against the dark arts with looks of approbation
that boded ill for M. Picot; and at every fresh
fusillade of texts to bolster his argument, the
line of deacons below the elders glanced back at
the preacher approvingly. Rebecca sat on that
side of the congregation assigned to the women
with a dumb look of sympathy on the sweet
hooded face. The prisoners were not present. At
the end of the service the preacher paused; and
there fell a great hush in which men scarce
breathed, for sentence was to be pronounced.
But the preacher only announced that before
handing the case to the civil court of oyer and
terminer for judgment, the elders wished to hold
it in meditation for another day.

The singing of the dismissal psalm began
and a smothered cry seemed to break from Re-
53

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

becca's pew. Then the preacher had raised his
hands above bowed heads. The service was
over. The people crowded solemnly out, and
I was left alone in the gathering darkness— alone
with the ghosts of youth's illusions mocking
from the gloom. Religion, then, did not always
mean right! There were tyrants of souls as well
as tyrants of sword. Prayers were uttered that
were fitter for hearing in hell than in Heaven.
Good men could deceive themselves into crime
cloaking spiritual malice, sect jealousy, race ha-
tred with an unctuous text. Here, in New Eng-
land, where men had come for freedom, \vas tyr-
anny masking in the guise of religion. Preach-
ers as jealous of the power slipping from their
hands as ever was primate of England! A poor
gentleman hounded to his death because he
practised the sciences! Millions of victims all
the worid over burned for witchcraft, sacrificed
to a Moloch of superstition in the name of a
Christ who came to let in the light of knowl-
edge on all superstition!

Could I have found a wilderness where was
no human face, I think I had fled to it that
night. And, indeed, when you come to think
of my breaking with Eli Kirke, 'twas the witch
trial that drove me to the wilderness.

There was yet a respite. But the Church
54

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

still dominated the civil courts, and a transfer
of the case meant that the Church would throw
the onus of executing sentence on those lay
figures who were the puppets of a Pharisaical
ohgarchy.

There was no time to appeal to England.
There was no chance of sudden rescue. New
England had not the stuff of which mobs are
made.

I thought of appealing to the mercy of the
judges; but what mercy had Eli Kirke received
at the hands of royalists that he should be mer-
ciful to them?

I thought of firing the prison; but the walls
were stone, and the night wet, and the outcome
doubtfi '.

I thought of the cell window; but if there
had been any hope that way, M. Picot had
worked an escape.

Bowing my head to think— to pray— to im-
precate, I lost all sense of time and place.

Some one had slipped quietly into the dark
of the church. I felt rather than saw a nearing
presence. But I paid no heed, for despair blot-
ted out all thought. Whoever it was came feel-
ing a way down the dark aisle.

Then hot tears fell upon my hands. In the
gloom there paused a childlike figure.
55

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"Rebecca!"

She panted out a wordless cry. Then she
came closer and laid a hand on my arm. She
was struggling to subdue sobs. The question
came in a shivering breath.

" Is Hortense — so dear? "

" So dear, Rebecca."

"She must be wondrous happy, Ramsay"
A tumult of effort. " If I could only take her
place "

" Take her place, Rebecca? "

" My father hath the key— if— if—if I took
her place, she might go free."

" Take her place, child! What folly is this—
dear, kind Rebecca? Would 't be any better to
send you to the rope than Hortense? No-no
—dear child! "

At that her agitation abated, and she puz-
zled as if to say more.

" Dear Rebecca," said I, comforting her as
I would a sister, " dear chUd, run home. For-
get not little Hortense in thy prayers."

May the angel of forgiveness spread a broad-
er mantle across our blunders than our sins, but
could I have said worse?

" I have cooked dainties with my own hands.
I have sent her cakes every day," sobbed Re-
becca.

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

" Go home now, Rebecca," I begged.
But she stood silent.
" Rebecca — what is it? "

" You have not been to see me for a year
Ramsay." ' '

I could scarce believe my ears.
" My father is away to-night. Will you not
come? "

" But, Rebecca "

" I have never asked a thing of you before."

"But, Rebecca "

" Will you come for Hortense's sake? " she
interrupted, with a little sharp, hard, falsetto
note in her baby voice.

"Rebecca," I demanded, "what do you
mean?"

But she snapped back like the peevish child
that she was: "An you come not when I ask
you, you may stay! " And she had gone.

What was she trying to say with her dark
hints and ovemice scruples of a Puritan con-
science? And was not that Jack Battle greeting
her outside in the dark?

I tore after Rebecca at such speed that I had
cannoned into open arms before I saw a hulking
form across the way.

"Fall-back— fall-edge!" roared Jack, clos-
ing his arms about me. " 'Tis Ramsay himself,
57

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

with a sword like a butcher's cleaver and a wit
likeabroadaxe!"

" Have you not heard. Jack? "
"Heard! Ship ahoy! " cried Jack. "Split
me to the chin like a cod! Stood I not abaft
of you all day long, packed like a herring in a
pickle! Twas a pretty kettle of fish in your
Noah s ark to-day! Tis all along o' goodness
gone stale from too much salt," says Jack.

I told him of little Rebecca, and asked what
he made o' it. He said he made of it that fools
dtdn t love in the right place— which was not to
the pomt, whatever Jack thought of Rebecca.
Lmkmg h.s arm through mine, he headed me
about.

" Captain Gillam, Ben's father, sails for Eng-
land at sunrise," vouched Jack.

" What has that to do with Mistress Hor-
tense? " I returned testily.

" 'Tis a swift ship to sail in."

" To sail in. Jack Battle? "—I caught at the
hope. ' Out with your plan, man! "

silen't'^"'^ ^^ ^^"^""^ ^°' '*'" ^"^P" ^'"'^' ^''"'"^

We were opposite the prison. He pointed
to a light behind the bars.

..S'^^^^ ^"^ ^^^ °"'y prisoners," he said.
They must be in there."

58 V

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

" One could pass a note through those bars
with a long pole," I observed, gazing over the
yard wall.

" Or a key," answered Jack.
He paused before Rebecca's house to the left
of the prison.

"Ramsay," inquired' Jack quizzically, "do
you happen to have heard who has the keys? "
" Rebecca's father is warden."
"And Rebecca's father is from home to-
night," says he. facing me squarely to the lan-
tern above the door.

How did he know that? Then I remem-
bered the voices outside the church.

" Jack— what did Rebecca mean "

" Not to be hanged," interrupts Jack. " 'Tis
all along o' having too much conscience, Ram-
say. They must either lie like a Dutchman and
be damned, or tell the truth and be hanged
Now, ship ahoy," says he, "to the quarter-
deck! " and he flung me forcibly up the steps.

Rebecca, herself, red-eyed . and reserved
threw wide the door. She motioned me to a
bench seat opposite the fireplace and fastened
her gaze above the mantel till mine followed
there too. A bunch of keys hung from an iron
rack.

" What are those, Rebecca? "
S 59

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" The largest is for the gate," says she with
the panic of conscience running from fire. " The
brass one unlocks the great door, and— and—
the— M. Picofs ceU unbolts," she stammered.
"^ May I examine them, Rebecca? "
" I will even draw you a pint of cider," says
Rebecca evasively, with great trepidation, " but
come back soon," she called, tripping off to the
wine-cellar door.

Snatching the keys, I was down the steps
at a leap.

"The large one for the gate, Jack! The
brass one for the big door, and the cell un-
bolts! "

" Ease your helm, sonny ! " says Jack, catch-
mg the bunch from my clasp. " Fall-back— fall-
edge!" he laughed in that awful mockery of
the axeman's block. "Fall-back— fall-.dge' If
there's any hacking of necks, mine is thicker
than yours! I'll run the risks. Do you wait
here in shadow."

And he daried away. The gate creaked as
It gave.

Then I wailed for what seemed eternity.

A night-watchman shuffled alongwith swing-
ing Jantem, calling out: "What ho? What
ho? " Townsfolks rode through the streets with
? clatter of the chairmen's feet; but no words
60

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

were bandied by the fellows, for a Sabbath hush
^y over the n.ght. A great hackney-coach nigh

to me ^''""^ '"''^"^ *'""SriIy

A glare of light shot aslant the dark. Softly
the door of Rebecca's house opened. A frail
figure was silhouetted against the light. The
wick above snuffed out. The figure drew in
without a single look, leaving the door ajar. But

TJZ/^°' "" ''■°" righteousness of bigots
had filed my soul with revolt. Now the sight
of that httle Puritan maid brought prayers to
my hps and a Te Deum to my soul.

The prison gate swung open again with rusty
protest Two hooded figures slipped through
he dark. Jack Battle had locked the gate and
the keys were in my hand.

"Takj them back." he gurgled out with

s<nool-ladglee. " 'Twill be a pretty to-do of

witchcraft to-morrow when they find a cell emp-

y. Go hire passage to England in Captain Gil-

lam s uoat I

" Captain Gillam's boat? "

"Yes, or Master Ben's pirate-ship of the
north. If she's there." and he had dashed off in
the dark.

When Rebecca appeared above the cellar-
6i

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

way with a flagon that reamed to a beaded top,
the keys were back on the wall.

" I was overlong," panted Rebecca, with
eyes averted as of old to the fol^ls of her white
stomacher. " Twas a stubborn bung and hard
to draw."

"Dear little cheat! God bless you!— an;
bless you!— and bless you, Rebecca!" I criea.
At which the poor child took fright.

" It — it — it was not all a lie, Ramsay," she
stammered. " The bung was hard — and — and

—and I didn't hasten "

" Dear comrade — good-bye, forever! " I
called from the dark of the step.

" Forever? " asked the faint voice of a for-
lorn figure black in the doorway.

Dear, snowy, self-sacrificing spirit — 'tis my
clearest memory of her with the thin, grieved
voice coming through the dark.

I ran to the wharf hard as ever heels nerved
by fear and joy and triumph and love could carry
me. The passage I easily engaged from the
ship's mate, who dinned into my unlistening
ears full account of the north sea, whither Cap-
tain Gillam was to go for the Fur Company, and
whither, too. Master Ben was keen to sail, " a
pirateer, along o' his own risk and gain," ex-
plained the mate with a wink, " pirateer or pri-
62

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

vateer, call 'em what you will, Mister- th. «:
;r't'' white sails in Boston Tow^ and Le b"""

'••m her^^ o'; drolin' /"-'r"' "''°'^ *° i-'

Quebe?i„X%^hif:w?Tf7' '%""=' ^'^^
Je Capiten'n,eet-!:h L "llT" ^"'
There'll be times!" ''*' *"""'

of tha'lVha'r^:" *'''' "^'■^ ^"^« enough; but

o< -™ Xh '"?""■ '™"-«°« -«^*

<l.y shippine had bei?„ °' ^'"""'' "«' «<■-

■He Chain,™, „,h Jack ^I'/f,^'"' -"»
F^n the Chair. ,,.pp„, .^ ^

'»!^i

\ ij.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

painted as white as paste. Then a New Amster-
dam gentleman slipped out from the curtains,
followed by his page-boy and servants.

" Jack," I asked, " where is Hortense? "

The page glanced from undet curls.

" Dear Jack," she whispered, standing high
on her heels nigh as tall as the sailor lad. And
poor Jack Battle, not knowing how to play
down, stood blushing, cap in hand, till she
laughed a queer little laugh and, bidding him
good-bye, told him to remember that she had
the squirrel stuffed.

To me she said no word. Her hand touched
mine quick farewell. The long lashes lifted.

There was a look on her face.

I ask no greater joy in Paradise than mem-
ory of that look.

One lone, gray star hung over the masthead.
The ship careened across the billows till star and
mast-top met.

Jack fetched a deep sigh.

" There be work for sailors in England," he
said.

In a flash I thought that I knew what he
had meant by fools not loving in the right place.

"That were folly. Jack! She hath her sta-
tion!"

Ill

REBECCA AND JACK CONSPIRE

Jack Battle pointed to the fading steel point
above the vanishing masthead.

]] Doth looking hurt yon star? " asks Jack
Nay; but looking may strain the eyes; and
the arrows of longing come back void "

He answered nothing, and we lingered
heavy hearted till the sun came up over the
pillowed waves turning the tumbling waters to
molten gold.

Between us and the fan-like rays behind the
glossy billows— was no ship.
Hortense was safe!
There was an end-all to undared hopes.

CHAPTER V

M. RADISSON AGAIN

" Good-bye to you, Ramsay," said Jack ab-
ruptly.

" Where to, Jack? " I asked, bestirring my-
self. I could no more go back to Eli Kirke.

But little Jack Battle was squirming his
wooden clogs into the sand as he used to dig
his toes, and he answered not a word.

" 'Tis early yet for the Grand Banks, Jack.
Ben Gillam's ship keeled mast over hull from
being ice-logged last spring. The spars were
solid with frozen sleet from the crosstrees to the
crow's nest. Your dories would be ice-logged
for a month yet."

"It— it— it aren't the Grand Banks no
more," stammered Jack.

His manner arrested me. The honest blue
eyes were shifting and his toe;-, at work in the
sand.

"There be gold on the high seas for the
taking," vouched Jack. " An your fine gentle-
men grow rich that way, why mayn't I?"
66

M. RADISSON AGAIN

"Jack," I warned, thinking of Ben Gillam's

craft rigged with sails of as many colours as

• J°^f P'^'^ ,';0^t' "Jack— is it a pirate-ship?"

„ , ." ^°'" '*"&''<^a the sailor lad sheepishly,

tis a pirateer," meaning thereby a privateer,

which was the same thing in those days.

"Have a care of your pirateers— privateers.
Jack, said I, speaking plain. "A gentleman
would be run through th.. gullet with a clean
rapier, but you— you— would be strangled by
sentence of court or sold to the Barbadoes."
" Not if the warden o' the court owns half
the ship," protested Jack, smiling queeriv under
his shaggy brows.

"Oh— ho!" said I, thinking of Rebecca's
father, and beginning to understand vrho sup-
plied money for Ben Gillam's ventures.

" I'm tired o' being a kick-a-toe and fisti-
cuff to everybody. Now, if I'd been rich and
had a ship, I might 'a' sailed for M. Picot."

"Or Mistress Hortense," I added, which
brought red spots to the sailor lad's cheeks.

Oflf he went unanswering, leaving me at gaze

across an unbroken sea with a heart heavy as lead.

•' Poor fellow! He will get over it," said I.

" Another hath need o' the same medicine,"

came a voice.

I wheeled, expecting arrest.
67

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

A tall, wiry man, with coal-black hair and
deep-set eyes and a scar across his swarth skin,
smiled pleasantly down at me.

" Now that you have them safely off," said
he, still smiling, " better begone yourself."

" ^,?' ^^'^"^ ^°" ^°^ y^""" advice when I ask
It, sir," said I, suspicious of the press-gang in-
festing that port. Involuntarily I caught at my
empty sword-belt.

" Permit me," proffered the gentleman, with
^ '"!?^^^^ ^'"''^' landing out his own rapier.

" Sir," said I, " your pardon, but the press-
gang have been busy of late."

" And the sheriffs may be busy to-day," he
laughed. " Black arts don't open stone walls
Ramsay." '

And he sent the blade clanking home to its
scabbard. His surtout falling open revealed a
waistcoat of buckskin. I searched his face.

"M. deRadisson!"

" My hero of rescues," and he offered his
hand. " And my quondam nephew," he added,
laughing; for his wife was a Kirke of the Eng-
lish branch, and my aunt was married to Eli.

"Eli Kirke cannot know you are here
sir " '

"Eli Kirke need not know," emphasized
Radisson dryly.

fSiJ.

M. RADISSON AGAIN

And remembering bits of rumour about M.
Radisson deserting the English Fur Company,
I hastened to add: " Eli Kirke shall not know! "
Your wits jump quick enough sometimes,"
said he. " Now tell me, whose is she, and what
value do you set on her? "

I was speechless with surprise. However
wild a life M. Radisson led, his title of nobility
was from a king who awarded patents to gen-
tlemen only.

" We neither call our women ' she ' nor give
them market value," I retorted.

Thereupon M. de Radisson falls in such fits
of laughter, I had thought he must split his bal-
drick.

"Pardieu!" he laughed, wiping the tears
away with a fangled lace thing fit for a dandy,
"Pardieu! 'Tis not your giri-page? 'Tis the
shipo'that hangdog of a New England captain!"

The thing came in a jiffy. Sieur Radisson,
having deserted the English Fur Company, was
setting up for himself. He was spying the
strength of his rivals for the north sea.

"You praised my wit. I have but given
you a sample."

Then I told him all I knew of the ship, and
M. de Radisson laughed again till he was like
to weep.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

'' How is she called? " he asked.
^^ The Prince Rupert," said I.

sculL^tL?^" '^'^ ?•"*= "'* °^ gentlemen's
ers full o trash to trade on their master's ac-
count A pretty cheat for the Company! "

The end of it was, M. Radisson invited me
to jom h,s ships. " A beaver-skin for a needTe
Ramsay! Twenty otter for an awl! Wealth for'
a merchant prince," he urged.

But no sooner had I grasped at this easy
way out of difficulty than the Frenchman In-
terrupts: " Hold back, man! Do you know ti:^

" No — nor care one rush! "

hJ\^°''^7°' Frontenac demands half of the

urs for a license to trade, but M. de la Barre,

who comes to take his place, is a friend oi

sWps^'''"' ^"^ ^ ^'^"'"^y^ °^°^ °"r

" And you go without a license? "

" And the galleys for life "

"If you're caught," said I.

caught?'-""'" '^ ''''''''' "y^^'^ -'re

as th/'' ff M^/° '° '^' ^""^y^ ^°' fur-trading
as the scaffold for witchcraft," said I.

With that our bargain was sealed.

PART II

Now comes that part of a Ufe which deals with what
you will say no one man could do, yet the things were done;
with wonders stranger than witchcraft, yet were true But
because you have never lived a sword-length from city
pavement, nor seen one man holding his own against a thou-
sand enemies, I pray you deny not these things.

Each life is a shut-in valley, says the jongliAie; but
Manitou, who strides from peak to peak, knows there is
more than one valley, which had been a maxim among the
jongUires long before one Danish gentleman assured another
there were more things in heaven and earth than philosophy
dreamed. *^ '

CHAPTER VI

THE ROARING FORTIES

Keen as an arrow from twanging bowstring,

fnrTh ^"^f °" J''^ «^" °-er the roaring seas
for the northern bay.

•Twas midsummer before his busy flittings
between Acadia and Quebec brought us to Isle
Percee, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. Here
Chouart Groseillers (his brother-in-law) lay with
two of the craziest craft that ever rocked anchor
I scarce had time to note the bulging hulls, stout
at stem and stern with deep sinking of the waist,
before M. Radisson had climbed the ship's lad-
der and scattered quick commands that sent
sailors shmning up masts, for all the world like
so many monkeys. The St. Pierre, our ship
was called, m honour of Pierre Radisson; for
admiral and captain and trader, all in one. was
S.eur Radisson. himself. Indeed, he could reef
a sail as handily as any old tar. I have seen
him take the wheel and hurt Allemand head-
foremost from the pilot-house when that sponge-

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

soaked rascal had imbibed more gin than was
safe for the weathering of rocky coasts.

Call him gamester, liar, cheat— what you
will! He had his faults, which dogged him down
to poverty and ruin; but deeds are proof of the
mner man. And look you that judge Pierre
Radisson whether your own deeds ring as met-
tle and true.

The ironwood capstan bars clanked to that
seaman's music of running sailors. A clattering
of the pawls— the anchor came away. The St.
Pierre shook out her bellying sails and the white
sheets drew to a full beam wind. Long foam
lines crisped away from the prow. Green shores
slipped to haze of distance. With her larboard
lipping low and that long break of swishing wa-
ters against her ports which is as a croon to the
seaman's ear, the St. Pierre dipped and rose
and sank again to the swell of the billowing sea.
Behind, crowding every stitch of canvas and
staggering not a little as she got under weigh,
ploughed the Ste. Anne. And all about, heav-
ing and falling like the deep breathings of a
slumbering monster, were the wide wastes of
the sea.

And how I wish that I could take you back
with me and show you the two miserable old
gallipots which M. de Radisson rode into the
74

THE ROARING FORTIES

roaring forties ! 'Twas as if those gods of chance
that had held riotous sway over all that watery
desolation now first discovered one greater than
themselves— a rebel 'mid their warring elements
whose will they might harry but could not crush
—Man, the king undaunted, coming to his own I
Children oft get closer to the essences of truth
than older folk grown foolish with too much
learning. As a child I used to think what a
wonderful moment that was when Man, the
master, first appeared on face of earth. How
did the beasts and the seas and the winds feel
about it, I asked. Did they laugh at this fellow,
the most helpless of all things, setting out to
conquer all things? Did the beasts pursue him
till he made bow and arrow and the seas defy
him till he rafted their waters and the winds
blow his house down till he dovetailed his tim-
bers? That was the child's way of asking a very
old question— Was Man the sport of the ele-
ments, the plaything of all the cruel, blind gods
of chance?

Now, the position was reversed.
Now. I learned how the Man must have felt
when he set about conquering the elements, sub-
duing land and sea and savagery. And in that
^es the Homeric greatness of this vast, fresh.
New Worid of ours. Your Old World victor
* 75

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(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2)

II^IL4

^ /APPLIED IM/GE In

^SSM 1fi&3 Eost Main Strv«t

^^f Rochester. N«w Yori* 14609 USA

T.SS (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone

^= (716) 268 - 5989 - Fax

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

takes up the unfinished work left by generations
of men. Your New World hero begins at the
pristine task. I pray you, who are born to the
nobility of the New World, fo/get not the glory
of your heritage; for the place which God hath
given you in the history of the race is one which
men must hold in envy when Roman patri-
cian and Norman conqueror and robber baron
are as forgotten as the kingly lines of old
Egypt.

Fifty ton was our craft, with a crazy pitch
to her prow like to take a man's stomach out
and the groaning of infernal fiends in her tim-
bers. Twelve men, our crew all told, half of
them young' gentlemen of fortune froni Quebec,
with titles as long as a tilting lance and the
fighting blood of a Spanish don and the airs of
a king's grand chamberlain. Their seamanship
you may guess. All of them spent the better
part of the first weeks at sea full length below
deck. Of a calm day they lolled disconsolate
over the taflfrail, with one eye alert for flight
down the companionway when the ship began
to heave.

" What are you doing back there. La Ches-
naye? " asks M. de Radisson, with a quiet wink,
not speaking loud enough for fo'castle hands to
hear.

■ ■

THE ROARING FORTIES

" Cursing myself for ever coming," growls
that young gentleman, scarce turning his head.

" In that case," smiles Sieur Radisson, " you
might be better occupied learning to take a
hand at the helm."

" Sir," pleads La Chesnaye meekly, " 'tis all
I can do to ballast the ship below stairs."

" 'Tis laziness, La Chesnaye," vows Radisson.
" Men are thrown overboard for less! "

" A quick death were kindness, sir," groans
La Chesnaye, scalloping in blind zigzags for the
stair. " May I be shot from that cannon, sir,
if I ever set foot on ship again! "

M. de Radisson laughs, and the place of the
merchant prince is taken by the marquis with
a face the gray shade of old Tibbie's linen a-
bleaching on the green.

The Ste. Anne, under Groseillers— whom we
called Mr. Gooseberry when he wore his airs too
mightily— was better manned, having able-bod-
ied seamen, who distinguished themselves by a
mutiny.

Of which you sh-11 hear anon.

But the spirits our young gentlemen took
a prodigious leap upward as their bodies be-
came used to the crazy pace of our ship, whose
gait I can compare only to the bouncings of
loose timber in a heavy sea. North of New-
17

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

foundland we were blanketed in a dirty fog.
That gave our fine gentlemen a chance to right
end up.

" Every man of them a good seaman . in
calm weather," Sieur Radisson observed; and he
put them through marine drill all that week.

La Chesnaye so far recovered that he some-
times kept me company at the bowsprit, where
we watched the clumsy gambols of the porpoise,
racing and leaping and turning somersets in
mid-air about the ship. Once, I mind the St.
Pierre gave a tremor as if her keel had grated
a reef; and a monster silver-stripe heaved up
on our lee. 'Twas a finback whale, M. Radis-
son explained; and he protested against the im-
pudence of scratching its back on our keel. As
we sailed farther north many a school of roll-
ing finbacks glistened silver in the sun or rose
higher than our masthead, when one took the
death-leap to escape its leagued foes— sword-
fish and thrasher and shark. And to give you
an idea of the fearful tide breaking through the
narrow fiords of that rock-bound coast, I may
tell you that La Chesnaye and I have often seen
those leviathans of the deep swept tail foremost
by the driving tide into some land-locked la-
goon and there beached high on naked rock.
That was the sea M. Radisson was navigating

mmm

THE ROARING FORTIES

with cockje-shell boats unstable of pace as a va-
grant with rickets.

fin/''T J°'''' '^' "^'■'l"'^' ^°'&°' his dainty-
fingered dignity and took a hand at the fishing
of a shark one day. The cook had put out a
bait at the end of a chain fastened to the cap-
stan when comes a mighty tug; and the cook
shouts out that he has caught a shark. All
hands are haded to the capstan, and every one
of my fine gentlemen grasps an ironwood bar
to hoist the monster home. I wish you had
seen their faces when the shark's great head with
SIX rows of teeth m its gaping upper jaw came
abreast the deck! Half the fellows were for
throwing down the bars and running, but the
other half would not show white feather before
the common sailors; and two or three clanking
rounds brought the great shark lashing to deck
m a way that sent us scuttling up vhe ratlines.
But Foret would not be beaten. He thrust an
ironwood bar across the gaping jaws. The
shark tore the wood to splinters. There was
a np that snapped the cable with the report of
a pistol, and the great fish was over deck and
away in the sea.

By this, you may know, we had all left our
landsmen s fears far south of Belle Isle and were
filled with the spirit of that wild, tempestuous
79

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

world where the storm never sleeps and the cord-
age pipes on calmest day and the beam seas
break in the long, low, growling wash that warns
the coming hurricane.

But if you think we were a Noah's ark of
solemn faces 'mid all that warring desolation,
you are much mistaken. I doubt if lamenta-
tions ever did as much to lift mankind to vic-
tory as the nat'ghty glee of the shrieking fife.
And of glee, we had a-plenty on all that voy-
age north.

La Chesnaye, son of the merchant prince who
owned our ships, played cock-o'-the-walk, took
rank next to M. Radisson, and ca'led himself
deputy - governor. Foret, whose father had
a stretch of barren shingle on The Labradci,
and who had himself received letters patent from
His Most Christian Majesty for a marquisate,
swore he would be cursed if he gave the pas to
La Chesnaye, or any other commoner. And M.
de Radisson was as great a stickler for fine
points as any of the new-fledged colonials. When
he called a conference, he must needs muster
to the quarter-deck by beat of drum, with a
tipstaff, having a silver bauble of a stick, lead-
ing the way. This office fell to Godefroy, the
trader, a fellow with the figure of a slat and
a scalp tonsured bare as a billiard-ball by Indian
80

» ...[''j,

THE ROARING FORTIES

hunting-knife. Spite of many a thwack from
the flat of M. de Radisson's sword. Godefroy
would carry the silver mace to the chant of a
" diddle-dee-dee," whicli he was always hum-
ming in a sand-papered voice wherever he went.
At beat of drum for conference we all came
scrambling down the ratlines like tumbling acro-
bats of a country fair. Godefroy grasps his sil-
ver stick.

" Fall in line, there, deputy-governor, did-
dle-dee-dee! "

La Chesnaye cuflfs the fellow's ears.
" Diddle-dee-dee! Come on, marquis. Does
Your High Mightiness give place to a mer-
chant's son? Heaven help you, gentlemen!
Come on! Come on! Diddle-dee-dee!"

And we all march to M. de Radisson's cabin
and sit down gravely at a long table.

"Pot o' beer, tipstaff," orders Radisscn;
and Godefroy goes off slapping his buckskins
with glee.

M. Radisson no more takes off his hat than
a king's ambassador, but he waits for La Ches-
naye and Foret to uncover. The merchant
strums on the table and glares at the marquis,
and the marquis looks at the skylight, waiting
for the merchant; and the end of it is M. Radis-
son must give Godefroy the wink, who knocks
8i

11:1

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

both their hats off at once, explaining that a

andsn^an can ill keep his legs on the!ea. and

he sea .s no respecter of persons. Once, at

the end of h.s byplay between the two young

fire-eaters, the sea lurched in earnest, a mighty

able^ And the beer went full i„ the face of
the marquis.

th."J^T'' ^ '''^''^ '° y°"' F°'-et!" roared
the merchant m whirlwinds of laughter

H. ;."• 'l!' "Y'^"'^ '^^d gone heels over head.
He gained his feet as the ship righted, whipped

lacL ""T' ""T" ""' "°"'^ d"«t somebody's
jacket, and caught up Godefroy on the tip of
his sword by the rascal's belt.

" Foret, I protest," cried M. Radisson scarce
speaking for laughter, "I protest there"; nmh!
ing spilt but the beer and the dignity! The
beer can be mopped. There's plenty o'^ity
in the same barrel. Save Godefroy! vVe cf n U
spare a man!" ^ v»ccanin

had m g'oIT' '\1 '" °"" '■^P'^'-' ^^disson
had cut Godefroy's belt and the wretch scuttled
up-stairs out of reach. Sailors wiped up the
beer, and all hands braced chairs 'twixt table and
wall to await M. Radisson's pleasure.

He had dressed with unusual care. Gold
bra.d. edged his black doublet, and fine old
82

THE ROARING FORTIES

Mechlin came back over his sleeves in deep ruffs.
And in his eyes the glancing light of steel strik-
ing fire.

Bidding the sailors take themselves off, M.
Radisson drew his blade from the scabbard and
called attention by a sharp rap.

Quick silence fell, and he laid the naked
sword across the table. His right hand played
with the jewelled hilt. Across his breast were
medals and stars of honour given him by many
monarchs. I think as we looked at our leader
every man of us would have esteemed it honour
to sail the seas in a tub if Pierre Radisson cap-
tained the craft.

But his left hand was twitching uneasily at
his chin, and in his eyes were the restless lights.
" Gentlemen," says he, as unconcerned as if
he were forecasting weather, " gentlemen, I seem
to have heard that the crew of my kinsman's
ship have mutinied."

We were nigh a thousand leagues from res-
cue or help that day!

" Mutinied! " shrieks La Chesnaye, with his
voice all athrill. " Mutinied? What will my
father have to say? "

And he clapped his tilted chair to floor
with a thwack that might have echoed to the
fo'castle.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Shall I lend you a trumpet, La Chesnaye,
or— or a fife? " asks M. Radisson, very quiet.

And I assure you there was j more loud
talk in the cabin that day; only the long, low
wash and pound and break of the seas abeam,
with the surly wail that portends storm. I do
not believe any of us ever realized what a frail
chip was between life and eternity till we heard
the wrenching and groaning of the timbers in
the silence that followed M. Radisson's words.

" Gentlemen," continues M. Radisson, softer-
spoken than before, " if any one here is for turn-
ing back, I desire him to stand up and say so."
The St. Pierre shipped a sea with a strain
like to tear her asunder, and waters went siz-
zling through lee scuppers above with the hiss
of a cataract. M. Radisson inverts a sand-glass
and watches the sand trickle through till the
last grain drops. Then he turns to us.

Two or three faces had gone white as the
driving spray, but never a man opened his lips
to counsel return.

"Gentlemen," says M. Radisson, with the
fires agleam in his deep-set eyes, "am I to
understand that every one here is for going for-
ward at any risk? "

"Aye— aye, sir!" burst like a clarion from
our circle.

'- 'Vi-, fi

THE ROARING FORTIES

Pierre Radisson smiled quietly.

" 'Tis as well," sav he, " for I bade the rew-
ard stand up so that . could run him through
to the hilt," and he clanked the sword back to
its scabbard.

" As I said before," he went on, " the crew on
my kinsman's ship have mutinied. There's an-
other trifle to keep under your caps, gentlemen
— the mutineers nave been running up pirate
signals to the crew of this sh-p- "

"Pirate signals!" interrupts La Chesnaye,
whose temper was ever crackling off like grains
of gunpowder. " May I ask, sir, how you know
the pirate signals? "

M. de Radisson'i face was a study in
masks.

" You may ask, La Chesnaye," says he, rub-
bing his chin with a wrinkling smile, " you may
ask, but I'm hanged if I answer! "

And from lips that had wiiitened with fear
but a moment b-fore came laajhter that set the
timbers ringing.

Then Foret found his ton^^ue.

" Hang a baker's dozen of the mutineers
from the yard-arm! "

" A baker's dozen is thirteen, Foret," re-
torted Radisson, " and the Ste. Anne's crew
numbers fifteen."

-I s

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

the crosstrees of Groseillers's ship. ^ "^

La Ch«„aye°" ""'''"" ''*''"°" ^'^'"^ " "'^^
vise." Ya";?"" '"''" "^'^ ''''"''°"' " ' "«ver ad-

CHAPTER VII

M. DE KADISSON ACTS

Quick as tongue could trip off the orders,
eyes everywhere, thought and act jumping to-
gether, Pierre Radisson had given each one his
part, and pledged our obedience, though he bade
us walk the plank blindfold to the sea. Two
men were set to transferring powder and arms
from the forehold to our captain's cabin One
went hand over fist up the mainmast a.,.: sig-
nalled the Ste. Anne to close up. Jackets were
torn from the deck-guns and the guns slued
round to sweep from stem to stern. With a
jarring of cranes and shaking of timbers, the
two ships bumped together; and a more sur-
prised looking lot of men than the crew of the
Ste. Anne you never saw. Pierre Radisson had
played the rogues their own game in the mat-
ter of signals. They had thought the St. Pierre
in league, else would they not have come into
his trap so readily. Before they had time to
protest, the ships were together, the two cap-
87

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

tains conferring face to face across the rails, and
our sailors standing at arms ready to shoot down
the first rebel.

At a word, the St. Pierre's crew were scram-
bling to the Ste. Anne's decks. A shout through
the trumpet of the Ste. Anne's bo'swain and the
mutinous crew of the Ste. Anne were marched
aboard the St. Pierre.

Then M. Radisson's plan became plain. The
other ship was the better. M. de Radisson was
determined that at least one crew should reach
the bay. Besides, as he had half-laughingly in-
sinuated, perhaps he knew better than Chouart
Groseillers of the Ste. Anne how to manage mu-
tinous pirates. Of the St. Pierre's crew, three
only remained with Radisson: Allemand, in the
pilot-house; young Jean Groseillers, Chouart's
son, on guard aft; and myself, armed with a
musket, to sweep the fo'castle.

And all the time there was such a rolling sea
the two ships were like to pound their bulwarks
to kindling wood. Then the Ste. Anne eased
off, sheered away, and wore ship for open
sea. ^

Pierre Radisson turned. There 'aced him
tliat grim, mutinous crew.

No need to try orders then. 'Twas the cat
those men wanted. Before Pierre Radisson had
88

M. DE RADISSON ACTS

said one word the mutineers had discovered the
deck cannon pointing amidships. A shout of baf-
fled rage broke from the ragged group. Quick
words passed from man to man. A noisy, shuf-
fling, indeterminate movement! The crowd
swayed forward. There was a sudden rush
from the fo'castle to the waist. They had
charged to gain possession of the powder cabin
— Pierre Radisson raised his pistol. For an in-
stant they held back. Then a barefoot fellow
struck at him with a belaying-pin.

'Twere better for that man if he had called
down the lightnings.

Quicker than I can tell it, Pierre Radisson
had sprung upon him. The Frenchman's left
arm had coiled the fellow round the waist. Our
leader's pistol flashed a circle that drove the
rabble back, and the ringleader went hurling
head foremost through the main hatch with
force like to flatten his skull to a gun-wad.

There was a mighty scattering back to the
fo'castle then, I promise you.

Pierre Radisson uttered never a syllable. He
pointed to the fore scuttle. Then he pointed
to the men. Down they went under hatches —
rats in a trap!

" Tramp— bundle— pack! " says he, as the
last man bobbed below.
89

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

But with a ping that raised the hair from
my head, came a pistol-shot from the main-
masts. There, perched astride of the cross-
trees, was a rascal mutineer popping at M. Ra-
disson bold as you please.

Our captain took off his beaver, felt the bul-
let-hole in the brim, looked up coolly, and
pomted his musket.

" Drop that pistol! " said he.

The fellow yelped out fear. Down clattered
his weapon to the deck.

" Now sit there," ordered Radisson, repla-
cmg his beaver. " Sit there till I give you leave
to come down! "

Allemand, the pilot, had lost his head and
was steering a course crooked as a worm fence
Voung Jean Groseillers went white as the sails
and scarce had strength to slue the guns back
or jacket their muzzles. And, instead of curling
forward with the crest of the roll, the spray
began to chop off backward in little short
waves like a horse's mane-a bad, bad sign
as any seaman will testify. And I, with my
musket at guard above the fo'scuttle, had a
neart thumping harder than the pounding

And what do you think M. Radisson said as
he wiped the sweat from his brow?
90

M. DE RADISSON ACTS

" A pretty pickle,* indeed, to ground a man's
plans on such dashed impudence! Hazard o'
life! As if a man would turn from his course
for them! Spiders o' hell! I'll strike my top-
mast to Death himself first— so the devil go with
them! The blind gods may crush— they shall
not conquer! They may kill— but I snap my
fingers in their faces to the death! A pretty
pickle, indeed! Batten down the hatches, Ram-
say. Lend Jean a hand to get the guns under
cover. There's a storm! "

And "a pretty pickle" it was, with the
" porps " floundering bodily from wave-crest to
wave-crest, the winds shrieking through the
cordage, and the storm-fiends brewing a hurri-
cane like to engulf master and crew!

In the forehold were rebels who would sink
us all to the bottom of the sea if they could.
Aft, powder enough to blow us all to eter-
nity! On deck, one brave man, two chittering
lads, and a gin-soaked pilot steering a crazy
course among the fanged reefs of Labrador.

These expressions are M. de Radisson's and not words
corned by Mr. Stanhope, as may be seen by reference to the
French explorer's account of his own travels, written partly
in English where he repeatedly refers to a "pretty pickle."
As for the ships, they seem to have been something between
a modern whaler and old-time brigantine.— Author.
' 91

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

The wind backed and veered and came again
so that a weather-vane could not have shown
which way it blew. At one mon-ent the ship
was jumping from wave to wave before the wind
with a single tiny storms'l out. At another I
had thought we must scud under bare poles for
open sea.

The coast sheered vertical like a rampart
wall, and up — up — up that dripping rock
clutched the tossing billows Uke watery arms
of sirens. It needed no seaman to prophecy the
fate of a boat caught between that rock and
a nor'easter.

Then the gale would veer, and out raced a
tidal billow of waters like to take the St. Pierre
broadside.

"Helm hard alee!" shouts Radisson in the
teeth of the gale.

For the fraction of a second we were driving
before the oncoming rush.

Then the sea rose up in a wall on our
rear.

There was a shattering crash. The billows
broke in sheets of whipping spray. The decks
swam with a ri' er of waters. One gun wrenched
loose, teetered to the roll, and pitched into the
seetJing deep. Yard-arms came splintering to
the deck. There was a roaring of waters over
93

M. DE RADISSON ACTS

us, under us, round us— then M. de Radisson,
Jean, and I went slithering forward like water-
rats caught in a whirlpool. My feet struck
against windlass chains. Jean saved himself
from washing overboard by cannoning into me;
but before the dripping bowsprit rose again to
mount the swell, M. de Radisson was up, sha-
king oflf spray like a water-dog and muttering
to himself: " To be snuffed out like a candle
—no — no— no, my rine fellows! Leap to meet
it! Leap to meet it! "

And he was a. the wheel himself.

The ship gave a long shudder, staggered
back, stem foremost, to the trough of the
swell, and lay weltering cataracts from her
decks.

There was a pause of sudden quiet, the quiet
of forces gathering strength for fiercer assault;
and in that pause I remembered something had
flung over me in the wash of the breaking sea.
I looked to the crosstrees. The mutineer was
gone.

It was the first and last time that I have
ever seen a smoking sea. The ocean boiled
white. Far out in the wake of the tide that had
caught us foam smoked on the track of the
ploughing waters. Waters— did I say? You
could not see waters for the spray.
93

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Then Jean bade me look how the stays'l had
been torn to flutters, and we both set about
righting decks.

For all I could see, M. Radisson was simply
holdmg the wheel; but the holding of a wheel
in stress is mighty fine seamanship. To keep
that old gallipot from shipping seas in the
tempest of billows was a more ticklish task
than rope-walking a whirlpool or sacking a
ciLy.

Presently came two sounds — a swish of seas
at our stern and the booming of surf against
coast rocks. Then M. de Radisson did the mad-
dest thing that ever I have seen. Both sounds
told of the coming tempest. The veering wind
settled to a driving nor'easter, and M. de Radis-
son was steering straight as a bullet to the mark
for that rock wall.

But I did not kno v that coast. When our
ship was but three lengths from destruction the
St. Pierre answered to the helm. Her prow
rounded a sharp rock. Then the wind caught
her, whirling her right about; but in she went,
stern foremost, like a fish, between the narrow
walls of a fiord to the quiet shelter of a land-
locked lagoon. Pierre Radisson had taken
refuge in what the sailors call "a hole in the
wall."

M. DE RADISSON ACTS

There we lay close reefed, both anchors out,
while the hurricane held high carnival on the
outer sea.

After we had put the St. Pierre ship-shape,
M. Radisson stationed Jean and me fore and aft
with muskets levelled, and bade us shoot any
man but himself who appeared above the hatch
Arming himself with his short, curved hanger
—oh, I warrant there would have been a carving
below decks had any one resisted him that day!
—down he went to the mutineers of the dim-
lighted forehold.

Perhaps the storm had quelled the spirit of
rebellion; but up came M. de Radisson, fol-
lowed by the entire crew— one fellow's head in
white cotton where it had struck the floor, and '
every man jumping keen to answer his captain's
word.

I must not forget a curious thing that hap-
pened as we lay at anchor. The storm had
scarce abated when a strange §hip poked her
Jib-boom across the entrance to the lagoon, fol-
lowed by queer-rigged black sails.

"A pirate!" said Jean.

But Sieur de Radisson only puckered his
brows, shifted position so that the St. Pierre
could give a broadside, and said nothing.

Then came the strangest part of it. Another
95

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

ship poked her nose across the other side of the
entrance. This was white-rigged.

" Two ships, and they have us cooped! " ex-
claimed Jean.

" One sporting different sails," said M. de
Radisson contemptuously.

" What do you think we should do, sir? "
asked Jean.

" Think? " demanded Radisson. " I have
stopped thinking! I act! My thoughts are
acts."

But all the same his thought at that moment
was to let go a broadside that sent the stranger
scudding. Judging it unwise to keep a half-
mutinous crew too ne^r pirate ships, M. Radis-
' son ordered anchor up. With a deck-mop fast-
ened in defiance to our prow, the St. Pierre
slipped out of the harbour through the half-dark
of those northern summer nights, and gave the
heel to any highwayman waiting to attack as
she passed.

The rest of the voyage 'was a ploughing
th ough brash ice in the straits, with an occa-
sional disembarking at the edge of some great
ice-field; but one morning we were all awakened
from the heavy sleep of hard-worked seamen by
the screaming of a multitude of birds. The air
was odorous with the crisp smell of vyoods,
96

"•■"^M-.

DE RADISSON ACTS

When we came on deck, 'twas to see the St.
Pierre anchored in the cove of a river that raced
to meet the bay.

The screaming gulls knew not what to make
of these strange visitors; for we were at Port
Nelson— Fort Bourbon, as the French called it.

And you must not forget that we were
French on that trip!

CHAPTER VIII

M. DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

The sea was touched to silver by the rising
sun — not the warm, red sun of southern climes,
nor yet the gold light of the temperate zones,
but the cold, clear steel of that great cold land
where all the warring elements challenge man
to combat. Browned by the early frosts, with
a glint of hoar rime on the cobwebs among the
grasses, north, south, and west, as far as eye
could see, were boundless reaches of hill and
valley. And over all lay the rich-toned shadows
of early dawn.

The broad river raced not to meet the sea
more swiftly than our pulses leaped at sight of
that unclaimed world. 'Twas a kingdom wait-
ing for its king. And its king had come!

Flush with triumph, sniffing the nutty, au-
tumn air like a war-horse keen for battle, stood
M. Radisson all impatience for the conquest of
new realms. His jewelled sword-hilt glistened
in the sun. The fire that always slumbered in
98

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

the deep-set eyes flashed to life; and, fetching
a deep breath he said a queer thing to Jean
and me.

'"Tis good air, lads," says he, "'tis free!"
And I, who minded that bloody war in which
my father lost his all, knew what the words
meant, and drank deep.

But for the screaming of the birds there was
silence of death. And, indeed, it was death we
had come to disenthrone. M. Radisson issued
orders quick on top of one another, and the
sailors swarmed from the hold like bees from
a hive. The drum beat a roundelay that set our
blood hopping. There were trumpet-calls back
and forth from our ship to the Ste. Anne. Then,
to a whacking of cables through blocks, the
gig-boats touched water, and all hands were ra-
cing for the shore. Godefroy waved a monster
flag— hhes of France, gold-wrought on cloth of
silk— and Allemand kept beating— and beating
- -and beating the drum, rumbling out a " Vive
le Roi! " to every stroke. Before the keel grav-
elled on the beach, M. Radisson's foot was on
the gunwale, and he leaped ashore. Godefroy
followed, flourishing the French flag and yell-
ing at the top of his voice for the King of France.
Behind, wading and floundering through the
water, came the rest. Godefroy planted the flag-
99

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

staff. The two crews sent up a shout that star-
tled those strange, primeval silences. Then, M.
Radisson stepped forward, hat in hand, whipped
out his sword, and held it aloft.

" In the name of Louis the Great, King of
France," he shouted, " tn the name of His Most
Christian Majesty, the King of Fiance, I take
possession of all these regions! "

At that, Chouart Groseillers shivered a bot-
tle of wine against the flag-pole. Drums beat,
fifes shrieked as for battle, and lusty cheers for
the king and Sieur Radisson rang and echoed
and re-echoed from our crews. Three times did
Allemand beat his drum and three times did
we cheer. Then Pierre Radisson raised his
sword. Every man dropped to knee. Catholics
and Protestants, Calvinists and infidels, and riflf-
raflf adventurers who had no religion but what
they swore by, bowed their heads to the solemn
thanks which Pierre Radisson uttered for safe
deliverance from perilous voyage.*

That was my first experience of the fusion
which the New World makes of Old World divi-
sions. We thought we had taken possession of

* Reference to M. Radisson's journal corroborates Mr.
Stanhope in this observance, which was never neglected by
M. Radisson after season of peril. It is to be noted that he
made his prayers a/tir not a/ the season of peril.
lOO

^ ^=JI

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

the land. No, no, 'twas the land had taken pos-
session of us, as the New World ever does, fusing
ancient hates and rearing a new race, of which
— I wot — no prophet may dare too much!

" He who twiddles his thumbs may gnaw his
gums," M. Radisson was wont to say; and I
assure you there was no twiddling of thumbs
that morning. Bare had M. Radisson finished
prayers, when he gave sharp command for Gro-
seillers, his brother-in-law, to look to the build-
ing of the Habitation— as the French called
their forts— while he himself would go up-stream
to seek the Indians for trade. Jean and Gode-
froy and I were sent to the ship for a birch canoe,
which M. Radisson had brought from Queb ; ..

Our leader took the bow; Codetroy, the
stern; Jean and I, the middle. A poise of the
steel-shod steering pole, we grasped our pad-
dles, a downward dip, quick followed by Gode-
froy at the s-tern, and out shot the canoe, swift,
light, lithe, alert, like a racer to the bit, with a
gurgling of waters below the gunwales, the keel
athrob to the swiri of a turbulent current and a
trail of eddies dimpling away on each side. A
sharp breeze sprang up abeam, and M. Radisson
ordered a blanket sail hoisted on the steersman's
fishing-pole. But if you think that he permitted
idle paddles because a wind would do th v/ork,
lOI

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

you know not the ways of the great explorer.
He bade us ply the faster, till the canoe sped be-
tween earth and sky like an arrow shot on the
level. The shore-line became a blur. Clumps of
juniper and pine marched abreast, halted the
length of time an eye could rest, and wheeled
away. The swift current raced to meet us. The
canoe jumped to mount the glossy waves raised
by the beam wind. An upward tilt of her prow,
and we had skimmed the swell like a winged
thing. And all the while M. Radisson's eyes
were everywhere. Chips whirled past. There
were beaver, he said. Was the water suddenly
muddied? Deer had flitted at our approach.
Did a fish rise? M. Radisson predicted otter;
and where there were otter and beaver and deer,
there should be Indians.

As for the rest of us, i* had gone to our
heads.

We were intoxicated with the wine of the
rugged, new, free life. Sky above; wild woods
where never foot had trod ; air that drew
through the nostrils in thirst - quenching
draughts;- blood atingle to the laughing rhythm
of the river — what wonder that youth leaped to
a fresh life from the mummified existence of lit-
tle, old peoples in little, old lands?

We laughed aloud from fulness of life.
1 02

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

Jean laid his paddle athwart, ripped off his
buckskin, and smiled back.

" Ramsay feels as if he had room to stretch
himself," said he.

Feel! I feel as if I could run a thousand

miles and jump off the ends of the earth "

"And dive to the bottom of the sea and har-
ness whales and play bowling-balls with the
spheres, you young rantipoles," added M. Radis-
son ironically.

"The fever of the adventurer," said Jean
quietly. " My uncle knows it."

I laughed again. " I was wondering if Eli
Kirke ever felt this way," T explained.

" Pardieu," retorted M. de Radisson, loosen-
mg his coat, " if people moved more and moped
less, they'd brew small bile! Come, lads! Come,
lads! We waste time! "

And we were paddling again, in quick, light
strokes, silent from zest, careless of toil, strenu-
ous from love of it.

Once we came to a bend in the river where
the current was so strong that we had dipped
our paddles full five minutes against the mill
race without gaining an inch. The canoe
squirmed like a hunter balking a hedge, and
Jean's blade splintered off to the handle. But
M. de Radisson braced back to lighten the bow;
103

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

»nl

the prow rose, a sweep of the paddles, and on
we sped!

" Hard luck to pull and not gain a jat
length," observed Jean.

" Harder luck not to pull, and to be swept
back," corrected M. de Radisson.

We left the main river to thread a labyrin-
thine chain of waterways, where were portages
over brambly shores and slippery rocks, with the
pace set af a run by M. de Radisson. Jean and
I followed with the pack straps across our fore-
heads and the provisions on our backs. Gode-
froy brought up the rear with the bark canoe
above his head.

At one place, where we disembarked, M. de
R-disson traced the sand with the muzzle of his
musket.

" A boot-mark," said he, drawing the faint
outlines of a footprint, " and egad, it's not a
man's foot either! "

" Impossible! " cried Jean. " We are a thou-
sand miles from any white-man."

"There's nothing impossible on this earth,"
retorted Radisson impatiently. " But pardieu,
there are neither white women in this wilderness,
nor ghosts wearing women's boots! I'd give my
right hand to know what left that mark! "

After that his haste grew feverish. We
104

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

snatched our meals by turns between paddles.
He seemed to grudge the waste of each night
camping late and launching early; and it was
Godefroy's complaint that each portage was
made so swiftly there was no time for that solace
of th common voyageur— the boatman's pipe.
For eight days we travelled without seeing a
sign of human presence but that one vague foot-
mark in the sand.

" If there are no Indians, how much farther
do we go, sir? " asked Godefroy sulkily on the
eighth day.

"Till we find them," answered M. Radis-
son.

And we found them that night.

A deer broke from the woods edging the
sand where we camped and had almost bounded
across our fire when an Indian darted out a hun-
dred yards behind. Mistaking us for his own
people, he whistled the hunter's signal to head
the game back. Then he saw that we were
strangers. Pulling up of a sudden, he threw
tack his arms, uttered a cry of surprise, and ran
to the hiding of the bush.

M. Radisson was the first to pursue; but
where the sand joined the thicket he paused and
began tracing the point of his rapier round the
outlines of a mark.

105

11! I

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" What do you make of it, Godefroy? " he
demanded of the trader.

The trader looked quizzically at Sieur de
Radisson.

" The toes of that man's moccasin turn out,"
says Godefroy significantly.

" Then that man is no Indian," retorted M.
Radisson, " and hang me, if the size is not that
of a woman or a boy! "

And he led back to the beach.

" Yon ship was a pirate," began Godefroy,
" and if buccaneers be about "

" Hold your clack, fool," interrupted M.
Radisson, as if the fellow's prattle had cut into
his mental plannings; and he bade us heap such
a fire as could be seen by Indians for a hundred
miles. " If once I can find the Indians," medi-
tated he moodily, " I'll drive out a whole regi-
ment of scoundrels with one snap o' my thumb! "

Black clouds rolled in from the distant bay,
boding a stormy night ; and Godefroy began to
complain that black deeds were done in the dark,
and we were forty leagues away from the protec-
tion of our ships.

" A pretty target that fire will make of us in
the dark," whined the fellow.

M. Radisson's eyes glistened sparks.

" I'd as Uef be a pirate myself, as be shot
io6

\ \i

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

down by pirates." grumbled the trader, giving
a hand to ho.st the shed of sheet canvas that wa!

thVs™:hor^^^^"^"°^-^-^^^^^-

At the words M. Radisson turned sharply
but the heedless fellow gabbled on
"Where is a man to take cover, an the

hLt"'!" f" '^°°''"^ ^•■°™ '^^ bush be-
hind? demanded Godefroy belligerently

^^ MRadisson reached one arm across the fire.
1 11 show you," said he. Taking Godefroy by
the ear. with a j, rick of the sword he led the lazy
knave qmck march to the beach, where lay our
canoe bottom up. ^

"Crawl under!" M. Radisson lifted the prow

hJ^AV^Z'^^""^-^ '^'""^ '* was-Godefro^
balked; but M. Radisson brought a cutting rap
across the rascal's heels that made him hop
The canoe clapped down, and Godefroy was safe.
Pardieu, mutters Radisson, "such cow-
ards^would turn the marrow o' men's bones to

Sitting on a log. with his feet to the fire, he
moljoned Jean and me to come into the shelter
of the slant canvas; for the clouds were rolling
overhead black as ink and the wind roared up
the nver-bed with a wall of pelting rain. M
Radisson gazed absently into the flame. The
107

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

steel lights were at play in his eyes, and his lips
parted.

" Storm and cold — man and beast — powers
of darkness and devil — knaves and fools and his
own sins — he must fight them all, lads," says M.
Radisson slowly.

" Who must fight them all? " asks Jean.

" The victor," answers Radisson, and warm
red flashed to the surface of the cold steel in his
eyes.

"Jean," he began, looking up quickly to-
wards the gathering darkness of the woods.

" Sir? "

" 'Tis cold enough for hunters to want a
fire."

" Is the lire not big enough? "

" Now, where are your wits, lad? If hunters
were hiding in that bush, one could see this fire
a long way off. The wind is loud. One could
go close without being heard. Pardieu, I'll
wager a good scout could creep up to a log like
this " — touching the pine on which we sat —
" and hear every word we are saying without a
.soul being the wiser! "

Jean turned with a start, half-suspecting a
spy. Radisson laughed.

" Must I spell it out? Eh, lad, afraid to

go?"

io8

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

Without a word Jean

The taunt bit home,
and I rose.

will'e!^"^ f ?°''^^ "P"' '" '^^' °ne of you

son ; '' ^''^ ^''•^ '''' "^*^'" <=-"«d Radis-
son, as we plunged into the woods

Of the one who might not escape Pierre
Radisson gave small heed, and so did we Jean
took the river side and I the inland thi ket iTX

TZ T "'"'!f ^'^""^'^ ^'^^ blackness oft -
es. and storm and night. Then the rain broke
-broke m lashmg whip-cords with the crackle
tlr- ■^''" ""^'"'^^^ ^"d I signalled back; but
drowned every sound. For all the help one

sanZr ' °''" "' ™^'^^ ''^^ "-" a thou!
sand mUes apart. I looked back. M. Radisson's
fire threw a dull glare into the cavernous uppe

£n"htcn '?".^"''^ ^"°"^'^- J-" -" <!
Keep his course by the river.

It was plunging into a black nowhere. The
trees thmned. I seemed to be running across
the open, the rain driving me forward like a
wet sad, a roar of wind in my ears and the words
ot M. Radisson rmging their battle-cry-
Storm and cold-man and beast-powers of
darkness and devil-knaves and fools and hL
own sms-he must fight them all!"-" Who""
— Ihe victor! "

109

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Of a sudden the dripping thicket gave back
a glint. Had I run in a circle and come again
on M. Radisson's fire? Behind, a dim glare still
shone against the sky.

Another glint from the rain drip, and I
dropped like a deer hit on the run. Not a gun-
shot away was a hunter's fire. Against the fire
were three figures. One stood with his face to-
wards me, an Indian dressed in buckskin, the
man who had pursued the deer. The second was
hid by an intervening tree; and as I watched,
the third faded into the phaseless dark. Who
were these night-watchers? I liked not that
business of spying — though you may call it
scouting, if you will, but I must either report
nothing to M. Radisson, or find out more.

I turned to skirt the group. A pistol-shot
rang through the wood. A sword flashed to
light. Before I had time to think, but not —
thanks to M. Picot's lessons long ago — not be-
fore I had my own rapier out, an assassin blade
would have taken me unawares.

I was on guard. Steel struck fire in red spots
as it clashed against steel. One thrust, I know,
touched home; for the piste! went whirling out
of my adversary's hand, and his sword came
through the dark with the hiss of a serpent.
Again I seemed to be in Boston Town; but the
no

DE RADISSON COMES TO HIS OWN

pract.ce in swordsmanship had been witfi S
cot and It was not till long years after thJ\
-nded how those lessons !ee^^" to' ^
and counter tne moves of that ambushed aslj
2 But the baffling thing was that my enemas

He had not seen my fare for mv hJu
turned when he came up and mw """'

shade when I whirler But t"? 7k " '" '^'

III

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

.rk, to strike what I could not see, pushed back
and back till I felt the rush that aims not to dis-
arm but to slay.

Our weapons rang with a glint of green
lightnings. A piece of steel flew up. My rapier
had snapped short at the hilt. A cold point was
at my throat pressing me down and back as the
foil had caught me that night in M. Picot's
house. To right, to left, I swerved, the last blind
rushes of the fugitive man. . . .

" Storm and cold — man and beast — powers
of darkness and devil — he must fight them
all "

The memory of those words spurred like a
battle-cry. Beaten? Not yet! " Leap to meet
itl Leap to meet it! "

" caught the blade at my throat with a naked
hand. Hot floods drenched my face. The earth
swam. We were both in the light now, a bearded
man pushing his sword through my hand, and I
falling down. Then my antagonist leaped back
with a shivering cry of horror, fiung the weapon
to the ground and fled into the dark.

And when I sat up my right hand held the
hilt of a broken rapier, the left was gashed across
the palm, and a sword as like my own as two
peas lay at my feet.

The fire was there. But I was alone.

112

CHAPTER IX

VISITORS

The fire had every appearance of a night biv-

nor hunt Somewhere on my left lay the river
By that the way led back to M. Radisson's ren-

ofThr ..,' "'"' '"'^ -ough-that threading
o the pathless woods through the pitchy dark;

tread t°/'r' '° ""^^^"^^ *^*> "^^ at each
tread. s, 11 fitted to pioneer wild lands.

c, w , ?^. ^''^''•" ""^^ ^"^ why he had so
That he had attacked was natural enough- for

in thr;;°°' 'r P°^"^^'°" °^ no-manVlani
n those days e.ther murdered his rivals or sold
them to slavery. But why had he flung his
sword down at the moment of victory? ^

The pelting of the rain softened to a leafy
patter the patter to a drip, ana a watery moon
came glimmering through the clouds. With mv
enemy s rapir i„ hand I began cutting a couZ
through the thicket. Radisson's fire no longer
"3

1 1

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

shone. Indeed, I became mighty uncertain which
direction to take, for the rush of the river
merged with the beating of the wind. The
ground sloped precipitously; and I was holding
back by the underbrush lest the bank led to
water when an indistinct sound, a smothery
murmur like the gurgle of a subterranean pool,
came from below.

The wind fell. The swirl of the flowing river
sounded far from the rear. I had become con-
fused and was travelling away from the true
course. But what was that sound?

I threw a stick forward. It struck hard
stone. At the same instant was a sibilant,
human— distinctly human—" Hss-h," and the
sound had ceased.

That was no laving of inland pond against
pebbles. Make of it what you will— there were
voices, smothered but talking. " No— no — no "
. . . then the warning . . . "Hush!" . . ,

then the wind and the river and ..." No

no!" with words like oaths. . . . "No — I say,
no ! Having come so far, no ! — not if it were my
own brother!" . . . then the low "Hush!"
... and pleadings . . . then— "Send Le
Borgne!"

And an Indian had rushed past me in the
dark with a pine fagot in his hand.
114

VISITORS
Rising, I stole after him. 'Twas the M

Gray dawn came over the trees a«. I reached
the swo en waters ami n,« 7 "^^aoea

heaven wheH cam' fo Jhe "'? '''^' '" '"'^-

M. de Radisson hTd camped^'pl^T' "^"

bendrnther^Verastran^ShtSed/^^^

ies ^t oTt'h ""'"? ''''^" "•''> P^'"te<l bod-
ies sat on the ground. In the centre, clad like a

IIS

•ilt^

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

The poor creatures had piled their robes at
his feet as offerings to a god.

" What did he give for the pelts, Godefroy? "
I asked.

" Words! " says Godefroy, with a grin, " gab
and a drop o' rum diluted in a pot o' water! "

" What is he saying to them now? "

Godefroy shrugged his shoulders. "That
the gods have sent him a messenger to them;
that the fire he brings " — he was handing a
musket to the chief — " will smite the Indians'
enemy from the earth; that the bullet is magic
to outrace the fleetest runner " — this as M. Ra-
disson fired a shot into mid-air that sent the In-
dians into ecstasies of childish wonder — "that
the bottle in his hands contains death, and il'
the Indians bring their hunt to the white-man,
the white-man will never take the cork out ex-
cept to let death fly at the Indians' enemy " —
he lifted a little phial of poison as he spoke —
" that the Indian need never feel cold nor thirst,
now that the white-man has brought fire-
water! "

At this came a harsh laugh from a taciturn
Indian standing on the outer rim of the crowd.
It was the fellow who had run through the forest
with the torch.

" Who is that, Godefroy? "
ii6

VISITORS
" Le Borgne. '

"Le Borgne need ;.ct laugh." retorted M.
de Radisson sharply. " Le Borgne knows the
taste of fire-water! Le Borgne has been with
the white-man at the south, and knows what the
white-man says is true."

But Le Borgne only laughed the harder
deep, guttural, contemptuous "huh— huh'si"
-a fitting rebuke, methought, for the ignoble
deception implied in M. Radisson's words

Indeed, I would fain suppress this part of M
Radisson s record, for he juggled with truth so
oft, when he thought the end justified the means,
he finally got a knack of juggling so much with
truth that the means would never justify any
end. I would fain repress the ignoble faults of
a noble leader, but I must even set down the
facts as they are, so you may see why a man
who was the greatest leader and trader and ex-
plorer of his times reaped only an aftermath of
umversal distrust. He lied his way through
thick and thin-as we traders used to say— till
that lying habit of his ;iewed him up in a net of
his own weaving lii.e a grub in a cocoon.

Godefroy was giving a hand to bind up my
gashed palm when something grunted a " hufT-
huff" beside us. Le Borgne was there with a
queer look on his inscrutable face.
117

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Le Borgne, you rascal, you know who gave
me this," I began, taking careful scrutiny of the
Indian.

One eye was glazed and sightless, the other
yellow like a fox's; but the fellow was straight,
supple, and clean-timbered as a fresh-hewn mast.
With a " huh-huh," he gabbled back some an-
swer.

" What does he say, Godefroy? "
" He says he doesn't understand the white-
fflcn's tongue— which is a lie," added Godefroy
of his own account. " Le Borgne was inter-
preter for the Fur Company at the south of the
bay the year that M. Radisson left the English."
Were my assailants, then, Hudson's Bay
Company men come up from the south end of
James Bay? Certainly, the voice had spoken
English. I would have drawn Godefroy aside to
inform him of my adventure, but Le Borgne
stuck to us like a burr. Jean was busy helping
M. de Radisson at the trade, or what was called
" irade," when white men gave an awl for forty
beaver-skins.

" Godefroy," I said, " keep an eye on this In-
dian till I speak to M. de Radisson." And I
turned lo the group. 'Twas as pretty a bit of
colour as I have ever seen. The sea, like silver,
on one side; the autumn-tinted woods, brown
ii8

VISITORS

and yellow and gold, on the other; M. de Radis-
son in his gay dress surrounded by a score of
savages with their faces and naked chests painted
a gaudy red, headgear of swans' down eagle
quails depending from their backs, and bucksSn
tn^users fringed with the scalp-locks of tt

Drawing M. de Radisson aside, I gave him
hurried account of the night's adventufes.

Ha! says he. " Not Hudson's Bay Com-
pany men or you would be in irons, lad! Not
French, for they spoke English. Pardieu !
Poachers and thieves-we shall see! Where is
that vagabond Cree? These people are south-
ern Indians and know nothing of him.-Gode-
iroy, he called.

Godefroy came running up. " Le Borgne's
gone, said Godefroy breathlessly.
" Gone? " repeated Radisson.

whn" "V'^'J°'-^ ^°' Master Stanhope from one
who wishes him well ."

"One who wishes him well," repeated M.
Kadisson, looking askance at me.

"For Master Stanhope not to be bitten
twice by the same dog! "

Our amazement you may guess: M. de Ra-
disson, suspicious of treachery and private trade
and piracy on my part; I as surprised to learn
119

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

i# J^^

'K'K-f'

that I had a well-wisher as I had been to dis-
cover an unknown foe; and Godefroy, all cock-
a-whoop with his news, as is the way of the
vulgar.

" Ramsay," said M. Radisson, speaking very
low and tense, " as you hope to live and without
a lie, what — does — this — mean? "

" Sir, as I hope to live — I — do — not —
know! "

He continued to search me with doubting
looks. I raised my wounded hand.

" Will you do me the honour to satisfy your-
self that wound is genuine? "

"Pish!" says he.

He studied the ground. " There's nothing
impossible on this earth. Facts are hard dogs to
down.— Jean," he called, " gather up the pelts!
It takes a man to trade well, but any fool can
make fools drink! Godefroy — give the knaves
the rum — but mind yourselves," he warned,
"three parts rain-water!" Then facing me,
"Take me to that bank!"

He followed without comment.

At the place of the camp-fire were marks of
the struggle.

"The same boot-prints as on the sand! A
small man," observed Radisson.

But when we came to the sloping bank,

I20

VISITORS

where the land fell sheer away, to a dry, pebbly
reach, M. Radisson pulled a puzzled brow

They must have taken shelter from the
ram. They must have been under your feet "
'' But where are their foot-marks? " I asked.
Washed out by the rain," said he; but that
was one of the untruths with which a man who
IS ever telhng untruths sometimes deceives him-
self; for If the bank sheltered the intruders from
the ram, it also sheltered their foot-marks, and
there was not a trace.

"AH the same," said M. de Radisson, "we
shall make these Indians our friends by takine
them back to the fort with us."

J' Ramsay," he remarked on the way.
there s a game to play."
" So it seems."

" Hold yourself in," said he sententiously.

1 walked on listening.

"One plays as your friend, the other as
your foe! Show neither friend nor foe your
hand! Let the game tell! Twas the reined-in
horse won King Charles's stakes at Newmarket
last year! Hold yourself in, I say! "

u ?'! ^ J^P^^t^d, wondering at this homily.

^ And hold yourself up," he continued.

That coxcomb of a marquis always trailing

his digmty in the dust of mid-road to worry with

121

■RRSb.:

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

a common dog like La Chesnaye— pish! Hold
your self-respect in the chest of your jacket,
man! 'Tis the slouching nag that loses the
race! Hold yourself up! "

His words seemed hard sense plain spoken.

" And let your feet travel on," he added.

" In and up and on! " I repeated.

" In and up and on— there's mettle for you,
lad!"

And with that terse text— which, I think,
comprehended the whole of M. Radisson's phi-
losophy — we were back at the beach.

The Indians weie not in e ich a state as I have
seen after many a trading bout. They were able
to accompany us. In embarking, M. Radisson
must needs observe all the ceremony of two
races. Such a whiffing of pipes among the state-
ly, half-drunk Indian chiefs you never saw, with
a pompous proffering of the stem to the four
comers of the compass, which they thought
would propitiate the spirits. Jean blew a blast
on the trumpet. I waved the French flag.
Godefroy beat a rattling fusillade on the drum,
grabbed up his bobbing tipstaff, led the way;
and down we filed to the canoes.

At all this ostentation I could not but smile;
but no man ever had greater need of pomp to
hold his own against uneven odds than Radisson.

122

VISITORS

Radisson blandly informer! ft,» r^"

IfeTl^t^ {'"" ^ ™ '"■ ">= Habitalion with

co.;z?Lt;s£tir:ftr".'

lort r»dy ,„ welcome them," Ja h"' ' "''"'*

CHAPTER X

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

The landing was but a part of the labyrin-
thine trickery in which our leader delighted to
play; for while Jean delayed the natives we ran
overland through the woods, launched our canoe
far ahead of the Indian flotilla, and went racing
forward to the throbs of the leaping river.

" If a man would win, he must run fast as the
hour-glass," observed M. Radisson, poising his
steering-pole. " And now, my brave lads," he
began, counting in quick, sharp words that rang
with command, "keep time — one — two — three!
One— two— three 1" And to each word the
paddles dipped with the speed of a fly-wheel's
spokes.

" One— two— three! In and up and on!
An you keep yourselves in hand, men, you can
win against the devil's own artillery! Speed
to your strokes, Godefroy," he urged.

And the canoe answered as a iine-strung
racer to the spur. Shore-lines blurred to a green
124

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

streak. The frosty air met our faces in wind
Gurghng waters curled from the prow in co ru
gated runnels. And we were ruling a S
race w.th a tumult of waves, mountingfhe swell

athwart 'drrTS T' '^'''^^
Tu '" a"its. M. Radisson braced back

aea n Td '''';'°.' '^ ""''■'''' '^^^"^^^ - -
tha boned r, "'"■'"^ ''^•■°"^^ ^^« -•"--"
!^L K ""^ ^ """'""""■ Once the canoe

Trent K ?• ^" ."^^ ^^ ^^^s in mid!

by Godefroy's counter-stroke at the stern- and

itdtToZ^^^^ '-'' ''' -^^ - ^ '^ai^-s-

frov"hrr"'' ^""'^' ""'■"y'" '""•"Wed Gode-

a °urn^^f." '^ '""^ *'^ ""°^ ^^ ^^ breasted
a turn ,n the nver to calmer currents, "Sainte
Anne ha' mercy! But the mastered run us ov r
Niagara, if he had a mind."

" Or the River Styx, if 'twould gain his end "
sharply added Radisson. nnisend.

But he ordered our paddles athwart for

bow With the rash presumption of youth I of-
fered to take ti,e bow that he might rest but
he threw his head back with a^oud Wh

I2S

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

more of scorn than mirth, and bade me nurse a
wounded hand. On the evening of the third
day we came to the Habitation. Without
disembarking, M. de Radisson sent the sol-
diers on sentinel dutv at the river front up
to the fort with warning to prepare for instant
siege.

" 'Twill put speed in the lazy rascals to finish
the fort," he remarked; and the canoe ghded
out to mid-current again for the far expanse of
the bay.

By this we were all ^o used to M. ladisson's
doings, 'twould not have surprised us when the
craft shot out from river-mouth to open sea if
he had ordered us to circumnavigate the ocean
on a chip.

He did what was nigh as venturesome.

A quick, unwarned swerve of his pole, which
bare gave Godefroy time to take the cue, and
our prow went scouring across the scud of whip-
ping currents where two rivers and an ocean-
tide met. The seething waves lashed to foam
with the long, low moan of the world-devouring
serpent which, legend says, is ever an-hungering
to devour voyageurs on life's sea. And for all
the world that reef of combing breakers was not
unlike a serpent type of malignant elements
bent on man's destruction!

126

THE CAUSK OF THE FIRING

agist a new ""°' ^'^ "^""'"^ "P"^*"^""
against a new current; and the moan of the

S'rsrrfo^;trn:^Hr^rr'^^°"°^-

Bering J. too du„ for LX^t nXt

adamant coud conoiipr a«^ ""unuess as

ber while thl^ !' ^ ^°" """^^ '■^"'em-

oer, While the diamond and the charcoal are n(
he same family, 'tis the diamond h lute be
c^use 1 ,s Hard. Faults, M. Radisson had which

Wm h n .r"""' '"^ '"^'^ y°" -ho judge
h m-h,s faults were not the faults of nearly fll
other men. the faults which are a cnml-f
crtme of being weak! crime—the

sun ros'etflf '"^ T '''' "^'^'^^ «" ^'hen the
sun rose m flaming darts through the gray haze

ri er ""Auh? '^-'"^ ^^^ ^ - islan'd i^ m !
antTn. t ''^*"" '"'" '"y ^ queer-rigged brig-
antine. rocking to the swell of the tidf Here
127 '

•a

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

then, was cause of that firing heard across the
marsh on the lower river.

" 'Tis the pirate ship we saw on the high sea,"
muttered Godefroy, rubbing his eyes.

" She flics no flag! She has no license to
trade! She's a poacher! She will make a prize
worth the taking," added M. Radisson sharply.
Then, as if to justify that intent — " As we have
no license, we must either take or be taken! "

The river mist gradually lifted, and there
emerged from the fog a stockaded fort with two
bastions facing the river and guns protruding
from loopholes.

" Not so easy to take that fort," growled
Godefroy, who was ever a hanger-back.

" All the better," retorted M. de Radisson.
" Easy taking makes soft men! 'Twill test your
mettle! "

" Test our mettle ! " sulked the trader, a key
higher in his obstinacy. " All very well to talk,
sir, but how can we take a fort mounted with
twenty cannon "

" I'll tell you the how when it's done," inter-
rupted M. de Radisson.

But Godefroy was one of those obstinates
who would be silent only when stunned.

" I'd like to know, sir, what we're to do," he
began.

128

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

" Godefroy, 'twould be waste time to knock
sense in your pate! There is only one thing to
do always— only one, the right thing! Do it,
fool! An I hear more clack from you till its
done, I'll have your tongue out with the nip-
pers!" ^

Godefroy cowered sulkily back, and M. de
Radisson laughed.

"That will quell him," said he. "When
Godefroy's tongue is out he can't grumble, and
grumbling is his bread of life! "

Stripping oflf his bright doublet, M. Radisson
hung it from a tree to attract the fort's notice.
Then he posted us in ambuscade with orders to
capture whatever came.

But nothing came.

And when the fort guns boomed out the
noon hour M. Radisson sprang up all impa-
tience.

" I'll wait no man's time," he vowed. "Los-
ing time is losing the game! Launch out! "

Chittering something about our throats be-
ing cut, Godefroy shrank back. With a quick
stride M. Radisson was towering above him.
Catching Godefroy by the scrufT of the neck, he
threw him face down into the canoe, muttering
out it would be small loss if all the cowards in the
world had their throats cut.

HERAI^DS OF EMPIRE

" The pirates come to trade," he explained.
" They will not fire at Indians. Bind your hair
back like that Indian there! "

No sooner were we in the range of the fort
than M. Radisson uttered the shrill call of a na-
tive, bade our Indian stand up, and himself en-
acted the pantomime of a savage, waving his
arms, whistling, and hallooing. With cries of
welcome, the fort people ran to the shore and
left their guns unmanned. Reading from a syl-
lable book, they shouted out Indian words. It
was safe to approach. Before they could arm
we could escape. But we were two men, one
lad, and a neutral Indian against an armed
garrison in a land where killing was no
murder.

M. de Radisson stood up and called in the
Indian tongue. They did not understand.

"New to it," commented Radisson, "not
the Hudson's Bay Company! "

All the while he was imperceptibly approach-
mg nearer. He shouted in French. They shook
their heads.

" English highwaymen, blundered in here by
chance," said he.

Tearing oflf the Indian head-band of dis-
guise, he demanded in mighty peremptory tones
who they were.

130

W ii

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

"English," they called back doubtfully.
Vv^hat have you come for? " insisted Radis-
son, wuh a great swelling of his chest.

The beaver trade," came a faint voice.
Where had I heard it before? Did it rise
from the ground in the woods, or from a far
-emory of children throwing a buHy^to the

len;5trso:°^^^^°-'--'"''°''^>ychal-

toge'^her''"' '^" ^'"°''' ^'^°'' P"' *^^'^ ^-^^^s

vo.,r ?" '^' """' °^ ^^' ^^^' ^ 'l<^'"«"d to see
your license mstantly," repeated Sieur de Radis-
son, with louder authority.

" We have no license," explained one of the
men who was dressed with slashed boots red
doublet, and cocked hat.

clos^: ^''''''°" '""''^ '"^ P^'^'^ « l^"gth

taking. ' jiP ^•*^°"^^ ««"«e! A prize-for the

SerCielSST'"-^^^^^"^-^^

Ships! Shapmg h.s hands trumpet fashion to

has n,outh, he called this out again, adding "hit

131

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

ourj^ndian was of a nation in league with the

The pirates were dumb as if he had tossed a
hand grenade among them.

«nJ^''^''''P '' °'"'' "°^' ^^''" said Radisson
softly, pohng nearer. "See, lads, the bottom
has tumbled from their courage! We'll not
waste a pound o' powder in capturing that
prize! "He turned suddenly to me-" a! I live
by bread, t.s that bragging young dandy-prat
-h^op-o-my-thumb-Ben Gillam of BosL

"Ben Gillam!"
^^ I was thinking of my assailant in the woods
Ben was ta The pirate, who came carving at
tne, was small." ^

But Ben Gillam it was, turned pirate or pri-
va eer-as you choose to call it-grown to a
well-timbered rapscallion with head high in air
jack-boots half-way to his waist, a ^clankiW
sword at heel, and a nose too red from rum

As we landed, he sent his men scattering to
the fort, and stood twirling his mustaches till
the recognition struck him.

"By Jerich(^Radisson! " he gasped.
Then he tossed his chin defiantly in air like
masL" "'' '"P°"' '' ''y °^ds with a

132

TI.£ 'TAUSE OF THE FIRING

" Don't be afraid to land," he called down
out of sheer impudence.

" Don't be afraid to have us land," Radisson
shouted up to him. " We'll not harm you! "

Ben swore a big oath, fleered a laugh, and
kicked the sand with his heels. Raising a hand,
he signalled the watchers on the ship.

" Sorry to welcome you in this warlike fash-
ion," said he.

" Glad to welcome you to the domain of His
Most Christian Majesty, the King of France,"
retorted Radisson, leaping ashore.

Ben blinked to catch the drift of that.

"Devil take their majesties! " he ejaculated.
" He's king who conquers! "

" No need to talk of conquering when one is
master already," corrected M. de Radisson.

" Shiver my soul," blurts out Ben, " I haven't
a tongue like an eel, but that's what I mean;
and I'm king here, and welcome to you, Ra-
disson!"

"And that's what I mean," rughed M. Ra-
disson, with a bow, quietly motioning us to fol-
low ashore. " No need to conquer where one is
master, and welcome to you. Captain Gillam! "

And they embraced each other like spider
and fly, each with a free hand to his sword-hilt,
and a questioning look on the other's face.
133

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

forer^' ^' ^^^'''°'''- "I'^«= «"" that ship be-

Ben laughs awkwardly. " We captured her
from a Dutchman," he begins.

«;h ".?''' " '*^' ^'^"'' R^disson. " I meant out-
side the straits after the storm! "

,>,.-n^p"T'' ?^' '"''*""■ " ^^'^ those your
ships? 'he ask.. Then both men laugh

Not much to boast in the way of a fleet "
taunts Ben. '

"Those are the two smallest we have"
quickly explains Radisson.

.v.^'f^"^' ^^" '"'"* '''^"'^' ^""^ M. Radisson's
hunting '° ' ^'''''"^ '"' °^ ^ "^^^ '"°"^«-

H.n'fl^"""! r ^°"''' " "'^"'^''"^ ^^n'' with a sud-
den flare of friendliness. "I am no baby-eaterl

Put a peg m that! Shiver my soul if this is a
way to welcome friends! Come aboard all of
you and test the Canary we got in the hold of a
fine Spanish galleon last v/eek! Such a top-heavy
ship with sails like a tinker's tatters, you never
TZ A^ ", •*'"■ ^°^^ '"""'"& °^^'- with Canary

awdrreVg;^.' ^^""^ ^^°-' ^-

It was Pierre Radisson s turn to blink
And drink to the success of the beaver
trade, importunes Ben.

'34

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

'Twas as pretty a piece of play as you could
see: Ben. scheming to get the Frenchman cap-
tive; M. Radisson, with the lightnings under his
brows and that dare-devil rashness of his blood
temptmg him to spy out the lad's strength.

" Ben was the body of the venture! Where
was the orain? It was that took me aboard his
ship," M. Radisson afterward confessed to us.

" Come ! Come I " pressed Gillam " i
know young Stanhope there "—his mighty air
brought the laugh to my face— "young Stan-
hope there has a taste for fine Canary "

" But, lad," protested Radisson, with a con-
descension that was vinegar to Ben's vanity,
we cannot be debtors altogether. Let two of
,'our men stay here and whiff pipes Wi.n my fel-
lows, while I go aboard! "

Ben's teeth ground out an assent that sound-
ed precious like an oath; for he knew that he
was being asked for hostages of safe-conduct
while M. Radisson spied out the ship. He sig-
nalled, as we thought, for two hostages to come
down from the fort; but scarce had he dropped
his hand when fort and ship let out such a roar
of cannonading as would have lifted the hair
from any other head than Pierre Radisson's

Godefroy cut a caper. The Indian's eyes
bulged with terror, and my own pulse went a-
'35

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Radisson never changed counte-

hop; but M.
nance.

"Pardieu," says he softly, with a pleased
smile as the last shot went skipping over the wa-
ter, "you're devilish fond o' fireworks, to waste
good powder so far from home! "

Ben mumbled out that he had plenty of pow-
der, and that some fools didn't know fireworks
from war.

M. Radisson said he was glad there was
plenty of powder, there would doubtless be use
found for it, and he knew fools oft mistook fire-
works for war.

With that a cannon-shot sent the sand spat-
tering to our boots and filled the air with pow-
der-dust; but when the smoke cleared, M. Radis-
son had quietly put himself between Ben and
the fort.

Drawing out his sword, the Frenchman ran
his finger up the edge.

" Sharp as the next," said he.

Lowering the point, he" scratched a line on
the sand between the mark of the last shot
and us.

" How close can your gunners hit. Ben? "
asked Radisson. " Now I'll wager you a bottle
' ey can't hit that line without hit-

ting you !

136

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING
Ben's hand went up quick enough. The

gunners ceased firing and M. Radisson sheathed

his sword with a laugh.

stead!^°Trt"°* '"^">^'' °^^^- ^^'^^ ^^^^^ '"-
stead! Take a man's advice, and never waste

powder! You'll need it all if he's king wL cot

quersi Besides." he added, turning suddenly

senous. "if my forces learn you are here I'll not

promise I've strength to restrain them! "

^^ How many have you? " blurted Ben

th. /r*^. 'o'P''"' ^°^' " y°" ^'^ afraid of

he Hudson's Bay Company ships attacking you,

I d be glad to loan you enough young fire-eaters

to garrison the fort here! " re eaters

till th?'"''''" 'T ^'"' '^''""^ ^'« mustaches
w 5Y were mgh jerked out. "but how long
would they stay? " ^

_ "Till you sent them away," says M. de
Rad^^on. with the lights at play Lder hi!

be ""laul Tr'I/ ^T ^°'' '°"^ '^^' would
Ihh he^F ? '"!' ''^"-P"^^'«d, half-pleased
with the Frenchman's darting wits

ruffl7cT rnf'^'"' ^- ^''^'''°"' *"PP'"& the lace
thot guns r '" ^ '^^^\"^- --t "ot fire

" No? " questions Gillam.
"My ofiicers are swashing young blades!
^37

t!i!

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

What with the marines and the common soldiers
and my own guard, 'tis all I can manage to keep
the rascals m hand! They must not know you
are here!" ^

Gillam muttered something of a treaty of
truce for the winter.

M. Radisson shook his head.

"I have scarce the support to do as I will "
he protests. '

Young Gillam swore such coolness was
scurvy treatment for an old friend.

" ni^.u ^"^J!^'" ^^"^''"^ ^^'^^^so" afterward.
Did the cub s hangdog of a father not offer a

pike"staff?"°""''* ^°' "^ ^^^'^ °" *•"" ^""^ °' *
But with Ben he played the game out.
The season is too far advanced for you to
escape, says he with soft emphasis.

sailor'^'' "^^^ ^ "^^"^ * ^"^^^•" ^"'*"'' *''«=

" Come, then." laughs the Frenchman, " now
—as to terms- — "

" Name them," says Gillam.

" If you don't wish to be discovered »

I don't wish to be discovered! "
"If you don't wish to be discovered don't
run up a flag!"

" One," says Gillam.
138

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

" If you don't wish to be discovered don't let
your people leave the islandl "
"They haven't." says Gillam.

Iv at Zl ^ " "'^' ^- ^^'^'^^°"' «'«""ng sharp-
ly at^jne; for we were both thinking of thf t nigh";

^^ J They haven't left the island." repeats Gil-

' If you don't wish the Fur Company to dis-
cover you, don't fire guns! "
" Three," says Gillam.

" T''** 's to keep 'em from connecting with
those mlanders," whisoereH Cr^A t ^'^ ."^ w'*"

One," counts Gillam
shipsr ''"" "'*' ^°" ^^^'"^* '^- English
Young Gillam laughed derisively
"* 139

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"My father commands the Hudson's Bay
ship," says he.

" Egad, yes I " retorts M. Radisson noncha-
lantly, " but your father doesn't command the
governor of the Fur Company, who sailed out
in his ship."

"The governor does not know that I am
here," flouts Ben.

" But he would know if I told him," adds M.
de Radisson, " and if I told him the Company's
captain owned half the ship poaching on the
Company's preserve, the Company's captain and
the captain's son might go hang for all the furs
they'd get! By the Lord, youngster, I rather
suspect both the captain and the captain's son
would be whipped and hanged for the theft! "

Ben gave a start and looked hard at Radis-
son. 'Twas the first time, I think, the cub real-
ized that the pawn in so soft-spoken a game
was his own neck.

" Go on," he said, with haste and fear in his
look. " I promised three terms. You will keep
your people from knowing I am here and join
me against the English— go onl What next? "
" I'll defend you against the Indians," coolly
capped M. Radisson.

Godefroy whispered in my ear that he would
not give a pin's purchase for all the furs the New
140

THE CAUSE OF THE FIRING

Englander would get; and Ben Gillam looked
like a man whose shoe pinches. He hung his
head hesitating. *

" But if you run up a flag, or fire a gun. or
let your people leave the island," warned M. Ra-
disson, I may let my men come, or tell the Eng-
lish, or jom the Indians against you."
Gillam put out his hand.
" It's a treaty," said he.
There and then he would have been glad to
see the last of us; but M. Radisson was not the
man to miss the chance of seeing a rival's ship.
How about that Canary taken from the for-
eign ship? A galleon, did you say. tall and slim?
Did you sink her or sell her? Send down your
inen to my fellows! Let us go aboard for the

141

CHAPTER XI

MORE OF M. RADISSON'S RIVALS

So Ben Gillam must take M. Radisson
aboard the Susan, or Gar^on, as she was called
when she sailed different colours, the young fel-
low with a wry face, the Frenchman, all gaiety.
As the two leaders mounted the companion-lad-
der, hostages came towards the beach to join us.
I had scarce noticed them when one tugged at
my sleeve, and I turned to look full in the faith-
ful shy face of little Jack Battle.

"Jack!" I shouted, but he only wrung and
wrung and wrung at ray hand, emitting little
gurgling laughs.

Then we linked arms and walked along the
beach, where others could not hear.

" Where did you come from? " I demanded.

" Master Ben fished me up on the Grand
Banks. I was with the fleet. It was after he
met you ofif the straits; and here I be, Ram-
say."

" After he met us off the straits." I was try-
142

MORE OF M. RADISSON'S RIVALS

mg to piece some connection between r.ii, .
sh.p and the inland assailants. "Jack ml]
How njany days have you been here? " ' ""

^^wev?b::nr/a;tre,::'^"^"'^^--^^'*

It was four since that night in the bush,
days," '°"''' "°' •'"'''• a fort in three

Who d,d that? Is Captain Gillam steahnir
the Company's furs for Ben? " sealing

aren7t°ha7'"lf""''' ^"' thoughtfully, "it

--nghis;i;.---^-«^

;;The Indians with the pelts," I suggested
No-o-o." answered Jack. " Solit ml r"
and aff if ;t'^ t j- J""-"^- apnt me fore
-nu ait If Its Indians he want^F H^ ij
send up river for them t!- ^ *'°"''^

-asthead^knd ; , „g L a L'h '"""'"^ *'^

Cfarsi^^'"^^-'^

'' ^"''^ *° '^^^P appointment as he'd shoot a
143

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

dog, if he has to track him inland a thousand
leagues. Split me fore and aft if he don't! "

" Who shoot what? " I demanded, trying to
extract some meaning from the jumbled narra-
tive.

" That's what I don't know," says Jack.

I fetched a sigh of despair.

" What's the matter with your hand? Does
it hurt? " he asked quickly.

Poor Jack! I looked into his faithful blue
eyes. There was not a shadow of deception
there — only the affection that gives without
wishing to comprehend. Should I tell him of the
adven'.ure? But a loud halloo from Godefroy
notified me that M. de Radisson was on the
beach ready to launch.

"Almost waste work to go on fortifying,"
he was warning Ben.

" You forget the danger from your own
crews," pleaded young Gillam.

" Pardieu! We can easily arrange that. I
promise you never to approach with more than
thirty of a guard." (We were twenty-nine all
told.) " But remember, don't hoist a flag, don't
fire, don't let your people leave the island."

Then we launched out, and I heard Ben
muttering under his breath that he was cursed
if he had ever known such impudence. In roid-
144

MORE OF M. RADISSON'S RIVALS

current our leader laid his pole crosswise and
laughed long.

" Tis a pretty prize. 'Twill fetch the price
of a thousand beaver-skins! Captain Gillam
reckoned short when he furnished young Ben to
defraud the Company. He would give a thou"
sand pounds for my head-would he? Pardieul
He shall g,ve five thousand pounds and leave my

S T'l n ' ^"*^ '^^^' '^ ^« behaves too
badj. he shall pay hush-money, or the governor
Shan know! When we've taken him. ifds. who
-thmk you-dare complain.? " A„d he laughed
agam; but at a bend in the river he turned sud-
den y with his eyes snapping-" Who a' deuce
could that have been playing pranks in the
woods the other night? Mark my words, Stan-
hope, whoever 'twas will prove the brains and
the mamspnng and the driving-wheel and the
rudder of this cub's venture! "

And he began to dip in quick vigorous
strokes hke the thoughts ferreting through his
bram We had made bare a dozen miles^when
paddles clapped athwart as if petrified

Up the wide river, like a great white bird
came ^stately ship. It was the Prince Ruoert
of the Hudson's Bay Company, which claimed
sole nght to trade in all that north land.

Young Gillam, with guns mounted, to the
H5

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

rear! A hostile ship, with fighting men and ord-
nance, to the fore! An unknown enemy inland!
And for our leader a man on whose head Eng-
land and New England set a price!

Do you wonder that our hearts stopped al-
most as suddenly as the paddles? But it was
not fear that gave pause to M. Radisson.

" If those ships get together, the game is
lost," says he hurriedly. "May the devil fly
away with us, if we haven't wit to stop that
ship! " ^

Act jumping with thought, he shot the canoe
under cover of the wooded shore. In a twink-
ling we had such ^ fire roaring as the natives
use for signals. Between the fire and the river
he stationed our Indian, as hunters place a decoy.

The ruse succeeded.

Lowering sail, the Prince Rupert cast anchor
opposite our fire; but darkness had gathered,
and the English sent no" boat ashore till morn-
ing.

Posting us against the woods, M. Radisson
went forward alone to meet the company of sol-
diers rowing ashore. The man standing amid-
ships, Godefroy said, was Captain Gillam, Ben's
father; but the gentleman with gold-laced doub-
let and ruffled sleeves sitting back in the sheets
was Governor Brigdar, of the Hudson's Bay
146

MORE OF M. RADISSON'S RIVALS

Fur Company, a courtier of Prince Rupert's
choice.

The clumsy boat grounded in the shallows,
and a soldier got both feet in the water to wade.
Instantly M. Radisson roared out such a sten-
torian " Halt! " you would have thought that he
had an army at his back. Indeed, that is what
the party thought, for the fellow got his fe^*
back m the boat monstrous quick. And there
was a vast bandying of words, each asking
other who they were, and bidding each other
m no very polite terms to mind their own
affairs.

Of a sudden M. Radisson wheeled to us
standing guard.

"OfScers," he shouted, "first brigade!—
forward!"

From the manner of him we might have had
an army under cover behind that bush.

All at once Governor Brigdar's lace handker-
chief was aflutter at the end of a sword, and the
representative of King Charies begged leave to
^nd and salute the representative of His Most
Christian Majesty, the King of France.

And land they did, pompously peaceful,

though their swords clanked so oft every man

must have had a hand ready a. his baldrick

i'l-rre Radisson receiving them with the lofty

'47

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

air of a gracious monarch, the others bowing
and unhatting and bending and crooking their
spines supple as courtiers with a king.

Presently came the soldiers back to us as
hostages, while Radisson stepped into the boat
to go aboard the Prince Rupert with the captain
and governor. Godefroy called out against
such rashness, and Pierre Radisson shouted back
that threat about the nippers pulling the end off
the fellow's tongue.

Serving under the French flag, I was not
supposed to know English; but when one soldier
said he had seen " Mr. What-d'y-call-'im before,"
pointing at me, I recognised the mate from
whom I had hired passage to England for M
Picot on Captain Gillam's ship.

Like enough," says the other, " 'tis a land
where no man brings his back history."

"See here, fellow," -said i, whipping out a
crown, " here's for you to tell me of the New
Amsterdam gentleman who sailed from Boston
last spring! "

" No New Amsterdam gentleman sailed from
Boston," answered both in one breath.

" I am not paying for lies," and I returned
the crown to my pocket.

Then Radisson came back, urging Captain
trillam against proceeding up the river.
148

MORE OF M. RADISSON'S RIVALS

ct, n ^''^.u""" ^"P"* "'Sht ground on the
shallows," he warned.

"That will keep them apart till we trap one
or both." he told us. as we set off in our canoe.

But we had not gone out of range before we
were ordered ashore. Picking our way back
overland we spied through the bush for two
days, till we saw that Governor Brigdar was
taking Radisson's advice, going no farther up-
stream, but erecting a fort on the shore where
ne had anchored.

"And now." said Radisson. " we must act."
While we were spying through the woods,
watching the English build their fort, I thought
that I saw a figure flitting through the bush to
the rear I dared not fire. One shot would have
betrayed us to the English. But I pointed my
gun. The thing came gliding noiselessly nearer.
1 clicked the gun-butt without firing. The thine
paused. Then I called M. Radisson, who said it
was Le Borgne, the wall-eyed Indian. Godefroy
vowed twas a spy from Ben Gillam's fort. The
Indian mumbled some superstition of a manitou
To me It seemed like a caribou; for it faded to
nothing the way those fleet creatures have of
skimming into distance.

149

CHAPTER XII

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

M. Radisson had reckoned well. His nam-
ing to prepare for instant siege set all the younff
fire-eaters of our Habitation working like bea
vers to complete the French fort. The marquis
took a hand at squaring timbers shoulder to
shoulder with Allemand, the pilot; and La Ches-
naye, the merchant prince, forgot to strut while
digging up earthworks for a parapet The
leaven of the New World was working. Hon-
our was for him only whose brawn won the
place; and our young fellows of the birth and
the pride were keenest to gird for the task

On our return from the upper river to the
fort, the palisaded wafls were finished, guns were
mounted on all bastions, the two ships beached
under shelter of cannon, sentinels on parade at
the mam gate, and a long barracks built mid-
way across the courtyard.

Here we passed many a merry hour of a lone
wmter night, the green timbers cracking like
150

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

pistol-shots to the tightening frost-grip, and the

hall sending up a roar that set the red shadows
dancng among ceiling joists. After ward-room
mess w.th fare that kings might have envied-!^
ted and partndge and venison and a steak of
»T1-^ ''A'"' "^^^^ "°^« -« ^ ^trie, with
L.t ,°J 'f^° ''""P ^''^^ ™«'t«d in your
mouth hke flakes-the commonalty, as La
Chesnaye designated those who sat below the
salt, would draw off to the far hearth. Here

>ng jokes popping com, and toasting wits

ands. At the other hearth sat M. de Radisson

bs Sr ^° ?^ ''■^' ^ '°"^ P'P« betwtrhS

Ws L^^s "" "" °^ ^°""^ ''•^^^^ ^^^^^ f°^

«„ " °'j:? ™°^ '^ow ^e got away from the Iro-
quois Chouart?" Radisson asks Groseille«.

Tn ^hf..'" ';'''"■ '•^"erh-hewn from a stump
on the other side of the fire.

Chouart Groseillers smiles quietly and
strokes his black beard. Jean strelhes'ac'ss

us? Tel'usr" '"^ '"' ^'°"^^ °"*' "T««

"We had been captives six months. The

Iroquo's w.re beginning to let us wander about

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

alone. Chouart there had sewed his thumb up
where an old squaw had hacked at it with a dull
shell. The padre's nails, which the Indians tore
off m torture, had grown well enough for him
to handle a gun. One day we were allowed out
to hunt. Chouart brought down three deer, the
padre two moose, and I a couple of bear. That
night the warriors came back from a raid on
Orange with not a thing to eat but one miser-
able, httle, thin, squealing pig. Pardieu! men,
twas our chance; and the chance is always hid-
ing round a corner for the man who goes
ahead.

Radisson paused to whiff his pipe, all the
lights m his eyes laughing and his mouth ex-
pressionless as steel.

" Tis an insult among Iroquois to leave food
at a feast. There wefe we with food enou 'h to
stuff the tnbe torpid as winter toads. The padre
was sent round to the lodges with a tom-tom
to beat every soul to the feast. Chouart and a
Dutch prisoner and I cooked like kings' scul-

hons for four mortal hours! "

"We wanted to delay the feast till mid-
night, explains Groseillers.

"And at midnight in trooped every man
woman, and brat of the encampment The
padre takes a tom-tom and stands at one end

IS2

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

of the lodge beating a very knav^«»
and shouting at the toS^ „? k ° .™*^'-*^"''
brother., eat I Bulee the " ^°'"-" '^*'

loose the belt! E^ bt^h '''' '^'" ^'''^ «=°^*'
stands at the boileMln. "' '*'' ' ^^''^"^rt

an a™, co^'dirbr^-rhr^^^^^^^^

riors'he"eagr^'„7"^^^^^^^ From the war^

keeps ladlingTt 't '/"e^rS' ^T '^''^"^'^
man grabs up a dnl T!i ^^" ^^^ ^"t«=h-

'o%e^„d b?g,4tTeaTa^d\:^r/b^ %'

caper, of a fiend ^ ^oU Sj':'"'" ."^"'^ **
Still the drums beat! Still ^h^ '''"^°" '=^*'

Radisson laughed.

"Do you mind, Chouart," he asked "h«
the padre wanted to put poison ,^ .1 "^

and the Dutchman wouldn't ^e T- , 1? ™'^*'
Dutchman wanted to n^'^dV; th ™ a,,'^''^"^^^^^
^ieep, and the padre wouldn't lefhTmf"" *'"'"

151

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Both men laughed.

"And the end?" asked Jean.

" We tied the squealing pig at the door for
sentmel. broke ice with our muskets, launched
the canoe, and never stopped paddling till we
reached Three Rivers." *

At that comes a loud sally of laughter from
the sailors at the far end of the hall. Godefroy,
the English trader, is singing a rhyme of All
Souls' Day, and Allemand, the French pilot,
protests.

"Soul! Soul! For a soul-cake I
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for ."

But La Chesnaye shouts out for the knaves
to hold quiet. Godefroy bobs his tipstaff, and
bawls on:

"Soul! Soul! For an apple or two !
If you've got no apples, nuts will do I

Out with your raisins, down with your gin !
Give me plenty and I'll begin."

^^ M. Radisson looks down the hall and laughs
By the saints," says he softly, "a man loses
the Christian calendar in this land! 'Tis All
Souls' Night! Give the men a treat, U Ches-
naye."

* See Radisson's own account.

154

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

r,^.f^\^ S^'^'^y^' ^^^« governor, must
needs show his authority, and vows to flog the
knave for .mpudence. Turning over benches
.n h,s haste, the .ierchant falls on Godefroy

Stnu-^r^-'^-^-^-enow-j

The door blows open, and with a gust of
wind a silent figure blows in. Tis Le lorgne
the one-eyed, who has taken to joining our men
of a merry night, which M. de Radisson encour-
ages, for he would have all the Indians come

"Hal " says Radisson, " I thought 'twas the
men I sent to spy if the marsh were safe cross-
ing. Give Le Borgne tobacco, La Chesnaye
, If once the fellow gets drunk," he adds to me
m an undertone, " that silent tongue of his mav

stirnng, Ramsay! Ten days past! Egad, a m^
might as well be a fish-worm burrowing unJe^
ground as such a snail! We must stir-stir!
th? n^ -i:?^'""^ ""« t° the table apart from

InH h T ?'" ^' '^^ °" '^' >°*«='- river,"
and he marked the letter X on a line indicating
the flow of our nver to the bay. " Here is the
upper river," and he drew another river meeting

IT 'f r. T? f ^''- " ^''^ '« <^°^^'"°^ Brig
dar of the Hudson's Bay Company," marking

" 155

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

another X on the upper river, " Here is Ben
Gillaml We are half-way between them on the
south. I sent two men to see if the marsh be-
tween the rivers is fit crossing."

" Fit crossing? "

"When 'tis safe, we might plan a surprise.
The only doubt is how many of those pirates are
there who attacked you in the woods? "

And he sat back whiffing his pipe and gaz-
ing in space. By this, La Chesnaye had distrib-
uted so generous a treat that half the sailors
were roaring out hilarious mirth. Godefroy
astride a bench played big drum on the wrong-
end-up of the cook's dish-pan. Allemand at-
tempted to fiddle a poker across the tongs.
Voyageurs tried to shoot the big canoe over
a waterfall; for when Jean tilted one end of the
IS6

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

long bench, they landed as cleanly on the floor
as if their craft had plunged. But the copper-
faced Le Borgne remained taciturn and toneue-
tied. "

"Be curse to that walUjccl ! nav. ' mtit-
tered Radisson. "He"} tor !«■) n .aa.i tu t-t
go! We must capture him or win hir-,'"

"Perhaps when he b< -omc m.^r. K.ctiuly
we may track him back to tne inl .. :.er-,," I swg-
gested.

M. de Radisson closed one .\c ,ind locked
at me attentively.

" La Chesnaye," he called, " treat that fel-
low like a king! "

And the rafters rang so loud with the merri-
ment that we none of us noticed the door flung
open, nor saw two figures stamping off the snow
till they had thrown a third man bound at M. de
Radisson's feet. The messengers sent to spy
out the marsh had returned with a half-frozen
prisoner.

" We found him where the ice is soft. He
was half dead," explained one scout.

Silence fell. Through the half-dark the In-
dian glided towards the door. The unconscious
prisoner lay face down.

"Turn him over," ordered Radisson.

As our men rolled him roughly over, the
IS7

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

captive uttered a heavy groan. His arms fell
away from his face revealing little Jack Battle,
the castaway, in a haven as strange as of old.

" Search him before he wakes," commanded
Radisson roughly.

" Let me," I asked.

In the pouches of the caribou coat was only
pemmican; but my hand crushed against a soft-
ness in the inner waistcoat. I pulled it out —
a little, old glove, the colour Hortense had
dangled the day that Ben Gillam fell into the
sea.

" Pish! " says Radisson. " Anything else? "

There crumpled out a yellow paper. M. Ra-
disson snatched it up.

" Pish! " says he, " nothing— put it back! "

It was a page of my copy-book, when I used
to take lessons with Rebecca. Replacing paper
and glove, I closed up the sailor lad's coat.

" Search his cap and moccasins! "

I was mighty thankful, as you may guess,
that other hands than mine found the tell-tale
missive— a badly writ letter addressed to " Cap-
tain Zechariah Gillium."

Tearing it open, M. Radisson read with
stormy lights agleam in his eyes.

"Sir, this sailor lad is an old comrade," I
pleaded.

158

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

" Then'a God's name take care of him," he
flashed out.

But long before I had Jack Battle thawed
back to consciousness in my own quarters, Jean
came running with orders for me to report to
M. Radisson.

" I'll take care of the sailor for you," prof-
fered Jean. ■

And I hastened to the main hall.

" Get ready," ordered Radisson. " We must
stir! That young hop-o'-my-thumb suspects
his father has arrived. He has sent this fellow
with word of me. Things will be doing. We
must stir— we must stir. Read those for news,"
and he handed me the letter.

The letter was addressed to Ben's father, of
the Hudson's Bay ship. Prince Rupert. In 4ri-
tmg which was scarcely legible, it ran:

french viper Who deserted You at ye fort of ye bay lo Years
ago hath come here for France Threatening us.

he Must Be Stopped. Will i Do It ?

have Bin Here Come Six weekes All Souls' day and Not
Heard a Word of Him that went inland to Catch ye Furs

from ye Savages before they Mett Governor B If He

Proves False '

There the crushed missive was torn, but the
purport was plain. Ben Gillam and his father
'59

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

were in collusion with the inland pirates to get
peltries from the Indians before Governor Brig-
dar came; and the inlanders, whoever" they
. were, had concealed both themselves and the
furs.^ I handed the paper back to M. Ra.iisson.

"We mu&t itir, lad— we must stir," he re-
peated.

" But the marsh is soft yet. It is unsafe to
cross."

"The river is not frozen in mid-current,"
retorted M. Radisson impatiently. " Get ready!
I am taking different men to impress the young
spark with our numbers— you and La Chesnaye
and the marquis and Allemand. But where a'
devil is that Indian? "

Le Borgne had slipped away.

" Is he a spy? " I asked.

"Get ready! Why do you ask questions?
The thing is — to do! — do!! — do^!!!"

But Allemand, who had been hauling out
the big canoe, came up sullenly.

" Sir," he complained, " the river's running
ice the size of a raft, and the wind's a-blowine a
gale." ^

" Man," retorted M. de Radisson with the
quiet precision of steel, " if the river were run-
ning live fire and the gale blew from the inferno,
I— would— go! Stay home and go to bed, AI-
l6o

M. R/^DISSON BEGINS THE GAME

lemand." And he chose one of the common
sailors mstead.

And when we walked out to the thick edge
of the shorc-,ce and launched the canoe among
a whirhng dnft of ice-pans, we had small hop!

hadTot Tit r^" ^°"'"^°" ^^^•"- The ice
had not the thickness of the spring jam, bvt it

was sharp enough to cut our canoe, and we

poled our way far oftener than we paddled.

Where the currents of the two rivers joined, the

wmd had whipped the waters to a maelst;om

not J<!fJ T '"°°"''''- ^' ^'' ^^" we did
not see the white turmoil, else M. Radisson had
had a mutiny on his hands. When the canoe
leaped to the throb of the sucking currents like
a cataract to the plunge. La CheLynaoped
his pole athwart and called out a curse on such
rashness M. Radisson did not hear or did not
need. An ice-pan pitched against La Ches-
nayes place, and the merchant must needs
thrust out to save himself.

The only light was the white glare of ice.
The only guide across that heaving traverse,
the unemng mstinct of that tall figure at the
bow, now plunging forward, now bracing back
now shouting out a "Steady!" that th! wind
earned to our ears, thrusting his pole to right
to left m lightning strokes, till the canoe sud-
i6i

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

denly darted up the roaring current of the north
river.

Here we could no longer stem both wind
and tide. M. Radisson ordered us ashore for
rest. Fourteen days were we paddling, portag-
ing, struggling up the north river before we
came in range of the Hudson's Bay fort built by
Governor Brigdar.

Our proximity was heralded by a low laugh
from M. de Radisson. "Look," said he,
"their ship aground in mud a mile from the
fort. In case of attack, their forces will be di-
vided. It is well," said M. Radisson.

The Prince Rupert lay high on the shallows,
fast bound in the freezing sands. Hiding our
canoe in the woods, we came within hail and
called. There was no answer.

" Drunk or scurvy," commented M. Radis-
son. "An faith, Ramsay, 'twould be an easy
capture if we had big enough fort to hold them
all!"

Shaping his hands to a trumpet, he shouted,
" How are you, there? "

As we were turning away a fellow came
scrambling up the fo'castle and called back: "A
little better, but all asleep."

" A good time for us to examine the fort,"
said M. de Radisson.

162

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

Aloud, he answered that he would not dis-
turb the crew, and he wheeled us off through
the woods.

" See! " he observed, as we emerged in full

view of the stockaded fur post, " palisades

, nailed on from the inside— easily pushed loose

Ifrom the outside. Pish!— low enough for a dog

to jump."

Posting us in ambush, he advanced to the
main edifice behind the wide-open gate. I saw
him shaking hands with the Governor of the
Hudson's Bay Company, who seemed on the
pomt of sallying out to hunt.

Then he signalled for us to come. I had al-
most concluded he meant to capture Governor
Brigdar on the spot; but Pierre Radisson ever
took friends and foes unawares.

" Your Excellency," says he, with the bow
of a courtier, " this is Captain Gingras of our
new ship."

Before I had gathered my wits. Governor
Brigdar was shaking hands.

" And this," continued Radisson, motioning
forward the common sailor too quick for sur-
prise to betray us, "this. Your Excellency, is
Colonel Bienville of our marines."

Colonel Bienville, being but a lubberly fel-
low, nigh choked with amazement at the Eng-
163

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

lish governor's warmth; but before we knew our
. leader's drift, the marquis and La Chesnaye were
each in turn presented as commanders of our
different land forces.

" 'Tis the misfortune of my staff not to speak
English," explains Pierre Radisson suavely with
another bow, which eflfectually shut any of our
mouths that might have betrayed him.

" Doubtless your officers know Canary bet-
ter than English," returns Governor Brigdar;
and he would have us all in to drink healths.

" Keep your foot in the open door," Pierre
Radisson whispered as we passett into the
house.

Then we drank the health of the King of
England, firing our muskets into the roof; and
drank to His Most Christian Majesty of France
with another volley; and drank to the confusion
of our common enemies, with a clanking of gun-
butts that might have alarmed the dead. Upon
which Pierre Radisson protested that he would
not keep Governor Brigdar from the hunt; and
we took our departure.

" And now," said he, hastening through the
bush, " as no one took fright at all that firing,
what's to hinder examining the ship? "

"Pardieu, Ramsay," he remarked, placing
us in ambush again, " an we had a big enough
164

Ii-TI, IPC.

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

fort, with food to keep them alive, we might
have bagged them all."

From which I hold that M. Radisson was
not so black a man as he has been painted; for
he could have captured the English as they lay
weak of the scurvy and done to them, for the
saving of fort rations, what rivals did to all
foes— shot them in a land which tells no secrets.
From our place on the shore we saw him
scramble to the deck. A man in red nightcap
rushed forward with an oath.

" And what might you want, stealing up like
a thief in the night? " roared the man.

" To offer my services. Captain Gillam," re-
torted Radisson with a hand to his sword-hilt
and both feet planted firm on the deck.
" Services? " bawled Gillam.
"Services for your crew, captain," inter-
rupted Radisson softly.

"Hm!" retorted Captain Gillam, pulling
fiercely at his grizzled beard. " Then you might
send a dozen brace o' partridges, some oil, and
candles."

With that they fell to talking in lower tones;
and M. Radisson came away with quiet, un-
spoken mirth in his eyes, leaving Captain Gil-
lam in better mood.

"Curse me if he doesn't make those par-
ies

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

value; but why tak?Ltf "°"'' "' °' ^^^^
better' shooMlm d^'^ TthTr,d "*"'
they had the chancel" ^ "''^ "'' "»

w,,„>* ' "='^e are two things I

dont excuse a fool for-not minding hi oL
busmess and not holding his tongue"^
thei". '''^"eh La Chesnaye's money paid for

in P ^' J^ ^"^ '""^"'^ had wagged twice

m Radasson's hearing he would have torn the

^houTouT'" °"^- °°'"^ - - -- ^d
without question, we al! filed down to the canoe

thel'?;""'"^' *'" "PP- current. .S by
EnX"tr^^^^°^^°^^^^^-^"'-'«New'

tridl^' ^''""'^''. '"'^ ^°'^' ^"J «hoot par-
ng them on the far side of the river, he bade the

What was our surprise to see every bastion
call o«, ,a„„n,k. Down ,a„ Be„ Gi, J td ^

166

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

second officer, aniied cap-a-pie, with swagger-
ing insolence that they took no pains to con-
ceal.

" Congratulate you on coming in the nick
of time," cned Ben.

" Now what in the Old Nick does he mean
bythatP-s^MRadisson. " Does the cub S
to cower me with his threats? "

"I trust your welcome includes my four offi-
cers, he responded. "Two are with me and
two have gone for partridges."

Ben bellowed a jeering laugh, and his sec-
ond man took the cue.

"Ymu- four officers may be forty devils,"
yelled the lieutenant; "we've finished our fort
Come m. Monsieur Radissonl Two can play at
he game of big talk! You're welcome in if you
leave your forty officers out! "

For the space of a second M. Radisson's eyes
swept the cannon pointing from the bastion
embrasures. We were safe enough. The full
hull of their own ship was between the guns
and us. ^

" Young man," said M. Radisson, addressing

"Friendship!" flouted Ben, twirling his
mustache and showing both rows of teeth.
167

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

You are not talk-

"Pooh, pooh, M. Radjsson!
ing to a stripling! "

" I had thought I was— and a very fool of a
*>°oby, too," answered M. Radisson coolly.

" SirJ " roared young Gillam with a rumbling
of oaths, and he fumbled his sword.

But his sword had not left the scabbard be-
fore M. de Radisson sent it spinning through
mid-air into the sea.

" I must ask your forgiveness for that, boy,"
said the Frenchman to Ben, " but a gentleman
fights only his equals."

Ben Gillam went white and red by turns, his
nose flushing and paling like the wattle of an
angry turkey; and he stammered out that he
hoped M. de Radisson did not take umbrage at
the building of a fort.

" We must protect ourselves from the Eng-
lish," pleaded Ben.

"Pardieu, yes," agreed M. de Radisson,
proflfering his own sword with a gesture in place
of the one that had gone i.ito the sea, " and I
had come to offer you twotily men to hold the
fort! "

Ben glanced questioningly to his second
officer.

"Bid that fellow draw off!" ordered M.
Radisson.

i68

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

Dazed like a man struck between the eyes,
Ben did as he was commanded.

" I told you that I came in friendship," be-
gan Radisson.

Gillam waited.

" Have you lost a man, Ben? "

" No," boldly lied Gillam.

" Has one run away from the island against
orders? "

" No, devil take me, if I've lost a hand but
the supercargo that I killed."

" I had thought that was yours," said Radis-
son, with contempt for the ruffian's boast; and
he handed out the paper taken from Jack.

Ben staggered back with a gieat oath, vow-
ing he would have the scalp of the traitor
who lost that letter. Both stood silent, each
contemplating the other. Then M. Radisson
spoke.

" Ben," said he, never taking his glance from
the young fellow's face, " what will you give me
if I guide you to your father this afternoon? I
have just come from Captain Gillam. He and
his crew are ill of the scurvy. Dress as a cou-
reur and I pass you for a Frenchman."

" My father I " cried Ben with his jaws agape
and his wits at sea.

" Pardieu— yes, I said your father! "
169

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^S (^16) 288 - 5989 - Fax

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" What do you want in return? " stammered
Ben.

Radisson uttered a laugh that had the sound
of sword-play.

" Egad, 'tis a hot supper I'd like better than
anything else just now! If you feed us well and
disguise yourself as a coureur, I'll take you at
sundown! "

And in spite of his second officer's signals,
Ben Gillam hailed us forthwith to the fort, where
M. Radisson's keen eyes took in every feature
of door and gate and sally-port and gun. While
the cook was preparing our supper and Ben dis-
guising as a French wood-runner, we wandered
at will, M. Radisson all the while uttering low
laughs and words as of thoughts.

It was — "Caught — neat as a mouse in a
trap! Don't let him spill the canoe when we're
running the traverse, Ramsay! May the fiends
blast La Chesnaye if he opens his foolish
mouth in Gillam's hearing! Where, think you,
may we best secure him? Are the timbers of
your room sound? "

Or else—" Faith, a stout timber would hold
those main gates open! Egad, now, an a man
were standing in this doorway, he might jam a
musket in the hinge so the thing would keep
open! Those guns in the bastions though —
170

M. RADISSON BEGINS THE GAME

think you those cannon are not pushed too
far through the' windows to be slued round
quickly? "

And much more to the same purpose, which
told why M. Radisson stooped to beg supper
from rivals.

At sundown all was ready for departure.
La Chesnaye and the marquis had come back
with the partridges that were to make pretence
for our quick return to the Prince Rupert. Ben
Gillam had disguised as a bush-runner, and the
canoe lay ready to launch. Fools and children
unconsciously do wise things by mistake, as you
know; and 'twas such an unwitting act sprung M.
Radisson's plans and let the prize out of the trap.
" Sink me an you didn't promise the loan
of twenty men to hold the fort!" exclaimed
Ben, stepping down.

"Twenty — and more — and welcome," cried
Radisson eagerly.

" Then send Ramsay and Monsieur La Ches-
naye back," put in Ben quickly. " I like not the
fort without one head while I'm away."

" Willingly," and M. Radisson's eyes glinted
triumph.

" Hold a minute! " cried Ben before sitting
down. " The river is rough. Let two of my
men take their places in the canoe! "
» 171

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

M. Radisson's breath drew sharp through
his teeth. But the trap was sprung, and he
yielded gracefully enough to hide design.

"A curse on the blundering cub! " he mut-
tered, drawing apart to give me instructions.
" Pardieu — you must profit on this, Ramsay!
Keep your eyes open. Spoil a door-lock or
two! Plug the cannon if you can! Mix sand
with their powder! Shift the sentinels! Get the
devils insubordinate "

" M. Radisson! " shouted Gillam.
" Coming! "says Radisson; and he went ofif
with his teeth gritting sand.

172

CHAPTER XIII

THE WHITE DARKNESS

How much of those instructions we carried
out I leave untold. Certainly we could not have
been less grateful as guests than Ben Gillam's
men were inhospitable as hosts. A more sottish
crew of rakes you never saw. Twas gin in the
mornmg and rum in the afternoon and vile po-
tions of mixed poisons half the night, with a
crackmg of the cook's head for withholding
fresh kegs and a continual scufHe of lighters
over cheating at cards. No marvel the second
officer flogged and carved at the knaves like an
African slaver. The first night the whole crew
set on us with drawn swords because we refused
to gamble the doublets from our backs. La
Chesnaye laid about with his sword and I with
my rapier, till the cook rushed to our rescue with
a kettle of lye. After that we escaped to the
deck of the ship and locked ourselves inside Ben
Gillam's cabin. Here we heard the weather-
vanes of the fort bastions creaking for three days
173

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

to the shift of fickle winds. Shore-ice grew
thicker and stretched farther to mid-current.
Mock suns, or sun-dogs, as we called them, oft
hung on each side of the sun. La Chesnaye said
these boded ill weather.

Sea-birds caught the first breath of storm
and wheeled landward with shrill calls, and once
La Chesnaye and I made out through the ship's
glass a vast herd of caribou running to sniff the
gale from the crest of an inland hill.

" If Radisson comes not back soon we are
storm-bound here for the winter. As you live,
we are," grumbled the merchant.

But prompt as the ring of a bell to the clap-
per came Pierre Radisson on the thirrl day, well
pleased with what he had done andalert to keep
two of us outside the fort in spite of Ben's ur-
gings to bring the French in for refreshments.

The wind was shifting in a way that por-
tended a nor'easter, and the weather would pres-
ently be too inclement for us to remain outside.
That hastened M. Radisson's departure, though
sun-dogs and the long, shrill whistUng of con-
trary winds foretold what was brewing.

" Sink me, after such kindness, I'll see you
part way home! By the Lord Harry, I will! "
swore Ben.

M. Radisson screwed his eyes nigh shut and
174

THE WHITE DARKNESS

protested he could not permit young Captain
Gillam to take such trouble.

" The young villain," mutters La Chesnaye.
" he wants to spy which way we go."

" Come! Come! " cries Ben. " If you say
another word I go all the way with you! "

" To spy on our fort," whispers La Chesnaye.
M. Radisson responds that nothing would
give greater pleasure.

" I've half a mind to do it," hesitates Ben,
looking doubtfully at us.

"To be sure," urges M. Radisson, "come
along and have a Christmas with our merrv
blades!" '

"Why, then, by the Lord, I will!" decides
Gillam. " That is," he added, " if you'll send the
marquis and his man, there, back to my fort as
hostages."

M. Radisson twiried his mustaches thought-
fully, gave the marquis the same instructions in
French as he had given us when we were left in
the New Englander's fort, and turning with a
calm face to Ben, bade him get into our
canoe.

But when we launched out M. Radisson
headed the craft up-stream in the wrong direc-
tion, whither we paddled till nightfall. It was
cold enough in all conscience to afford Ben Gil-
175

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

lam excuse for tipping a flask from his jacket-
pouch to his teeth every minute or two; but
when we were rested and ready to launch again,
the young captain's brain was so befuddled that
he scarce knew whether he were in Boston or on
Hudson Bay.

This time we headed straight down-stream,
Ben nodding and dozing from his place in the
middle, M. Radisson, La Chesnaye, and I poling
hard to keep the drift-ice oflf. We avoided the
New Englander's fort by going on the other side
of the island, and when we shot past Governor
Brigdar's stockades with the lights of the Prince
Rupert blinking through the dark, Ben was fast
asleep.

And all the while the winds were piping over-
head with a roar as from the wings of the great '
storm bird which broods over all that north-
land. Then the blore of the trumpeting wind
was answered by a counter fugue from the sea,
with a roll and pound of breakers across the sand
of the traverse. Carried by the swift current,
we had shot into the bay. It was morning, but
the black of night had given place to the white
darkness of northern storm. Ben Gillam jerked
up sober and grasped an idle pole to lend a hand.
Through the whirl of spray M. Radisson's figure "
loomed black at the bow, and above the boom of
176

THE WHITE DARKNESS

tumbling waves came the grinding as of an earth-
quake.

" We are lost ! We are lost ! " shrieked Gil-
lam in panic, cowering back to the stern. " The
storm's drifted down polar ice from the north
and we're caught ! We're caught ! " he cried.

He sprang to his feet as if to leap into that
white waste of seething ice foam. 'Twas the
frenzy of terror, which oft seizes men adrift on
ice. In another moment he would have swamped
us under the pitching crest of a mountain sea.
But M. Radisson turned. One blow of his pole
and the foolish youth fell senseless to the bottom
of the canoe.

"Look, sir, look!" screamed La Chesnaye,
" the canoe's getting ice-logged 1 She's sunk to
the gun'ales!"

But at the moment when M. Radisson turned
to save young Gillam, the unguided canoe had
darted between two rolling seas. Walls of ice
rose on either side. A white whirl— a mighty
rush — a. tumult of roaring waters—the ice walls
pitched down— the canoe was caught— tossed
up— nipped — crushed like a card-box— and we
four flung on the drenching ice-pans to a roll
of the seas like to sweep us under, with a footing
slippery as glass.

" Keep hold of Gillam! Lock hands! " came
i;;

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

a clarion voice through the storm. " Don't fear

m rJ' "° '^^"«^''' T''^ K»'= will drive
us ashore! Don't fearl Holdtir" I Hold tight!
There s no danger if you have no fear! "
^^_^The ice heaved and flung to the roll of the

" Hold fast and your wet F'eeves will freeze
you to the ice! Steady! " he called, as the th"g
leii and rose again.

Then, with the hiss of the worid serpent that
pursues man to his doom, we were scudding be-
fore a mountain swell. There was the splinter-
ing report of a cannon-shot. The ice split. We
clung the closer. The rush of waves swept under
us around us, above us. There came a crasS'
Ihe thmg gave from below. The powers of
darkness seemed to close over us. the jaws of the
world serpent shut upon their prey, tie spir t o
evil shrieked its triumph.

h..?"']"* *°"'''''' ''°"°"- The waves fell

trave'rse " "" "',°" '^'^ '''' ^^^'^^ ^^ ^S

"Run! Run for your lives!" shouted Ra-

brought to h,s senses. " Lock hands and run! "

And run we did, like those spirits in the twi--

hght of the lost, with never a hope of rescue and

never a resp.te from fear, hand gripping hand,

178

'„^J t-''W" I'lft"*!" '!&'•■ "^

THE WHITE DARKNESS

tt *'**%* M "'' *^*'' ""'^ '^^ ^"^'"^ »>«* yelp-
ing wofishly at our hc.lsl 'Twas the oH, old

story of Man leaping u». lunted as a warrior to
conquer his foes- >,me. backl-beateni-pur-
sued by serpent and wolf, spirit of darkness and
power of destruction, with the light of life flick-
ering low and the endless frosts creeping close
to a heart beating faint!

Oh, those were giants that we set forth to
conquer in that harsh northland-the giants of
he warnng elements! And giants were needed
tor the task.

Think you of that when you hear the slight-
ing scorn of the rough pioneer, because he
mmceth not his speech, nr. weareth ruffs at his

Sd^o"H;h:r'^°'°^"*''^'^"^^^^^°-

The earth fell away from our feet. We all
four tumbled forward. The storm whistled past
overhead. And we lay at the bottom of a cliff
that seemed to shelter a multitude of shadowy
forms. We had fallei. to a ravine wnere the vast
canbou herds had wandered from the storm
which M. Radisson, with a depth of reverence

"^hLT^", '\""°' '""' "^'"'" '^y~ he,
thank God for this deliverance! "

• . ,

So urused to man's presence were the'cari-
179

HERALDS OF EMPIRE
bou or perhaps so stupefied by the storm, they

wL ht? " V"' ""*'■" °^ '"^^ herd, ound
wh.ch the great bucks had formed a cordon with

h yount VV: "'r *° '''°'''' '"» ^- -'
!« r ^: .' ''"' ''■°'" *•'« multitude of bod-

cs warn^ed us back to life, and I make no doubt
the findmg of that herd was God Almighty-
provision for our safety. -^'mignty s

«. l°[ ^^Z^^^y' *•= wandered with nothing to
eat but wild birds done to death by the Je °
On the third day the storm abatedf bu if was
t.ll snowmg too heavily for us to see a man"
cngth away Two or three times the caribou
tossed up their heads sniffing the air suspicious-
ly, and La Chesnaye fell to cursing lest the wolf-
pack should stampede the herd. At thi GiHam
M-hose hulking body had wasted from £k Tf'
bulky rations, began to whimper-
„' 11^^^ wolf-pack come we are lost I "
Man," says Radisson sternly, "say thv
prayers and thank God we are alive!"

timJ^.r'"^" '''^^" '° '■°^'^ ^•'"'"''Jy for a
time, then they were off with a rush that bare

hoofs" w"" '? r^P^ '''' ^™y °^ ^'-'''■"g
hoofs. We were left unprotected in the falling

iiili

i8o

THE WHITE DARKNESS

The primal instincts come uppermost at such
times, and like the wild creatures of the woods
facing a foe, instantaneously we wheeled back to
back, alert for the enemy that had frightened the
caribou.

" Hist! " whispers Radisson. " Look! "
Ben Gillam leaped into the air as if he had
been shot, shrieking out: " It's him! It's him!
Shoot him! The thief! The traitor! It's
him! "

He dashed forward, followed by the rest of
us, hardly sure whether Ben were sane.

Three figures loomed through the snowy
darkness, white and silent as the snow itself—
vague as phantoms in mist — pointing at us :v.j
wraiths of death— spirit hunters incarnate of t .it
vast wilderness riding the riotous storm over
land and sea. One swung a weapon aloft.
There was the scream as of a woman's cry— and
the shrieking wind had swept the snow-clouds
about us in a blind fury that blotted all sight.
And when the combing billows of drift passed,
the apparition had faded. We four stood alone
staring in space with strange questionings.

"Egad I" gasped Radisson, "I don't mind
when the wind howls like a wolf, but when it
takes to the death-scream, with snow like the

skirts of a shroud "

l8i

':*aB-jr. f.'^-?mmmm~san^r'r^mr imriiim iiiiior

HERAtDS OF EMPIRE

tered La Chesnaye. crossing himself. " It is si^
of death! That was a woman's figure It^
sJgn of death!" ^ "

. " ^'8^" of death ! » raged Ben, stampine his
.mpo ent fury, " 'tis him-'tis him! The Juda

srtr;frs,^f'^'^^--°^^--HatheX^

_'HoId quiet!" ordered M. Radisson.
Look, you rantipole-who is that? "
Twas Le Borgne, the one-eyed, emernne
from the gloom of the snow like a ghoT Bv

guide us back to our Habitation

We reached the fort that night, Le Borgne
ZT^ ''' I ^'''°"' ^^ ''^ had come^
i.. ^f i ^ '' """^ ^^ ^'d was to hold a serv-
•« of thanks to God Almighty for our delive^-

183

CHAPTER XIV

A CHALLENGE

Filling the air with ghost-shadows, silen-
cing earth, muffling the sea, day after day fell
the snow. Sho^e-ice barred out the pounding
surf. The river had frozen to adamant. Brush-
wood sank in the deepening drifts like a foun-
dered ship, and all that remained visible of ever-
greens was an occasional spar or snow mush-
room on the crest of a branch.

No east, no west, no day, no night; nothing
but a white darkness, billowing snow, and a si-
lence as of death. It was the cold, silent, mystic,
white world of northern winter.

At one moment the fort door flings wide with
a rush of frost like smoke clouds, and in stamps
Godefroy, shaking snow off with boisterous noise
and vowing by the saints that the drifts are as
high as the St. Pierre's deck. M. Groseillers
orders the rascal to shut the door; but bare has
the latch clicked when young Jean whisks in,
tossing snow from cap and gauntlets like a clip-
'83

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

per shaking a reef to the spray, and declares that
the snow is already level with the fort walls.
.. ._ " ^^' "^P'^^w," exclaims Radisson sharply
how are the cannon?"
Ben Gillam, who has lugged himself from
bed to the hearth for the first time since his
freezmg, blurts out a taunting laugh. We had
done better to build on the sheltered side of an
island, he informs us.

Now, the shivers take me!" cries Ben, "but
where a deuce are all your land forces and ma-
nnes and jack-tars and forty thousand officers? "
He cast a scornful look down our long low-
roofed barracks, counting the men gathered
round the hearth and laughing as he counted.
M. Radisson affected not to hear, telling Jean
to hoist the cannon and puncture embrasures
high to the bastion-roofs like Italian towers

"Monsieur Radisson." impudently mouths
Ben, who had taken more rum for his health
than was good for his head, " I asked you to in-
form me where your land forces are? "

"Outside the fort constructing a breast-
work of snow."

•; Good! " sneers Ben. " And the marines? "
Un the ships, where they ought to be "

officlr^?"'^'" ''"^''' ^'""" "^"'"- "^"'I't'^^
184

Ilii.i

A CHALLENGE

" Superintending the raising of the cannon.
And I would have you to know, young man,"
adds Radisson, " that when a guest asks too
many questions, a host may not answer."

But Ben goes on unheeding.

" Now I'll wager that dog of a runaway
slave o' mine, that Jack Battle who's hidirtg
hereabouts, I'll wager the hangdog slave and
pawn my head you haven't a corporal's guard o'
marines and land forces all told! "

M. Radisson never allowed an enemy's taunt
to hasten speech or act. He looked at Ben with
a measuring glance which sized that fellow very
small indeed.

" Then I must decline your wager, Ben," says
he. " In the first place. Jack Battle is mine al-
ready. In the second, you would lose ten times
over. In the third, you have few enough men
already. And in the fourth, jour head isn't
worth pawn for a wager; though I may take
you, body and boots, all the same," adds he.

With that he goes oflf, leaving Ben blowing
curses into the fire like a bellows. The young
rake bawled out for more gin, and with head
sunk on ^is chest began muttering to him-
self—

"That black-eyed, false-hearted, slippery
French eel! " he mumbles, rapping out an oath.
i8S

111

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

knave and a thief and a cheat! By Cas i he
doesn't turn up ,,h the furs, I',, do to h^l'j
did to the supercargo last week anH k !

frosf fSi"' 'r. ""?' '"^"' »i'l> >he rush of
irost clouds, and m the midst of the white vi,

Ma„?.t":keI""™°""-"°--"^r60d

«.red &:,:S;s™ta: \' ^°'^''' ■"•-"•■• "■

u 'jroseiiiers, but who are these? "
aHve":hrirhr/"— ^-'H-n

Le Borgne's fo;ty eye took on a stoKd loot
i86

A CHALLENGE

^White-men -lost -in the snow," said he.
wh,te-man from the big white canoe-come
wa kee - walkee _ one - two _ three sleep-
watchee good Indian— friend— fort!"

M. GroseiUers sprang to his feet muttering
of treachery from Governor Brigdar of the Hud-
son s Bay Company, and put himself in front of
the mtruders so that Ben could not see. But the
poor fellows were so frozen that they could only
mumble out something about the Prince Rupert
having foundered, carrying half the crew to the .
nver bottom. Hurrying the two Englishmen
to another part of the fort, M. GroseiUers bade
me run for Radisson.

I wish that you could have seen the trium-
phant ghnt laughing in Pierre Radisson's eyes
when I told him.

them! This time the jade hath trumped her

^^T. l""l ^'' *'"' ^^'"^y-' We could J
captured both father and son with a flip o' the
finger! Now there's only need to hold the son!
Governor Bngdar must beg passage from us to
leave the bay; but who a deuce are those inland-
ers that Ben GiUam keeps raving against for
hiding the furs? " ^ '

And he flung the mess-room door open so
forcibly that Ben GiUam waked with a jump. At
'' 187

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

sight of Le Borgne the young New Englander
sprang over the benches with his teeth agleam
and murder on his face. But the liquor had gone
to h.s knees. He keeled head over like a top-
heavy bng and when we dragged him up Le
Borgne had bolted. '^

^vot^t^*''"* "'^''' ^'" "^"'■'^ deliriously that he
would do worse to Le Borgne's master than he
haa done to tj,e supercargo; but he never by any

■ beT V^l t° ^' ^°^^"«'^ "-«^«r mighl
be. though M. Radisson. Chouirt GroseiUers
young Jean, and I kept watch by turns lest the
drunken knave should run amuck of our French!
men. I mmd once, when M. Radisson and I were
Jttmg qu.et by the bunk where Ben was berthed!
the young rake sat up with a fog-horn of a yel

snn Tn u' """"'^ '"" '^^' P"^'^ °^ a Radis-
son and all his cursed Fre ichies into meat for the

«nH^' ?*;"'f " J^ol^ed through the candle-light
and snnled. If you want to know your charL
ter Ramsay,' says he, "get your enemy talk-
ing in his cups! " ^

hJ?^^'I ""^ '°"'' '^ ''^ *^^^ •^^'"e to Ws fort
bm to find out how strong the liar isl" cries

pushmg the young fellow back to his fiHow and
)88

A CHALLENGE

fastening the fur robes close lest frost steam,.H
through the ill-chinked logs. ^

t ^^ 5*""''"" ®*" G'"ani and Tack Battle
o the New Englanders' fort and thl two spS

ennS'w ''°"^' ^'^ ^^"'P^"^ ^^^ «" recovered
enough from their freezing to go about. What
w.th keeping the English and New Englanders

^ t':iste7r^ '' "- .' '''''"'' p^-"« - s

J tw, ed a p,ece ot by-play as you could want.
Ben Gillan, and Jack we dressed as bushrangers
he Hudson's Bay spies as French marines N I'
ther suspected the others were English, nor ever
crossed words while with us. Ind whatever
enemaes say of Pierre Radisson, I would have
well Z:T- *'^* '^ '''^''^ •'•^ -Ptives so

ba I to their'"' "°"'' "°* '^^' '"^^^^ *'^«='n
oacK to their own masters.

fnrf " ^7 T ^ ''*"'''" ^" ^''^ E"&"sh Ol both

forts unless I wm some of ^hem tor friends? " he

the? f ' "T '^^"^ -^^'^^ *° Ws soul for
the kmdness that he practised

"^g and the frost turned the land to a silent
white paleocrystic world. Sap-frozen timbers

sTof^'thl' tf 'r ' ^'"P ^"^PP^"^ °^ P^'^"
Shots— then the white silence! The river ice

spmtereo to the tightening grip of winter wh

the grinding of an earthquake, and again the

189

HERALbS OF EMPIRE

white silence 1 Or the heavy night air, lying
thick with frost smoke like a pall over earth,
would reverberate to the deep hayings of the
wolf-pack, and over all would close the white
silence!

As if to defy the powers of that deathly
realm, M. de Radisson had the more logs heaped
on our hearth and doubled the men's rations.
On Christmas morning he had us all out to fire
a salute, Ben Gillam ind Jack and the two Fur
Company spies disguised as usual, and the rest of
us mufHed to our eyes. Jackets and tompions
were torn from the cannon. Unfrosted priming
was distributed. Flags vere run up on boats
and bastions. Then the word was given to fire
and cheer at the top of our voices.

Ben Gillam was sober enough that morning
but in the mood of a ruffian stale from over-
night brawls. Hardly had the rocking echoes of
cannonading died away when the rascal strode
boldly forward in front of us all, up with" his
musk it, took quick aim at the main flagstaff and
fired. The pole splintered oflP at the top and
the French flag fluttered to the ground.

"There's for you — you Frenchies!" he
shouted. "See the old rag tumble!"

'Twas the only time M. Radisson gave vent
to wrath.

190

A CHALLENGE

" Avast I Avast I " cries Ben " w« ,. u i-
in glass-houses needs Tot to thfn ? '''?
Mind that, ye pirate!" '^'°^ ''""''^

"Dog!" repeats M. Radisson, "dare to
Show ^d.srespect to the Most c'hristn S

"rnrn^:;^';^^-,f-Be„.

whaf T'li „: ^1. l, "' ^ "en in show you
What III g,ve He Most Chnslian of Ki„s,|'

itr.s:iS„i:fBrr"*-"'-
Ka£:„Tor„eT:;.;is„l„°:'^^rt"-

^™ay.„.p„,..,,J,'t;--;^=h,„.

--c;;.^::js£„rs7TCtVtT

men-" Form line-march! " *° *''"

At the word we filed into the guard-room
191

HERALDS OF EMPIRE
where the soldiers relieved Gillam of pistol and

" Am I to be shot? Am I to be shot? " cried
G. 11am, wh.te with terror at M. Radisson's order
to load muskets. " Am I to be shot? " he whim-

"Not unless you do it yourself, and 'twould
De the most graceful act of your life. Ben I And
now." said M. Radisson, dismissing all the men
but one sentinel for the door. " and now, Ben ^
Merry Christmas to you, and may it be your Lt
m Hudson Bay! "

h.^^^^^"' ^'!'^' ^^" ^'"^^ prisoner; but
he ordered special watch to be kept on the for
bast.ons lest Ben's bravado portended attach

wSLrstaT"'"" '^ ^^'^' "^" *° ^-«-*
"The compliments of the morning to you

Xour'"""^^'^'"^'""^-^^^'-^^^
Ben wished that he might be cursed if any

man could rest well on bare boards rimed with

frost like curdled milk.

"Cheer up, man! Cheer up!" encourages

Rad.sson. " There's to be a capture to-day! ''
A capture!" reiterates Ben, glowerine

b^^ck across the table and doffing his'cap wit?

192

I, &i'lf i:«r"

'£' "'Kill'

„*E;li!

A CHALLENGE

and onHhl '''*"'■" ^^"'^ 'ad. one fort

and one ship are pnze enough for o.-e dayl "

Sink my soul," flouts Gillam. lookine inso-
lently down the table to the rows ^f ragged saT
or, sitting beyond our officers. " if evj^ ma„ o'
your rough-scuff had the nine lives of aTat tSe^
nine Inres would be shot down before hey
reached our palisades! " ^

;; Is it a wager? " demands M. Radisson.

if you wb!-' '■■"'""■' '"' '°'* ^"'^ "-^-'^ ^° boot

"Done! "cries La Chesnaye

"Ah, well," calculates M. Radisson "th^

rne frenchman s slur " a i,„-j j

!• .. •^ hundred men with

^eni M. Radisson rose " T»,r. ~

m the fort now, Pick me ouTrevenlTrerxS:

will make nine, With those nine I own you

fort by nightfall or I set you freel " ^

Donel " shouts Ben. " Everv m,„ i.
witness!" ^very man here a

" Choose!" insists M. Radisson.
Sailors and soldiers were all on their feet ges-
»93

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

tlculating and laughing; for Godefroy v.as
trarwhiting .nto French a, fast a, the leader.

" Choose! " urges M. Radisson, leaning over
to snuff out the great breakfast candle with bare
fingers as if his hand weie iron.

(S ^''Im ' "/ '°"'' **""'" '*"«»» Ben- in high
feather, let the first be that little Jack Sprat of
a half-frozen Battle! He's loyal to me! "

" Good! " smiles M. Radisson. " Come over
here, Jack Battle." "

beh/nnlf ^o '^^'"'"P*'' °^" '^^ ***"« «nd stood
behmd M. Radisson as second lieutenant, Ben's

irSf^°'"J^'='''^^»^-°^^«''-ger

who'm'';ou°:'i'n,"''"' ""• ^•'"^°"' "^--«

The soldiers broke into ringing cheers.
Devil take you, Radisson," ejaculates Ben
thrNfcki'" '"'^ '°°' ''"Pudence would chill

"cZ^f ?/' '' ""^^ ^''" '■'=*°'^« Radisson.
Lhoose! We must be off! "

Again the soldiers cheered.

wi^Hv^l!' "'""'' '^^' '"™*^°a* °^ a Stanhope
with his fine airs. I'd rather see him shot next
than any one else! "

" Thank you, Ben," said I.
«94

A CHALLENGE

• ^''**"*'*°- GoonI Five morel"
The soldiers fell to laughing and Ben to pull-

>ng at his mustache.

"That money-bag of a La Chesnaye next "

Sshot"'- ""^'^'^^^-ught/fainTit

the'iimeT'""'"''''"''" «« " ^^^^ most of
" ^°«'." counts M. Radisson. " Come ov r

" Five," laughs M. Radisson.

a scullion lad and a wretched little stowawav
who had kept hidden under hatches till wTrie'
too far out to send him back. At the last cZfcl
our men shouted and Capped and sJatped a^^^^^
broke mto snatches of song about conquerors.

'95

■i ;!

CHAPTER XV

THE BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

t;J^' ^°^^«°N t«"ied the sand-glass up to
.me our preparations. Before the last ^ain
fell we seven were out, led by M. Radisson
rfh "! r"" '^' «"°w-drifted marsh through
the thick frosty darkness that lies like a blanket
ov.r that northland at dawn. The air hung
ThtT r^'r«y t° the touch with ice-frost
The hard-packed drifts crisped to our tread with
httle noises which I can ca.l by no other name

brea h. Endless reaches of frost were all that
Frn, "^ *• J''-°«t-"«<^kling the only sound.
Frost .n one's throat like a drink of water, and
he tingle of the frost in the blood with a leap
that was fulness of life.

Up drifts with the help of our muskets!
Down hills with a rush of snow-shoes that ...t
the powdery snow flying! Skimming the leveis
w h the silent speed of wings! Past the snow
mushrooms topping underbrush and the snow
196

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

cones of the evergreens and the snow billows of
under rocks and the snow-wreathed antlers of
the naked forest in a world of snow!

The morning stars paled to steel pin-pricks
through a gray sky. Shadows took form in the
frost. The slant rays of a southern sun struck
through the frost clouds in spears. Then the
frost smoke rose like mist, and the white glare
shone as a sea. In another hour it would be high
noon of the short shadow. Every coat— beaver
and bear and otter and raccoon-hung open,
every capote flung back, evc^y runner hot as in
midsummer, though '-ost-rime edged the hair
hke snow. When the sun lay like a fiery shield
half-way across the southern horizon, M. Radis-
son called a halt for nooning.

" Now. remember, my brave lads," said he
after he had outlined his plans, drawing figures of
fort and ship and army of seven on the snow
now, remember, if you do what I've told you
not a shot will be fired, not a drop of blood
spilled, not a grain of powder used, and to every
man free tobacco for the winter "

" If we succeed," interjects Godefroy sul-
lenly.

"If," repeats M. Radisson; " an I hear that
word again there will be a carving! "

Long before we came to the north river near
197

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

- no obS r : "■-'"*-. ^«rHsh„.„
south end of fV. 1, " ^ ''"P '">"■ ">=

«,»!„ '' '""" "> "»«"= them they

»"« at our mercy. Hastening up ,he riZ

before questions could be asked ^

;; I don't see your ship," called Radisson.
l<our leagues down the river" exnlpin.^
the governor. ' ^'^P'ained

in;:~"t' ''"•""'"=•' ■^^-»-''«'-

who,, heaven" w el ' oVVr;?."'' "" "»
%Ms ,hot their a™^ L ^,°1*! °°"'''"

".ia„a,he.„ee„\eaven"7„;"e:,?:'!C™f

198

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

world '""''"' ^°^ °^ '^'' ""'"■ ^"' "^'them
Then the bastions of Ben Gillam's fort
loomed above the wastes hke the peak of a ship
at sea, and M. Radisson issued his last com-
mands. Godefroy and I were to approach the
™ gate. M. Radisson and his five men wo^W
make a detour to attack from the rear
thn,. ^Y^/^.S ^^^«d above the ship to signal
those mland p.rates whom Ben Gillam was ever
cursmg, and the main gates stood wide ajar
Half a mile away Godefroy hallooed aloud. A

'aZmelT ^"^''"'"'' '^' ""' '""^ "-*--'.
ran to meet us.

leader^^'" '' ^^"'"' ^'"•" ^'""^""^'^ the
. "Le capitaine." answered Godefroy, affect-
mg broken English, ",e capitaine, he is'fatigu .
He ,s back-vo.la-how you for speak it?_avec
monsieur! Le capitaine, he has need, he has'
want for you to go with food."

At that with a deal of unguarded gabbling
they „,U3t hail us inside for refreshment, whife
half ..dozen men ran in the direction Godefroy
pointed with the food for their master. No
sooner were their backs turned than Godefroy

wSid r'™f r *° '''' '"^'•'J"'^ -d his man!

who had been left as hostages. Foret strolled

199

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

casually across to the guard-room, where the
powder was stored. Here he posted himself in
the doorway with his sword jammed above the
hinge His man made a precipitate rush to heap

ZZ !^u°T "f"^'""^"*' dropping three logs
across the fort gates and two more athwart the
door of the house. Godefroy and I. on pretext
of scanmng out the returning travellers, ran one
to the nigh bastion, the other to the fore-deck of
the ship, where was a swivel cannon that might
have done damage. ^

Then Godefroy whistled.
Like wolves out of the earth rose M. Radis-
son and his five men from the shore near the
gates. They were in possession before the lieu-
tenant and his men had returned. On the in
stant when the surprised New Englanders ran
up, Radisson bolted the gates.

" Where is my master? " thundered the li^-u-
tenant. beatmg for admission.

"Come in." M. Radisson cautiously opened
the gate, admitting the lieutenant alone

" It is not a question of where your master is
but of mustering your men and calling the roll "'
said the Frenchman to the astounded lieutenant.
You see that my people are in control of your
powder-house, your cannon, and your ship.
Vour master is a prisoner in my fort. Now sum-
200

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

nion your men, and be glad Ben Gillam is not
here to kill more of you as he killed your super-
cargo! "

Half an hour from the time we had entered
the fort, keys, arms, and ammunition were in
M. de Radisson's hands without the firing of a
shot ap.d the unarmed New Englanders assigned
to the main building, where we could lock them
if they mutinied. To sound of trumpet and
drum, with Godefroy bobbing his tipstaff, M.
Radisson must needs run up the French flag in
place of the pirate ensign. Then, with the lieu-
tenant and two New Englanders to witness ca-
pitulation, he marched from the gates to do the
same with the ship. Allemand and Godefroy
kept sentinel duty at the gates. La Chesnaye,
Foret, and Jack Battle held the bastions, and the
rest stood guard in front of the main building.

From my place I saw how it happened.

The lieutenant stepped back to let M. de Ra-
disson pass up the ship's ladder first. The New
Englanders followed, the lieutenant still waiting
at the bottom step; and when M. Radisson's
back was turned the lieutenant darted down the
river bank in the direction of Governor Brigdar's
fort.

The flag went up and M. Radisson looked
back to witness the salute. Then he discovered

20I

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

the lieutenant's flight. The New Englandera'
purpose was easily guessed— to lock forces with
Governor Brigdar, and while our strength was
divided attack us here or at the Habitation.

" One fight at a time," says Radisson, sum-
moning to council in the powder-house all hands
but our guard at the gate. " You. Allemand
and Oodefroy, will cross the marsh to-night bid-
ding Chouart be ready for attack and send back
re-enforcements here! You two lads "— point-
iTig to the stowaway and scullion— " will boil
down bears' grease and porpoise fat for a half a
hundred cressets! Cut up all the brooms in the
fort! Use pine-boughs! Split the green wood
and slip ,n oiled rags! Have a hundred lights
ready by ten of the clock! Go-make haste, or
1 throw you both into the pot!

.u "J°"' J"""^* ^"*^ L^ Chesnaye, transfer all
the New Engenders to the hold of the ship
and batten them under! If there's to be fight-
ing, let the enemies be outside the walls. And
you, Ramsay, will keep guard at the river bastion
all night! And you, Jack Battle, will gather all
the hats and helmets and caps in the fort, and
divide them equally between the two front bas-
tions "

" Hats and helmets? " interrupts La Ches-
naye.

202

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

^_ " La Chesnaye." says M. Radisson, whirling
an any one would question me thi night £

But Godefroy, ever a dour-headed knave
must test the steel of M. de Radisson'slooT '

then,arrh%~l!!:^^"""'^^'^--"^

But he got no farther. M. de Radisson

-upon hi. with a cudgel like atlron

"An you think it risk to go, I'll make ,>
greater risk to stay- An you L to obey I
make you fear more to disobey! An you shirk
the pain of toeing the scratch, I'll make it a deal
more painful to lag behind i "

betll" ll7'"" "'^'' '" '''^''' ^°^^f-^

the night ,s lighter than morning with the

- th tL7'^ "'^''* "-^'^^^ -^t'^ a last drlv
the night ,s same as day to man of spirit!
Tis the sort of encouragement half the S
needs to succeed," said M. Radisson thr^
down the cudgel. radisson, throwing

for ^T ^°^'^''?' '^^ ''^"''^^^' ^^« Sh<i to run
for the marsn. The rest of us waited no urgings
but were to our posts on the run. ^

'4 203

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

I saw M. Radisson passing fife, piccolo,
trumpet, and drum to the two tatterdemalion
lads of our army.

"Now blow like fiends when I give the
word," said he.

.u xr^^'t "'^ ^^o^'-tyard. single file, marched
the New Englanders from barracks to boat La
Chesnaye leading with drawn sword, the mar-
quis following with pv^inted musket.

Foret and La Chesnaye then mounted guard
at the gate. The sailor of our company was
heaping cannon-balls ready for use. Jack Battle
scoured the fort for odd headgear. M de Ra-
disson was everywhere, seizing papers, burying
ammunition, making fast loose stockades, put-
ting extra rivets in hinges, and issuing qu^ck or-
ders that sent Jack Battle skipping to the word.
Ihen Jack was set to planting double rows of
sticks inside on a level with the wall. The pur-
pose of these I could not guess till M. Radisson
ordered hat, helmet, or cap clapped atop of each
pole.

Oh, we were a formidable army, I warrant
you, seen by any one mounting the drift to spy
across our walls!

But 'twas no burlesque that night, as you
may know when I tell you that Governor Brig-
dars forces played us such a trick they were
304

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

under shelter of the ship before we had discov-
ered them.

Foret and La Chesnaye were watching from
loopholes at the gates, and I was all alert from
my place m the bastion. The northern lights
waved overhead in a restless ocean of rose-tinted

fh?; !f' "1 '^' '''""' ''''' ^«^« ^ff''"t with

he twmkle of a million harbour lights. Below

lay the frost mist, white as foam, diaphanous as

a veil, every floating icy particle aglimmer with

star rays like spray in sunlight. Through the

n.ght air came the far bowlings of the running

wolf-pack. The little ermine, darting across th!

level with Its black tail-tip marking the snow in

dots and dashes, would sit up quickly, listen and

dive under, to wriggle forward like a snake; or

the black-eyed hare would scurry oflf to cover of

brushwood.

Of a sud-len sounded such a yei:ing from the
New Englanders imprisoned in the ship, with a
beatmg of guns on the keel, that I gave quick
alarm. Foret and La Chesnaye sallied from the
gate. Pistol-shots rang out as they rounded the
ship s prow into shadow. At the same instant
a man fiung forward out of the frost cloud
beatmg for admittance. M. de Radisson
opened.

" The Indians! The Indians! Where are
205

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

the New Englanders? " cried the man, pitchine
headlong in.

And when he regained his feet, Governor
Bngdar, of the Hudson's Bay Company, stood
face to face with M. de Radisson.

" A right warm welcome. Your Excellency,"
bowed M. de Radisson, bolting the gate. " The
New Englanders are in safe keeping, sir, and so
are you ! "

The bewildered governor gasped at M. Ra-
disson's words. Then he lost all command of
himself.

" Radisson, man," he stormed, " this is no
femt— this is no time for acting! Six o' my men
shot on the way— four hiding by the ship and
the Indians not a hundred yards behind! Take
my swc. d and pistol," he proffered, M. de Radis-
son still hesitating, " but as you hope for eternal
mercy, call in my four men! "
After that, all was confusion.

Foret and the marquis rushed pell-mell for
the fort with four terrified Englishmen disarmed.
The gates were clapped to. Myriad figures
darted from the frost mist— figures with war-
pamt on their faces and bodies clothed in white
to disguise approach. English and French, ene-
mies all, crouched to the palisades against the
206

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

common foe, with sword-thrust for the hands
catching at pickets to scale the wall and volley-
mg shots t'lat scattered assailants back. The
redskins were now plainly visible through the
frost. When they swerved away from shelter of
the ship, every bastion let go the roar of a can-
non discharge. There was the sudden silence of
a drawing oflf, then the shrill " Ah— o-o-o-ohl
Ah-o-o-o-oh! Ah— o-o-o-ohl " of Indian war-
cry!

And M. Radisson gave the signal.
Instantaneously half a hundred lights were
aflare. Red tongues of fire darted from the loop-
holes. Two lads were obeying our leader's call
to run— run— run, blowing fife, beating drum
like an army's band, while streams of boiling
grease poured down from bastions and lookout.
Helmets, hats, and caps sticking round on the
poles were lighted up like the heads of a battal-
ion; and oft as any of us showed himself he
displayed fresh cap. One Indian, I mind, got
a stockade oflf and an arm inside the wall. That
arm was never withdrawn, for M. Radisson's
broadsword came down, and the Indian reeled
back with a yelping scream. Then the smoke
cleared, ar • I saw what will stay with me as long
as memory lasts— M. Radisson, target for ar-
rows or shot, long hair flying and red doublet
207

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

alight in the flare jf the torches, was standing
on top of the pickets with his right arm wa-
ving a sword.

•' Whom dc you make them out to be, Ram-
say? " he called. " Is not yon Le Borgne? "

I looked to the Indians. Le Borgne it was,
thin and straight, like a mast-pole through mist]
in conference with another man— a man with a
beard, a man who was no Indian.

" Sir! " I shouted back. " Those are the in-
land pirates. They are leading the Indians
against Ben Gillam, and not against us at
all."

At that M. Radisson extends a handker-
chief on the end of his sword as flag of truce,
and the bearded man waves back. Down from
the wall jumps M. Radisson, running forward
fearlessly where Indians lay wounded, an.i wa-
ving for the enemy to come. But the two only
waved back in friendly fashion, wheeled their
forces off, and disappeared through the frost.

" Those were Ben Gillam's cut-throats trying
to do for him! When they saw us on the walls,
they knew their mistake," says M. de Radisson
as he re-entered the gate. " There's only one
way to find those pirates out, Ramsay. Nurse
these wounded Indians back to life, visit the
tribe, and watch! After Chouart's re-enforce-
208

BATTLE NOT TO THE STRONG

ments come, I'll send you and Jack Battle, with
Godofroy for interpreter! "

To Governor Brigdar and his four refugees
M. de Radisson was all courtesy.

" And how conies Your Excellency to be out
so late with ten men? " he asked, as we supped
that night.

"We heard that you were here. We were
com-'ng to visit you," stammered Governor
Brigdar, growing red.

" Then let us make you so welcome that you
will not hasten away! Here, Jack Battle, here,
fellow, stack these gentlemen's 'wk.Is and pis-
tols where they'll come to no harm! Ah! No?
But I must relieve you, gentlemen! Your com-
ing was a miracle. I thank you for it. It has
saved us much trouble. A pledge to the pleas-
ure—and the length — of your stay, gentle-
men," and they stand to the toast, M. de Radis-
son smiling at the lights in his wine.

But we all knew very well'what such welcome
meant. 'Twas Radisson's humour to play the
host that night, but the runaway lieutenant was
a prisoner in our guard-house.

209

•■?!.■ ,:>T

CHAPTER XVI

WE SEEK THE INLANDERS

In the matter of fighting, I find small diflfer-
ence between white-men and red. Let the lust
of conquest but burn, the justice of the quarrel
receives small thought. Your fire-eating proph-
et cares little for the right of the cause, pro-
vided the fighter come out conqueror; and
many a poet praises only that right which is
might over-trampling weakness. I have heard
the withered hag of an Indian camp chant as
spirited war-song as your minstrels of butchery
but the strange thing of it is, that the people'
who have taken the sword in a wantonness of
conquest, are the races that have been swept
from the face of the earth like dead leaves before
the winter blast; but the people, who have held
immutably by the power of right, which our
Lord Christ set up, the meek and the peace-
makers and the children of God, these are they
that inherit the earth.

Where are the tribes with whom Godefroy
and Jack Battle and I wandered in nomadic life

2IO

WE SEEv THI. GLANDERS

over the northern -.ar.s? Buried in oblivion
black as n,ght, but for the lurid memories
flashed down to you of later generations.
Where are the Puritan folk, with their cast-iron
narrow creeds damning all creation but them-
, selves, with their foibles of snivelling to attest
I sanctity with such a wolfish zeal to hound down
devils that they hounded innocents for witch-
w ,1 Spreading over the face of the New
Worid, making the desert to bloom and the
waste places fruitful gardens? And the reason
or It all IS simply this: Your butchering Indian
like your swashing cavalier, founded his nr/J
upon mtght; your Puritan, grim but faithful, to
the outermost bounds of his tragic errors, found-
ed his mtght upon right.

We learn our hardest lessons from unlikeli-
est masters. This one came to me from the In-
dians of the blood-dyed northern snows.

" Don't show your faces till you have some-
thing to report about those pirates, who led the
Indians, was M. Radisson's last command, as
we sallied from the New Engenders' fort with a
hnng of cannon and beating of drums

Godefroy, the trader, muttered under his
breath that M. Radisson need never fear eternal
torment.

211

.^i

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"Why?" I asked.

" Because, if he goes there," answered Gode-
froy, " he'll get the better o' the Nick."

I think the fellow was smarting from recent
punishment. He and AUemand, the drunken
pilot, had been draining gin kegs on the sly and
replacing what they took with snow water.
That last morning at prayers Godefroy, who was
half-seas over, must yelp out a loud " Amen "
in the wrong place. Without rising from his
knees, or as much as changing his tone, M. de
Radisson brought the drunken knrve such a
cufT it flattened him to the floor.
Then prayers went on as before.
The Indians, whom we had nursed of their
wounds, were to lead us to the tribe, one only
being held by M. Radisson as hostage for safe
conduct. In my mind, that trust to the Indians'
honour was the single mistake M. Radisson
made in the winter's campaign. In the first
place, the Indian has no honour. Why should
he have, when his only standard of right is con-
quest? In the second place, kindness is re-
garded as weakness by the Indian. Why should
it not be, when his only god is victory? In the
third place, the lust of blood, to kill, to butcher,
to mutilate, still surged as hot in their veins as
on the night when they had attempted to scale

212

.^.. ^

WE SEEK THE INLANDERS

our walls. And again I ask why not, when the
law of their life was to kill or to be killed?
These questions I put to you because life put
them to me. At the time my father died, the
gentlemen of King Charles's court were already
aflfecting that refinement of philosophy which
justifies despotism. From justifying despotism,
'twas but a step to justifying the wicked acts of
tyranny; and from that, but another step to
thrusting God's laws aside as too obsolete for
our clever courtiers. " Give your unbroken colt
tether enough to pull itself up with one sharp
fall," M. Radisson used to say, "and it will
never run to the end of its line again."

The mind of Europe spun the tissue of fool-
ish philosophy. The savage of the wilderness
went the full tether; and I leave you to judge
whether the might that is right or the right that
is might be the better creed for a people.

But I do not mean to imply that M. Radis-
son did not understand the savages better than
any man of us in the fort. He risked three men
as pawns in the game he was playing for mastery
of the fur trade. Gamester of the wilderness as
he was, Pierre Radisson was not the man to
court a certain loss.

The Indians led us to the lodges of the hos-
tiles safely enough; and their return gave us en-
213

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

trance if not welcome to the tepee village. We
had entered a ravine and came on a cluster of
wigwams to the lee side of a bluflF. Dusk hid
our approach; and the absence of the dogs that
usually infest Indian camps told us that these
fellows were marauders. Smoke curled up
from the poles crisscrossed at the tepee forks,
but we could descry no figures against the tent-
walls as in summer, for heavy skins of the chase
overlaid the parchment. All was silence but in
one wigwam. This was an enormous structure,
built on poles long as a mast, with moose-hides'
scattered so thickly upon it that not a glint of
firelight came through except the red glow of
smoke at the peak. There was a low hum of
suppressed voices, then one voice alone in sol-
emn tones, then guttural grunts of applause.

"In council," whispered Godefroy, steering
straight for the bearskin that hung flapping
across the entrance.

Bidding Jack Battle stand guard outside, we
followed the Indians who had led us from the
fort. Lifting the tent-flap, we found ourselves
inside. A withered creature with snaky, tangled
hair, toothless gums, eyes that burned like em-
bers, and a haunched, shrivelled figure, stood
gesticulating and crooning over a low monotone
in the centre of the lodge.

314

WE SEEK THE INLANDERS

As we entered,. the draught from the door
sent a tongue of flame darting to mid-air from
the central fire, and scores of tawny faces with
glance intent on the speaker were etched against
the dark. These were no camp families, but
braves, deep in war council. The elder men sat
with crossed feet to the fore of the circle. The
young braves were behind, kneeling, standing,
and stretched full length. All were smoking
their long-stemmed pipes and listening to the
medicine-man, or seer, who was crooning his
low-toned chant. The air was black with
smoke.

Always audacious, Godefroy, the trader, ad-
vanced boldly and sat down in the circle. I kept
back in shadow, for directly behind the Indian
wizard was a figure lying face downward, chin
resting in hand, which somehow reminded me
of Le Borgne. The fellow rolled lazily over,
got to his knees, and stood up. Pushing the
wizard aside, this Indian faced the audience. It
was Le Borgne, his foxy eye yellow as flame,
teeth snapping, and a tongue running at such a
pace that we could scarce make out a word of
his jargon.

" What does he say, Godefroy? "
"Sit down," whispered the trader, "you are
safe."

215

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

This was what the Indian was saying as
Godefroy muttered it over to me:

" Were the Indians fools and dogs to throw
away two fish for the sake of one? The French
were friends of the Indians. Let the Indians
find out what the French would give them
for k,lhng the English. He, Le Borgne th"
one-eyed, was brave. He would go to the
• Frenchman's fort and spy out how strong they
were. If the French gave them muskets for
k.lhng the English, after the ships left in the
spring the Indians could at.ack the fort and kill
the French. The great medicine-man, the white
hunter, who hved under the earth, would supply
them with muskets "

fh. " ^1 •^^'. '!"' '""'*" ''""'^'" ^^° I'ves under
the earth ,s gi.ing them muskets to make war "
whispered Godefroy. "That must be the pi-

late.

"Listen!"

A- "^f the braves prepare to meet the In-
dians of the Land of Little White Sticks, who
were coming with furs for the white men-"
i-e Borgne went on.

fh.\^^\''\^T^' '""'^ '^^'' ™""ers over

the hills to the Little White Sticks sleeping i„

he sheltered valley. Let the braves creep

through the mist of the morning like the lynx

216

WE SEEK THE INLANDERS

seeking the ermine. And when the Little White
Sticks were all asleep, the runners would shoot
fire arrows mto the air and the braves would
slay-slay-slay the men, who might fight, the
women, who might run to the whites for aid
and the children, who might live to tell tales." '

breath ''"'■'" '^^' ^""^'^'"^ ""^"'' ^''

n.- f JT ^1°^^ °" *^^ '^^^'^ ^'th a flare that
S ^M r^""'' '"" ^"" '^^^y '■^d; and the

fellow gabbled on, with figure crouching stealth-
ily orward, foxy eye alight with evil, and teeth
glistening.

wi,".^c *'!^ ^"^""^^ '^'^^ ^^^ ^"""^ of the Little
White Sticks, trade the furs to the white-man
for muskets massacre the English, then when
the great white chiefs big canoes left, kill the
Frenchmen of the fort."

"Ha," says Godefroy. " Jack's safe outside!
We 11 have a care to serve you through the loop-
holes, and trade you only broken muskets! "

A guttural grunt applauded Le Borgne's
advice, and the crafty scoundrel continued

' The great medicine-man, the white hunter,
who lived under the earth, was their friend.
Was he not here among them? Let the braves
near what he advised."

The Indians grunted their approbation.
217

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Some one stirred the f5rp f« a

nsen to our fe«>f tt^ • , ""J' ^nd i had

the firelight was a whr^'"^ ''°"' '''' ^"^"^ '°
tunic of fcarlet with ^'k"' ^'"^"^ *^'°*''^d '"

lace enough ra\X':::rH^- T' ^°^'
hidden by Le R«. . ? ^'* ^^*^^ was

pushed to^ .X'wTf^ tt^next^r^^
shout of rage rent the ent roof L. R "^' '
was stamping out the fire A red f '^u'
averted face raced round he bd Je n™ """^

fronted „, ^^ ^,, ,„^ ^|| j;;'= "'* .„d „„.

call your brave, nff ^' ^ '^ ^^^ ''o"'*

to th'e French " ' ^°" '='" '^" "° "°^« Pelts

dro'e^thfbrsb?cr-^--^^"^^Hat

"We have no furs yet," said he.
218

-I'm

WE SEEK THE INLANDERS

" But you will have them when you raid the
Littls White Sticks,' raged Godefroy, caring
nothing for the harm his words might work if
he saved his own scalp.

Le Borgne drew oflf to confer with the
braves. Then he came back and there was a
treacherous smile of welcome on his bronze
face.

" The Indians thought the white-men spies
from the Little White Sticks," he explained in
the mellow, rhythmic tones of the redman.
The Indians were in war council. The In-
dians are friends of the French."

'' Look out for him, Godefroy," said I.

" If the French are friends to the Indians, let
the white-men come to battle against the Little
White Sticks," added Le Borgne.

"Tell him no! We'll wait here till they
come back! "

"He says they are not coming back" an-
swered Godefroy, "and hang me, Ramsay, an
I d not face an Indian massacre before I go back
empty-handed to M. Radisson. We're in for it,"
says he, speaking English too quick for Le
Borgne's ear. " If we show the white feather
now, they'll n.,ish us. They'll not harm us till
they ve done for the English and got more mus-
kegs. And that red pirate is after these sar e
'5 219

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

battle you d best not come to the wilderness."
h„. .^''^"'''"•'-'"en will go with the Indians
bu the whue-men w:il not fight with the Lit le
^t.cks announced Godefroy to Le Borene
proffenng tobacco enough to pacify the tribT

risk ortn'" "T '^V ^ ^'^P^^t^'^ted against the
r sk of gomg far mland with hostiles, who had
attacked the New England fort and were even
now plann,ng the sla..,hter of white-n.en. In-
offens.veness .s the most deadly of offences
w.th savagery, whether the savagery be of wh he
men or red Le Borgne had the^insolence t
ask why the tribe could not as easily kSl us
where we were as farther inland; and' we saw
that remonstrances were working the evil thaT
we wished to avoid-increasing th Tndilns'

man who fears death should neither go to the
-Iderness nor launch his canoe above a wh rl!
pool unless he is prepared to run the rapid
This New World had never been won f^om
darkness .f men had hung back from fear of 1;^

fr. 7T^ ''"^ ^ moment's work for the braves
with red°: "r"^"'"- ^^"^ "^- '^'-'^-ed
" ca iou T '^^"^'"^ "°""^^= ''"dies clad
m caribou skms or ermine-pelts white as the

220

WE SEEK THE INLANDERS

snow to be crossed; quivers of barbed and poi-
sonous arrows hanging over their backs in otter
and beaver skins; powder in buffalo-horns for
those who had muskets; shields of toughened
hide on one arm, and such a number of scalp-
locks fnnging every seam as told their own
story of murderous foray. While the land still
smoked under morning frost and the stars yet
pricked through the gray darkness, the war-
riors were far afield coasting the snow-billows
as on tireless wings. Up the swelling drifts
water-waved by wind like a rolling sea. down
cliffs crumbling over with snowy cornices, across
the icy marshes swept glare by the gales, the
braves pressed relentlessly on. Godefroy, Jack
Battle and I would have hung to the rear and
slipped away if we could; but the fate of an old
man was warning enough. Muttering against
the braves for embroiling themselves in war
without cause, he fell away from the marauders
as if to leave. Le Borgne's foxy eye saw the
move. Turning, he rushed at the old man with
a hiss of air through his teeth like a whistling
arrow. His musket swung up. It clubbed
down. There was a groan; and as we rounded a
bluff at a pace that brought the air cutting in
our faces, I saw the old man's body lying mo-
tionless on the snow.

221

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

If this was the beginning, what was the end?

IndS T.'T^ '^'' '^' '"»" ^»» only an
Indian, and h.s death was no sin

anyway. He wore a score o' scalps at his belt.
Pah, an we could get furs without any Indians
I d see an their skulls go! " snapped the trader

nextp'-a'^krd'jLr'""'"'^'"^^'"^"-'""
And that gave Godefroy pause.

333

CHAPTER XVII

A BOOTLESS SACRIFICE

For what I now tell I oflFer no excuse I
would but record what savagery meant. Then
may you who are descended from the New
World pioneers know that your lineage is from
men as heroic as those crusaders who rescued
our Saviour's grave from the pagans; for cru-
saders of Old World and New carried the
sword of destruction in one hand, but in the
other, a cross that was light in darkness. Then
may you. my lady-fingered sentimentalist, who
go to bed of a winter night with a warming-
pan and champion the rights of the savage
from your soft place among cushions, realize
what a fine hero your redman was, and realize
too, what were the powers that the white-man
crushed!

For what I do not tell I offer no excuse It

>s not permitted to relate all that savage warfare

meant. Once I mar -.lied that a just God could

order his chdser .le to exterminate any

-*3

i.il

! !

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

race. Now I marvel that a just God hath not
exterminated many races long ago.

Wc reached the crest of a swelling upland as
the first sun-rays came through the frost mist
m shafts of fire. A quick halt was called. One
white-garbed scout went crawling stealthily
down the snow-slope like a mountain-cat. Then
the frost thinned to the rising sun and vague
outlines of tepee lodges could be descried in the
clouded valley.

An arrow whistled through the air glancing
into snow with a soft whirr at our feet. It was
the signal. As with one thought, the warriors
charged down the hill, leaping from side to side
m a frenzy, dancing in a madness of slaughter,
shrieking their long, shrill— " Ah— oh !— Ah—
oh!"— yelping, howling, screaming their war-
cry—" Ah— oh!— Ah— oh!— Ah— oh ! " — like
demons incarnate. The medicine -man had
stripped himself naked and was tossing his arms
with maniacal fury, leaping up and down, yell-
ing the war-cry, beating the tom-tom, rattling
the death-gourd. Some of the warriors went
down on hands and feet, sidling forward through
the mist like the stealthy beasts of prey that they
were.

Godefroy, Jack Battle, and I were carried be-
fore the charge helpless as leaves in a hurricane.
224

A BOOTLESS SACRIFICE

All slid down the hillside to the bottom of a
ravine. With the long bound of a tiger-
spring, Le Borgne plunged through the frost
cloud.

The lodges of the victims were about us. We
had evidently come upon the tribe when all were
asleep.

Then that dark under-woiM of which men
dream in wild delirium became reality. Pande-
monium broke its bounds.

And had I once thought that Eli Kirke's fa-
natic faith painted too lurid a hell? God knows
if the realm of darkness be half as hideous as the
deeds of this life, 'tis blacker than prophet may
portray.

Day or night, after fifty years, do I close my
eyes to shut the memory out! But the shafts are
still huriting through the gray gloom. Arrows
rip against the skin shields. Running fugitives
fall pierced. Men rush from their lodges in the
daze of sleep and fight barehanded against mus-
ket and battle-axe and lance till the snows are
red and scalps steaming from the belts of con-
querors. Women fall to the feet of the victors,
kneeling, crouching, dumbly pleading for mercy;
and the mercy is a spear-thrust that pinions the
living body to earth. Maimed, helpless and liv-
225

11 'I.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Jng victims are thrown asirfp t^ - -. ,
Children are torn frZ ^ "^^'^ ''°^ ^^^^th.

It was in vain for us to flee T,ir„ u

1cept^hrtintlC«fr-''f°^^^-^
They'll ki„ you by torturd"'"'^ " '°^ ^^"'

the tor?::raXSrl s^T ^^^"^^ ^
Battle's feet with f Tc elm Tat "™" ^'^^

pleading n h^r "teve"''^' '^""^ °^ ''^'P'-
stone. ^ ^* ^^'' ^' ^°"'d have moved

touJh^:;! .'ttmed gT) ''''''' ''''■ °-'^
Jack free. ''TZ^^'"^' ^"'''"^ *° P""
''erf They'll myL^J^^JT-f' °°"'^ ''^'^

horror^-TcSfheirh';' ^'"''^ "''^ ^^'-""^
upIifldsS:rr"'^'^"'"^''^-^^^%-ewith

^^^May God forgive it, but I struck that man

It was a bootless sacrifice at the risk of three

A BOOTLESS SACRIFICE

lives. But so was Christ's a bootless sacrifice at
the time, if you measure deeds by gain. And so
has every sacrifice worthy of the name been a
bootless sacrifice, if you stop to weigh life in a
goldsmith's scale!

Justice is blind; but praise be to God, so is
mercy!

And, indeed, I have but quoted our Lord
and Saviour, not as an example, but as a prece-
dent. For the act I merited no credit. Like
Jack, I could not have helped helping her. The
act was out before the thought.

Then we were back to back fighting a horde
of demons.

Godefroy fought cursing our souls to all eter-
nity for embroiling him in peril. Jack Bat-
tle fought mumbling feverishly, deliriously, un-
conscious of how he shot or what he said—
" Might as well die here ?.s elsewhere! Might as
well die here as elsewhere! Damn that Indian!
Give it to him, Ramsay! Yc^ shoot while I
prime! Might as well die here as else-
where "

And all fought resolute to die hard, when,
where, or how the dying came !

To that desperate game there was but one
possible end. It is only in story-books writ for
sentimental maids that the good who are weak
2:

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

defeat the wicked who are strong

gun on Jack's crown "" °^ '"^

^i'cellribbt '"^"^ ""^ -- ^'^e snow

such?:c"ent:s'llr°'^ '''''''' ^'^^ -

know tharyou/inT T P''"'' ^°^ ^°" """^^

W". Like Teh " 1 ;: '"° '^ "°^ *=°"t«"t to
♦u T J. &noul. he must mutilate ni ,11

hi! back. The ihl™ ™ ""'"«"' '^>^

ened wi,H . *k X^rCrT "^'"-
o' pain a, u,e ™« „,'„„'! I"" '"^
wrist. An tht ™il. I J "■' shattered

cursed us in one CZfh f^°^^^'"°y' t^e trader,

228

A BOOTLESS SACRIFICE

" You are the only man who can speak their
language," I retorted. " Stop whimpering and
warn these brutes what Radisson will do if they
harm us! He will neither take their furs nor
give them muskets! He will arm their enemies
to destroy them! Tell them that! "

But as well talk to tigers. Le Borgne alo: e
listened, his foxy glance fastened on my face
with a strange, watchful look, neither hostile nor
friendly. To Godefroy's threats the Indian an-
swered that " white-man talk— not true— of all,"
pointing to Jack Battle, " him no friend great

white c»-ef— him captive "

Then Godefroy burst out with <^^» unworthi-
est answer that ever passed man's lip..

"Of course he's a captive," screamed the
trader, " then take him and torture him and let
us go! 'Twas him stopped the Indian getting
the girl!" *

" Le Borgne," I cut in sharply, " Le Borgne,
it was I who stopped the Indian killing the girl!
You need not torture the little white-man. He
is a good man. He is the friend of the great
white chief."

But Le Borgne showed no interest. While

the others stripped the dead and wreaked their

ghoulish work, Le Borgne gathered up the

furs of the Little Sticks and with cwo or three

229

Ip'

I I

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

young n>en stole away over the crest of the

deaJt^t^'oter'^'^''^'^^'^"^^''^^^«-
th/jl°^^'"^ ^°T'^ ^y lance-thrusts, we began

ankTth™"' '"' '° '''' '-"^S"- The fun
sank on the snowy wastes red as a shield of

bood; and with the early dusk of the northe.^
night purphng th^ shadowy fields in mist came
a south wind that filled the desolate siW whh
restless wa.lmgs as of lament for eternal wrong
moanmg and sighing and rustling past like S
visible spirits that find no peace

Some of the Indians laid hands to thin lins
w,h a low "Hs-s-h." and the whole band

tlTn TVr- ^''°'' ^-"^ht had deepened
to the dark that precedes the silver glow of the
moon and stars and northern lightf, we wire
back where Le Borgne had kil Jth oTd m^n
The very snow had been picked clean TnH
through the purple gloom L back pr^w, L
vague forms. F'uwiea

Jack Battle and I looked at each other but
the Indian fellow, who was our guard, em t''eS t
harsh raspmg laugh. As for Godefr^y he was
njarchmg abreast of the braves gabbling a mum
ble-jumble of pleadings and threats, which I
know veiy well, ignored poor Jack. Godefroy
230

A BOOTLESS SACRIFICE

would make a scapegoat of the weak to save
his own neck, and small good his cowardice did
him!

The moon was high in mid-heaven flooding
a white world when we reached the lodges. We
three were placed under guards, while the war-
riors feasted their triumph and danced the
scalp-dance to drive away the spirits of the dead.
To beat of tom-tom and shriek of gourd-rattles,
the whole terrible scene was re-enacted. Strip-
ping himself naked, but for his moccasins, the old
wizard pranced up and down like a fiend in the
midst of the circling dancers. Flaming torches
smoked from poles in front of the lodges, or were
waved and tossed by the braves. Flaunting
fresh scalps from lance-heads, with tomahawk
in the other hand, each warrior went through all
the fiendish moves and feints of attack— prowl-
ing on knees, uttering the yelping, wolfish yells,
crouching for the leap, springing through mid-
air, brandishing the battle-axe, stamping upon
the imaginary prostrate foe, stooping with a
glint of the scalping knife, then up, with a shout
of triumph and the scalp waving from the lance,
all in time to the dull thum— thum— thum of the'
tom-tom and the screaming chant of the wizard.
Still the south wind moaned about the lodges;
and the dancers shouted the louder to drown
231

t! ill
ill
i

II I

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

b«r.f °i*"'"" ? '"' ^'^^- P«t" ^'"d faster
beat the drum. Swifter and swifter darted the
b aves hactang their own flesh in a frenzy of fear
till their shrieks out-screamed the wind
Then the spirits were deemed appeased.
Ihe mad orgy of horrors was over, but the
dancers were too exhausted for the torture of
prisoners. The older men came to the lodge
where we were guarded and Godefroy again be-
gan his importunings.

tr Jf'T ^^"^ ^""'^ ^''^'' '^'y bade the
irader and me come out.

" Better one be tortured than three," heart-
lessly muttered Godefroy to Jack. " Now they'll

warriors who had not been to the massacre S
we hoped to escape torture the wizard bade us
follow these men. They led us away with a sinis
Z tT- r^" "^ "^'^•'^'^ the' crest oIX

c e' G^Z''^ Tr '''' '°'^^^ ^"^ '"^^ ""assa-
cre. Godefroy took alarm. This was not the

tttTp°l °"'' ''"''■ ^'^ ''''''' shouted out
that M Radisson would punish them well if they

ttrned T? ^' ^I'f °"' °' '''' *^"*"™ f«»°ws
turned. They would take care to do us no harm,

232

A BOOTLESS SACRIFICE

he said, with an evil laugh. On the ridge of the
hill they paused, as if seeking a mark. Two
spindly wind-stripped trees stood straight as
mast-poles above the snow. The leader went
forward to examine the bark for Indian signal,
motioning Godefroy and me closer as he exam-
med the trees.

With the whistle of a whip-lash through air
the thongs were about us, round and round
ankle, neck, and arms, binding us fast. Gode-
froy shouted out a blasphemous oath and strug-
gled till the deer sinew cut his buckskin. I had
only succeeded in wheeling to face our treacher-
ous tormentors when the strands tightened. In
the struggle the trader had somehow got his
face to the bark. The coils circled round him.
The thongs drew close. The Indians stood back.
They had done what they came to do. They
would not harm us, they taunted, pointing to
the frost-silvered valley, where lay the dead of
their morning crime.

Then with harsh gibes, the warriors ran
down the hillside, leaving us bound.

233

CHAPTER XVIII

FACING THE END

Below the hill on one side flickered the
moving torches of the hostiles. On the other
side where the cliff fell sheer away, lay the red-
dyed snows with misty shapes moving through
the frosty valley.

A wind of sighs swept across the white
wastes. Short, sharp barkings rose from the
shadowy depth of the ravine. Then the silence
of desolation . . . then the moaning night-wind
• • . then the shivering cry of the wolf-pack
scouring on nightly hunt.

For a moment neither Godefroy nor I spoke.
Then the sinews, cutting deep, wakened con-
sciousness.

'• Are they gone? " asked Godefroy hoarsely.
Ves, said I, glancing to the valley
Can't you break through the thongs and
get a hand free? " s « •"

" My back is to the tree. We'll have to face
It, Gode roy-don't break down, man ! We must
tace It !

234

FACING THE END

" P»« what? " he shuddered out. " Is any-
thing there? Face what? ■' he half screamed.
The end I"

He strained at the thongs till he had strength
to strain no more. Then he broke out in a vol-
ey of maledictions at Jack Battle and me for in-
terfering with the massacre, to which I could
answer never a word; for the motives that merit
greatest applause when they succeed, win bitter
est curses when they fail.

The northern lights swung low. Once those
hghts seemed censers of flame to an invisible
God. Now they shot across the steel sky like
fie y serpents, and the rustling of their fire was
as the hiss when a fang strikes. A shooting star

into the eternal darkness.

^^^^J'Godefroy." I asked, "how long will this

'' Till the wolves come," said he huskily.
A man must die some time," I called back-
but my voice belied the braveiy of the words, fo;
something gray loomed from the ravine and

weltrrmyl-r"""'^ ' ^"^^' "'''''■"

"What's that?" shouted Godefroy. "Is
anything there? " '

23S

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" I am cold," said I.

And on top of that lie I prayed-prayed with

turned towards us-praycd as I have never
prayed before or sinceJ

trader'^^.r T" u'"'' "''*'''"«^" <="'^d the
^ngr"'^"''"'''^''"' In. sure I feel
Another crouching form emerged from the
gloom-then another and anothef-silen" and
»t.Il as spectres. With a sidling motion they

rov A ^^~^ *° '"'^' ^'■°™ •"«= to Code-

S:Th!nTk;a.^'^''"''"--^''-«''the

The wolves had come.

thin?''''^^ '"'u"''^ °"* '^^' ♦>« heard some-
th^Wn '^"" '''' '"^ '""'^ °" ^°'^ -des of

f~,r ^"P ''"'''* *'" ^ '"'" s^'d I; but I never
took my gaze from the green eyes of I Zll

brute^otheforeofthega^herin;^:,^^^^^'

shoutfdGoH r '^'""-^-^ I hear themi"
wt? °^' '" ^" ^fi^°"y °f terror.

StilS- ^"u u° ''"P "P P''^*^"" longer'
i>till holdmg the beast back with nn nth-,

than the power of the manC e tt Z^

I called out the truth to the trader. '

236

)m: '«. ':m

FACING THE END

outl pXr;',,„°-'' ^Peak, Don't cry
light comcsl " " ''"'"' "'«'" back till day!

l«der of the pack H. . ,''"'" P""'^^ 'he
*'th angry snaris and InLfrf '''. ^'■'^^' ""^
evade the human eye evert t "'*' *° ^'^« '°
"'•ng- Then he threw un hT °^ ''''' ^"^ '>"^-
?0"g howl, answer db7th fir '"1 """^'^ ^
'"&• pack. Sniffine the I /"^ °^ "'^ '=°'n-
ciin.-~c,osingi„:^,:t|°;j:^He began cir-

Then there was a shout-a^ro.n
- "P as of teeth-f.on, Code' ^^^^Vce^ '^

^S^::tf3r:f::5i-'t"^ Of comets
f «t a ship of fire bii,:X"f j^^f ' r." 'r"^"'

the northern hVhts wift, f^ ° '''^ ^^me of

- sea. blinding^ deaS?"f^'"^ *"•='•"«'' -^
engulfment oUh'^Zt^lTE "^ *° *"«
this life! «ernal~l lost knowledge of

237

CHAPTER XIX

AFTERWARD

A LONG shudder, and I had awakened in sti-
fling darkness. Was I dreaming, or were there
voices, English voices, talking about me?

" It was too late! He will die! "

" Draw back the curtain! Give him plenty
Ci air! "

In the daze of a misty dream, M. Picot was
there with the foils in his hands; and Hortense
had cried out as she did that night when the
button touched home. A sweet, fresh gust blew
across my face with a faint odour of the pungent
flames that used to flicker under the crucibles
of the dispensary. How came I to be lying in
Boston Town? Was M. Radisson a myth?
Was the northland a dream?

I tried to rise, but whelming shadows pushed
me down; and through the dark shifted phan-
tom faces.

Now it was M. Radisson quelling mutiny,
tossed on plunging ice-drift, scouring before the
238

AFTERWARD

hurricane, leaping through red flame over the
fort wall, while wind and sea crooned a chorus
like the hum of soldiers singing and marching to
battle. " Storm and cold, man and beast, pow-
ers of darkness and devil— he must fight them
all," sang the gale. "Who?" asked a voice.
In the dark was a lone figure clinging to the
spars of a wre v. "jhe victor," shrieked the
wmd. Then the waves washed over the cast-
away, leaving naught bat the screaming gale
and the pounding seas and the eternal dark

Or it was M. Picot, fencing in mid-room.
Of a sudden, foils turn to swords, M. Picot to a
masked man, and Boston to the northland for-
est. I fall, and when I awaken M. Picot is
standing, candle in hand, tincturing my wounds.
Or the dark is filled with a multitude— men
and beasts; and the beasts wear a crown of vic-
tory and the men are drunk with the blood of
the slain.

Or stealthy, crouching, wolfish forms steal
through the frost mist, closer and closer till
there comes a shout— a groan— a rip as of teeth
—then I am up, struggling with Le Borgne, the
one-eyed, who pushes me back to a couch iii the
dark.

Like the faces that hover above battle in sol-
diers' dreams was a white face framed in curls
239

' 1

l! iil!

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

with lustrous eyes full of lights. Always when

he darkness thickened and I began slipping!!

shpping ,„to the folds of bottomfess deeps^^al-

of hope; and the hope drew me back.

There is nothing-nothing-nothing at all
to fear," says the face.

And I laugh at the absurdity of the dream.

be h J^ ,. u '^"'"^ '^^' ^°^^"«^ would
?h. rir''° '^ ^' '" '^^ "orthland-Hortense.
thejmie queen, who never would let me tell

"Tell her what? "asks the face.

nn. .?^'- ^^^' ^ *J"''*'°"-' There is only
one thmg m all this world to tell her! " .

And I laughed again till I thought there

Tthat ' 'T '" """''""^ ^"°"^ *^« -fte "
to TMT/"" ""'"^- ^* ^^^•"^d ^o absurd
to be thnlled with love of Hortense with the
breath of the wolves yet hot in one's face!

.on '. ., Z°^^' f * Godefroy," I would rea-
son, how didn't they get me? How did I get
away? What was that smell of fur "

tt:pXw ^'^^ P^-^- Hortense kneeled at

rob;7shTsa;;^ "° ^°'^^^''^ -^' -'^ *^
240

AFTERWARD

" And I suppose you will be telling me there
are no Indians up there among the rafters? "

" Give me the candle. Go away. Le Borgnel
Leave me alone with him," says the face in the
gloom " Look," says the shadow, " I am Hor-
tense!

A torch was in her hand and the light fell on
her face. T was as certain that she knelt bes Je
me as I was that I lay helpless to rise. But
the trouble was, I was equally certain there were
wolves skulking through the dark and Indians

skippmg among the rafters.

"Ghosts haven't hands," says Hortense,

touchmg mme lightly; and the touch brought

the memory of those old mocking airs from the

spmet.

Was it flood of memory or a sick man's
dream? The presence -seemed so real that mus-
tenng all strength, I turned— turned to see Le
Borgiie, the one-eyed, sitting on a log-end with
a stolid, watchful, unreadable look on his craftv
face. ■'

Bluish shafts of light struck athwart the
dark. A fire burned against the far wall The
smoke had the pungent bark smell of the flame
that used to burn in M. Picofs dispensary.
lh.i, then, had brought the dreams of Hortense
now so far away. Skins hung everywhere; but
241

H pi
If

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

in places the earth showed through. Like a

thought-th.s was a cave, the cave of the pi-
rates whose voices I had heard from the ground

me th?nl'" ''1'°"^*' °"^ P'^^^'"^ ^^"ve
me the other sending Le Borgne to trap me

Leaning on my elbow. I looked from the

apartment %'"f " P"'''°" ^'-^'"^ -o^^'
peIt?ofTv: n, ^°T' *"'' "^'''^ *he stolen
pelts of the massacred tribe to the inland pirates
The pirates had sent him back for me

And Hortense was a dream. Ah, well, men
in their senses might have done worse than
dream of a Hortense!

But the voice and the hand were real
Le Borgne," I ask, " was any one here? "

bron/. ?w r ' '^'^^' ""^^'^ '" crinkles of
bronze that leer an evil laugh, and he pretends
not to understand. fcicnas

" Le Borgne, was any one here with you? "
Le Borgne shifts his spread feet, mutters a

shafted flame reveals his shadow. I can still h^r
him beside me in the dark.

friend" r^°'^' J' '^' i^^at white chiefs
friend, I say; "and the white-man is the
gre^white chief's friend. Where are we. t

242

AFTERWARD

Le Borgne grunts out a low huflf-huff of a
laugh.

" Here; white-man is here," says Le Borgne;
and he shuffles away to the bearskin partition
hiding another apartment.

Ah well as I said, one might do worse than
dream of Hortense. But in spite of all your phi-
losophers say about there being no world but
the world we spin in our brains, I could not woo
my lady back to it. Like the wind that bloweth
where it listeth was my love. Try as I might to
call up that pretty deceit of a Hortense about
me m spirit, my perverse lady came not to
the call.

Then, thoughts would race back to the mu-
tiny on the stormy sea, to the roar of the break-
ers crashing over decks, to M. Radisson leaping
up from dripping wreckage, muttering between
his teeth— "Blind god o' chance, they may
crush, but they shall not conquer; they may kill,
but I snap my fingers in their faces to the
death! "

Then, uncalled, through the darkness comes
her face.

" God is love," says she.

If I lie there like a log, never moving, she
seems to stay; but if I feel out through the dark-
ness for the grip of a living hand, for the sub-
243

r'i

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

stance of a reality on which souls anchor like
the shadow of a dream she is gone

deliir^, h"" '" '^' '""*y ^«=&'°" between
dehnum and consciousness, when the face

love hL^ I ' ""'' ' P^""'""' ^°'- her God of
ove had left me to the blind gods that crush, to
the storm and the dark and the ravening wolves
Like a hght flaming from dark, the face
shone through the gloom.

voic7o7tl'- ^'''"'°'"'" ''"^''^ "'«= '"O'^king
voice of the imperious Hortense I knew lon^

rraiest phantom life can know

den^tSr '^" "'"'' "°'''"^^ *'^<=«'"« o^ a sud-
den the grown woman, grave and sweet with

eyes m the dark hke stars, and strange brolen

thoughts I had not dared to hope sSbi„g t„"

spoken on her face. ^

"Life, a phantom-substance, the shadow

sTi'' %''''" *'^ '^^^^"-^-^ «-s to t:

ST u '''"*' "' ^^'^ thoughts-storms
and darkness and prey are his puppets X
nd gods, his slave^God is lovef foTyo'u IJ
whhmei"'^^""^'^^^'---^--''-

When I feel through the dark this time is
the gnp of a living hand.
244

AFTERWARD

Then we lock arms and sweep throueh
pace the northern hghts curtaining^overheat

l^raSiir"'^"^^''^''-^"^^^'"-

^srS:uZT ^" ''-' ^°"^^^^ '^'^ '-

And I with an earthy intellect groping be-
hind the wmged love of the woman tWnk^hat
she^refers to some of M. Picot's mystic astltl-

InJ^lTl^"'" "^^^ *'*' dream-face, with the
love that divmes without speech, "do you not

btau'Ji!:^" ^'^ ''''' '''' ^- us-beSus^

"Because God is love," catching the gleam

of the thought; and the stars that ffght !n S

courses for mortals sweep to a noonday splen-

And all the while I was but a crazy dreamer
Img capt.ve. wounded and weak in a pirate
cave Oh, yes, I know very well what mv fine
gendemen dabbler, in the new sciences Z ly
-the fellow was daft and delirious-he had lost
tumble "t/' r ''^ ^^^^™^ -^^ ™^ed a
own adventures. But before you reduce all this

crucible, I pray you to think twice whether the
245

I- f

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

mind that fashioned the crucible be not greater
than the crucible; whether the Master-mind that
shaped the laws of the universe be not greater
than the universe; whether when man's mind
loses gnp_^s you call it-of the little, nag-
ging, msistent realities it may not leap free like
the jagged lightnings from peak to peak of a con-
sciousness that overtowers life's commoner lev-
els! Spite of our boastings, each knows neither
more nor less than life hath taught him. For me
I know what the dream-voice spoke proved true-
ife, the shadow of a great reality; love, the all;
the blind gods of storm and dark and prey the

^T.Trl^"c ^""^ °^ ^°^'' ^°^^'"g Ws will;
and the God of gods a God of love, realest when
love is near.

Once, I mind, the dark seemed alive with
wolfish shades, sniffing, prowling, circling,
creeping nearer like that monster wolf rf fable
set on by the powers of evil to hunt Man to his
doom A nightmare of fear bound me down.
The death-frosts settled and tightened and
closed-but suddenly, rfortense took cold
hands in her palms, calling and calling and call-
ing me back to life and hope and her. Then I
waked.

Though I peopled the mist with many shad-
ows, Le Borgne alone stood there.
246

CHAPTER XX

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

How long I lay in the pirates' cave I could
not tell; for day and night were alike with the
pale-blue flame quivering against the earth-wall
gusts of cold air sweeping through the door, low-
whispered talks from the inner cave.

At last I surprised Le Borgne mightily by
sitting bolt upright and bidding him bring me a
meal of buffalo-tongue or teal. With the stolid
repartee of the Indian he grunted back that I
had tongue enough; but he brought the stuff
with no ill grace. After that he had much ado
to keep me off my feet. Finally. I promised by
the soul of his grandfather neither to spy nor lis-
ten about the doors of the inner cave, and he let
me up for an hour at a time to practise walking
with the aid of a lance-pole. As he found that
I kept my word, he trusted me alone in the cave
sitting crouched on the log-end with a buckskin
sling round my shattered sword-arm, which the
wolves had not helped that night at the stake
247

least

e air

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

In the food Le Borgne brought was a
flavour of simples or drugs. One night-
I supposed it was night from the chill of
blowmg past the bearskin-just as Le borgne
stooped to serve me. his torch flickered out.
Before he could relight. I had poured the broth
out and handed back an empty bowl.

Then I lay with eyes tight shut and senses
wide awake. The Indian sat on the log-end
watching. I did not stir. Neither did I fall
asleep as usual. The Indian cautiously passed a
candle across my face. I lay motionless as I had
been drugged. At that he stalked of!. Voices
began m the other apartment. Two or three
forms went tip-toeing about the cave. Shadows

r half-closed eyes I saw three men vanish-
through the outer doorway over fields no longer
snow-clad. *

th.^!^ >^"« ^ '°'"'^ "°^ '°"e •'^d I lain in
,T.! »^'^°'' ^ 8^"^"*=^ strength to escape
wouW M Radisson have left for Quebec? Th'en

BaTl .r T' °^ '"•^'"^^-thought of Jack
Battle, the sailor lad. awaiting our return to
rescue him. From the first Jack and I had held
together as aliens in Boston Town. Should I lie
hke a stranded hull while he perished? Risking
spies on the watch. I struggled up and staggered
248

li'''ic:,^"'JI ''i*'*?^''M-?'v''''W 'Jii

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

across the cave to that blue flame quivering so
2;tcnously. As I neared, the mystery van-
ished, for It was nothing more than one of those
northern beds of combustibles-gas, tar, or coal
—set burnmg by the ingenious pirates *

h„f 1.?%'^^'* ""*' ""'""^ '"°"fi^'» *° help Jack,
but the flesh was weak. Presently I sank on the
heaped pelts all atremble. I had promised not
to spy nor eavesdrop, but that did not prohibit
escape. But how could one forage for food with
a right arm in bands and a left unsteady as aim
of a girl? Le Borgne had befriended me twice—
once in the storm, again on the hill. Perhaps he
might know of Jack. I would wait the Indian's
return Meanwhile I could practise my strength
by walking up and down the cave.

The walls were hung with pelts. Where 'the
dry clay crumbled, the roof had been timbered
A nvulet of spring water bubbled in one dark
comer. At the same end an archway led to
inner recesses. Behind the skin doorway sound-
ed heavy breathing, as of sleepers. I had prom-
ised not to spy. Turning, I retraced the way to
the outer door. Here another p elt swayed hcav-

«.rj°,K'°°*T"°" °' "'• Stanhope's record it m.y be

w!l ! "f"" "" "" """^ •" *""» '"at are known to
J»ve been burning continuously for nearly two cen.urie,

249

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

ily in the wind. Dank, earthy smells of spring,
odours of leaves water-soaked by melting snows,
the famt perfume of flowers pushing up through
mats of verdure, blew in on the night breeze.

Pushing aside the flap, I looked out. The
spur of a steep declivity cut athwart the cave
Now I could guess where I was. This was the
hill down which I had stumbled that night the
voices had come from the ground. Here the
masked man had sprung from the thicket. Not
far off M. Radisson had first met the Indians.
To reach the French Habitation I had but to
follow the river.

That hope set me pacing again for exer-
cise; and the faster I walked the faster raced
thoughts over the events of the crowded years.
Again the Prince Rupert careened seaward,
bearing little Hortense to England. Once more
Ben Gillam swaggered on the water-front of
Boston Town, boasting all that he would do
when he had ship of his own. Then Jack Bat-
tle, building his castles of fortune for love of
Hortense, and all unconsciously letting slip the
secret of good Boston men deep involved in
pirate schemes. The scene shifted to the far
north, and a masked man had leaped from the
forest dark only to throw down his weapon when
the firelight shone on my face. Again the white
250

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

darkness of the storm, the three shadowy figures
and Le Borgne sent to guide us back to the fort.
Again, to beat of drum and sb ivl of fife, M
Radisson was holding his ov,, an^ai- st ' the
swarming savages that assailt.' ci e \\w u a.
landers' fort. Then I v/ar ,vnit r.y.r the . ,-
speakable horror of the Ind.ar •.uisiacic ending
in that awful wait on the ^rest o' ;ne i.lil.

The memory brought a chill ,- < j! vir^cr cold
With my back to both doors I .<!ton i shuude-i ,ff
over the blue fire. Whatever log.,, us may say
we do not reason life's conclusions out. ClouHs
blacken the heavens till there comes the light-
ning-flash. So do our intuitions leap unwarned
from the dark. 'Twas thus I seemed to fathom
the mystery of those interlopers. Ben Gillam
had been chosen to bring the pirate ship north
because his father, of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, could screen him from English spies. Mr
Stockmg, of Boston, was another partner to the
venture, who could shield Ben from punishment
m New England. But the third partner was
hidmg mland to defraud the others of the furs
That was the meaning of Ben's drunken threats
Who was the third partner? Had not Eli Kirke
planned trading in the north with Mr. Stocking?
Were the pirates some agents of my uncle' Did
that explain why my life had been three times
*' 251

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

spared? Oae code of morals for the church and
another for the trade is the way of many a man;
but would the agents of a Puritan deacon mur-
Jer a rival in th. dark of a forest, or lead
Indians to massacre the crew of partners, or
take urs gotten at the price of a tribe's exter-
mination?

-I^urning that question over, I heard the inner
door-flap hft. There was no time to regain the
couch but a quick swerve took me out of the
firelight in the shadow of a great wolfskin
against the wall. You will laugh at the old idea
of honour, but I had promised not to spy, and
1 never raised my eyes from the floor. There
was no sound but the gurgling of the spring in
the dark and the sharp crackle of the flame

Thinking the wind had blown the flap I
hS^K 1™" u ?^- Something vague as mist
held back in shadow. The lines of a white-clad
figure etched themselves against the cave wall.
It floated out, paused, moved forward.

Then I remember clutching at the wolfskin
like one clinching a death-grip of reality, pray-
mg God not to let go a soul's anchor-hold of
reason.

For when the figure glided into the slant
blue rays of the shafted flame it was Hortense-
the Hortense of the dreams, sweet as the child.
252

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

grave as the grown woman-Hortense with
closed eyes and moving lips and Zn^!( T
outinthedarkasifp4i.,1;i^^^^^^^
ane was asleep.

oftL'pasT"''''"'''^^"^'^*^^^^-'-^^
The interloper, the pirate, the leader of In
clian marauders, the defrauder of his n.

/ »yc uo not reason out our mm-u,
sions, as I said before Af conclu-

-tswedono:^^.^^c°:^rr',::

from summit to summit like the forked Hghtnn^
across the mountain-peaks; and the mysteries S
hfe are .llumined as a spread-out scroT "Tha
moment of jcy and fear and horfor, as I crouchS
back to the wall. I did not tHink. uiHtw
he mcanmg of all M. Picot's quest^s on

da k whe" '■ 1 *''' ""^'^^^"^ ^"-'^ '" th^
dark when an antagonist flung down his weapon

of the spymg through the frosted woods ofT

It was as if the past focused itself to one

fJammgpomt, and the flash of that poin^illu!
2^:3

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

mined life, as deity must feel to whom past and
present and future are one.

And all the while, with temples pounding like
surf on rock and the roar of the sea In my ears,
I was not ■' hking, only knowing that Hortense
was standing in the blue-shafted Ught with trem-
• ulous lips and white face and a radiance on her
brow not of this life.

Her hands ran lightly over imaginary keys.
The blue flame darted and quivered through the
gloom. The hushed purr of the spring broke the
stillness in metallic tinklings. A smile flitted
across the sleeper's face. Her lips parted. The
crackle of the flame seemed loud as tick of clock
in death-room.

" To get the memory of it," she said.

And there stole out of the past mocking
memories of that last night in the hunting-room,
filling the cave with tuneless melodies like
thoughts creeping into thoughts or odour of
flowers in dark.

But what was she saying in her sleep?

"Blind gods of chance" — the words that
had haunted my delirium, then quick-spoken

snatches too low for me to hear — " no — no "

then more that was incoherent, and she was glid-
ing back to the cave.

She had lifted the curtain door — she was
254

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

whispering— she paused as if for answer— then
with face alight, " The stars fight for us—" she
said; and she had disappeared.

The fla-Tie sei the shadows flickering The
rivulet gurgled loud in the dark. And I came
from concealment as from a spirit worid.

Then Hortense was no dream, and love was
no phantom, and God— was what?

There I halted. The powers of darkness yet
pressed too close for me to see through to the
God that was love. I only knew that He who
throned the universe was neither the fool that
Ignorant bigots painted, nor the blind power
makmg wanton war of storm and dark and cold'
For had not the blind forces brought Hortense
to me, and me to Hortense?

Consciousness was leaping from summit to
summit like the forked lightnings, and the light
that burned was the light that transfigures life
for each soul.

The spell of a presence was there.

Then it came home to me what a desperate
game the French doctor had played That
sword-thrust in the dark meant death; so did
the attack on Ben GiUam's fort; and was it not
Le Borgne. M. Picot's Indian ally, who had
counselled the massacre of the sleeping tribe?
You must not think that M. Picot was worse
2SS

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

than other traders of those days! The north is
a desolate land, and though blood cry aloud
from stones, there is no man to hear.

I easily guessed that M. Picot would tty to
keep me with him till M. Kadisson had sailed
Then I must needs lock hands with piracy.
Hortense and I were pawns in the game.
At one moment I upbraided him for bringing
Hortense to this wilderness of murder and pil-
lage. At another I considered that ^ banished
gentleman could not choose his goings. How
could I stay with M. Picot and desert M de Ra-
disson? How could I go to M. de Radisson and
abandon Hortense?

" Straight is the narrow way," Eli Kirke oft
cned out as he expounded Holy Writ.

Ah, well, if the narrow way is straight it has
a trick of becoming tangled in a most terrible
snarl I

Wheeling the log-end right about, I sat
down to await M. Picot. There was stirring in
the next apartment. An ebon head poked past
the door curtain, looked about, and withdrew
without detecting me. The face I remembered
at once. It was the wife of M. Picot's blacka-
moor. Only three men had passed from the
cave. If the blackamoor were one, M, Picot
and Le Borgne must be the others.
256

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

Footsteps grated on the pebbles outside I
rose wuh beating heart to meet M. Picot, who
held my fate m his hands. Then a ringing j^istol-
shot set my pulse jumping. ^

I ran to the door. Something plunged heav-
ly agamst the curtain. The robe ripped from

^tct^r^"- . " '^' ^"""^ °^ "'°°"«&ht a man
pitched face forward to the cave floor. He
reeled up with a cry of rage, caught blindly at
the air, uttered a groan, fell back.

"M. Picot 1"

Blanched and faint, the French doctor lav
with a crimsoning pool wet under his head

I am shot! What will become of her? " he
cSamr "^""'''°*' ItwasGillam! It was

Hortense and the negress came running from
the mner cave Le Borgne and the blackamoor
dashed from the open with staring horror

M Picot '"^ "''' ^°'' ^°'^'' ^^^^' ^''■•'" ''"^'^

We laid him on the pelts in the doorway, Le
iiorgne standing guard outside.

Hortense stooped to stanch the wound, but
the doctor motioned her off with a fierce impa-
tience and bade the negress lead her away.
Thea he lay with closed eyes, hands clutched to
the pelts, and shuddering breath.
2S7

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

The blackamoor had rushed to the inner
cave for liquor, when M. Picot opened his eyes
with a strange far look fastened upon me.

" Swear it," he commanded.

And I thought his mind wandering.

He groaned heavily. "Don't you under-
stand? It's Hortense. Swear you'll restore
^f^r—" and his breath came with a hard metallic
rattle that warned the end.

" Doctor Picot," said I, " if you have any-
thing to say, say it quickly and make your peace
with God! "

" Swear you'll take her back to her people
and treat her as a sister," he cried.

" I swear before God that I shall take Hor-
tense back to her people, and that 1 shall treat
her like a sister," I repeated, raising my right
hand.

That seemed to quiet him. He closed his
eyes.

" Sir," said I, " have you nothing more to
say? Who are her people? "

" Is . . . is . . . any one listening? " he
asked in short, hard breaths.

I motioned the others back.

" Listen " — the words came in quick, rasping
breaths. " She is not mine ... it was at night
. . . they brought her . . . ward o' the court
258

WHO THE PIRATES WERE

. . . lands . . . they wanted me." There was a
sharp pause, a shiverinjg; whisper. " I didn't poi-
son her"— the dying man caught convulsively
at my hands^" I swear I had no thought of
harming her. . . . They . . . paid I

fled. ..."

" Who paid you to poison Hortense? Who
is Hortense? " I demanded; for his life was ebb-
ing and the words portended deep wrong.

But his mind was wandering again, for he
began talking so fast that I could catch only a
few words. "Blood! Blood! Colonel Blood! "
Then " Swear it," he cried.

That speech sapped his strength. He sank
back with shut eyes and faint breathings.

We forced a potion between his lips.

" Don't let Gillam," he mumbled, " don't let
Gillam . . . have the furs."

A tremor ran through his stiffening frame.
A little shuddering breath— and M. Picot had
staked his last pawn in life's game.

259

CHAF.ric XXI

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

Inside our Habitation all was the confusion
of preparation for leaving the bay. OuTs de

h ItT^T •f'^'' carnival; fo'r Alleman J
the gm-soaked pilot, was busy passing drink

hrough the loopholes to a panSemonlum o'
savages raving outside the stockades. Tis not

soCrTn- ^^^' '"^•"°'^ oi white-men be-
sotting the Indian; but I must even set down

was the' r *?"■ ^^° ^''""''"^ '^' I"dian
was the same white trader who befriended all

came. La Chesnaye, the merchant prince it
was who managed this low trafficWng.'^ Inde'ed,
for the rubbmg together of more doubloons in
his money-bags I think that La Chesnaye's ser-

Tn IhTrr".'? •''^^ ''^'■^^•"^^ *° ««"d souls
n ;ob lots bhndfold over the gangplank. But.
as La Chesnaye said when Pierre Radisson re-
monstrated against the knavery, the gin was
nine parts rain-water. s ' was

260

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

" The more cheat, you, to lay such unction
to your conscience," says M. de Radisson. " Be
an honest knave. La Chesnayel "

Foret, the marquis, stalked up and down be-
fore the gate with two guards at his heels. All
day long birch canoes and log dugouts and
tubby pirogues and crazy rafts of loose-lashed
pme logs drifted to our water-front with bands
of squalid Indians bringing their pelts. Skin
tepees rose outside our palisades like an army
of mushrooms. Naked brats with wisps of hair
coarse as a horse's mane crawled over our
mounted cannon, or scudded between our feet
like pups, or felt our European clothes with
impudent wonder. Young giris having hair
plastered flat with bear's grease stood peeping
shyly from tent flaps. Old squaws with skin
withered to a parchment hung over the camp-
fires, cooking. And at the loopholes pressed the
braves and the bucks and the chief men ex-
changing beaver-skins for old iron, or a silver
fox for a drink of gin, or ermine enough to
make His Majesty's coronation robe for some
flashy trinket to trick out a vain squaw. From
dawn to dusk ran the patter of moccasined feet,
man after man toiling up from river-front to
fort gate with bundles of peltries on his back
and a carrying strap across his brow.
261

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Unarmed, among the savages, pacifying
drunken hostiles at the water-front, bidS
Jean and me look after the carriers, in the gate-
way, helpmg Sieur de Groseillers to sort the
turs—Pierre Radisson was everywhere. In the
guard-house were more Enghsh prisoners than
we had crews of French; and in the mess-room
sat Governor Brigdar of the Hudson's Bay
Company, who took his captivity mighty ill and
grew prodigious pot-valiant over his cups
Here, too, lolled Ben Gillam. the young New
Englander, rumbling out a drunken vengeance
against those inland pirates, who had deprived
him of the season's furs.

Once, I mind, when M. Radisson came sud-
denly on these two worthies, their fuddled heads
were close together above the table.

" Look you," Ben was saying in a bie raso-

brass button The black arts are poweriess agen
brass. Devil sink my so-u if I didn't shoot himl
The red— spattered over the brush "

comfng.""'""" "'"' ' '^"' '° ^"-- ™y

Ben's nose poked across the table, closer to
Governor Brigdar's ear.

"But look you, Mister Whafs-yer-name "
says he. '

262

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

"Don't you Mister me, you young cubl"
interrupts the governor with a pompous show
of drunken dignity.

"A fig for Your Excellency," cries the
young blackguard. "Who's who when he's
drunk? As I was a-telling, look you, though
the red spattered the bushes, when I run up
he'd vanished into air with a flash o' pow-
der from my musket! 'Twas by the black arts

that nigh hanged him in Boston Town "

At that. Governor Brigdar claps his hand
to the table and swears that he cares nothing
for black arts if only the furs can be found.

"The furs— aye," husks Ben, "if we can
only find the furs! An our men hold together,

we're two to one agen the Frenchies "

" Ha," says M. Radisson. " Give you good-
morning, gentlemen, and I hope you find your-
selves in health."

The two heads flew apart like the halves
of a burst cannon-shell. Thereafter, Radisson
kept Ben and Governor Brigdar apart.

Of Godefroy and Jack Battle we could learn
naught. Le Borgne would never tell what he
and M. Picot had seen that night they rescued
me from the hill. Whether Le Borgne and the
hostiles of the massacre lied or no, they both
told the same story of Jack. While the tribe
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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

was still engaged in the scalp-dance, some one
had untied Jack's bands. When the braves
went to torture their captive, he had escaped.
But whither had he gone that he had not come
back to us? Like the sea is the northland, full
of nameless graves; and after sending scouts far
and wide, we gave up all hope of finding the
sailor lad.

But in the fort was another whose presence
our rough fellows likened to a star flower on
the stained ground of some hard-fought battle.
After M. Radisson had quieted turbulent spirits
by a reading of holy lessons. Mistress Hor-
tense queened it over our table of a Sunday at
noon. Waiting upon her at either hand were
the blackamoor and the negress. A soldier in
red stood guard behind; and every man, officer,
and commoner down the long mess-table tuned
his manners to the pure grace of her fair
face.

What a hushing of voices and cleansing of
wits and disusing of oaths was there after my
little lady came to our rough Habitation!

I mind the first Sunday M. Radisson led
her out like a queen to the mess-room table.
When our voyageurs went upstream for M.
Picot's hidden furs, her story had got noised
about the fort. Officers, soldiers, and sailors
264

'"■"*■#!..

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

had seated themselves at the long benches on
either side the table; but M. Radisson's place
was empty and a sort of throne chair had been
extemporized at the head of the table. An an-
gry question went from group to group to know
if M. Radisson designed such place of honour
for the two leaders of our prisonersr^under lock
in the guard-room. M. de Groseillers only
laughed and bade the fellows contain their souls
and stomachs in patience. A moment later, the
door to the quarters where Hortense lived
was thrown open by a red-coated soldier, and
out stepped M. Radisson leading Hortense by
the tips of her dainty fingers, the ebon faces of
the two blackamoors grinning delight behind.

You could have heard a pin fall among our
fellows. Then there was a noise of armour
clanking to the floor. Every man unconsciously
took to throwing his pistol under the table,
flinging sword-belt down and hiding daggers
below benches. Of a sudden, the surprise went
to their heads.

" Gentlemen," began M. Radisson.

But the fellows would have * me of his
grand speeches. With a cheer tha' at the raft-
ers ringing, they were on their feet; and to Mis-
tress Hortense's face came a look that does more
for the making of men than all New England's
265

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

laws or my uncle's blasphemy boxes or King
Charles's dragoons. You ask what that look
was? Go to, with your teasings! A lover is not
to be asked his whys! I ask you in return why
you like the spire of a cathedral pointing up in-
stead of down; or why the muses lift souls heav-
enward? Indeed, of all the fine arts granted
the human race to lead men's thoughts above
the sordid brutalities of living, methinks woman
is the finest; for God's own hand fashioned her,
and she was the last crowning piece of all His'
week's doings. The finest arts are the easiest
spoiled, as you know very well; and if you de-
mand how Mistress Hortense could escape harm
amid all the wickedness of that wilderness, I an-
swer it is a thing that your townsfolk cannot
know.

It is of the wilderness.

The wilderness is a foster-mother that teach-
eth hard, strange paradoxes. The first is the sin
of being weak; and the second is that death is the
least of life's harms.

Wrapped in those furs for which he had
staked his life like many a gamester of the wil-
derness, M. Picot lay buried in that sandy
stretch outside the cave door. Turning to lead
Hortense away before Le Borgne and the black-
266

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

amoor began filling the grave, I found her
stonily silent and tearless.

But it was she who led me.
Scrambling up the hillside like a chamois
of the mountains, she flitted lightly through the
greening to a small open where capipers had
bunt night fires. Her quick glance ran from
tree to tree. Some wood-runner had blazed a
trail by notching the bark. Pausing, she turned
with the frank, fearless look of the wilderness
woman She was no longer the elusive Hor-
tense of secluded life. A change had come-the
change of the hothouse plant set out to the
buflfetmgs of the four winds of heaven to perish
from weakness or gather strength from hard-
ship. Your woman of older lands must hood
fair eyes, perforce, lest evil masking under other
eyes give wrong intent to candour; but in the
wilderness each life stands stripped of pretence
honestly good or evil, bare at what it is; and pu-
rity clear as the noonday sun needs no trick of
custom to make it plainer.

" Is not this the place? " she asked.
Looking closer, from shrub to open, I recog-
nised the ground of that night attack in the
woods.

" Hortense, then it was you that I saw at
the fire with the others? "
" 26;

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

She nodded assent. She had not uttered one
word to explain how she came to that wild land-
nor had I asked. '

" It was you who pleaded for my life in the
cave below my feet? "

"I did not know you had heard! I only
sent Le Borgne to bring you back! "

" I hid as he passed."

" But I sent a message to the fort "

" Not to be bitten by the same dog twice—
I thought that meant to keep away? "

" What? " asked Hortense, passing her hand
over her eyes. " Was that the message he gave
you? Then monsieur had bribed him! I sent
for you to come to us. Oh. that is the reason
you never came "

"And that is the reason you have hidden
from me all the year and never sent me word" "

"I thought — I thought — " She turned
away. ' Ben Gillam told monsieur you had left
Boston on our account "

"And you thought I wanted to avoid
you "

"I did not blame you," she said. " Indeed
indeed, I was very weak-monsieur must have
bnbed Le Borgne-I sent word again and again
— but you never answered! "

" How could you misunderstand-^ O Her^
368

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

12 "^'V^^' ™«^*'* '" '^' hunting-room how
could you believe so poorly of n.e» "

She gave a low laugh. "That's what your
good angel used to plead," she said ^

Good angel, indeed!" said I, memory of
the vows to that miscreant adventurer falg
That good angel was a lazy baeea^e %iS
should have compelled you to behevS" '''

"Th. u. '^''^•" "^y' Hortense quickly

The poor thing kept telling me and teSg me

to trust you till I " icmng me

" Till you what, Hortense? "
She did not answer at once

gone to°"tS" ""'' •'' "^'^''^'"°- and I had
gone to the uppe- river watching for the ex-
pected boats- " ^

u- r.^°'!'^"'^' "^^""^ y°" the white figure be-

gunTmer'^ "''' "^"' ^°" ^^'"^^^ ^°-
I was too dumfounded for words. Then
a suspicon flashed to my mind. "Who sent
Le Borgne for us in the storm. Hortense^"

Oh, says Hortense, "that was nothingt

Monsieur pretended that he thought you wefe

canbou. He wanted to shoot. Oh." she Tald

"oh. how I have hated himf To thi„k-'o

269

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

think that he would shoot when you helped us
in Boston I "

" Hortense, who sent Le Borgne and M.
Picot to save me from the wolves? "

" Oh," says Hortense bravely, with a shud-
der between the words, "that was — that was
nothing — I mean — one would do as much for
anybody — for — for^for a poor little stoat, or —
or — a caribou if the wolves were after it! "

And we laughed with the tears in our eyes.
And all the while that vow to the dying adven-
turer was ringing like a faint death toll to hope.
I remember trying to speak a gratitude too
deep for words.

" Can — I ever — ever repay you — Hor-
tense? " I was asking.

" Repay! " she said with a little bitter laugh.
"Oh! I hate that word repay! I hate all give-
and-take and so-much-given-for-so-much-goti "
Then turning to me with her face aflame: " I
am — I am — oh — why can't you understand?"
she asked.

And then — and then — there was a wordless
cry — her arms reached out in mute appeal—:
there was no need of speech.

The forest shone green and gold in the sun-
light. The wind rustled past like a springtime
presence, a presence that set all the pines sway-
270.

4, ,m - ''vj

"*■ Ill'" -,->r^

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

ing and the aspens aquiver with music of flower
legend and new birth and the joy of life.
There was a long silence; and in that silence the
pulsing of the mighty forces that lift mortals to
immortality.

Then a voice which only speaks when love
speaks through the voice was saying, " Do you
remember your dreams? "

"What?" stooping to cull some violets
that had looked well against the green of her
hunting-suit.

'"Blind gods of chance— blind gods of
chance'— you used to say that over and
over! "

"Ah, M. Radisson taught me that! God
bless the blind gods of chance— Hortense teach-
es me that; for"— giving her back her own words
— you are here— you are here— you are here
with me! God bless the gods of chance! "

"Oh," she cried, "were you not asleep?
Monsieur let me watch after you had taken the
sleeping drug."

"The stars fight for us in their courses,"
said I, handing up the violets.

"Ramsay," she asked with a sudden look
straight through my eyes, "what did he make
you promise when— when— he was dying? "

The question brought me up like a sail hauled
271

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

short. And when I told her, she uttered strange
reproaches.

"Why— why did you promise that?" she
asked. "It has always been his mad dream.
And when I told him I did not want to be re-
stored, that I wanted to be like Rebecca and
Jack and you and the rest, he called me a little
fool and bade me understand that he had not
poisoned me as he was paid to do because
it was to his advantage to keep me alive. Cour-
tiers would not assassinate a stray waif, he said;
there was wealth for the court's ward some-
where; and when I was restored, I was to re-
member who had slaved for me. Indeed, in-
deed, I think that he would have married me,
but that he feared it would bar him from any
property as a king's ward "

" Is that all you know? "

"That is all. Why— why— did you prom-
ise?"

"What else was there to do, Hortense?
You can't stay in this wilderness."

" Oh, yes," says Hortense wearily, and she
let the violets fall. " What— what else was there
to do? "

She led the way back to the cave.

"You have not asked me how we came
here," she began with visible effort.
272

HOW THE PIRATES CAME

"Tell me no more than you wisi; me to
know! "

" Perhaps you remember a New Amsterdam
gentleman and a page boy leaving Boston on
the Prince Rupert?"

" Perhaps," said I.

" Captain Gillam of the Prince Rupert sig-
nalled to his son outside the harbour. Monsieur
had been bargaining with Ben all winter. Ben
took us to the north with Le Borgne for inter-
preter "

" Does Ben know you are here? "
" Not as Hortensel I was dressed ar a page.
Then Le Borgne told us of this cave and mon-
sieur plotted to lead the Indians against Ben, •
capture the fort and ship, and sail away with ell
the furs for himself. Oh, how I have hated
him!" she exclaimed with a sudden impetuous
stamp.

Leaving her with the slaves, I took Le
Borgne with me to the Habitation. Here, I told
all to M. Radisson. And his quick mind seized
this, too, for advantage.

" Precious pearls," he exclaims, " but 'tis a
gift of the gods! '

" Sir? "

"Pardieu, Chouart; listen to this," and he
tells his kinsman, Groseillers.
273

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Why not? " asks Groseillers. " You mean
to send her to Mary Kirke? "

Mary Kirke was Pierre Radisson's wife, who
would not leave the English to go to him when
he had deserted England for France.

" Sir John Kirke is director of the English
Company now. He hath been knighted by
King Charles. Mary and Sir John will present
I. 's little maid at the English court. An she be
not a nine days' wonder there, my name is not
Pierre Radisson. If she's a court ward, some of
the crew must take care of her."

Groseillers smiled. " An the French reward
us not well for this winter's work, that little
maid may open a door back to England; eh,
kinsman? "

'Twas the same gamestering spirit carrying
them through all hazard that now led them to
prepare for fresh partnership, lest France played
false. And as history tells, France played very
false indeed.

274

CHAPTER XXII

WE LEAVE THE NORTH SEA

So Sieur Radisson must fit out a royal flotilla
to carry Mistress Hortense to the French Habi-
tation. And gracious acts are like the gift horse :
you must not look them in the mouth. For the
same flotilla that brought Hortense brought all
M. Picot's hoard of furs. Coming down the
river, lying languidly back among the peltries
of the loaded canoe, Hortense, I mind, turned
to me with that honest look of hers and asked
why Sieur Radisson sent to fetch her in such

royal state.

" I am but a poor beggar like your little

Jack Battle," she protested.

I told her of M. Radisson's plans for entrance

to the English court, and the fire that flashed to

her eyes was like his own.

" Must a woman ever be a cat's-paw to man's

ambitions? " she asked, with a gleam of the dark

lights. " Oh, the wilderness is different," says

Hortense with a sigh. " In the wild land, each

2/S

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

is for its own! Oh, I love it! " she adds, with a
sudden lighting of the depths in her eyes.

" Love— what? "

"The wilderness," says Hortense. "It is
hard, but it's free and it's pure and it's true and
it's strong! "

And she sat back among the pillows.

When we shot through racing rapids—" sau-
ter les rapides," as our French voyageurs say-
she sat up all alert and laughed as the spray
splashed athwart. Old Allemand. the pilot,
who was steersman on this canoe, forgot the ill-
humour of his gin thirst, and proffered her a
paddle.

" Here, pretty thing," says he, " try a stroke
yourself! "

And to the old curmudgeon's surprise she
took it with a joyous laugh, and paddled half
that day.

Bethink you who know what warm hearts
beat inside rough buckskin whether those voy-
ageurs were her slaves or no! The wind was
blowmg; Mistress Hortense's hair tossed in a
way to make a man swear (vows, not oaths) and
Allemand said that I paddled worse than' any
green hand of a first week. At the Habitation
we disembarked after nightfall to conceal onr
movements from the English. After her arrival,
276

WE LEAVE THE NORTH SEA

none of us caught a glimpse of Mistress Hor-
tense except of a Sunday at noon, but of her
presence there was proof enough. Did voices
grow loud in the mess-room? A hand was
raised. Some one pointed to the far door, and
the voices fell. Did a fellow's tales slip an oath
or two.? There was a hush. Some one's thumb
jerked significantly shoulderwise to the door,
and the story-teller leashed his oats for a more
convenient season.

" Oh, lordy," taunts an English prisoner out

on parole one day, " any angels from kingdom

come that you Frenchies keep meek as lambs? "

Allemand, not being able to explain, knocked

the fellow flat.

It would scarce have been human nature had
not some of the ruffians uttered slurs on the ori-
gin of such an one as Hortense found in so
strange a case. The mind that feedeth on car-
non ever goeth with the large mouth, and for the
cleansing of such natures I wot there is no bet-
ter physic than our crew gave those gossips.
What the sailors did I say not. Enough that
broken heads were bound by our chirurgeon for
the rest of the week.

That same chirurgeon advised a walk outside
the fort walls for Mistress Hillary's health. By
the goodness of Providence, the duty of escort-
277

I . !

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

and a soldier, with a musket across tny shoulder
I led her out of a rear sally-port and so avo ded
he scenes of drunkenness among the Indians at

%rbjr ^^--^o'^'^ingofaS
et, but boisterous shouting came from the In-

was" !"rP"-^- I ^'-ced at Hortense. She
St n?^.'" ' ?'"" hunting-suit, and by the
hght of the settmg sun her face shone radiant,
xou are not afraid?"

cheet!'"''' °^ "'"'■ ^"^'^^' ^" '"^ «°°''^d he*-
"Afraid?" she laughed.

th.T°?"''' ^°''''"'"' Do you not hear
mtnfrT: "'m- ""^ ^°" ''-^ -h^t i

f"ar 'T J. r'" '' ''^" °' "^^* ^ -"^'d ™««t
« „ ^^'' protects her."
"Ah?" asks Hortense.

cloat"''l''V''"'.'^ '^' tight-clasped hunting-
.W folds. ''""' ''°"'"' '""^ ^^^-* ^'e
"'Tis her courage must protect her. The
wWemess teaches that," says Hortense "the
wilderness and men like Picot "

froJ^v r "'^'P'^ '^^'•ds and ran like children
from thicket to rock and rock to the lon^
s retches of shingly shore. Behind came thf
blackamoor and the soldier. The salt spray flew
278

WE LEAVE THE NORTH SEA

in our faces, the wind through our hair; and in
our hearts, a joy untold. Where a great obelisk
of rock thrust across the way, Hortense halt-
ed. She stood on the lee side of the rock fanning
herself with her hat.

" Now you are the old Hortense! "
"I am older, hundreds of years older"
laughed Hortense.

The westering sun and the gold light of the
sea and the caress of a spring wind be perilous
setting for a fair face. I looked and looked
again.

•' Hortense, should an oath to the dead bind
the living? "

" If it was right to take the oath, yes," said
Hortense.

" Hortense, I may never see you alone again.
I promised to treat you as I would treat a
sister "

" But — " interrupts Hortense.

Footsteps were approaching along the sand,
I thought only of the blackamoor and soldier.

" I promised to treat you as I would a sister
—but what — Hortense? "

" But— but I didn't pr -tuse to treat you as I
would a brother "

Then a voice from the other side of the rock:
" Devil sink my soul to the bottom of the sea if
279

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

that viper Frenchman hasn't all our furs packed
away in his holdl " i«*i-«u

c. ^^*'"":"'^ P""" °" ^'"^ ^or a meddle-
some—" the voice fell.

Then Ben Gillam again: "Shiver my soul!
Let ,m set sail, I say! Aren't you and me to be

o' Say ? '' "■ ' '" *'' ^"^'"' '°'' '' '''' '°°'
^^ J' We'll send 'em all to the bottom o' hell

rise!'^" ^°" ^""^ ^^^ '^°'^- ^" "y "«n wi«

the'^^rhT" ''' '"'-'^' *'^^ ships-butcher
Hortense raised her hand and pointed along
the shore^ Our two guards were lumbering up
and would presently betray our presence. Steal
ng forward we motioned their silence. I sent
both to hsten behind the rock, while Hortense

tTe forr'"" '"'° "°"" °' '^' '^''^'' '° ^'S^^

kept the prisoners m hand. He will snuff this
pretty conspiracy out before Brigdar and Ben
get their heads apart."

She gave that flitting look which laughs at
fear and hastened on. We could not go b!ck as
we had come without exposing ourselves to the
280

WE LEAVE THE NORTH SEA

two conspirators, and our course lay nearer the
Indian revel. About a mile from the fort Hor-
tense stopped short. Through the underbrush
crawled two braves with their eyes leering at us
" Hortense," I urged, " run for the rear gate!
1 11 deal with these two alone. There may be
morel Run, my dear! "

" Give me your musket," she said, never tak-
mg her eyes from the savages.

Wondering not a little at the request, I hand-
ed her the weapon.

"Now run," I begged, for a sand crane
flapped up where the savages had prowled a
pace nearer.

Quick as it rose Hortense aimed. There was
a puff of smoke. The bird fell shot at the sav-
ages' feet, and the miscreants scudded off in
terror.

"That was better," said Hortense,
would have killed a man."

In vain I urged her to hasten back,
walked.

" You know it may be the last time," she
laughed, mocking my grave air of the beach.

" Hortense— Hortense— how am I to keep a
promise? "

But she did not answer a word till we reached
the sally-port. There she turned with a brave
281

you

She

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

enough look till her eyes met mine, when all was
the confusion that men give their lives to win.

Yes— yes — keep your promise. If you had
not come, I had died; if I had not come, you
had died. Let us keep faith with truth, for that's
keeping faith with God— and— and— God bless
you," she whispered brokenly, and she darted
through the gate.
•
And the next morning we embarked, young
Jean Groseillers remaining with ten Frenchmen
to hold the fort; Brigdar and Ben aboard our
ship instead of going to the English at the foot
of the bay; half the prisoners under hatches
in M. Groseillers's ship; the other half sent
south on the raft— a plan which eflfectually
stopped that conspiracy of Ben's. Not one
glimpse of our fair passenger had we on all that
voyage south, for what with Ben's oaths and
Governor Brigdar's drinking, the cabin was no
place for Hortense.

At Isle Percee, entering the St. Lawrence, lay
a messenger from La Chesnaye's father with a
missive that bore ill news.

M. de la Barre, the new governor, had or-
dered our furs confiscated because we had gone
north without a license, and La Chesnaye had
thriftily rigged up this ship to send half our car-
382

WE LEAVE THE NORTH SEA

go across to France before the Farmers of the
Revenue could get their hands upon it. It was
this gave rise to the slander that M. de Radisson
ran off with ;idlf La Chesnaye's furs — which the
records de la marine will disprove, if you search
them.

On this ship vvith her blackamoors sailed
Mistress Hortense, bearing letters to Sir John
Kirke, director of the Hudson's Bay Company
and father of M. Radisson's wife.

"Now praise be Heaven, that little ward
will open the way for us in England, Chouart,"
said M. de Radisson, as he moodily listened to
news of the trouble abrewing in Quebec.

And all the way up the St. Lawrence, as the
rolling tide lapped our keel, I was dreaming of a
far, cold paleocrystic sea, mystic in the frost-
clouds that lay over it like smoke. Then a figure
emerged from the white darkness. I was
snatched up, with the northern lights for char-
iot, two blazing comets our steeds, and the north
star a charioteer.

283

I ,.„ ..A

CHAPTER XXm

A CHANCE OF PARTNERS

tions to march by AnH c^ t "^ ^^"^ genera-
.o M over , ,^ ,™„ .,„„Mi„g.b,oeHta!

" ■""" ' *'" W <" *o«« who wantoned « m
287

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

thi lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and
the pride of life," who burned their lives out at a
shrine of folly, and who held that the soul and
all things spiritual had gone out of fashion ex-
cept for the making of vows and pretty conceits
in verse by a lover to his lady.

For Pierre Radisson's fears of France play-
ing false proved true. Bare had our keels
bumped through that forest of sailing craft,
which ever swung to the tide below Quebec fort,
when a company of young cadets marches down
from the Castle St. Louis to escort iis up to M.
de la Barre, the new governor.

" Hm," says M. Radisson, looking in his
half-savage buckskins a wild enough figure
among all those young jacks-in-a-box with their
gold lace and steel breastplates. " Hm — ^let the
governor come to us! An you will not go to a
man, a man must come to you! "

" I am indisposed," says he to the cadets.
" Let the governor come to me."

And come he did, with a company of troops
fresh out from France and a roar of cannon
from the ramparts that was more for the frighten-
ing than welcoming of us.

M. de Radisson bade us answer the salute by
a firing of muskets in mid-air. Then we all let
go a cheer for the Governor of New France.
288

A CHANGE OF PARTNERS

" I must thank Your Excellency for the wel-
come sent down by your cadets," says M. de Ra-
disson, meeting the governor half-way across the
gang-plank.

M. de la Barre, an iron-gray man past the
prime of life, gave spare smile in answer to
that.

" I bade my cadets request you to report at
the castle," says he, with a hard wrinkling of the
lines round his lips.

" I bade your fellows report that I was indis-
posed! "

" Did the north not agree with Sieur Radis-
son? " asks the governor dryly.

" Pardieul— yes— better than the air of Que-
bec," retorts M. Radisson.

By this the eyes of the listeners were agape,
M. Radisson not budging a pace to go ashore,
the governor scarce courting rebuflf in sight of
his soldiers.

" Radisson," says M. de la Barre, motioning
his soL!ers back and following to our captain's
cabin, " a fellow was haltered and whipped for
disrespect to the bishop yesterday! "

" Fortunately," says M. Radisson, touching
the hilt of his rapier, " gentlemen settle diflfer-
ences in a simpler way! "

They had entered the cabin, where Radisson
289

^ HERALDS OF EMPIRE

bade me stand guard at the door, and at our
leader's bravado M. de la Barre saw fit to throw
oflF all disguise.

" Radisson," he said, " those who trade with-
out license are sent to the galleys "

" And those who go to the galleys get no
more furs to divide with the Governor of New
France, and the governor who gets no furs goes
home a poor man."

M. de la Barre's sallow face wrinkled again
in a dry laugh.

" La Chesnaye has told you? "

" La Chesnaye's son "

"Have the ships a good cargo? They
must remain here till our officer examines
them."

Which meant till the governor's minions
looted both vessels for His Excellency's profit.
M. Radisson, who knew that the better part of
the furs were already crossing the ocean, nodded
his assent.

" But about these English prisoners, of whom
La Chesnaye sent word from Isle Percee? " con-
tinues the governor.

"The prisoners matter nothing— 'tis their
ship has value "

"She must go back," interjects M. de la
Barre.

290

A CHANGE OF PARTNERS

" Back? " exclaims M. Radisson.

" Why didn't you sell her to some Spanish
adventurer before you came here? "

" Spanish adventurer— Your Excellency? I
am no butcher! "

" Eh— man!" says the governor, tapping the
table with a document he pulled from his great-
coat pocket and shrugging his shoulders with a
deprecating gesture of the hands, " if her crew
feared sharks, they should have defended her
against capture. Now— your prize must go
back to New England and we lose the profit!
Here," says he, " are orders from the king and
M. Colbert that nothing be done to offend the

subjects of King Charles of England '

" Which means that Barillon, th" French am-
bassador ? "

M. de la Barre laid his finger on his lips.
"Walls have ears! If one king be willing to
buy and another to sell himself and his country,
loyal subjects have no comment, Radisson." *

"Loyal subjects!" sneers M. de Radis-
son.

"And that reminds me, M. Colbert orders
Sieur Radisson to present himself in Paris and

* The reference is evidently to the secret treaty by which
King Charles of England received annual paymenf for com-
pliance with King Louis's schemes for French aggression.
291

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

report on the state of the fur-trade to the'
king! "

" Ramsay," said M. Radisson to me, after
Governor la Barre had gone, " this is some new
gamestering! "

" Your court players are too deep for me,
sir! "

" Pish! " says he impatiently, " plain as day —
we must sail on the frigate for France, or they
imprison us here — in Paris we shall be kept dan-
gling by promises, hangers-on and do-nothings
till the moneys are all used — then "

" Then— sir? "

" Then, active men are dangerous men, and
dangerous men may lie safe and quiet in the
sponging-house ! "

" Do we sail in that case? "

"Egad, yes! Why not? Keep your colours
flying and you may sail into hell, man, and con-
quer, too! Yes — we sail! Man or devil, don't
swerve, lad! Go your gait! Go your gait!
Chouart here will look after the ships! Paris
is near London, and praise be Providence for
that little maid of thine! We shall presently
have letters from her — and," he added,
" from Sir John Kirke of the Hudson's Bay
Company! "

And it was even as he foretold. I find, on
292

i i'

A CHANGE OF PARTNERS

looking over the tattered pages of a handbook,
these notes:

Oct. 6. — Ben Gillam and Governor Brigdar
this day sent back to New England. There will
be great complaints against us in the English
court before we can reach London.

Nov. Ji.— Sailed for France in the French
frigate.

Dec. /*.— Reach Rochelle— hear of M. Col-
bert's death.

Jan. JO. — Paris — all our furs seized by the
French Government in order to keep M. Radis-
son powerless— Lord Preston, the English am-
bassador, complaining against us on the one
hand, and battering our doors down on the
other, with spies offering M. Radisson safe pas-
sage from Paris to London.

I would that I had time to tell you of that
hard winter in Paris, M. Radisson week by week,
like a fort resisting siege, forced to take cheaper
and cheaper lodgings, till we were housed be-
tween an attic roof and creaking rat-ridden floor
in the Faubourg St. Antoine. But not one jot
did M. Radisson lose of his kingly bearing,
though, he went to some fete in Versailles with
beaded moccasins and frayed plushes and tat-
tered laces and hair that one of the pretty wits
declared the birds would be anesting in for hay-
293

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

coils. In that Faubourg St. Antoine house) I
mind, we took grand apartments on the ground
floor, but up and up we went, till M. Radisson
vowed we'd presently be under the stars— as the
French say when they are homeless— unless my
Lord Preston, the English ambassador, came to
our terms.

That starving of us for surrender was only
another trick of the gamestering in which we
were enmeshed. Had Captain Godey, Lord
Preston's messenger, succeeded in luring us back
to England without terms, what a pretty pickle
had ours been! France would have set a price
on us^ Then must we have accepted any kick-of-
toe England chose to offer— and thanked our
new masters for the same, else back to France
they would have sent us.

But attic dwellers stave off many a woe with
empty stomachs and stout courage When
April came, boats for the fur-trade should have
been stirring, and my Lord Preston changes his
tune. One night, when Pierre Radisson sat
spin , ng his yarns of captivity with Iroquois to
our attic neighbours, comes a rap at the door
and in walks Captain Godey of the English Em-
bassy. As soon as our neighbours had gone, he
counts out one hundred gold pieces on the table
1 hen he hands us a letter signed by the Duke of
294

A CHANGE OF PARTNERS

out r"! ^^ff' *"'°"'"' ^^° ^^' Governor

Thereupon, Pierre Radisson asks leave of the
French court to seek change of air; but the cofn!

ni F aIV°"f J "" *''* °' ^"^'^"'l '" May,
not i< ranee, as the court inferred.

29s

CHAPTER XXIV

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

• The roar of London was about us.
Sign-boards creaked and swung to every
puflf of wind. Great hackney-coaches, sunk at
the waist like those old gallipot boats of ours,
went ploughing past through the mud of mid-
road, with bepowdered footmen clinging be-
hind and saucy coachmen perched in front.
These flunkeys thought it fine sport to splash us
passers-by, or beguiled the time when there was
stoppage across the narrow street by lashing
rival drivers with their long whips and knocking
cock-hats to the gutter. 'Prentices stood ring-
ing their bells and shouting their wares at every
shop-door. "What d'ye lack? What d'ye
lack? What d'ye please to lack, good sirs?
Walk this way for kcrseye, sayes, and perpetu-
anoes! Bands and ruffs and piccadillies! Walk
this way! Walk this way ! "

" Pardieu, lad! " says M. Radisson, elbowing
a saucy spark from the wall for the tenth time in
3S many paces, " Pardieu, you can't hear your-
296

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

self think! Shut up to you!" he called to a
bawhng -prentice dressed in white velvet waist

Shoi "\??"""'"'' ^""""^ '° ^'^hibit the
tasliion. Shut up to you! "

And I heard the fellow" telling his comrades
my strange companion with the tangled hair
was a pirate from the Barbary States. Another
saucy vender caught at the chance

"Perukes! Perukes! Newest French peri-
wigs! he shouts, jangling h'is bell and putting
himself across M. Radisson's course. "You'd
please to lack a periwig, sir! Walk this way!
Walk this way " ^

" Out of my way! " orders Radisson with a
hiss o. his rapier round the fellow's fat calves.
Tis a milhner's doll the town makes of a man!
Out of my way!"

And the 'prentice went skipping. We were
to meet the directors of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany that night, and we had come out to re-
furbish our scant, wild attire. But bare had we
turned the corner for the linen-draper's shops of
Fleet Street when M. Radisson's troubles be-
gan. Idlers eyed us with strange looks. Huck-
sters read our necessitous state and ran at heel
shouting their wares. Shopmen saw needy cus-
tomers in us and sent their 'prentices running.
Chairmen splashed us as they passed; and i^-
2p7

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

pudent dandies powdered and patched and laced
and bewigged like any iizgig of a girl would
have elbowed us from the wall to the gutter for
the sport of seeing M. Radisson's moccasins
slimed.

"Egad," says M. Radisson, "an I 'spill not
some sawdust out o' these dolls, or cut their
stay-strings, may the gutter take us for good
and a'!! Pardieu! An your wig's the latest fash-
ion, the wits under 't don't matter "

" Have a care, sir," I warned, " here comes
a fellow! "

'Twas a dandy in pink of fashion with a
three-cornered hat coming over his face like
a waterspout, red-cheeked from carminative
and with the high look in his eyes of one who
saw common folk from the top of church stee-
ple. His lips were parted enough to show his
teeth; and I warrant you my fine spark had
posed an hour at the looking-glass ere he got his
neck at the angle that brought out the swell
of his chest. He was dressed in red plush with
silk hose ot the same colour and a square-cut,
tailed coat out of whose pockets stuck a roll of
paper missives.

" Verse ready writ by some penny-a-liner for
any wench with cheap smiles," says M. Radisson
aloud.

298

UNDER THE iEGIS OF THE COURT

But the fellow came on like a strutting pea-
cock with his head in air. Behind followed his
page with cloak and rapier. In one hand our
dandy carried his white gloves, in the other a
lace gewgaw heavy with musk, which he flut-
tered in the face of every shopkeeper's daughter."

"Give the wall! Give the wall!" cries the
page. " Give the wall to Lieutenant Blood o'
the Tower! "

"S'blood," says M. Radisson insolently,
"let us send that snipe sprawling! "

At that was a mighty awakening on the part
of my fine gentleman.

" Blood is my name," says he. " Steo
aside! "

"An Blood is its name," retorts M. Ra-
disson, "'jis bad blood; and I've a mind to let
some of it, unless the thing gets out of mv
way!" ^

With which M. Radisson whips out his
sword, and my grand beau condescends to look
at us.

" Boy," he commands, " call an officer! "

" Boy," shouts M. Radisson, " call a chirur-
geon to mend its toes! " and his blade cut a
swath across the dandy's shining pumps.

At that was a jump!

Whatever the beaux of King Charles's court

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

may have been, they were not cowardsl Grasp-
ing his sword from the page, the fellow made at
us. What with the lashing of the coachmen
nding post-haote to see the fray, the jostling
chaim:-n calling out "A fight! A fight! " and
the 'prentices yelling at the top of their voices
for "A watch! A watch!" we had had it hot
enough then and there for M. Radisson's sport;
but above the melee sounded another shrill
alarm, the " Gardez I'eau! Gardy loo! " of some
French kitchen wench throwing her breakfast
slops to mid-road from the dwelling overhead.*
Only on the instant had I jerked M. Radis-
son back; and down they came— dish-water—
and coflfee leavings— and porridge scraps full on
the crown of my fine young gentleman, drench-
mg his gay attire as it had been soaked in soap-
suds of a week old. Something burst from his
lips a deal stronger than the modish French
oaths then in vog e. There was a shout from
the rabble. I dragged rather than led M. Ra-
disson pell-mell into a shop from front to rear
over a score of garden walls, and out again from'
rear to front, so that we gave the slip to all those
officers now running for the scene of the broil.
" Egad's life," cried M. de Radisson, l augh-

• The old expression which the law compelled before
throwing slops in mid-street.

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

ing and laughing, "'tis the narrowest escape
I ve ever hadi Pardieu-to escape the north L
and drown .n d.sh-waterl Lord-to b.at devils
and be snuffed out by a wench in pettiest
T.S the martyrdom of heroes! What a tale
for the court! " "*^

And he laughed and laughed again till I
must needs call a chair to get him fway from

". c^5 '^^' ^^^*- yo"ng blade was Blood' "
ao he told you."

"Did he? Son of the Blood who stole the
crown ten years ago, and got your own Stan!
hope lands m reward from the king! "

h, i^''\^'"^"°"" ^"'^'^'^ words bringing
me^rl rl ". *'^ '^-ting-room telHnf

And th,?r ' ' ^'■"^°°'^'- ^"^ swordsman
And that bnngs me to the real reason for our
Plundenng the hnen-drapers' shops befo e pre
jmmg ourselves at Sir John Kirke's manslS^
Drury Lane, where gentlemen with one eye

SeinVoXr^^^^^^^^^^^-^-ntto

ShfZv I '~r '" "'^^ ^'y'^'^ herself

after he broke from the English-and I had not

301

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

heard one word of Hortense for nigh as many
months Say what you will of the dandified
dolls who wasted half a day before the looking-
glass in the reign of Charles Stuart, there are
times when the bravest of men had best look
twice m the glass ere he set himself to the task
of conquering fair eyes. We did not drag our
linen through a scent bath nor loll all morning
m the hands of a man milliner charged with the
duty of turning us into showmen's dummies—
as was the way of young sparks in that age.

But that was how I came to buy yon mon-
strous wig costing forty guineas and weighing
ten pounds and coming half-way to a man's
waist. And you may set it down to M. Radis-
son s credit that he went with his wiry hair fly-
ing wild as a lion's mane. Nothing I could say
would make him exchange his Indian moccasins
for the high-heeled pumps with a buckle at the
instep.

^^ " I suppose," he had conceded grudgingly
we must have a brat to carry swords and
cloaks for us, or we'll be taken for some o' your
cheap-jack hucksters parading latest fashions,"
and he bade our host of the Star and Garter
have some lad searched out for us by the time
we should be coming home from Sir John
Kirke's that night.

302

UNDER THE JEGIS OF THE COURT
A mighty personage with fat choos anrf
ruddy cheeks and rounded waistcoat a„d pad

^i"^u::t^-j»^-sirC

man'"'h-'tt'"^ "'"°"''-''^"^ •'''hen gent i-
Z fi , ,?'' ^- ^^''''«°"' P"«hing in. ..Here

2 r^t:;:T,t:'VHi'"•°"-
I have always held that the vulgar like inso
lence n.gh as well as silver; and Sieur R.H °'
ai^sent the feet of the kite Jlf^rd^irnV
Confound h.m!" „,uttered RadissoJ. as we

first Lh-.k'"^ "'PP'"^ '■" '^^ face, be the

firsttodo,t,boyJ A man's a man by the meas-

303

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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

ure of his stature in the wilderness. Here, 'tis
by the measure of his clothes "

But a great rustling of flounced petticoats
down the hallway broke in on his speech, and a
little lady had jumped at me with a cry of
" Pierre, Pierre! " when M. Radisson's long
arms caught her from her feet.

" You don't even remember what your own
husband looked like," said he. "Ah, Mary,
Mary — don't dear me! I'm only dear when the
court takes me up! But, egad," says he, setting
her down on her feet, "you may wager these
pretty ringlets of yours, I'm mighty dear for the
gilded crew this time! "

Madame Radisson said she was glad of it;
for when Pierre was rich they could take a fine
house in the West End like my Lord So-and-So;
but I;i the next breath she begged him not to
call the Royalists a gilded crew.

" And who is this? " she asked, turning to
me as the servants brought in candles.

" Egad, and you might have asked that be-
fore you tried to kiss him! Yoii always did have
a pretty choice, Mary! I knew it when you took
me! That," says he, pointing to me, " that is the
kite's tail! "

"But for convenience' sake, perhaps the kite's
tail may have a name," retorts Madame Radisson.
304

UNDER THE iEGIS OF THE COURT

"To be sure— to be sure— St ;r.hope, a
young Royalist kinsman of yours "

"Royalist?" reiterates Mary K>I<e vvif a
world of meaning to the high-ke^e^ (i-i.stion,
then my welcome was no mistake! Welcome
waits Royalists here," and she gave me her hand
to kiss just as an elderly woman with monster
white ringlets all about her face and bejewelled
fingers and bare shoulders and flowing draperies
swept into the room, followed by a serving-maid
and a page-boy. With the aid of two men, her
daughter, a serving-maid, and the page, it took
her all of five minutes by the clock to get her-
self seated. But when her slippered feet were
on a Persian rug and the displaced ringlets of
her monster wig adjusted by the waiting abigail
and smelling-salts put on a marquetry table near-
by and the folds of the gown righted by the
page-boy, Lady Kirke extended a hand to re-
ceive our compliments. I mind she called Ra-
disson her "dear, sweet savage," and bade him
have a care not to squeeze the stones of her
rings into the flesh of her fingers.

"As if any man would want to squeeze such

a ragbag o' tawdry finery and milliners' tinsel "

said Radisson afterward to me. '

I. being younger, was " a dear, bold fellow "

wit»- a tap of her fan to the words and a look

30s

,Ui -i

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

over the top of it like to have come from some

saucy jade of sixteen.

After which the serving-maid must hand the

smelling-salts and the page-boy haste to stroke

out her train.

"Egad," says Radisson when my lady had

informed us that Sir John would await Sieur

Radisson's coming at the Fur Company's offices,

" egad, there'll be no getting Ramsay away till

he sees some one else! "

"And who is that?" simpers Lady Kirke,
languishing behind her fan.

"Who, indeed, but the little maid we sent
from the north sea."

" La," cries Lady Kirke with a sudden liven-
ing, " an you always do as well for us all, we can
forgive you, Pierre! The courtiers have cried
her up and cried her up, till your pretty savage
of the north sea is like to become the first lady
of the land! Sir John comes home with your
letter to me— boy, the smelling-salts!— so!—
and I say to him, ' Sir John, take the story to
His Royal Highness!' Good lack, Pierre, no
sooner hath the Duke of York heard the tale
than off he goes with it to King Charles! lUs
Majesty hath an eye for a pretty baggage. Oh,
I promise you, Pierre, you have done finely for
us all! "

306

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

Piert^F It''*^'' tnust simper and smirk and tap
_^'erre Fadisson with her fan, with a glimmer of

cneeks m Commonwealt'i days

eyes ablaze, that sweet child came to no harm
or wrong among our wilderness of avages- ™
she come to harm in a Christian court by
Heaven, somebody'll answer me for't!" ^

Radish "^r?;re;,^?.'°-^^--^" ^^-

found^for t™''^ "^'''' '"""^ *•" ^ '^"^band be
tound for her, contmues Lady Kirke.

says RerTp h' ^''"? "'"'"^ ^° "^^ ^°""d,"

s4hnrthe^:,t""' '^'''^'"^ ""^ ^-'^--

r,f I^°* f° ""'^"ot so sure, Pierre' We
catch no ghmpse of her nowadays; butThey sa^
young Lieutenant Blood o' thZ-r ? . ^

the court wherever she ?s-ll' °"''' ^'^'°"^

son,"w1nStrme''°""^'"^"^''^'^^^^^^^^^
"And carries himself with a grand air," am-
307

u \

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

plifies my lady, puffing out her chest, " but then,
Pierre, when it comes to the point, your pretty

wench hath no dower — no property "

"Heaven be praised for that!" burst from
my lips.

At which there was a sudden silence, fol-
lowed by sudden laughter to my confusion.

" And so Master Stanhope came seeking the
bird that had flown," twitted Radisson's mother-
in-law. " Faugh— fiugh— to have had the bird
in his hand and to let it go! But— ta-ta! " she
laughed, tapping my arm with her fan, " some
one else is here who keeps asking and asking for
Master Stanhope. Boy," she ordered, " tell thy
master's guest to come down! "

Two seconds later entered little Rebecca of
Boston Town. Blushing pink as apple-blos-
soms, dressed demurely as of old, with her
glances playing a shy hide-and-seek under the
downcast lids, she seemed as alien to the arti-
ficial grandeur about her as meadow violets to
the tawdry splendour of a flower-dyer's shop.

" Fie, fie, sly ladybird," called out Sir John's
wife, " here are friends of yours! "

At sight of us, she uttered a little gasp of
pleasure.

" ScH-so— so joysome to see Boston folk,"
she stammered.

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t ^OMAkM

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

"Fie fie!" laughed Lady Kirke. "Doth
Boston a,r bring red so quick to all faces? "

If they be not painted too deep" said
P.erre Rad.sson loud and distinct. And'l douM
not the coquettish old dame blushed red, though -

held her tongue long enough for me to lead
Rebecca to an alcove window

eapf TucT" "■' ''°''" '° J""^^ •" sudden-made
St ?u °"' """' ^'""-^ R^disson; for he
set h.msef between his wife and Lady Kirke
where he kept them achattering so fast [hey had
no_t.me to note little Rebecca's unmaske^con-

" This is an unexpected pleasure. Rebecca! "
She glanced up as if to question me.

speech^°!!l!"' ^'"^"^^ '^^^^ ^° '"-"y fine

" Have you been here long? "

"A month. My father came to see about
the furs that Ben Gillam lost in the bay," ex
plains Rebecca. ^

;; Oh! "said I, vouching no more.
Ihe ship was sent back," continues Re-
venture "T„7"* °';\^ "^^""-^ °' ^- ^^^''-s
venture, and my father hopes that Kine

oflt;u"^""*'^"^^"^'^^°-'-t^-aruf

309

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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Oh! "

There was a little silence. The other
tongues prattled louder. Rebecca leaned to-
wards me.

" Have you seen her? " she asked.
" Who? "

She gave an impetuous little shake of her
head. " You know," she said.
"Well?" I asked.

" She hath taken me through all the grand
places, Ramsay; through Whitehall and Hamp-
ton Court and l.ie Tower! She hath come to
see me every week! "
I said nothing.

"To-ttiorrow she goes to Oxford with the
queen. She is not happy, Ramsay. She says
she feels like a caged bird. Ramsay, why did
she love that north land where the wicked
Frenchman took her? "

" I don't know, Reb'^cca. She once said it
was strong and pure and free."

" Did you see her oft, Ramsay? "
" No, "Rebecca; only at dinner on Sundays."
"And— and — all the officers were there on
the Sabbath? "

"All the officers were there! "

She sat silent, eyes downcast, thinking.

" Ramsay? "

310

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

be marrying some grand

" Well? "

' Hortense will
courtier."

" May he be worthy of her. '

" I think many ask her."

"And what does Mistress Hortense say?" "

"frnmM '" '"'"'"'' ^"''""'^^ meditatively,
from the quantity of love-verse writ, she mus
keep saying— No."

fhJ^l^%^'^^ *"™' *° bid us all go to
the Duke's Theatre, where the king's suite
would appear that night. Rebecca, of cour e
would not go. Her father would be expect ng
her when he came home, she said. So Pierre
Radisson and I escorted Lady Kirke and her
daughter to the play, riding i„ one of those pon-
derous coaches, with four belaced footmen
chnging behind and postillions before. At the
entrance to the playhouse was a great con!

.ers with pages carrying torches for the return
after dark, merchants with linkmen, work folk

fTom r'''"n' "°5'''"'" ^^''"^•"^ tradesmen
SZw ^^": !'^'l«'-"'^» elbowing mechanics;
a 1 pushing and jostling and cracking their joke
with a freedom of speech that would have cost
dear .„ Boston Town. The beaux, I mind, had
ready-wnt love-verses sticking out of pockets
3"

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

thick as bailiffs' yellow papers; so that a gallant
could have stocked his own munitions by pick-
ing up the missives dropped at the feet of dis-
dainfuls. Of the play, I recall nothing but that
some favourite of the king, Mary Davies, or
the famous Nell, or some such an one, danced
a monstrous bold jig. Indeed, our grand peo-
ple, taking their cue from the courtiers' boxes,
affected a mighty contempt for the play, except
when a naughty jade on the boards stepped
high, or blew a kiss to some dandy among the
noted folk. For aught I could make out, they
did not come to hear, but to be heard; the ladies
chattering and ogling; the gallants stalking
from box to box and pit to gallery, waving
their scented handkerchiefs, striking a pose
where the greater part of the audience could see
the flash of beringed fingers, or taking a pinch
of snuff with a snap of the lid to call attention
to its gold-work and naked goddesses.

"Drat these tradespeople, kinsman!" says
Lady Kirke, as a fat townsman and his wife
pushed past us, " drat these tradespeople! " says
she as we were taking our place in one of the
boxes, "'tis monstrous gracious of the king to
come among them at all! "

Methought her memory of Sir John's career
had been suddenly chpped short; but Pierre Ra-
312

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

disson onlj smiled solemnly. Some jokes lit.
dessert, are best taken cold, not hot ' ' '"'
kind's nL' """' ^ "'"'"«^ °f "<=^ks; and the

Barillon the pfen T T'''""'* '' ^-^' -'^h
and H^; r /'' embassador, on one side

and Her Grace of Portsmouth on the other

with fL ^ ' ""^""'^ ^^^ ''eld her power

a« sLt ^'"^ '^^'' '°^*" increased with

York, soberer than his royal broth., the kLe

nTa hoToft' "^""^ *° ^''^ --«^S
Ent,! H° ,K ^""^^•■«-°n "-eady to swear away

theLt" "''.'T °^ '^' P'^y^°"«^ ^"'"ed as

whispeS ° ?: "T'xf ^ '°^ ^^^ ^'^''^ -
and Hoi^' "''■ ^^''"- There she isl-

and Hortense was entering one of the royal
boxes accompanied by a foreign-looking e der
Jy woman, and that young Lieutenant Bbod
3^3

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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

whom we had encountered earlier in the
day.

" The countess from Portugal — Her Majes-
ty's friend," murmurs Lady Kirke. "Ah,
Pierre, you have done finely for us all! "

And there oozed over my Lady Kirke's
countenance as fine a satisfaction u ever radi-
ated from the face of a sweating cook.

" How? " asks Pierre Radisson, pursing his
lips.

" Sir John hath dined twice with His Royal
Highness "

" The Duke is Governor of the Company,
and Sir John is a director."

" Ta-ta, now there you go, Pierre! " smirks
my lady. "An your pretty baggage had not
such a saucy way vith the men — ^why — who can
tell "

"Madame," interrupted Pierre Radisson,
" God forbid! There be many lords amaking
in strange ways, but we of the wilderness only
count honour worth when it's won honourably."

But "Lady Kirke bare heard the rebuke.
She was all eyes for the royal box. " La, now,
Pierre," she cries, " see! The king hath recog-
nised you! " She lurched forward into fuller
view of onlookers as she spoke. "Wella-
day! Good lack! Pierre Radisson, I do believe!,
314

UNDER THE ^GIS OF THE COURT

yJ,!!'-S«f-His Majesty is sending for

ous looks from courtier ;,nH^ J contemptu-
half-savage dress A / ''^"''^ '* '"'« «t«nge.
-n is se'atedl'the kin'T""' '''^^" ^^^-
-abashed, the cynosle "of aVe^T^ Jh"'"^
Hortense had turned towards us 1 ' ''"■'
«ent the listless hauteur gave plL fo ' ""
hidden start. Then tu^ ,r! , *° ^ scai'te
indifferently away " ^'"'^ '^'^^ '^^^ ^°oked

-Jt^V S inir ^t ^^^^^- "''^
Hoighty-toighty! We^thJ ''' "'°'^ ''°"--'
•noth so easVblinded ty com Sa/'^- ""'^
singed for its vanitv! f/°"'^* ^'a^e is not
See how she sits not I- •^"^''"^^f"' baggage!
of all the yoZ'ultfT^ ^° ''^^^" ^^e word
" Yes—" ^"^^"^"* '« saying! Maiy? "

" You mind I told h^r r .

™- to give more heed' o7ht reT't^'^ ""^^
ber what it might mean to usJ!!" '■''"''^-

sai-d srettell^com-Ti^'-^^""' "^^ ^^^^
az

315

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"Faugh!" laughs Lady Kirke, fussing and
fuming and shifting her place like a peacock
with ruffled plumage, " pride before the fall —
I'll warrant, you men spoiled her in the north!
Very fine, forsooth, when a pauper wench from
no one knows where may slight the first ladies
of the land! "

" Madame," said I, " you are missing the
play!"

" Master Stanhope," said she, " the play
must be marvellous moving! Where is your
colour of a motpent ago? "

I had no response to her railing. It was as
if that look of Hortense had come from across
the chasm that separated the old order from the
new. In the wilderness she was in distress, I
her helper. Here she was of the court and I
— a common trader. Such fools does pride
make of us, and so prone are we to doubt an-
other's faith!

" One slight was enough," Lady Kirke was
vowing with a toss of her head; and we none of
us gave another look to the royal boxes that
night, though all about the wits were cracking
their jokes against M. Radisson's " Medusa
locks," or " the king's idol, with feet of clay and
face of brass," thereby meaning M. Radisson's
moccasins and swarth skin. At the door we
316

MjIi '^

UNDER THK *GIS OP THE COURT

317

CHAPTER XXV

JACK BATTLE AGAIN

The higher one's hopes mount the farther
they have to fall; and I, who had mounted to stars
with Hortense, was pushed to the gutter by the
king's dragoons making way for the royal equi-
page. There was a crackling of whips among
the king's postillions. A yeoman thrust the
crowd back with his pike. The carriages rolled
past. The flash of a hnkman's torch revealed
Hortense sitting languid and scornful between
the foreign countess and that milliner's dummy
of a lieutenant. Then the royal carriages were
lost in the darkness, and the streets thronged by
a rabble of singing, shouting, hilarious revellers.

Different generations have different ways of
taking their pleasure, and the youth of King
Charles's day were alternately bullies on the
street and dandies at the feet of my lady disdain-
ful. At the approach of the shouting, night-
watchmen threw down their lanterns and took
to their heels. Street-sweeps tossed their
318

JACK BATTLE AGAIN

brooms in mid-road with cries of " Th» c

Fruit-venders made r,ff •.,. °"* ^'g'lts.

and small urchins sriekedTS ''"^. '^^'^^^'^'
eaters! Baby-eaters"" '''™ °^ " ^^^y

iayin^;:br;r:VorA

broke our fine reveL rhefd rl" ' "'^ ^^^'
Wns; but him they stood unn^' '°^' P"*^''"
goodwife's rain-barrellithT f" '™^" '" ^^'"^
heels. At the ru'rof X kk?'"" ^'^'^ ^° ^'«
cakes and pies one 1 ' ,"' ^°' '^'^^'' °f

'^erbuss. TlTC/h^s'hrs o7'"f '" '''""-
sweati "- In a twfniM ^ °^ ^ ^^eat! A

W™. A sword IZfTf '^' '^"'^^' ^^'^ about
•fi sword pricked from behinH tu r ..

jumped. Another prick TnrT . ' ^^"°^

the good man was dancL/''.'"°'''^'-' *'»
rolled from his fit iotu 5 u"'^ ' ^'^ *^^ ^-^t

- to feast ^: wh^tr 'r::s °r °'"-

■mages had lingered to see th. ^ " °^ ''"^"
o^ it he had. I proiSse yo'tr thrV"' 'T'""
into his wicker basl^J/ J ^ ''""P^'^ ^im

the gutter till the peddler Tf ' '^ ^^^^^^'^
saints were black as chf ' ^'' ""'^ ^^^'^
our merry blades^^ ^ S^^^ ^°^ '''
alone. At Will's Cnffru ^ ' °" P"""" ^"'^
will . CofTee House, where sat Dry-

319 '

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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

den and other mighty quidnuncs spinning their
poetry and politics over full cups, before mine
host got his doors barred our fellows had
charged in, seized one of the great wits and set
him singing Gammer Gurton's Needle, till the
gentlemen were glad to put down pennies for
the company to drink healths.

By this I had enough of your gentleman
bully's brawling, and I gave the fellows the slip
to meet Pierre Radisson at the General Council
of Hudson's Bay Adventurers to be held in John
Horth's offices in Broad Street. Our gentlemen
adventurers were mighty jealous of their se-
crets in those days. I think they imagined their
great game-preserve a kind of Spanish gold-mine
safer hidden from public ken, and they held their
meetings with an air of mystery that pirates
might have worn. For my part, I do not believe
there were French spies hanging round Horth's
office for knowledge of the Fur Company's do-
ings, though the doorkeeper, who gave me a
chair in the anteroom, reported that a strange-
looking fellow with a wife as from foreign parts
had been asking for me all that day, and refused
to leave till he had learned the address of my
lodgings.

"'Ave ye taken the hoath of hallegiance,
sir? " asked the porter.

320

JACK BATTLE AGAIN
''I was born in Englan V said I dryly
Your renegade of a French savage is atak-

his fi^^H? "°";'" T''^' ''^ port- X',

his thumb towards the inner door. "Thev do

"Your renegade of a French-who?" I
asked sharply, thinking it ill omen to hear a

don Then the councillors began f'come Ar-
hngton and Ashley of the court, one of those
Carterets, who had been on the Boston CommJ
s.on long ago and first induced M. Radisson to
go to England, and at last His Royal Highness
the Duke of York, deep in conversation wfth my
-kinsman. Sir John Kirke. ^

triD"4rT" h ° "° '''"" '" ^""P'^y f''™ ^or one
inp, i>ir John was saying.

HighfeL"'* ''"'" ''' °''''- " ^^^^ H'^ ^^y-'
T J' ^.^ '" ^^""'"^ '* to-night; but," laughs Sir

keenh^rf '"""^'"^ "''^ ''™ '"" ^ou must
keep him from going over to the French again »

321

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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Till he undo the evil he has done— till he
capture back all that he took from us— then "
says Sir John cautiously, " then we must con-
sider whether it be politic to keep a gamester in
the company."

"Anyway," adds His Highness. "France
will not take him back."

And the door closed on" the councillors while
I awaited Radisson in the anteroom. A mo-
ment later Pierre Radisson came out with eyes
alight and face elate.

" I've signed to sail in three days," he an-
nounced. " Do you go with me or no? "

Two memories came back: one of a face be-
tween a westering sun and a golden sea, and I
hesitated; the other, of a cold, pallid, disdainful
look from the royal box
" I go."

And entering the council chamber, I signed
the papers without one glance at the terms
Gentlemen sat all about the long table, and at
the head was the governor of the company— the
Duke of York, talking freely with M. de Ra-
disson.

My Lord Ashley would know if anything but
furs grew in that wild New World.

"Furs?" says M. Radisson. "Sir, mark
tny words, 'tis a world that grows em^^ires-also
322

JACK BATTLE AGAIN

men," with an emphasis which those court dan-
dies could not understand.

R,H?r *^ ""''" gentlemen only smiled at M
Kadisson's warmth.

"If it grew good soldiers for our wars--
begms one military gentleman.

"Aye." flashes back M. Radisson ironically.
If It grows men for your wars and your butch

fnl^ aid .^"''m "!" ^"""^ ^""^ '"^'•^ than kill-
^',. ,!,"'' ''^ ^""'es half in bitterness.

lis a prodigious expensive land in diplo-
macy when men like you are let loose in it "re-
marks Arlington. '
His Royal Highness rose to take his leave.
You will present a 'ill report to His Mai-
es^ at Oxford." he orders M. Radisson in p^rt

Then the council dispersed

" Oxford." says M. Radisson. as we picked
our way home through the dark streeT'-.tl
go to meet the king at Oxford, you wi 1 see a
hornets' nest of jealousy about my ears "

in S r W^ ''" S'" '['''' '^"'^'^ --k implied
Kirke {^ !, '^^J^'th the prince, for Sir John
Kirke was Rerre Radisson's father-in-law. At

ou thTt? . ' ^r ^"' ^"*^^ ™"^ ''o^t cat
out that a strange-looking fellow wearing a griz-

323

Ill

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HERALDS OF EMPIRE

zled beard and with a wife as from foreign parts
had been waiting all afternoon for me in my
rooms.

" From foreign parts! " repeats M. Radisson,
getting into a chair to go to Sir John's house in
Drury Lane. "If they're French spies, send
them right about, Ramsay! We've stopped
gamestering! "

" We have; but perhaps the others haven't."

" Let them game," laughs M. Radisson
scornfully, as the chair moved off.

Not knowing what to expect I ran up-stairs
to my room. At the door I paused. That
morning I had gone from the house light-heart-
ed. Now interest had died from life. I had but
one wish, to reach that wilderness of swift con-
flict, where thought has no time for regret. The
door was ajar. A coal fire burned on the hearth.
Sitting on the floor were two figures with backs
towards me, a ragged, bearded man and a woman
with a shawl over her head. What fools does
hope make of us! I had almost called out Hor-
tense's name when the noise of the closing door
caught their hearing. I was in the north again;
an Indian girl was on her knees clinging to my
feet, sobbing out incoherent gratitude; a pair
of arms were belabouring my shoulders; and
a voice was saying with broken gurgles of joy:
324

JACK BATTLE AGAIN

"Ship ahoy, there! Ease your helm! Don't
heave all your ballast overboard! " — a clapping
of hands on my back — " Port your helm! Ease
her up! All sheets in the wind and the storms'l
aflutter! Ha — ha!" with a wringing and a
wringing like to wrench my hands oflf — " Anchor
out! Haul away! Home with her . . . ! "

"Jack Battle!" -

It was all I could say.

There he was, grizzled and bronzed and
weather-worn, laughing with joy and thrashing
his arms about as if to belabour me again.

" But who is this. Jack? "

I lifted the Indian woman from her knees. It
was the girl my blow had saved that morning
long ago.

" Who— what is this? "

"My wife," says Jack, swinging his arms
afresh and proud as a prince.

" Your wife? . . . Where . . . who married
you?"

1, " There warn't no parson," says Jack, " that
is, there warn't no parson nearer nor three thou-
sand leagues and more. And say," adds Jack,
" I s'pose there was marryin' afore there could be
parsons! She saved my life. She hain't no folks.
I hain't no folks. She got away that morning o'
the massacre — she see them take us captive — she
32s

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

gets a white pelt to hide her agen the snow— she
come, she do all them cold miles and lets me
loose when the braves ain't watching ... she
risks her life to save my hfe— she don't belong to
nobody. I don't belong to nobody. There
waren't no parson, but we're marrieu tight
and— and— let not man put asunder," says Jack.

^or full five minutes there was not a word.

The east was trying to understand the
west!

" Amen, Jack," said I. " God bless you—
you are a man!"

" We mean to get a parson and have it done
straight yet," explained Jack, " but I wanted

you to stand by me "

" Faith, Jack, you've done it pretty thorough

without any help "

" Yes, but folks won't understand." pleaded
Jack, " and— and— I'd do as much for you— I
wanted you to stand by me and tell me where to

say ' yes ' when the parson reads the words "

" All right— I shall," I promised, laughing.
If only Hortense could know all this! That
is the sorrow of rifted lives— the dark between,
on each side the thoughts that yearn.

" And— and," Jack was stammering on, " I
thought, perhaps. Mistress Rebecca 'd be will-
ing to stand by Mizza," nodding to the young
326

JACK BATTLE AGAIN

squaw, " that is. if you asked Rebecca," pleaded
Jack.

" We'll see," said I.

For the New England conscience was some-
thing to reckon with!

" How did you come here? " I asked.

" Mizza snared rabbits and I stole back my
musket when we ran away and did some shoot-
ing long as powder lasted "

"And then?"

" And then we used bow and arrow. We hid
in the bush till the hostiles quit cruisin'; but the
spnng storms caught us when we started for the
coast. I s'pose I'm a better sailor on water than
land for split me for a herring if my eyes didn't
go bhnd from snow! We hove to in the woods
agam, Mizza snaring rabbit and building a lodge
and keepin' fire agoin' and carin' for me as if I
deserved it. There I lay water-logged, odd's
man-bhnd as a mole till the spring thaws came.
Then Mizza an' me built a raft; for sez I to Miz
though she didn't understand : ' Miz ' sez l'
'water don't flow uphill! If we rig up a craft'
that river'll carry us to the bay! ' But she only
gets down on the ground the way she did with
you and puts my foot on her neck. Lordy "
laughs Jack, "s'pose I don't know what a foot
on a neck feels like? I sez: ' Miz, if you ever do
327

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

that again. I'll throw you overboard!' Then
the backwash came so strong from the bay, we
had to wait till the floods settled. While we
swung at anchor.man, what d'y' think happened?
I taught Miz English. Soon as ever she knew
words enough I told her if I was a captain I'd
want a mate! She didn't catch the wind o' that
lad, till we were navigating our raft down-
stream agen the ice-jam. Ship ahoy, you know,
the ice was like to nip us, and lackin' a life-belt
I put me arm round her waist! Ease your helm!
Port-a little! Haulaway! But sL unde"
stood-when she saw me save her from the jam
before I saved myself."

And Jack Battle stood away arm's length
from his Indian wife and laughed his pride

" And by the time we'd got to the bay you'd
gone, but Jean Groseillers sent us to the English
ship that came out expecting to find Governor
Brigdar at Nelson. We shipped with the com-
pany boat, and here we be."

" And what are you going to do? "

"Oh I get work enough on the docks to

pay for Mizza's lessons "

"Lessons?"

"Yes — she's learning sewin' and readin'
from the .nuns, and as soon as she's baptized
we re going to be married regular."
328

JACK BATTLE AGAIN

"Oh! "A sigh of relief escaped tne. "Then
you 11 not need Rebecca for six n^onJ:;

fronf th**'^^,''"' ^°'"^ °"* J*^"^ ««PP«d back
outTiie ' '° ''' '"P'"^' '"^'"^ Mizza

" Ramsay? "

" Yes? "

;;Youthi„k-it's-it's-aIl right?"
" What I done about a mate? "

to vou'^w" "• ^ '■"'"'*'^- " ^"^'« ™y hand
^o you-blessmg on the voyage. Captain Jack

" Ah." smiled Jack. " you've been to the wil-
ThT.""::^"" understand! Other folks don'f
That ,s the way it happens out there! "

to come!""^"'' "' "' "'" "''^" '""''^ -^^ "-e
' Ramsay? "
'Sail away, captain!"

havl^r""""'^"'" '^' ■-" »"^ I
"Why haven't you?"
329

4t I

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

"Because having become a grand lady, her
ladyship didn't choose to see me."

Jack Battle turned on his heel and swore a
seaman's oath. " That-that's a lie," said he

"Very well-it's a lie, but this is what hap-
pened, and I told him of the scene in the the-
atre. Jack pulled a puzzled face, looking
askance as he listened.

"Why didn't you go round to her box, the
way M. Radisson did to the king's? "

" You forget I am only a trader! "

" ^^' ®^^^ •^^^'*' " *''*' '^ nothing! "

" You forget that Lieutenant Blood might

have objected to my visit," and I told him of

iilood.

that"? ""* ^°^ "*" ^''*'"* Hortense to know

Wounded pride hugs its misery, and I an-
swered nothing.

At the door he stopped. " You go alontr
with Radisson to Oxford," he called "The
court will be there."

330

'■V^

rf^.^'.l

CHAPTER XXVI

AT OXFORD

Rioting through London streets or playine
second .„ M. Radisson's games of empire twa!
Pos^ble to forget her, but not in oSd Jth
the court retmue all about and the hedgerows
abloom and spring-time in the air. M. RadiZ
had gone to present his reports to the Wng
With a vague belief that chance might work
some m.racle, I accompanied M. Radisson tiH we
«Kou te , ,He first belaced fellow of the Kilg
l^uard Twas outside the porter's lodge of the

And what might this young man want? "

ietting M. Radisson pass without question

Your colonial hero will face the desperate

.. .f'.^f J'"'''" '^y' ^^- Radisson to me for-
getful of Hortense now that his own end was

331

HERALDS OF EMWRE

n,v,^,f 1^ Tu^ "''°"^^ '^^ «=oP«-^ood. telling
myself that chance makes grin' sport. Ah, welf
the toughening of the wilderness is not to be

TtlTr^'K? ''' '"^"^' •'""^^^^ <l^-ty. -' a
strong hfe blown out by a girl's caprice! Riders

went clanking past. I did not turn. Let those
that honoured dishonour doflf hats to that com-
pany of loose women and dissolute men! Hor-
tense was welcome to the womanish men and the
manmsh women, to her dandified lieutenant and
foreign adventuresses and grand ambassadors,
who bought English honour with the smiles o
evil women. Coming to a high stone wall I
saw two riders galloping acros! the ope^tld
tor the copse wood.

thought I; for the riders were coming straight

sronhTwr^'^^^^^*^''-"^'-^'^-^'-

To clear the wall and then the ditch would
be easy enough; but to clear the ditch and then
the wall required as pretty a piece of foolhardy
horsemanship as hunters could find. Out of
^heer curiosity to see the end I slackened my
walk. A woman m green was leading the pace.
The man behmd was shouting "Don't try it!

Wah ""^ut'th ""''' """ *'^ ^"^' Wait!
wait! But the woman came on as if her horse

332

AT OXFORD

and her ^:z::^]zz^z^ '-'^

terror as plainly writ^ h^ an 1 ';!""'

horse and n?e t^nSh:"' 1"'° ^'^ ^'^^^
oftherein-thelonl .^u '^""''' Paying-out

ward brace-anrtt S\^^^^^^^ ^-'^-

But Blood's horse aLed he iu'"" t'^'^'-
ing hin, head over intn tS ^ P' "'^'^ '^"'J"
bit, carried its cursirridt 7 ' I"' '"""^ ^'^^
field. In vain ZT 1 ™ ^'^^^ ''°1^« °f the

head and du' tie snr 7"' ^''' '' ^''°"* '^e
off each titVe eS i Z /'f ''^^^^ ^'^'^^

self on thaf be ! Oh"T "' ^°" "^^ ^--
^artherdownwhl^elVXr:^^""^^^^

oftha'JrroS'^ji-f^^jr^""''"^^^^^^'^^

^.thewalfhere^^:SSrS:-tcW.
333 *^

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

'Mi

test 'tis not safe for you! Ho — away, then! I
race you to the end of the wall! "

And oflf he gallops, never looking back, keen
to clear the wall and meet my lady half-way up.

Hortense sat erect, reining her horse and
smiling at me.

" And so you would go away without seeing
me," she said, " and I must needs ride you dowti
at the risk of the lieutenant's neck."

" 'Tis the way of the proud with the hum-
ble," I laughed back; but the laugh had no
mirth.

Her face went grave. She sat gazing at me
with that straight, honest look of the wilderness
which neither lies nor seeks a li-;.

" Your horse is champing to be off, Hor-
tense! "

" Yes — and if you looked you might see that
I am keeping him from going oS."

I smiled at the poor jest as a court conceit.

" Or perhaps, if you tried, you might help me
to hold him," says Hortense, never taking her
search from my face.

" And defraud the lieutenant," said I.

" Ah! " says Hortense, looking away. " Are
you jealous of anything so small? "

I took hold of the bit and quieted the horse.
Hortense laughed.

334

AT OXFORD

" Were you so mighty proud the other n.Vht

I am only a poor trader nowl "
aeain "■ Z' S°'T'' '"-"""i-e "y face

.^-;Jorst.Ter;--.r'

«£x„ern;'-^r:. 'o~s

fellow to turn n,e out and made confusion."

sp-:isre.™3.r:,ri

th,="r?^'"T'" '''^ '""^ impetuously, " I hate
th,s hfe-why did you ail send me to h> "

Hate It f Why- ?"

"Why?" reiterated Hortense. " Whv
^hen a kmg. who is too busy to sign death-re
Pneves. may spend the night huntfngaTnge'
moth rom room to room of the palace? Whv

when . H . '''' "'*•"' '^' Scowerers? Why

a mminer' r 'T '^'^ "^ ^-^>^ ---"^ to
a milhner s shop, where she meets her lover who

unpaid and gold enough lies on the basset-table
335

Ill

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

of a Sunday night to feed the army? Ah, yes! "
says Hortense, " why do I hate this Hfe? Why
must you and Madame Radisson and Lady
Kirke all push me here? "

" Hortense," I broke in, " you were a ward
of the crown! What else was there for us to
do?"

"Ah, yes!" says Hortense, "what else?
You kept your promise, and a ward of the crown
must marry whom the king names "

" Marry? "

" Or — or go to a nunnery abroad."

"A nunnery?"

"Ah, yes!" mocks Hortense, "what else is
there to do? "

And at that comes Blood crashing through
the brush.

" Here, fellow, hands oflF that bridle! "

"The horse became restless. This gentle-
man held him for me till you came."

" Gad's life! " cries the lieutenant, dismount-
ing. "Let's see?" And he examines the girths
with a great show of concern. " A nasty tumble,"
says he, as if Hortense had been rolled on. " All
sound. Mistress Hillary' Egad! You must not
ride such a wild beast I I protest, such risks are
too desperate! " And he casts up the whites of
his eyes at Mistress Hortense, laying his hand on
336

'-is^

AT OXFORD

his heart. "When did you feel him getting
away from you?" getting

"At the wall," says Hortense.
The heutenant vaulted to his saddle

Here, fellow! "
He had tossed me a gold-piece.
They were off. I lifted the coin, balanced it

thp?r" ^^y„'7th we sailed from Gravesend in

he Happy Return, two ships accompanying is

for Hudson Bay, and a convoy of the Royal Ma!

sZrTnJu " ''' "°''^ °^ Scoind to
pSates. Wghwaymen and Spanish

nage the occasion of a letter to one of the
queen'£ maids of honour.

337

CHAPTER XXVII

ill

'i'i'

■I

HOME FROM THE BAY

TwAS as fair sailing under English colours
as you could wish till Pierre Radisson had un-
done all the mischief that he had worked against
the Fur Company in Hudson Bay. Pierre Ra-
disson sits with a pipe in his mouth and his long
legs stretched clear across the cabin-table, spin-
ning yarns of wild doings in savage lands, and
Governor Phipps, of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, listens with eyes a trifle too sleepily watch-
ful, methinks, for the Frenchman's good. A
summer sea kept us course all the way to the
northern bay, and sometimes Pierre Radisson
would fling out of the cabin, marching up and
down the deck muttering, "Pah! 'Tis tame
adventuring! Takes a dish o' spray to salt the
freshness out o' men! 'Tis the roaring forties
put nerve in a man's marrow! Soft days are
your Delilah's that shave away men's strength!
Toughen your fighters. Captain Gazer! Tough-
en your fighters! "

338

Ht^Hnnbli

HOME FROM THE BAY

And once, when M. Radisson had passed be-

ft,» l'^ r^" °" ^^^ "-antipole! " says he. " May
captured back the forts! "

In the bay great ice-drift stopped our wav
and Pjerre Radisson's impatience took Z ''
What a deuce, Captain Gazer!" he cries
How long do you intend to squat here ?«:
chored to an ice-pan? "

A spark shot from the governor's sleepy eyes
Tantt^lf^^^^^^^^^^^^^

•'Till the ice opens a way," says he.

Opens a way! " repeats Radisson. "Man
ahve, why don't you carve a way ? "

" Carve a way yourself, Radisson," says the
governor contemptuously ^

Hehad'thr'/'' r"^'' ^•"' P'^"^^ Rad'-on.
and off seven of us went, round the ice-pans

c osTedX'h";""' ^'""^^"^ ^ -^y *'» -had'
crossed he obstruction and were pulling for the

French fort w.th the spars of three Company
boats far m the offing. "'pany

I detained the English sailors at the river-
front t.ll M Radisson had entered the fort Ind
33^

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

won young Jean Groseillers to the change of
masters. Before the Fur Company's ships came,
the Enghsh flag was flying above the fort and
Fort Bourbon had become Fort Nelson.

" I bid you welcome to the French Habita-
tion," bows Radisson, throwing wide the gates
to the English governor.

" Hml " returns Phipps, " how many beaver-
skms are there in store? "

M. Radisson looked at the governor " You
must ask my tradespeople that," he answers;
and he stood aside for them all to pass.

"Your English mind thinks only of the
gain," he said to me.

" And your French mind? " I asked.

" The game and not the winnings," said he.

No sooner were the winnings safe— twenty
thousand beaver-skins stowed away in three
ships' holds— than Pierre Radisson's foes un-
masked. The morning of our departure Gov-
ernor Phipps marched all our Frenchmen aboard
like captives of war.

Sir," expostulated M. de Radisson, " before
they gave up the fort I promised these men they
should remain in the bay."

Governor Phipps's sleepy eyes of a sudden
waked wide.

340

HOME FROM THE BAY

inJ'.yf!'^ *^""*''^' "^''^ Frenchmen hold-

M. Radisson said not a word. He pulled free
Lr T'f •= forward, but the dough „
governor hast.ly scuttled down the ship's ladd r
and put a boat's length of water between him
and Pierre Radisson's challenge

The gig-boat pulled away. Our ship had
raised anchor. Radisson leaned over the deck
rail and laughed. ^

n./fi^?''' ^'''PP''" ^'^ '^°"t^d' "a man may
not %ht cowards, but he can cudgel them! An
I have to wait for you on the River Styx I'll
punish you for making me break prom'^ to
these good fellows! " P™niise to

hr.u^'°fT~^''^ '^^^'^ ^'^ promise o' yours
hold good, Pierre Radisson? "

laug^^ ^''"''""'" '""'"'^ ^^'^'^ ^ bitter

" A giant is big enough to be hit— a giant is
easy to fight." says he. " but egad, these pigm
c awl al over you and sting to death before they
are visible to the naked eye! "

And as the Happy Return wore ship for
open sea he stood moodily silent with eyes to
wards the shore where Governor PhippsT g g.
boat had moored before Fort Nelson.
341

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Then, speaking more to himself than to Jean
and me, his lips curled with a hard scorn.

" The Happy Return! " says he. " Pardieu!
'tis a happy return to beat devils and then have
all your own little lies come roosting home like
imps that filch the victory! They don't trust
me because I won by trickery! Egad! is a
slaughter better than a game? An a man wins,
who a devil gives a rush for the winnings? 'Tis
the fight and the game— pah!— not the thing
won! Storm and cold, man and beast, powers
o' darkness and devil, knaves and fools and his
own sins— aye, that's the scratch!— The man and
the beast and the dark and the devil, he can
breast 'em all with a bold front I But knaves and
fools and his own sins, pah!— death grubs!—
hatching and nesting in a man's bosom till they
wake to sting him! Flesh-worms— vampires—
blood-suckers— spun out o' a man's own tissue
to sap his life!"

He rapped his pistol impatiently against the
deck-rail, stalked past us, then turned.

" Lads," says he, " if you don't want gall in
your wine and a grub in your victory, a' God's
name keep your own counsel and play the game
fair and square and aboveboard."

And though his speech worked a pretty
enough havoc with fine-spun rhetoric to raise
342

•t^V --.■ '*■ *:im

HOME FROM THE BAY

the wig off a pedant's head. Jean and I thought
we read some sense in his mixed metaphors

On all that voyage home he never once
crossed words with the English officers, but
took his share of hardship with the French
pnsoners.

thJ 'J '"^^"'' ^° ^^"^ *° ^'■^"«- They think
they have me cornered and in their power," he
would say, gnawing at his finger-ends and gazing
mto space. °

Once, after long reverie, he sprang up from
a gun-wa.st where he had been sitting and ut-
tered a scornful laugh.

"Cornered? Hah! We shall see! I snap
my fingers m their faces."

Thereafter his mood brightened perceptibly,
and he was the first to put foot ashore when we
came to anchor in British port. There were yet
four hours before the post-chaise left for Lon-
don and the English crew made the most of
the time by flocking to the ale-houses. M Ra-
disson drew Jean and me apart.

"We'll beat our detractors yet," he said.
»nH rrn*" . "P'"'" ^^ •=^^"^d to the king

!!!i!!l!^l^'!l![^2!'llbe^^

•The Duke of York became Governor of .he Hudson's
Bay Company after Prince Rupert's death and the r^™
pany's charter was a royal favourdirec. from .he kln^

343

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

spread false reports, we are safe. If His Royal
Highness favour us, the Company must fall in
line or lose their charter! "

And he bade us hire three of the fleetest sad-
dle-horses to be found. While the English crew
were yet brawling in the taverns, we were to
horse and away. Our horse's feet rang on the
cobblestones with the echo of steel and the
sparks flashed from M. Radisson's eyes. A
wharfmaster rushed into mid-road to stop us,
but M. Radisson rode him down. A uniformed
constable called out to know what we were
about.

"Our business ! " shouts M. Radisson, and we
are off.

Country franklins got their wains out of our
way with mighty confusion, and coaches drew
aside for us to pass, and roadside brats scampered
otT with a scream of freebooters; but M. Radis-
son only laughed.

" This is living," said he. " Give your nag
rein, Jean! Whip and spur! Ramsay! Whip
and spur! Nothing's won but at cost of a sting!
Throw off those jack-boots, Jean! They're a
handicap! Loose your holsters, lad! An any
highwaymen come at us to-day I'll send him a
short way to a place where he'll stay! Whip up'
Whip up!"

344

HOME FROM THE BAY

"What have you under your arm?" cries
Jean breathlessly.

"Rare furs for the king," calls Radisson.

Then the wind is in our hair, and thatch-d
cots race oflF ,n a blur on cither side; plod-!,,.,
workmen stand to stare and are gone: .pot
fields give place to forest, forest to villain vil-
lage to bare heath; and still we race on. '

H.r^'t'f'" .'"""'' "' P°""^'"8r through th.
HvISm v° " '"■"*' ^°' Cheapside. where
hved Mr. Young, a director of the Hudson's Bay
Company, who was favourable to Pierre Ra-
disson.

"Halloo! Halloo!" shouts Radisson, beat-
ing his pistol-butt on the door.

A candle and a nightcap emerge from the
upper window.

'• Who's there? " demands a voice.

" It's Radisson, Mr. Young! "

"Radisson! In the name o' the fiends-
where from? "

" Oh, we've just run across the way from
Hudson Bay!" says Radisson.

And the good man presently appears at the
door with a candle in one hand and a bludgeon
in the other. ^

" In the name o' the fiends, when did you
345

(

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

arrive, man? " exclaims Mr. Young, hailing us
inside.

" Two minutes ago by the clock," laughs Ra-
disson, looking at the timepiece in the hall.
" Two minutes and a half ago," says he, follow-
ing our host to the library.

" How many beaver-skins? " asks the Eng-
lishman, setting down his candle.

The Frenchman smiles.

"Twenty thousand beaver -skins and as
many more of other sorts! "

The Englishman sits down to pencil out how
much that will total at ten shillings each; and
Pierre Radisson winks at us.

" The winnings again," says he.

" Twenty thousand pounds! " cries our host,
springing up.

" Aye," says Pierre Radisson, " twenty thou-
sand pounds' worth o' fur without a pound of
shot or the trade of h. nail-head for them. The
French had these furs in store ready for us! "

Mr. Young lifts his candle so that the light
falls on Radisson's bronzed face. He stands star-
ing as ii to make sure we are no wraiths.

" Twenty thousand pounds," says he, slowly
extending his tight hand to Pierre Radisson.
" Radisson, man, welcome! "

The Frenchman bows with an ironical laugh.
346

HOME FROM THE BAY

com7srr "^ '''""''"'^ p"""*^^' "^^^'^ °' ^^i-

But the director of the Fur Company ram-
bles on unheeding. ^

" ,'^Jf.^\l"= g'-eat news for the king and His
Royal Highness," says he.

" Aye. and as I have some rare furs for them
both why not let us bear the news to them
ourselves? " asks Radisson.

"That you shall," cries Mr. Young; and he
eteTfo"r';f r "'"^ "^ •"'^'^^ -^«h our!

«3

34;

rxi:

CHAPTER XXVIIII

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

M. Radisson had carried his rare furs to the
king, and I was at Sir John Kirke's door to re-
port the return of her husband to Madame Ra-
disson. The same grand personage with sleek
jowls and padded ca'ves opened the door in the
gingerly fashion of his office. This time he ush-
ered me quick enough into the dark reception-
room.

As T entered, two figures jumped from the
shadow of a tapestried alcove with gasps of
fright.

"Ramsay!"

It was Rebecca, the prim monkey, blushing
a deal more than her innocence warranted, with
a solemn-countenanced gentleman of the cloth
scowling from behind.

" When— when -did you come? " she asked
all in a pretty flutter that set her dimples atrem-
bling; and she forgot to give me welcome.

" Now— exactly on the minute! "
348

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

shy hand ^eoecca, putting out one

„^ to think you needed it "

<ing-book°? "" "PJ-"'«'<i» on the wri-

349

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

But at that last, which was not to be found
among the head-lines of Boston's old copy-
books, little Rebecca looked like to drop, and
with a frightened gesture begged us to be seated,
which we all accomplished with a perceptible
stiflening of the young gentleman's joints.
" Is M. Radisson back? " she asks.
" He reached England yesterday. He bade
me say that he will be here after he meets the
shareholders. He goes to present furs to the
king this morning."

"That will please Lady Kirke," says the
young gentleman.

"Some one else is back in England," ex-
claims Rebecca, with the air of news. " Ben Gil-
lam is here."

" O-ho! Has he seen the Company? "
" He and Governor Brigdar have been
among M. Radisson's enemies. Young Captain
Gillam says there's a sailor-lad working on the
docks here can give evidence against M. Radis-
son."

" Can you guess who that sailor-lad is, Re-
becca? "

" It is not— no— it is not Jack? " she asks.
" Jack it is, Rebecca. That reminds me. Jack
se It a message to you ! "
" A message to me? "
3SO

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

"A woman, of course! "

'•h,l^f~" ^^^^""^ was blushing furiously

but-I mean-was there a chaplain ? H.T
a oreachpr? &^a , •» ^"'ipiainr Had you

tensTth. , ^"^-^"d was not Mistress Hor-
tense the only woman ? "

en-nat°;rrmT:!!::r-^--d-fwom-

n.aii':ra;rtt'"r'^-^"'"""'^^-^^^

"Do'you n^ean thrLrrtrj "^' '='^^^'^-
sauaw?" =.„H I, . ^"'^ ''as married a

squaw? and she rose indignantly.

ought not to heart " ^ ^ "^id

V^o.j^/ Ti,» .*" ""^^"g'on! Horn sott qui mal
no "n." '"' ''^* ^'''"'^^^'^ "° ^vil taketh

starL'dlooSt^^f:^^^^^^
351

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

" Rebecca, Madame Radisson has told you
how Jack was left to be tortured by the In-
dians? "

" Hortense has told me."

" And how he risked his life to save an Indi-
an girl's life? "

" Yes," says Rebecca, with downcast lids.

"That Indian girl came and untied Jack's
bonds the night of the massacre. They escaped
together. When he went snow-blind, Mizza
hunted and snared for him and kept him. Her
people were all dead; she could not go back to
her tribe — if Jack had left her in the north, the
hostiles would have killed her. Jack brought her
home with him "

" He ought to have put her in a house of cor-
rection," snapped Rebecca.

" Rebecca! Why would he put her in a house
of correction? What had she done that she
ought not to have done? She had saved his life.
He had saved hers, and he married her."

" There was no minister," said Rebecca, with
a tightening of her childish dimpled mouth and
a reddening of her cheeks and a little indignant
toss of the chin.

" Rebecca! How could they get a minister a
thousand leagues away from any church? They

will get one now "

352

I' 1 ^

REBECCA AND 1 FALL OUT

Rebecca rose stiffly, her little lily face all
aname.

"My father saith much evil cometh of this
—It is sin— he ought not to have married l»er;
and— and— it is very wrong of you to be tell-'
mg me this—" she stammered angrily, with
her little hands clasped tight across the white
stomacher.

" Very unfit," comes from that young gen-
tleman of the cloth.

We were all three standing, and I make no
doubt my own face went as red as theirs, for the
taunt bit home. That inference of evil where no
evil was, made an angrier man than was my
wont. The two moved towards the door. I put
myself across their way.

" Rebecca, you do yourself wrong! You are
measuring other people's deeds with too short a
yardstick, little woman, and the wrong is in
your own mind, not theirs."

" I— I— don't know what you mean! " cried
Rebecca obstinately, with a break in her voice
that ought to have warned; but her next words
provoked afresh. " It was wicked!— it was sin-
ful! "—with an angry stamp— "it was shameful
of Jack Battle to marry an Indian girl "

There I cut in.

"Was it?" I asked. "Young woman, let
353

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

me tell you a bald truth! When a white man'
marnes an Indian, the union is as honourable as
your own would be. It is when the white man
does not marry the Indian that there -s shame;
and the shame is to the white man, not the In-
dian ! "

Sure, one might let an innocent Landle of
swans' down and baby cheeks have its foibles
without laying rough hands upon them!

The next,— little Rebecca cries out that I've
insulted her, is in floods of tears, and marches
off on the young gentleman's arm.

Comes a clatter of slippered heels on the hall
floor and in bustles my LpJv Kirke. bejewelled
and befrilled and beflounced till I had thought
no mortal might bend in such massive casines
of starch.

"La," she pants, "good lack!— Wellaway!
My fine savage! Welladay! What a pretty
mischief have you been working? Proposals
are amaking at the foot of the stairs. O— lud!
The preacher was akissing that little Puritan
maid as I came by! Good lack, what will Sir
John say? "

And my lady laughs and laughs till I look to
see the tears stain the rouge of her cheeks.

"O— lud," she laughs, "I'm like to die!
He tried to kiss the baggage! And the little
354

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

saint jumps back so quick that he hit her ear by
mistake! U," she laughs, " I'm like to die! "

I'd a mind to tell her ladyship that a loosen-
ing of her stays might prolong life, but I didn't.
Instead, I delivered the message from Pierre Ra-
disson and took myself off a mighty mad man;
for youth can be angry, ind-ed. And the cause
of the anger was the same as fretteth the Old
World and New to-day. Rebecca was measur-
ing Jack by old standards. I was measuring
Rebecca by new standards. And the measuring
of the Ola by the new and the new by the old
teareth iove to tatters.

Pierre Radisson I met at the entrance to the
l-ur Company's offices in Broad Street His
steps were of one on steel springs and his eyes
anre with victory.

;' We've beaten them," he muttered to me.
His Majesty favours us! His Majesty accepted
the furs and would have us at Whitehall to-mor-
row night to give account of our doings An
they try to trick me out of reward I'll have them
to the foot o' the throne! "

But of Pierre Radisson's intrigue against his
detractors I was not thinking at all.

" Were the courtiers about? " I asked
"Egad! yes; Palmer and Buckingham and
Ashley leering at Her Grace of Portsmouth, with
3SS

■Hlfeia

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

Cleveland looking daggers at the new favourite,'
and the French ambassador shaking his sides
with laughter to see the women at battle. His
Royal Highness, the Duke of York, got us ac-
cess to present the furs. Egad, Ramsay, I am
a rough man, but it seemed prodigious strange to
see a king giving audience in the apartments of
the French woman, and great men leering for a
smile from that huzzy! The king lolls on a Per-
sian couch with a litter of spaniel puppies on one
side and the French woman on the other. And
what do you think that black-eyed jade asks
when I present the furs and tell of our captured
Frenchmen? To have her own countrymen sold
to the Barbadoes so that she may have the
money for her gaming-table! Egad, I spiked
that pretty plan by saying the Frenchmen were
sending her a present of furs, too! To-morrow
night we go to Whitehall to entertain His Maj-
esty with our doings ! We need not fear enemies
in the Company now! "

" I'm not so sure of that," said I. " '^he Gil-
lams have been working against you here and so
has Brigdar."

" Hah— let them work! "
" Did you see her? " I asked.
" Her? " questions Radisson absently. " Par-
dieu, there are so many hers about the court now
356

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

with no she-saint among them! Which do you
mean? " '

The naming of Hortense after such speech
was impossible. Without more mention of the
court we entered the Company's office, where
sat the councillors in session around a long
table. No one rose to welcome hiiii who had
brought such wealth on the Happy Return;
and the reason was not far to seek. The post-
chaise had arrived with Pierre Radisson's de-
tractors, and allied with them were the Gillams
and Governor Brigdar.

Pierre Radisson advanced undaunted and sat
down. Black looks greeted his coming, and the
deputy-governor, who was taking the Duke of
York's place, rose to suggest that " Mr. Brigdar
wrongfully dispossessed of the fort on the bay
by one Frenchman known as Radisson, be re-
stored as governor of those parts."

A grim smile went from face to face at Pierre
Radisson's expense.

" Better withdraw, man, better withdraw,"
whispers Sir John Kirke, his father-in-law.
But Radisson only laughs.
Then one rises to ask by what authority the
Frenchman, Radisson, had gone to report mat-
ters to the king instead of leaving that to the
shareholders.

357

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M.
laugh.

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

de Radisson utters another loud

Comes a knocking, and there appears at the
door Colonel Blood, father of the young lieuten-
ant, with a message from the king.

"Gentlemen," announces the freebooter,
" His Majesty hath bespoke dinner for the Fur
Company at the Lion. His Royal Highness, the
Duke of York, hath ordered Madeira for the
councillors' refreshment, and now awaits your
coming! "

For the third time M. Radisson laughs aloud
with a triumph of insolence.

" Come, gentlemen," says he, " I've coun-
tered. Let us be going. His Royal Highness
awaits us across the way."

Blood stood twirling his mustaches and tap-
ping his swoid-handle impatiently. He was as
swarth and straight and dauntless as Pierre Ra-
disson, with a sinister daring in his eyes that
might have put the seal to any act.

" Egad's life ! " he exclaimed, " do fur-traders
keep royalty awaiting? "

And our irate gentleman must needs haste
across to the Lion, where awaited the Company
Governor, the Duke of York, with all the merry
young blades of the court. King Charles's reign
was a time of license, you have been told. What
3S8

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

that meant you would have known if you had
seen the Fur Company at dinner. Blood, Senior,
I mind, had a drinking-match against Sir George
Jeffreys, the judge; and I risk not my word on
how much those two rascals put away. The
judge it was who went under mahogany first,
though Colonel Blood scarce had wit tnough left
to count the winnings of his wager. Young Lieu-
tenant Blood stood up on his chair and bawled
out some monstrous bad-writ verse to " a fair-
dark lady "—whatever that meant—" who was
as cold as ice and combustible as gunpowder."
Healths were drunk to His Majesty King
Charles, to His Royal Highness the Duke of
York, to our councillors of the Company, to our
governors of the fur-posts, and to the captains.
Then the Duke of York himself lifted the cup to
Pierre Radisson's honour; whereat the young
courtiers raised such a cheering, the grim silence
of Pierre Radisson's detractors passed unnoticed.
After the Duke of York had withdrawn, our riot-
ous sparks threw off all restraint. On bended
knee they drank to that fair evil woman whom
Kmg Louis had sent to ensnare King Charles.
Odds were offered on how I^ng her power with
the king would last. Then -llowed toasts to a
hst of second-rate names, dancing girls and
French milliners, who kept place of assignation
359

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

for the dissolute crew, and maids of honour, who
were no maids of honour, but adventuresses in
the pay of great men to advance their interest
with the king, and riflfraff women whose rimes
history hath done well to forget. To these toasts
Colonel Blood and Pierre Radisson and I sat
with inverted glasses.

While the inn was ringing to the shouts
of the revellers, the freebooter leaned across to
Pierre Radisson.

"Gad's name if they like you," he mumbled
drunkenly.

'' Who? " asked Radisson.
" Fur Company," explained Blood " They
hate you! So they do me! But if the king fa-
vours you, they've got to have you," and he
laughed to himself.

" That's the way with me," he whispered in

drunken confidence to M. Radisson. " What a

deuce? " he asked, turning drowsily to the table.

What s my boy doing? "

Young Lieutenant Blood was to his feet

holding a reaming glass high as his head.

" Gentlemen, I give you the sweet savage' "
he cried, "the Diana of the snows-a thistle
hke a rose— ice that burns-a pauper that
spurns "

" Curse me if he doesn't mean that saucy
360

REBECCA AND I FALL OUT

wench late come from your north fort," inter-
rupted the father.

My hands were itching to throw a glass in the
face of father or son, but Pierre Radisson re-
strained me.

" More to be done sometimes by doing noth-
ing," he whispered.

The young fellows were on their knees drain-
ing bumpers; but Colonel Blood was rambling
again. ^

'* He gives 'em that saucy brat, does he?
Oad s me, I'd give her to perdition for twopenny-
worth o' rat poison! Look you, Radisson, 'tis
what I did once; but she's come back! Curse
me, I could 'a' done it neater and cheaper myself
—twopenny-worth o' poison would do it, Picot
said; but gad's me, I paid him a hundred guin-
eas, and here she's come back again! "

" Blood . . . Colonel Blood," M. Picot had
repeated at his death.

I had sprung up. Again M. Radisson held
me back.

" How long ago was that. Colonel Blood?"
he asked softly.

" Come twenty year this day s'ennight," mut-
ters the freebooter. " 'Twas before I entered
court service. Her father had four o' my fel-
lows gibbeted at Charing Cross. Gad's me. I
361

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

swore he'd sweat for it! She was Osmond's only
child— squalling brat coming with nurse over
Hounslow Heath. 'Sdeath— I see it yet! Pos-
tillions yellsd like stuck pigs, nurses kicked over
in coach dead away. When they waked up, curse
me, but the French poisoner had the brat!
Curse me, I'd done better to finish her myself.
Picot ran away and wrote letters — letters let-
ters, till I had to threaten to slit his throat, 'pon
my soul, I had! And now she must marry the
boy "

" Why? " put in Radisson, with cold indif-
ference and half-listening air.

" Gad's life, can't you see? " asked the knave.
" Osmond's dead, the boy's lands are hers— the
French doctor may 'a' told somebody," and
Colonel Blood of His Majesty's service slid under
the table with the judge.

M. Radisson rose and led the way out.

"You'd like to cudgel him," he said.
" Come with me to Whitehall instead! "

362

iii!:,-''' h&i^'

CHAPTER XXIX

THE king's pleasure

My Lady Kirke was all agog.

Pierre Radisson was her " dear sweet sav-
age, and "naughty spark," and "bold, bad
beau, and "devilish fellow," and "lovely
wretch!" ^

^^ " La Pierre," she cries, with a tap of her fan,
anybody can go to the king's leveel But, dear
heart! she trills, with a sidelong ogle "Ta!—
ta! naughty devil!_to think of our sweet savage
going to Whitehall of an evening! Lud, Mary,
1 11 wager you. Her Grace of Portsmouth hath
laid eyes on him "

" The Lord forbid! " ejaculates Pierre Radis-
son.

"Hoighty-toighty! Now! there you eo
my saucy spark! Good lack! An the kinj's
women laid eyes on any other man, 'twould turn
his head and be his fortune! Naughty fellow' "
she warns, with a flirt of her fan. " We shall
watch you! Ta-ta, don't tell me no! Oh, we
** 363

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

know this gam de coeur\ You'll presently be
mtime o' Portsmouth and Cleveland and all o*
them I "

" Madame," groans Pierre Radisson, "swear,
if you will! But as you love me, don't abuse the
French tongue!"

At which she gave him a slap with her
fan.

" An I were not so young," she simpers, " I'd
cuff your ears, you saucy Pierre! "

" So young! " mutters Pierre Radisson, with
grim looks at her powdered locks. " Egad's life,
so is the bud on a century plant young," and he
turns to his wife.

But my Lady Kirke was blush-proof.
" Don't forget to pay special compliments to
the favourites," she calls, as we set out for White-
hall; and she must run to the door in a flutter
and ask if Pierre Radisson has any love-verse
ready writ, in case of an amour with one of the
court ladies.

No," says Radisson, " but here are unpaid
tailor bills! 'Tis as good as your billets-douxl
I'll kiss 'em just as hard! "

" So! " cries Lady Kirke, bobbing a courtesy
and blowing a kiss from her finger-tips as we
rolled away in Sir John's coach.

"The old flirt-o'-tail," blurted Radisson,
364

•••X

"AftSC.-.

THE KING'S PLEASURE

StZ. r °" ^*^°''^"d Yard to Bridee

Street the royal ensign blew to L ■ a
above tower and parajet aid b «leL „t"1

wSenrstrt: rsr ~"'^

coachman. ^''"''°" ^""""^^ our

tenseJ^Tatd "^ '""^ "^ ''' ™^"" °' «-
chanclr '"''" ^"'^ ^^^'^^°"- "The gods of
;; Will you petition the king direct? "

« himsefl Do you hold back amone the on

ooke„ tin I've told our sto^ o' the no'rt °i^s"

weLh. ,°''"''°"' ^^^^' there'll be court

looking man! Have a word with Hortense If
36s

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

you can I Let me but get the king's ear— " And
Radisson laughed with a confidence, met' ught,
nothing on earth could shake.

Then we were passed from the sentinel doing
duty at the gate to the king's guards, and from
the guards to orderlies, and from orderlies to
fellows in royal colours, who led us from an ante-
room to that glorious gallery of art where it
pleased the king to take his pleasure that
night.

It was not a state occasion, as Radisson said;
but for a moment I think the glitter in which
those jaded voluptuaries burned out their moth-
lives blinded even the clear vision of Pierre Ra-
disson. The great gallery was thronged with
graceful courtiers and stately dowagers and gaily
attired page-boys and fair ladies with a beauty
of youth on their features and the satiety of age
in their look. My Lord Preston, I mind, was
costumed in purple velvet with trimming of
pearls such as a girl might wear. Young Blood
moved from group to group to show his white
velvets sparkling with diamonds. One of the
Sidneys was there playing at hazard with my
Lady Castlemaine for a monstrous pile of gold
on the table, which some onlookers whispered
made up three thousand guineas. As I watched
my lady lost; but in spite of that, she coiled her
366

THE KING'S PLEASURE

bare arm around the gold as if to hold the win-
nings back.

^^ " And indeed," I heard her ,ay, with a pout,
i ve a mind to prove your love I I've a mind
not to pay! "

At which young Sidney kisses her finger-tips
and bids her pay the debt in favours; for the way
to the king was through the influence of Castle-
maine or Port..nouth or other of the dissolute
crew.

Round other tables sat men and women, old
and young, playing away estate and fortune and
honour at tick-tack or ombre or basset. One
noble lord was so old that he cruld not see to
game, and must needs have his valet by to tell
him how the dice came up. On the walls hung
the works of Vandyke and Correggio and Ra-
phael and Rubens; but the pure faces of art's
creation looked down on statesmen bending
low to the beck of adventuresses, ol.l men
pawning a noble name fo <he leer of a Ports-
mouth and women vying for the glai«ce of a
jaded king.

At the far end of the apartment was a paee-
boy dressed as Cupid, singing love-songs. In
the group of listeners lolled the languid king
Portsmouth sat near, fanning the passion of a
poor young fool, who hung about her like a
367

ft:

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

moth; but Charles was not a lover to be spurred
As Portsmouth played her ruse the more openly
a contemptuous smile flitted over the proud
dark face of the king, and he only fondled his
lap-dog with indiflFcrent heed for all those flatter-
ers and foot-lickers and curry-favours hoverine
round royalty.

Barillon, the French ambassador, pricked up
h.s ears. I can tell you. when Chaffinch, the
king s man. came back with word that His Maj-
esty was ready to hear M. Radisson.

" Now. lad, move about and keep your eyes
open and your mouth shut! " whispers M. Radis-
son as he left me.

Barillon would have followed to the kine's
group, but His Majesty looked up with a
quiet msolence that sent the ambassador to
another crcle. Then a page-boy touched my
arm. '

" Master Stanhope? " he questioned.
Yes." said I.

triJ^°'"' '^''r^'" ="d he led to a tapes-
ladles '°™"'' ' "^^ ^''' *'"""" ""'^ f'"
chaif ''*"'' Mortens., stood behind the royal
salu?""" ^^**>erine extended her hand for my
3«

rap^'KWP

THE KING'S PLEASURE

" Her Majesty is pltased to ask what has be-
come of the sailor-lad and his bride," said Hor-
tense.

mar^?/*" 'o ""'1 ^""'"" '''•P*'^ '° eet them
mamed ngr.t?" asked the queen, with the soft
tnll of a foreign tongue.

holdstl'^^^"'''" ^^*' '•"*'''""'<= ^-^-
"It is as you thought," said Queen
Cathenne, looking over her shoulder to
Hortense.

" Would another bridesmaid do? " asked the
queen. ^

Laughing looks passed among the ladies.
If the bridesmaid were Mistress Hillary.
Your Majesty," I began. '

" Hortense hath been to see them."

I might have guessed. It was like Hortense
to seek the lonely pair.

"Here is the king. We must ask his ad-
vice," said the queen.

At the king's entrance all fell back and I
managed to whisper to Hortense what we had
learned the night before.

"Here are news," smiled His Majesty.
Your maid of the north is Osmond's daughter!
hersl'^" y°""S^ Lieutenant Blood wants are
369

HERALDS CF EMPIRE

At that were more looks among the ladies.

" And faith, the lieutenant asks for her as
well as the lands," said the king.

Hortense had turned very white and moved
a little forward.

" We may not disturb our loyal subject's pos-
session. What does Osmond's daughter say? "
questioned the king.

Then Hortense took her fate in her hands.

"Your Majesty," she said, "if Osmond's
daughter did not want the lands, it would not be
necessary to disturb the lieutenant."

" And who would find a husband for a por-
tionless bride? " asked King Charles.

" May it please Your Majesty," began Hor-
tense; but the words trembled unspoken on her
lips.

There was a flutter among the ladies. The
queen turned and rose. A half-startled look of
comprehension came to her face. And out
stepped Mistress Hortense from the group
behind. ^

"Your Majesties," she stammered, "I do
not want the lands "

" Nor the lieutenant," laughed the king.

" Your Majesties," she said. She could say
no more.

But with the swift intuition of the lonely
370

THE KING'S PLEASURE

woman's loveless heart, Queen Catherine read in
my face what a poor trader might not speak.
She reached her hand to me, and when I would
have saluted it hke any dutiful subject, she took
my hand in hers and placed Hortense's hand in
mine.

Then there was a great laughing and hand-
shaking and protesting, virith the courtiers
thronging round.

" Ha, Radisson," Barillon was saying, " you
not only steal our forts— you must rifle the court
and run off with the queen's maid! "

" And there will be two marriages at the sail-
or's wedding," said the queen.

It was Hortense's caprice that both mar-
riages be deferred till we reached Boston Town,
where she must needs seek out the old Puritan
divine whom I had helped to escape so many
years ago.

Before I lay down my pen, I would that I
could leave with you a picture of M. Radisson,
the indomitable, the victorious, the dauntless,
living in opulence and peace!

But my last memory of him, as our ship
sheered away for Boston Town, is of a grave
man standing on the quay denouncing princes'
promises and gazing into space.
371

HERALDS OF EMPIRE

M. Radisson Hved to serve the Fur Company

muiUtude of meaner birds.

THE END

372