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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 WAGOUSTA ; OR, THE PROPHECY. ^ '^aU of \i)t ^anaDajS.. " Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert, With all her snakes erect upon her crest, She stalks in view, and fires me with her c!!;i. 'ns." Thf Revenf(e. BY " THE AUTHOR OF ECARTR." INTHUfi.E' VOIiUJ«Kv>i • » , . • , • • » V . • • « • t » a „■ ^ I C J .> « fc « V -J V • I. I ^ • • LONDON: T. CADELL, STRAND; AND W. BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH. 1839. ■MWi ttriwurn i Liwi X WACOUSTA; 0», THE PROPHECY. •V CHAP. I. INTRODUCTORY. As we are about to introduce our readers to scenes with which the European is little familiarised, some few cursory remarks, illus- trative of the general features of the country into which we have shifted our labours, may not be deemed misplaced at the opening of this volume. Without entering into minute geographical detail, it may be necessary merely to point out the outline of such portions of the vast conti- nent of America as still acknowledge alle- giance to the English crown, in order that the VOL. I. ^ / 23525 •ammmm 2 WACOUSTA. reader, understanding the localities, may enter with deeper interest into the incidents of a tale connected with a ground hitherto untouched by the wand of the modern novelist. All who have ever taken the trouble to inform themselves of the features of a country so little interesting to the majority of English- men in their individual character must be aware, —and for the information of those who are not, we state, — that that portion of the northern continent of America which is known as the United States is divided from the Ca- nadas by a continuous chain of lakes and rivers, commencing at the ocean into which they empty themselves, and extending in a north-western direction to the remotest parts of these wild regions, which have never yet been pressed by other footsteps than those of the •native hunters of the soil. First we have the magnificent St. Lawrence, fed from the lesser and tributary streams, rolling her sweet and silver waters into thp foggy seas of the New- foundland. — But perhaps it will better tend to impress our readers with a panoramic picture 1 WACOUSTA. 3 may enter s of a tale ouched by rouble to a country ' English- must be ;hose who )n of the is known the Ca- ikes and to which ing in a t parts of yet been e of the have the le lesser ^eet and he New- ' tend to picture of the country in which our scene of action is more immediately laid, by commencing at those exti-eme and remote points of our Canadian possessions to which their attention will be especially directed in the course of our nar- rative. The most distant of the north-western settle- ments of America is MichilUmackinac, a name given by the Indians, and preserved by the Americans, who possess the fort even to this hour. It is situated at the head of the Lakes Michigan and Huron, and adjacent to the Island of St. Joseph's, where, since the ex- istence of the United States as an independent republic, an English garrison has been main- tained, with a view of keeping the original fortress in check. From the lakes above men- tioned we descend into the River Sinclair, whicli, in turn, disembogues itself into the lake of the same name. This again renders tribute to ihe Detroit, a broad majestic river, not less than a mile in breadth at its source, and progressively widening towards its mouth until it is finally lost in the beautiful Lake Erie, computed at about one B 2 [ * WAC0U8TA. hunarecl and sixty miles in circumference. From the embouchure of this latter lake commences the Chippawa, better known in Europe from the celebrity of its stupendous falls of Niagara, which form an impassable barrier to the sea- man, and, for a short space, sever the other- wise ujiinterrupted chain connecting the re- mote fortresses we have described with the Atlantic. At a distance of a few miles from the falls, the Chippawa finally empties itself into the Ontario, the most splendid of the gorgeous American lakes, on the bright bosom of which, during the late war, frigates, seventy- fours, and even a ship of one hundred and twelve guns, manned by a crew of one thousand men, reflected the proud pennants of England ! At the opposite extremity of this magnificent and sea-like lake, which is upwards of two hundred miles in circumference, the far-famed St. Law- rence takes her source; and after passing through a vast tract of country, whose elevated banks bear every trace of fertility and cultiva- tion, connects itself with the Lake Champlain, celebrated, as well as Erie, for a signal defeat I WACOtrSTA. 5 of our flotilla during the late contest with the Americans. Pushing her bold waters through this somewhat inferior lake, the St. Lawrence pursues her course seaward with impetuosity, until arrested near La Chine by rock-studded shallows, which produce those strong currents and eddies, the dangers of which are so beauti- fully expressed in the Canadian Boat Song, — a composition that has rendered the "rapids" almost as familiar to the imagination of the Eu- ropean as the falls of Niagara themselves. Beyond La Chine the St. Lawrence gradually unfolds herself into greater majesty and expanse, and rolling past the busy commercial town of Montreal, is once more increased in volume by the insignificant lake of St. Peter's, nearly opposite to the settlement of Three Rivers, midway between Montreal and Quebec. From thence she pursues her course unfed, except by a few inferior streams, and gradually widens as she rolls past the capital of the Ca- nadas, whose tall and precipitous battlements, bristled with cannon, and frowning defiance from the clouds in which they appear half im- B 3 L«ii. i iffw wji iBi j, juji ii w u a i a i 6 WACOUSTA. bedded, might be taken by the imaginative en- thusiast for the strong tower of the Spirit of those stupendous scenes. From this point the St. Lawrence increases in expanse, until, at length, after traversing a country where the traces of civilisation become gradually less and less visible, she finally merges in the guif, from the centre of which the shores on either hand are often invisible to the naked eye ; and in this manner is it imperceptibly lost in that misty ocean, so dangerous to mariners from its deceptive and almost perpetual fogs. In following the links of this extensive chain of lakes and rivers, it must be borne in recol- lection, that, proceeding seaward from Michil- limackinac and its contiguous district, all that tract of country which lies to the right consti- tutes what is now known as the United States of America, and all on the left the two pro- vinces of Upper and Lower Canada, tributary to the English government, subject to the En- glish laws, and garrisoned by English troops. The several forts and harbours established along the left bank of the St. Lawrence, and WACOUSTA. Qtive en- Spirit of point the until, at here the less and he gulf, )n either !ye; and t in that from its ve chain in recol- Michil- all that t consti- d States wo pro- ributary the En- troops. Eiblished ce, and throughout that portion of our possessions which is known as Lower Canada, are neces- sarily, from the improved rendition and more numerous population of that province, on a larger scale and of better appointment ; but in Upper Canada, where the traces of civilisation are less evident throughout, and become gra- dually more faint as we advance westward, the fortresses and harbours bear the same propor- tion in strength and extent to the scantiness of the population they are erected to protect. Even at the present day, along that line of remote country we have selected for the theatre of our labours, the garrisons are both few in number and weak in strength, and evidence of cultivation is seldom to be found at any distance in the interior ; so that all beyond a certain extent of clearing, continued along the banks of the lakes and rivers, is thick, impervious, rayless forest, the limits of which have never yet been explored, perhaps, by the natives themselves. Such being the general features of the country even at the present day, it will readily be com- prehended how much more wild and desolate B 4 8 WACOUStA. was the character they exhibited as far back as the middle of the last century, about which period our story commences. At that epoch, it will be borne in mind, what we have de- scribed as being the United States were then the British colonies of America dependent on the mother-country J while the Canadas, on the contrary, were, or had very recently been, under the dominion of France, from whom they had been wrested after a long struggle, greatly ad- vanced in favour of England by the glorious battle fought on the plains of Abraham, near Quebec, and celebrated for the defeat of Mont- calm and the death of Wolfe. The several attempts made to repossess them- selves of the strong hold of Quebec having, in every instance, been met by discomfiture and disappointment, the French, in despair, relin- quished the contest, and, by treaty, ceded their claims to the Canadas, — an event that was hastened by the capitulation of the garrison of Montreal, commanded by the Marquis de Vau- dreuil, to the victorious arms of General Am- herst. Still, though conquered as a people, 11! WACOUSTA. 9 many of the leading men in the country, ac- tuated by that jealousy for which they were remarkable, contrived to oppose obstacles to the quiet possession of a conquest by those whom they seemed to look upon as their here- ditary enemies ; and in furtherance of this ob- ject, paid agents, men of artful and intriguing character, were dispersed among the numerous tiibes of savages, with a view of exciting them to acts of hostility against their conquerors. The long and uninterrupted possession, by the French, of those countries immediately border- ing on the hunting grounds and haunts of the natives, with whom they carried on an extensive traffic in furs, had established a communionship of interest between themselves and those savage and warlike people, which failed not to turn to account the vindictive views of the former. The whole of the province of Upper Canada at that time possessed but a scanty population, pro- tected in its most flourishing and defensive points by stockade forts; the chief object of which was to secure the garrisons, consisting each of a few companies, from any sudden sur- B 5 NMMaWa. iO WAC0U8TA. W4- prise on the part of the natives, who, although apparently inclining to acknowledge the change of neighbours, and professing amity, were, it was well known, too much in the interest of their old friends the French, and even the French Canadians themselves, not to be regarded with the most cautious distrust. These stockade forts were never, at any one period, nearer to each other than from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles, so that, in the event of surprise or alarm, there was little prospect of obtaining assistance from without. Each garrison, therefore, was almost wholly dependent on its own resources; and, when surrounded unexpectedly by numerous bands of hostile Indians, had no other alterna* tive than to hold out to the death. Capitula- tion was out of the question j for, although the wile and artifice of the natives might induce them to promise mercy, the moment their ene- p ies were in their power promises and treaties were alike broken, and indiscriminate massacre ensued. Communication by water was, except during a period of profound peace, almost im- t-rrxt^ m m Mimm\ ^ WACOUSTA. 11 practicable; for, although of late years the lakes of Canada have been covered with vessels of war, many of them, as we have already remarked, of vast magnitude, and been the theatres of conflicts that would not have dis- graced the salt waters of ocean itself, at the period to which our story refers the flag of England was seen to wave only on the solitary mast of some ill-armed and ill-manned gun- boat, employed rather for the purpose of con- veying despatches from fort to fort, than with any serious view to acts either of aggression or defence. In proportion as the colonies of America, now the United States, pushed their course of civilisation westward, in the same degree did the numerous tribes of Indians, who had hitherto dwelt more seaward, retire upon those of their own countrymen, who, buried in vast and impe- netrable forests, had seldom yet seen the face of the European stronger ; so that, in the end, all the more central parts of those stupendous wilds became doubly peopled. Hitherto, how- ever, that civilisation had not been carried B 6 ■ 16 ITACOUSTA. iitJ !1 f i beyond the state of New York ; and all those countries which have, since the American revo- lution, been added to the Union under the names of Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, &c., were, at the period embraced by our story, inhospitable and unproductive woods, subject only to the dominion of the native, and as yet unshorn by the axe of the cultivator. A few portions only of the opposite shores of Michi- gan were occupied by emigrants from the Canadas, who, finding no one to oppose or molest them, selected the most fertile spots along the banks of the river ; and of the ex- istence of these infant settlements, the English colonists, who had never ventured so far, were not even aware until after the conquest of Ca- nada by the mother-country. This particular district was the centre around which the nu- merous warriors, who had been driven westward by the colonists, had finally assembled ; and rude villages and encampments rose far and near for a circuit of many miles around this infant set- tlement and fort of the Canadians, to both of which they had given the name of Detroit, after WACOUSTA. 1^ the river on whose elevated banks they stood. Proceeding westward from this point, and along the tract of country that diverged from the banks of the Lakes Huron, Sinclair, and Michigan, all traces of that partial civilisation were again lost in impervious wilds, tenanted only by the fiercest of the Indian tribes, whose homes were principally along the banks of that greatest of American waters, the Lake Supe- rior, and in the country surrounding the isolated fort of Michillimackinac, the last and most remote of the European fortresses in Canada. When at a later period the Canadas were ceded to us by France, those parts of the oppo-' site frontier which we have just described be- came also tributary to the English crown, and were, by the peculiar difficulties that existed to communication with the more central and popu- lous districts, rendered especially favourable to the exercise of hostile intrigue by the nume- ^rous active French emissaries every where dis- persed among the Indian tribes. During the first few years of the conquest, 'the inhabitants of Canada, who were all either European .^f>.w*^.."*.. 14 WACOUSTA. French, or immediate descendants of that na- tion, "-vere, as might naturally be expected, more than restive under their new governors, and many of the most impatient spirits of the country sought every opportunity of sowing the seeds of distrust and jealousy in the hearts of the natives. By these people it was artfully suggested to the Indians, that their new op- pressors were of the race of those who had driven them from the sea, and were progres- sively advancing on their territories until scarce a hunting ground or a village would be left to them. They described them, moreover, as being the hereditary enemies of their great father, the King of France, with whose go- vernors they had buried the hatchet for ever, and smoked the calumet of perpetual peace. Fired by these wily suggestions, the high and jealous spirit of the Indian chiefs took the alarm, and they beheld with impatience the " Red Coat," or « Saganaw*," usurping, as • This word thu^ pronounced by themselves, in refer- ence to the English soldiery, is, in all probability, de- rived from the original English settlers in Saganavir Bay. WACOUSTA. 16 that na- ed, more ors, and 1 of the wing the hearts of artfully new op- ?v'ho had progres- til scarce e left to over, as sir great lose go- br ever, i peace, igh and 3ok the nee the ping, as in refer- bility, de- iw Bay. 4 they deemed it, those possessions which had so recently acknowledged the supremacy of the pale flag of their ancient ally. The cause of ihe Indians, and that of the Canadians, became, in some degree, identified as one, and each felt it was the interest, and it may be said the natural instinct, of both, to hold communionship of pur- pose, and to indulge the same jealousies and fears. Such was the state of things in 1763, the period at which our story commences, — an epoch fruitful in designs of hostility and treachery on the part of the Indians, who, too crafty and too politic to manifest their feelings by overt acts declaratory of the hatred carefully instilled into their breasts, sought every oppor- tunity to compass the destruction of the En- glish, wherever they were most vulnerable to the effects of stratagem. Several inferior forts situ- ated on the Ohio had already fallen into their hands, when they summoned all their address and cunning to accomplish the fall of the two important though remote posts of Detroit and Michillimackinac. For a length of time they were baffled by the activity and vigilance of the Id WACOUSTA. respective governors of these forts, who had had too much fatal experience in the fate of their companions not to be perpetually on the alert against their guile ; but when they had at length, in some degree, succeeded in lulling the suspicions of the English, they determined on a scheme, suggested by a leading chiaf, a man of more than ordinary character, which promised fair to rid them altogether of a race they so cordially detested. We will not, however, mar the interest of our tale, by anticipating, at this early stage, either the nature or the success of a stratagem which forms the essential ground- work of our story. While giving, for the information of the many, what, we trust, will not be considered a too compendious outline of the Canadas, and the events connected with them, we are led to re- mark, that, powerful as was the feeling of hos- tility cherished by the French Canadians towards the English when the yoke of early conquest yet hung heavily on them, this feeling eventually died away under the mild influence of a govern- ment that preserved to them the exercise of all tVACOUSTA. 17 J many, 1 a too nd the to re- )f hos- 3wards nquest itually overn- of all i their customary privileges, and abolished all invidious distinctions between the descendants of France and those of the mother-country. So universally, too, has this system of conciliation been pursued, we believe we may with safety aver, of all the numerous colonies that have succumbed to the genius and power of England, there are none whose inhabitants entertain stronger feelings of attachment and loyalty to her than those of Canada ; and whatever may be the transient differences, — differences grow- ing entirely out of circumstances and interests of a local character, and in no way tending to impeach the acknowledged fidelity of the mass of French Canadians, — whatever, we repeat, may be the ephemeral differences that occa- sionally spring up between the governors of those provinces and individual members of the Houses of Assembly, they must, in no way, be construed into a general feeling of disaffection towards the English crown. In proportion also as the Canadians have felt and acknowledged the beneficent effects arising from a change of rulers, so have the •«?*" ttm^nm' t t u ^mm m 18 WACOUSTA. Indian tribes been gradually weaned from their first fierce principle of hostility, until they have subsequently become as much distinguished by their attachment to, as they were three quarters of a century ago remarkable for their untame- able aversion for, every thing that bore the En- glish name, or assumed the English character. Indeed, the hatred which they bore to the ori- ginal colonists has been continued to their descendants, the subjects of the United States ; and the same spirit of union subsisted between the natives and British troops, and people of Canada, during the late American war, that at an earlier period of the history of that country prevailed so powerfully to the disadvantage of England. And now we have explained a course of events which were in some measure necessary to the full understanding of the country by the majority of our readers, we shall, in furtherance of the same object, proceed to sketch a few of the most prominent scenes more immediately before us. The fort of D^roit, as it was originally con- I WACOUSTA. 39 structed by the French, stands in the middle of a common, or description of small prairie, bounded by woods, which, though now par- tially thinned in their outskirts, were at tliat period untouched by the hand of civilisation. Erected at a distance of about half a mile from the banks of the river, which at that particular point are high and precipitous, it stood then just far enough from the woods thot swept round it in a semicircular form to be secure from the rifle of the Indian ; while from its batteries it commanded a range of country on every hand, which no enemy unsupported by cannon could traverse with impunity. Im- mediately in the rear, and on the skirt of the wood, the French had constructed a sort of bomb-proof, possibly intended to serve as a cover to the workmen originally employed in clearing the woods, but long since suffered to fall into decay. Without the fortification rose a strong and triple line of pickets, each of about two feet and a half in circumference, and so fitted into each other as to leave no other inter- stices than those which were perforated for the ,.i 90 WACOUSTA. discl.argc of musketry. They ucrc * fonned of the hardest and most knotted pines that could be procured ; the sharp points of which were seasoned by Hre until they acquired nearly the durability and consistency of iron. Beyond these firmly imbedded pickets was a ditch, en- circling the fort, of about twenty feet in width, and of proportionate depth, the only communi' cation over wJu'ch to and from the garrison was by means of a drawbridge, protected by a strong chevaux-de-frise. The only gate with which the fortress was provided faced the river ; on the more inmiediate banks of which, and to the left of the fort, rose the yet infant and straggling village that bore the name of both. Numerous farm-houses, however, most joining each other, contributed to form a continuity of many miles along the borders of the river, both on the right and on the left ; while the opposite shores of Canada, distinctly seen in the distance, pr^v as far as the eye could reach, the sam^ .aiiven- ing character of fertility. The banks, covered with verdure on either shore, were more or less undulating at intervals ; but in general they were WAC0U8TA. 21 high without being abrupt, and picturesque without being bold, presenting, in their partial cultivation, a striking contrast to the dark, tall, and frowning forests bounding every point of the p» • spcctive. At a distance of about five miles on the left of the town the course of the river was interrupted by a small and thickly wooded island, along whose sandy beach occasionally rose the low cabin or wigwam which the birch canoe, carefully upturned and left to dry upon the sands, attestetl to be the temporary habitation of the wandering Indian. That branch of the river which swept by the shores of Canada was (as at this day) the only navigable one for vessels of burden, while that on the opposite coast abounded in shallows and bars, affording passage merely to the light barks of the natives, which seemed literally to skim the very sirfface of its waves. Midway, between that point of the continent which immediately faced the eastern extremity of the island we have just named and the town of Detroit, flowed a small tributary river, the approaches to which, on either hand, were over 22 WACOUSTA. In^ r 5 ' a slightly sloping ground, the view of which could be entirely commanded from the fort. The depth of this river, now nearly dried up, at that period varied from three to ten or twelve feet; and over this, at a distance of about twenty yards from the Detroit, into which it emptied itself, rose,commuuicating with the high road, a bridge, which will more than once be noticed in the course of our tale. Even to the present hour it retains the name given to it during these disastrous times ; and there are few modern Canadians, or even Americans, who tra- verse the *' Bloody Bridge," especially at the still hours of advanced night, without recalling to memory the tragic events of those days, (handed down as they have been by their fathers, who were eye-witnesses of the transaction,) and jieopling the surrounding gloom witlj the shades of those whose life-blood erst crimsoned the once pure waters of that now nearly exhausted stream ; and whose mangled and headless corses were slowly borne by its tranquil current into the bosom of the parent river, where all traces of them finally disappeared. «f WACOUSTA. 2S These are the minuter features of the scene we have brought more immediately under the pro- vince of our pen. What Detroit was in 1 763 it nearly is at the present day, with this difference, however, that many of those points which were then in a great degree isolated and rude are now redolent with the beneficent effects of improved cultivation; and in the immediate vicinity of that memorable bridge, where for- merly stood merely the occasional encampment of the Indian warrior, are now to be seen flourishing farms and crops, and other marks of agricultural industry. Of the fort of Detroit itself we will give the following brief history: — It was, as we have already stated, erected by the French while in the occupancy of the country by which it is more immediately environed; subsequently, and at the final cession of the Canadas, it was delivered over to England, with whom it remained until the acknowledge- ment of the independence of the colonists by the mother-country, when it hoisted the colours of the republic; the British garrison marching out, and crossing over into Canada, followed by such of the loyalists as still retained their attachment S4 WACOUSTA. 1 i M; i' t to the English crown. At the commencement of the late war with America it was the first and more immediate theatre of conflict, and was remarkable, as well as Michillimackinac, for being one of the first posts of the Americans that fell into our hands. The gallant daring, and promptness of decision, for which the lamented general. Sir Isaac Brock, was so eminently distinguished, achieved the conquest almost as soon as the American declaration of war had been made known in Canada ; and on this oc- casion we ourselves had the good fortune to be selected as part of the guard of honour, whose duty it was to lower the flag of America, and substitute that of England in its place. On the approach, however, of an overwhelming army of the enemy in the autumn of the ensuing year it was abandoned by our troops, after having been dismantled and reduced, in its more com- bustible parts, to ashes. The Americans, who have erected new fortifications on the site of the old, still retain possession of a post to which they attach considerable importance, from the circumstance of its being a key to the more western portions of the Union. S^tHrOiitvSmf&mwiHf^-faiaftitKaamtBm WACOUSTA. 25 CHAPTER II. It was during the midnight watch, late in September, 1763, that the English garrison of Detroit, in North America, was thrown into the utmost consternation by the sudden and mysterious introduction of a stranger within its walls. The circumstance at this moment was particularly remarkable; for the period was so fearful and pregnant with events of danger, the fort being assailed on every side . by a powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution and vigilance of no common kind were unceas- ingly exercised by the prudent governor for the safety of those committed to his charge. A long series of hostilities had been pursued by the North-American Indians against the subjects of England, within the few years that had suc- ceeded to the final subjection of the Canadas to her victorious arms ; and many and sanguinary VOL. I. f. 26 WACOUSTA, were- the conflicts in which the devoted soldiery were made to succumb to the cunning and numbers of their savage enemies. In those lone regions, both officers and men, in their respective ranks, were, by a communionship of suffering, isolation, and peculiarity of duty, drawn towards each other with feelings of almost fraternal affection ; and the fates of those who fell were lamented with sincerity of soul, and avenged, whei^ opportunity offered, with a determination prompted equally by indignation and despair. This sentiment of union, existing even between men and officers of different corps, was, with occasional exceptions, of course doubly strengthened among those who fought under the same colours, and acknowledged the same head ; and, as it often happened in Canada, during this interesting period, that a single regiment was distributed into two or three fortresses, each so far removed from the other that communication could with the utmost fa- cility be cut off, the anxiety and uncertainty of these detachments became proportioned to the danger with which they knew themselves to be Wacousta. 27 ttiore immediately beset. The garrison of t)^troit, at the date above named, consisted of a third of the regiment, the remainder of which occupied the forts of Michillimackinac and Niagara, and to each division of this regi- ment was attached an officer's command of artillery. It is true that no immediate overt act of hostility had for some time been per- petrated by the Indians, who were assembled in force around the former garrison j but the experienced officer to whom the command had been intrusted was too sensible of the craftiness of the surrounding hordes to be deceived, by any outward semblance of amity, into neglect ol those measures of precaution which were so indispensable to the surety of his trust. In this he pursued a line of policy happily adapted to the delicate nature of his position. Unwilling to excite the anger or wound the pride of the chiefs, by any outward manifest- ation of distrust, he affected to confide in the sincerity of their professions, and, by inducing his officers to mix occasionally i„ their councils, and his men in the amusements of the inferior c 2 28 WACOUSTA. warriors, contrived to impress the conviction that he reposed altogether on their faith. But, although these acts were in some degree coerced by the necessity of the times, and a perfect knowledge of all the misery that must accrue to them in the event of their provoking the Indians into acts of open hostility, the prudent governor took such precautions as were deemed efficient to defeat any treacherous attempt at violation of the tacit treaty on the part of the natives. The officers never ventured out, unless escorted by a portion of their men, who, although appearing to be dispersed among the warriors, still kept sufficiently together to be enabled, in a moment of emergency, to affi^rd succour not only to each other but to their superiors. On these occasions, as a further security against surprise, the troops left within were instructed to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to render assistance, if necessary, to their companions, who seldom, on any occasion, ventured out of reach of the cannon of the fort, the gate of which was hermetically closed, while nu- merous supernumerary sentinels w^e posted WACOUSTA. 29 onviction h. But, coerced I perfect iccrue to '- Indians governor efficient lation of Js. The •rted by )pearing till kept moment only to n these urprise, 3 be in render >anions, out of gate of lie nu- posted along the ramparts, with a view to give the alarm if any thing extraordinary was observed to occur without. Painful and harassing as were the precautions it was found necessary to adopt on these occa- sions, and little desirous as were the garrison to mingle with the natives on such terms, still the plan was pursued by the Governor from the policy already named : nay, it was absolutely essential to the future interests of England that the Indians should be won over by acts of con- fidence and kindness ; and so little disposition had hitherto been manifested by the English to conciliate, that every thing was to be appre* hended from the untameable rancour with which these people were but too well disposed to repay a neglect at once galling to their pride and injurious to their interests. Such, for a term of many months, had been the trying and painful duty that had devolved on the governor of Detroit; when, in the sum- mer of .1763, the whole of the western tribes of Indians, as if actuated by one common impulse, suddenly threw off the mask, and commenced a C 3 30 WACOUSTA. series of the most savage trespasses upon the English settlers in the vicinity of the several garrisons, who were cut off in detail, without mercy, and without reference to either age or sex. On the first alarm the weak bodies of troops, as a last measure of security, shut them- selves up in their respective forts, where they were as incapable of rendering assistance to others as of receiving it themselves. la this emergency the prudence and forethought of the governor of Detroit were eminently conspicu- ous ; for, having long foreseen the possibility of such a crisis, he had caused a plentiful supply of all that was necessary to the subsistence and defence of the garrison to be provided at an earlier period, so that, if foiled in their attempts at stratagem, there was little chance that the Indians would speedily reduce them by famine. To guard against the former, a vigilant watch was constantly kept by the garrison both day and night, while the sentinels, doubled in num- ber, were constantly on the alert. Strict atten- tion, moreover, was paid to such parts of the ramparts as were considered most assailable by WACOUSTA. 31 %?• a cunning and midnight enemy ; and, in order to prevent any imprudence on the part of the garrison, all egress or ingress was prohibited that had not the immediate sanction of the chief. With this view the keys of the gate were given in trust to the officer of the guard ; to whom, however, it was interdicted to use them unless by direct and positive order of the Go- vernor. In addition to this precaution, the sentinels on duty at the gate had strict private instructions not to suffer any one to pass either in or out unless conducted by the go- vernor in person ; and this restriction extended even to the officer of the guard. Such being the cautious discipline established in the fort, the appearance of a stranger within its walls at the still hour of midnight could not fail to be regarded as an extraordinary event, and to excite an apprehension which could scarcely have been surpassed had a numerous and armed band of savages suddenly appeared among them. The first intimation of this fact was given by the violent ringing of an alarm bell J a- rope communicating with which was sus- c 4 ^^ WACOUSTA. pended in the Governor's apartments, for the purpose of arousing the slumbering soldiers in any case of presshig emergency. Soon after- wards the Governor himself was seen to issue from his rooms into the open area of the parade, clad m his dressing-gown, and bearing a lamp ill one hand and a naked sword in the other. His countenance was pale; and his features, vio- lently agitated, betrayed a source of alarm which those who were familiar with his usual haughti- ness of manner were ill able to comprehend. "Which way did he go ?-^ why stand ye here ? - follow -- pursue him quickly-let him not escape, on your lives !" These sentences, hurriedly and impatiently uttered, were addressed to the two sentij^els who, stationed in front of his apartments, had, on the first sound of alarm from the portentous bell, lowered their muskets to the charge, and now stood immovable in that position. " Who does your honour mane ?" replied one of the men, startled, yet bringing his arms to the recover, in salutation of his chief. WACOUSTA. 33 <« Why, the man — the stranger — the fellow who has just passed you." " Not a living soul has passed us since our watch commenced, your honour," observed the second sentinel ; " and we Iiave now been here upwards of an hour." " Impossible, sirs : ye have been asleep on your posts, or ye must have seen him. He passed this way, and could not have escaped your observation had ye been attentive to your duty." " Well, sure, and your honour knows bist," rejoined the first sentinel ; « but so hilp me St. Patrick, as I have sirved man and boy in your honour's riglmint this twilve years, not even the fitch of a man has passed me this blissed night. And here 's my comrade. Jack Halford, who will take his Bible oath to the same, with all due difirince to your honour." The pithy reply to this eloquent attempt at exculpation was a brief " Silence, sirrah, walk about ! " ' The men brought their muskets once moi*e, and in silence, to the shoulder, and, in obedience c 5 S4 WACOUSTA. to the command of their chief, resumed the limited walk allotted to them; crossing each other at regular intervals in the semicircular course that enfiladed, as it were, the only entrance to the Governor's apartments. Meanwhile every thing was bustle and com- motion among the garrison, who, roused from sleep by the appalling sound of the alarm bell at that late hour, were hastily arming. Through- out the obscurity might be seen the flitting forms of men, whose already fully accoutred persons proclaimed them to be of the guard • while in the lofty barracks, numerous lights' flashing to and fro, and moving with rapidity, attested the alacrity with which the troops off- duty were equipping themselves for some ser- vice of more than ordinary interest. So noise- less, too, was this preparation, as far as speech was concerned, that the occasional opening and shuttmg of pans,, and ringing of ramrods to ascertain the efficiency of the muskets, might be heard distinctly in the stillness of the night at a distance of many furlongs. He, however, who had touched the secret ■fawMBOBSaa WACOUSTA. 8S mied the ing each licircular the only • nd com- led from arm bell h rough- flitting !coutred guard ; s lights apidity, 3ops off* ^e ser- > noise- speech ngand ods to might ! night secret i spring of all this picturesque movement, what- ever might be his gratification and approval of the promptitude with which the summons to arms had been answered by his brave troops, was far from being wholly satisfied with the scene he had conjured up. Recovered from the first and irrepressible agitation which had driven him to sound the tocsin of alarm, he felt how derogatory to his military dignity and pro- verbial coolness of character it might be consi- dered, to have awakened a whole garrison from their slumbers, when a few files of the guard would have answered his purpose equally well. Besides, so much time had been suffered to elapse, that the stranger might have escaped ; and if so, how many might be disposed to ridi- cule his alarm, and consider it as emanating from an imagination disturbed by sleep, rather than caused by the actual presence of one endowed like themselves with the faculties of speech and motion. For a moment he hesitated whether he should not countermand the summons to arms which had been so precipitately given ; but when he recollected the harrowing threat that c 6 36 WACODSTA. had been breathed in his ear by inuisearDynismianigntvi. siter, _ when l,e reflected, moreover, that even now It was probable he was lurking withh, the precmcts of the fort with a view to the destruc. t,on of all that it contained, _ when, in short, he thought of the imminent danger that must attend them should he be suffered to escape,- he felt the necessity of precaution, and deter- mined on his measures, even at the risk of ma- nifesting a prudence which might be construed nnfavourably. On re-entering his apartments. he found his orderly, who, roused by the mid. n.ght tumult, stood waiting to receive the com- mands of his chief. " Desire Major Blackwater to come to me iinmediate]j." The mandate was quickly obeyed. In a few seconds a short, thick-set, and elderly officer made h.s appearance in a grey military undress " Bl»ekwater, we have traitors within the Jort. Let diligent search be made in every part of the barracks for „ stranger, an enemy, who has managed to procure admittance among WACOUSTA. 37 idnight vw that even within the e destruc- I in short, that must Jscape, — - id deter- ik of ma- onstrued irtments, the mid- he com- ' to me n a few officer mdress in the every merny, imong us: let every nook and cranny, every empty cask, be examined forthwith ; and cause a num- ber of additional sentinels to be stationed along the ramparts, in order to intercept his escape." " Good Heaven, is it possible?" said the Major, wiping the perspiration from his brows, though the night was unusually chilly for the season of the year : — « how could he contrive to enter a place so vigilantly guarded ? " " Ask me not 7/ow, Blackwater," returned the Governor seriously; « let it suffice that he has been in this very room, and that ten minutes since he stood where you now stand." The Major looked aghast. — " God bless me, how singular ! How could the savage con- trive to obtain admission ? or was he in reality an Indian?" " No more questions. Major Blackwaier. Hasten to distribute the men, and let diligent search be made every where; and recollect, neither officer nor man courts his pillow until dawn." The « Major" emphatically prefixed to his name was a sufficient hint to the stout officer ■ I 38 WACOUSTA. that the doubts thus famiharly expressed were here to cease, and that he was now addressed in the language of authority by his superior, who expected a direct and prompt compliance with his orders. He therefore slightly touched his hat in- salutation, and withdrew to make the dispositions that had been enjoined by his Colonel. On regaining the parade, he caused the men, already forming into companies and answerinp to the roll-call of their respective non-commist sioned officers, to be wheeled into square, and then in a low but distinct voice stated the cause of alarm; and, having communicated the orders of the Governor, finished by recommending to each the exercise of the most scrutinising vigilance; as on the discovery of the individual in question, and the means by which he had contrived to procure admission, the safety of the whole garrison, it was evident, must depend. The soldiers now dispersed in small parties throughout the interior of the fort, while a select body were conducted to the ramparts by the officers themselves, and distributed iin i g »_>m] »j i WAdOUSTA. S9 essed were addressed superior, ompliance ly touched make the d by his the men, mswerinc -commis- Jare, and the cause le orders mending utinising idividual he had tyofthe peiid. parties while a amparts ributed between the sentinels already posted there, in such numbers, and at such distances, that it ap- peared impossible any thing wearing the human form could pass them unperceived, even in the obscurity that reigned around. When this duty was accomplished, the of- ficers proceeded to the posts of the several sentinels who had been planted since the last relief, to ascertain if any or either of them had observed aught to justify the belief that an enemy had succeeded in scaling the works. To all their enquiries, however, they received a ne- gative reply, accompanied by a declaration, more or less positive with each, that such had been their vigilance during the watch, had any person come within their beat, detection must have been inevitable. The first question was put to the sentinel stationed at the gate of the fort, at which point the whole of the officers of the garrison were, with one or two exceptions, now assembled. The man at first evinced a good deal of confusion; but this might arise from the singular fact of the alarm that had been given, and the equally singular ii , t 40 WACOUSTA. circumstance of his being th„s closely interro- gated by the collective body of his officers • be, however, persisted in declaring that he had been m no wise .inattentive to his duty, and that no cause for alarm or suspicion had occurred near his post. The officers then, in order to save time, separated into two parties, pursuing opposite circuits, and arranging to meet at that pomt of the ramparts which was immediately ■n the rear, and overlooking the centre of the semicrclar sweep of wild forest we have de- scribed as circumventing the fort. " Well, Blessington, I know not what you think of this sort of work," observed Sir Everard Valletort, a young lieutenant of the regi ment, recently arrived from England, and one of the party who now traversed the rampart to the right; " but confound me if I would not rather be a barber's apprentice in London, upon nothmg. and find myself, than continue a life of this kind much longer. It positively quite knocks me up; for what with early risings, and watchings (I had almost added prayings), I am but the shadow of my former self." : f WAC0U8TA. 41 ely interro- is officers ; liat he had y, and that I occurred ti order to • pursuing set at that I mediately tre of the have de- tvhat you 'Everard regi- and one upart to >uld not >n, upon e a Jife ly quite gs, and )j I am " Hist, Valletortj hist! speak lower," said Captain Blessington, the senior officer present, " or our search must be in vain. Poor fellow!" he pursued, laughing low and good humouredly at the picture of miseries thus solemnly enu- merated by his subaltern ; — " how much, in truth, are you to be pitied, who have so recently basked in all the sunshine of enjoyment at home. For our parts, we have lived so long amid these savage scenes, that we have almost forgotten what luxury, or even comfort, means. Doubt not, my fi-iend, that in time you will, like us, be reconciled to the change." " Confound me for an idiot, then, if I give myself time," replied Sir Everard affectedly. " It was only five minutes before that cursed alarm bell was sounded in my ears, that I had made up my mind fully to resign or exchange the instant I could do so with credit to myself; and, I am sure, to be called out of a warm bed at this unseasonable hour offers little induce- ment for me to change my opinion." " Resign or exchange with credit to your- self!" sullenly observed a stout tall officer of 49 ( k I; n (' ! I (III, I '! M'ACOUfiTA. about fifty, whose spleen might well be ac- counted for in his rank of « Ensign" Dehne. " Methinks there can be little credit in ex- changing or resigning, when one's companions are left behind, and in a post of danger." " By Jasus, and ye moy say that with your own pritty mouth," remarked another veteran, who answered to the name of Lieutenant Mur- phy ; " for it isn't now, while we are surrounded and bediviled by the savages, that any man of the rigimint should be after talking of bating a retrate." « I scarcely understand you, gentlemen," warmly and quickly retorted Sir Everard, who, with all his dandyism and effeminacy of manner, was of a high and resolute spirit. « Do either of you fancy that I want courage to face a posi- tive danger, because I may not happen to have any particular vulgar predilection for early rising ?" ^ " Nonsense, Valletort, nonsense," inter- rupted, in accents of almost feminine sweetness, his friend Lieutenant Charles de Haldimar, the youngest son of the Governor: " Murphy WACOIJHTA, 43 is nn eternnl echo of the opinions of those who look forward to promotion; ntul ns for Delme —do you not see the drift of his observation? Should you retire, ns you have threatened, of course another lieutenant will he appointed in your stead; but, should you chance to lose your scalp during the struggle with the savages, the step goes in the regiment, and he, being the senior ensign, obtains promotion in conse- quence." « Ah !" observed Captain Blessington, « thia is indeed the greotest curse attached to the pro- fession of a soldier. Even among those who most esteem, ond are drawn towards each other as well by fellowship in pleasure as companion- ship in danger, this vile and debasing principle this insatiable desire for personal advance- ment — is certain to intrude itself; since we feel that over the mangled bodies of our dearest friends and companions, we can alone hope to attain preferment and distinction.'* A moment or two of silence ensned, in the course of which each individual appeared to be bringing home to his own heart the application 44 WACOUSTA. I' /' ? i of the remark just uttered ; and which, however they might seek to disguise the truth from them- selves, was too forcible to find contradiction from the secret monitor within. And yet of those assembled there was not one, perhaps, who would not, in the hour of glory and of danger, have generously interposed his own frame between that of his companion and the steel or bullet of an enemy. Such are the contr..dictory elements which compose a soldier's life. This conversation, interrupted only by occa- S'onal questioning of the sentinels whom thev passed in their circuit, was carried on i„ an aud,ble whisper, which the close approximation of the parties to each other, and the profound stdlness of the night, enabled them to hear with distinctness. " Nay, nay, De Haldimar," at length ob- served Sir Everard, in reply to the observation of h,s foend, « do not imagine I intend to graffy Mr. Delme by any such exhibition as thatofascalplesshead;but, if such be his hope, I trust that the hour which sees my love- Jocks dangling at the top of an Indian pole' WACOUSTA. 45 may also let dayl'ght into his own carcass from a rifle bullet or a tomahawk." « And yit, Captin, it sames to me," observed Lieutenant Murphy, in allusion to the remark of Blessington rather than in reply to the last speaker, — " it sames to me, I say, that pro- motion in ony way is all fair and honourable in times of hardship like thase ; and though we may drop a tare over our suparior when the luck of war, in the shape of a tommyhawk, knocks him over, still there can be no rason why we shouldn't stip into his shoes the viry nixt instant; and it's that, we ail know, that we fight for. And the divil a bitter chance any man of us all has of promotion thin yoursilf, Captin: for it'll be mighty strange if our fat Major doesn't git riddlid like a cuUinder through and through with the buUits from the Ingians' rifles before we have quite done with this business, and thin you will have the rigi- mintal majority, Captin; and it may be that one Liftinint Murphy, who is now the sanior of his rank, may come in for the vacant cap* tincy." n i h 46 WACOUSTA. i I " And Delme for the lieutenancy," said Charles de Haldimar significantly. « Well, Murphy, I am happy to find that you, at least, have hit on another than Sir Everard Valletort: one, in fact, who will render the promotion more general than it would otherwise have been* Se- riously, I should be sorry if any thing happened to our worthy Major, who, with all his bustling and grotesque manner, is as good an officer and as brave a soldier as any his Majesty's army in Canada can boast. For my part, I say, perish all promotion for ever, if it is only to be obtained over the dead bodies of those with whom I have lived so long and shared so many dan- gers I" « Nobly uttered, Charles," said Captain Blessington : « the sentiment is, indeed, one well worthy of our present position ; and God knows we are few enough in number already, without looking forward ta each other's death as a means of our own more immediate personal advancement. With you, therefore, I repeat, perish all my hopes of promotion, if it is only to be obtained over tlwe corses of my compa- ^^ U '^ iM^ WACOUSTA. 47 nions ! And let those who are most sanguine in their expectations beware lest they prove the first to be cut off, and that even before they have yet enjoyed the advantages of the promo- tion they so eagerly covet." This observation, uttered without acrimony, had yet enough of delicate reproach in it to satisfy Lieutenant Murphy that the speaker was far from approving the expression of such self- ish anticipations at a moment like the present, when danger, in its most mysterious guise, lurked around, and tlireatened the safety of all most dear to them. The conversation now dropped, and the party pursued their course in sileiree. They had just passed the last sentinel posted in their line of circuit, and were within a few yards of the immediate rear of the fortress, when a sharp »' Hist !" and sudden halt of their leader. Cap- tain Blessington, threw them all into an attitude of the most profound attention. " Did you hear ? " he asked in a subdued whisper, after a few seconds of silence, in which he had vainly sought to catch a repetition of the sound. i p.^«i.^j-T. r II •: I ^ ( I i 48 WACOUSTA. « Assuredly," he pursued, finding that no one answered, « I distinctly heard a human groan." " Where ? — in what direction ? " asked Sir Everard and De Ilaldimar in the same breath. " Immediately opposite to us on the com- mon. But see, here are the remainder of the party stationary, and listening also." They now stole gently, forward a few paces, and were soon at the side of their companions, all of whom were straining their necks and bending their heads in the attitude of men listening attentively. " Have you heard any thing, Erskine?" asked Captain Blessington in the same low whisper, and addressing the officer who led the opposite party. " Not a sound ourselves, but here is Sir Everard's black servant, Sambo, who has just riveted our attention, by declaring that /le distinctly heard a groan towards the skirt of the common." « He is right," hastily rejoined BJessington ; *' I heard it also." 11 i WAC0U8TA. ^ Again a death-like silence ensued, during which the eyes of the party were strained eagerly in the direction of the common. The night was clear and starry, yet the dark shadow of the broad belt of forest threw all that part of the waste which came within its immediate range into impenetrable obscurity. " Do you see any thing ?" whispered Valle- tort to his friend, who stood next him : " look — look!" and he pointed with his finger. *' Nothing," returned De Haldimar, after an anxious gaze of a minute, " but that dilapidated old bomb-proof." " See you not something dark, and slightly moving immediately in a line with the left angle of the bomb-proof? " De Haldimar looked again. — *' I do begin to fancy I see something," he refilled ; " but so confusedly and indistinctly, that I know not whether it be not merely an illusion of my imagination. Perhaps it is a stray Indian dog devouring the carcass of the wolf you shot yesterday." VOL. I. ^0 WACOUSTA. \ ' , .' i i I!, " Be it dog or devil, here is for a trial of his vulnerability. — Sambo, quick, my rifle." The young negro handed to his master one of those long heavy rifles, which the Indians usually make choice of for killing the buffalo, elk, and other animals whose wildness renders them difficult of approach. He then, unbidden, and as if tutored to the task, placed himself in a stiff upright position in front of his master, with every nerve and muscle braced to the most inflexible steadiness. The young officer next threw the rifle on the right shoulder of the boy for a rest, and prepared to take his aim on the object that had first attracted his attention. " Make haste, massa, — him go directly, — Sambo see him get up." All was breathless attention among the group of officers ; and when the sharp ticking sound produced by the cocking of the rifle of their companion fell on their ears, they bent their gaze upon the point towards which the mur- derous weapon was levelled with the most aching and intense interest. WACOUSTA. 51 " Quick, quick, massa, — him quite up," again whispered the boy. The words had scarcely passed his lips, when the crack of the rifle, followed by a bright blaze of light, sounded throughout the stillness of the night with exciting sharpness. For an instant all was hushed ; but scarcely had the distant woods ceased to reverberate the spirit-stirring echoes, when the anxious group of officers were surprised and startled by a sudden flash, the report of a second rifle from the common, and the whizzing of a bullet past their ears. This was instantly succeeded by a fierce, wild, ' and prolonged cry, expressive at once of triumph and revenge. It was that peculiar cry which an Indian utters when the reeking scalp has been wrested from his murdered victim. " Missed him, as I am a sinner," exclaimed Sir Everard, springing to his feet, and knocking the butt of his rifle on the ground with a movement of impatience. *' Sambo, you young scoundrel, it was all your fault, — you moved your shoulder as I pulled the trigger. Thank Heaven, however, the aim of the Indian appears D 2 52 WACOUSTA. to have been no better, although the sharp whistling of his ball proves his piece to have been well levelled for a random shot. " His aim has been too true," faintly pro- nounced the voice of one somewhat in the rear of his companions. « The ball of the villain has found a lodgment in my breast. God bless ye all, my boys ; may your fates be more lucky than mine ! " While he yet spoke, Lieutenant Murphy sank into the arms of Blessington and De Haldimar, who had flown to him at the first intimation of his wound, and was in the ■next instant a corpse. WACOUSTA. 53 CHAPTER III. " To your companies, gentlemen, to your companies on the instant. There is treason in the fort, and we had need of all our diligence and caution. Captain de Haldimar is missing, and the gate has been found unlocked. Quick, gentlemen, quick; even now the savages may be around us, though unseen." " Captain de Haldimar missing ! — the gate unlocked!" exclaimed a number of voices. " Impossible ! — surely we are not betrayed by our own men." " The sentinel has been relieved, and is now in irons," resumed the communicator of this startling piece of intelligence. It was the adju- tant of the regiment. " Away, gentlemen, to your posts imme- diately," said Captain Blessington, who, aided by De Haldimar, hastened to deposit the stiffen- D 3 54 ■J 1^ '' f WACOUSTA. ing body of the unfortunate Murphy, which they still supported, upon the rampart. Then addressing the adjutant, " Mr. Lawson, let a couple of files be sent immediately to remove the body of their officer." " That shot which I heard from the common, as I approached, was not fired at random, then, I find," observed the adjutant, as they all now hastily descended to join their men. — « Who has fallen ?" '< Murphy, of the grenadiers," was the reply of one near him. " Poor fellow ! our work commences badly," resumed Mr. Lawson : « Murphy killed, and Captain de Haldimar missing. We had few officers enough to spare before, and their loss will be severely felt; I greatly fear, too, these casualties may have a tendency to discourage the men." " Nothing more easy than to supply their place, by promoting some of our oldest ser- geants," observed Ensign Delme, who, as well as the ill-fated Murphy, had risen from the WACOUSTA. 55 ranks. " If they behave themselves well, the King will confirm their appointments." " But my poor brother, what of him,Lawson? what have you learnt connected with his dis- appearance?" asked Charles de Haldimar with deep emotion. « Nothing satisfactory, I am sorry to say," returned the adjutant ; *' In fact, the whole affair is a mystery which no one can unravel ; even at this moment the ser inel, Frank Halloway, who is strongly suspected of being privy to his disappearance, is undergoing a private examin- ation by your father the governor." " Frank Halloway ! " repeated the youth with a start of astonishment ; ** surely Halloway could never prove a traitor, — and especially to my brother, whose life he once saved at the peril of his own." The officers had now gained the parade, when the " Fall in, gentlemen, fall in," quickly pronounced by Major Blackwater, prevented all further questioning on the part of the younger De Haldimar. The scene, though circumscribed in limit, D 4f 56 WACOUSTA. was picturesque in effect, and might have been happily illustrated by the pencil of the painter. The immediate area of the parade was filled with armed men, distributed into three divisions, and forming, with their respective ranks facing out- wards, as many sides of a hollow square, the mode of defence invariably adopted by the Go- vernor in all cases of sudden alarm. The vacant space, which communicated with the powder magazine, was left open to the move- ments of three three-pounders, which were to support each face in the event of its being broken by numbers. Close to these, and within the square, stood the number of gunners neces- sary to the duty of the field-pieces, each of which was commanded by a bombardier. At the foot of the ramparts, outside the square, and immediately opposite to their several embra- sures, were stationed the gunners required for the batteries, under a non-commissioned officer also, and the whole under the direction of a superior officer of that arm, who now walked to and fro, conversing in a low voice with Major Blackwater. One gunner at each of these divi- WACOUSTA. 57 sions of the artillery held in his hand a blazing torch, reflecting with picturesque yet gloomy effect the bright bayonets and equipment of the soldiers, and the anxious countenances of the women and invalids, who, bending eagerly through the windows of the surrounding bar- racks, appeared to await the issue of these preparations with an anxiety increased by the very consciousness of having no other parts than those of spectators to play in the scene that was momentarily expected. In a few minutes from the falling in of the officers with their respective companies, the clank of irons was heard in the direction of the guard-room, and several forms were seen slowly advancing into the area already occupied as we have described. This party was preceded by the Adjutant Lawson, who, advancing towards Major Blackwater, communicated a message, that was followed by the command of the latter officer for the three divisions to face inwards. The officer of artillery also gave the word to his men to form lines of single files immediately in the rear of their respective guns, D 5 58 WACOUSTA, ' ! .'If! il : ',f r Ui n leaving space enough for the entrance of the approaching party, which consisted of half a dozen files of the guard, under a non-commis- sioned officer, and one whose manacled limbs, rather than his unaccoutred uniform, attested him to be not merely a prisoner, but a prisoner confined for some serious and flagrant offence. This party now advanced through the vacant quarter of the square, and took their stations immediately in the centre. Here the counte- nances of each, and particularly that of the pri- soner, who was, if we may so term it, the centre of that centre, were thrown into strong relief by the bright glare of the torches as they were occasionally waved in air, to disencum- ber them of their dross, so that the features of the prisoner stood revealed to those around as plainly as if it had been noonday. Not a sound, not a murmur, escaped from the ranks : but, though the etiquette and strict laws of mi- litary discipline chamed all speech, the workings of the inward mind remained unchecked ; and as they recognised in the prisoner Frank Hal- loway, one of the bravest and boldest in the 1 ; !'i WACOUSTA. 59 field, and, as all had hitherto imagined, one of the most devoted to his duty, an irrepressible thrill of amazement and dismay crept through- out the frames, and for a moment blanched the cheeks of those especially who belonged to the same company. On being summoned from their fruitless search after the stranger, to fall in without delay, it had been whispered among the men that treason had crept into the fort, and a traitor, partly detected in his crime, had been arrested and thrown into irons ; but the idea of Frank Halloway being that traitor was the last that could have entered into their thoughts, and yet they now beheld him covered with every mark of ignominy, and about to answer his high offence, in all human proba- bility, with his life. With the officers the reputation of Halloway for courage and fidelity stood no less high ; but, while they secretly lamented the circumstance of his defalcation, they could not disguise from themselves the almost certainty of his guilt, for each, as he now gazed upon the prisoner, recol- lected the confusion and hesitation of manner D 6 60 WACOUSTA. I'l [ :.• m he had evinced when questioned by them pre- paratory to their ascending to the ramparts. Once more the suspense of the moment was interrupted by the entrance of other forms into the area. They were those of the Adjutant, followed by a drummer, bearing his instrument, and the Governor's orderly, charged with pens, ink, paper, and a book which, from its pecu- liar form and colour, every one present knew to be a copy of the Articles of War. A va- riety of contending emotions passed through the breasts of many, as they witnessed the silent progress of these preparations, rendered pain- fully interesting by the peculiarity of their position, and the wildness of the hour at which they thus found themselves assembled together. The prisoner himself was unmoved : he stood proud, calm, and fearless amid the guard, of whom he had so recently formed one ; and though his countenance was pale, as much, perhaps, from a sense of the ignominious cha- racter in which he appeared as from more private considerations, still there was nothing to denote either the abjectness of fear or the II I WACOUSTA, 61 consciousness of merited disgrace. Once or twice a low sobbing, that proceeded at intervals from one of the barrack windows, caught his ear, and he turned his glance in that direction with a restless anxiety, which he exerted him- self in the instant afterwards to repress ; but this was the only mark of emotion he betrayed. . The above dispositions having been hastily made, the adjutant and his assistants once more retired. After the lapse of a minute, a tall martial-looking man, habited in a blue military frock, and of handsome, though stern, haughty, and inflexible features, entered the area. He was followed by Major Blackwater, the captain of artillery, and Adjutant Lawson. " Are the garrison all present, Mr. Lawson ? are the officers all present?" " All except those of the guard, sir," replied the Adjutant, touching his hat with a submission that was scrupulously exacted on all occasions of duty by his superior. The Governor passed his hand for a moment over his brows. It seemed to those around him as if the mention of that guard had called up 62 WACOU8TA. recollections which gave him pain ; and it might be so, for his eldest son, Captain Frederick de Haldimar, had commanded the guard. Whither he had disappeared, or in what manner, no one knew. " Are the artillery all present. Captain Went- worth ?» again demanded the Governor, after a moment of silence, and in his wonted firm authoritative voice. " AH present, sir," rejoined the officer, fol- lowmg the example of the Adjutant, and saluting his chief. ^ " Then let a drum-head court-martial be assembled immediately, Mr. Lawson, and with- out reference to the roster let the senior officers be selected." The Adjutant went round to the respective ^visions, and in a low voice warned Captain Blessington, and the four senior subalterns, for that duty. One by one the officers, as they were severally called upon, left their places in the square, and sheathing their sword., stepped into that part of the area appointed as their temporary court. They were now all assembled. WACOUSTA. 6S and Captain Blessington, the senior of Ins rank in the garrison, was preparing to administer the customary oaths, when the prisoner Halloway advanced a pace or two in front of his escort, and removing his cap, in a clear, firm, but re- spectful voice, thus addressed the Governor : — " Colonel de Haldimar, that I am no traitor, as I have already told you, the Almighty God, before whom I swore allegiance to his Majesty, can bear me witness. Appearances, I own, are against me ; but, so far from being a traitor, I would have shed my last drop of blood in defence of the garrison and your family. — Colonel de Haldimar," he pursued, after a mo- mentary pause, in which he seemed to be strug- gling to subdue the emotion which rose, despite of himself, to his throat, " I repeat, I am no traitor, and I scorn the imputation — but here is my best answer to the charge. This wound, (and he unbuttoned his jacket, opened his shirt, and disclosed a deep scar upon his white chest,) this wound I received in defence of my cap- tain's life at Quebec. Had I not loved him, I should not so have exposed myself, neither 64. WA CO USTA. n but for that should I now stand in the situation of shame and danger, in which my comrades behold me." Every heart was touched by this appeal — this bold and manly appeal to the consideration of the Governor. The officers, especially, who were fully conversant with the general merit of Halloway, were deeply affe-^ted, and Charles de Kaldimar-the young, the generous, the feeling Charles de Haldimar, - even shed tears. " What mean you, prisoner?" interrogated the Governor, after a short pause, during which he appeared to be weighing and deducing in- ferences from the expressions just uttered. « What mean you, by stating, but for thai (alluding to your regard for Captain de Haldi- mar) you would not now be in this situation of shame and danger ? " The prisoner hesitated a moment ; and then rejoined, but in a tone that had less of firmness in it than before, - « Colonel de Haldimar, I am not at liberty to state my meaning; for, though a private soldier, I respect my word, and have pledged myself to secrecy." WACOUSTA. 65 " You respect your word, and have pledged yourself to secrecy ! What mean you, man, by this rhodomontade ? To whom can you have pledged yourself, and for what, unless it be to some secret enemy without the walls ? Gentle- men, proceed to your duty : it is evident that the man is a traitor, even from his own admis- sion. — On my life," he pursued, more hur- riedly, and speaking in an under tone, as if to himself, " the fellow has been bribed by, and is connected with ." The name escaped not his lips ; for, aware of the emotion he was betraying, he suddenly checked himself, and assumed his wonted stern and authoritative bearing. Once more the prisoner addressed the Go- vernor in the same clear firm voice in which he had opened his appeal. " Colonel de Haldimar, I have no con- nection with any living soul without the fort ; and again I repeat, I am no traitor, but a true and loyal British soldier, as my services in this war, and my comrades, can well attest. StiL> I seek not to shun that death which I have braved i ^^ WACOUSTA. a dozen times at least in the regiment. AU that I ask is, that I may not be tried- that I may not have the shame of hearing sentence pronounced against me yets but if nothmg should occur before eight o'clock to vmdicate my character from this disgrace I Will offer up no further prayer for mercy. In the name of that life, therefore, which I once preserved to Captain de Haldimar, at the price of my own blood, I entreat a respite from trial until then." " In the name of God and all his angels, let mercy reach your soul, and grant his prayer 1" Every ear was startled - every heart touched by the plaintive, melancholy, silver tones of the vou^e that faintly pronounced the last appeal, and all recognised it for that of the young, inter- estmg, and attached wife of the prisoner. Again the latter turned his gaze towards the window whence the sounds proceeded, and by the glare of the torches a tear was distinctly seen by many coursing down his manly cheek. The weakness was momentary. In the next instant he closed his shirt and coat, and resuming his .- ..TUniiTiViaw ^M WACOUSTA. 67 cap, stepped back once more amid his guard, where he remained stationary, with the air of one who, having nothing further to hope, has resolved to endure the worst that can happen with resignation and fortitude. After the lapse of a few moments, again de- voted to much apparent deep thought and conjecture, the Governor once more, and rather hurriedly, resumed, — " In the event, prisoner, of this delay in your trial being granted, will you pledge yourself to disclose the secret to which you have alluded ? Recollect, there is nothing but that which can save your memory from being consigned to infamy for ever; for who, among your com- rades, will believe the idle denial of your treachery, when there is the most direct proof against you ? If your secret die with you, more- over, every honest man will consider.it as hav- ing been one so infamous and injurious to your character, that you were ashamed to reveal it." These suggestions of the Colonel were not without their effect ; for, in the sudden swelling of the prisoner's chest, as allusion was made to 68 V/ACOUSTA. the disgrace that would attach to his memory, there was evidence of a high and generous spirit, to whom obloquy was far more hateful than even death itself. « I do promise," he at length replied, step- ping forward, and uncovering himself as before, -- " if no one appear to justify my conduct at the hour I have named, a full disclosure of all I know touching this affair shall be made. And may God, of his infinite mercjr, grant, for Captain de Haldimar's sake, as well as mine, I may not then be wholly deserted ! " There was something so peculiarl;. solemn and impressive in the manner in which the un- happy man now expressed himself, that a feeling of tlie utmost awe crept into the bosoms of the surrounding throng ; and more than one veteran of the grenadiers, the company to which Hal- loway belonged, was heard to relieve his chest of the long pent-up sigh that struggled for release. « Enough, prisoner," rejoined the Governor; "on this condition do I grant your request;' but recollect, — your disclosure ensures no l:1i WACOUSTA. 69 hope of pardon, unless, indeed, you have the fullest proof to offer in your defence. Do you perfectly understand me ? " " I do," replied the soldier firmly; and again he placed his cap on his head, and retired a step or two back among the guard. " Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be removed, and conducted to one of the private cells. Who is the subaltern of the guard ? " " Ensign Fortescue," was the answer. " Then let Ensign Fortescue keep the key of the cell himself. Tell him, moreover, I shall hold him individually responsible for his charge." Once more the prisoner was marched out of the area; and, as the clanking sound of his chains became gradually fainter in the distance, the same voice that had before interrupted the proceedings, pronounced a " God be praised ! — God be praised ! " with such melody of sorrow- in its intonations that no one could listen to it unmoved. Both officers and men were more or less affected, and all hoped — they scarcely knew why or what — but all hoped something 70 WACOUSTA. ;) I ' ; ( favourable would occur to save the life of the brave and unhappy Frank Halloway. Of the first interruption by the wife of the prisoner the Governor had taken no notice ; but on this repetition of the expression of her feel- ings he briefly summoned, in the absence of the Adjutant, the sergeant-major of the regiment to his side. " Sergeant-major Bletson, I desire that, in future, on all occasions of this kind, the women of the regiment may be kept out of the way. Look to it, sir !" The sergeant-major, who had stood erect as his own halbert, which he held before him in a saluting position, during this brief admonition of his colonel, acknowledged, by a certain air of deferential respect and dropping of the eyes, unaccompanied by speech of any kind, that he felt the reproof, and would, in future, take care to avoid all similar cause for complaint. He then stalked stiffly away, and resumed, in a few hasty strides, his position in rear of the troops. " Hard-hearted man ! " pursued the same WAC0U8TA. 71 of the of the ;e; but er feel- j of the nent to hat, in women le way. ;rect as im in a lonition n air of e eyes, that he ke care t. He if in a of the e same voice : " if my prayers of gratitude to Heaven give oiFence, may the hour never come when my lips shall pronounce their bitterest curse upon your severity ! " There was something so painfully wild — so solemnly prophetic — in these sounds of sorrow as they fell faintly upon the ear, and especially under the extraordinary circumstances of the night, that they might have been taken for the warnings of sonie supernatural agency. During their utterance, not even the breathing of human life was to be heard in the ranks. In the next instant, however, Sergeant-major Bletson was seen repairing, with long and hasty strides, to the barrack whence the voice proceeded, and the interruption was heard no more. Meanwhile the officers, who had been sum- moned from the ranks for the purpose of forming the court-martial, still lingered in the centre of the square, apparently waiting for the order of their superior, before they should resume their respective stations. As the quick and compre- hensive glance of Colonel de Haldimar now embraced the group, he at once became sensible 72 WACOUSTA. of the absence of one of the seniors, all of whom he had desired should be selected for the court- martial. " Mr. Lawson," he remarked, somewhat sternly, as the Adjutant now returned from delivering over his prisoner to Ensign Fortescue, " I thought I understood from your report the officers were all present !" " I believe, sir, my report will be found perfectly correct," returned the Adjutant, in a tone which, without being disrespectful, marked his offended sense of the implication. " And Lieutenant Murphy " " Is here, sir," said the Adjutant, pointing to a couple of files of the guard, who were bearing a heavy burden, and following into the square. " Lieutenant Murphy," he pursued, «< has been shot on the ramparts ; and I have, as directed by Captain Blessington, caused the body to be brought here, that I may receive your orders respecting the interment." As he spoke, he removed a long military grey cloak, which completely enshrouded the corpse, and disclosed, by the light of the still brightly flaming torches WACOUSTA. 73 of the gunners, the features of the unfortunate Murphy. " How did he meet his death ? " enquired the governor ; without, however, manifesting the slightest surprise, or a})pcaring at all moved at the discovery. " By a rifle shot fired from the common, near the old bomb proof," observed Captain Blessington, as the adjutant looked to him for the particular explanation he could not render himself. " Ah ! this reminds me," pursued the austere commandant, — " there was a shot fired also from the ramparts. By whom, and at what ? " " By me, sir," said Lieutenant Valletort, coming forward from the ranks, " and at what I conceived to be an Indian, lurking as a spy upon the common." " Then, Lieutenant Sir Everard Valletort, no repetition of these firings, if you please; and let it be borne in mind by all, that although, from the peculiar nature of the service in which we are engaged, I so far depart from the esta- blished regulations of the army as to permit VOL. I. E (.1 ' i 74 WACOUSTA. my officers to arm themseive-i with rifles, they are to be used only as occasion may require in the hour of conflict, and not for the purpose of throwing a whole garrison into alarm by trials of skill and dexterity upon shadows at diis un- seasonable hour." " I was not aware, sir," returned Sir Everard proudly, and secretly galled at being thus ad- dressed before the men, " it could be deemed a military crime to destroy an enemy at what- ever hour he might present himself, and espe- cially on such an occasion as the present. As for my firing at a shadow, those who heard the yell that followed the second shot, can deter- mine that it came from no shadow, but from a fierce and vindictive enemy. The crv denoted even something more than the ordinary defiance of an Indian : it seemed to express a fiendish sentiment of personal triumph and revenge." The governor started involuntarily. « Do you imagine, Sir Everard Valletort, the aim of your rifle was true — that you hit him ?" This question was asked so hurriedly, and in a lone so different from that in which he had WACOUSTA. 75 hitherto spoken, that the officers around simul- taneously raised their eyes to those of their colonel with an expression of undissembled surprise. He observed it, and instantly re- sumed his habitual sternness of look and manner. " I rather fear not, sir," replied Sir Everard, who had principally remarked the emotion ; " but may I hope (and this was said with em- phasis), in the evident disappointment you ex- perience at my want of success, my offence may be overlooked ? " The governor fixed his penetrating eyes on the speaker, as if he would have read his in- most mind ; and then calmly, and even impres- sively, observed, — " Sir Everard Valletort, I do overlook the offence, and hope you may as easily forgive yourself. It were well, however, that your in- discretion, which can only find its excuse in your being so young an officer, had not been altogether without some good result. Had you killed or disabled the — the savagie, there might have been a decent palliative offered ; but what E 2 76 U'ACOUSTA. must be your feelln^rs, sir, when you reflect, the death or yon officer," and he pointed to the corpse of the unhappy Murphy, « is, in a great degree, attributable to yourself? Had you not provoked tlie anger of the savage, and given a direction to his aim by the impotent and wanton discharge of your own rifle, this accident would never have liappened." This severe reproving of an officer, who had acted from the most praiseworthy of motives, and who could not possibly have anticipated the unfortunate catastrophe that had occurred, was considered especially harsh and unkind by everyone present; and a low and almost in- audible murmur passed through the company to which Sir Everard was attaclied. For a mi- nute or two that officer also appeared deeply pained, not more from the reproof itself than from the new light in which the observation of his chief had taught him to view, for the first time, the causes that had led to the fall of Murphy. Finding, however, that the governor had no further remark to address to him, lie once more returned to his station in the ranks. WACOUdTA. 77 " Mr. Lawson," resumed the commandunt, turning to the adjutant, " let this victim be carried to the spot on which he fell, and there in- terred. I know no better grave for a soldier than beneath the sod that has been moistened with his blood. Recollect," he continued, as the adjutant once more led the party out of the area, — "no firing, Mr. Lawson. The duty must be silently performed, and without the risk of provoking a forest of arrows, or a shower of bullets from the savages. Major Black- water," he pur^uedj as soon as tlie corpse had been removed, " let the men pile their arms even as they now stand, and remain ready to fall in at a minute's notice. Should any thing extraordinary happen before the morning, you will, of course, apprise me." He then strode out of the area M'ith the same haughty and measured step that had characterised his entrance. " Our colonel does not appear to be in one of his most amiable moods to-night," observed Captain Blessington, as the officers, after having disposed of their respective companies, now proceeded along the ramparts to assist at the E 3 ( 78 WACOUSTA. last funeral offices of their unhappy associate. " He was disposed to be severe, and must have put you, in some measure, out of conceit with your favourite rifle, Valletort." " True," rejoined the Baronet, who had already rallied from the momentary depression of his spirits, « he hit me devilish hard, I confess, and was disposed to display more of the commanding officer than quite suits my ideas of the service. His words were as caustic as his looks ; and could both have pierced me to the quick, there was no inclination on his part wanting. By my soul I could but I forgive him. He is the father of my friend : and for that reason will I chew the cud of my mortification, nor suffer, if possible, a sense of Ins unkindness to rankle at my heart. At all events, Blessington, my mind is made up, and resign or exchange I certainly shall the in- stant I can find a decent loop-hole to creen out of." ^ Sir Everard fancied the ear of his cantain was alone listening to these expressions of his feeling, or in all probability he would not have WACOUSTA. 79 Uttered them. As he concluded the last sen- tence, however, he felt his arm gently grasped by one who walked a pace or two silently in their rear. He turned, and recognised Charles de Haldimar. « I am sure, Valletort, you will believe how much pained I have been at the severity of my father ; but, indeed, there was nothing person- ally offensive intended. Blessington can tell you as well as myself it is his manner altogether. Nay, that although he is the first in seniority after Blackwrxter, the governor treats him with the same distance and hauteur he would use towards the youngest ensign in the service. Such are the effects of his long military habits, and his ideas of the absolutism of command. Am I not right, Blessington ?" « Quite right, Charles. Sir Everard may satisfy himself his is no solitary instance of the stern severity of your father. Still, I confess, notwithstanding the rigidity of maimer which he seems, on all occasions, to think so indis- pensable to the maintenance of authority in a E 4 m i 111' 80 WACOUSTA. commanding officer, I never knew him so in- clined to find fault as he is to-night." " Perhaps," observed Valletort, good hu- ■nouredly, "his eonseienee is rather restless; ""'i lie ,s willing to get rid of it and his spleen together. I would wager my rifle against the worthless scalp of the rascal I fired ai to-night that this same stranger, whose asserted appear^ aiice has called us from our comfortable beds, 1^ but the creation of his disturbed dreams. Indeed, how is it possible any thing formed of Hesh and blood could have escaped us with the vigilant watch that has been kept on the ram- parts? Tlie old gentleman certainly had that Illusion strongly impressed on his mind when I'e so sapiently spoke of my firing at a shadow." "But the gate," interrupted Charles de Haldimar, with something of mild reproach in ''" '™«^'-"yo« forget, Valletort, the gate was found unlocked, and that my brother is niissmg. He, at least, was fle.h and blood, as - you say, and yet he has disappeared. What more probable, therefore, than that this stranger ' WACOUSTA. 81 n- u- s; in le t. is at once the cause and the agent of his abduc- tion?" " Impossible, Charles," observed Captahi Blessington ; " Frederick was in the midst of his guard. How, therefore, could he be con- veyed away without the alarm being given? Numbers only could have succeeded in so desperate an enterprise; and yet there is no evidence, or even suspicion, of more than one individual having been here." « It is a singular affair altogether," returned Sir Everard, musingly. " Of two things, how- ever, I am satisfied. The first is, that the stranger, whoever he may be, and if he really has been here, is no Indian ; the second, that he is personally known to the governor, who has been, or I mistake much, more alarmed at his individual presence than if Ponteac and his whole band had suddenly broken in upon us. Did you remark his emotion, when I dwelt on the peculiar character of personal triumph and revenge which the cry of the lurking villain outside seemed to express ? and did you notice the eagerness with which he encjuired if I £ 5 82 WACOUSTA. thought I had hit him ? Depend upon it, there « more in all this than is dreamt of in our philosophy." " And it was your undisguised perception of that emotion," remarked Captain Blessington, « that drew down his severity upon your own head. It was, however, too palpable not to be noticed by all; and I dare say conjectr . is as busily and as vaguely at work among our com- panions as it is with us. The clue to the mystery, in a great degree, now dwells with Frank Halloway; and to him we must look for Its elucidation. His disclosure will be one, I apprehend, full of ignominy to himself, but of the highest interest and importance to us all. And yet I know not how to believe the man the traitor he appears." " Bid you remark that la.v harrowing ex- clamation of his wife?" observed Charles de Hal- dunar, in a tone of unspeakable melancholy. "How fearfully prophetic it sounded in my ears. I know not how it is," he pursued, « but I wish I had not heard those sounds; for since that moment I have had a sad strange presentiment m WACOITSTA. 83 of evil at my heart. Heaven grant my poor bro- ther may make his appearance, as I still trust he will, at the hour Halloway seems to expect, for if not, the latter most assuredly dies. I know my father well ; and, if convicted by a court martial, no human power can alter the destiny that awaits Frank Halloway." " Rally, my dear Charles, rally," said Sir Everard, affecting a confidence he did not feel himself; " indulge not in these idle and super- stitious fancies. I pity Halloway from my soul, and feel the deepest interest in his pretty and unhappy wife ; but that is no reason why one should attach importance to the incoherent expressions wrung from her in the agony of grief." « It is kind of you, Valletort, to endeavour to cheer my spirits, when, if the truth were confessed, you acknowledge the influence of the same feelings. I thank you for the attempt, but time alone can show how far I shall have reason, or otherwise, to lament the occurrences of this night." They had now reached that part of the £ 6 i 84 VVACOUSTA. •aiiiparts whence the shot from Sir Everard»s lifle had been fired. Several men were occu- pied in digging a grave in the precise spot on which the unfortunate Murphy had stood when he received his death-woand; and into this, when completed, the body, enshrouded in the cloak already alluded to, was deposited by his companions. WACOUSTA. 65 CHAPTER IV. While the adjutant was yet reading, in a low and solemn voice, the service for the dead, a fierce and distant yell, as if from a legion of devils, burst suddenly from the forest, and brought the hands of the startLd officers in- stinctively to their swords. This appalling cry lasted, without interruption, for many minutes, and was then as abruptly checked as it had been unexpectedly delivered, A considerable pause succeeded, and then again it rose with even more startling vehemence than before. By one unaccustomed to those devilish sounds, no distinction could have been made in the two several yells that had been thus savagely pealed forth ; but those to whom practice and long experience in the warlike habits and customs of the Indians had rendered their shouts familiar, at once divined, or fancied they divined, the cause. The first was, to their conception, a II m 86 WACOUSTA. yell expressive at once of vengeance and dis- appointment in pursuit, — perhaps of some prisoner who had escaped from their toils; the second, of triumph and success, - in all probability, indicative of the recapture of that prisoner. For many minutes afterwards the officers continued to listen, with the most aching attention, for a repetition of the cry, or even fainter sounds, that might denote either a nearer approach to the fort, or the final de- parture of the Indians. After the second yell, however, the woods, in the heart of which it appeared to have been uttered, were buried in as profound a silence as if they had never yet echoed back the voice of man j and all at length became satisfied that the Indians, having ac- complished some particular purpose, had" re- tired once more to their distant encampments for the night. Captain Erskine was the first who broke the almost breathless silence that prevailed among themselves. « On my life De Haldimar is a prisoner with the Indians. He has been attempting his escape, -has been detected, - followed, and WACOUSTA. 87 again fallen into their hands. I know their in- fernal yells but too well. The last expressed their savage joy at the capture of a prisoner ; and there is no one of us missing but De Haldimar." « Not a doubt of it," said Captain Blessington; " the cry was certainly what you describe it, and Heaven only knows what will be the fate of our poor friend." No other officer spoke, for all were oppressed by the weight of their own feelings, and sought rather to give indulgence to speculation in secret, than to share their impressions with their companions. Charles de Haldimar stood a little in the rear, leaning his head upon his hand against the box of the sentry, (who was silently, though anxiously, pacing his walk,) and in an attitude expressive of the deepest dejec- tion and sorrow. « I suppose I must finish Lawson's work, although I am but a poor hand at this sort of thing," resumed Captain Erskine, taking up the prayer book the adjutant had, in hastening on the first alarm to get the men under arms, I % .lir fij ' • /^. 88 WACOUSTA. ! f carelessly thrown on the grave of the now un- conscious Murphy. He then commenced the service at the point where Mr. Lawson had so abruptly broken off, and went through the remainder of the prayers. A very few minutes sufficed for the performance of this solemn duty, which was effected by the faint dim light of the at length dawning day, and the men in attendance proceeded to fill up the grave of their officer. Gradually the mists, that had fallen during the latter hours of the night, began to ascend from the common, and disperse themselves in air, conveying the appearance of a rolling sheet of vapour retiring back upon itself, and dis- closing objects in succession, until the eye could embrace all that came within its extent of vision. As the officers yet lingered near the rude grave of their companion, watching with abstracted air the languid and almost mechanical action of their jaded men, as they emptied shovel after shovel of the damp earth over the body of its new tenant, they were suddenly startled by an # WACOUSTA. 89 expression of exultation from Sir Everard Valletort. " By Jupiter, I have pinked him," he ex- claimed triumphantly. " I knew my rifle could not err ; and as for my sight, I have carried away too many prizes in target-shooting to have been deceived in that. How delighted the old governor will be, Charles, to hear this. No more lecturing, I am sure, for the next six months at least ;" and the young officer rubbed his hands together, at the success of his «hot, with as much satisfaction and unconcern for the future, as if he had been in his own native England, in the midst of a prize-ring. Roused by the observation of his friend, De Haldimar quitted his position near the sentry box, and advanced to the outer edge of the rampart. To him, as to his companions, the outline of the old bomb proof was now distinctly visible, but it was sometime before they could discover, in the direction in which Valletort pointed, a dark speck upon the com- mon ; and this so indistinctly, they could scarcely distinguish it with the naked eye. s.a. or\t>^S. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ISIIiil- IIIM ■? ill m,^r. I.I lU »- Im III 2.2 1.8 1.25 1.4 J4 « 6" — ► V] <^ /] ^> c^ ■i^^ '^ 0?^ ^"^ ii 120 WACOUSTA. wlien they had his scalp already in dieir pouch- belts." " What a set of ])ratiiig fools ye are," in- terrupted the leading sergeant ; *' who ever saw an Ingian with light hair? and sure this hair in the neck is that of a Christian." At that moment Captain Erskine, attracted by the sudden halt produced by the falling of the body, came quickly up to the front. " What is the meaning of all this, Cassidy ?" he sternly demanded of the sergeant ; " why is this halt without my orders, and how comes the body here?" " Carter stumbled against a root, sir, and the body rolled over upon the ground." "And was the body to roll back again?" angrily rejoined his captain. — " What mean ye, fellows, by standing there; quick, replace it upon the litter, and mind this does not occur again." ** They say, sir," said the sergeant, respect- fully, as the men proceeded to their duty, "that it is not Captain de Haldimar after all, but an Ingian." WACOUSTA. ]2I *' Not Captain de Kaldimar ! are ye all mad ? and have the Indians, in reality, turned your brains with fear ?" What, however, was his own surprise, and that of Lieutenant Johnstone, when, on a closer examination of the corpse, which the men had now placed with its face uppermost, they dis- covered the bewildering fact that it was not, indeed, Captain de Haldimar who lay before them, but a stranger, dressed in the uniform of that officer. There was no time to solve, or even to dwell on the singular mystery; for the Indians, though now retired, might be expected to rally and renew the attack. Once more, therefore, the detachment moved forward; the officers dropping as before to the rear, to watch any movements of the enemy should he re-appear. Nodiing, however, occurred to interrupt their march ; and in a few minutes the heavy clank- ing sound of the chains of the drawbridge, as it was again raised by its strong pullies, and the dull creaking sound of the rusty bolts and locks that secured the ponderous gate, an- VOL. I. Q 122 WACOUSTA. nounced the detacliment was once more safely within the fort. While the wounded men were being con- veyed to the hospital, a group, comprising almost all the officers of the garrison, hastened to meet Captain Erskine and Lieutenant John- stone. Congratulations on the escape of the one, and compliments, rather than condolences, on the accident of the other, which the arm eti hharpe denoted to be slight, were hastily and warmly proffered. These felicitations were the genuine ebullitions of the hearts of men who really felt a pride, unmixed with jealousy, in the conduct of their fellows ; and so cool and excellent had been the manner in which Captain Erskine had accomplished his object, that it had clamied the undivided ad- miration of all who had been spectators of the affair, and had, with the aid of their telescopes, been enabled to follow the minutest movements of the detachment. " By heaven ! " he at length replied, his chest swelling with gratified pride at the warm and generous approval of his companions, "this WACOUSTA. 123 more than repays me for every risk. Yet, to be sincere, the credit is not mine, but Went- worth's. But for you, my dear fellow," grasp- ing and shaking the hand of that officer, " we should have rendered but a Flemish account of ourselves. How beautifully those guns covered our retreat ! and the first mortar that sent the howling devils flying in air like so many Will-o'the-wisps, who placed that, Went- worth ?" " I did," replied the officer, with a quickness that denoted a natural feeling of exultation; " but Bombardier Kitson's was the most effec- tive. It was his shell that drove the Indians finally out of the bomb-proof, and left the coast clear for your retreat." " Then Kitson, and his gunners also, merit our best thanks," pursued Captain Erskine, whose spirits, now that his detachment was in safety, were more than usually exhilarated by the exciting events of the last hour; "and what will be more acceptable, perhaps, they shall each have a glass of my best old Jamaica before they sleep, — and such stuff is not to be a 2 I, 1 - I in 'i •! In il ' H I I! IS 1 ^ 146 WACOUSTA. heart, « I saved the life of your son, even by your own admission, no matter whose the arm that threatened his existence; and in every other action in which I have been engaged, honourable mention has ever been made of my conduct. Now, Sir, I ask what has been my reward ? So far from attending to the repeated recommendations of my captain for promotion, even in a subordinate rank, have you once deemed it necessary to acknowledge my ser- vices by even a recognition of them in any way whatever?" "Mr. President, Captain Blessington," in- terrupted the governor, haughtily, " are we met here to listen to such language from a private soldier? You will do well. Sir, to exercise your prerogative, and stay such im- pertinent matter, which can have no reference whatever to the defence of the prisoner." " Prisoner," resumed the president, who, as well as the other members of the court, had listened with the most profound and absorbing interest to the singular disclosure of him whom they still only knew as Frank Halloway, « this WACOUSTA. 147 language cannot be permitted ; you must con- fine yourself to your defence." "Pardon me, gentlemen," returned Hal- loway, in his usual firm but respectful tone of voice i "pardon me, if, standing on the brink of the grave as I do, I have so far forgotten the rules of military discipline as to sink for a moment the soldier in the gentleman ; but to be taxed with an unworthy fabrication, and to be treated with contumely when avowing the secret of my condition, was more than human pride and human feeling could tolerate." *' Confine yourself, prisoner, to your de- fence," again remarked Captain Blessington, perceiving the restlessness with which the governor listened to these bold and additional observations of Halloway. Again the governor interposed : — " What possible connexion can there be between this man's life, and the crime with which he stands charged? Captain Blessington, this is trifling with the court, who are assembled to try the prisoner for his treason, and not to waste their H 2 s«e^l us WACOUSTA. 1% time in listening to a history utterly foreign to the subject." " The history of my past life — Colonel de Haldimar," proudly returned the prisoner, *« although tedious and uninteresting to you, is of the utmost importance to myself; for on that do I ground the most essential part of my defence. There is nothing but circumstantial evidence against me on the two first charges ; and as those alone can reflect dishonour on my memory, it is for the wisdom of this court to determine whether that evidence is to be credited in opposition to the solemn declara- tion of him, who, in admitting one charge, equally affecting his life with the others, re- pudiates as foul those only which would attaint his honour. Gentlemen," he pursued, address- ing the court, "it is for you to determine whether my defence is to be continued or not; yet, whatever be my fate, I would fain remove all injurious impression from the minds of my judges ; and this can only be done by a simple detail of circumstances, which may, by the un- prejudiced, be as simply believed." WACOUSTA. 149 Here the prisoner paused : when, after some low and earnest conversation among the mem- bers of the court, two or three slips of written paper were passed to the President. He glanced his eye hurriedly over them, and then directed Halloway to proceed with his defence. "I have stated," pursued the interesting soldier, "that the officer who led the band of Indians was a man of gigantic stature, and of apparently great strength. T>.y attention was particularly directed to him from this cir- cumstance, and as I was on the extreme flank of the grenadiers, and close to Captain de Haldimar, had every opportunity of observ- ing his movements principally pointed at that officer. He first discharged a carbine, the ball of which killed a man of the company at his (Captain de Haldimar's) side; and then, with evident rage at having been defeated in his aim, he took a pistol from his belt, and advancing with rapid strides to within a few paces of his intended victim, presented it in the most deliberate manner. At that moment, gentlemen, (and it was but the work of a H 3 * 150 WACOUSTA. moment,) a thousand confused and almost in- explicable feelings rose to my heart. The occasion I had long sought was at length within my reach; but even the personal considera- tions, which had hitherto influenced my mind, were sunk in the anxious desire I entertained to preserve the life of an officer so universally beloved, and so every way worthy of the sacrifice. While yet the pistol remained levelled, I sprang before Captain de Haldimar, received the ball in my breast, and had just strength sufficient to fire my musket at this formidable enemy when I sank senseless to the earth, " It will not be difficult for you, gentlemen, who have feeling minds, to understand the plea- surable pride with which, on being conveyed to Captain de Haldimar's own apartments in Quebec, I found myself almost overwhelmed by the touching marks of gratitude showered on me by his amiable relatives. Miss Clara de Haldimar, in particular, like a ministering angel, visited my couch of suffering at almost every hour> and always provided with some little WACOUSTA. 151 delicacy, suitable to my condition, of which I had long since tutored myself to forget even the use. But what principally afforded me pleasure, was to remark the consolations which she tendered to my poor drooping Ellen, who, already more than half subdued by the melan- choly change in our condition in life, frequently, spent hours together in silent grief at the side of my couch, and watching every change in my countenance with all the intense anxiety of one who feels the last stay on earth is about to be severea for ever. Ah ! how I then longed to disclose to this kind and compassionating being the true position of her on whom she la- vished her attention, and to make her known, not as the inferior honored by her notice, but as the equal alike worthy of her friendship and deserving of her esteem j but the wide, wide barrier that divided the wife of the private soldier from the daughter and sister of the com- missioned officer sealed my lips, and our true condition continued unrevealed. " Gentlemen," resumed Halloway, after a short pause, « if I dwell on these circumstances, H 4 iV 153 WACOUSTA. it is witli n view to show how vile are the charges preferred against me. Is it likely, with all the incentives to good conduct I have named, I should have proved a traitor to my country ? And, even if so, what to gain, I vonld ask; and by what means was a corre- s}H)ndence with the enemy to be maintained by one in my humble station ? As for the second charge, how infamous, how injurious is it to my reputation, how unworthy to be entertained ! I'rom the moment of my recovery from that severe wound, every mark of favour that could be bestowed on persons in our situation had been extended to my wife and myself, by the family of Colonel de Haldimar; and my cap- tain, knowing me merely as the simple and low born Frank Halloway, although still the preserver of his life, has been unceasing in his exertions to obtain such promotion as he thought my conduct generally, independently of my de- votedness to his person, might claim. How these applications were met, gentlemen, I have already stated; but notwithstanding Colonel de Haldimar has never deemed me worthy of the promotion. 51 ! WACOUSTA. 153 solicited, that circumstance could in no way weaken my regard and attachment for him who had so often demanded it. How then, in the name of heaven, can a charge so improbable, so extravagant, as that of having been instru- mental in the abduction of Captain dc Hal- dimar, be entertained ? and who is there among you, gentlemen, who will for one moment believe I could harbour a thought so absurd as that of lending myself to the destruction of one for whom I once cheerfully offered up the sacrifice of my blood ? And now," pursued the prisoner, after another short pause, "I come to the third charge, —that charge which most affects my life, but impugns neither my honour nor my fidelity. That God, befbre whom I know I shall shortly appear, can attest the sincerity of my statement, and before him do I now solemnly declare what I am about to relate is true. " Soon after the commencement of my watch last night, I heard a voice distinctly on the outside of the rampart, near my post, calling in a low and subdued tone on the name of Captain de Haldimar. The accents, hastily and anxi- H 5 I: 154 WACOUSTA. ously uttered, were apparently those of a female. For a moment I continued irresolute how to act, and hesitated whether or not I should alarm the garrison ; but, at length, presuming it was some young female of the village with whom my captain was acquainted, it occurred to me the most prudent course would be to apprize that officer himself. While I yet hesitated whether to leave my post for a moment for the purpose, a man crossed the parade a few yards in my front; it was Captain de Haldimar's servant, Donellan, then in the act of carrying some things from his master's apartment to the guard-room. I called to him, to say the sentinel at the gate wished to see the captain of the guard hnmediately. In the course of a few minutes he came up to my post, when I told him what I had heard. At that moment, the voice again repeated his name, when he abruptly left me and turned to the left of the gate, evidently on his way to the ram- part. Soon afterwards I heard Captain de Haldimar immediately above me, sharply call- ing out * Hist, hist ! ' as if the person on the WACOUSTA. 155 outside, despairing of success, was in the act of retreating. A moment or two of silence suc- ceeded, when a low conversation ensued be- tween the parties. The distance was so great I could only distinguish inarticulate sounds; yet it seemed to me as if they spoke not in English, but in the language of the Ottawa Indians, a tongue with which, as you are well aware, gentlemen, Captain de Haldimar is familiar. This had continued about ten minutes, when I again heard footsteps hastily descending the rampart, and moving in the direction of the guard-house. Soon afterwards Captain de Haldimar re-appeared at my post, accompanied by his servant Donellan ; the former had the keys of the gate in his hand, and he told me that he must pass to the skirt of the forest on some business of the last importance to the safety of the garrison. At first I peremptorily refused, stating the severe penalty attached to the infringement of an order, the observation of which had so especially been insisted upon by the governor, whose permission, however, I ventured respect- H 6 156 WACOUSTA. II' fully to urge might, without difliculty, be ob- laiueil, if the business was really of the import- ance he described it. Captain de Haldiniar, liowever, declared he well knew the governor would not accord that permission, unless he was positively acquainted with the nature and ex- tent of the danger to be apprehended ; and of tliese, he. said, he was not himself sufficiently aware. All argument of this nature proving ineffectual, he attempted to enforce his authority, not only in his capacity of officer of the guard, but also as my captain, ordering me, on pain of confinement, not to interfere with or attempt to impede his departure. This, however, pro- duced no better result ; for I knew that, in this instance, I was amenable to the order of the governor alone, and I again firmly refused to violate my duty. " Finding himself thwarted in his attempt to enforce my obedience, Captain de Haldimar, who seemed much agitated and annoyed by what he termed my obstinacy, now descended to entreaty ; and in the name of that life which I had preserved to him, and of that deep WACOUSTA. ''ij 157 gratitude wliich he had ever since borne to me/ conjured me not to prevent his departure! * Halloway,' he urged, *your life, my life, my father's Hfe, -- the life of my sister Clara per- haps, who nursed you in illness, and who has ever treated your wife with attention and kind- ness, - all these depend upon your compliance with my request. Hear me,* he pursued, fol- lowing i,p the impression which lie clearly perceived he had produced in me by this singular and touching language : ' I promise to be back within the hour ; there is no danger attending my departure, and here will I be before you are relieved from your post ; no one can know I have been absent, and your secret will remain with Donellan and myself. Do you think,' he concluded, « I would en- courage a soldier of my regiment to disobey a standing order of the garrison, unless there was some very extraordinary reason for my so doing ? But there is no time to be lost in parley. Halloway ! I entreat you to offer no further opposition to my departure. I pledge myself to be back before you are relieved.* s U I( 158 WACO U ST A. " Gentlemen," impressively continued the prisoner, after a pause, during which each member of the court seemed to breathe for the first time, so deeply had the attention of all been riveted by the latter part of this singular declaration, " how, under these circumstances, could I be expected to act ? Assured by Captain de Haldimar, in the most solemn mauner, that the existence of those most dear to his heart hung on my compliance with his request, how could I refuse to him, whose life I had saved, and whose character I so much esteemed, a boon so earnestly, nay, so im- ploringly solicited ? I acceded to his prayer, intimating, at the same time, if he returned not before another sentinel should relieve me, the discovery of my breach of duty must be made, and my punishment inevitable. His last words, however, were to assure me he should return at the hour he had named, and when I closed the gate upon him it was under the firm impression his absence would only prove of the temporary nature he had stated. — Gentlemen," abruptly concluded Halloway, " I have nothing WACOUSTA. 159 'f I further to add ; if I have failed in my duty as a soldier, I have, at least, fulfilled that of a man ; and although the violation of the first entail upon me the punishment of death, the motives which impelled me to that violation will not, I trust, be utterly lost sight of by those by whom my punishment is to be awarded." The candid, fearless, and manly tone in which Halloway had delivered this long and singular statement, however little the governor appeared to be affected by it, evidently made a deep im- pression on the court, who had listened with undiverted attention to the close. Some con- versation again ensued, in a low tone, among several members, when two slips of written paper were passed up, as before, to the presi- dent. These elicited the following interroga- tories : — " You have stated, prisoner, that Captain de Haldimar left the fort accompanied by his servant Donellan. How were they respectively dressed?" " Captain de Haldimar in his uniform ; Donellan, as far as I could observe, in his 7 Ml i m 1^ 160 WACOUSTA. ^! 'I .vli ■ u regimental clothing also, with this difFerence, that he wore his servant's round glazed hat and his grey great coat." " How then do you account for the ex- traordinary circumstance of Donellan having been found murdered in his master's clothes ? Was any allusioli made to a change of dress before they left the fort ?" " Not the slightest," returned the prisoner ; " nor can I in any way account for this myste- rious fact. When they quitted the garrison, each wore the dress I have described." " In what manner did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan effect their passage across the ditch?" continued the president, after glancing at the second slip of paper. " The draw-bridge was evidently not lowered, and there were no other means at hand to enable him to effect his object with promptitude. How do you explain this, prisoner?" When this question was put, the whole body of officers, and the governor especially, turned their eyes simultaneously on Halloway, for on his hesitation or promptness in replying seemed WACOUSTA. 161 to attach much of the credit they were disposed to accord his statement. Halloway observed it, and coloured. His reply, however, was free, unfaltering, and unstudied. " A rope with which Donellan had provided himself, was secured to one of the iron hooks that support the pullies immediately above the gate. With this they swung themselves in succession to the opposite bank." The members of the court looked at each other, apparently glad that an answer so con- firmatory of the truth of the prisoner's state- ment, had been thus readily given. « Were they to have returned in the same manner?" pursued the president, framhig his interrogatory from the contents of another slip of paper, which, at the suggestion of the go- vernor, had been passed to him by the prose- cutor, Mr. Lawson. " They were," firmly replied the prisoner. " At least I presumed they were, for, I believe in the hurry of Captain de Haldimar's departure, he never once made any direct allusion to the manner of his return ; nor did it occur to me 162 WACOUSTA. I : until this moment how they were to regain pos- session of the rope, without assistance from within." " Of course," observed Colonel de Haldi- mar, addressing the president, " the rope still remains. Mr. Lawson, examine the gate, and report accordingly." The adjutant hastened to acquit himself of this laconic order, and soon afterwards re- turned, stating not only that there was no rope, but that the hook alluded to had disappeared altogether. For a moment the cheek of the prisoner paled ; but it was evidently less from any fear connected with his individual existence, than from the shame he felt at having been detected in a supposed falsehood. He however speedily recovered his self-possession, and exhibited the same character of unconcern by which his general bearing throughout the trial had been distinguished. On this announcement of the adjutant, the governor betrayed a movement of impatience, that was meant to convey his utter disbelief of WACOUSTA. 163 the whole of the prisoner's statement, and his look seemed to express to the court it should also arrive, and without hesitation, at the same conclusion. Even all authoritative as he was, however, he felt that military etiquette and strict discipline prevented his interfering further in this advanced state of the proceedings. " Prisoner," again remarked Captain Bles- sington, « your statement in regard to the means employed by Captain de Haldimar in effecting his departure, is, you must admit, unsupported by appearances. How happens it the rope is no longer where you say it was placed ? No one could have removed it but yourself. Have you done so? and if so, can you produce it, or say where it is to be found?" " Captain Blessington," replied Halloway, proudly, yet respectfully, " I have already invoked that great Being, before whose tribunal I am so shortly to appear, in testimony of the truth of my assertion ; and again, in his pre- sence, do I repeat, every word I have uttered is true. I did not remove the rope, neither do I }64> WACOUSTA. M m know what is become of it. I admit its disap- pearance is extraordinary, but a moment's re- flection must satisfy the court I would not have devised a tale, the falsehood of which could at once have been detected on an exa- mination such as that which has just been insti- tuted. When Mr. Lawson left this room just now, I fully expected he would have found the rope lying as it had been left. What has become of it, I repeat, I know not ; but in the manner I have stated did Captain de Haldimar and Donellan cross the ditch. I have nothing further to add," he concluded once more, draw- ing up his fine tall person, the native elegance of which could not be wholly disguised even in the dress of a private soldier; « nothing further to disclose. Yet do I repel with scorn the inju- rious insinuation against my fidelity, suggested in these doubts. I am prepared to meet my death as best may become a soldier, and, let me add, as best may become a proud and well born gen- tleman; but humanity and common justice should at least be accorded to my memory. I am an unfortunate man, but no traitor.' » ! WACOUSTA. 165 The members were visibly impressed by the last sentences of the prisoner. No further question however was asked, atid he was again removed by the escort, who had been won- dering spectators of the scene, to the cell he had so recently occupied. The room was then cleared of the witnesses and strangers, the latter comprising nearly the whole of the officers off duty, when the court proceeded to deliberate on the evidence, and pass sentence on the accused. liM i' 166 WACOUSTA. CHAPTER VII. f: Although the young and sensitive De Hal- dimar had found physical relief in the summary means resorted to by the surgeon, the moral wound at his heart not only remained unsoothed, but was rendered more acutely painful by the wretched reflections, which, now that he had full leisure to review the past, and anticipate the future in all the gloom attached to both, so violently assailed him. From the moment when his brother's strange and mysterious disap- pearance had been communicated by the adju- tant in the manner we have already seen, his spirits had been deeply and fearfully depressed. Still he had every reason to expect, from the well-known character of Halloway, the strong hope expressed by the latter might be realised ; and that, at the hour appointed for trial, his brother would be present to explain the cause of his mysterious absence, justify the conduct WAC0U8TA. ■ ley of his subordinate, and exonerate him from the treachery witli which he now stood charged. Yet, powerful as this hope was, it was unavoid- ably qualified by dispiriting doubt; for a nature aiFectionate and bland, as that of Charles de Haldimar, could not but harbour distrust, while a shadow of uncertainty, in regard to the fate of a brother so tenderly loved, remained. He had forced himself to believe as much as possible what he wished, and the effort had, to a certain extent succeeded ; but there had been something so solemn and so impressive in the scene that had passed when the prisoner was first brought up for trial, something so fearfully prophetic in- the wild language of his unhappy wife, he had found it impossible to resist the influence of the almost superstitious awe they had awakened in his heart. What the feelings of the young officer were subsequently, when in the person of the mur- dered man on the common, the victim of Sir Everard Valletort's aim, he recognised that brother, whose disappearance had occasioned him so much inquietude, we shall not attempt 168 WACOUSTA. ^-h : ■if U' to describe: their nature \' best sl^ own in the effect they produced — the almocst overwhelm-, ing agony of body and mind, which had borne him, like a stricken plant, unresisting to the earth. But now that, in the calm and solit'K^'' of his chamber, he had leisure to review the fearful events conspiring to produce this ex- tremity, his anguish of spirit was even deeper than when the fiist rude shock of conviction had flashed upon his understanding. A tide of suffering, that overpowered, without rendering him sensible of its positive and abstract cha- racter, had, in the first instance, oppressed his faculties, and obscured his perception ; but now, slow, sure, stinging, and gradually succeeding each other, came every bitter thought and re- flection of which that tide was composed ; and the generous heart of Charles de Haldimar was a prey to feelings that would have wrung the soul, and wounded the sensibilities of one far less gentle and susceptible than himself. Between Sir Everard Valletort anel Charles de Haldimar, who, it has already been remarked, were lieutenants in Captain Blessington*s com- WACOUSTA. 169 pany, a sentiment of friendsliip had been suf- fered to spring up almost from the moment of'8ir Everard's joining. The young men were nearly of the same age; and although the one was all gentleness, the other all spirit and vivacity, not a shade of disunion had at any period intervened to interrupt the almost brotherly attachment subsisting between them, and each felt the disposition of the other was the one most assimilated to his own. In fact. Sir Everard was far from being the ephemeral character he was often willing to appear. Under a semblance of affectation, and much assumed levity of manner, never, however, personally offensive, he concealed a brave, generous, warm, and manly heart, and talents becoming the rank he held in society, such as would not have reflected dis- credit on one numbering twice his years. He had entered the army, as most young men of rank usually did at that period, rather for the agremens it held forth, than with any serious view to advancement in it as a profession. Still he entertained the praiseworthy desire of being something more than what is, among military VOL. I. I 170 WAC0U8TA. IM ! '■] I] men, emphatically termed a feather-beil soldier; and, contrary to the wishes of his fashionable mother, who would have preferred seeing him exhibit his uniform in the drawing-rooms of London, had purchased the step into his present corps from a cavalry regiment at home. Not that we mean, however, to assert he was not a feather-bed soldier in its more literal sense: no man that ever glittered in gold and scarlet was fonder of a feather-bed than the young baronet ; and, in fact, his own observations, re- corded in the early part of this volume, suf- ficiently prove his predilection for an indulgence which, we take it, in no way impugned his cha- racter as a soldier. Sir Everard would have fought twenty battles in the course of the month, if necessary, and yet not complained of the fatigue or severity of his service, provided only he had been suffered to press his downy couch to what is termed a decent hour in the day. But he had an innate and, perhaps, it may be, an instinctive horror of drills and early rising ; a pastime in which the martinets and dis- ciplinarians of the last century were very much WACOUSTA. 171 1 tl soldier; hionable 2ing him •ooms of s present [le. Not ^as not a il sense : d scarlet le young tions, re- ame, suf- idulgence i his cha- 3uld have be month, >d of the aded only t^ny couch the day. it may be, rly rising ; and dis- ^rery much given to indulge. He frequently upheld an opinion that must have been little less than treason in the eyes of a commander so strict as Colonel de Haldimar, that an officer who rose at eight, with all his faculties refreshed and in- vigorated, might evince as much of the true bearing of the soldier in the field, as he who, having quitted his couch at dawn, naturally felt the necessity of repose at a moment when activity and exertion were most required. We need scarcely state. Sir Everard's theories on this important subject were seldom reduced to practice ; for, even long before the Indians had broken out into open acts of hostility, when such precautions were rendered indispensa- ble, Colonel de Haldimar had never suffered either officer or man to linger on his pillow after the first faint dawn had appeared. This was a system to which Sir Everard could never reconcile himself. He had quitted England with a view to active service abroad, it is true, but he had never taken "active service" in its present literal sense, and, as he frequently de- clared to his companions, he preferred aivino- I 2 J7'2 WACOUSTA. an Indian warrior a chance for his scalp any hour after breakfast, to rising at daybreak, when, from very stupefaction, he seldom knew whether he stood on his head or his heels. " If the men must be drilled," he urged, "with a view to their health and discipline, why not place them under the direction of the adjutant or the officer of the day, whoever he might chance to be, and not unnecessarily disturb a body of gentlemen from their comfortable slumbers at that unconscionable hour ? " Poor Sir Everard ! this was the only grievance of which he com- plained, and he complained bitterly. Scarcely a morning passed without his inveighing loudly against the barbarity of such a custom ; threat- ening at the same time, amid the laughter of his companions, to quit the service in disgust at what he called so ungentlemanly and gothic a habit. All he waited for, he protested, was to have an opportunity of bearing away the spoils of some Indian chief, that, on his return to England, he might afford his lady mother an opportunity of judging with her own eyes of the sort of enemy he had relinquished WACOUSTA. 173 the comforts of home to contend against, and exhibiting to her very dear friends the barbarous proofs of the prowess of her son. Though these observations were usually made half in jest half in earnest, there was no reason to doubt the young and lively baronet was, in truth, heartily tired of a service which seemed to offer nothing but privations and annoyances, unmixed with even the chances of obtaining those trophies to which he alluded; and, but for two motives, there is every probability he would have seriously availed himself of the earliest opportunity of retiring. The first of these was his growing friendship for the ami- able and gentle Charles de Haldimar; the second the secret, and scarcely to himself acknc ./ledged, interest which had been created in his heart for his sister Clara ; whom he only knew from the glowing descriptions of his friend, and the strong resemblance she was said to bear to him by the other officers. Clara de Haldimar was the constant theme of her younger brother's praise. Her image was ever uppermost in his thoughts— her name I 3 I f i «' H 174 WACOUSTA. ever hovering on his lips; and when alone with his friend Valletort, it was his delight to dwell on the worth and accomplishments of his amiable and beloved sister. Then, indeed, would his usually calm blue eye sparkle with the animation of his subject, while his colouring cheek marked all the warmth and sincerity with which he bore attestation to her gentle- ness and her goodness. The heart of Charles de Haldimar, soldier as he was, was pure, generous, and unsophisticated as that of the sister whom he so constantly eulogized ; and, while Hstening to his eloquent praises. Sir Everard learnt to feel an interest in a being whom all had declared to be the counterpart of her brother, as well in personal attraction as in singleness of nature. With all his affected levity, and notwithstanding his early initiation Into fashionable life— that matter-of-fact life which strikes at the existence of our earlier and dearer illusions — there was a dash of romance in the character of the young baronet which tended much to increase the pleasure he always took in the warm descriptions of his 11: WACOUSTA. 175 friend. The very circumstance of her being personally unknown to him, was, with Sir Eve- rard, an additional motive for interest in Miss de Haldimar. Imagination and mystery generally work their way together ; and as there was a shade of mystery attached to Sir Everard's very ignorance of the person of one whom he ad- mired and esteemed from report alone, imagin- ation was not slow to improve the opportunity, and to endow the object with characteristics, which perhaps a more intimate knowledge of the party might have led him to qualify. In this manner, in early youth, are the silken and willing fetters of the generous and the en- thusiastic forged. We invest some object, whose praises, whispered secretly in the ear, have glided imperceptibly to the heart, with all the attributes supplied by our own vivid and readily according imaginations ; and so accus- tomed do we become to linger on the picture, we adore the semblance with an ardour which the original often fails to excite. When, how- ever, the high standard of our fancy's fair I 4 f'?l'l !i 176 WACOUSTA. creation is attained, we worship as something sacred that which was to our hearts a source of pure and absorbing interest, hallowed by the very secresy in which such interest was in- dulged. Even where it fails, so unwilling are we to lose sight of the illusion to which our thoughts have fondly clung, so loth to destroy the identity of the semblance with its origina' that we throw a veil over that reason which is then so little in unison with our wishes, and forgive much in consideration of the very mystery which first gave a direction to our interest, and subsequently chained our prefer- ence. How is it to be lamented, that illusions so dear, and images so fanciful, should find their level with time ; or that intercourse with the world, which should be the means rather of promoting than marring human happiness, should leave on the heart so little vestige of those impressions which characterize the fer- vency of youth; and which, dispassionately considered, constitute the only true felicity of riper life ! It is then that man, in all the vigour and capacity of his intellectual nature, feels WACOUSTA. 177 the sentiment of love upon him in all its en- nobling force. It is then that his impetuous feelings, untinged by the romance which im- poses its check upon the more youthful, like the wild flow of the mighty torrent, seeks a channel wherein they may empty themselves ; and were he to follow the guidance of those feelings, of which in that riper life he seems ashamed as of a weakness unworthy his sex, in the warm and glowing bosom of Nature's divinity-— wo»z«« — would he pour forth the swollen tide of his affection j and acknowledge, in the ful- ness of his expanding heart, the vast bounty of Providence, who had bestowed on him so in- valuable—so unspeakably invaluable, a blessing. — But no; in the pursuit of ambition, in the acquisition of wealth, in the thirst after power, and the craving after distinction, nay, nineteen times out of twenty, in the most frivolous oc- cupations, the most unsatisfactory amusements, do the great mass of the maturer man sink those feelings ; divested of which, we become mere plodders on the earth, mert. creatures of materialism : nor is it until aftf r age and in- T 5 178 WACOUSTA. H* i • n firrnity have overtaken them, they look back with regret to that real and substantial, but unenjoyed happiness, which the occupied heart and the soul's communion alone can bestow. Then indeed, when too late, are they ready to acknowledge the futility of those pursuits, the inadequacy of those mere ephemeral pleasures, to which in the full meridian of their manhood they sacrificed, as a thing unworthy of their dignity, the mysterious charm of woman's in- fluence and woman's beauty. We do not mean to say Clara de Haldimar would have fallen short of the high estimate formed of her worth by the friend of her bro- ther ; neither is it to be understood, Sir Eve- rard suffered this fair vision of his fancy to lead him into the wild and labyrinthian paths of boyish romance ; but certain it is, the floating illusions, conjured up by his imagination, exer- cised a mysterious injuence over his heart, that hourly acquired a deeper and less equivocal character. It might have been curiosity in the first instance, or that mere repose of the fancy upon an object of its own creation, which was WACOUSTA. 179 ! :i natural to a young man placed like himself for the moment out of the pale of all female society. It has been remarked, and justly, there is nothing so dangerous to the peace of the human heart as solitude. It is in solitude, our thoughts, taking their colouring from our feel- ings, invest themselves with the power of mul- tiplying ideal beauty, until we become in a measure tenants of a world of our own creation, from which we never descend, without 'oathing and disgust, into the dull and matter-of-fact routine of actual existence. Hence the misery of the imaginative man ! — hence his little sympathy with the mass, who, tame and soulless, look upon life and the things of life, not through the refining medium of ideality, but through the grossly magnifying optics of mere sense and materialism. But, though we could, and perhaps may, at some future period, write volumes on this sub- ject, we return for the present from a digression into which we have been insensibly led by the temporary excitement of our own feelings. Whatever were the impressions of the young I 6 'UHf^il Hi' ''l Wm t 1 mat i III 1 mU : 1 11 I.' i HI ■ 1' ■ ■b y I' H , '¥ I t ■; 5 ■ 180 WACOUSTA. baronet, and however he might have been inclined to suffer the fair image of the gentle Clara, such as he was perhaps wont to paint it, to exercise its spell upon his fancy, certain it is, he never expressed to her brother more than that esteem and interest which it was but na- tural he should accord to the sister of his friend. Neither had Charles de Haldimar, even amid all his warmth of commendation, ever made the slightest allusion to his sister, that could be construed into a desire she should awaken any unusual or extraordinary sentiment of pre- ference. Much and fervently as he desired such an event, there was an innate sense of decorum, and it may be secret pride, that caused him to abstain from any observation having the remotest tendency to compromise the spot- less delicacy of his adored sister; and such he would have considered any expression of his own hopes and wishes, where no declaration of preference had been previously made. There was another motive for this reserve on the part of the young officer. The baronet was an only child, and would, on attaining his majority, of .^>i^ WACOUSTA. 181 which he wanted only a few months, become the possessor of a large fortune. His sister Clara, on the contrary, had little beyond her own fair fame and the beauty transmitted to her by the mother she had lost. Colonel de Hal- dimar was a younger son, and had made his way through life with his sword, and an unble- mished reputation alone, - advantages he had shared with his children, for the two eldest of whom his interest and long services had pro- cured commissions in his own regiment. But even while Charles de Haldimar ab- stained from all' expression of his hopes, he had fully made up his mind that Sir Everard and his sister were so formed for each other, it was next to an impossibility they could meet with- out loving. In one of his letters to the latter, he had alluded to his friend in terms of so high and earnest panegyric, that Clara had acknow- ledged, in reply, she was prepared to find in the young baronet one whom she should regard with partiality, if it were only on account of the friendship subsisting between him and her brother. This admission, however, was com- mi 182 WACOUSTA. municated in confidence, and the young officer had religiously preserved his sister's secret. These and fifly other recollections now crowded on the mind of the sufferer, only to render the intensity of his anguish more com- plete ; among the bitterest oi which was the certainty that the mysterious events of the past night had raised up an insuperable barrier to this union ; for how could Clara de Haldimar become the wife of him whose hands were, however innocently, stained with the life-blood of her brother ! To dwell on this, and the loss of that brother, was little short of madness, and yet De Haldimar could think of nothing else ; nor for a period could the loud booming of the cannon from the ramparts, every report of which shook his chamber to its very foundations, call off his attention from a subject which, while it pained, engrossed every faculty and absorbed every thought. At length, towards the close, he called faintly to the old and faith- ful soldier, who, at the foot of the bed, stood watching every change of his master's counte- nance, to know the cause of the cannonade. On WACOUSTA. 183 being informed tlie batteries in the rear were covering the retreat of Captain Erskine, who, in his attempt to obtain the botly, had been surprised by the Indians, a new direction was temporarily given to his thoughts, and he now manifested the utmost impatience to know the result. In a few minutes Morrison, who, in defiance of the surgeon's strict order not on any account to quit the room, had flown to obtain some intelligence which he trusted might remove the anxiety of his suffering master, again made his appearance, stating the corpse was already secured, and close under the guns of the fort, beneath which the detachment, though hotly as- sailed from the forest, were also fast retreating. " And is it really my brother, Morrison ? Are you quite certain that it is Captain de Hal- dimar?" asked the young officer, in the eager accents of one who, with the fullest conviction on his mind, yet grasps at the faintest shadow of a consoling doubt. " Tell me that it is not my brother, and half of what I possess in the world shall be yours." 1 1' ' f V ' ■ / 1 ' 1 ^ li' ! 1 li 4 E! . ^^J^^ %. .0^. ^^>^t>^^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ _ !£ iiiiM ■a] L~ m Jff 1 4.0 I- ^ M IIIII25 1.4 - 6" 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 V] ^ '^^. of the 1 td from as now 1 3. small ndhad ription M awards being . ate in- 1 iccess. mped, 1 ptive ; F this 1 nan of 1 Hiking 1 )neted ■ leur >y I am spare 1 half in dis " Hog Island, I suppose you mean." « Yes sir, de Hog Island is de one I means." « Conduct him to the centre, and let him be confronted with the prisoner," directed the go- vernor, addressing his adjutant; " Captain Bles- sington, your men may resume their stations in the ranks." The order was obeyed ; and notwithstanding the tears and supplications of the now highly excited Babette, who flung herself upon his neck, and was only removed by force, the ter- rified Canadian was borne off from his premises by the troops. 4 ! J 256 WACOUSTA, CHAPTER X. While this scene was enacting in front of the Fleur de lis, one of a far more touching and painful nature was passing in the very heart of the detachment itself. At the moment when the halt was ordered by Captain Blessington, a rumour ran through the ranks that they had reached the spot destined for the execution of their ill-fated comrade. Those only in the im- mediate front were aware of the true cause j but although the report of the rifle had been dis- tinctly heard by all, it had been attributed by those in the rear to the accidental discharge of one of their own muskets. A low murmur, expressive of the opinion generally entertained, passed gradually from rear to front, until it at length reached the ears of the delicate drummer boy who marched behind the coffin. His face was still buried in the collar of his coat ; and what was left uncovered of his features by WACOUSTA. 25.7 the cap, was in some degrea hidden by the forward drooping of his head upon his chest. Hitherto he had moved almost mechanically along, tottering and embarrassing himself at every step under the cumbrous drum that was suspended from a belt round his neck over the left thigh; but now there, was a certain inde- scribable drawing up of the frame, and tension of the whole person, denoting a concentration of all the moral and physical energies, — a sudden working up, as it were, of the intellectual and corporeal being to some determined and momentous purpose. At the first halt of the detachment, the weary supporters of the coffin had deposited their rude and sombre burden upon the earth, preparatory to its being resumed by those appointed to relieve them. The dull sound emitted by the hollow fabric, as it touched the ground, caught the ear of him for whom it was destined, and he turned to gaze upon the sad and lonely tenement so shortly to become his final resting place. There was an air of calm composure find dignified sorrow upon his brow, that in- ' ! i 258 WACOUSTA. fused respect into the hearts of all who beheld him J and even the men selected to do the duty of executioners sought to evade his glance, as his steady eye wandered from right to left of the fatal rank. His attention, however, was principally directed towards the coffin, which lay before him ; on this he gazed fixedly for upwards of a minute. He then turned his eyes in the direction of the fort, shuddered, heaved a profound sigh, arsd looking up to heaven with the apparent fervour that became his situ- ation, seemed to pray for a moment or two inwardly and devoutly. The thick and almost suiFocating breathing of one immediately beyond the coffin, was now distinctly heard by all, Halloway started from his attitude of devotion, gazed earnestly on the form whence it pro- ceeded, and then wildly extending his arms, suffered a smUe of satisfaction to illumine his pale features. All eyes were now turned upon the drummer boy, who, evidently labouring under convulsive excitement of feeling, suddenly dashed his cap and instrument to the earth, and flew as fast as his tottering and uncertain steps WACOUSTA. 259 would admit across the coffin, and into the arms extended to receive him. " My Ellen ! oh, my own devoted, but too unhappy Ellen ! " passionately exclaimed the soldier, as he clasped the slight and agitated form of his disguised wife to his throbbing heart. « This, this, indeed, is joy even in death. I thought I could have died more happily without you, but nature tugs powerfully at my heart; and to see you once more, to feel you once more here'* (and he pressed her wildly to his chest) « is indeed a bliss that robs my ap- proaching fate of half its terror." " Oh Reginald ! my dearly beloved Regi- nald ! my murdered husband!" shrieked the. unhappy woman ; «*your Ellen will not survive you. Her heart is already broken, though she cannot weep ; but the same grave shall contain us both. Reginald, do you believe me? I swear it; the same grave shall contain us both." Exhausted with the fatigue and excitement she had undergone, the faithful and affectionate creature now lay, without sense or motion, in 260 WACOUSTA. ii; ] t the arms of her wretched husband. Halloway bore her, unopposed, a pace or two in advance, and deposited her unconscious form on the fatal coffin. No language of ours can render justice to the trying character of the scene. All who witnessed it were painfully affected, and over the bronzed cheek of many a veteran coursed a tear, that, like that of Sterne's recording angel, might have blotted out a catalogue of sins. Although each was prepared to expect a reprimand from the governor, for suffering the prisoner to quit his station in the ranks, humanity and nature pleaded too powerfully in his behalf, and neither officer nor man attempted to interfere, unless with a view to render assist- ance. Captain Erskine, in particular, was deeply pained, and would have given any thing to recal the harsh language he had used towards the supposed idle and inattentive drummer boy. Taking from a pocket in his uniform a small flask of brandy, which he had provided against casualties, the compassionating officer slightly raised the head of the pale and unconscious WACOUSTA. 261 woman with one hand, while with the other he introduced a few drops between her parted lips. Halloway knelt at the opposite side of the coffin ; one hand searching, but in vain, the suspended pulse of his inanimate wife; the other, un- buttoning the breast of the drum-boy's jacket, which, with every other part of the equipment,' she wore beneath the loose great coat so effect- ually accomplishing her disguise. - Such was the position of the chief actors in this truly distressing drama, at the moment when Colonel de Haldimar came up with his new prisoner, to mark what effect would be produced on Halloway by his unexpected ap- pearance. His own surprise and disappoint- ment may be easily conceived, when, in the form of the recumbent being who seemed to engross universal attention, he recognised, by the fair and streaming hair, and half exposed bosom, the unfortunate being whom, only two hours previously, he had spurned from his feet in the costume of her own sex, and reduced, by the violence of her grief, to almost infantine debility. Question succeeded question to those T 262 WACOUSTA. around, but without eliciting any clue to the means by which this rnystfrious disguise had been effected. No one had been aware, until the truth was so singularly and suddenly re- vealed, the supposed drummer was any other than one of the lads attached to thu grenadiers ; and as for the other facts, they spoke too plainly to the comprehension of the governor to need explanation. Once more, however, the de- tachment was called to order. Halloway struck his hand violently upon his brow, kissed the wan lips of his still unconscious wife, breathing, as he did so, a half murmured hope she might indeed be the corpse she appeared. He then raised himself from the earth with a light and elastic yet firm movement, and resumed the place he had previously occupied, where, to his surprise, he beheld a second victim bound, and, apparently, devoted to the same death. When the eyes of the two unhappy men met, the governor closely watched the expression of the countenance of each; but although the Canadian started on beholding the soldier, it might be merely because he sav/ the latter arrayed in the 263 WACOUSTA. garb of death, and followed b, the most «„. equivocal demonstrations of a doom to which he himself was. in all probability, d.vou=d. As for Halloway, his look betrayed neither con- sciousness nor recognition ; and though too pro.ul to express complaint or to give vent to the feehngs of his heart, his whole soul ap- peared to be absorbed in the unhappy partner of h,s luckless destiny. Presently he saw her home, and in the same state of insensibility, in the arms of Captain Krskine and Lieutenant Leshe, towards the hut of his fellow prisoner, «n