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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 -*■-'> T:r' THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD 4tikJ&-l'; Then camk the Prif.st, for InERVii.i.E, hattf.ked as hk was, would not stir uNTii- THK Abbe had gonf. up. / THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD 7 WHEREIN IS SET FORTH THE HISTORY OF JESSICA LEVERET, AS ALSO THAT OF PIERRE LE MOYNE OF IBERVILLE, GEORGE OERING, AND OTHER BOLD SPIRITS ; TO- GETHER WITH CERTAIN MATTERS OF WAR, AND THE DEEDS OF. ONE EDWARD BUCKLAW, JC) C MUTINEER AND PIRATE. ' ' P3ry BY GILBERT PARKER, AUTHOR OF ' PIERRE AND HIS PHOPLH," "THE TRANSLATION OF A SAVAGE," "MRS. FALCHION," ETC. TORONTO : THE COPP, CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED. 'vv. Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by Gilbert Parker, London, £ngland, in the Office of ths Minister of Agriculture. »:■ 1.4 DEDICATION My Dear Father: Once, many years ago^ in a kind of despair^ you were impelled to say that I would " never be anything but a rascally lawyer^ This^ it may be^ sat upon your conscience ^ for later you turned me gravely towards Paley and the Thirty- nine Articles ; and yet I know that in your deepest soldiet^s hearty you really pictured me^ how unavailinglyy in scarlet and pipeclay, and with sabre, like yourself in youth and manhood. In all I disappointed you, for I never had a brief or a parish^ and it was anotJter son of yours who carried on your military hopes. But as some faint apology — / almost dare hope some recompense —for what must have seemed wilfulness^ I send you now this story of a British soldier and his " dear maid" which has for its background the old DEDICATION t ' } : city of Quebec^ whose high ramparts you walked first sixty years ago ; and for settings the beginning of those valiant fightings ^ which, as I have heard you say, ''through GocPs providence and James Wolfe, gave England her best possession!* You willy I feel sure, quarrel with the fashion of my campaigns, and be troubled by my ana- chronisms ; but I beg you to remember that long ago you gave my young mind much distress when you told that wonderful story, how you, one man, *' surrounded"* a dozen enemies, and drove them prisoners to headquarters. " Surrounded " may have been mere lack of precision, but it serves my turn now, as you see. You once were — and I am pre- cise here — a gallant swordsman : there are legends yet of your doings with a crack Dublin bully. Well, in the last chapter of this tale you shall find a duel which will perhaps recall those early days of this century, when your blood was hot and your hand ready. You would be distrustful of the details of this scene, did I not tell you that, though the voice is Jacobus the hand is anothet^s. Swordsmen are not so many now in the army or out of it, that, among them, Mr. Walter Merries Pollock's name will have escaped you: so^ if you quarrel, let it be with Esau; though^ having good DEDICATION 7 reason to be grateful to hinty that would cause me sorrow. My dear father, you are travelling midway between eighty and ninety years, with great health and cheerfulness ; it is my hope you may top the arch of your good and honourable life with a century keystone, ^ Believe me, sir, Your affectionate son, GILBERT PARKER tjtk September i8g4^ f Park Placet St* Jame^Sy S, IV* A NOTE THE actors in this little drama played their parts on the big stage of a new continent two hundred years ago. Despots sat upon the thrones of France and England, and their representatives on the Hudson and the St. Lawrence were despots too, with greater opportunity and to better ends. In Canada, Frontenac quarrelled with his Intendant and his Council, set a stern hand upon the Church when she crossed with his purposes, cajoled, treated with, and foiight the Indians by turn and cherished a running quarrel with the English Governor of New York. They were striving for the friendship of the Iroquois on the one hand, and for the trade of the Great West on the other. The French, under such men as La Salle, had pushed their trading 10 NOTE posts westward to the great lakes and beyond the Missouri, and north to the shores of Hudson's Bay. They traded and fought and revelled, hot with the spirit of adventure, the best of pioneers and the worst of colonists. Tardily, upon their trail, came the English and the Dutch, slow to acquire but strong to hold ; not so rash in adventure, nor so adroit in intrigue, as fond of fighting, but with less of the gift of the woods, and much more the faculty for government. There was little interchange of friendliness and trade between the rival colonists ; and Frenchmen were as rare on Manhattan Island as Englishmen on the heights of Quebec — except as prisoners, G.P. ii- ! I ^\ CONTENTS CHAP. I. AN BNVOY EXTRAORDINARY II. THE THREAT OP A RENEGADE . III. THE PACE AT THE WINDOW . IV. THE UPLIFTING OF THE SWORDS V. THE FRUITS OF THE LAW , VL THE KIDNAPPING . • FAGE 13 25 41 52 63 72 (Bfoch tht S^tconti VII. FRIENDS IN COUNCIL VIII. AS SEEN THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY • IX. TO THE PORCH OF THE WORLD X. QUI VIVE! XI. WITH THE STRANGE PEOPLE . XII. OUT OF THE NET . . 87 "3 "25 133 149 161 (ifoch iht Ulnxh XIII. "as water UNTO WINE" XIV. IN WHICH THE HUNTERS ARE OUT XV. IN THE MATTER OP BUCKLAW . XVI. IN THE TREASURE HOUSE XVIL THE GIFT OF A CAPTIVE XVIII. MAIDEN NO MORE U • • . 178 OUT , . 195 . . • 203 • • • 221 • • . 235 * • . 243 19 CONTENTS CHAr. (Bfoch tht JTourt^ XIX. WHICH TBLLS OF A BROTHBR's BLOOD CRYING PROM THE GROUND . XX. A TRAP IS SBT . . • • XXI. AN UNTOWARD MBSSBNGBR XXII. FROM TIGBR's CLAW TO LION's MOUTH XXIII. AT THE GATES OF i. SFORTUNE , XXIV. IN WHICH THB SWORD IS SHEATHBD . rAGB 277 283 295 299 305 I! ; 1 f. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS HIS CHBBRFUL COUNTENANCE CAME UP BETWEEN THB FROWNING GUNS, HIS HOOK-HAND RAN OVER THB RAIL, AND IN A MOMENT HB WAS ON THB DECK PACING RADissoN I . . . . Frontispiece through the open door, a young girl came into the lane of light . . . . x4 "go back to quebec; offer to pay with your neck" ...... 40 he bowbd to the governor as one who awaited the expression op that officer's goodwill and pleasure ..... 46 then came thb priest, for iberville, battered AS HE WAS, WOULD NOT STIR UNTIL THB ABBA HAD GONB DP . . . . . I46 HB RAISED THB SWORD SOLEMNLY, AND PRESSED HIS LIPS AGAINST THB HILT-CROSS « . . 318 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD -♦- (Bporb itft f'tt&t CHAPTER I AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY ONE summer afternoon a tall, good-looking stripling stopped in the midst of the town of New York, and asked his way to the governor's house. He attracted not a little attention, and he created as much astonishment when he came into the presence of the governor. He had been announced as an envoy from Quebec. " Some new insolence of the County Frontenac ! " cried old Richard NichoUs, bring- ing his fist down on the table. For a few 1^ 1 «4 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD minutes he talked with his chamber-fellow; then, ** Show the gentleman in/' he said. In the room without, the envoy from Quebec had stood flicking the dust from his leggings with a scarf. He was not more than eighteen, his face had scarcely an inkling of moustache, but he had an easy upright carriage, with an air of self-possession, the keenest of g^ey eyes, a strong pair of shoulders, a look of daring about his rather large mouth, which lent him a manli- ness well warranting his present service. He had been left alone, and the first thing he had done was to turn on his heel and examine the place swiftly. This he seemed to do mechani- cally, not as one forecasting danger, not as a spy. In the curve of his lips, in an occasional droop of his eyelids, there was a suggestion of humour : less often a quality of the young than of the old. For even in the late seventeenth century, youth took itself seriously at times. Presently, as he stood looking at the sunshine through the open door, a young girl came into the lane of light, waved her hand, with a little laugh, to someone in the distance, and stepped AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY 15 inside. At first she did not see him. Her glances were still cast back the way she had come. The young man could not follow her glance, nor was he anything curious. Young as he was, he could enjoy a fine picture. There was a pretty demureness in the girl's manner, a warm piquancy in the turn of the neck, and a delicacy in her gestures, which to him, fresh from hard hours in the woods, was part of some de- lightful Arcady — though Arcady was more in his veins than of his knowledge. For the young seigneur of New France spent far more hours with his gun than with his Latin, and knew his bush-ranging vassal better than his tutor ; and this one was too complete a type of his order to reverse its record. He did not look to his scanty lace, or set himself seemingly ; he did but stop flicking the scarf held loose in his fingers, his foot still on the bench. A smile played at his lips, and his eyes had a gleam of raillery. He heard the girl say in a soft, quaint voice, just as she turned towards him, " Foolish boy ! " By this he knew that the pretty picture had for its inspiration one of his own sex. it ' I „ ^; :-1' III V, i-'^- lis.' i6 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD She faced him, and gave a little cry of sur- prise. Then their eyes met Immediately he made the most elaborate bow of all his life, and she swept a graceful courtesy. Her face was slightly flushed that this stranger should have se6n, but he carried such an open, cordial look that she paused, instead of hunying into the governor's room, as she had seemed inclined to do. In the act the string of her hat, slung over her arm, came loose, and the hat fell to the floor. Instantly he picked it up and returned it. Neither had spoken a word. It seemed another act of the light pantomime at the door. As if they had both thought on the instant how droll it was, they laughed, and she said to him naively: "You have come to visit the governor? You are a Frenchman, are you not?" To this in slow and careful English, "Yes," he replied ; " I have come from Canada to see his excellency. Will you speak French ? " "If you please, no," she answered, smiling; " your English is better than my French. But I must go." And she turned towards the door of the governor's room. .'•^ ■; AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY 17 ** Do not go yet/' he said. " Tell me, are you the governor's daughter ? " She paused, her hand at the door. ** Oh no, she answered ; then, in a sprightly way—** are you a governor's son ? " **I wish I were," he said, **for then there'd be a new intendant, and we'd put Nick Perrot in the council." "What is an intendant?" she asked, **and who is Nick Perrot ? " '*Bien! an intendant is a man whom King Louis appoints to worry the governor and the gentlemen of Canada, and to interrupt the trade. Nicolas Perrot is a fine fellow, and a great coureur du hois^ and helps to get the governor out of troubles to-day, the intendant to- morrow. He is a splendid fighter. Perrot is my friend." He said this, not with an air of boasting, but with a youthful and enthusiastic pride, which was relieved by the twinkle in his eyes and his frank manner **Who brought you here?" she asked de- murely. ** Are they inside with the governor ? " i8 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD \ He saw the raillery ; though, indeed, it was natural to suppose that he had no business with the governor, but had merely come with some- one. The question was not flattering. His hand went up to his chin a little awkwardly She noted how large yet how well-shaped it was, or, rather, she remembered afterwards. Then it dropped upon the hilt of the rapier he wore, and he answered with good self-posses- sion, though a little hot spot showed on his cheek: "The governor must have other guests who are no men of mine ; for he keeps an envoy from Count Frontenac long in his anteroom." The girl became very youthful indeed, and a merry light danced in her eyes and warmed her cheek. She came a step nearer. " It is not so ? You do not come from Count Frontenac — all alone, do you ? " ** 1*11 tell you after I have told the governor," he answered, pleased and amused. ** Oh, I shall hear when the governor hears," she answered, with a soft quaintness, and then vanished into the governor's chamber. She AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY 19 had scarce entered when the door opened again, and the servant, a Scotsman, came out to say that his excellency would receive him. He went briskly forward, but presently paused. A sudden sense of shyness possessed him. It was not the first time he b' d been ushered into vice- regal presence, but his was an odd position. He was in a strange land, charged with an embassy which accident had thrust upon him. Then, too, the presence of the girl had with- drawn him for an instant from the imminence of his duty. His youth came out of him, and in the pause one could fairly see him turn into man. He had not the dark complexion of so many of his race, but was rather Saxon in face, with rich, curling, brown hair. Even in that brave time one might safely have bespoken for him a large career. And even while the Scotsman in the doorway eyed him with distant depreca- tion, — as he eyed all Frenchman, good and bad, ugly or handsome, — he put off his hesitation and entered the governor's chamber. Colonel Nicholls came forward to greet him, and •P THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD I then suddenly stopped, astonished. Then he wheeled upon the girl. " Jessica, you mad- cap I " he said In a low voice. She was leaning against a tall chair, both hands grasping the back of it, her chin just level with the top. She had told the governor that Count Frontenac had sent him a lame old man, and that, enemy or none, he ought not to be kept waiting, with arm in sling and bandaged head. Seated at the table near her was a grave member of the governor's council, William Drayton by name. He lifted a reproving finger at her now, but with a smile on his kindly face, and " Fie, fie, young lady I " he said, in a whisper. Presently the governor mastered his surprise, and seeing that the young man was of birth and quality, extended his hand cordially enough, and said, " I am glad to greet you, sir " ; and motioned him to a seat. " But, pray, sit down," he added, " and let us hear the message Count Frontenac has sent. Meanwhile we would be favoured with your name and rank." The young man thrust a hand into hir. AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY •I doublet and drew forth a packet of papers. As he handed it over, he said in English, — for till then the governor had spoken French, having once served with the army of France, and lived at the French Court, — "Your excellency, my name is Pierre le Moyne of Iberville, son of Charles le Moyne, a seigneur of Canada, of whom you may have heard." (The governor nodded.) " I was not sent by Count Frontenac to you. My father was his envoy: to debate with you our trade in the far West and our dealings with the Iroquois/* " Exactly," said old William Drayton, tapping the table with his forefinger; "and a very sound move, upon my soul." ** Ay, ay," said the governor, "I know of your father well enough. A good fighter and an honest gentleman, as they say. But pro- ceed. Monsieur le Moyne of Iberville." •* I am called Iberville," said the young man simply. Then, " My father and myself started from Quebec with good Nick Perrot, the coureur du bois" — •I know him too," the governor interjected i.., •• THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD — "a scoundrel worth his weight in gold to your Count Frontenac." " For whose head Count Frontenac has offered gold in his time," answered Iberville, with a smile. *' A very pretty wit," said old William Dray- ton, nodding softly towards the gfirl, who was v-asting bright, quizzical glances at the youth over the back of the chair. Iberville went on, " Six days ago we were set upon by a score of your Indians, and might easily have left our scalps with them; but, as it chanced, my father was wounded, I came off scot-free, and we had the joy of ridding your excellency of half a dozen rogues." The governor lifted his eyebrows and said nothing. The face of the girl over against the back of the chair had become grave. " It was in question whether Perrot or I should bear Count Frontenac's message. Perrot knew the way, I did not ; Perrot also knew the Indians." "But Perrot," said the governor bluffly, "would have been the letter-carrier; you are a kind AN ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY 23 of ambassador. Upon my soul, yes, a sort of ambassador I " he added, enjoying the idea ; for, look at It how you would, Iberville was but a boy, "That was my father's thought and my own," answered Iberville coolly. "There was my father to care for till his wound was healed and he could travel back to Quebec, so we thought it better Perrot should stay with him. A Le Moyne was to present himself, and a Le Moyne has done so." The governor was impressed more deeply than he showed. It was a time of peace, but the young man's journey among Indian braves and English outlaws, to whom a French scalp was a thing of price, was hard and hazardous. His reply was cordial, then his fingers came to the seal of the packet ; but the girl's hand touched his arm. ** I know his name," she said in the governor's ear, " but he does not know mine." The governor patted her hand, and then rejoined, " Now, now, I forgot the lady ; but I ' cannot always remember that you are full fifteen years old." m 24 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD Standing up, with all due gravity and courtesy, "Monsieur Iberville," he said, "let me present you to Mistress Jessica Leveret, the daughter of my good and honoured and absent friend, the Honourable Hogarth Leveret." So the governor and his councillor stood shoulder to shoulder at one window, debating Count Frontenac's message ; and shoulder to shoulder at another stood Iberville and Jessica Leveret And what was between these at that moment — though none could have guessed it — signified as much to the colonies of France and England, at strife in the New World, as the deliberations of theii* elders '%?t*.. CHAPTER II THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE IBERVILLE was used to the society of women. Even as a young lad, his father's notable place in the colony, and the freedom and gaiety of life in Quebec and Montreal, had drawn upon him a notice which was as much a promise of the future as an accent of the present And yet, through all of it, he was ever better inspired by the grasp of a common soldier, who had served with Carignan-Sali^res. or by the greeting and gossip of such woodsmen as Du Lhut, Mantet, La Durantaye, and, most of all, his staunch friend Perrot, chief of the coureurs du bois. Truth is, in his veins was the strain of war and adventure first and before all. Under his tutor, the good Pere Del Her de Casson, he had never endured his classics, save a6 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD iii I ! it ! I for the sake of Hector and Achilles and their kind ; and his knowledge of English, which his father had pressed him to learn, — for he himself had felt the lack of it in dealings with Dutch and English traders, — only grew in proportion as he was given Shakespeare and Raleigh to explore. Soon the girl laughed up at him. *'I have been a great traveller," she said, " and I have ears. I have been as far west as Albany and south to Virginia, with my father, who, perhaps you do not know, is in England now. And they told me everywhere that Frenchmen are bold, dark men, with great black eyes and very fine laces and wigs, and a trick of bowing and making foolish compliments ; and they are not to be trusted, and they will not fight except in the woods, where there are trees to climb. But I see that it is not all true, for you are not dark, your eyes are not big or black, your laces are not much to see, you do not make compliments" — ** I shall begin now," he interrupted. "-—you must be trusted a little, or Count Frontenac would not send you, and — and — tell me: would you fight if you had a chance?" THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 27 No one of her sex had ever talked so to Iber- ville. Her demure raillery, her fresh, frank im- pertinence, through which there ran a pretty air of breeding, her innocent disregard of formality, all joined to impress him, to in- terest him. He was not so much surprised at the elegance and cleverness of her speech, for in Quebec girls of her age were skilled in languages and arts, thanks to the great bishop, Laval, and to Marie of the Incarnation. In response to her a smile flickered upon his lips. He had a quick fierce temper, but it had never been severely tried ; and so well used was he to looking cheerfully upon things, so keen had been his zest in living, that, where himself was concerned, his vanity was not easily touched. So, looking with genial dryness, "You will hardly believe it, of course," he said, " but wings I have not yet grown, and the walking is bad 'twixt here and the Chateau St. Louis." " Iroquois traps," she suggested, with a smile. "With a trick or two of English footpads," was his reply. Meanwhile his eye had loitered between the 28 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD two men in council at the farther window and the garden, mto which he and the girl were looking. Presently he gave a little start and a low whistle, and his eyelids slightly drooped, giving him a handsome sulkiness. "Is it so?" he said be- tween his teeth," Radisson — Radisson,as I live!" He had seen a man cross a corner of the yard. This man was short, dark-bearded, with black, lanky hair, brass earrings, and buckskin leggings, all the typical equipment of the French coureur du bois. Iberville had only got one glance at his face, but the sinister profile could never be forgotten. At once the man passed out of view. The girl had not seen him, she had been watching her companion. Presently she said, her fingers just brushing his sleeve, for he stood eyeing the point where the man had disappeared : " Wonderful ! you look now as if you would fight. Oh, fierce, fierce as the governor when he catches a French spy." He turned to her and, with a touch of irony, " Pardon ! " he retorted. " Now I shall look as blithe as the governor when a traitor deserts to him." THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 29 Of purpose he spoke loud enough to be heard by the governor and his friend. The governor turned sharply on him. He had caught the ring in the voice, that rash enthusiasm of eager youth, and, taking a step towards Iberville, Count Frontenac's letter still poised in his hand, "Were your words meant for my hearing, monsieur?" he said. "Were you speaking of me or of your governor ? '* " I was thinking of one Radisson a traitor, and I was speaking of yourself, your excellency." The governor had asked his question in French, in French the reply was given. Both the girl and Councillor Drayton followed with difficulty. Jessica looked a message to her comrade in ignorance. The old man touched the governor's arm. "Let it be in English if monsieur is willing. He speaks it well." The governor was at work to hide his anger : he wished good greeting to Count Frontenac*s envoy, and it seemed not fitting to be touched by the charges of a boy. "I must tell you frankly, Monsieur Iberville," he said, "that I do not choose to find a sort of challenge in lyrm I I Ij! iili ■r-VT.-; I ^ P 30 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD your words ; and I doubt that your father, had he been here, would have spoke quite so roundly. But I am for peace and happy temper when I can. I may not help it if your people, tired of the governance of Louis of France, come into the good ruling of King Charles. As for this man Radisson : what is it you would have ? " Iberville was now well settled back upon his native courage. He swallowed the rebuke with grace, and replied with frankness, " Radisson is an outlaw. Once he attempted Count Frontenac's life. He sold a band of our traders to the Iroquois. He led your Hollanders stealthily to cut off the Indians of the west, who were coming with their year's furs to our mer- chants. There is peace between your colony and ours — is it fair to harbour such a wretch in your court-yard? It was said up in Quebec, your ex- cellency, that such men have eaten at your table." During this speech the governor seemed choleric, but a change passed over him, and he fell to admiring the lad's boldness, " Upon my soul, monsieur," he said "you are council, judge, and jury all in one ; but I think I need THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 31 not weigh the thing with you, for his excellency, from whom you come, has set forth this same charge," — he tapped the paper, — "and we will not spoil good fellowship by threshing it now." He laughed a little ironically. " And I promise you," he added, "that your Radisson shall neither drink wine nor eat bread with you at my table. And now, come, let us talk awhile together ; for, lest any accident befal the packet you shall bear, I wish you to carry in your memory, with great distinctness, the terms of my writing to your governor. I would that it were not to be written, for I hate the quill, and I've seen the time I would rather point my sword red than my quill black." By this the shadows were falling. In the west the sun was slipping down behind the hills, leaving the strong day with a rosy and radiant glamour, that faded away in eloquent tones to the grey, tinsel softness of the zenith. Out in the yard a sumach bush was aflame. Rich tiger-lilies thrust in at the sill, and lazy flies and king bees boomed in and out of the window. Something out of the sunset, out of 32 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD the glorious freshness and primal majesty of the new land, diffused through the room where those four people stood, and made them silent. Presently the governor drew his chair to the table, and motioned Councillor Drayton and Iberville to be seated. The girl touched his arm. " And where am I to sit ? " she asked demurely. Colonel Nicholls pursed his lips and seemed to frown severely on her. "To sit? Why, in your room, mistress. Tut, tut, you are too bold. If I did not know your father was coming soon to bear you off, new orders should be issued. Yes,, yes, e'en as I say," he added, as he saw the laughter in her eyes. She knev\^ that she could wind the big- mannered soldier about her finger. She had mastered his household, she was the idol of the settlement, her flexible intelligence, the flush of the first delicate bounty of womanhood had made him her slave. In a matter of vexing weight he would not have let her stay, but such deliberatings as he would have with Iberville could well bear her scrutiny. He reached out to pinch her cheek, but she deftly tipped her ' v.. THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 33 head and caught his outstretched fingers. " But where am I to sit ? ** she persisted. "Anywhere, then, but at the council-table," was his response, as he wagged a finger at her and sat down. Going over she perched herself on a high stool in the window behind Iberville. He could not see her, and, if he thought at all about it, he must have supposed that she could not see him. Yet she could ; for against the window -frame was a mirror, and it reflected his face and the doings at the board. She did not listen to the rumble of voices. She fell to studying Iberville. Once or twice she laughed softly to herself. As she turned to the window a man passed by and looked in at her. His look was singular, and she started. Something about his face was familiar. She found her mind feeling among far memories, for even the past of the young stretches out interminably. She shuddered, and a troubled look came into her eyes. Yet she could not remember. She leaned slightly for- ward, as if she were peering into that bygone world which, may be, is wider than the future 'fc. ilih ! I ill !! f ' 34 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD for all of us — the past. Her eyes grew deep and melancholy. The sunset seemed to brighten around her all at once, and enmesh her in a golden web,' burnishing her hair, and it fell across her brow with a peculiar radiance, leaving the temples in shadow, softening and yet lighting the carmine of her cheeks and lips, giving a feeling of life to her dress, which itself was like dusty gold. Her hands were caught and clasped at her knees. There was something spiritual and exalted in the picture. It had, too, a touch of tragedy, for something out of her nebulous past had been reflected in faint shadows in her eyes, and this again, by strange, delicate processes, was expressed in every line of her form, in all the aspect of her face. It was as if some knowledge were being filtered to her through myriad atmos- pheres of premonition ; as though the gods in pity foreshadowed a great trouble, that the first rudeness of misery might be spared. She did not note that Iberville haa risen, and had come round the table to look over Councillor Drayton's shoulder at a map spread I Ji , i' ! * ;=-.A'.,.: THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 35 out. After stan^'ing a moment watching, the councillor's finger his pilot, he started back to his seat. As he did so he caught sight of her still in that poise of wonderment and sadness. He stopped short, then glanced at Colonel Nicholls and the councillor. Both were bent over the map, talking in eager tones. He came softly round the table, and was about to speak over her shoulder, when she drew herself up with a little shiver and seemed to come back from afar. Her hands went up to her eyes. Then she heard him. She turned quickly, with the pageant of her dreams still wavering in her face ; smiled at him distantly, looked towards the window again in a troubled way, then stepped softly and swiftly to the door, and passed out. Iberville watched the door close and turned to the window. Again he saw, and this time nearer to the window, Radisson, and with him the man who had so suddenly mastered Jessica. He turned to Colonel Nicholls. "Your excellency," he said, "will you not let me tell Count Frontenac that you forbid Radisson your -V- .. •• Ill ,v/' 3« THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD purlieus? For, believe me, sir, there is no greatei rogue unhanged, as you shall find some day to the hurt of your colony, if you shelter him." The governor rose and paced the room thoughtfully. " He is proclaimed by Fron- tenac ? " he asked. " A price is on his head. As a Frenchman I should shoot him like a wolf where'er I saw him ; and so I would now were I not Count Frontenac's ambassador and in your excellency's presence." "You speak manfully, monsieur," said the governor, not ill-pleased ; " but how might you shoot him now? Is he without there?" At this he came to where Iberville stood, and looked out. " Who is the fellow with him ? " he asked. "A cut-throat scoundrel, I'll swear, though his face is so smug," said Iberville. "What think you, sir ? " turning to ti*c councillor, who was peering between their shoulders. "As artless yet as strange a face as I have ever seen," answered the merchant. "What's his business here, and why comes he with the other rogue? He would speak with your excellency, I doubt not," he added. THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 37 Colonel Nicholls turned to Iberville. "You shall have your way," he said. " Yon renegade was useful when we did not know what sudden game was playing from Chiteau St. Louis ; for, as you can guess, he has friends as faithless as himself. But to please your governor, I will proclaim him.'* He took his stick and tapped the floor. Waiting a moment, he tapped again. There was no sign. He opened the door j but his Scots bodyguard was not in sight. "That's unusual,** he said. Then, looking round, "Where is our other councillor? Gone?" he laughed. "Faith, I did not see her go. And now we can swear that where the dear witch is will Morris, my Scotsman, be found. Well, well! They have their way with us whether we will or no. But, here, I'll have your Radisson in at once.*' He was in act to call when Morris entered With a little hasty rebuke he gave his order to the man. " And look you, my good Morris," he added, " tell Sherlock and Weir to stand ready. I may need the show of firearms.*' ililiiil,!: J! II ii •I|.i;l m m i i fill : '•:'' % '.(■'■■ y' ;. X'^ J 38 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD Turning to Iberville, he said, " I trust you will rest with us some days, monsieur. We shall have sports and junketings anon. We are not yet so grim as our friends in Massachusetts.*' " I think I might venture two days with you, sir, if for nothing else, to see Radisson pro- claimed. Count Frontenac would gladly cut nionths from his calendar to know you ceased to harbour one who can prove no friend," was the reply. The governor smiled. " You have a rare taste for challenge, monsieur. To be frank, I will say your gift is more that of the soldier than the envoy. But upon my soul, if you will permit me, I think no less of you for that" Then the door opened, and Morris brought in Radisson. The keen, sinister eyes of the woodsman travelled from face to face, and then rested savagely on Iberville. He scented trouble, and traced it to its source. Iberville drew back to the window and, resting his arm on the high stool where Jessica had sat, waited the event. Presently the governor came over to him. THE THREAT OF A RENEGADE 39 " You can understand," he said quietly, " that this man has been used by my people, and that things may be said which " — Iberville waved his hand respectfully. "1 understand, your excellency," he said. " 1 will go." He went to the door. The woodsman as he passed broke out, "There is the old saying of the woods, *It is mad for the young wolf to trail the old bear.'" "That is so," rejoined Iberville, with excellent coolness, "if the wolf holds not the spring of the trap." In the outer room were two soldiers and the Scot. He nodded, passed into the yard, and there he paced up and down. Once he saw Jessica'j face at a window, he was astonished to see how changed. It wore a grave, an appre- hensive look. He fell to wondering, but, even as he wondered, his habit of observation made him take in every feature of the governor's house and garden, so that he could have reproduced all as it was mirrored in his eye. Presently he found himself again associating Radisson's comrade with the vague terror in Jessica's face. ./ illliti I ll i! 11 !1 ! I i.>--'.- a,. 50 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD ■iii' I 11 ' 111! i'll'li l^fliillljl,., l.i kill ■III ' i' Mi' ' i f'l;! 'I flllii, 1 I ' / "By your excellency's leave. I am a poor man. I have only my little craft and a handful of seamen picked up at odd prices. But there's gold and silver enough I know of, owned by no man, to make cargo and ballast for the Nell Gwynn^ or another twice her size." " Gold and silver," said the governor, cocking his ear and eyeing his visitor up and down. Colonel Nicholls had an acquisitive instinct; he was interested. " Well I well I gold and silver," he continued, "to fill the Nell Gwynn and another ? And what concern is that of mine ? Let your words come plain oflf your tongue; I have no time for foolery." "'Tis no foolery on my tongue, sir, as you may please to see." He drew a paper from his pocket and shook it out as he came a little nearer, speaking all the while. His voice had gone low, running to a soft kind of chuckle, and his eyes were snapping with fire, which Iberville alone had seen was false. " I have come to make your excellency's fortune, if you will stand by with a good, stout ship and a handful of men to see me through." THE FACE AT THE WINDOW S» The governor shrugged his shoulders. •• Babble," he said, " all babble and bubble. But go on." " Babble, your honour I Every word of it is worth a pint of guineas ; and this is the piih of it. Far down West Indies way, some twenty- five, maybe, or thirty years ago, there was a plate ship wrecked upon a reef. I got it from a Spaniard, who had been sworn upon oath to keep it secret by priests who knew. The priests were killed and after a time the Spaniard died also, but not until he had given me the ways whereby I should get at what makes a man's heart rap in his weasand." " Let me see your chart," said the governor. A half-hour later he rose, went to the door, and sent a soldier for the two king's officers. As he did so, Bucklaw read the room-doors, windows, fireplaces, with a grim, stealthy smile trailing across his face. Then suddenly the good creature was his old good self again — the comfortable shrewdness, the buoyant devil-may-care, the hook stroking the chin pensively. And the king'sofficers came in, and soon all four were busy with the map. *iti CHAPTER IV THE UPLIFTING OF THE SWORDS % 11; ■•k II \> I m nii!,i IBERVILLE and Gering sat on with the tobacco and the wine. The older "nen had joined the ladies, the governor having politely asked them to do so when they chose. The other occupant of the room was Morris, who still stood stolidly behind his master's chair. For a time he heard the talk of the two young men as in a kind of dream. Their words were not loud, their manner was amicable enough, if the sharing of a bottle were anything to the point. But they were sitting almost the full length of the table from him, and to quarrel courteously and with an air hath ever been a quality in men of gentle blood. If Morris's eyesight had been better, he would have seen that Gering handled his wine 62 THE UPLIFTING OF THE SWORDS 53 nervously, and had put down his long Dutch pipe. He would also have seen that Iberville was smoking with deliberation, and drinking with a kind of mannered coolness. Gering's face was flush .' BUCKLAW having convinced the governor and his friends that down in the Spaniards' country thire was treasure for the finding, was told that he might come again next morning. He asked if it might not be late afternoon instead, because he had cargo from the Indies for sale, and in the nxorning certain m'^^chants were to visit his vessel, iruth to tell he was playing a deep game. He wanted to learn the governor's plans for the next afternoon and evening, and thought to do so by proposing this same change. He did not reckon foolishly. The governor gave him to understand that there would be feasting next day : first, because it was the birthday of the Duke of York ; secondly, because it was the anniversary of the capture from the 63 •l 1 'ill it ill liiiiiii! '- m ' I' ' 1 11, I, iil!l' li vi >. f 64 THE TRAIT, OF THE SWORD Dutch ; and, last of all, because there were Indian chiefs to come from Albany to see New York and himself for the first time. The official cele- bration would begin in the afternoon and last til sundown, so that all the governor's time must be fully occupied. But Bucklaw said, with great candour, that unfortunately he had to sail for Boston within thirty-six hours, to keep engage- ments with divers assignees for whom he had special cargo. If his excellency, he said, would come out to his ship the next evening when the shows were done, he would be proud to have him see his racketing little craft ; and it could then be judged if, with furbishing and arma- ments, she could by any means be used for the expedition. Nicholls consented, and asked the king's officers if they would accompany him. This they were exceedingly glad to do : so that the honest shipman's good nature and politeness were vastly increased, and he waved his hook in so funny and so boyish a way it set them all a-laughing. So it was arranged forthwith that he .should be at a quiet point on the shore at a certain 'i : 1' 'fm II I i:':,i| ■'ill ti':'. THE FRUITS OF THE LAW 65 hour to row the governor and his friends to the Nell Gwynn, And, this done, he was bade to go to the dining-room and refresh himself. He obeyed with cheerfulness, and was taken in charge by Morris, who, having passed on Iberville and Gering to the dra>ving-room, was once more at his post, taciturn as ever. The governor and his friends had gone straight to the drawin:j[-room, so that Morris and he were alone. Wine was set before the sailor and he took oflf a glass with gusto, his eye cocked humorously towards his host. " No worse fate for a sinner," quoth he; "none better for a saint." Morris's temper was not amiable. He did not like the rascal. " Ay," said he, " but many's the sinner has wished yon wish, and footed it from the stocks to the gallows." Bucklaw laughed up at him. It was not a pretty laugh, and his eyes were insolent and hard. But that changed almost on the instant. " A good thrust, mighty Scot," he said. " Now what say you to a pasty, or a strip of beef cut where the juice runs, and maybe the half of a broiled fowl T 5 ^^^:':l*!ll 66 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD ' 'i^' ( ' !' .'![ i :i'i': Morris, imperturbably deliberate, left the room to seek the kitchen. Bucklaw got in- stantly to his feet. His eye took in every v'indow and door, and ran along the ceiling and the wall. There was a sudden click in the wall before him. It was the door leading to the unused hallway, which had not been properly closed and had sprung open. He caught up a candle, ran over, entered the hallway, and gave a grunt of satisfaction. He hastily and softly drew the bolts of the outer door, so that anyone might come in from the garden, then stepped back into the dining-room and closed the panel tight behind him, remarking with delight that it had no spring-lock, and could be opened from the hallway. He came b^ick quickly to the table, put down the candle took his seat, stroked his chin with his hook, and chuckled. When Morris came back, he was holdinar his wine with one hand while he hummed a snatch of song and drummed lightly on the table with the hook. Immediately after came a servant with a tray, and the Scotsman was soon astonished, not only at the buxomness of hts !! li^m THE FRUITS OF THE LAW 67 e i- y id ill le ly ) a ve tly me )ed pel lat 3m he appetite, but at the deftness with which he carved and handled things with what he called his "tiger." And so he went on talking and eating, and he sat so long that Jessica, as she passed into the corridor and up the stairs, wearied by the day, heard his voice uplifted in song. It so worked upon her that she put her hands to her ears, hurried to her room, and threw herself upon the bed in a distress she could set down to no real cause. Before the governor and his guests parted for the night, Iberville, as he made his adieus to Gering, said in a low voice, " The same place and time to-morrow night, and on the same conditions?" "I shall be happy," said Gering, and they bowed with great formality. The governor had chanced to hear a word or two and, thinking it was some game of which they spoke, said, "Piquet or a game of wits, gentlemen ? " "Neither, your excellency," quoth Gering — " a game called fox and goose." •* Good," said Iberville, under his breath ; " my Puritan is waking." (i:! i ! .''\-i I'll ft illl 'M ! , i'iM if' '(■ 1 ;' I -IMA 68 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD The governor was in ripe humour. " But it is a game of wits, then, after all. Upon my soul, you two should fence like a pair of veterans.* " Only for a pass or two," said Iberville drily. " We cannot keep it up." All this while a boat was rowing swiftly from the shore of the island towards a craft carrying Ne// Gwynn beneath the curious, antique figure- head. There were two men in her, and they were talking gloatingly and low. "See, bully, how I have the whole thing in my hands. Ha! Received by the governor and his friends! They are all mad for the doubloons, which are not for them, my Radis- son, but for you and nSe, and for a greater than Colonel Richard Nicholls. Ho, ho ! I know him — the man who shall lead the hunt and find the gold — the only man in all that cursed Boston whose heart I would not eat raw, so help me Judas! And his name — no. That is to come. I will make him great." Again he chuckled. " Over in London they shall take him to their bosoms. Over in London THE FRUITS OF THE LAW 69 his blessed majesty shall dub him knight — treasure-trove is a fine reason for the touch of a royal sword — and the king shall say : " Rise, Sir William — No, it is not time for the name ; but it is not Richard Ni^-holls, it is not Hogarth Leveret." He laughed like a boy. " I have you, Hogarth Leveret, in my hand, and by God I will squeeze you until there is a drop of heart's blood at every pore of your skin ! " Now and again Radisson looked sideways at him, a sardonic smile at h's lip. At last, " Bt'eUy" hQ said, "you are merry. So, — I shall be merry too, for I have scores to wipe away, and they shall be wiped clean — clean." " You are with me, then," the pirate asked ; " even as to the girl ? " " Even as to the girl," was the reply, with a brutal oath. " That is good, dear lad. Blood of my soul, I have waited twelve years — twelve years." *' You have not told me," rejoined the French- man ; " speak now." " There is not much to tell, but we are to be partners once and for all. See, my beauty. He 'i :ii;ifi'!i:: jV- I ; ! M 70 THE TRAIL OF THE SWORD was a kite-livered captain. There was gold on board. We mutinied and put him and four others (their livers were like his own) in a boat with provisions plenty. Then we sailed for Boston. We never thought the crew of skulkers would reach land, but by God they drifted in again the very hour we found port. We were taken and con- demned. First, I was put into the stocks, hands and feet, till I was fit for the pillory ; from the pillory to the wooden horse." Here he laughed, and the laugh was soft and womanlike. " Then the whipping-post, when I was made pulp from my neck to my loins. After that I was to hang. I was the only one they cooked so ; the rest were to hang raw. 1 did not hang ; I broke prison and ran. For years I was a slave among the Spaniards. Years more — m all, twelve — and then I came back with the little chart for one thing, this to do for another. Who was it gave me that rogues' march from the stocks to the gallows' foot? It was Hogarth Leveret, who deals out law in Massachusetts vd the king's name, by the grace of God. It was my whim to capture him and take him on a journey — ^1, !■ THE FRUITS OF THE LAW 71 such a journey as he would go but once. Blood of my soul, the dear lad was gone. But there was his child. See this; when I stood in the pillory a maid one day brought the child to the foot of the platform, lifted it up in her arms and said, * Your father put that villain there/ That woman was sister to one of the dogs we'd set adrift. The child stared at nio hard, and I looked at her, though my eyes were a little the worse for wear, so that she cried out in great fright — the sweet innocent I and then the wench took her away. When she saw my face to-night — to-day — it sent her wild, but she did not remember." He rubbed his chin in ecstasy and drummed his knee. "Hal I cannot have the father — so I'll have the goodly child, and great will be the ransom. Great will be the ransom, my Frenchman ! " And once more he tapped Radisson with the tiger. '8 ■V 19 CHAPTER VI THE KIDNAPPING II I: ' \m 'my THE rejoicing had reached its apogee, and was on the wane. The Puritan had stretched his austereness to the point of levity ; the Dutchman had comfortably sweated his obedience and content ; the Cavalier had paced it with a pretty air of patronage and an eye for matron and maid ; the Indian, come from his far hunting-grounds, bivouacked in the governor's presence as the pipe of peace went round. About twilight the governor and his party had gone home. Deep in ceremonial as he had been, his mind had run upon Bucklaw and the Spaniards' country. So, when the aL:sk was growing into night, the hour came for nis visit to the NeU Gwynn. With his two soldier friends and Councillor Drayton, he started by 72 THE KIDNAPPING 73 a roundabout for the point where he looked to find Bucklaw. Bucklaw was not there : he had other fish to fry, and the ship's h'ghts were gone. She ha