The Frontier Fort

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  The glowing sun was touching the line where the blue sky and prairiemet, his rays casting a ruddy hue over the calm surface of the river,when the party, conducted by Norman, reached the northern bank oppositethe fort, they having been delayed by attending to the wounded man, whocould with difficulty be brought along. As they descended the slope tothe river they caught sight of a body of horsemen galloping away acrossthe prairie. Norman, as he watched them, was certain that they were thesavages who had pursued his party.

  "Thank Heaven, the Redskins have been defeated!" exclaimed Hector; "buthad it not been for the warning you sent my father, friend Sass, thecase might have been very different."

  Norman now hailed at the top of his voice for a boat.

  In a short time two men were seen launching one from a shed close to thewater. They quickly brought her across. As she would not carry thewhole of the party, the two young ladies, and, at their request, thewounded men, were first ferried over.

  Captain Mackintosh stood on the bank to receive them, and, as Sybil andEffie threw themselves into his arms, their feelings at length givingway, they burst into tears.

  "There is nothing more to fear; we have driven off the Blackfeet, andthey have received a lesson which they will not soon forget, I trust,"he said.

  He then inquired how they had been preserved. They were both eloquentin describing the way Hector and Loraine, with their old companion, hadrescued them; but there was no time to say much just then. While someof the garrison, who had come down for the purpose, carried the woundedmen into the fort, the rest of the party were ferried across the river.Captain Mackintosh gave a fatherly greeting to Hector, who thenintroduced Loraine.

  "I have to thank you, sir, for the brave way in which you saved thisyoung lady from the clutches of the savage chief. Had it not been foryour gallantry, she might have been carried off. As the fellow has,however escaped, we must still keep careful watch for her protection."

  Loraine expressed himself appropriately, saying how rejoiced he was tohave been of service, and that it made ample amends to him for hisdisappointment in not having arrived in time to warn Captain Mackintoshof the Indians' plot to surprise the fort.

  Old Sass, who had modestly kept out of the way, now came in for hisshare of thanks; and the whole garrison, when they heard of the cleverway in which he had frightened off the Blackfeet, were enthusiastic intheir expressions of admiration at his conduct. The hump-backed Indian,who, as may be supposed, was no other than Greensnake, was also mademuch of, all acknowledging that it was through the warning he hadbrought that they were put on their guard against the intended treacheryof their cunning enemies.

  The bodies of the Indians, and other signs of the strife, had beenremoved before the party had entered the fort. The young ladies at oncedisappeared into the house, under charge of Mrs Mackintosh, whosematernal feelings had been fearfully tried during their absence. Theydid not appear again until the evening, when Hector declared that theylooked as blooming as ever.

  Loraine soon won the regard of Captain Mackintosh and Norman. Everyhour the young Englishman remained in the society of the original of thebeautiful picture he so much admired, endeared her more and more to him;and it is not surprising that a girl who had seen so few gentlemen,except her brothers and some of the Hudson's Bay clerks, should havegiven him her heart in return. Loraine was not a man to trifle with agirl's affections, and sooner than he might otherwise have done, heexpressed his wishes to Captain Mackintosh.

  "I conclude Hector has told you that Sybil is not my daughter, thoughshe is as dear to me as if she were," answered Captain Mackintosh. "Iam, in truth, utterly ignorant of her parentage. Soon after mymarriage, while quartered in Upper Canada, my wife and I made anexcursion through Lake Ontario and the Sault Sainte Marie to the shoresof Lake Superior. We intended proceeding across the lake to the thenwild region of the west.

  "While staying at a small cottage on the north side of the falls ofSainte Marie, the very day before we were to sail, a heavy gale came on.As we were unable to embark, not to disappoint my wife, I proposed tomake an excursion, partly on foot and partly on horseback, as far as wecould proceed along the north shore of the lake to Groscap, a conicalhill which we could see rising to a considerable elevation in thedistance. We found the path far more difficult than we had expected,and at length, our object unaccomplished, we turned our steps homeward.We had not got far when the rain began to come down in torrents, and wewere glad to take shelter in a log hut of the roughest description,built on some rising ground a short way from the shore of the lake. Itwas unoccupied, but as there was a hearth and chimney, we directed ourattendants to obtain some fuel and lighted a fire to dry our drenchedgarments. In vain we waited for the weather to clear. Darkness comingon, we found that we must spend the night in the hut, not a pleasantprospect, but it was preferable to making our way through the forestwith the rain pouring down on our heads.

  "The wind howled and whistled, the waves dashed furiously against theshore, the trees bent and writhed beneath the blast, and my fear wasthat some of those surrounding the hut might be uprooted and crush inthe roof. I went frequently to the door, in the hopes of discovering arent in the clouds which might enable me to hold out some prospect to mywife of the cessation of the storm. While looking up at the sky Ifancied that I heard the plaintive cry of a child. The next moment Ithought that it must be that of some wild animal, and was about tore-enter the hut when it was repeated. Telling my wife what I was aboutto do, I desired the two men to accompany me, and groped my way throughthe darkness in the direction whence the sound had come. Again I heardthe cry, and, guided by it, I almost stumbled over a woman lying on theground, with a child in her arms. The woman was speechless, but wasuttering low moans. I took the child in my arms and hurried back to thehut, while the men followed me, conveying the almost inanimate form ofthe woman.

  "`Heaven has sent us here to rescue the little creature,' exclaimed mywife, as I put the infant in her arms.

  "She lost no time in taking off its wet clothes and wrapping it up in ashawl.

  "`It is a little girl,' she said, `and I trust has received no injury.We must attend to the poor mother,' she added, as the men brought in thebody of the woman and laid her before the blazing fire. `Why, shecannot be the mother of this child; she is an Indian, and the child isbeautifully fair,' exclaimed my wife, as, giving me the baby, she kneltdown by the side of the woman to try and restore her to animation. Allher efforts, however, were in vain. Before many minutes had past shehad breathed her last. We took off some of the few ornaments she woreabout her dress, to assist us in identifying her, and the men thenplaced the body at the further end of the hut.

  "We had, as you may suppose, no sleep that night; my wife, indeed, wasfully occupied in nursing the baby. Providentially I had brought,instead of wine, a bottle of milk for my wife, very little of which shehad drank, and with this she was happily able to feed the child.

  "How the woman and child had come to be in the position in which we hadfound them, I could not tell; but our guides asserted that they musthave escaped from a wrecked canoe, and possibly others of the partymight have got safe on shore and would be able to tell us to whom thechild belonged.

  "When morning came the storm cleared off, and though my wife was anxiousto get back to our lodgings, I set off to explore the beach with one ofour guides. We went a considerable distance in both directions, but noone could we discover, nor a trace of a canoe or boat of any sort. Ifthe woman had escaped therefore, as we supposed, from a canoe, it musthave foundered or been knocked to pieces on the rocks, and the fragmentsand bodies of those on board have been driven far out again on the lake.

  "After our vain search, we commenced our journey, my wife carrying thelittle girl in her arms. On our way we called at the Hudson's BayCompany's post, situated above the falls, where the hospitablesuperintendent begged us to remain, and offered to take care of thechild until its friends could be
discovered. My wife, however, refusedto part with her treasure-trove, as she called the little foundling, andso strongly expressed her wish to adopt her, that, having none of ourown, I consented, provided no relative appeared to claim her. On seeingthe ornaments which we had taken from the Indian woman, thesuperintendent pronounced them to be those worn by Crees, and thought bytheir means he might discover the child's relatives.

  "He at once sent to the hut to bury the poor woman, and we remained atour cottage until we could receive the information our friend promisedto obtain. He had not expected any canoe from the west, and could notaccount for the one which was supposed to be lost.

  "We waited on, but as the superintendent of the post could obtain noinformation in the neighbourhood, and told us that it might be manymonths before he could get any from the Far West, whence there could belittle doubt the canoe had come, we returned to Toronto with the child.She became our adopted daughter, and from that day to this,notwithstanding all our inquiries, we have been unable to learn herparentage. Though we soon afterwards had a child of our own, she everretained the same hold on our affections which she had at firstenjoyed."

  "I cannot but suppose that so lovely a creature must be of gentlebirth," exclaimed Loraine; "but whether she is or not, with your leave,if she consents to be mine, I will marry her as soon as a clergyman canbe found to unite us."

  "Although we shall all be sorry to part from her, I will throw noobstacle in the way of what may tend to her happiness as well as yours,"answered Captain Mackintosh, shaking Loraine by the hand.

  As it may be supposed, the young lover felt pretty sure of the answerSybil would give him, nor was he mistaken.

  Norman and Hector looked somewhat grave.

  "And so you intend to carry off Sybil," exclaimed the latter. "I almostwish that I hadn't brought you to the fort, old fellow. But one goodthing is that you cannot take her away until you are married, and youmay have to wait a long time for that."

  Effie felt the expected parting with Sybil more than any one else. Shewas also anxious, and as much out of spirits as it seemed possible forso happy a creature to be, for Hector had naturally told her that AllanKeith had gone to obtain reinforcements for the garrison of the fort,and had expressed his surprise that they had not long before thisarrived.

  On his first arrival a room had been assigned to Isaac Sass, and he hadbeen invited to the captain's table, when, notwithstanding his roughappearance, he showed that he was a man of good education, thoughignorant of the events which had of late taken place in the world. Hegenerally sat opposite to Sybil, and it was remarked that his eyes wereoften fixed intently on her, but that he withdrew them whenever he sawthat he was observed. He would follow her about the fort, or when shewent out to walk in its immediate neighbourhood, as if wishing to watchover her safety, and when he occasionally addressed her his voiceassumed a softness contrasting greatly with the somewhat harsh tone inwhich he ordinarily spoke.

  "If ever angels come on earth, that sweet sister of yours is one ofthem," he remarked to Hector one day, while he stood watching Sybil at adistance.

  "I will tell her what you say," answered Hector, laughing. "And I'llask her if she is really one. Perhaps she may be, for, do you know thatshe is not my sister?" and Hector told him the story of her discovery.

  Isaac Sass made no reply, but seemed to be pondering deeply on what hehad heard.

  He continued to watch Sybil with even greater interest than before, andmanaged to obtain from Captain Mackintosh a confirmation of the accountHector had given him. He said nothing, however, in reply; but hismanner showed that he was laying some restraint on himself, during theremainder of the time he remained at Fort Duncan.

  Although Captain Mackintosh paid him every attention, grateful to himfor the service he had rendered, the old man, however, appeared atlength to grow weary of inactivity, and began to speak of taking hisdeparture with Greensnake for the north.

  "It is seldom nowadays that I come near the country of the Blackfeet,"he said, addressing Captain Mackintosh. "It may be a long time beforeyou see me here again. It may be I shall never return; but I shalloften think of the time I spent with you and your English friends."

  Before, however, old Isaac took his departure two horsemen were seenapproaching the fort from the westward. Their steeds, as they came tothe gate, showed that they had ridden hard. One was a white man and theother an Indian. The first dismounted and entered the gate.

  "My name is Harvey," he said, shaking hands with Captain Mackintosh, whoadvanced to meet him. "I am in charge of the missionary station atWhite Fish Lake, and have come to ask your assistance for my people,whom the Blackfeet have threatened to destroy. I have felt it my dutyto obtain, if possible, the means of protecting them."

  "I am well acquainted with your name," answered Captain Mackintosh, whoknew Mr Harvey to be a devoted Christian man, one of those bravepioneers of Christianity who, in obedience to the commands of ourblessed Lord, have, with their lives in their hands, ventured into thewilds among the savage races of the Far West to win precious souls forHim.

  "I would gladly help you," he answered, "but this fort has only latelybeen attacked, and I should not be justified in weakening the garrisonby sending away any of my people. I will, however, thankfully receiveyou and your family, and those of your flock whom you may wish to bringwith you, while the others move northward beyond the reach of theirenemies. Even were I to spare you half a dozen men, they would be oflittle use in repelling an attack of the daring Blackfeet."

  "I feel that you are right, and that I must remove my family, and leaveour house and garden to be destroyed," answered Mr Harvey. "Pray donot misunderstand me, and suppose that I mistrust God's protecting care;but I know that He would have us take all reasonable measures for oursafety, and fly from earthly, as he directs us to escape from spiritual,foes."

  "We will discuss the matter after you have rested, and I have had timeto think it over," answered Captain Mackintosh. "It is my private wishas well as my public duty to afford every assistance in my power tomissionaries labouring among the Indians, and you may depend on my doingall I justly can to afford you the aid you wish. However, I now adviseyou to lie down and rest while some food is preparing."

  Mr Harvey acknowledged that he was very tired, and gratefully acceptedthe offer, before paying his respects to the ladies of the family.

  Sybil looked somewhat confused when she heard that a clergyman hadarrived at the fort.

  "You need not be alarmed," said Effie, somewhat slily. "From what papasays, he can only remain a few hours. He has to hurry back to hisstation, and declines remaining even one night."

  What might have been Loraine's wish need not be said, but Mr Harveypromised, should his life be spared, to return shortly to perform theceremony which was to make Sybil his.

  Captain Mackintosh, after reflecting, agreed to send five of his men,under the orders of Le Brun, to protect Mr Harvey's station, for heguessed that, without the prospect of booty, notwithstanding theirthreats, the Blackfeet would not venture to attack it, even thoughopposed by so small a number; for, if successful, they would gain butlittle, and would be certain to lose several men.

  Le Brun, a brave fellow, laughed at the notion.

  Just as Mr Harvey was about to set out, old Sass and Greensnakeappeared mounted at the gate.

  "I'll go with you, friend," he said, addressing the clergyman. "ThoughI've not had much to do with parsons in my day, I want to have a talkwith you, and maybe if those villains, the Blackfeet, try to give youany trouble, I may be of as much use as those six men you are takingwith muskets and pistols."

  Before finally starting, the old man bade adieu to Captain Mackintoshand his family, as also to Loraine.

  He gazed in Sybil's face as he took her hand. "I have not prayed formany a day, but if God will hear the prayers of such an outcast as I am,I will ask Him to bless you and make you happy with the noble youngEnglishman to whom you have given your heart. It is my be
lief that hewill prove true and faithful."

  He spoke in a similar strain to Loraine; and turning, with an evidenteffort, to where Greensnake was holding his horse, mounted, and joinedMr Harvey, who had already left the fort.