The Cryptogram: A Story of Northwest Canada

by William Murray Graydon

  CHAPTER XI.

  A COPY OF "THE TIMES."

  I was both glad and sorry for the interruption. In our forlorn conditionwe needed assistance badly enough, but I would have preferred to haveFlora all to myself for some time longer. However, I made the best ofit, and gave the voyageurs a warm greeting. They were from Fort York,and they told me that they and half a dozen more had been on a week'shunting trip, and that they had spent the night in a sheltered spot nearby. They added that when they were about starting for the fort, half anhour previously, two survivors of the wreck had straggled into theircamp.

  This was pleasing news, but before I could glean any furtherinformation, the rest of the party made their appearance from thetimber--three more voyageurs and three of the company's Indian hunters.And with them, to my great delight, were Captain Rudstone and Baptiste.Both walked with difficulty and were sorely bruised. It seems they hadcome ashore clinging to the jolly-boat--the rest of the crew weredrowned--and had been cast on a sandy part of the coast. They knewnothing of the other boat or its occupants, and there was reason tobelieve the worst.

  "I fear they are all lost," said Captain Rudstone. "The longboat washeavily weighted and it probably capsized soon after it left the ship.We four have had a truly marvelous escape, Mr. Carew. I judge that MissHatherton owes her life to you."

  "We came ashore together," I answered.

  "Mr. Carew is too modest," Flora said quietly. "But for him I shouldhave been drowned when the boat upset. I was helpless all the time,while he held me on the spar."

  The captain looked queerly from one to the other of us, and I was afraidhe would say some awkward thing; but he merely shrugged hisshoulders, and turned to another subject.

  "We might be in a worse plight," he remarked. "We are sound of limb, andFort York is but six miles away. And I have saved Lord Selkirk'sdispatches, which is a matter to be thankful for." He patted his breastas he spoke. "A drying at a good fire is all they will need," he added.

  After some discussion, it was decided that two of the voyageurs shouldremain behind for the present and search the coast on the chance offinding trace of the longboat and its crew. The rest of us started forthe fort, but first a rude litter was constructed on which to carryFlora, who was too weak and bruised to walk so great a distance.

  The captain, Baptiste, and I were not in much better condition, and wewere heartily glad when, after a weary tramp of under three hours, wearrived at Fort York. This was and still is, the main trading-post ofthe Hudson Bay Company. It stood close to the bay and to the mouth ofthe Nelson River. It was larger than the other forts, but in everyrespect like them--a fortified palisade surrounding a huddled cluster ofbuildings, in which live a little colony of men, from the factor and hisassistants down to the Indian employees.

  Captain Rudstone and myself were well known at the fort--we had bothbeen there before--and we received a cordial greeting from old friends.We were soon provided with dry clothes and a stiff glass of liquor, andthen, little the worse for our hardships, we sat down to a plentifulbreakfast. Baptiste had fared worse than either of us. It turned outthat one of his ribs was broken, and he went straight to the hospital.The factor's wife took charge of Flora, and I saw her no more that day.One thing sadly marred our spirits--we had no hope that Hiram Bunker orany of his crew had been saved, and the disaster cast a gloom on all inthe fort. I may add here that the two voyageurs found the bodies of thekind-hearted American skipper and six of his men, and that they wereburied the following day on a low bluff overlooking the scene of theirdeath-struggles. Peace to their ashes!

  I slept soundly until late in the afternoon, and when supper was over,and I had visited Baptiste in the hospital, Captain Rudstone and I spenta quiet evening with the factor. Over pipes and brandy we told him thestory of the wreck, and of the circumstances that led to our hurriedflight from Quebec. He agreed that we had acted wisely, and he had someremarks to make to the disadvantage of Cuthbert Mackenzie.

  "He is a revengeful man," he added, "and he will leave no stone unturnedto settle with you for that night's work. I have no doubt that the theftof Lord Selkirk's despatches was his aim."

  "He did not get them," the captain laughed.

  "It would have been a most unfortunate thing if he had," the factorreplied gravely. "One of the letters in the packet was for him and hehad already received it. Lord Selkirk is a shrewd and determined man,and I am glad to know that they understand the danger at the head officein London. My instructions are just what I have wished them to be, and Isuppose the import of all the letters is about the same."

  "Very likely," assented Captain Rudstone. "I am glad you are pleased.Trouble has been brewing this long time, and the crisis can't be faroff. By the by, have you had news from Quebec later than the date of oursailing?"

  "Not a word. The last mail, which brought me some London papers, leftFort Garry at the close of June."

  The factor sighed. He was fond of the life of towns and he had beenburied in the wilderness for ten years!

  "Gentlemen, fill your glasses," he added. "Here's to the prosperity ofthe company!"

  "May it continue forever!" supplemented the captain.

  I drank the toast, and then inquired what was the state of the lowercountry.

  "There have been no open hostilities as yet," the factor replied, "butthere are plenty of rumors--ugly rumors. And that reminds me, Mr. Carew,a half-breed brought me a message from Griffith Hawke two days ago."

  "I rather expected to find him here," said I, trying to hide myeagerness at the opening of a subject which I had wished to come to.

  "He has abandoned that intention," the factor stated. "He is afraid toleave at present. The redskins have been impudent in his neighborhood oflate, and he thinks their loyalty has been tampered with by theNorthwest people. He begged me to send you and Miss Hatherton on to FortRoyal at the first opportunity after your arrival, and there happens tobe one open now."

  "How is that?" I asked.

  "My right-hand man, Gummidge--you met him at supper--has beentransferred to Fort Garry," the factor explained. "He is married, and heand his wife will go by way of the Churchill River and Fort Royal. MrsGummidge will be a companion to Miss Hatherton. They expect to start ina week, so as to cover as much ground as possible before the winter setsin."

  "The sooner the better," said I.

  "And what about the marriage?" Captain Rudstone inquired carelessly.

  "There will be a priest here--one of the French fathers--in the courseof a month," said the factor, "and I will send him on to Fort Royal."

  I tried hard to appear unconcerned, for I saw that Captain Rudstone waswatching me keenly.

  "I trust I shall be present for the ceremony," he remarked. "I go southby that route when I have finished with the business that brought me tothe bay. I have three forts to visit hereabouts first."

  The factor sucked thoughtfully at his pipe.

  "Hawke is a lucky man," he said. "By gad, I envy him! Miss Hatherton isthe prettiest bit of womanhood I ever clapped eyes on."

  "She is too young for Hawke," said Captain Rudstone, with a sly glancein my direction.

  "She will make him a good wife," I replied aggressively.

  "There is another who wishes to marry her," he answered.

  "What do you mean by that?" I cried.

  "I refer to Cuthbert Mackenzie," said the captain.

  I gave him an angry look, for I knew he had been purposely drawing meon, and to hide my confusion I drank a glass of brandy and water. Therewas a pause, and then, to my relief, the factor turned the conversationon the prices of furs.

  The next five days passed slowly and uneventfully. Baptiste came out ofhospital, and was pronounced fit for travel. Flora was none the worsefor her exposure and suffering; I saw very little of her, for she livedin the married men's quarters and was looked after by the factor's wifeand Mrs. Gummidge. But when we found ourselves alone together, ashappened several time
s, her guarded conversation gave me to understandthat the past must be forgotten, and she showed plainly that she wasdeeply grateful to me for not bringing up the subject that was next myheart. And indeed I had no intention of doing so. I realized that thegirl could not be mine, and that what had occurred between us, when webelieved ourselves to be on the edge of the grave--was the more reasonwhy I should remain true to faith and honor. But my love for her wasstronger and deeper-rooted than ever, and I still adhered to myresolution to take myself out of temptation's way at the firstopportunity--to begin a new life in the wilderness or the towns ofLower Canada. I would have evaded the journey with her to Fort Royal hadit been possible to do so.

  Captain Rudstone made no further mention of the girl, and during thetime he remained at the fort we were on the best of terms, though Iobserved that he took no pains to seek my company, and that he oftenlooked at me with the puzzled and uneasy expression which I had notedfrom the first. On the morning of the fourth day he left for a fort somemiles to the eastward, and on the night before an incident happenedwhich I must not forget to mention.

  We were sitting in the factor's room after supper--the captain andI--and he was reading an English paper that had come up with the lastmail. Suddenly he uttered a sharp cry of surprise, and brought histilted chair to the floor with a crash. When I inquired what was thematter he looked at me suspiciously, and made some inaudible reply. Hetossed the paper on the table, gulped down a stiff brandy, and left theroom.

  As he did not return, I ventured to pick the paper up and examine it. Itwas a copy of the London Times, dated a year back. I scanned the page hehad been reading, but could find nothing to account for his agitation.Where his hand had rumpled it was a brief paragraph stating that theEarl of Heathermere, of Heathermere Hall, in Surrey, was dead; that histwo unmarried sons had died during the previous year--one by an accidentwhile hunting; and that the title was now extinct, and the estate inChancery. I read it with momentary interest, and then it passed from mymind. The notice of deaths was close by, and I concluded that itcontained the name of one of the captain's English friends. I rememberedthat he had resided in London for some time.

  Early the next morning Captain Rudstone departed, expressing the hopethat he would see me within a month or six weeks. Two days later--on themorning of the sixth day after the wreck of the Speedwell--I was on myway to Fort Royal. Our party numbered eight, as follows: Jim Gummidgeand his wife, Miss Hatherton and myself, Baptiste, and three trustyvoyageurs. Gummidge was a companionable fellow, and his wife was ahardy, fearless little woman of the woods.

  Our course was to the west, across a seventy-mile stretch of waterway,formed of connecting lakes and streams, that would bring us to theChurchill River, at a point a few miles above Fort Royal--the Churchill,it may be said, empties into Hudson Bay more than a hundred miles to thenorthwest of Fort York. We traveled in one long, narrow canoe, which waslight enough to be portaged without difficulty, and on the evening ofthe second day we were within thirty-five miles of our destination.