Lords of the North

by Laut, Agnes C

  Following his daughter's directions I had been coming very early, also very often, with the object of accustoming the dour Scotchman to my staying late; and he had softened enough towards me to take part in occasional argument.

  "Don't believe they intend doing a thing, sir," I reiterated.

  Pushing his spectacles up on his forehead, he closed the book of sermons, which he had been reading, and puckered his brows as if he were compromising a hard point with conscience, which, indeed, I afterwards knew, was exactly what he had been doing.

  "Aye," said he, "aye, aye, young man. But I'm thinking ye'll no do y'r company ony harm by speerin' after the designs o' fightin' men who make ladders."

  "Oh!" I cried, all alert for information. "Have they been making ladders?"

  He pulled the spectacles down on his nose and deliberately reopened the book of sermons.

  "Of that, I canna say," he replied.

  Only once again did he emerge from his readings. I had risen to go. Frances usually accompanied me to the outer door, where I tied my snow-shoes and took a farewell unobserved by the father; but when I opened the door, such a blast of wind and snow drove in, I instantly clapped it shut again and began tying the racquets on inside.

  "O Rufus!" exclaimed Frances, "you can't go back to Fort Douglas in that storm!"

  Then we both noticed for the first time that a hurricane of wind was rocking the little house to its foundations.

  "Did that spring up all of a sudden?" I cried. "I never saw a blizzard do that before."

  "I'm afraid, Rufus, we were not noticing."

  "No, we were otherwise interested," said I, innocently enough; but she laughed.

  "You can't go," she declared.

  "The wind will be on my back," I assured her. "I'll be all right," and I went on lacing the snow-shoe thongs about my ankle.

  The book of sermons shut with a snap and the father turned towards us.

  "Let no one say any man left the Sutherland hearth on such a night! Put by those senseless things," and he pointed to the snow-shoes.

  "But those ladders," I interposed. "Let no one say when the enemy came Rufus Gillespie was absent from his citadel!"

  The wind roared round the house corners like a storm at sea; and the father looked down at me with a strange, quizzical expression.

  "Ye're a headstrong young man, Rufus Gillespie," said the hard-set mouth. "Ye maun knock a hole in the head, or the wall! Will ye go?"

  "Knock the hole in the wall," I laughed back. "Of course I go."

  "Then, tak' the dogs," said he, with a sparkle of kindliness in the cold eyes. So it came that I set out in the Sutherlands' dog-sled with a supply of robes to defy biting frost.

  And I needed them every one. Old settlers, describing winter storms, have been accused of an imagination as expansive as the prairie; but I affirm no man could exaggerate the fury of a blizzard on the unbroken prairie. To one thing only may it be likened—a hurricane at sea. People in lands boxed off at short compass by mountain ridges forget with what violence a wind sweeping half a continent can disport itself. In the boisterous roar of the gale, my shouts to the dogs were a feeble whisper caught from my lips and lost in the shrieking wind. The fine snowy particles were a powdered ice that drove through seams of clothing and cut one's skin like a whip lash. Without the fringe of woods along the river bank to guide me, it would have been madness to set out by day, and worse than madness by night; but I kept the dogs close to the woods. The trees broke the wind and prevented me losing all sense of direction in the tornado whirl of open prairie. Not enough snow had fallen on the hard-crusted drifts to impede the dogs. They scarcely sank and with the wind on their backs dashed ahead till the woods were passed and we were on the bare plains. No light could be seen through the storm, but I knew I was within a short distance of the fort gate and wheeled the dogs toward the river flats of the left. The creatures seemed to scent human presence. They leaped forward and brought the sleigh against the wall with a knock that rolled me out.

  "Good fellows;" I cried, springing up, uncertain where I was.

  The huskies crouched around my feet almost tripping me and I felt through the snowy darkness against the stockades, stake by stake.

  Ah! There was a post! Here were close-fitted boards—here, iron-lining—this must be the gate; but where was the lantern that hung behind? A gust of wind might have extinguished the light; so I drubbed loudly on the gate and shouted to the sentry, who should have been inside.

  The wind lulled for a moment and up burst wild shouting from the courtyard intermingled with the jeers of Frenchmen and cries of terror from our people. Then I knew judgment had come for the deeds at Seven Oaks. The gale broke again with a hissing of serpents, or red irons, and the howling wind rose in shrill, angry bursts. Hugging the wall, while the dogs whined behind, I ran towards the rear. Men jostled through the snowy dark, and I was among the De Meurons. They were too busy scaling the stockade on the ladders of which I had heard to notice an intruder. Taking advantage of the storm, I mounted a ladder, vaulted over the pickets and alighted in the courtyard. Here all was noise, flight, pursuit and confusion. I made for the main hall, where valuable papers were kept, and at the door, cannoned against one of our men, who shrieked with fright and begged for mercy.

  "Coward!" said I, giving him a cuff. "What has happened?"

  A flare fell on us both, and he recognized me.

  "The De Meurons!" he gasped. "The De Meurons!"

  I left him bawling out his fear and rushed inside.

  "What has happened?" I asked, tripping up a clerk who was flying through the hallway.

  "The De Meurons!" he gasped. "The De Meurons!"

  "Stop!" I commanded, grasping the lap of his coat. "What—has—happened?"

  "The De Meurons!" This was fairly screamed.

  I shook him till he sputtered something more.

  "They've captured the fort—our people didn't want to shed blood——"

  "And threw down their guns," I interjected, disgusted beyond word.

  "Threw down their guns," he repeated, as though that were a praiseworthy action. "The s-s-sentinels—saw the court—full—full—full of s-soldiers!"

  "Full of soldiers!" I thundered. "There are not a hundred in the gang."

  Thereupon I gave the caitiff a toss that sent him reeling against the wall, and dashed up-stairs for the papers. All was darkness, and I nigh broke my neck over a coffin-shaped rough box made for one of the trappers, who had died in the fort. Why was the thing lying there, anyway? The man should have been put into it and buried at once without any drinking bout and dead wake, I reflected with some sharpness, as I rubbed my bruised shins and shoved the box aside. Shouts rang up from the courtyard. Heavy feet trampled in the hall below. Hamilton, as a Hudson's Bay man, and Father Holland, I knew, were perfectly safe. But I was far from safe. Why were they not there to help me, I wondered, with the sort of rage we all vent on our friends when we are cornered and they at ease. I fumbled across the apartment, found the right desk, pried the drawer open with my knife, and was in the very act of seizing the documents when I saw my own shadow on the floor. Lantern light burst with a glare through the gloom of the doorway.

  * * *

  CHAPTER XXVI

  FATHER HOLLAND AND I IN THE TOILS

  Behind the lantern was a face with terrified eyes and gaping mouth. It was the priest, his genial countenance a very picture of fear.

  "What's wrong, Father?" I asked. "You needn't be alarmed; you're all right."

  "But I am alarmed, for you're all wrong! Lord, boy, why didn't ye stay with that peppery Scotchman? What did Frances mane by lettin' you out to-night?" and he shaded the light of the lantern with his hand.

  "I wanted these things," I explained.

  "Ye want a broad thumpin', I'm thinkin', ye rattle-pate, to risk y'r precious noodle here to-night," he whispered, coming forward and fussing about me with all the maternal anxiety of a hen over her only chicken.

  "List
en," said I. "The whole mob's coming in."

  "Go!" he urged, pushing me from the desk over which I still fumbled.

  "Run for those dogs of mercenaries!" I protested.

  "Ye swash-buckler! Ye stiff-necked braggart!" bawled the priest. "Out wid y'r nonsense, and what good are y' thinkin' ye'll do—? Stir your stumps, y' stoopid spalpeen!"

  "Listen," I urged, undisturbed by the tongue-thrashing that stormed about my ears. In the babel of voices I thought I had heard some one call my name.

  "Run, Rufus! Run for y'r life, boy!" urged Father Holland, apparently thinking the ruffians had come solely for me.

  "Run yourself, Father; run yourself, and see how you like it," and I tucked the documents inside my coat.

  "Divil a bit I'll run," returned the priest.

  "Hark!"

  The De Meurons' leaders were shouting orders to their men. Above the screams of people fleeing in terror through passage-ways, came a shrill bugle-call.

  "Go—go—go—Rufus!" begged Father Holland in a paroxysm of fear. "Go!" he pleaded, pushing me towards the door.

  "I won't!" and I jerked away from him. "There, now." I caught up a club and loaded pistol.

  The Nor'-Westers had no time to defend themselves. Almost before my stubborn defiance was uttered, the building was filled with a mob of intoxicated De Meurons. Rushing everywhere with fixed bayonets and cursing at the top of their voices, they threatened death to all Nor'-Westers. There was a loud scuffling of men forcing their way through the defended hall downstairs.

  "Go, Rufus, go! Think of Frances! Save yourself," urged the priest.

  It was too late. I could not escape by the hall. Noisy feet were already trampling up the stairs and the clank of armed men filled every passage.

  "Jee-les-pee! Jee-les-pee! Seven Oaks!" bawled a French voice from the half-way landing, and a multitude of men with torches dashed up the stairs. I took a stand to defend myself; for I thought I might be charged with implication in the massacre.

  "Jee-les-pee," roared the voices. "Where is Gillespie?" thundered a leader.

  "That's you, Rufus, lad! Down with you!" muttered the priest. Before I knew his purpose, he had tripped my feet from under me and knocked me flat on the floor. Overturning the empty coffin-box, he clapped it above my whole length, imprisoning me with the snap and celerity of a mouse-trap. Then I heard the thud of two hundred avoirdupois seating itself on top of the case. The man above my person had whisked out a book of prayers, and with lantern on the desk was conning over devotions, which, I am sure, must have been read with the manual upside down; for bits of the pater noster, service of the mass, and vesper psalms were uttered in a disconnected jumble, though I could not but apply the words to my own case.

  "Libera nos a malo—ora pro nobis, peccatoribus—ab hoste maligno defende me—ab homine iniquo et doloso erue me—peccator videbit et irascetur—desiderium peccatorum peribit——" came from the priest with torrent speed.

  "Jee-les-pee! Jee-les-pee!" roared a dozen throats above the half-way landing. Then came the stamp of many feet to the door.

  "Wait, men!" Hamilton's voice commanded. "I'll see if he's here!"

  "Simulacra gentium argentum et aurum, opera manuum hominum," like hailstones rattled the Latin words down on my prison.

  "One moment, men," came Eric's voice; but he could not hold them back. In burst the door with a rush, and immediately the room was crowded with vociferating French soldiers.

  "Manus habent, et non palpabunt; pedes——"

  "Is Gillespie here?" interrupted Hamilton, without the slightest recognition of the priest in his tones.

  "Pedes habent et non ambulabunt; non clamabunt in gutture suo," muttered the priest, finishing his verse; then to the men with a stiffness which I did not think Father Holland could ever assume—

  "How often must I be disturbed by men seeking that young scoundrel? Look at this place, fairly topsy-turvy with their hunt! Faith! The room is before you. Look and see!" and with a great indifference he went on with his devotions.

  "Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea——"

  "Some one here before us?" interrupted an Englishman with some suspicion.

  "Two parties here before ye," answered the priest, icily, as if these repeated questions rumpled ecclesiastical dignity, and he gabbled on with the psalm, "similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea, et omnes——"

  "If we lifted that box," interrupted the persistent Englishman, "what might there be?"

  "If ye lift that box," answered Father Holland with massive solemnity—and I confess every hair on my body bristled as he rose—"If ye lift that box there might be a powr—dead—body," which was very true; for I still held the cocked pistol in hand and would have shot the first man daring to molest me.

  But the priest's indifference was not so great as it appeared. I could tell from a tremor in his voice that he was greatly disturbed; and he certainly lost his place altogether in the vesper psalm.

  "Requiescat in pace," were his next words, uttered in funereal gravity. Singularly enough, they seemed to fit the situation.

  Father Holland's prompt offer to have the rough box examined satisfied the searchers, and there were no further demands.

  "Oh," said the Englishman, taken aback, "I beg your pardon, sir! No offence meant."

  "No offence," replied the priest, reseating himself. "Benedicite——"

  "Sittin' on the coffin!" blurted out the voice of an English youth as the weight of the priest again came down heavily on my prison; and again I breathed easily.

  "Come on, men!" shouted Hamilton, apprehensive of more curiosity. "We're wasting time! He may be escaping by the basement window!"

  "Jam hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit; surge, amica mea, et veni!" droned the priest, and the whole company clattered downstairs.

  "Quick!—Out with you!" commanded Father Holland. "Speed to y'r heels, and blessing on the last o' ye!"

  I dashed down the stairs and was bolting through the doorway when some one shouted, "There he is!"

  "Run, Gillespie!" cried some one else—one of our men, I suppose—and I had plunged into the storm and raced for the ladders at the rear stockades with a pack of pursuers at my heels. The snow drifts were in my favor, for with my moccasins, I leaped lightly forward, while the booted soldiers floundered deep. I eluded my pursuers and was half-way up a ladder when a soldier's head suddenly appeared above the wall on the other side. Then a bayonet prodded me in the chest and I fell heavily backwards to the ground.

  * * *

  I was captured.

  That is all there is to say. No man dilates with pleasure over that part of his life when he was vanquished. It is not pleasant to have weapons of defence wrested from one's hands, to feel soldiers standing upon one's wrists and rifling pockets.

  It is hard to feel every inch the man on the horizontal.

  In truth, when the soldiers picked me up without ceremony, or gentleness, and bundling me up the stairs of the main hall, flung me into a miserable pen, with windows iron-barred to mid-sash, I was but a sorry hero. My tormentors did not shackle me; I was spared that humiliation.

  "There!" exclaimed a Hudson's Bay man, throwing lantern-light across the dismal low roof as I fell sprawling into the room. "That'll cool the young hot-head," and all the French soldiers laughed at my discomfiture.

  They chained and locked the door on the outside. I heard the soldiers' steps reverberating through the empty passages, and was alone in a sort of prison-room, used during the régime of the petty tyrant McDonell. It was cold enough to cool any hot-head, and mine was very hot indeed. I knew the apartment well. Nor'-Westers had used it as a fur storeroom. The wind came through the crevices of the board walls and piled miniature drifts on the floor-cracks, all the while rattling loose timbers like a saw-mill. The roof was but a few feet high, and I crept to the window, finding all the small panes coated with two inches of hoar-frost. Whether the iron bars outside ran across, or up and down, I could not remember; but the fact woul
d make a difference to a man trying to escape. Much as I disliked to break the glass letting in more cold, there was only one way of finding out about those bars. I raised my foot for an outward kick, but remembering I wore only the moccasins with which I had been snowshoeing, I struck my fist through instead, and shattered the whole upper half of the window. I broke away cross-pieces that might obstruct outward passage, and leaning down put my hand on the sharp points of upright spikes. So intense was the frost, the skin of my finger tips stuck to the iron, and I drew my hand in, with the sting of a fresh burn.

  It was unfortunate about those bars. I could not possibly get past them down to the ground without making a ladder from my great-coat. I groped round the room hoping that some of the canvas in which we tied the peltries, might be lying about. There was nothing of the sort, or I missed it in the dark. Quickly tearing my coat into strips, I knotted triple plies together and fastened the upper end to the crosspiece of the lower window. Feet first, I poked myself out, caught the strands with both hands, and like a flash struck ground below with badly skinned palms. That reminded me I had left my mits in the prison room.

  The storm had driven the soldiers inside. I did not encounter a soul in the courtyard, and had no difficulty in letting myself out by the main gate.

  I whistled for the dogs. They came huddling from the ladders where I had left them, the sleigh still trailing at their heels. One poor animal was so benumbed I cut him from the traces and left him to die. Gathering up the robes, I shook them free of snow, replaced them in the sleigh and led the string of dogs down to the river. It would be bitterly cold facing that sweep of unbroken wind in mid-river; but the trail over ice would permit greater speed, and with the high banks on each side the dogs could not go astray.

  To an overruling Providence, and to the instincts of the dogs, I owe my life. The creatures had not gone ten sleigh-lengths when I felt the loss of my coat, and giving one final shout to them, I lay back on the sleigh and covered myself, head and all, under the robes, trusting the huskies to find their way home.