The Buffalo Runners: A Tale of the Red River Plains
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CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
MATRIMONIAL PLANS AND PROSPECTS.
Time passed by, as time is rather apt to do, and still the feud betweenthe rival fur companies continued, to the detriment of the Indians andthe fur-trade, the unsettling of Red River Settlement, and thedemoralisation more or less of all concerned.
Men who would gladly have devoted all their energies to the arts ofpeace, became more or less belligerent in spirit, if not in act, andmany were forced to take sides in the controversy--some siding with theNor'-Westers and others with the Hudson's Bay Company.
With the merits of their contentions we do not propose to meddle. Weconfine ourselves to facts.
One important fact was that our hero Daniel Davidson took the side ofthe Hudson's Bay Company. Being a stout fellow, with a good brain, astrong will, an independent spirit, and a capable tongue, he was highlyappreciated by the one side and considerably hated by the other,insomuch that some of the violent spirits made dark suggestions as tothe propriety of putting him out of the way. It is not easy, however,or safe, to attempt to put a strong, resolute man out of the way, andhis enemies plotted for a considerable time in vain.
The unsettled state of the colony, and the frequent failure of the cropshad, as we have seen, exerted an evil influence for a long time on poorDan's matrimonial prospects, and at last, feeling that more settledtimes might yet be in the remote future, and that, as regarded defenceand maintenance, it would be on the whole better both for Elspie andhimself that they should get married without delay, he resolved to takethe important step, and, as old McKay remarked, have it over.
"You see, Taniel," said the old man, when the subject was againbroached, "it iss of no use hangin' off an' on in this fashion.Moreover, this nasty stiff leg o' mine is so long of getting well thatit may walk me off the face o' the earth altogether, an' I would notlike to leave Elspie till this matter iss settled. Tuncan also iss alittle better just now, so what say you to have the weddin' the monthafter next? Mr Sutherland will be back from the Whitehorse Plains bythen, an' he can tie the knot tight enough--whatever. Anyway, it issclear that if we wait for a munister o' the Auld Kirk, we will hev towait till doomsday. What say you, Taniel?"
It need hardly be said that Dan had nothing whatever to say in objectionto this scheme. It was therefore settled--under the proviso, of course,that Elspie had no objection. Dan went off at once to see Elspie, andfound that she had no objection, whereupon, after some conversation,etcetera, with which we will not weary the reader, he sought out hisfriend Fred Jenkins, to whom he communicated the good news, and treatedhim to a good many unanswerable reasons why young people should notdelay marriage when there was any reasonable prospect of their gettingon comfortably in life together.
The sailor agreed with effusive heartiness to all that he said, and Danthought while he was speaking--orating--as one of the American settlerswould have expressed it--that Jenkins wore a peculiar expression on hismanly countenance. Attributing it to unusual interest in the event, hecontinued--
"Now, Fred, I want you to be my best-man--"
"Unpossible--quite unpossible," interrupted the seaman with a graveshake of the head.
"How--impossible!"
"Ab-so-lutely unpossible."
"But why? Explain yourself, Fred."
"'Cause it's only a bachelor as can be a best-man to a bachelor--ain'tit?"
"I believe so, though I'm no authority in such matters; but surely thatis a matter of no importance, for _you_ are a bachelor, you know."
"True, that's what I am to-day, but I won't be that long, for I am goin'to be married next month, so I won't be available, d'ee see, the monthafter."
"You--married!--to whom?" exclaimed Dan in amazement.
"Well, that's a point blank shot right between wind an' water.Hows'ever, I suppose I can't go wrong in tellin' you, Dan, for it's allsettled, though not a soul knows about it except Little Bill, an'yourself, an' her brother."
"But I _don't_ know about it yet," returned Dan. "Who is it?"
"A angel--pure an' unmixed--come straight down from heaven a-purpus tomarry poor, unedicated, sea-farin' Fred Jenkins, an' her terrestrialname is Elise Morel!"
Dan laughed while he congratulated the modest seaman, and admitted thestrength of his difficulty.
"D'you know, Fred, I've had a suspicion for some time past that you hada leaning in that direction?"
"So have I, Dan, had an uncommon strong suspicion for a very long timepast, not only that I had a leanin' that way, but a regular list toport, an' now I'm fairly over on my beam-ends!"
"But, surely, it must have come upon you very sudden at last," said Dan."How was it?"
"Sudden! I should just think it did--like a white squall in theMediterranean, or a hurricane in the China seas. This is how it was.I'd bin cruisin' about her--off an' on--for a considerable time, tryin'to make up my mind to go into action, an' screwin' my courage up to thestickin' pint by recallin' all the fine sentiments that has carriedJack-tars through fire an' smoke, shot and shell since the worldbegan--`England expects every man to do his dooty,'--`Never saydie,'--`Hookey Bunkum,' an' such like. But it warn't no manner o' use,for I'm an' outrageous coward wi' the gals, Dan. So, in a sort o'despair, I sailed away this very mornin' into the plantation at the futto' your garden, intendin' to cool myself an' think over it, when, whoshould I see almost hull down on my lee bow but the enemy--Eliseherself!
"Well, I changed my course at once; bore straight down on her, an' soonoverhauled her, but the nearer I came the more did my courage run out,so I gradooally begun to take in sail an drop astarn. At last I gotsavage, `You're a fool, Jenkins!' says I to myself. `That's a fact!'says su'thin' inside o' me.
"Now, if that su'thin' had kep' quiet, I do believe that I'd have goneabout-ship an' showed her my heels, but that su'thin', whatever it was,set up my dander. `Now then,' says I, `haul taut the main brace! Upwi' the t'gall'nt-s'ls an' sky-scrapers! "England expects," etceterer!'
"Afore you could say Jack Robinson, I was along side--grapplin'-ironshove into her riggin', and a broadside fired. The way I gave it herastonished even myself. Nelson himself could scarce ha' done it better!Well, she struck her colours at the first broadside, an' somehow--Inever could make out exactly how--we was sittin' on the stump of a treewith her head on my rough unworthy buzzum. Think o' that! Dan, _her_head--the head of a Angel! Give us your flipper, mate."
"I congratulate you, Jenkins, with all my heart," said Dan, grasping theseaman's flipper, and giving it a hearty shake. "So now, I must lookout for another best-man. Morel will do for me, I think, and you canhave my brother Peter, no doubt. But could we not manage to have bothweddings on the same day?"
"Impossible," answered the seaman, promptly. "Couldn't wait."
"But we might compromise the matter. I might have mine a little soonerand you could have yours a little later."
Still Jenkins shook his head. "Not fair-play," he said. "All theadvantage on your side. However, we might consider it. Hold a sort o'drum-head court-martial over it, with Elise and Elspie as judges."
When the said court-marital--as Dan called it--was held, the compromisewas agreed to, and it was finally fixed that six weeks thereafter thetwo couples should be united in Ben Nevis Hall.
But the current of these parallel streams of true love was not yetdestined to run smooth--as the next chapter will show.