South from Hudson Bay: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys, Page 2

  I THE NEW LAND

  Before Walter Rossel was wholly awake, even before he opened his eyes, herealized that the ship was unusually quiet. There was only a slightrolling motion from side to side, a dead roll. Was she caught in the iceagain, or had she reached Fort York at last? Could it be that the longvoyage was really over? Walter hurried into the few clothes he had takenoff, and ran up on deck, hoping to see land close by.

  He was disappointed. He could see nothing but gray water, a line of whitewhere waves were breaking on a long bar, and the dim, shadowy forms ofthe other ships, hulls, masts, and spars veiled in dense fog. There wasno ice in sight, yet all three vessels were riding at anchor.

  Eagerly the boy turned to a sailor who was scrubbing the deck. Walter'snative tongue was French, but he had picked up a little English duringthe voyage, enough to ask why the ships were at anchor, and to understandpart of the man's reply. They had crossed the bar in the night, thesailor said, and were lying in the shallow water of York Flats. Overthere to the south, hidden in the fog, was the shore.

  The news that they had arrived off Fort York spread rapidly among thepassengers on the _Lord Wellington_. Men, women, and children crowded ondeck, gazed into the fog, questioned one another and the sailors inFrench, German, and broken English, and talked and laughed excitedly. Alittle boy of seven and his older sister, a bright-faced girl of thirteenwith hazel eyes and heavy braids of brown hair, joined Walter and pouredout eager questions.

  "They say we are at the end of our voyage," cried the girl, "but where isthe land?"

  Walter pointed to the south. "We'll see it when the fog lifts. Does yourfather know we are almost at Fort York?"

  "Yes, he is coming on deck. There he is now."

  A middle aged man, thin and somewhat stooped, was coming towards them,his pale face smiling and eager. "Well, my boy," he greeted Walter, "thisis good news indeed. We shall soon be settled on our own farm. Think ofthat, children, our own farm, a far larger one than we could ever dreamof having in Switzerland."

  "Yes, Monsieur Perier," replied Walter, "the voyage is almost over,and----"

  "Look, Walter," Elise interrupted. "The fog is thinner. See how red it isin the east. And look at that dark line, like a shadow. Can that be theshore?"

  The fog was certainly thinning. A wider stretch of water had becomevisible, and the outlines of the other ships were clearer. Though steampower was coming into use for river navigation on both sides of theAtlantic, there were no ocean-going steamships in 1821. The _LordWellington_, the _Prince of Wales_, and the _Eddystone_ were sailingvessels, sturdily built craft with extra heavy oak sheathing andiron-plated bows, suitable for cruising ice-strewn, northern waters. Thatall three had been in contact with the ice, their scraped and batteredhulls betrayed. From each mizzen peak fluttered the British red ensign,and the mainmast head bore a flag with a red cross and the letters H. B.C., the flag of the Hudson Bay Company.

  The immigrants aboard the _Lord Wellington_ wasted scarcely a glance onthe other ships. It was the land they were interested in. As the risingsun drank up the fog, and the shore line grew clearer, the eager faces ofElise and Walter sobered with disappointment. A most unattractive shorewas revealed. It was low, swampy, sparsely clad with stunted trees, adesolate land without sign of human dwelling. Fort York could not beseen. It was fifteen or twenty miles in the interior, on the Hayes River.

  Unpromising as the land appeared, it was land nevertheless, and everyonelonged to set foot upon it. To the one hundred and sixty Swissimmigrants, the voyage had seemed endless. On May 30 they had sailed fromDordrecht in Holland. Now it was the last of August. For nearly threemonths they had been on shipboard. Delayed by stormy weather and crowdingice, they had spent a whole month navigating Hudson Straits and Bay.Luckily for them they did not realize what a long and toilsome way theyhad yet to travel before they reached their destination, the SelkirkColony on the Red River of the North.

  Though many of the new colonists looked thin, worn, and even ill from thehardships of the long voyage, they appeared to be neat, self-respectingfolk, intelligent and fairly well to do. Some wore the peasant dress oftheir native cantons, but the majority were townspeople,--shopkeepers andskilled workmen. Mr. Perier was a chemist and apothecary.

  Walter Rossel had not one blood relation in the whole company, but heconsidered himself one of the Perier family. For the past two years, asan apprentice in Mr. Perier's shop, he had lived with them. When hismaster had decided to emigrate, he had offered to either release Walterfrom his apprenticeship or take the boy with him. Walter had decidedquickly, and his father and stepmother had given their consent.

  The Periers and Walter had breakfasted, packed their personal belongings,and were on deck again, when a small, open sailboat came in sight fromthe direction of the shore. It headed for the _Eddystone_ and disappearedon the other side of that ship. Presently it reappeared, visited the_Prince of Wales_, and finally came on to the _Lord Wellington_.

  As the little boat drew close, Elise, Walter, and Max looked curiouslydown on the crew of sun-tanned, bearded men, strangely dressed in hoodedcoats of bright blue or of white blanketing, bound about the waists withcolorful silk or woolen sashes. The man in command came aboard, climbingthe ladder up the side. He was broad shouldered and strongly built, withreddish hair, bristly beard, and skin burned red-brown. With his bluecoat and bright red sash, he wore buckskin trousers fringed at the seams,and the queerest footgear Walter had ever seen, slipper-like, heel-lessshoes of soft leather embroidered in colors. They were Indian moccasinsornamented with dyed porcupine quills.

  After glancing about him and inclining his head slightly in a generalgreeting, the newcomer shook hands with the Master of the ship and withCaptain Mai, the man in charge of the Swiss immigrants, who had hurriedforward to greet him. He went below with them, but remained only a fewminutes.

  As soon as the red-haired man was overside again, the Swiss crowdedaround their conductor to ask when they were to go ashore. Captain Maipointed to the other ships. Their sails were up and they were gettingunder way.

  "A pilot has just gone aboard the _Eddystone_," he said. "We are tofollow her."

  Even before Captain Mai had finished speaking, the _Lord Wellington_ waswaking to activity. The anchors came up, the sails were set, and caughtthe breeze. In a few moments the immigrant vessel was following thesupply ships towards the mouth of the Hayes River.