Matilda Montgomerie; Or, The Prophecy Fulfilled, Page 2

  CHAPTER II.

  Several hours had passed away in the interesting discussion of their warplans, and the council was nearly concluded, when suddenly the attentionboth of the officers and chiefs was arrested by the report of a singlecannon. From the direction of the sound, it was evident that the shothad been fired from the battery placed on the southern or lakewardextremity of the island of Bois Blanc, and as the circumstance wasunusual enough to indicate the existence of some approaching cause forexcitement, several of the younger of both, who, from their youth, hadbeen prevented from taking any active share in the deliberations of theday, stole, successively and unobservedly, through the largefolding-doors of the building, which, owing to the great heat of theweather, had been left open. After traversing about fifty yards ofsward, intersecting the high road, which, running parallel with theriver, separated the council-hall from the elevated bank, the officersfound, collected in groups on the extreme verge of this latter, andanxiously watching certain movements in the battery opposite to them,most of the troops and inferior Indians they had left loitering there atthe commencement of the council. These movements were hasty, and as ofmen preparing to repeat the shot, the report of which had reached themfrom the opposite extremity of the island. Presently the forms, hithertointermingled, became separate and stationary--an arm of one was nextextended--then was seen to rise a flash of light, and then a volume ofdense smoke, amid which the loud report found its sullen way, bellowinglike thunder through some blackening cloud, while, from the peculiarnature of the sound, it was recognised, by the experienced in thosematters, to have proceeded from a shotted gun.

  The war of 1812 had its beginning in the manner thus described. Theywere the first shots fired in that struggle, and although at an objectlittle calculated to inspire much alarm, still, as the first indicationsof an active hostility, they were proportionably exciting to those whoselot it was thus to "break ground," for operations on a larger scale.

  Although many an eager chief had found it difficult to repress thestrong feeling of mingled curiosity and excitement, that half raised himfrom the floor on which he sat, the first shot had been heard withoutthe effect of actually disturbing the assembly from its fair propriety;but no sooner had the second report, accompanied as it was by the wildyell of their followers without, reached their ears, than, wholly losingsight of the dignity attached to their position as councillors, theysprang wildly up, and seizing the weapons that lay at their side, rushedconfusedly forth, leaving Tecumseh, and two or three only of the moreaged chiefs, behind them. The debate thus interrupted, the council wasadjourned, and soon afterwards General Brock, accompanied by his staff,and conversing, through his interpreter, with the Shawnee chieftain asthey walked, approached the groups still crowded along the bank of theriver.

  Meanwhile, after the discharge of the last gun, the battery on theisland had been quitted by the officer in command, who, descending tothe beach, preceded by two of his men, stepped into a light skiff thatlay chained to the gnarled root of a tree overhanging the current, andclose under the battery. A few sturdy strokes of the oars soon broughtthe boat into the centre of the stream, when the stout, broad-builtfigure and carbuncled face of an officer in the uniform of theforty-first regiment, were successively recognised, as he stood uprightin the stern.

  "What the deuce brings Tom Raymond to us in such a hurry? I thought theorder of the general was that he should on no account leave his post,unless summoned by signal," observed one of the group of youngerofficers who had first quitted the council hall, and who now waited withinterest for the landing of their companion.

  "What brings him here, can you ask?" replied one at the side of thequestioner, and with a solemnity of tone and manner that caused thewhole of the group to turn their eyes upon him, as he mournfully shookhis head.

  "Aye, _what_ brings him here?" repeated more than one voice, while allclosed inquiringly around for information.

  "Why the thing is as clear as the carbuncles on his own face--the boat,to be sure." And the truism was perpetrated with the same provokinglyludicrous, yet evidently forced, gravity of tone and manner.

  "Execrable, Middlemore.--Will you never give over that vile habit ofpunning?"

  "Detestable!" said another.

  "Ridiculous!" repeated a third.

  "Pshaw! the worst you ever uttered!" exclaimed a fourth, and each, as hethus expressed himself, turned away with a movement of impatience.

  "That animal, Raymond, grows like a very porpoise," remarked a youngcaptain, who prided himself on the excessive smallness of his waist."Methinks that, like the ground-hogs that abound on his island, he mustfatten on hickory nuts. Only see how the man melts in the noonday sun.But as you say, Villiers, what can bring him here without an order fromthe general? And then the gun last fired. Ha! I have it.--He hasdiscovered a Yankee boat stealing along through the other channel."

  "No doubt there is _craft_ of some description _in the wind_," pursuedthe incorrigible Middlemore, with the same affected unconsciousness.

  "Ha!" returned Captain Molineux, the officer who had commented so freelyupon the fat lieutenant in the boat--"Your pun, infamous as it would beat the best, is utterly without point now, for there has not been abreath of wind stirring during the whole morning."

  "Pun, did you say?" exclaimed Middlemore, with well affected surprise atthe charge, "my dear fellow, I meant no pun."

  Further remark was checked by an impatience to learn the cause ofLieutenant Raymond's abrupt appearance, and the officers approached theprincipal group. The former had now reached the shore, and, shuffling upthe bank as fast as his own corpulency and the abruptness of the ascentwould permit, hastened to the general, who stood at some little distanceawaiting the expected communication of the messenger.

  "Well, Mr. Raymond, what is it--what have you discovered from yourpost?" demanded the General, who, with those around him, founddifficulty in repressing a smile at the heated appearance of the fatsubaltern, the loud puffing of whose lungs had been audible before hehimself drew near enough to address the chief--"something important, Ishould imagine, if we may judge from the haste with which you appear tohave travelled over the short distance that separates us?"

  "Something very important, indeed, General," answered the officer,touching his undress cap, and speaking huskily from exertion; "there isa large bark, sir, filled with men, stealing along shore in the Americanchannel, and I can see nothing of the gun boat that should be stationedthere. A shot was fired from the eastern battery, in the hope ofbringing her to, but, as the guns mounted there are only carronades, theball fell short, and the suspicious looking boat crept still closer tothe shore--I ordered a shot from my battery to be tried, but withoutsuccess, for, although within range, the boat hugs the land so closelythat it is impossible to distinguish her hull with the naked eye."

  "The gun boat not to be seen, Mr. Raymond?" exclaimed the General; "howis this, and who is the officer in command of her?"

  "One," quickly rejoined the Commodore, to whom the last query wasaddressed, "whom I had selected for that duty for the very vigilance anddesire for service attributed to him by my predecessor--of course I havenot been long enough here, to have much personal knowledge of himmyself."

  "His name?" asked the General.

  "Lieutenant Grantham."

  "Grantham?" repeated the General, with a movement of surprise; "It isindeed strange that _he_ should forego such an opportunity."

  "Still more strange," remarked the commodore, "that the boat he commandsshould have disappeared altogether. Can there be any question of hisfidelity? the Granthams are Canadians, I understand."

  The general smiled, while the young officer who had been noticed soparticularly by Tecumseh on his landing, colored deeply.

  "If," said the former, "the mere circumstance of their having receivedexistence amid these wilds can make them Canadians, they certainly areCanadians; but if the blood of a proud race can make them Britons, suchthey are. Be they which they may, however, I would stake
my life on thefidelity of the Granthams--still, the cause of this young officer'sabsence must be inquired into, and no doubt it will be satisfactorilyexplained. Meanwhile, let a second gunboat be detached in pursuit."

  The commodore having given the necessary instructions to a youngmidshipman, who attended him in the capacity of an aid-de-camp, and thegeneral having dismissed Lieutenant Raymond back to his post on theisland, these officers detached themselves from the crowd, and, whileawaiting the execution of the order, engaged in earnest conversation.

  "By Jove, the commodore is quite right in his observation," remarked theyoung and affected looking officer, who had been so profuse in hiswitticisms on the corpulency of Lieutenant Raymond; "the general may saywhat he will in their favor, but this is the result of entrusting soimportant a command to a Canadian."

  "What do you mean, sir?" hastily demanded one even younger thanhimself--it was the youth already named, whose uniform attested him tobe a brother officer of the speaker. He had been absent for a fewminutes, and only now rejoined his companions, in time to hear theremark which had just been uttered.

  "What do you mean, Captain Molineux?" he continued, his dark eyeflashing indignation, and his downy cheek crimsoning with warmth. "Whythis remark before me, sir, and wherefore this reflection on theCanadians?"

  "Why really, Mr. Grantham," somewhat sententiously drawled the captain;"I do not altogether understand your right to question in this tone--noram I accountable for any observations I may make. Let me tell you,moreover, that it will neither be wise nor prudent in you, having beenreceived into a British regiment to become the Don Quixotte of yourcountrymen."

  "_Received_ into a British regiment, sir! do you then imagine that I,more than yourself, should feel this a distinction," haughtily returnedthe indignant youth. "But, gentlemen, your pardon," checking himself andglancing at the rest of the group, who were silent witnesses of thescene; "I confess I do feel the distinction of being admitted into sogallant a corps--this in a way, however, that must be common to us all.Again I ask, Captain Molineux," turning to that officer, "the tendencyof the observations you have publicly made in regard to my brother."

  "Your question, Mr. Grantham might, with as much propriety, be addressedto any other person in the full enjoyment of his senses, whom you seehere, since it is the general topic of conversation; but, as you seem torequire an answer from me particularly, you shall have it. My remarkreferred to the absence of the officer in charge of the gun-boat fromthe station allotted to him, at a moment when an _armed_ vessel of theenemy is in sight. Is this the fact, or is it not?"

  "By which remark," returned the other, "you would imply that saidofficer is either guilty of gross neglect or--"

  "I draw no inferences, Mr. Grantham, but even if I did, I should be moreborne out by circumstances than you imagine."

  "It is plain you would insinuate that my brother shuns the enemy,Captain Molineux--You shall answer to me for this insult, sir."

  "As you please, Mr. Grantham, but on one condition only."

  "Name it, sir, name it," said the young officer quickly.

  "That it is satisfactorily proved your brother has _not_ shunned theenemy."

  Bitter feelings swelled the heart of the enthusiastic Grantham, asunconsciously touching the hilt of his sword, he replied: "If your hopeof avoidance rest on this, sir, it will be found to hang upon a verythread indeed."

  The attention of the group where this unpleasant scene had occurred, andindeed of all parties, was now diverted by the sudden appearance of theAmerican boat, as, shooting past the head of the island, which hadhitherto concealed her from the view of the assembled crowds, her sparsand white sails became visible in the far distance. A slight andfavorable breeze, blowing off the shore which she still closely hugged,had now apparently sprung up, and, spreading all her canvass, she wasevidently making every effort to get beyond the reach of the battery(whither Lieutenant Raymond had returned), under whose range she wasunavoidably impelled by the very wind that favored her advance. Owing tosome temporary difficulty, the gun-boat, just ordered by the commodoreto follow in pursuit, was longer than suited the emergency in gettingunder way, and when she had succeeded in so doing, nearly half an hourelapsed before, owing to the utter absence of wind, as well as therapidity of the current, she could be brought by the aid of her long andcumbrous sweeps to clear the head of the island. The American, nowdiscovered to have a small detachment of troops on board, had by thistime succeeded in getting out of the range of a fire, which althoughwell directed had proved harmless, and, using every exertion of oar andsail, bade fair, favored as she was by the breeze which reached not thecanvass of her enemy, to effect her escape.

  Concern sat on every brow, and was variously expressed--loud yellsmarking the fierce disappointment of the Indians, and undisguisedmurmurs that of the more disciplined troops. Coupled with this feeling,among the officers at least, naturally arose the recollection of him towhose apparent neglect this escape of the enemy was to be attributed,until at length the conduct of Lieutenant Grantham was canvassedgenerally, and with a freedom little inferior to that which, fallingfrom the lips of Captain Molineux, had so pained his sensitivebrother--with this difference, however, that in this instance they werethe candidly expressed opinions of men arraigning the conduct of one oftheir fellows apparently guilty of a gross dereliction from duty, andnot, as in the former they had seemed to be, with any ungenerousallusion to his fidelity.

  Warmly, and therefore audibly, commented on as was the unaccountableabsence of the officer, by individuals of almost every rank, it wasimpossible that many of those observations could escape the attention ofthe excited Henry Grantham. Mortified beyond measure at the fact, yetunable, as he had done before, to stand forth the champion of hisbrother's honor, where all (with a very few exceptions, among whom hehad the consolation to find the general) were united in opinion againsthim, his situation was most painful. Not that he entertained theremotest doubt of his brother bearing himself harmlessly through theordeal, but that his generous, yet haughty spirit could ill endure thethought of any human being daring to cherish, much less to cast theslightest aspersion on his blood.

  Finding it vain to oppose himself to the torrent of openly expressedopinion, the mortified youth withdrew to a distance, and, hasteningamong the rude tumuli we have described, as being scattered about theedge of the bank, stood watching, with folded arms and heaving chest,the gradually receding bark of the enemy. Alternately, as he thus gazed,his dark eye now flashed with the indignation of wounded pride, nowdilated with the exulting consciousness of coming triumph. The assurancewas strong within him, not only that his brother would soon make hisappearance before the assembled groups who had had the cruelty to impugnhis conduct, but that he would do so under circumstances calculated tochange their warm censure into even more vehement applause. Fullyimpressed with the integrity of his absent relative, the impetuous andgenerous hearted youth paused not to reflect that circumstances weresuch as to justify the belief--or at least the doubt--that had beenexpressed, even by the most impartial of those who had condemned him. Itseemed to him that others ought to have known and judged him as hehimself did, and he took a secret delight in dwelling on theself-reproach which he conceived would attach to them, when it should befound how erroneous had been the estimate formed of his character.

  While he thus gazed, with eyes intently bent upon the river, andmanifesting even a deeper interest as the fleeing bark drew momentarilynearer to one particular point in the distance, the young officer heardfootsteps approaching him. Hastily dashing away a tear which had beencalled up by a variety of emotions, he turned and beheld the ChieftainTecumseh, and with him one who, in the full uniform of the BritishStaff, united, in his tall and portly figure, the martial bearing of thesoldier to the more polished graces of the habitual courtier.

  "Henry, my noble boy," exclaimed the latter, as he pressed the hand ofthe youth, "you must not yield to these feelings. I have marked yourimpatience at the observations caused by G
erald's strange absence, but Ihave brought you one who is too partial to you both to join in thecondemnation. I have explained every thing to him, and he it was who,remarking you to be alone, and suspecting the cause, first proposedcoming to rouse you from your reverie."

  Affectionately answering the grasp of his noble looking uncle, HenryGrantham turned at the same time his eloquent eye upon that of thechieftain, and, in a few brief but expressive sentences, conveyed, inthe language of the warrior, the gratification he experienced in hisunchanged confidence in the absent officer.

  As he concluded, with a warmth of manner that delighted him to whom headdressed himself, their hands met for the third time that day. Tecumsehat length replied, by pointing significantly to the canoes which stilllay floating on the river, unemptied of their warriors, stating at thesame time, that had not his confidence in his young friend beenunbounded, he would long since have despatched those canoes in pursuit;but he was unwilling the officer should lose any of the credit that mustattach to the capture. "I know," he concluded, "where he is lying likethe red skin in pursuit of the enemy. Be patient, and we shall soon seehim."

  Before Henry Grantham could find time to inquire if the place of ambushwas not the same to which his own hopes, induced by his perfectknowledge of localities, had, throughout, pointed as the spot mostlikely to conceal the hitherto invisible gun boat, his attention, andthat of his immediate companion, was drawn to a scene that carried aglow of exultation to the bosoms of them all.

  The American boat, long since out of range of the battery, and scuddingwith a speed that mocked the useless exertions of those on board of thesecond gun boat, who could with difficulty impel her through thepowerful eddy formed by the island, had been gradually edging from herown shore into the centre of the stream. This movement, however, had theeffect of rendering her more distinguishable to the eye, breasting, asshe did, the rapid stream, as while hugging the land, even when muchnearer, she had been confounded with the dark line of brushwood whichconnected the forest with the shore. She had now arrived opposite a neckof land beyond which ran a narrow, deep creek, the existence of whichwas known only to few, and here it chanced that in the exultation ofescape, they gave a cheer that was echoed back from either shore,hoisting at the same moment the American colors. Scarcely, however, hadthis cheer been uttered, when a second and more animating, was heardfrom a different point, and presently, dashing into the river, andapparently issuing from the very heart of the wood, was to be seen thegun-boat, which had been the subject of so much conversation, everystitch of her white canvass bellying from the masts, and her dark prowburied in a wreath of foam created by her own speed. As she neared theAmerican a column of smoke, followed a second or two later by a dullreport, rose from her bows, enveloping her a moment from the view, andwhen next visible she was rapidly gaining on the chase. The yells of theIndians and the hurrahs of the soldiers gave an indescribable animationto the scene.

  This was indeed a moment of proud triumph to the heart of HenryGrantham. He saw his brother not only freed from every ungenerousimputation, but placed in a situation to win to himself the firstlaurels that were to be plucked in the approaching strife. The"Canadian," as he imagined he had been superciliously termed, would bethe first to reap for Britain's sons the fruits of a war in which thoselatter were not only the most prominent actors, but also the mostinterested. Already, in the enthusiasm of his imagination, he picturedto himself the honor and promotion, which bestowed upon his gallantbrother, would be reflected upon himself, and, in the deep excitement ofhis feelings, he could not avoid saying aloud, heedless of the presenceof his uncle:

  "Now, Captain Molineux, your only difficulty is removed--my brother hasrevenged himself. With me you will have an account to settle on my ownscore."

  "What do you mean, Henry?" seriously inquired Colonel D'Egville; "surelyyou have not been imprudent enough to engage in a quarrel with one ofyour brother officers."

  Henry briefly recounted the conversation which had taken place betweenCaptain Molineux and himself.

  "Far be it from my intention to check the nice sense of honor whichshould be inherent in the breast of every soldier," returned his uncleimpressively, "but you are too sensitive. Henry; Captain Molineux, whois, moreover, a very young man, may not have expressed himself in themost guarded manner, but he only repeated what I have been compelled tohear myself--and from persons not only older, but much higher in rank.Take my advice, therefore, and let the matter rest where it is; Gerald,you see, has given the most practical denial to any observations whichhave been uttered of a nature derogatory to his honor."

  "True," quickly returned the youth, with a flushing cheek, "Gerald issufficiently avenged, but you forget the taunt he uttered againstCanadians!"

  "And if he did utter such taunt, why acknowledge it as such?" calmlyrejoined Colonel D'Egville; "are you ashamed of the name? I too am aCanadian, but so far from endeavoring to repudiate my American birth, Ifeel pride in having received my being in a land where everythingattests the sublimity and magnificence of nature. Look around you, mynephew, and ask yourself what there is in the wild grandeur of thesescenes to disown. But, ha!"--as he cast his eyes upon the water--"I fearGerald will lose his prize after all; the enemy is giving him the Indiandouble."

  During the foregoing short conversation, an important change had beeneffected in the position of the adverse boats. The shot fired,apparently with the view of bringing the enemy to, had produced nofavorable result; but no sooner had the gun-boat come abreast of thechase, than the latter, suddenly clewing up her sails, put her helmabout, and plying every oar with an exertion proportioned to theemergency, made rapidly for the coast she had recently left. Theintention of the crew was evidently to abandon the unarmed boat, and toseek safety in the woods. Urged by the rapidity of her own course, thegun-boat had shot considerably ahead, and when at length she also wasput about, the breeze blew so immediately in her teeth that it was foundimpossible to regain the advantage which had been lost. Meanwhile, theAmerican continued her flight, making directly for the land, with arapidity that promised fair to baffle every exertion on the part of herpursuer. The moment was one of intense interest to the crowd ofspectators who lined the bank. At each instant it was expected the fireof the gun-boat would open upon the fugitives; but although this wasobviously the course to be adopted, it being apparent a single shot wassufficient to sink her--not a flash was visible--not a report was heard.Presently, however, while the disappointment of the spectators from thebank was rising into murmurs, a skiff filled with men was seen to pullfrom the gun-boat in the direction taken by the chase, which wasspeedily hidden from view by the point of land from which the latter hadpreviously been observed to issue. Behind this her pursuer alsodisappeared, and after a lapse of a few minutes, pistol and musket shotswere distinguished, although they came but faintly on the ear. Thesegradually became more frequent and less distinct, until suddenly therewas a profound pause--then three cheers were faintly heard--and allagain was still.