Read Ebook: Matilda Montgomerie; Or The Prophecy Fulfilled by Richardson Major John

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Ebook has 1043 lines and 112983 words, and 21 pages

"So then I am to be the only bulleted man on this occasion," interrupted Middlemore, with ludicrous pathos--"the only poor devil who is to be made to remember Hartley's point for ever. But no matter. I am not the first instance of a second being shot, through the awkward bungling of his principal, and certainly Grantham you were in every sense the principal in this affair, for had you taken my advice you would have let the fellows go to the devil their own way."

"What! knowing, as I did, that the traitor Desborough had concealed in his canoe a prisoner on parole--nay, worse, a deserter from our service--with a view of conveying him out of the country."

"How did you know it."

"Because I at once recognised him, through the disguise in which he left the hut, for what he was. That discovery made, there remained but one course to pursue."

"Ah! and coarse work you made of it, with a vengeance," said Middlemore, "first started him up like a fox from his cover, got the mark of his teeth, and then suffered him to escape."

"Is there no chance of following--no means of overtaking them?" said Captain Molineux--"No, by Heaven," as he glanced his eye from right to left, "not a single canoe to be seen anywhere along the shore."

"Following!" echoed Middlemore; "faith the scoundrels would desire nothing better: if two of us had such indifferent play with them on terra firma, you may rely upon it that double the number would have no better chance in one of these rickety canoes. See there how the rascals lie to within half musket shot, apparently hailing us."

Middlemore was right. Desborough had risen in the stern of the canoe, and now, stretched to his full height, called leisurely, through his closed hands, on the name of Henry Grantham. When he observed the attention of that officer had, in common with that of his companions, been arrested, he proceeded at the full extent of his lungs.

And, with this horrible admission, the settler again seated himself in the stern of his canoe, and making good use of his paddle soon scudded away until his little vessel appeared but as a speck on the lake.

At the especial invitation of Captain Molineux Gerald Grantham dined at the garrison mess, on the evening of the day when the circumstances detailed in our last chapter took place. During dinner the extraordinary adventure of the morning formed the chief topic of conversation, for it had become one of general interest, not only throughout the military circles, but in the town of Amherstburgh itself, in which the father of the Granthams had been held in an esteem amounting almost to veneration. Horrible as had been the announcement made by the detected and discomfited settler to him who now, for the first time, learnt that his parent had fallen a victim to ruffian vindictiveness, too many years had elapsed since that event, to produce more than the ordinary emotion which might be supposed to be awakened by a knowledge rather of the manner than the fact of his death. Whatever therefore might have been the pain inflicted on the hearts of the brothers, by this cruel re-opening of a partially closed wound, there was no other evidence of suffering than the suddenly compressed lip and glistening eye, whenever allusion was made to the villain with whom each felt he had a fearful account to settle.

Much indeed of the interest of the hour was derived from the animated account, given by Gerald, of the circumstances which had led to his lying in ambuscade for the American on the preceding day; and as his narrative embraces not only the reasons for Captain Molineux's strange conduct, but other hitherto unexplained facts, we cannot do better than follow him in his detail:

"I think it must have been about half past eleven o'clock, on the night preceding the capture," commenced Gerald, "that, as my gun-boat was at anchor close under the American shore, at rather more than half a mile below the farther extremity of Bois Blanc, my faithful old Sambo silently approached me, while I lay wrapped in my watch-cloak on deck, calculating the chances of falling in with some spirited bark of the enemy which would afford me an opportunity of proving the mettle of my crew.

"'Massa Geral,' he said, in a mysterious whisper--for old age and long services in my family have given him privileges which I have neither the power nor the inclination to check--'Massa Geral,' pulling me by the collar, 'I dam ib he no go sleep when him ought to hab all him eyes about him--him pretty fellow to keep watch when Yankee pass him in e channel.'

"'A Yankee pass me in the channel!' I would have exclaimed aloud, starting to my feet with surprise; but Sambo, with ready thought, put his hand upon my mouth, in time to prevent more than the first word from being uttered.

"'Hush! dam him, Massa Geral, ib you make a noise, you no catch him.'

"'What do you mean, then--what have you seen?' I asked, in the same low whisper, the policy of which his action had enjoined on me.

"'Lookee dare, Massa Geral, lookee dare!'

"Following the direction in which he pointed, I now saw, but very indistinctly, a canoe in which was a solitary individual stealing across the lake to the impulsion of an apparently muffled paddle; for her course, notwithstanding the stillness of the night, was utterly noiseless. The moon, which is in her first quarter, had long since disappeared; yet the heavens, although not particularly bright, were sufficiently dotted with stars to enable me, with the aid of a night telescope, to discover that the figure, which guided the cautiously moving bark, had nothing Indian in its outline. The crew of the gun-boat had long since turned in; and even the latter lay reposing on the forecastle, the sentinels only keeping the ordinary lookout. So closely, moreover, did we lay in shore, that but for the caution of the paddler, it might have been assumed she was too nearly identified with the dark forest against which her hull and spars reposed, to be visible. Curious to ascertain her object, I watched the canoe in silence, as, whether accidentally or with design, I know not, she made the half circuit of the gun-boat and then bore away in a direct line for the Canadian shore. A suspicion of the truth now flashed across my mind, and I resolved without delay to satisfy myself. My first care was to hasten to the forecastle, and enjoin on the sentinels, who I feared might see and hail the stranger, the strictest silence. Then desiring Sambo to prepare the light boat, which I dare say most of you have remarked to form a part of my Lilliputian command, I proceeded to arm myself with cutlass and pistols. Thus equipped, I sprang lightly in; and having again caught sight of the chase, on which I had moreover directed one of the sentinels to keep a steady eye as long as she was in sight, desired Sambo to steer as noiselessly as possible in pursuit. For some time we kept the stranger in view, but whether, owing to his superior paddling or lighter weight, we eventually lost sight of him. The suspicion which had at first induced my following, however, served as a clue to guide me in the direction I should take. I was aware that the scoundrel Desborough was an object of distrust--I knew that the strictness of my father, during his magistracy, in compelling him to choose between taking the oaths of allegiance and quitting the country, had inspired him with deep hatred to himself and disaffection to the Government; and I felt that if the spirit of his vengeance had not earlier developed itself, it was solely because the opportunity and the power had hitherto been wanting; but that now, when hostilities between his natural and adopted countries had been declared, there would be ample room for the exercise of his treason. It was the strong assurance I felt that he was the solitary voyager on the face of the waters, which induced me to pursue him; for I had a presentiment that, could I but track him in his course, I should discover some proof of his guilt, which would suffice to rid us for ever of the presence of so dangerous a subject. The adventure was moreover one that pleased me, although perhaps I was not strictly justified in quitting my gun-boat, especially as in the urgency of the moment, I had not even thought of leaving orders with my boatswain, in the event of anything unexpected occurring during my absence. The sentinels alone were aware of my departure.

"The course we pursued was in the direction of Hartley's point, and so correct had been the steering and paddling of the keen-sighted negro, that when we made the beach, we found ourselves immediately opposite to Desborough's hut.

"'How is this, Sambo?' I asked in a low tone, as our canoe grated on the sand within a few paces of several others that lay where I expected to find but one--'are all these Desborough's?'

"'No, Massa Geral--'less him teal him toders, Desborough only got one--dis a public landin' place.'

"'Can you tell which is his?' I inquired.

"'To be sure--dis a one,' and he pointed to one nearly twice the dimensions of its fellows.

"'Has it been lately used, Sambo--can you tell?'

"'I soon find out, Massa Geral.'

"His device was the most simple and natural in the world, and yet I confess it was one which I never should have dreamt of. Stooping on the sands, he passed his hand under the bottom of the canoe, and then whispered:

"'Him not touch a water to-night, Massa Geral--him dry as a chip.'

"After having passed his hand ineffectually over several, he at length announced, as he stooped over one which I recognised, from a peculiar elevation of the bow and stern, to be same we had passed.

"'Dis a one all drippin' wet, Massa Geral. May I nebber see a Hebben ib he not a same we follow.'

"A low tapping against the door of the hut, which, although evidently intended to be subdued, was now, in the silence of night, distinctly audible, while our whispers on the contrary, mingled as they were with the crisping sound of the waves rippling on the sands were, at that distance, undistinguishable. It was evident that I had erred in my original conjecture. Had it been Desborough himself, living alone as he did, he would not have knocked for admission where there was no one to afford it, but would have quietly let himself in. It could then be no other than a visiter, perhaps a spy from the enemy--and the same to whom we had given chase.

"From the moment that the tapping commenced, Sambo and I stood motionless on the shore, and without trusting our voices again, even to a whisper. In a little time we heard the door open, and the low voice of Desborough in conversation with another. Presently the door was shut, and soon afterwards, through an imperfectly closed shutter on the only floor of the hut, we could perceive a streak of light reflected on the clearing in front, as if from a candle or lamp that was stationary.

"'I tink him dam rascal dat man, Massa Geral,' at length ventured my companion. 'I 'member long time ago,' and he sighed, 'when Sambo was no bigger nor dat paddle, one berry much like him. But, Massa Geral, Massa always tell me nebber talk o' dat.'

"'A villain he is, I believe, Sambo, but let us advance cautiously and discover what he is about.'

"We now stole along the skirt of the forest, until we managed to approach the window, through which the light was still thrown in one long, fixed, but solitary ray. It was however impossible to see who were within, for although the voices of men were distinguishable, their forms were so placed as not to be visible through the partial opening.

"The conversation had evidently been some moments commenced. The first words I heard uttered were by Desborough.

"'A Commissary boat, and filled with bags of goold eagles, and a fiftieth part our'n, if we get her clean slick through to Detroit. Well, drot me, if that ain't worth the trial. Why didn't they try it by land, boy?'

"'I reckon, father, that cock wouldn't fight. The Injuns are outlyin' everywhere to cut off our mails, and the ready is too much wanted to be thrown away. No, no: the river work's the safest, I take it, for there they little expect it to come.'

"The voice of the last speaker excited in me a strong desire to see the face of Desborough's visiter. Unable, where I stood, to catch the slightest view of either, I fancied that I might be more successful in rear of the hut. I therefore moved forward, followed by Sambo, but not so cautiously as to prevent my feet from crushing a fragment of decayed wood that lay in my path.

"A bustle within, and the sudden opening of the door announced that the noise had been overheard. I held up my finger impressively to Sambo, and we both remained motionless.

"'Who the hell's there?' shouted Desborough, and the voice rang like the blast of a speaking trumpet along the skirt of the forest.

"'Some raccoon looking out for Hartley's chickens, I expect,' said his companion, after a short pause. 'There's nothin' human, I reckon, to be seen movin' at this hour of the night.'

"'Who the hell's there?' repeated Desborough--still no answer.

"'Well now, I reckon we must lay our heads to do this job;' said the son, as he tossed off a portion of the liquid he had poured into his can. 'There's only that one gun-boat I expect in t'other channel.'

"'Only one, Phil--do you know who commands it?'

"'One of them curst Granthams, to be sure. I say, old boy,' and his eye lighted up significantly as he pointed to the opposite wall. 'I see you've got the small bore still.'

"A knowing wink marked the father's sense of the allusion. 'The devil's in it,' he rejoined, 'if we can't come over that smooth-faced chap some how or other. Did you see anythin' of him as you come along?'

"'I reckon I did. Pretty chick he is to employ for a look-out. Why I paddled two or three times round his gun-boat as it lay 'gin the shore, without so much as a single livin' soul being on deck to see me.'

"It is proverbial," continued Grantham, "that listeners never hear any good of themselves. I paid the common penalty. But if I continued calm, my companion did not. Partly incensed at what had related to me--but more infuriated at the declaration made by the son, that he had paddled several times round the gun-boat, without a soul being on deck to see him, he drew near to me, his white teeth displaying themselves in the gloom, as he whispered, but in a tone that betrayed extreme irritation.

"'What a dam liar rascal, Massa Geral. He nebber go round: I see him come a down a ribber long afore he see a boat at all.'

"'Hush, Sambo! hush--not a word,' I returned in the same low whisper. 'The villains are at some treason, and if we stir, we shall lose all chance of discovering it.'

"'Me no peak, Massa Geral; but dam him lyin' teef,' he continued to mutter, 'I wish I had him board a gun-boat.'

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