At the garrison mess table that evening the occurrences
of the day naturally formed a chief topic of conversation;
and a variety of conjectures, more or less probable,
regarding the American lady, were hazarded by the officers,
to some of whom she had become an object of curiosity,
as she had to others of interest. This conversation,
necessarily 'parenthesed' with much extraneous matter,
in the nature of rapid demands for solids and liquids,
during the interesting period devoted to the process of
mastication, finally assumed a more regular character
when the cloth had been removed, and the attendants
retired.
"If a am at all a joodge of pheesogs, and a flatter meself
a am," said a raw-boned Scotch Captain of Grenadiers,
measuring six feet two in his stockings, "yon geerl has
a bit of the deevil in her ee, therefor, me lads, tak
heed that nane o' ye lose yer heerts to her."
"Why not, Cranstoun?" asked a young officer.
"Becoose, Veelliers, she seems to have art enoof, and,
to gi' the witch her due, beauty enoof to make a mon play
the rule, an' she tak it into her heed.
"By George, you are right, Cranstoun," said a remarkably
bow-legged, shoulder-of-mutton-fisted, Ensign, whose
sharp face, glowing as a harvest moon, made one feel
absolutely hot in his presence--a sensation that was by
no means diminished by his nasal tone and confident
manner; "I have no fancy for your pale faced people who,
even while their eyes are flashing anger upon all around,
show you a cheek as cold and as pale as a turnip--they're
alway so cursed deep. Don't you think so Granville, old
fellow?
"Too deep for you I dare say, Mr. Langley," observed the
officer last named, (a Captain of Light Infantry) with
a slight degree of sarcasm, for he liked not the vulgar
familiarity of the recently-joined Ensign's address;
"however, be that as it may, I will wager a score of
flour barrels, or even pork barrels, if you prefer them,
that you cannot show me a finer girl. Were I a marrying
man," he continued addressing his companions generally,
"I do not know a woman I would sooner choose to share my
barrack room with me."
"Bravo! bravo! propose to her Granville propose! propose!"
shouted two or three young and joyous voices, amid the
loud clapping of hands; "but what do you mean by offering
Langley so singular a bet?"
"Ask himself," replied Captain Granville drily, "he knows
the value of these things, if you do not. Besides we live
in a country where most dealings are in produce. But,"
he continued, adverting to the first remark, and without
seeming to notice the flush upon the red face of Ensign
Langley, which momentarily increased until it finally
assumed a purple hue--"What the devil should I do with
a wife. Nay, even if I felt so inclined, I saw her give
Gerald Grantham a look that would carry disappointment
to the hopes of any other man--What say you, Henry,"
addressing his subaltern. "How would you like her for
a sister-in-law?"
"Not at all," was the grave reply.
"Apropos," continued Captain Granville, who filled the
president's chair--"we ought to have toasted your brother's
gallant exploit--Gentlemen, fill your glasses--all full?--
Then I will give you the health of Lieutenant Grantham
of the squadron."
The toast was responded to by all but Captain Molineux--
His glass had been filled and raised, but its contents
remained untasted.
The omission was too marked not to be noticed by more
than one of the party, Henry Grantham, whose eye had been
fixed upon Captain Molineux at the time, of course detected
the slight--He sat for some minutes conversing with an
unusual and evidently forced animation, then, excusing
his early departure under the plea of an engagement with
his brother, rose and quitted the mess room.
"What ha' ye doon wi' the oogly loot ye took chairge of,
De Courcy?" inquired Captain Cranstoun, interrupting the
short and meaning pause which had succeeded to Grantham's
departure.
"Why, I calculate Captain," returned the lively aid-de-
camp, imitating the nasal drawl and language which had
called up so much mirth, even in presence of the General--
"I calculate as how I have introduced Ensign Paul, Emilius,
Theophilus, Arnoldi, of the United States Michigan Militia,
into pretty considerable snug quarters--I have billeted
him at the inn, in which he had scarcely set foot, when
his first demand was for a glass of "gin sling," wherewith
to moisten his partick'lar damn'd hot, baked clay."
"What a vulgar and uncouth animal," observed St. Clair,
a Captain of Engineers--"I am not at all surprised at
Major Montgomerie's disinclination to acknowledge him as
a personal acquaintance."
"It is to be hoped," said De Courcy, "we shall not
encounter many such during the approaching struggle, for,
since we have been driven into this war, it will be a
satisfaction to find ourselves opposed to an enemy rather
more chivalrous than this specimen seems to promise."
"Nay, nay, De Courcy," remarked Captain Granville, "you
must not judge of the American officers of the line by
the standard of their backwoodsmen; as, for example,
Major Montgomerie and the person just alluded to. Last
winter," he continued, "there was a continued interchange
of hospitality between the two posts, and, had you been
here to participate in them, you would have admitted
that, among the officers of Detroit, there were many very
superior men indeed."
"Pleasant ball that last they gave," said Lieutenant
Villiers with a malicious laugh, and fixing his eyes on
the Captain of Grenadiers.
"The deevil tak' the ball," impatiently retorted Cranstoun,
who did not seem to relish the allusion; "doont talk
aboot it noo, mon."
"What was it, Villiers? do pray tell us. Something good,
I am sure from Cranstoun's manner," eagerly asked the
aid-de-camp, his curiosity excited by the general titter
that followed the remark.
"Shall I tell him, Cranstoun?" asked Villiers in the same
bantering tone.
"Hoot mon, doon't bother me," petulantly returned the
other, as thrusting his long legs under the table, and
turning his back upon the questioner he joined, or affected
to join, in a conversation that was passing, in a low
tone, at his end of the room.
"I must premise," began Villiers, addressing himself to
the attentively listening De Courcy, "that such is the
mania for dancing in this country, scarcely any obstacle
is sufficient to deter a Canadian lady, particularly a
French Canadian, from indulging in her favorite amusement.
It is, therefore, by no means unusual to see women drawn
in sleighs over drifting masses of ice, with chasms
occasionally occurring of from fifteen to twenty feet;
and that at a moment when, driven by wind and current,
the huge fragments are impelled over each other with a
roar that can only be likened to continuous thunder,
forming, in various directions, lofty peaks from which
the sun's rays are reflected in a thousand fantastic
shades and shapes. On these occasions the sleighs, or
carioles, are drawn, not as otherwise customary, by the
fast trotting little horses of the country, but by expert
natives whose mode of transport is as follows: A strong
rope is fastened to the extremity of the shafts, and into
this the French Canadian, buried to the chin in his
blanket coat, and provided with a long pole terminating
in an iron hook, harnesses himself, by first drawing the
loop of the cord over the back of his neck, and then
passing it under his arms--In this manner does he traverse
the floating ice, stepping from mass to mass with a
rapidity that affords no time for the detached fragment
to sink under the weight with which it is temporarily
laden--As the iron-shod runners obey the slightest
impulsion, the draught is light; and the only fatigue
encountered is in the act of bringing the detached bodies
together. Wherever an opening intervenes, the Canadian
throws forward his pole, and, securing the pointed hook
in some projection of the floating ice, drags it towards
that on the extreme verge of which he stands. In like
manner he passes on to the next, when the same operation
remains to be performed, until the passage is finally
effected. Sometimes it happens that a chasm of more than
ordinary extent occurs, in which case the pole is
unavailable, and then his only alternative is to wait
patiently until some distant mass, moving in a direction
to fill up the interstice, arrives within his reach. In
the meanwhile the ice on which he stands sinks slowly
and gradually, until sometimes it quite disappears beneath
the surface of the water."
"And the women, all this time?" demanded De Courcy, with
something of the nervousness, which might be attributed
to such a situation.
"Sit as quietly and as unconcernedly, wrapped in their
furs, as if they were merely taking their customary drive
on terra firma," continued Villiers, "nay, I am persuaded
that if they ever entertain an anxiety on those occasions,
it is either least the absence of one of these formidable
masses should compel them to abandon an enterprize, the
bare idea of entering upon which would give an European
woman an attack of nerves, or that the delayed aid should
be a means of depriving them of one half minute of their
anticipated pleasure."
"Why," interrupted Middlemore, despite of a dozen ohs
and ahs--"why, I say, is Villiers like a man of domestic
habits? Do you give it up? Because he is fond of dwelling
on his own premises."
"Middlemore, when will you renounce that vile habit of
punning?" said De Courcy with an earnestness of adjuration
that excited a general laugh at his end of the table--
"Come, Villiers, never mind his nonsense, for your
premises, although a little long, are not without deep
interest--but what has all this to do with our good
friend above?"
"You shall hear. After a succession of balls last winter,
to which the ladies on either shore were invariably
invited, the concluding one was given by the officers in
garrison at Detroit. This was at the very close of the
season, and it chanced that, on the preceding night, the
river had broken up, so that the roar and fracas of
crashing ice, might have been likened, during forty eight
hours afterwards, to some terrible disorganization of
nature. Nothing daunted, however, by the circumstance,
many of the Canadian ladies made the usual preparations,
and amongst others the Miss D'Egvilles."
Here Villiers paused a moment, and with a significant
"hem," sought to arouse the attention of the Grenadier;
but Cranstoun, insensible to the appeal, and perhaps
unwilling to listen to a story that occasioned so much
mirth whenever it was repeated continued with his back
immovably turned towards the speaker.
"All very well," pursued Villiers:--"but we know the
adage--'none so deaf as those who will not hear'--I have
said," again turning to De Courcy, while those who were
near, listened not without interest to the story, familiar
even as it was to them all, "that the Miss D'Egvilles
were of the party--At that time our friend was doing the
amiable to the lively Julia, although we never could
persuade him to confess his penchant; and, on this
occasion, he had attached himself to their immediate
sleigh. Provided, like the Canadians, with poles terminated
by an iron hook at one end and a spike at the other, we
made our way after their fashion, but in quicker time
than they possibly could, harnessed as they were in the
sledges. With the aid of these poles, we cleared, with
facility, chasms of from ten to twelve feet, and, alighting
on our moccasined feet, seldom incurred much risk of
losing our hold--Our ball dresses were taken in charge
by the ladies, so that our chief care was the safe passage
of our own persons. We all arrived without accident, and
passed a delightful evening, the American officers exerting
themselves to give the coup d'eclat to the last ball of
the season."
"Yes," interrupted the incorrigible Middlemore, as he
cracked a hickory nut, "and the balls reserved for us
this season will also carry with them the coup de grass."
"The night," pursued Villiers, no one noticing the
interruption save by an impatient 'pish,' "gave every
indication of a speedy break up. The ice yet floated
along in disjoined masses, but with even greater rapidity
than on the preceding day. Two alternatives remained--
either to attempt the crossing before further obstacle
should be interposed, or to remain in Detroit until the
river had been so far cleared of the ice as to admit of
a passage in canoes. With our leaping poles, we were not
so much at a loss, but the fear entertained was principally
for the safety of the sleighs. Nothing dismayed, however,
by the dangerous appearance of the river, the ladies,
after due deliberation, courageously resolved on returning
without delay, and we accordingly set out on our somewhat
hazardous expedition.
"Notwithstanding it was, as I have already remarked, the
close of winter, the cold was intense, and we were warmly
clad. I do not know if you have ever seen Cranstoun's
huge bear skin coat, (an affirmative nod was given by De
Courcy,) well: in this formidable covering had he encased
himself, so that when he quitted the town, surmounted as
his head was moreover with a fur cap, he presented more
of the appearance of a dancing bear than of a human
creature. In this guise he attached himself to the sleigh
of the D'Egvilles, which, in crossing, happened to be
the farthest down the river, of the group."
"What a domn'd loong time ye are teelling that stoopid
stoory Veelliers," at length noticed Cranstoun, wheeling
round and regarding the narrator with a look of ill
assumed indifference, "a coold a toold it mysel in half
the time."
"I am afraid you would not tell it so faithfully" replied
Lieutenant Villiers, amid the loud laugh which was now
raised at Cranstoun's expense. "You see it is so good a
thing I like to make the most of it."
Here Cranstoun again turned his back upon the party, and
Villiers pursued,
"The main body of the expedition had got nearly half way
across the river, when suddenly our ears were assailed
by moanings, resembling those of some wild beast, mingled
with incessant and ungovernable laughter. Checking our
course, and turning to behold the cause, we observed,
about a hundred yards below us, the sledge of the
D'Egvilles, from which the almost convulsive laughter
proceeded, and at a considerable distance beyond this
again, an object the true character of which we were some
time in discovering.
"It appeared, on subsequent explanation, that Cranstoun,
who had been whispering soft nothings in the ear of Julia
D'Egville, (here the Captain was observed to prick his
ear without materially altering his position) hem!
Cranstoun, I say, it appeared had also taken it into his
head to give her a specimen of his agility, by an attempt
to clear a space between two masses of ice of somewhat
too great a breadth for a heavy grenadier, buttoned up
to the chin in a ponderous bear skin coat. He succeeded
in gaining the opposite piece of ice, but had no sooner
reached it, than he fell, entangled in such a manner in
his covering that he found it impossible to extricate
himself. To add to his disaster, the force of his fall
broke off, from the main body, the section of ice on
which he rested. Borne down by the current, in spite of
his vain struggles to free himself, he was unable even
to call for aid, his fingers moreover being so benumbed
with cold that he found it impossible to unbutton the
straps which confined his month. In this emergency he
could only utter the strange and unintelligible moan
which had reached our ears, and which, mingled with the
bursts of laughter from Julia D'Egville, formed a most
incongruous melange.
"The best of the adventure remains, however, to be told.
Numbers of the peasantry from either shore, provided with
poles, guns, and ropes, were now to be seen rushing
towards the half congealed Cranstoun, fully imagining--nay
exclaiming--that it was a wild bear, which, in an attempt
to cross the river, had had its retreat cut off, and was
now, from insensibility, rendered harmless. Disputes even
arose in the distance as to whom the prize should belong,
each pursuer claiming to have seen it first. Nay, more
than one gun had been levelled with a view of terminating
all doubt by lodging a bullet in the carcase, when,
fortunately for the subject in dispute, this proposal
was overruled by the majority, who were more anxious to
capture than to slay the supposed bear. Meanwhile the
Canadian, harnessed to the sleigh of the D'Egvilles,
roared out with all his lungs for the two parties to
hasten to the assistance of the drowning British officer.
In the confusion produced by their own voices, however,
they did not appear to hear or understand him; yet all
pursued the aim they had in view. Cranstoun's body was
so doubled up that it was impossible for any one, who
had not witnessed the accident, to imagine it any thing
in nature but a bear; and this impression, the strange
moaning he continued to make, tended to confirm.
"The party of Canadians, favored by the nature of their
floating ice-bridges, were the first to come up to him.
A desperate effort of his cramped muscles had enabled
Cranstoun to extend one of his legs, at the moment when
they were about to throw a noose round his neck, and this
was the first intimation the astonished peasantry had of
their supposed prize being a human being, instead of the
fat bear they bad expected. Poor Cranstoun was of course
liberated from his 'durance vile,' but so chilled from
long immersion, that he could not stand without assistance,
and it was not until one of their companions had approached
with a sleigh that he could be removed. He kept his bed
three days, as much I believe from vexation as illness,
and has never worn his unlucky bear skin since; neither
has he forgiven Julia D'Egville the laugh she enjoyed at
his expense. Cranstoun," he concluded, "you may turn
now, the story is told."
But Cranstoun, apparently heedless of the laugh that
followed this--as indeed it did every--narration of the
anecdote, was not to be shaken from his equanimity. He
continued silent and unmoved, as if he had not heard a
word of the conclusion.
"Poor Cranstoun," exclaimed the joyous De Courcy, in a
strain of provoking banter, "what an unfortunate leap
that was of yours; and how delighted you must have felt
when you again stepped on terra firma."
"I don't wonder at his leap being unfortunate," observed
Middlemore, all eyes fixed upon him in expectation of
what was to follow, "for Julia D'Egville can affirm that,
while paying his court to her, he had not chosen a leap
year."
While all were as usual abusing the far strained pun, a
note was brought in by the head waiter and handed to the
punster. The officer read it attentively, and then, with
an air of seriousness which in him was remarkable, tossed
it across the table to Captain Molineux, who, since the
departure of Henry Grantham, had been sitting with his
arms folded, apparently buried in profound thought, and
taking no part either in the conversation or the laughter
which accompanied it. A faint smile passed over his
features, as, after having read, he returned, it with an
assentient nod to Middlemore. Shortly afterwards, availing
himself of the opportunity afforded by the introduction
of some fresh topic of conversation, he quitted his seat,
and whispering something in the ear of Villiers, left
the mess room. Soon after, the latter officer disappeared
from the table, and in a few moments his example was
followed by Middlemore.