THE SILVER THAW.--A FOX HUNT.--ANTHONY WORRELL'S DOG.
The snow at nine o'clock had ceased to fall, but had given place to a
thick hail, which rattled merrily on roof and window pane, but soon
became softer, and mingled with rain as the wind veered more to the east
and south.
"We are in for a heavy thaw," said the elder Davies, "and to-morrow we
shall have good sport. It is hardly worth while to get wet to the skin,
however, for what few birds we shall get to-day."
"Charley," said the younger Davies, "let us go down to the bar and look
up our decoys, for if we have a heavy thaw they may all be washed away
and lost."
Putting on their water-proof coats, boots, and sou'westers, the young
men took their guns and started for the eastern end of the island. The
drifts were very heavy along the fences and under the steep banks which
overhung the eastern and northern shores of the island, and huge
hummocks, white, smooth, and unbroken, showed where the snow had
entombed huge bergs and fantastic pinnacles. Facing the storm with some
difficulty, they got out as far as the ice-boat of La Salle, which they
found completely covered to the depth of two or three feet.
"We should have been smothered if we had taken refuge there last night,"
said Ben, as he proceeded to search for the buried decoys.
"I think not; for men can breathe below a great depth of snow, and I
have heard of sheep being taken alive from a heavy drift after an
entombment of twenty or thirty days."
The decoys were soon gathered, and they proceeded to the farther stand,
where they took the same precaution against the expected flooding of the
floes, piling the decoys into the box until a pyramid of clumsy wooden
birds rose several feet above the level of the ice, which was fast
becoming soft, and covered with dirty pools of snow water and nasty
"sludge."
A FOX HUNT.
"Here is the track of a fox," cried Davies, "and here is where he has
killed a goose this morning;" and La Salle, on hastening to the spot,
found a fresh trail leading from the main land, and beside the last
decoy a slight depression around which loose feathers and clots of blood
told in unmistakable terms that a single bird, and not improbably a
wounded one, had alighted amid the decoys, and trusting to the vigilance
of his supposed companions, had fallen an easy prey to his soft-footed
assailant.
"Here comes one-armed Peter on his track," said La Salle; and in a few
moments a tall, finely-built, middle-aged Micmac came noiselessly up,
bearing in his only remaining hand, not a gun, but an axe.
"Where's your gun, Peter?" said Ben, carelessly; "you don't expect to
kill a fox with an axe--do you?"
The Indian's brow contracted a little, and instantly relaxed, as he
answered, "That not fox track at all; that Indian dog, I guess. Martin
Mitchell have dog; lun alound like that. No good dog that. Sposum mine,
kill um."
"Yes, Peter, I've no doubt you'd like to kill that dog very well. See,
he finds his own living for himself. He killed a goose here last night,
I see. I s'pose your Indian dogs will eat geese raw, but mine never
would. He sat down here a moment after he had killed his bird, and left
the marks of a very bushy tail. Here's some of the hair, too. By
thunder! 'tis the hair of a black fox."
The Indian laughed silently, with no little admiration of the close
observation of the other visible in his countenance. "Yes, that black
fox. I see his track last night; trail him two tree mile dis morning. No
use try to fool you; fool other white man over back there; you know
trail well as Indian. No use carry gun, I think; fox in wet weather get
in hollow tlee, or under big loot. I cut down tlee and knock on head
with axe. But if fox on island, I lose him; no tlee there at all big
enough."
"Well, Peter, his trail is straight for the end of the point, and he
must be in the swamp at the other end of the island. We'll go with you
and surround the swamp while you enter it. If you fail to tree him,
we'll shoot him when he breaks cover, and we'll divide equally whether
one or two help to kill him." And La Salle, resting the butt of his
heavy gun on his boot, drew his load of loose shot, and substituted an
Eley's cartridge, containing two ounces of large "swan-drops."
A cloud settled upon the smiling face of the Indian, and he broke forth
vehemently, "I no want you to help me. I need _all_ that money; you got
plenty. I been sick, had sick boy, sick old woman,--bery sick. I see
that fox two time. No got gun; borrow money on him to pay doctor, and
get blead. I borrow gun one day; sit all day, no get nothing; go home,
nothing to eat. Next day, man use his own gun, kill plenty. I know fox
in wet day find hollow tlee; no like to wet his tail. I say to-day I
kill him, get good gun, get cloes, get plenty blead and tee. I _know_ I
kill that fox."
"Well, Peter, we won't trouble you. We'll go to see you kill him, and
watch out to see that he don't get clear," said Davies; and the Indian,
rather hesitatingly, assented.
There was little woodcraft in following the "sign," for the tracks were
deeply impressed in the soft snow, and the heavy body and long neck of
his prey had left numerous impressions where the fox had rested for a
moment. In the course of half an hour the party had gained the shore,
and, passing through several fields, found themselves in a heavy growth
of beech and maple.
The fox, however, had not halted here, but emerging into a small meadow,
had crossed into a close copse of young firs and elders, in whose midst
a huge stump, whitened and splintered, rose some twenty-five feet into
the air.
Peter groaned audibly. "That old fox mean as debbil. Know that place no
good. No hollow tlee, only brush and thick branch. Fox get under loot,
and eat, watch twenty way at once: well, I try, any way."
Ben and La Salle hastily passed around the woods surrounding the glade,
until they reached the opposite side of the motte to that which Peter
was now entering. Noticing that only a narrow space of open ground
intervened at one point, Davies crept noiselessly down to the very edge
of the underbrush, about sixty yards from La Salle.
He had scarcely drawn himself up from his crouching position, when a
magnificent black fox crossed the opening almost at his very feet,
followed by the light axe of the Indian, which, thrown with astonishing
force and precision, passed just above the animal, and was buried almost
to the helve in a small tree not a yard from Davies's head.
Flurried out of his usual good judgment, Ben drew both triggers, with
uncertain aim, and the fox, swerving a little, passed him like a shot.
La Salle, springing forward through the narrow belt of woods, saw the
frightened animal a score of rods off, making across the fields for the
Western Bar. A fence bounded the field some six score yards away, under
which the fox must pass, and whose top rail, scarce three feet above the
level, marked the necessary elevation to allow for the "drop" of the
tiny missiles used. La Salle felt that all depended on his aim, and that
his nerves were at the utmost tension of excited interest; but he forced
himself to act with deliberate promptitude at a moment when the most
feverish haste would have seemed interminable dallying. Steadily the
ponderous tube was levelled in line of the fleeing beast, until the
beaded sight rested on the top rail above him. An instant the heavy
weapon seemed absolutely without motion; then the report crashed through
the forest, and the snow-crust was dashed into impalpable powder by a
hundred riddling pellets.
The shot was fired just as the fox sprang up the slight embankment on
which, as is usual, the line of fence was placed. For an instant he
seemed to falter, then leaped the top rail, and disappeared beyond the
enclosure.
Peter and Davies had seen the shot, and with La Salle rushed forward to
note its effect, although neither hoped for more than a wound whose
bleeding would ultimately disable him, when patient tracking would
secure his much-prized fur. As they ran to the fence they noted the
deeply-cut scores in the icy crust which marked the first dropping shot,
and Peter became loud in his praises of the weapon.
"I never see gun like that; at hundred yards you kill him, sure; but no
gun ever kill so far as you fire. See there, shot strike dis stump. Hah!
there spot of blood on bank. Damn! here fox dead, sure enough."
"Hurrah! the Baby forever for a long shot. Charley, old boy, shake hands
on it. Peter, don't you wish you hadn't been so sure of killing him
without our help?"
The thoughtless triumph of the young Englishman recalled the memory of
his obstinate refusal to accept the proffered aid of the sportsmen to
the mind of the poor Indian. Such a look of utter disappointment took
the place of his joy at the successful shot, that La Salle could
scarcely contain his sympathy.
"So it is always. White man win, Indian lose; white man get food, Indian
starve; white man live, Indian die. Once, all this Indian land. No white
people were here, and many Indians hunt and find enough. Now, the Indian
must buy the wood which he makes into baskets. He cannot spear a salmon
in the rivers. The woods are cut down, and the many ships and guns
frighten off the game."
He looked a moment at the dead fox, smoothed its glossy fur with a hand
that trembled with suppressed emotion, and then, with a curt "good
evening," turned to go.
"I wish, Peter, you would come down to the house and skin this beast for
me," said La Salle. "If you will do so carefully, and stretch it for
drying in good style, I'll give you a pair of boots."
Without a word the Indian seized the dead animal and strode ahead of
them, like one who seeks in bodily fatigue a refuge from anguish of
spirit.
"What will you give for such a skin, Davies?" asked La Salle.
"I will give you one hundred and fifty dollars for that one. It is the
largest, finest, and blackest that I ever saw."
"You have another gun like your own in your store at C.--have you not?"
"Yes, exactly like my own. I can only tell them apart by this curl in
the wood of the stock."
"What is she worth?"
"I will sell her to you for fifteen pounds."
"That would be fifty dollars. Well, Ben, I'll tell you what, we must
give Peter one half of the fox. I should never forgive myself if we
didn't. I know he has been sick all summer, and his disappointment must
be very hard to bear. Are you willing to give him half?"
"Do just as you please, Charley," said the warmhearted hunter. "I don't
claim any share, for we are all on our own hook, unless by special
agreement; but I shall be very glad if you are kind enough to share
with him, poor fellow!"
"Well, Ben, you are to take the fox at your own price, giving Peter an
order on your partner for the gun, and credit to the amount of
twenty-five dollars more. The other seventy-five we divide. You have
only to give me credit for my moiety, as I owe you nearly that amount."
"I'm satisfied if you are; so let us hurry up, and see Peter prepare the
skin, and send him home happy."
"The finest skin I ever saw," said Risk. "It's worth three hundred
dollars in St. Petersburg, if it's worth a cent."
"Who killed him?" said the elder Davies. "If you did, Ben, I'd like to
buy the skin."
"I bought it myself of La Salle for one hundred and fifty. He killed it,
and sold it to me. I guess I can sell to good advantage."
In the mean time Peter had drawn his _waghon_, or curved Indian knife,
from his belt, and, carefully commencing at the rear of the body,
skinned the animal without forming another aperture, removing the mask,
and ears attached, with great nicety. With equal dexterity he whittled a
piece of pine board to the proper shape, and, turning the skin inside
out, drew it tightly over the batten, fastening it in place with a few
tacks. His task completed, he handed it to La Salle, and rose to go.
The latter restrained him, saying,--
"Hold, Peter; you must have your pay first. Here is a pair of rubber
boots and some dry stockings. Put them on, and throw away those old
moccasons, and take these few things to your wife."
"You very kind, brother," said Peter, simply, taking the small bundle of
tea, sugar, bread, cake, and jellies which could be spared from their
limited stock of "small stores."
"And, Peter," continued La Salle, "Ben and I have concluded to share
with you in the matter of the fox. We have no wives yet, and therefore
think about one half the price ought to go to you. This paper will get
you that double-barrel of Ben's father to-morrow, if you feel like going
over for it; and you will also be allowed to purchase twenty-five
dollars' worth more of ammunition, food, and clothing."
The tears came into the poor fellow's eyes.
"Damn! I know you hite men. I know you heretic. I say I no hunt with
you. I try cheat you on the trail, and you make Peter cly like squaw. I
wish--I wish--you two, tlee, six fathom deep in river. I jump in for you
if I die."
And, seizing the bundle and the precious order, he dashed the moisture
from his eyes, and took the road homeward.
"He will never repay your kindness," said Lund. "Them Indians is never
grateful for anything."
"I think he will repay it, if it is ever in his power," said Risk.
"Peter is one of the most honest and industrious of his tribe, and it is
not his fault when his children want food."
"Well, boys," said the elder Davies, "I suppose you have done right, and
that you will receive as much gratitude as we give to our heavenly
Father; but, as men look at things, you have, indeed, 'cast your bread
upon the waters.'"
"If it is so, Mr. Davies," said La Salle, with a solemnity unusual with
him, "our reward is sure; for the promise is, 'Thou _shalt_ find it
after many days.'"
"But," said Lund, with a quiet twinkle in his sharp gray eye, "I'd like
to bet five shillin' that, when you are repaid, it won't be in Indian
bread."
"Pretty good!" laughed Kennedy, who had taken the day to finish up a
large pile of "back numbers" of his favorite daily, "but I think hardly
just to the Indians. Horace Greeley has given a great deal of thought to
this Indian question, and although he would disapprove of supplying them
with arms and ammunition, yet in all other matters would indorse your
policy."
"You don't mean to say that Greeley would disapprove of letting poor
Peter have a gun to shoot game to help support his family--do you?"
asked Ben, in astonishment.
"Certainly I do. With that fifty dollars, he could have procured tools
and seed, and started a farm on Indian Island. Instead of that, you give
him the means of continuing a savage, instead of encouraging him to
become a farmer and a civilized being. Horace Greeley would have
tried--"
"To attempt an impossibility," said La Salle, excitedly. "As well may
you expect to raise a draught horse from a pair of racers, or keep a
flock of eagles as you would a coop of hens. The French have been the
only people on this continent with an Indian policy founded in reason,
and a just estimate of the character and capabilities of the
aborigines."
"And yet they were completely driven from this continent," said Kennedy.
"True, sir; but their Indian policy made their scanty population of two
hundred thousand Europeans a dreaded foe to the nearly three million
colonists of English descent. They made of their savage allies an arm
that struck secretly, swiftly, and with terrible effect, and a defence
that kept actual hostilities a long distance from their main
settlements. I believe, sir, that the philosophers of the future will
condemn alike our policy of extermination, and the impossible attempt to
mould hunters, warriors, and absolutely free men, into peaceful,
plodding citizens of a republic."
"What else can be done with them?" asked Kennedy, sharply.
"It seems to me that in generations to come, it will be said of us,
'They did not try in those days to yoke the racer to the plough, nor to
chain the hound to the kennel, while they urged the mastiff on the track
of the deer; yet they failed to see that the Creator, and peculiar
conditions unchanged for centuries, had moulded the races of men to
different forms of government, modes of life, and varieties of
avocation. The Roman conqueror of the world knew better than to put in
his heavily-armed legions the flying Parthian, the light-armed horseman
of Numidia, or the slinger of the Balearic Isles. The American of the
past had at his disposal a race capable of being the skirmish line of
his march of civilization to wrest a continent from the wilderness. As
trappers, hunters, and guides; as fishermen and slayers of whale and
seal; as the light horseman, quick, brave, self-sustaining, and
self-reliant, the Indian was capable of valuable services to a people
who offered him but two alternatives--extinction, or a dull, plodding,
vegetative, unnatural existence.'"
"Well, La Salle, if you two Yankees can let your argument rest a little,
we'll go down to the shore, to take a look at the ice, and see what
to-morrow has in store for us," said Risk; and, as it was nearly
sundown, the party hastened down to a part of the bank clear of trees,
from whence they could discern the bay and the surrounding shores.
The rain was falling in gentle and melting showers; the south wind,
laden with penetrating warmth, borne from lands hundreds of leagues
distant, cut down drift and ice-hill with its fatal kisses; from the
rocky cliff a thousand tiny cascades wept and plashed; and over the icy
bonds of every brook and river another stream ran swiftly to the sea.
Over the icy levels of harbor and bay rippled another sheet of fresh
water, which each moment grew deeper and wider as the warm rain fell
more heavily, and the withering south wind came in increasing strength.
"If this lasts all night, boys," said Lund, oracularly, "it will open
the spring-holes and oyster-beds, and give the geese, which are sure to
come with this wind, a certain amount of feeding-grounds which are not
likely to be frozen up this winter. Come," continued he, turning away;
"the geese will be getting cold, and we want to have time to hear a good
yarn before we go to bed."
"It's your turn to-night, Mr. Risk," said Ben; "and we must have a story
as different as possible from the last. You know all about the old
notables of the country, who used to own thousands of acres, and keep
horses and servants as they do on large manors in the old country. Tell
us a story about some of that set, as you used to tell father and uncle
Dan, down at Morell."
"I won't try to back out, gentlemen," said Risk, laying aside his
meerschaum; "for the sooner I tell my story the better, as you will
'have it over with,' and hear a great many good stories before it
becomes my turn to bore you again. My story is about
"OLD ANTHONY WORRELL AND HIS NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.
"In my young days, a number of the immediate heirs of the original
proprietors were resident here; and among them this Major Worrell, whose
estate has since been purchased by the government. He was a little,
nervous, black-haired bachelor, who shared his chamber with a favorite
black Newfoundland retriever, named Carlo.
"One or two domestics did the housework, and helped the farm-hands in
haying, harvest, and potato-digging; and over all presided Mrs. Sims, a
tall, stout, and resolute widow, with a heavy hand and a shrewish
temper. With a huge bunch of keys at her side, and an eye quick to
detect the smallest waste and the slightest irregularity, she kept the
household in terror, and her master (poor little man!) in almost abject
vassalage. A specimen of one of their daily breakfast dialogues may be
worthy of reproduction.
"_She._ 'Good mornin,' sir. 'Ope you're well this morning.'
"_He._ 'Yes--quite well. Breakfast ready, eh?'
"_She._ 'Almost. Heggs just boiling when I came in. That Gillbear
(Gilbert, a little, French orphan) sucks heggs, hi'm sure. Hi wonder you
keep 'im hon the place.'
"_He._ 'Well, you know, Mrs. Sims, he's an orphan, and--'
"_She._ 'Well, hi like that. Han horphan! hand 'is father lives hup hin
has good a farm has there his hin Tracadie.'
"_He._ 'Well, his father Gilbert died, and Lisette, his mother, married
François: and then Lisette, his mother, died, and François married his
cousin Christine; and then François died, and Christine married Jacques
the blacksmith; and so he hasn't any father or mother, and no home, and
I let him stay here.'
"_She._ 'Yes, hand you'd 'ave the place heaten hup with lazy, dirty,
thieving beggars hif hit wasn't for me. Hi told your brother when 'e
sent me hover. Says 'e, 'My brother his too heasy, han' needs some un to
see that 'e hisn't himposed hupon.' Says hi, 'Wen hi'm hunable to do my
duty, hi've honly to return 'ome to Hingland. Wich hi've just 'ad a
letter from my sister; han' hif hi must slave for sich, hi'd rather give
warnin' for to-morrow come four weeks.'
"_He_ (nervously). 'Why, my dear Mrs. Sims--'
"_She._ 'Yes, sir; hand that dratted dog Carlo, hevery mornin', when hi
goes to hair your sheets, gives me ha start with growlin' hat me from
hunder the bed-clothes, wich 'e wraps 'isself hup hin hevery mornin',
sir, like has hif 'e were a Christian. Now, sir, hi'm ready to slave
hand wear myself hout for you, but has for slavin' for a dirty cur and a
French brat, hi've no need to, han' hi won't.'
_He._ 'Well, well, Mrs. Sims, we'll see what can be done--what can be
done. I'll get a chain for Gilbert, and send the dog away. No, I mean
I'll--No, I'll--Confound it, madam, let's have breakfast.'
"On the same afternoon Mr. Grahame, the nearest magistrate, called on
business, and to him Worrell related his domestic troubles.
"'I can't do without her, for she is a splendid cook, and keeps my
clothes in first-rate order. I can't bear the thought of the cookery I
should have to eat, and the dirt and disorder I should see around me, if
she does go away. But she's a regular Tartar, and I've no authority at
all in my house.'
"'Well, Worrell, it's a hard case; but I would chain up that dog. As to
poor little Gilbert, do what you think is right in spite of her. If she
leaves--Ah, I have it. Go into town, and propose to one of the F.
sisters. They are all good cooks and amiable women, and you'll be rid of
your Tartar.'
"'Wich I'm much hobleeged to you for the name, an' the good advice you
give the master, stirrin' hov 'im hup against a lone, friendless widow,
wat's slaved an' worked this six years come St. Michaelmas.'
"Mr. Grahame, of course, with the _mauvais honte_ which men too
generally display towards angry and unreasonable women, took an awkward
leave of the angry widow, and poor Worrell, whom she treated to a
lecture of half an hour, ending with a lively fit of tears and
hysterics. As the poor little man turned away, leaving her in the hands
of a servant, he caught her last broken objurgations.
"'An hungrateful fool, marry an' turn me hoff; ugh, ugh! fix 'im, hany
'ow.'
"The following morning Worrell rose early, and passing through the
breakfast-room, received a sulky greeting from his housekeeper, and went
out to over-look the labors of his men. Feeling a little unwell, he
returned to his room, and finding his dog in his bed, flung him into a
spare room, and getting into bed, went to sleep. Now, both dog and
master had a very unhealthy habit--that of keeping the head covered with
bed-clothes; and so it happened that when Mrs. Sims entered the room,
she saw, as she supposed, the black ears and head of the hated Carlo.
"Revenge urged her to undue and overhasty punishment; her overcharged
feelings sought relief on some object, and a stout-handled broom was in
her grasp. At last vengeance was within her reach; should she relinquish
it? No, a thousand times no!
"'You dirty brute!' she yelled, in fury. 'You hold rascal, I'll pay you
out! I'll murder you! I'll kill you!'
"Such was the preface of a shower of blows, which suddenly broke the
rest of the defenceless Worrell. Half stunned, astounded, almost
paralyzed, he heard, as if in a terrible dream, the threats which
accompanied the merciless blows of the assailant.
"'I've got you! Sleep again, will you? I'll kill you, you hold fool!
I'll murder--Good Lord! hit's my master;' and as a bruised and bloody
face, surmounting a meager figure, in remarkably scanty drapery,
vanished out of the room, Mrs. Sims drew a long breath, and fainted in
real earnest in one corner.
"Worrell never stopped until he reached Grahame's, who rather hastily
caught up a shawl, and wrapping him in it, got him to his chamber, and
into a suit of his own clothes, only about twice too large, for Grahame
was one of the tallest men in the county.
"When he had composed himself sufficiently, a complaint was duly entered
against Mrs. Sims for 'assault with intent to kill;' and Mrs. Sims,
despite her piteous entreaties, was arrested and brought before the
magistrate. Her appeals for mercy were heart-rending.
"'Ho, mercy, your washup; mercy, Mr. Worrell. Wich I thinks hit were
that dratted dorg. Don't 'ang me. I never hintended--' But Worrell was
inexorable.
"'But you said you would kill me, you would murder me, and you nearly
did murder me.'
"'Wich I told your brother--ugh, ugh! an' I've slaved, an', ugh, ugh!
an' wich it were all a mistake--ugh, ugh! 'ave mercy, gentlemen.'
"'But you said you would murder me, and you nearly did murder me, and--'
"'Peace, Mr. Worrell,' said Grahame, impressively; 'the hour of your
redemption draweth nigh. Prisoner at the bar,' continued he, 'the crime
which you have committed has always been held in just aversion and
horror by the English nation. Repaying the trust and confidence of your
master with unkind persecution and a shrewish tongue, you have finished
the measure of your misdeeds by what might have proved a most brutal
murder. Your unsupported statement, that you mistook Mr. Worrell for his
dog, would have little or no weight on any unprejudiced jury. We,
however, incline to mercy; and I therefore bind you over, in the sum of
one thousand pounds, to keep the peace for six months.'
"'Wherever can I find so much money?' asked the despairing prisoner.
"'On condition that you will leave for England, I will find bail for
you. Understand, however, that they will give you up, should you fail to
depart at the earliest opportunity.'
"Poor Mrs. Sims went in the next ship 'bound home;' but the story got
abroad at once, and Worrell never married. Great amusement, of course,
was created by the recital, and it became a favorite of the members of
the bar on circuit, who, however, generally expressed one regret, viz.,
'that Worrell escaped alive, as the world thereby lost a most remarkable
criminal case.'
"Well, that's all there is of it; and as it's nine o'clock, and we want
to be up early, I think I'll conclude by bidding you all 'good night,
and pleasant dreams.'"