Several hours had passed away in the interesting discussion of their war
plans, and the council was nearly concluded, when suddenly the attention
both of the officers and chiefs was arrested by the report of a single
cannon. From the direction of the sound, it was evident that the shot
had been fired from the battery placed on the southern or lakeward
extremity of the island of Bois Blanc, and as the circumstance was
unusual enough to indicate the existence of some approaching cause for
excitement, several of the younger of both, who, from their youth, had
been prevented from taking any active share in the deliberations of the
day, stole, successively and unobservedly, through the large
folding-doors of the building, which, owing to the great heat of the
weather, had been left open. After traversing about fifty yards of
sward, intersecting the high road, which, running parallel with the
river, separated the council-hall from the elevated bank, the officers
found, collected in groups on the extreme verge of this latter, and
anxiously watching certain movements in the battery opposite to them,
most of the troops and inferior Indians they had left loitering there at
the commencement of the council. These movements were hasty, and as of
men preparing to repeat the shot, the report of which had reached them
from the opposite extremity of the island. Presently the forms, hitherto
intermingled, became separate and stationary--an arm of one was next
extended--then was seen to rise a flash of light, and then a volume of
dense smoke, amid which the loud report found its sullen way, bellowing
like thunder through some blackening cloud, while, from the peculiar
nature of the sound, it was recognised, by the experienced in those
matters, to have proceeded from a shotted gun.
The war of 1812 had its beginning in the manner thus described. They
were the first shots fired in that struggle, and although at an object
little calculated to inspire much alarm, still, as the first indications
of an active hostility, they were proportionably exciting to those whose
lot it was thus to "break ground," for operations on a larger scale.
Although many an eager chief had found it difficult to repress the
strong feeling of mingled curiosity and excitement, that half raised him
from the floor on which he sat, the first shot had been heard without
the effect of actually disturbing the assembly from its fair propriety;
but no sooner had the second report, accompanied as it was by the wild
yell of their followers without, reached their ears, than, wholly losing
sight of the dignity attached to their position as councillors, they
sprang wildly up, and seizing the weapons that lay at their side, rushed
confusedly forth, leaving Tecumseh, and two or three only of the more
aged chiefs, behind them. The debate thus interrupted, the council was
adjourned, and soon afterwards General Brock, accompanied by his staff,
and conversing, through his interpreter, with the Shawnee chieftain as
they walked, approached the groups still crowded along the bank of the
river.
Meanwhile, after the discharge of the last gun, the battery on the
island had been quitted by the officer in command, who, descending to
the beach, preceded by two of his men, stepped into a light skiff that
lay chained to the gnarled root of a tree overhanging the current, and
close under the battery. A few sturdy strokes of the oars soon brought
the boat into the centre of the stream, when the stout, broad-built
figure and carbuncled face of an officer in the uniform of the
forty-first regiment, were successively recognised, as he stood upright
in the stern.
"What the deuce brings Tom Raymond to us in such a hurry? I thought the
order of the general was that he should on no account leave his post,
unless summoned by signal," observed one of the group of younger
officers who had first quitted the council hall, and who now waited with
interest for the landing of their companion.
"What brings him here, can you ask?" replied one at the side of the
questioner, and with a solemnity of tone and manner that caused the
whole of the group to turn their eyes upon him, as he mournfully shook
his head.
"Aye, _what_ brings him here?" repeated more than one voice, while all
closed 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 provokingly
ludicrous, yet evidently forced, gravity of tone and manner.
"Execrable, Middlemore.--Will you never give over that vile habit of
punning?"
"Detestable!" said another.
"Ridiculous!" repeated a third.
"Pshaw! the worst you ever uttered!" exclaimed a fourth, and each, as he
thus expressed himself, turned away with a movement of impatience.
"That animal, Raymond, grows like a very porpoise," remarked a young
captain, who prided himself on the excessive smallness of his waist.
"Methinks that, like the ground-hogs that abound on his island, he must
fatten 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 from
the general? And then the gun last fired. Ha! I have it.--He has
discovered a Yankee boat stealing along through the other channel."
"No doubt there is _craft_ of some description _in the wind_," pursued
the incorrigible Middlemore, with the same affected unconsciousness.
"Ha!" returned Captain Molineux, the officer who had commented so freely
upon the fat lieutenant in the boat--"Your pun, infamous as it would be
at the best, is utterly without point now, for there has not been a
breath of wind stirring during the whole morning."
"Pun, did you say?" exclaimed Middlemore, with well affected surprise at
the charge, "my dear fellow, I meant no pun."
Further remark was checked by an impatience to learn the cause of
Lieutenant Raymond's abrupt appearance, and the officers approached the
principal group. The former had now reached the shore, and, shuffling up
the bank as fast as his own corpulency and the abruptness of the ascent
would permit, hastened to the general, who stood at some little distance
awaiting the expected communication of the messenger.
"Well, Mr. Raymond, what is it--what have you discovered from your
post?" demanded the General, who, with those around him, found
difficulty in repressing a smile at the heated appearance of the fat
subaltern, the loud puffing of whose lungs had been audible before he
himself drew near enough to address the chief--"something important, I
should imagine, if we may judge from the haste with which you appear to
have 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 is
a large bark, sir, filled with men, stealing along shore in the American
channel, and I can see nothing of the gun boat that should be stationed
there. A shot was fired from the eastern battery, in the hope of
bringing her to, but, as the guns mounted there are only carronades, the
ball fell short, and the suspicious looking boat crept still closer to
the shore--I ordered a shot from my battery to be tried, but without
success, for, although within range, the boat hugs the land so closely
that it is impossible to distinguish her hull with the naked eye."
"The gun boat not to be seen, Mr. Raymond?" exclaimed the General; "how
is this, and who is the officer in command of her?"
"One," quickly rejoined the Commodore, to whom the last query was
addressed, "whom I had selected for that duty for the very vigilance and
desire for service attributed to him by my predecessor--of course I have
not been long enough here, to have much personal knowledge of him
myself."
"His name?" asked the General.
"Lieutenant Grantham."
"Grantham?" repeated the General, with a movement of surprise; "It is
indeed strange that _he_ should forego such an opportunity."
"Still more strange," remarked the commodore, "that the boat he commands
should have disappeared altogether. Can there be any question of his
fidelity? the Granthams are Canadians, I understand."
The general smiled, while the young officer who had been noticed so
particularly by Tecumseh on his landing, colored deeply.
"If," said the former, "the mere circumstance of their having received
existence amid these wilds can make them Canadians, they certainly are
Canadians; but if the blood of a proud race can make them Britons, such
they are. Be they which they may, however, I would stake my life on the
fidelity of the Granthams--still, the cause of this young officer's
absence must be inquired into, and no doubt it will be satisfactorily
explained. Meanwhile, let a second gunboat be detached in pursuit."
The commodore having given the necessary instructions to a young
midshipman, who attended him in the capacity of an aid-de-camp, and the
general having dismissed Lieutenant Raymond back to his post on the
island, these officers detached themselves from the crowd, and, while
awaiting the execution of the order, engaged in earnest conversation.
"By Jove, the commodore is quite right in his observation," remarked the
young and affected looking officer, who had been so profuse in his
witticisms on the corpulency of Lieutenant Raymond; "the general may say
what he will in their favor, but this is the result of entrusting so
important a command to a Canadian."
"What do you mean, sir?" hastily demanded one even younger than
himself--it was the youth already named, whose uniform attested him to
be a brother officer of the speaker. He had been absent for a few
minutes, and only now rejoined his companions, in time to hear the
remark which had just been uttered.
"What do you mean, Captain Molineux?" he continued, his dark eye
flashing indignation, and his downy cheek crimsoning with warmth. "Why
this remark before me, sir, and wherefore this reflection on the
Canadians?"
"Why really, Mr. Grantham," somewhat sententiously drawled the captain;
"I do not altogether understand your right to question in this tone--nor
am I accountable for any observations I may make. Let me tell you,
moreover, that it will neither be wise nor prudent in you, having been
received into a British regiment to become the Don Quixotte of your
countrymen."
"_Received_ into a British regiment, sir! do you then imagine that I,
more than yourself, should feel this a distinction," haughtily returned
the indignant youth. "But, gentlemen, your pardon," checking himself and
glancing at the rest of the group, who were silent witnesses of the
scene; "I confess I do feel the distinction of being admitted into so
gallant a corps--this in a way, however, that must be common to us all.
Again I ask, Captain Molineux," turning to that officer, "the tendency
of the observations you have publicly made in regard to my brother."
"Your question, Mr. Grantham might, with as much propriety, be addressed
to any other person in the full enjoyment of his senses, whom you see
here, since it is the general topic of conversation; but, as you seem to
require an answer from me particularly, you shall have it. My remark
referred to the absence of the officer in charge of the gun-boat from
the station allotted to him, at a moment when an _armed_ vessel of the
enemy is in sight. Is this the fact, or is it not?"
"By which remark," returned the other, "you would imply that said
officer is either guilty of gross neglect or--"
"I draw no inferences, Mr. Grantham, but even if I did, I should be more
borne 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 the
enemy."
Bitter feelings swelled the heart of the enthusiastic Grantham, as
unconsciously touching the hilt of his sword, he replied: "If your hope
of avoidance rest on this, sir, it will be found to hang upon a very
thread indeed."
The attention of the group where this unpleasant scene had occurred, and
indeed of all parties, was now diverted by the sudden appearance of the
American boat, as, shooting past the head of the island, which had
hitherto concealed her from the view of the assembled crowds, her spars
and white sails became visible in the far distance. A slight and
favorable breeze, blowing off the shore which she still closely hugged,
had now apparently sprung up, and, spreading all her canvass, she was
evidently making every effort to get beyond the reach of the battery
(whither Lieutenant Raymond had returned), under whose range she was
unavoidably impelled by the very wind that favored her advance. Owing to
some temporary difficulty, the gun-boat, just ordered by the commodore
to follow in pursuit, was longer than suited the emergency in getting
under way, and when she had succeeded in so doing, nearly half an hour
elapsed before, owing to the utter absence of wind, as well as the
rapidity of the current, she could be brought by the aid of her long and
cumbrous sweeps to clear the head of the island. The American, now
discovered to have a small detachment of troops on board, had by this
time succeeded in getting out of the range of a fire, which although
well directed had proved harmless, and, using every exertion of oar and
sail, bade fair, favored as she was by the breeze which reached not the
canvass of her enemy, to effect her escape.
Concern sat on every brow, and was variously expressed--loud yells
marking the fierce disappointment of the Indians, and undisguised
murmurs that of the more disciplined troops. Coupled with this feeling,
among the officers at least, naturally arose the recollection of him to
whose apparent neglect this escape of the enemy was to be attributed,
until at length the conduct of Lieutenant Grantham was canvassed
generally, and with a freedom little inferior to that which, falling
from the lips of Captain Molineux, had so pained his sensitive
brother--with this difference, however, that in this instance they were
the candidly expressed opinions of men arraigning the conduct of one of
their fellows apparently guilty of a gross dereliction from duty, and
not, as in the former they had seemed to be, with any ungenerous
allusion to his fidelity.
Warmly, and therefore audibly, commented on as was the unaccountable
absence of the officer, by individuals of almost every rank, it was
impossible that many of those observations could escape the attention of
the excited Henry Grantham. Mortified beyond measure at the fact, yet
unable, as he had done before, to stand forth the champion of his
brother's honor, where all (with a very few exceptions, among whom he
had the consolation to find the general) were united in opinion against
him, his situation was most painful. Not that he entertained the
remotest doubt of his brother bearing himself harmlessly through the
ordeal, but that his generous, yet haughty spirit could ill endure the
thought of any human being daring to cherish, much less to cast the
slightest aspersion on his blood.
Finding it vain to oppose himself to the torrent of openly expressed
opinion, the mortified youth withdrew to a distance, and, hastening
among the rude tumuli we have described, as being scattered about the
edge 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, now
dilated with the exulting consciousness of coming triumph. The assurance
was strong within him, not only that his brother would soon make his
appearance before the assembled groups who had had the cruelty to impugn
his conduct, but that he would do so under circumstances calculated to
change their warm censure into even more vehement applause. Fully
impressed with the integrity of his absent relative, the impetuous and
generous hearted youth paused not to reflect that circumstances were
such as to justify the belief--or at least the doubt--that had been
expressed, even by the most impartial of those who had condemned him. It
seemed to him that others ought to have known and judged him as he
himself did, and he took a secret delight in dwelling on the
self-reproach which he conceived would attach to them, when it should be
found how erroneous had been the estimate formed of his character.
While he thus gazed, with eyes intently bent upon the river, and
manifesting even a deeper interest as the fleeing bark drew momentarily
nearer to one particular point in the distance, the young officer heard
footsteps approaching him. Hastily dashing away a tear which had been
called up by a variety of emotions, he turned and beheld the Chieftain
Tecumseh, and with him one who, in the full uniform of the British
Staff, united, in his tall and portly figure, the martial bearing of the
soldier to the more polished graces of the habitual courtier.
"Henry, my noble boy," exclaimed the latter, as he pressed the hand of
the youth, "you must not yield to these feelings. I have marked your
impatience at the observations caused by Gerald's strange absence, but I
have brought you one who is too partial to you both to join in the
condemnation. I have explained every thing to him, and he it was who,
remarking you to be alone, and suspecting the cause, first proposed
coming to rouse you from your reverie."
Affectionately answering the grasp of his noble looking uncle, Henry
Grantham turned at the same time his eloquent eye upon that of the
chieftain, and, in a few brief but expressive sentences, conveyed, in
the language of the warrior, the gratification he experienced in his
unchanged confidence in the absent officer.
As he concluded, with a warmth of manner that delighted him to whom he
addressed himself, their hands met for the third time that day. Tecumseh
at length replied, by pointing significantly to the canoes which still
lay floating on the river, unemptied of their warriors, stating at the
same time, that had not his confidence in his young friend been
unbounded, he would long since have despatched those canoes in pursuit;
but he was unwilling the officer should lose any of the credit that must
attach to the capture. "I know," he concluded, "where he is lying like
the red skin in pursuit of the enemy. Be patient, and we shall soon see
him."
Before Henry Grantham could find time to inquire if the place of ambush
was not the same to which his own hopes, induced by his perfect
knowledge of localities, had, throughout, pointed as the spot most
likely to conceal the hitherto invisible gun boat, his attention, and
that of his immediate companion, was drawn to a scene that carried a
glow of exultation to the bosoms of them all.
The American boat, long since out of range of the battery, and scudding
with a speed that mocked the useless exertions of those on board of the
second gun boat, who could with difficulty impel her through the
powerful eddy formed by the island, had been gradually edging from her
own shore into the centre of the stream. This movement, however, had the
effect of rendering her more distinguishable to the eye, breasting, as
she did, the rapid stream, as while hugging the land, even when much
nearer, she had been confounded with the dark line of brushwood which
connected the forest with the shore. She had now arrived opposite a neck
of land beyond which ran a narrow, deep creek, the existence of which
was known only to few, and here it chanced that in the exultation of
escape, they gave a cheer that was echoed back from either shore,
hoisting at the same moment the American colors. Scarcely, however, had
this cheer been uttered, when a second and more animating, was heard
from a different point, and presently, dashing into the river, and
apparently issuing from the very heart of the wood, was to be seen the
gun-boat, which had been the subject of so much conversation, every
stitch of her white canvass bellying from the masts, and her dark prow
buried in a wreath of foam created by her own speed. As she neared the
American a column of smoke, followed a second or two later by a dull
report, rose from her bows, enveloping her a moment from the view, and
when next visible she was rapidly gaining on the chase. The yells of the
Indians and the hurrahs of the soldiers gave an indescribable animation
to the scene.
This was indeed a moment of proud triumph to the heart of Henry
Grantham. He saw his brother not only freed from every ungenerous
imputation, but placed in a situation to win to himself the first
laurels that were to be plucked in the approaching strife. The
"Canadian," as he imagined he had been superciliously termed, would be
the first to reap for Britain's sons the fruits of a war in which those
latter were not only the most prominent actors, but also the most
interested. Already, in the enthusiasm of his imagination, he pictured
to himself the honor and promotion, which bestowed upon his gallant
brother, would be reflected upon himself, and, in the deep excitement of
his feelings, he could not avoid saying aloud, heedless of the presence
of his uncle:
"Now, Captain Molineux, your only difficulty is removed--my brother has
revenged himself. With me you will have an account to settle on my own
score."
"What do you mean, Henry?" seriously inquired Colonel D'Egville; "surely
you have not been imprudent enough to engage in a quarrel with one of
your brother officers."
Henry briefly recounted the conversation which had taken place between
Captain Molineux and himself.
"Far be it from my intention to check the nice sense of honor which
should be inherent in the breast of every soldier," returned his uncle
impressively, "but you are too sensitive. Henry; Captain Molineux, who
is, moreover, a very young man, may not have expressed himself in the
most guarded manner, but he only repeated what I have been compelled to
hear 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 which
have been uttered of a nature derogatory to his honor."
"True," quickly returned the youth, with a flushing cheek, "Gerald is
sufficiently avenged, but you forget the taunt he uttered against
Canadians!"
"And if he did utter such taunt, why acknowledge it as such?" calmly
rejoined Colonel D'Egville; "are you ashamed of the name? I too am a
Canadian, but so far from endeavoring to repudiate my American birth, I
feel pride in having received my being in a land where everything
attests the sublimity and magnificence of nature. Look around you, my
nephew, and ask yourself what there is in the wild grandeur of these
scenes to disown. But, ha!"--as he cast his eyes upon the water--"I fear
Gerald will lose his prize after all; the enemy is giving him the Indian
double."
During the foregoing short conversation, an important change had been
effected in the position of the adverse boats. The shot fired,
apparently with the view of bringing the enemy to, had produced no
favorable result; but no sooner had the gun-boat come abreast of the
chase, than the latter, suddenly clewing up her sails, put her helm
about, and plying every oar with an exertion proportioned to the
emergency, made rapidly for the coast she had recently left. The
intention of the crew was evidently to abandon the unarmed boat, and to
seek safety in the woods. Urged by the rapidity of her own course, the
gun-boat had shot considerably ahead, and when at length she also was
put about, the breeze blew so immediately in her teeth that it was found
impossible to regain the advantage which had been lost. Meanwhile, the
American continued her flight, making directly for the land, with a
rapidity that promised fair to baffle every exertion on the part of her
pursuer. The moment was one of intense interest to the crowd of
spectators who lined the bank. At each instant it was expected the fire
of the gun-boat would open upon the fugitives; but although this was
obviously the course to be adopted, it being apparent a single shot was
sufficient to sink her--not a flash was visible--not a report was heard.
Presently, however, while the disappointment of the spectators from the
bank was rising into murmurs, a skiff filled with men was seen to pull
from the gun-boat in the direction taken by the chase, which was
speedily hidden from view by the point of land from which the latter had
previously been observed to issue. Behind this her pursuer also
disappeared, and after a lapse of a few minutes, pistol and musket shots
were distinguished, although they came but faintly on the ear. These
gradually became more frequent and less distinct, until suddenly there
was a profound pause--then three cheers were faintly heard--and all
again was still.