A full half hour had succeeded to these sounds of conflict, and yet
nothing could be seen of the contending boats. Doubt and anxiety now
took the place of the confidence that had hitherto animated the bosoms
of the spectators, and even Henry Grantham--his heart throbbing
painfully with emotions induced by suspense--knew not what inference to
draw from the fact of his brother's protracted absence. Could it be that
the American, defended as she was by a small force of armed men, had
succeeded, not only in defeating the aim of her pursuer, but also in
capturing her. Such a result was not impossible. The enemy against whom
they had to contend yielded to none in bravery; and as the small bark
which had quitted the gun-boat was not one third of the size of that
which they pursued, it followed of necessity, that the assailants must
be infinitely weaker in numbers than the assailed. Still no signal of
alarm was made by the gun-boat, which continued to lie to, apparently in
expectation of the return of the detached portion of her crew. Grantham
knew enough of his brother's character to feel satisfied that he was in
the absent boat, and yet it was impossible to suppose that one so imbued
with the spirit of generous enterprise should have succumbed to his
enemy, after a contest of so short duration, as, from the number of
shots heard, this had appeared to be. That it was terminated, there
could be no doubt. The cheers, which had been followed by an universal
silence, had given evidence of this fact; yet why, in that case, if his
brother had been victorious, was he not already on his return?
Appearances, on the other hand, seemed to induce an impression of his
defeat. The obvious course of the enemy, if successful, was to abandon
their craft, cut off from escape by the gun-boat without, and to make
the best of their way through the woods, to their place of destination,
the American fort of Detroit--and, as neither party was visible, it was
to be feared this object had been accomplished.
The minds of all were more or less influenced by these doubts, but that
of Henry Grantham was especially disturbed. From the first appearance of
the gun-boat his spirits had resumed their usual tone, for he had looked
upon the fleeing bark as the certain prize of his brother, whose
conquest was to afford the flattest denial to the insinuation that had
been urged against him. Moreover, his youthful pride had exulted in the
reflection that the first halo of victory would play around the brow of
one for whom he could have made every personal sacrifice; and now, to
have those fair anticipations clouded at the very moment when he was
expecting their fullest accomplishment, was almost unendurable. He felt,
also, that, although his resolution was thus made to stand prominently
forth, the prudence of his brother would assuredly be called in
question, for having given chase with so inferior a force, when a single
gun fired into his enemy must have sunk her. In the impatience of his
feelings, the excited young soldier could not refrain from adding his
own censure of the imprudence, exclaiming, as he played his foot
nervously upon the ground: "Why the devil did he not fire and sink her,
instead of following in that nutshell?"
While he was yet giving utterance to his disappointment, a hasty
exclamation met his ear from the chieftain at his side, who, placing one
hand on the shoulder of the officer, with a familiar and meaning grasp,
pointed, with the fore-finger of the other, in the direction in which
the boats had disappeared. Before Grantham's eye could follow, an
exulting yell from the distant masses of Indians announced an advantage
that was soon made obvious to all. The small dark boat of the pursuing
party was now seen issuing from behind the point, and pulling slowly
towards the gun-boat. In the course of a minute or two afterwards
appeared the American, evidently following in the wake of the former,
and attached by a tow-line to her stern. The yell pealed forth by the
Indians when the second boat came in view, was deafening in the extreme;
and everything became commotion along the bank, while the little fleet
of canoes, which still lay resting on the beach, put off one after the
other to the scene of action.
Meanwhile, both objects had gained the side of the gun-boat, which,
favored by a partial shifting of the wind, now pursued her course down
the river with expanded sails. Attached to her stern, and following at
quarter cable distance, was to be seen her prize, from which the
prisoners had been removed.
Informed of the success which had crowned the enterprise of their
officer, the crews of the several vessels in the harbor swelled the
crowd assembled on the bank near the fort, to which point curiosity and
a feeling of interest had moreover brought many of the town's people, so
that the scene finally became one of great animation.
The gun-boat had now arrived opposite the fort, when the small bark,
which had recently been used in pursuit, was again drawn up to the
quarter. Into this, to the surprise of all, was first lowered a female,
hitherto unobserved; next followed an officer in the blue uniform of the
United States regular army; then another individual, whose garb
announced him as being of the militia, and whose rank as an officer was
only distinguishable from the cockade surmounting his round hat, and an
ornamented dagger thrust into a red morocco belt encircling his waist.
After these came the light and elegant form of one, habited in the
undress of a British naval officer, who, with one arm supported by a
black silk handkerchief, evidently taken from his throat, and suspended
from his neck, and with the other grasping the tiller of the rudder,
stood upright in the boat, which, urged by six stout rowers, now stood
at his command towards the landing place, above which lingered,
surrounded by several officers of either service, General Brock and
Commodore Barclay.
"Well, Commodore, what think you of your Lieutenant now?" observed the
former to his friend; "the young Canadian you must admit, has nobly
redeemed my pledge. On the score of his fidelity there could exist no
doubt, and as for his courage, you see," pointing to the young man's
arm, "his conquest has not been bloodless to himself, at least."
"With all my soul do I disclaim the wrong I have done him," was the
emphatic and generous rejoinder. "He is, indeed, a spirited youth; and
well worthy of the favorable report which led me to entrust him with the
command--moreover he has an easy grace of carriage which pleased and
interested me in his favor, when I first saw him. Even now, observe how
courteously he bends himself to the ear of his female prisoner, as if to
encourage her with words of assurance, that she may sustain the presence
and yells of these clamorous beings."
The boat had now reached the beach, but the difficulty of effecting a
passage, through the band of wild Indians that crowded, yelling, in
every direction, to take a nearer view of the prisoners, would, perhaps,
have proved insurmountable, had it not been for the interference of one
who alone possessed the secret of restraining their lawlessness.
Tecumseh had descended to the beach, eager to be the first to
congratulate his young friend. He pressed the hand promptly extended to
receive his, and then, at a single word, made those give way whose
presence impeded the landing of the party.
Pursuing their way up the rude steps by which Lieutenant Raymond had
previously descended, the little band of prisoners soon stood in the
presence of the group assembled to receive them. On alighting from the
boat, the youthful captor had been seen to make the tender of his
uninjured arm to the lady, who, however, had rejected it, with a
movement, seemingly of indignant surprise, clinging in the same moment
to her more elderly companion. A titter among the younger officers, at
Gerald Grantham's expense had followed this rejection of his proffered
arm.
The young sailor was the first to gain the summit of the bank.
Respectfully touching his hat, and pointing to the captives, who
followed a few paces in his rear:
"General--Commodore," he observed, his cheek flushing with a
consciousness of the gratifying position in which he stood, "I have the
honor to present to you the first fruits of your good fortune. This
gentleman," pointing to the elder officer, "is the commander of the
party, and the lady I believe is----"
"Certainly a non-combatant on this occasion," interrupted the General,
raising his plumed hat, and bowing to the party alluded to; "Gentlemen,"
he pursued, addressing the two officers, "I am sorry we do not meet
exactly on the terms to which we have so long been accustomed; but,
although the fortune of war has made you rather unwilling guests in the
present instance, the rites of hospitality shall not be the less
observed. But Mr. Grantham, you have forgotten to introduce these
officers by name."
"I plead guilty, General, but the truth is I have neglected to make the
inquiry myself."
"Major Montgomerie, sir, of the United States Infantry," interposed the
elderly officer, completely set at his ease by the affable and attentive
manner of the British leader. "This young lady is my niece."
Again the general slightly, but courteously, bowed. "I will not, Major
Montgomerie, pay you the ill timed compliment of expressing pleasure in
seeing you on an occasion like the present, since we must unquestionably
consider you a prisoner of war; but if the young lady your niece, has
any desire to continue her journey to Detroit, I shall feel pleasure in
forwarding her thither under a flag of truce."
"I thank you much, General, for this mark of your attention," returned
the American; "but I think I may venture to answer for my niece, that
she will prefer remaining with me."
"Not so, sir;" said a voice deep but femininely soft. "General," she
continued, throwing aside her veil, which had hitherto concealed
features pale even to wanness, "I have the strongest--the most urgent
reasons--for the prosecution of my journey, and gladly do I accept your
offer."
The earnest manner of her address struck every hearer with surprise,
contrasting as it did, with the unchanging coldness of her look; but the
matter was a source of serious concern to her uncle. He regarded her
with an air of astonishment, not unmixed with displeasure.
"How is this, Matilda," he asked; "after having travelled thus far into
the heart of this disturbed district would you now leave me?"
"Major Montgomerie," she pursued, somewhat impatiently, "we are in the
presence of strangers, to whom this discussion must be uninteresting--My
mind is fully made up, and I avail myself of the British General's
offer."
"Certainly, certainly," observed that officer, somewhat disconcerted by
the scene; "and I can do it the more readily, as it is my intention to
send an instant summons to the garrison of Detroit. Miss Montgomerie
will, however, do well to consider before she decides. If the summons be
not obeyed, another week will see our columns marching to the assault,
and she must be prepared for all the horrors of such an extremity,
aided, as I am compelled to be, (and he glanced at the groups of Indians
who were standing around, but at some distance, looking silently yet
eagerly at the prisoners,) by these wild and ungovernable warriors.
Should she, on the contrary, decide on remaining here with her uncle,
she will be perfectly safe."
"General," emphatically returned Miss Montgomerie, "were I certain that
the columns to which you allude would not be repulsed whenever they may
venture upon that assault, and were I as certain of perishing beneath
the tomahawk and scalping knife of these savages"--and she looked
fearlessly towards them--"still would my determination remain the same."
As she concluded, a hectic spot rose to either cheek, lingered there a
moment, and then left it colorless as before.
"Be it so, Miss Montgomerie, my word is pledged and you shall
go--Grantham, I had intended sending one of my personal staff with the
summons, but, on reflection, you shall be the bearer. As the captor of
the lady, to you shall be awarded the charge of delivering her over to
her friends."
"Friends!" involuntarily repeated the American, her cheek becoming even
paler than before, and her lips compressed in a way to indicate some
deep and painful emotion. Again she dropped her veil.
No other notice was taken of the interruption than what the surprised
manner of Major Montgomerie manifested, and the General proceeded;
"I would ask you, Major Montgomerie, to become my guest while you remain
with us, but I fear that, as a bachelor, I have but indifferent
accommodation to offer to your niece."
"If Miss Montgomerie will accept it," said Colonel D'Egville,
interposing, "I shall be most happy to afford her the accommodation of a
home until she finally departs for the opposite shore. If the attention
of a family of daughters," he continued, more immediately addressing
himself to the young lady, "can render your temporary sojourn among us
less tedious, you have but to command them."
So friendly an offer could not well be refused. Miss Montgomerie
inclined her head in acquiescence, and Colonel D'Egville drew her arm
within his own.
"It were unkind," remarked the general, good-humoredly, "to separate
Major Montgomerie altogether from his niece. Either the young lady must
partake of our rude fare, or we shall consider ourselves included in
your dinner party."
"You could not confer on me a greater pleasure, General, and indeed I
was about to solicit it. Commodore Barclay, may I hope that so short and
unceremonious an invitation will be excused by the circumstances? Good,
I shall expect you. But there is yet another to be included among our
guests. Gerald, you will not fail to conduct this gentleman, whose name
I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing"--and he looked at the
latter, as if he expected him to announce himself.
"I fear, sir," observed the young officer, pointedly, "that your dinner
party would be little honored by such an addition. Although he wears the
uniform of an American officer, this person is wholly unworthy of it and
of a seat at your table."
Every eye was turned with an expression of deep astonishment on the
speaker, and thence upon the form of the hitherto scarcely noticed
militia officer; who, with his head sunk sullenly upon his chest, and an
eye now and then raised stealthily to surrounding objects, made no
attempt to refute, or even to express surprise at, the singular
accusation of his captor.
"This is strong language to apply to a captive enemy, and that enemy
apparently an officer," gravely remarked the general; "yet I cannot
believe Mr. Grantham to be wholly without grounds for his assertion."
Before Grantham could reply, a voice in the crowd exclaimed, as if the
utterer had been thrown off his guard, "What--Phil!"
On the mention of this name, the younger prisoner looked suddenly up
from the earth on which his gaze had been riveted, and cast a rapid
glance around him.
"Nay, nay, my young friend, do not, as I see you are, feel hurt at my
observation," resumed the general, extending his hand to Gerald
Grantham; "I confess I did at one moment imagine that you had been rash
in your assertion, but from what has this instant occurred, it is
evident your prisoner is known to others as well as to yourself. No
doubt we shall have everything explained in due season. By the bye, of
what nature is your wound? slight, I should say, from the indifference
with which you treat it."
"Slight, General--far slighter," he continued, coloring, "than the wound
that was sought to be affixed to my fair name in my absence."
All looked at the speaker, and at each other with surprise, for, as yet,
there could have been no communication to him of the doubts which had
been entertained.
"Who is it of you all, gentlemen," pursued the young man, with the same
composedness of voice and manner, and turning particularly to the
officers of the forty-first regiment, who were grouped around their
chief, "Who is it, I ask, on whom has devolved the enviable duty of
reporting me as capable of violating my faith as a subject, and my honor
as an officer?"
There was no reply, although the same looks of surprise were
interchanged; but, as he continued to glance his eye around the circle,
it encountered, either by accident or design, that of Captain Molineux,
on whose rather confused countenance the gaze of Henry Grantham was at
that moment bent with an expression of much meaning.
"No one answers," continued the youth; "then the sting has been
harmless. But I crave your pardon, General--I am claiming an exemption
from censure which may not be conceded by all. Commodore, how shall I
dispose of my prisoners?"
"Not so, Mr. Grantham; you have sufficiently established your right to
repose, and I have already issued the necessary instructions. Yet, while
you have nobly acquitted yourself of _your_ duty, let me also perform
_mine_. Gentlemen," he continued, addressing the large circle of
officers, "I was the first to comment on Mr. Grantham's supposed neglect
of duty, and to cast a doubt on his fidelity. That I was wrong I admit,
but right I trust will be my reparation, and whatever momentary pain he
may experience in knowing that he has been thus unjustly judged, it
will, I am sure, be more than compensated for, when he hears that by
General Brock himself his defence was undertaken, even to the pledging
of his own honor. Mr. Grantham," concluded the gallant officer, "how you
have obtained your knowledge of the conversation that passed here during
your absence, is a mystery I will not now pause to inquire into, but I
would fain apologize for the wrong I have done. Have I your pardon?"
At the commencement of this address, the visible heaving of his full
chest, the curling of his proud lip, and the burning flush of his dark
cheek, betrayed the mortification Gerald felt, in having been placed in
a position to be judged thus unjustly; but, as the commodore proceeded,
this feeling gradually passed away, and when the warm defence of his
conduct by the general was alluded to, closed as the information was
with a request for pardon, his temporary annoyance was banished, and he
experienced only the generous triumph of one who is conscious of having
won his way, through calumny and slander, to the well merited
approbation of all right minded men.
"Come, come," interposed the general, more touched than he was willing
to appear, by the expressive manner in which the only hand of the
commodore now grasped that of his lieutenant, and perceiving that the
latter was about to reply--"We will defer all further explanation until
a later period. But, before we depart, this person must be disposed of;
Major Montgomerie, excuse my asking if you will be personally
responsible for your fellow prisoner?"
"Certainly not!" returned the Major quickly, and with something like
alarm at the required responsibility; "that is to say, he does not
belong to the United States regular service, and I know nothing of him.
Indeed, I never saw him before last night, when he joined me with a
verbal message from Detroit."
Hitherto the individual spoken of had preserved an unbroken silence,
keeping, as we have already shown, his gaze riveted upon the ground,
except at intervals, when he looked around with an eye of suspicion, as
if to measure the distance that separated him from the groups of Indians
in the background. The disclaimer of the major had, however, the effect
of restoring to him the use of his tongue. Casting his uncertain eye on
the gentlemanly person of the latter, he exclaimed, in a tone of
insufferable vulgarity:
"I'll tell you what it is, Mister Major--you may think yourself a
devilish fine feller, but I guess as how an officer of the Michigan
Militia is just as good and as spry as any blue coat in the United
States rig'lars; so there's that (snapping his fingers) for pretendin'
not to know me."
An ill-suppressed titter pervaded the group of British officers--the
general alone preserving his _serieux_.
"May I ask your name?" he demanded.
"I guess, gin'ril, it's Paul Emilius Theophilus Arnoldi, ensign in the
United States Michigan Militia," was answered with a volubility strongly
in contrast with the preceding silence of the speaker.
"Then, Mr. Arnoldi, as an officer in the American militia, you shall
enjoy your liberty on parole. I need not, I presume, sir, point out to
you the breach of private honor and national faith consequent on any
violation of that parole."
"I guess not, gin'ril, for, I take it, the word of a Michigan militia
officer is as good as that of any United States rig'lar as ever stepped
in shoe leather."
Another very pardonable disposition on the part of the younger officers
to indulge in mirth, was interrupted by the general, desiring a young
aide-de-camp to procure the necessary billet and accommodation for
Ensign Arnoldi.
These two individuals having moved away in search of the required
lodging, the general, with his staff and prisoner guests, withdrew
towards the fort. Their departure was the signal for the breaking up of
the groups, and all dispersed to their several homes, and in pursuit of
their various duties. The recently arrived Indians were distributed
throughout the encampment, already occupied as we have described, and
the prisoners taken in the morning were provided with suitable
accommodation.
As Colonel D'Egville was about to enter the gate of the fort, with his
fair charge leaning on his arm, Gerald Grantham approached the party,
with the intention of addressing the general in regard to the prisoner
Arnoldi; but finding him engaged in close conversation with Major
Montgomerie, he lingered, as if awaiting a fitting opportunity to open
the subject.
While he yet loitered, the eye of Miss Montgomerie met his. What it
expressed we will not venture to describe, but its effect upon the young
officer was profound. The moment before, discouraged by her apparent
reserve, he had stood coldly by, but now startled into animation, he
bent upon her an earnest and corresponding look; then, with a wild
tumult at his heart, which he neither sought to stifle nor to analyze,
and wholly forgetting what had brought him to the spot, he turned and
joined his brother, who, at a short distance, stood awaiting his return.