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 _parenthèsed_ 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.
"Apropos," remarked Captain Granville, who filled the president's chair.
"We ought to have toasted your brother's gallant exploit, Henry;
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 on 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 have you done with the ugly lout you took charge 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 that standard; as, for example,
Major Montgomerie and the person just alluded to. Last winter," he
continued, "there was a continued interchange of hospitalities 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 devil take the ball," impatiently retorted Cranstoun, who did not
seem to relish the allusion; "don't talk about it now, man."
"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.
"Don'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, hillocks 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
transportation 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 fully 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 lest the absence of one of these
formidable masses should compel them to abandon an enterprise, 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 of 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 among 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'éclat_ to the last ball of the season."
"Yes," interrupted the incorrigible Middlemore, as he cracked a peccan
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 furthest down the river, of the group."
"What a damn'd long time you are telling that stupid story, Villiers,"
at length noticed Cranstoun, wheeling round and regarding the narrator
with a look of ill assumed indifference, "I could have told it myself 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 mouth. 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 anything 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 had 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.