The spring of 1813 had passed nearly away, yet without producing any
renewed effort on the part of the Americans. From information obtained
from the Indian scouts, it however appeared that, far from being
discouraged by their recent disaster, they had moved forward a third
army to the Miami, where they had strongly entrenched themselves, until
fitting opportunity should be found to renew their attempt to recover
the lost district. It was also ascertained that, with a perseverance and
industry peculiar to themselves, they had been occupied throughout the
rigorous winter in preparing a fleet of sufficient force to compete with
that of the British; and that, abandoning the plan hitherto pursued by
his predecessors, the American leader of this third army of invasion
purposed transporting his troops across the lake, instead of running the
risk of being harassed and cut up in an advance by land. To effect this,
it was of course necessary to have the command of the lake, and there
were all the sinews of exertion called into full exercise, to obtain the
desired ascendancy.
To defeat this intention became now the chief object of the British
General. With the close of winter had ceased the hunting pursuits of the
warriors, so that each day brought with it a considerable accession to
the strength of this wild people, vast numbers of whom had betaken
themselves to their hunting grounds, shortly after the capture of
Detroit. The chiefs of these several nations were now summoned to a
Council, in the course of which it was decided that a formidable
expedition, accompanied by a heavy train of battering artillery, should
embark in batteaux, with a view to the reduction of the American post
established on the Miami--a nucleus around which was fast gathering a
spirit of activity that threatened danger, if not annihilation, to the
English influence in the North Western districts. In the event of the
accomplishment of this design, Detroit and Amherstburg would necessarily
be released from all apprehension, since, even admitting the Americans
could acquire a superiority of naval force on the lake, such superiority
could only be essentially injurious to us, as a means of affording
transport to, and covering the operations of an invading army. If,
however, that already on the Miami could be defeated, and their fortress
razed, it was not probable that a fourth could be equipped and pushed
forward, with a view to offensive operations, in sufficient time to
accomplish anything decisive before the winter should set in. Tecumseh,
who had just returned from collecting new bodies of warriors, warmly
approved the project, and undertook to bring two thousand men into the
field, as his quota of the expedition, the departure of which was
decided for the seventh day from the Council.
The day on which that Council was held, was characterized by one of
those sudden outbursts of elemental war, so common to the Canadas in
early summer, and which, in awful grandeur of desolation, are frequently
scarcely inferior to the hurricanes of the tropics. The morning had been
oppressively sultry, and there was that general and heavy lethargy of
nature that usually precedes a violent reaction. About noon a small,
dark speck was visible in the hitherto cloudless horizon, and this
presently grew in size until the whole western sky was one dense mass of
threatening black, which eventually spread itself over the entire
surface of the heavens leaving not a hand's breadth anywhere visible.
Presently, amid the sultry stillness that prevailed, there came a slight
breeze over the face of the waters, and then, as if some vast battering
train had suddenly opened its hundred mouths of terror, vomiting forth
showers of grape and other missiles, come astounding thunder-claps, and
forked lightnings, and rain, and hail, and whistling wind--all in such
terrible union, yet such fearful disorder, that man, the last to take
warning, or feel awed by the anger of the common parent, Nature, bent
his head in lowliness and silence to her voice, and awaited tremblingly
the passing away of her wrath.
Henry Grantham, whose turn of duty had again brought him to Amherstburg,
was in the mess-room of the garrison when the storm was at the fiercest.
Notwithstanding the excitement of the council-scene, at which he had
been present, he had experienced an unusual depression throughout the
day, originating partly in the languid state of the atmosphere, but
infinitely more in the anxiety under which he labored in regard to his
brother, of whom no other intelligence had been received, since his
departure with his prisoners for Buffalo, than what vague rumor, coupled
with the fact of the continued absence of the schooner, afforded. That
the vessel had been captured by the enemy there could be no doubt; but,
knowing as he did, the gallant spirit of Gerald, there was reason to
imagine that he had not yielded to his enemies, before every means of
resistance had been exhausted: and if so, what might not have been the
effect of his obstinacy, if such a term could be applied to unshaken
intrepidity, on men exasperated by opposition and eager for revenge. In
the outset he had admitted his gentle cousin Gertrude to his confidence,
as one most suited, by her docility, to soothe without appearing to
remark on his alarm, but when, little suspecting the true motive of her
agitation, he saw her evince an emotion surpassing his own, and
admitting and giving way to fears beyond any he would openly avow, he
grew impatient and disappointed, and preferring rather to hear the
tocsin of alarm sounded from his own heart than from the lips of
another, he suddenly, and much to the surprise of the affectionate girl,
discontinued all allusion to the subject. But Henry's anxiety was not
the less poignant from being confined within his own breast, and
although it gratified him to find that flattering mention was frequently
made of his brother at the mess-table, coupled with regret for his
absence, it was reserved for his hours of privacy and abstraction to
dwell upon the fears which daily became more harassing and perplexing.
On the present occasion, even while his brother officers had thought nor
ear but for the terrible tempest that raged without, and at one moment
threatened to bury them beneath its trembling roof, the mind of Henry
was full of his absent brother, whom, more than ever, he now seemed to
regret, from the association of the howling tempest with the wild
element on which he had last beheld him; and so complete at last had
become the ascendancy of his melancholy, that when the storm had been in
some degree stilled, and the rain abated, he took an early leave of his
companions, with a view to indulge in privacy the gloomy feelings by
which he felt himself oppressed.
In passing through the gate of the fort, on his way into the town, his
attention was arrested by several groups of persons, consisting of
soldiers, Indians, and inhabitants, who, notwithstanding the inclemency
of the hour, were gathered on the high bank in front of the _demi-lune_
battery, eagerly bending their gaze upon the river. Half curious to know
what could have attracted them in such weather from shelter, Henry
advanced and mingled in the crowd, which gave way at his approach.
Although the fury of the tempest had spent itself, there was still wind
enough to render it a matter of necessary precaution that the bystander
should secure a firm footing on the bank, while the water, violently
agitated and covered with foam, resembled rather a pigmy sea than an
inland river--so unusual and so vast were its waves. The current,
moreover, increased in strength by the sudden swelling of the waters,
dashed furiously down, giving its direction to the leaping billows that
rode impatiently upon its surface; and at the point of intersection by
the island of Bois Blanc, formed so violent an eddy within twenty feet
of the land, as to produce the effect of a whirlpool, while again,
between the island and the Canadian shore, the current, always rapid and
of great force, flew boiling down its channel, and with a violence
almost quadrupled.
Amid this uproar of the usually placid river, there was but one bark
found bold enough to venture upon her angered bosom, and this, although
but an epitome of those that have subdued the world of waters, and
chained them in subservience to the will of man, now danced gallantly,
almost terrifically, from billow to billow, and, with the feathery
lightness of her peculiar class, seemed borne onward, less by the
leaping waves themselves than by the white and driving spray that
fringed their summits. This bark--a canoe evidently of the smallest
description--had been watched in its progress, from afar, by the groups
assembled on the bank, who had gathered at each other's call, to witness
and marvel at the gallant daring of those who had committed it to the
boiling element. Two persons composed her crew--the one seated in the
stern, and carefully guiding the bark so as to enable her to breast the
threatening waves, which, in quick succession, rose as if to accomplish
her overthrow--the other standing at her bows, the outline of his upper
figure designed against the snow-white sail, and, with his arms folded
across his chest, apparently gazing without fear on the danger which
surrounded him. It was evident, from their manner of conducting the
bark, that the adventurers were not Indians, and yet there was nothing
to indicate to what class of the white family they belonged. Both were
closely wrapped in short, dark-colored pea coats, and their heads were
surmounted with glazed hats--a species of costume that more than
anything else proved their familiarity with the element whose brawling
they appeared to brave with an indifference bordering on madness.
Such was the position of the parties at the moment when Henry Grantham
gained the bank. Hitherto the canoe, in the broad reach that divided the
island from the American mainland, had had merely the turbulence of the
short heavy waves, and a comparatively modified current, to contend
against. Overwhelming even as these difficulties would have proved to
men less gifted with the power of opposing and vanquishing them, they
were but light in comparison with what was to be overcome. The canoe was
now fast gaining the head of the island, and pursuing a direct course
for the whirlpool already described. The only means of avoiding this was
by closely hugging the shore between which and the violent eddy without,
the water, broken in its impetuosity by the covering headland, presented
a more even and less agitated surface. This headland once doubled, the
safety of the adventurers was ensured, since, although the tremendous
current which swept through the inner channel must have borne them
considerably downwards, still the canoe would have accomplished the
transit below the town in perfect safety. The fact of this opportunity
being neglected, led at once to the inference that the adventurers were
total strangers, and distinct voices were now raised by those on the
bank, to warn them of their danger--but whether it was that they heard
not, or understood not, the warning was unnoticed. Once indeed it seemed
as if he who so ably conducted the course of the bark, had comprehended
and would have followed, the suggestion so earnestly given, for his tiny
sail was seen to flutter for the first time in the wind, as with the
intention to alter his course. But an impatient gesture from his
companion in the bow, who was seen to turn suddenly round and utter
something, (which was however inaudible to those on shore,) again
brought the head of the fragile vessel to her original course, and
onward she went, leaping and bounding, apparently with the design to
clear the whirlpool at a higher point of the river.
Nothing short of a miracle could now possibly enable the adventurers to
escape being drawn into the boiling vortex; and, during the moments that
succeeded, every heart beat high with fearful expectation as to the
result. At length the canoe came with a sudden plunge into the very
centre of the current, which all the skill of the steersman was
insufficient to enable him to clear. Her bow yawed, her little sail
fluttered--and away she flew, broadside foremost, down the stream, with
as little power of resistance as a feather or a straw. Scarcely had the
eye time to follow her in this peculiar descent, when she was in the
very heart of the raging eddy. For a moment she reeled like a top, then
rolled two or three times over, and finally disappeared altogether.
Various expressions of horror broke from the several groups of whites
and Indians, all of whom had anticipated the catastrophe without the
power of actively interposing. Beyond the advice that was given, not a
word was uttered, but every eye continued fixed on the whirlpool, as
though momentarily expecting to see something issue from its bosom.
After the lapse of a minute, a dark object suddenly presented itself
some twenty yards below, between the island and town. It was the canoe
which, bottom upwards and deprived of its little mast and sail, had
again risen to the surface, and was floating rapidly down with the
current. Presently afterwards two heads were seen nearly at the point
where the canoe had again emerged. They were the unfortunate
adventurers, one of whom appeared to be supporting his companion with
one arm, whilst with the other he dashed away the waters that bore them
impetuously along. The hats of both had fallen off, and as he who
exerted himself so strenuously, rose once or twice in the vigor of his
efforts above the element with which he contended, he seemed to present
the grisly, woolly hair, and the sable countenance of an aged negro. A
vague surmise of the truth now flashed upon the mind of the excited
officer; but when, presently afterwards, he saw the powerful form once
more raised, and in a voice that made itself distinctly heard above the
howling of the wind, exclaim, "Help a dare!" there was no longer a
doubt, and he rushed towards the dock-yard, to gain which the exertions
of the negro were now directed.
On reaching it, he found both Gerald and his faithful attendant just
touching the shore. Aroused by the cry for help which Sambo had pealed
forth, several of the workmen had quitted the shelter of the
block-houses in which they were lodged, and hastened to the rescue of
him whom they immediately afterwards saw struggling furiously to free
himself and companion from the violent current. Stepping to the
extremity on some loose timber which lay secured to the shore, yet
floating in the river--they threw out poles, one of which Sambo seized
like an enraged mastiff in his teeth, and still supporting the body, and
repelling the water with his disengaged arm, in this manner succeeded in
gaining the land. The crews of the little fleet, which lay armed a
hundred yards lower down, had also witnessed the rapid descent of two
apparently drowning men, and ropes had everywhere been thrown out from
the vessels. As for lowering a boat, it was out of the question; for no
boat could have resisted the violence of the current, even for some
hours after the storm had wholly ceased.
It may be easily conceived with what mingled emotions the generous
Henry, whose anxiety had been so long excited in regard to his brother's
fate, now beheld that brother suddenly restored to him. Filled with an
affection that was rendered the more intense by the very fact of the
danger from which he had just seen him rescued, he, regardless of those
around and in defiance of his wet and dripping clothes, sprang eagerly
to his embrace, but Gerald received him with a cold--almost averted air.
Suffering, rather than sharing, this mark of fraternal love, he turned
the instant afterward to his servant, and, in a tone of querulousness
said, "Sambo, give me wine."
Inexpressibly shocked, and not knowing what to think of this conduct,
Henry bent his glance upon the negro. The old man shook his head
mournfully, and even with the dripping spray that continued to fall from
his woolly locks upon his cheeks, tears might be seen to mingle. A
dreadful misgiving came over the mind of the youth, and he felt his
very hair rise thrillingly, as he for a moment admitted the horrible
possibility, that the shock produced by his recent accident had affected
his brother's intellect. Sambo replied to his master's demand, by saying
"there was no wine--the canoe and its contents had been utterly lost."
All this passed during the first few moments of their landing. The
necessity for an immediate change of apparel was obvious, and Gerald and
his servant were led into the nearest block house, where each of the
honest fellows occupying it was eager in producing whatever his rude
wardrobe afforded. The brothers then made the best of their way,
followed by the negro, to their own abode in the town.
The evening being damp and chilly, a fire was kindled in the apartment
in which Gerald dined--the same in which both had witnessed the dying
moments of their mother, and Henry those of their father. It had been
chosen by the former, in the height of her malady, for its cheerfulness,
and she had continued in it until the hour of her decease; while Major
Grantham had selected it for his chamber of death for the very reason
that it had been that of his regretted wife. Henry, having already
dined, sat at the opposite extremity of the table watching his brother,
whose features he had so longed to behold once more; yet not without a
deep and bitter feeling of grief, that those features should have
undergone so complete a change in their expression towards himself.
Gerald had thrown off the temporary and ill-fitting vestments exchanged
for his own wet clothing, and now that he appeared once more in his
customary garb, an extraordinary alteration was perceptible in his whole
appearance. Instead of the blooming cheek, and rounded and elegant form,
for which he had always been remarkable, he now offered to the eye of
his anxious brother, an emaciated figure, and a countenance pale even to
wanness--while evidence of much care and inward suffering might be
traced in the stern contraction of his hitherto open brow. There was
also a dryness in his speech that startled and perplexed even more than
the change in his person. The latter might be the effect of
imprisonment, and its anxiety and privation, coupled with the exhaustion
arising from his recent accident; but how was the first to be accounted
for, and wherefore was he, after so long a separation, and under such
circumstances, thus incommunicative and unaffectionate? All these
reflections occurred to the mind of the sensitive Henry, as he sat
watching, and occasionally addressing a remark to, his taciturn brother,
until he became fairly bewildered in his efforts to find a clue to his
conduct. The horrible dread which had first suggested itself of the
partial overthrow of intellect, had passed away, but to this had
succeeded a discovery attended by quite as much concern, although
creating less positive alarm. He had seen, with inexpressible pain, that
Gerald ate but little, seeming rather to loathe his food, while on the
other hand he had recourse more frequently to wine, drinking off bumpers
with greedy avidity, until, yielding at length to the excess of his
potations, he fell fast asleep in the arm-chair he had drawn to the
fire, overcome by the mingled influence of wine, fatigue and drowsiness.
Bitter were the feelings of Henry Grantham, as thus he gazed upon his
sleeping brother. Fain would he have persuaded himself that the effect
he now witnessed was an isolated instance, and occurring only under the
peculiar circumstances of the moment. It was impossible to recal the
manner in which he had demanded "wine" from their faithful old servant
and friend, and not feel satisfied that the tone proclaimed him one who
had been in the frequent habit of repeating that demand, as the prepared
yet painful manner of the black, indicated a sense of having been too
frequently called upon to administer to it. Alas, thought the
heart-stricken Henry, can it really be, that he whom I have cherished in
my heart of hearts with more than brother's love, has thus fallen? Has
Gerald, formerly as remarkable for sobriety as for every honorable
principle, acquired even during the months I have so wretchedly mourned
his absence, the fearful propensities of the drunkard? The bare idea
overpowered him, and with difficulty restraining his tears, he rose from
his seat, and paced the room for some time in a state of indescribable
agitation. Then again he stopped, and when he looked in the sleeping
face of his unconscious brother, he was more than ever struck by the
strange change which had been wrought in his appearance. Finding that
Gerald still slept profoundly, he took the resolution of instantly
questioning Sambo as to all that had befallen them during their absence,
and ascertaining, if possible, to what circumstance the mystery which
perplexed him was attributable. Opening and reclosing the door with
caution, he hastened to the room which, owing to his years and long and
faithful services, had been set apart for the accommodation of the old
man when on shore. Here he found Sambo, who had dispatched his
substantial meal, busily occupied in drying his master's wet dress
before a large blazing wood fire--and laying out, with the same view,
certain papers, the contents of a pocket-book which had been completely
saturated with water. A ray of satisfaction lighted the dark but
intelligent face of the negro, which the instant before had worn an
expression of suffering, as the young officer, pressing his hand with
warmth, thanked him deeply and fervently for the noble, almost
superhuman, exertions, he had made that day to preserve his brother's
life.
"Oh, Massa Henry!" was all the poor creature could say in reply, as he
returned the pressure with an emphasis that spoke his profound
attachment to both. Then leaning his white head upon his hand against
the chimney, and bursting into tears--"berry much change, he poor broder
Geral, he not a same at all."
Here was a sad opening indeed to the subject. The heart of the youth
sank within him, yet feeling the necessity of knowing all connected with
his brother's unhappiness, he succeeded in drawing the old man into
conversation, and finally into a narration of all their adventures, as
far at least as he had personal knowledge, from the moment of their
leaving Detroit in the preceding autumn.
When, after the expiration of an hour, he returned to the drawing-room,
Gerald was awake, and so far restored by his sound sleep as to be, not
only more communicative, but more cordial towards his brother. He even
reverted to past scenes, and spoke of the mutual events of their youth,
with a cheerfulness bordering on levity; but this pained Henry the more,
for he saw in it but the fruit of a forced excitement--as melancholy in
adoption as pernicious in effect--and his own heart repugned all
participation in so unnatural a gaiety, although he enforced himself to
share it to the outward eye. Fatigue at length compelled Gerald to court
the quiet of his pillow, and, overcome as his senses were with wine, he
slept profoundly until morning.