NEW ACQUAINTANCES
The next morning was cold and clear. The sun shone brilliantly,
revealing unsuspected diamonds set in the snow. Forsyth woke late,
wondered sleepily where he was, and then remembered.
His room was at the western end of the house, which faced the south,
and from his window he could see the Fort and the Agency on the other
side of the river. A savoury suggestion of frying bacon, penetrating
the rough log partition, impelled him to dress hurriedly. As he broke
the ice in his water pitcher, he wondered whether the Ensign had taken
his regular plunge, and shivered at the thought.
When he reached the large room which served as kitchen, dining-room,
and parlour, he found the family already assembled. Chandonnais was
just leaving the table, and Mrs. Mackenzie sat at the head, pouring
coffee from a quaint and battered silver pot which had been her
grandmother's.
"Good-morning," she said cheerily, "I thought most likely you were
beat out from travelling, and I told John to let you sleep."
She was a large, fair woman, matronly in every line, and her face
was delicately pink. Her abundant hair was ashen blonde, escaping in
little curls at her temples, and at the second glance one saw that
it was rapidly turning grey. She had a wholesome air of cleanliness,
and her blue eyes mirrored the kindness in the depths of her motherly
heart.
Her brood was gathered around her, and every face had been scrubbed
until it shone. The baby sat at her right and pounded the table madly
with his pewter spoon, to the evident delight of his father. Maria
Indiana was sipping warm milk daintily, like the four-year-old lady
that she was, and Ellen and Johnny conducted themselves with more
dignity than is common to people of seven and nine.
Forsyth had made friends with the children the evening before, and, of
his own accord, had extended the schooling to all but the baby.
"It's going to be a sight of comfort to me," said Mrs. Mackenzie, "to
have the young ones out from under foot half the time. The baby don't
bother much. I tie him in his chair, give him something to play with,
and he's all right."
"Where am I to teach, Aunt Eleanor?"
"In the next room, I guess. There's a fireplace in there, and you can
have it all to yourselves. Just wait till the breakfast things are out
of the way and I'll see to it."
At this juncture the Ensign appeared, smiling and debonair. "Morning!
Am I too late for coffee?"
"You've had some already this morning, haven't you?" asked Mackenzie.
"Well, now, that depends on what coffee really is. Of course they
called it that, but it isn't to be mentioned in the same breath with
Mrs. Mackenzie's." Robert noted that there was an extra cup on the
table, and surmised that the delicate hint was not infrequent.
"Thank you," continued the visitor in a grateful tone; "you've saved
my life."
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I've saved your life," laughed
Mrs. Mackenzie.
"So do I, for you are a good and beautiful woman, and you deserve a
fortune, if anybody ever did."
"Go away, you flatterer. You remind me of a big, motherless chicken."
"Gaunt and chicken-like I may be, but never motherless while you live.
A little bread and butter, please, to go with the coffee."
"Wouldn't you like some bacon?" asked Mackenzie, hospitably.
"Well, perhaps--a little. Mrs. Mackenzie cooks it beautifully."
"Ellen," said her mother, "get another plate."
"You're so good to me," murmured the Ensign, drawing his chair closer
to his hostess. "Are those doughnuts?"
"They are."
"I remember once, when you gave me a doughnut, just after drill. I can
taste it yet."
"Is that so? I'd forgotten it."
"Now that I think of it, you didn't, but you said you would, some
time."
She laughed and pushed the plate toward him.
"Ye gods!" he exclaimed, sinking his white teeth into a doughnut,
"what cooking! What a woman!"
"I think I'll ask to be excused," said Mackenzie, rising and pushing
back his chair.
"Certainly," responded the soldier, with a gesture of elaborate
unconcern. "Don't stay on my account, I beg of you. Think of real
cream in your coffee!" he sighed, scraping the pitcher with a spoon.
"I could drink cream."
"You're not going to," put in Mrs. Mackenzie, pointedly.
"I know it," he answered sadly; "I only wish I were."
When the last scrap of food had disappeared from the table, he stopped
eating, but not before.
"That makes a man feel better," he announced, "especially a suffering
and dying invalid like me. Come on, Forsyth, I'm going to take you
over to the Fort for a bit."
It did not occur to Robert to question the mandates of this lordly
being. "All right, wait till I get my coat and hat. I'll be back in a
few minutes, Aunt Eleanor, to open school."
"The devil you will," observed Ronald, as they left the house. "What a
liar you are!"
The path which led to the gate was well trodden, early morning though
it was. "Indian tracks," said the Ensign, pointing to a narrow line
on the snow; "you can always tell 'em. They keep their feet in single
file--no company front about their walking."
An unpainted fence surrounded the Mackenzie premises, and at the
right and left of the gate were four tall Lombardy poplars, two on
each side. Brown sparrows chattered and fought in the bare branches,
scorning to fly away at their approach. The house had been built on
a point of land which projected into the river and turned it sharply
from its course. Between the patches of snow the ice glittered in the
sun.
"Salubrious spot," commented George, as they struck the frozen surface
of the stream. "Don't get too near that hole. It's my bath-tub and
it's weak around the edges."
Near the middle of the river was a large, jagged space in the ice and
on the snow around it were finger-marks and footprints.
"Rather looked for you out this morning," Ronald continued. "Was
disappointed."
Robert shrugged his shoulders, but made no reply.
"That happy architectural combination which we now approach," his
guide went on, professionally, "is Fort Dearborn. Intoxicated party
drew the plans and other intoxicated parties followed 'em. I could
improve it in several places, but I'm obliged to make the best of it.
The flag-pole, in the middle of the parade-ground, is seventy-five
feet high, though you wouldn't suspect it, on account of the
heroic proportions of the other buildings, and it interferes most
beautifully with everything.
"Regular fort, though. Officers' quarters, barracks, offices,
guard-house, magazine, and other modern inventions. Commanding officer
has a palatial residence to himself. The Lieutenant is supposed to
live in half of it, but he doesn't. Those warts at the south-east and
north-west corners are block-houses, made after a Chinese diagram. The
upper story overhangs to give a down range for musketry and keep the
enemy from setting fire to the Fort. The double stockade is where the
genius comes in, however. See how it slants and balances to corners.
Makes the thing look like a quilt pattern. Would wear on the mind of a
sensitive person.
"Hello, Charley! Here's where we get in. You see there's a sunken
road to the river and there's a subterranean passage also, with a
well in it, which insures the water-supply in case of a siege. We've
got three pieces of light artillery--six-pounders--and our muskets,
bayonets, and pistols. That's the Agency House outside. Your uncle is
Government Indian Agent and sutler for the garrison and trader on his
own account. This is where the Captain lives."
He pounded merrily at the door, then entered unceremoniously, and
Robert followed him, awkwardly, into the room where the Captain and
his wife sat at breakfast.
Captain Franklin was a grave, silent man on the sunny side of forty,
who never spoke without cause, and his wife was a pretty little woman,
with dark, laughing eyes. She brightened visibly when Robert was
presented to her, for guests did not often appear at the Fort.
"Coffee?" remarked Ronald, with a rising inflection. "You're a lucky
man, Captain, to have such coffee as Mrs. Franklin makes, every
blessed morning of your life. I only wish I were as fortunate," he
added impersonally.
Robert bit his lips to keep from smiling as the Ensign's wants were
promptly supplied. "Won't you have some too, Mr. Forsyth?"
"No, thank you, Mrs. Franklin. I've been to breakfast."
The emphasis on the personal pronoun caused George to look at him
meaningly, as he asked if he might have a bit of toast and an apple.
While he ate, Mrs. Franklin talked with Forsyth and the Captain
listened in silence.
"Are you going to stay?" she inquired.
"Yes, I hope so. I am going to teach my young cousins and help my
uncle in any way I can. I graduated from Yale last year and went from
there to Detroit, but as soon as I heard that Aunt Eleanor was willing
to take me in, I started and got here yesterday, just before the
storm."
"Did you have a pleasant journey?"
"Yes, fairly so. I came by way of Fort Wayne, with Indian guides and
relays of horses."
"Any news?" asked the Captain.
"No, only the usual symptoms of discontent among the Indians. The
officers in Detroit think there may be another outbreak soon."
"I don't--there's no earthly reason for it."
"Indians aren't particular about reasons," put in Ronald. "Come along,
Robert, we're going over to the Lieutenant's."
When they entered, Mrs. Howard was clearing away the breakfast dishes,
and after the introductions were over, Ronald did not hesitate to
express his disappointment.
"Get that starving kid some coffee, Kit," said the Lieutenant, and
Ronald gladly accepted the steaming cup, with polite regret at the
trouble he was causing and with profuse praise of the beverage itself.
"Sugar?" asked Mrs. Howard.
"No, thank you--just put your dainty finger in for a moment, if you
will be so kind. Your hand would sweeten the bitterest cup man is
called upon to drink. Seems to me I smell pancakes."
He grinned appreciatively at Forsyth as Mrs. Howard went to the iron
griddle that swung in the open fireplace. "Not many," he called to
her, "six will do very nicely. I don't want to be a pig."
"You are, though," Forsyth assured him in an undertone.
"Shut up!" he replied concisely.
Acting upon the suggestion, Robert turned his attention to his host,
and they talked until the pangs of hunger were somewhat satisfied. The
Lieutenant and his wife followed them to the door.
"Tell my mother I'm coming over to see her this afternoon," said Mrs.
Howard.
"All right," answered Robert. "Who's 'mother'?" he asked, when they
got outside.
"Mrs. Mackenzie, of course. Don't you know your own relations when
you see 'em? Mrs. Howard is your aunt's daughter and your uncle's
step-daughter, so she's your cousin."
"Cousin-in-law, I guess," said Robert. "My father was Uncle John's
half-brother, so we're not very closely related. She's nice, though. I
wish she were my cousin."
"Coffee doesn't come up to her mother's," soliloquised George, "but
it's pretty good. Hello, Doc!" he shouted, to a man on the opposite
side of the parade-ground. "Had your breakfast?"
"Good Heavens!" ejaculated Forsyth, "you aren't going to eat again,
are you?"
The Ensign turned upon him a look of reproach. "My rations aren't
meant for full-grown men," he explained. "If I couldn't get a bite
outside occasionally, I'd dry up and blow away. There's a squaw down
in the hollow who cooks a pretty good mess, and you can get a bowl of
it for a fist of beads. It isn't overly clean, and it's my private
opinion it's yellow dog, stewed, or perhaps I should say, curried, but
a starving man can't afford to be particular."
"Take me some time," Forsyth suggested carelessly; "I've never eaten
dog."
"All right," was the jovial answer, "we'll go. Come on over and meet
the Doc."
Robert was duly presented to Doctor Norton, whom the soldier
characterised as "the pill roller of the garrison," and soon seized an
opportunity to ask him the exact capacity of the human stomach.
"It varies," answered the Doctor, wrinkling his brows in deep thought.
"Some people"----
"We must go," George interrupted. "It's time for school."
They parted on the bank of the river, Robert studiously avoiding an
opportunity to shake hands. When he entered the house, his pupils were
waiting for him.
The room set aside for educational purposes was just off the
living-room and a bright fire was burning on the hearth. He found it
difficult to teach three grades at once, and soon arranged alternate
study and recitation for each, dismissing Maria Indiana in an hour
with the first three letters of the alphabet well learned.
The window, like the others in the house, commanded a view of the
river and the Fort, and gave a glimpse of the boundless plains beyond.
Soldiers went in and out of the stockade, apparently at pleasure, and
one or two of them came across, but he looked in vain for the stalwart
young officer whom he was proud to call his friend.
At dinner-time he inquired about the neighbours.
"Neighbours?" repeated Mrs. Mackenzie, laughing; "why, we haven't any,
except at the Fort."
"Are you and Uncle John really the only people here?" he asked,
seriously.
"No, not that. There are a few houses here. Mr. and Mrs. Burns live
in one--they are our nearest neighbours--and away up beyond is Lee's
place. They don't have anything to do with us, nor we with them. Two
or three men and a boy live there, I believe, but we don't see much of
them. They're part French and part Indian. Chandonnais used to live
with them, and when we came here, he came to us. I guess that's one
reason why they don't like us, for Chan's a good boy."
"And Margaret?"
Mrs. Mackenzie's face changed. "Poor old thing," she said sadly,
"no one knows where or how she lives. We are not afraid of her,
but the Indians are. They wouldn't touch a crazy person under any
circumstances."
"Is there a regular Indian settlement here?"
"Yes, there are wigwams all along the river. They are all
Pottawattomies and very friendly. The Chippewa and Winnebago tribes
are farther north. John has a gift for dealing with the Indians. He
has learned their language and their ways, and they treat him as if he
were one of them. Did George show you the Fort this morning?"
"Most of it," smiled Forsyth. "We called on the commissioned officers
and that young giant ate a hearty breakfast at each place."
"He is the life of the settlement, and I don't know what we'd do
without him. I never saw anybody with such an inexhaustible fund of
good spirits. Nothing is so bad that George can't get a joke out of it
and make us laugh in spite of our trouble. Did you see Doctor Norton?"
"Yes, but only for a moment."
"He's jolly too, and very good to all of us."
"I forgot to tell you when I first came in," said Robert, "but I met
Mrs. Howard and she asked me to tell you that she was coming over to
see you this afternoon."
"Bless her heart," said Mrs. Mackenzie, tenderly, "she never forgets
her old mother."
"You'll never be old, Aunt Eleanor. I believe you have found the
fountain of eternal youth."
"What, another flatterer?" she asked, but the heightened colour in her
cheeks showed that she was pleased.
During the afternoon, while Johnny struggled manfully with digits and
addition, Robert saw Mrs. Howard coming across the river. She was a
fair, tall woman, very blonde, with eyes like her mother's. The Doctor
stood at the entrance of the stockade, watching her, with something
akin to wistfulness in his attitude.
"Poor soul," thought Robert, "I expect he's lonesome."
The afternoon sun stole into the room, marking out patches of light
upon the rag carpet which covered the floor, and touched the rude logs
kindly as if to gild, rather than to reveal. In the next room women's
voices sounded, indistinct, but pleasant, with here and there a low,
musical laugh, and the teacher fell to dreaming.
"How many are two and two, Cousin Rob?" Johnny asked, for the third
time.
"Four--don't you remember? You learned that this morning."
"Can I go now? I want to see my sister."
"Yes, run along."
The patter of feet died away in the distance, but Robert still looked
out upon the river with a smile upon his face. Presently he saw Mrs.
Howard going toward the Fort, with two of the children capering along
beside her. Something stirred in the dreamer's pulses, indefinite,
but none the less real. What man can place it, or knows it when it
comes--that first vague longing for a home of his own?
The minutes went by and the light faded until the blood-red sunset
fired the Fort and stained the snowy reaches beyond. A door opened, a
kettle sang, and some one came in.
"Asleep, dear?"
"No, Aunt Eleanor." He went to her, put his arm around her, and
touched her cheek lightly with his lips. "I was only thinking that my
lines have fallen in pleasant places."