While this scene was enacting in front of the Fleur de lis, one of a
far more touching and painful nature was passing in the very heart of
the detachment itself. At the moment when the halt was ordered by
Captain Blessington, a rumour ran through the ranks that they had
reached the spot destined for the execution of their ill-fated comrade.
Those only in the immediate front were aware of the true cause; but
although the report of the rifle had been distinctly heard by all, it
had been attributed by those in the rear to the accidental discharge of
one of their own muskets. A low murmur, expressive of the opinion
generally entertained, passed gradually from rear to front, until it at
length reached the ears of the delicate drummer boy who marched behind
the coffin. His face was still buried in the collar of his coat; and
what was left uncovered of his features by the cap, was in some degree
hidden by the forward drooping of his head upon his chest. Hitherto he
had moved almost mechanically along, tottering and embarrassing himself
at every step under the cumbrous drum that was suspended from a belt
round his neck over the left thigh; but now there was a certain
indescribable drawing up of the frame, and tension of the whole person,
denoting a concentration of all the moral and physical energies,--a
sudden working up, as it were, of the intellectual and corporeal being
to some determined and momentous purpose.
At the first halt of the detachment, the weary supporters of the coffin
had deposited their rude and sombre burden upon the earth, preparatory
to its being resumed by those appointed to relieve them. The dull sound
emitted by the hollow fabric, as it touched the ground, caught the ear
of him for whom it was destined, and he turned to gaze upon the sad and
lonely tenement so shortly to become his final resting place. There was
an air of calm composure and dignified sorrow upon his brow, that
infused respect into the hearts of all who beheld him; and even the men
selected to do the duty of executioners sought to evade his glance, as
his steady eye wandered from right to left of the fatal rank. His
attention, however, was principally directed towards the coffin, which
lay before him; on this he gazed fixedly for upwards of a minute. He
then turned his eyes in the direction of the fort, shuddered, heaved a
profound sigh, and looking up to heaven with the apparent fervour that
became his situation, seemed to pray for a moment or two inwardly and
devoutly. The thick and almost suffocating breathing of one immediately
beyond the coffin, was now distinctly heard by all. Halloway started
from his attitude of devotion, gazed earnestly on the form whence it
proceeded, and then wildly extending his arms, suffered a smile of
satisfaction to illumine his pale features. All eyes were now turned
upon the drummer boy, who, evidently labouring under convulsive
excitement of feeling, suddenly dashed his cap and instrument to the
earth, and flew as fast as his tottering and uncertain steps would
admit across the coffin, and into the arms extended to receive him.
"My Ellen! oh, my own devoted, but too unhappy Ellen!" passionately
exclaimed the soldier, as he clasped the slight and agitated form of
his disguised wife to his throbbing heart. "This, this, indeed, is joy
even in death. I thought I could have died more happily without you,
but nature tugs powerfully at my heart; and to see you once more, to
feel you once more HERE" (and he pressed her wildly to his chest) "is
indeed a bliss that robs my approaching fate of half its terror."
"Oh Reginald! my dearly beloved Reginald! my murdered husband!"
shrieked the unhappy woman; "your Ellen will not survive you. Her heart
is already broken, though she cannot weep; but the same grave shall
contain us both. Reginald, do you believe me? I swear it; the same
grave shall contain us both."
Exhausted with the fatigue and excitement she had undergone, the
faithful and affectionate creature now lay, without sense or motion, in
the arms of her wretched husband. Halloway bore her, unopposed, a pace
or two in advance, and deposited her unconscious form on the fatal
coffin.
No language of ours can render justice to the trying character of the
scene. All who witnessed it were painfully affected, and over the
bronzed cheek of many a veteran coursed a tear, that, like that of
Sterne's recording angel, might have blotted out a catalogue of sins.
Although each was prepared to expect a reprimand from the governor, for
suffering the prisoner to quit his station in the ranks, humanity and
nature pleaded too powerfully in his behalf, and neither officer nor
man attempted to interfere, unless with a view to render assistance.
Captain Erskine, in particular, was deeply pained, and would have given
any thing to recall the harsh language he had used towards the supposed
idle and inattentive drummer boy. Taking from a pocket in his uniform a
small flask of brandy, which he had provided against casualties, the
compassionating officer slightly raised the head of the pale and
unconscious woman with one hand, while with the other he introduced a
few drops between her parted lips. Halloway knelt at the opposite side
of the coffin; one hand searching, but in vain, the suspended pulse of
his inanimate wife; the other, unbuttoning the breast of the drum-boy's
jacket, which, with every other part of the equipment, she wore beneath
the loose great coat so effectually accomplishing her disguise.
Such was the position of the chief actors in this truly distressing
drama, at the moment when Colonel de Haldimar came up with his new
prisoner, to mark what effect would be produced on Halloway by his
unexpected appearance. His own surprise and disappointment may be
easily conceived, when, in the form of the recumbent being who seemed
to engross universal attention, he recognised, by the fair and
streaming hair, and half exposed bosom, the unfortunate being whom,
only two hours previously, he had spurned from his feet in the costume
of her own sex, and reduced, by the violence of her grief, to almost
infantine debility. Question succeeded question to those around, but
without eliciting any clue to the means by which this mysterious
disguise had been effected. No one had been aware, until the truth was
so singularly and suddenly revealed, the supposed drummer was any other
than one of the lads attached to the grenadiers; and as for the other
facts, they spoke too plainly to the comprehension of the governor to
need explanation. Once more, however, the detachment was called to
order. Halloway struck his hand violently upon his brow, kissed the wan
lips of his still unconscious wife, breathing, as he did so, a half
murmured hope she might indeed be the corpse she appeared. He then
raised himself from the earth with a light and elastic vet firm
movement, and resumed the place he had previously occupied, where, to
his surprise, he beheld a second victim bound, and, apparently, devoted
to the same death. When the eyes of the two unhappy men met, the
governor closely watched the expression of the countenance of each; but
although the Canadian started on beholding the soldier, it might be
merely because he saw the latter arrayed in the garb of death, and
followed by the most unequivocal demonstrations of a doom to which he
himself was, in all probability, devoted. As for Halloway, his look
betrayed neither consciousness nor recognition; and though too proud to
express complaint or to give vent to the feelings of his heart, his
whole soul appeared to be absorbed in the unhappy partner of his
luckless destiny. Presently he saw her borne, and in the same state of
insensibility, in the arms of Captain Erskine and Lieutenant Leslie,
towards the hut of his fellow prisoner, and he heard the former officer
enjoin the weeping girl, Babette, to whose charge they delivered her
over, to pay every attention to her her situation might require. The
detachment then proceeded.
The narrow but deep and rapid river alluded to by the Canadian, as
running midway between the town and Hog Island, derived its source far
within the forest, and formed the bed of one of those wild, dark, and
thickly wooded ravines so common in America. As it neared the Detroit,
however, the abruptness of its banks was so considerably lessened, as
to render the approach to it on the town side over an almost
imperceptible slope. Within a few yards of its mouth, as we have
already observed in our introductory chapter, a rude but strong wooden
bridge, over which lay the high road, had been constructed by the
French; and from the centre of this, all the circuit of intermediate
clearing, even to the very skirt of the forest, was distinctly
commanded by the naked eye. To the right, on approaching it from the
town, lay the adjacent shores of Canada, washed by the broad waters of
the Detroit, on which it was thrown into strong relief, and which, at
the distance of about a mile in front, was seen to diverge into two
distinct channels, pursuing each a separate course, until they again
met at the western extremity of Hog Island. On the left, and in the
front, rose a succession of slightly undulating hills, which, at a
distance of little more than half a mile, terminated in an elevation
considerably above the immediate level of the Detroit side of the
ravine. That, again, was crowned with thick and overhanging forest,
taking its circular sweep, as we have elsewhere shown, around the fort.
The intermediate ground was studded over with rude stumps of trees, and
bore, in various directions, distinct proofs of the spoliation wrought
among the infant possessions of the murdered English settlers. The view
to the rear was less open; the town being partially hidden by the
fruit-laden orchards that lined the intervening high road, and hung
principally on its left. This was not the case with the fort. Between
these orchards and the distant forest lay a line of open country, fully
commanded by its cannon, even to the ravine we have described, and in a
sweep that embraced every thing from the bridge itself to the forest,
in which all traces of its source was lost.
When the detachment had arrived within twenty yards of the bridge, they
were made to file off to the left, until the last gun had come up. They
were then fronted; the rear section of Captain Erskine's company
resting on the road, and the left flank, covered by the two first guns
pointed obliquely, both in front and rear, to guard against surprise,
in the event of any of the Indians stealing round to the cover of the
orchards. The route by which they had approached this spot was upwards
of two miles in extent; but, as they now filed off into the open
ground, the leading sections observed, in a direct line over the
cleared country, and at the distance of little more than three quarters
of a mile, the dark ramparts of the fortress that contained their
comrades, and could even distinguish the uniforms of the officers and
men drawn up in line along the works, where they were evidently
assembled to witness the execution of the sentence on Halloway.
Such a sight as that of the English so far from their fort, was not
likely to escape the notice of the Indians. Their encampment, as the
Canadian had truly stated, lay within the forest, and beyond the
elevated ground already alluded to; and to have crossed the ravine, or
ventured out of reach of the cannon of the fort, would have been to
have sealed the destruction of the detachment. But the officer to whom
their security was entrusted, although he had his own particular views
for venturing thus far, knew also at what point to stop; and such was
the confidence of his men in his skill and prudence, they would have
fearlessly followed wherever he might have chosen to lead. Still, even
amid all the solemnity of preparation attendant on the duty they were
out to perform, there was a natural and secret apprehensiveness about
each, that caused him to cast his eyes frequently and fixedly on that
part of the forest which was known to afford cover to their merciless
foes. At times they fancied they beheld the dark and flitting forms of
men gliding from tree to tree along the skirt of the wood; but when
they gazed again, nothing of the kind was to be seen, and the illusion
was at once ascribed to the heavy state of the atmosphere, and the
action of their own precautionary instincts.
Meanwhile the solemn tragedy of death was preparing in mournful
silence. On the centre of the bridge, and visible to those even within
the fort, was placed the coffin of Halloway, and at twelve paces in
front were drawn up the six rank and file on whom had devolved, by lot,
the cruel duty of the day. With calm and fearless eye the prisoner
surveyed the preparations for his approaching end; and whatever might
be the inward workings of his mind, there was not among the assembled
soldiery one individual whose countenance betrayed so little of sorrow
and emotion as his own. With a firm step, when summoned, he moved
towards the fatal coffin, dashing his cap to the earth as he advanced,
and baring his chest with the characteristic contempt of death of the
soldier. When he had reached the centre of the bridge, he turned facing
his comrades, and knelt upon the coffin. Captain Blessington, who,
permitted by the governor, had followed him with a sad heart and heavy
step, now drew a Prayer-book from his pocket, and read from it in a low
voice. He then closed the volume, listened to something the prisoner
earnestly communicated to him, received a small packet which he drew
from the bosom of his shirt, shook him long and cordially by the hand,
and then hastily resumed his post at the head of the detachment.
The principal inhabitants of the village, led by curiosity, had
followed at a distance to witness the execution of the condemned
soldier: and above the heads of the line, and crowning the slope, were
collected groups of both sexes and of all ages, that gave a still more
imposing character to the scene. Every eye was now turned upon the
firing party, who only awaited the signal to execute their melancholy
office, when suddenly, in the direction of the forest, and upon the
extreme height, there burst the tremendous and deafening yells of
upwards of a thousand savages. For an instant Halloway was forgotten in
the instinctive sense of individual danger, and all gazed eagerly to
ascertain the movements of their enemy. Presently a man, naked to the
waist, his body and face besmeared with streaks of black and red paint,
and his whole attitude expressing despair and horror, was seen flying
down the height with a rapidity proportioned to the extreme peril in
which he stood. At about fifty paces in his rear followed a dozen
bounding, screaming Indians, armed with uplifted tomahawks, whose
anxiety in pursuit lent them a speed that even surpassed the efforts of
flight itself. It was evident the object of the pursued was to reach
the detachment, that of the pursuers to prevent him. The struggle was
maintained for a few moments with equality, but in the end the latter
were triumphant, and at each step the distance that separated them
became less. At the first alarm, the detachment, with the exception of
the firing party, who still occupied their ground, had been thrown into
square, and, with a gun planted in each angle, awaited the attack
momentarily expected. But although the heights were now alive with the
dusky forms of naked warriors, who, from the skirt of the forest,
watched the exertions of their fellows, the pursuit of the wretched
fugitive was confined to these alone. Foremost of the latter, and
distinguished by his violent exertions and fiendish cries, was the tall
and wildly attired warrior of the Fleur de lis. At every bound he took
he increased the space that divided him from his companions, and
lessened that which kept him from his panting and nearly exhausted
victim. Already were they descending the nearest of the undulating
hills, and both now became conspicuous objects to all around; but
principally the pursuer, whose gigantic frame and extraordinary speed
riveted every eye, even while the interest of all was excited for the
wretched fugitive alone.
At that moment Halloway, who had been gazing on the scene with an
astonishment little inferior to that of his comrades, sprang suddenly
to his feet upon the coffin, and waving his hand in the direction of
the pursuing enemy, shouted aloud in a voice of mingled joy and
triumph,--
"Ha! Almighty God, I thank thee! Here, here comes one who alone has the
power to snatch me from my impending doom."
"By Heaven, the traitor confesses, and presumes to triumph in his
guilt," exclaimed the voice of one, who, while closely attending to
every movement of the Indians, was also vigilantly watching the effect
likely to be produced on the prisoner by this unexpected interruption.
"Corporal, do your duty."
"Stay, stay--one moment stay!" implored Halloway with uplifted hands.
"Do your duty, sir," fiercely repeated the governor.
"Oh stop--for God's sake, stop! Another moment and he will be here, and
I--"
He said no more--a dozen bullets penetrated his body--one passed
directly through his heart. He leaped several feet in the air, and then
fell heavily, a lifeless bleeding corpse, across the coffin.
Meanwhile the pursuit of the fugitive was continued, but by the warrior
of the Fleur de lis alone. Aware of their inefficiency to keep pace
with this singular being, his companions had relinquished the chace,
and now stood resting on the brow of the hill where the wretched
Halloway had first recognised his supposed deliverer, watching eagerly,
though within musket shot of the detachment, the result of a race on
which so much apparently depended. Neither party, however, attempted to
interfere with the other, for all eyes were now turned on the flying
man and his pursuer with an interest that denoted the extraordinary
efforts of the one to evade and the other to attain the accomplishment
of his object. Although the exertions of the former had been
stupendous, such was the eagerness and determination of the latter,
that at each step he gained perceptibly on his victim. The immediate
course taken was in a direct line for the ravine, which it evidently
was the object of the fugitive to clear at its nearest point. Already
had he approached within a few paces of its brink, and every eye was
fastened on the point where it was expected the doubtful leap would be
taken, when suddenly, as if despairing to accomplish it at a bound, he
turned to the left, and winding along its bank, renewed his efforts in
the direction of the bridge. This movement occasioned a change in the
position of the parties which was favourable to the pursued. Hitherto
they had been so immediately on a line with each other, it was
impossible for the detachment to bring a musket to bear upon the
warrior, without endangering him whose life they were anxious to
preserve. For a moment or two his body was fairly exposed, and a dozen
muskets were discharged at intervals from the square, but all without
success. Recovering his lost ground, he soon brought the pursued again
in a line between himself and the detachment, edging rapidly nearer to
him as he advanced, and uttering terrific yells, that were echoed back
from his companions on the brow of the hill. It was evident, however,
his object was the recapture, not the destruction, of the flying man,
for more than once did he brandish his menacing tomahawk in rapid
sweeps around his head, as if preparing to dart it, and as often did he
check the movement. The scene at each succeeding moment became more
critical and intensely interesting. The strength of the pursued was now
nearly exhausted, while that of his formidable enemy seemed to suffer
no diminution. Leap after leap he took with fearful superiority,
sideling as he advanced. Already had he closed upon his victim, while
with a springing effort a large and bony hand was extended to secure
his shoulder in his grasp. The effort was fatal to him; for in reaching
too far he lost his balance, and fell heavily upon the sward. A shout
of exultation burst from the English troops, and numerous voices now
encouraged the pursued to renew his exertions. The advice was not lost;
and although only a few seconds had elapsed between the fall and
recovery of his pursuer, the wretched fugitive had already greatly
increased the distance that separated them. A cry of savage rage and
disappointment burst from the lips of the gigantic warrior; and
concentrating all his remaining strength and speed into one final
effort, he bounded and leapt like a deer of the forest whence he came.
The opportunity for recapture, however, had been lost in his fall, for
already the pursued was within a few feet of the high road, and on the
point of turning the extremity of the bridge. One only resource was now
left: the warrior suddenly checked himself in his course, and remained
stationary; then raising and dropping his glittering weapon several
times in a balancing position, he waited until the pursued had gained
the highest point of the open bridge. At that moment the glittering
steel, aimed with singular accuracy and precision, ran whistling
through the air, and with such velocity of movement as to be almost
invisible to the eyes of those who attempted to follow it in its
threatening course. All expected to see it enter into the brain against
which it had been directed; but the fugitive had marked the movement in
time to save himself by stooping low to the earth, while the weapon,
passing over him, entered with a deadly and crashing sound into the
brain of the weltering corpse. This danger passed, he sprang once more
to his feet, nor paused again in his flight, until, faint and
exhausted, he sank without motion under the very bayonets of the firing
party.
A new direction was now given to the interest of the assembled and
distinct crowds that had witnessed these startling incidents. Scarcely
had the wretched man gained the protection of the soldiery, when a
shriek divided the air, so wild, so piercing, and so unearthly, that
even the warrior of the Fleur de lis seemed to lose sight of his
victim, in the harrowing interest produced by that dreadful scream. All
turned their eyes for a moment in the quarter whence it proceeded; when
presently, from behind the groups of Canadians crowning the slope, was
seen flying, with the rapidity of thought, one who resembled rather a
spectre than a being of earth;--it was the wife of Halloway. Her long
fair hair was wild and streaming--her feet, and legs, and arms were
naked--and one solitary and scanty garment displayed rather than
concealed the symmetry of her delicate person. She flew to the fatal
bridge, threw herself on the body of her bleeding husband, and
imprinting her warm kisses on his bloody lips, for a moment or two
presented the image of one whose reason has fled for ever. Suddenly she
started from the earth; her face, her hands, and her garment so
saturated with the blood of her husband, that a feeling of horror crept
throughout the veins of all who beheld her. She stood upon the coffin,
and across the corpse--raised her eyes and hands imploringly to
Heaven--and then, in accents wilder even than her words, uttered an
imprecation that sounded like the prophetic warning of some unholy
spirit.
"Inhuman murderer!" she exclaimed, in tones that almost paralysed the
ears on which it fell, "if there be a God of justice and of truth, he
will avenge this devilish deed. Yes, Colonel de Haldimar, a prophetic
voice whispers to my soul, that even as I have seen perish before my
eyes all I loved on earth, without mercy and without hope, so even
shall you witness the destruction of your accursed race.
Here--here--here," and she pointed downwards, with singular energy of
action, to the corpse of her husband, "here shall their blood flow till
every vestige of his own is washed away; and oh, if there be spared one
branch of thy detested family, may it only be that they may be reserved
for some death too horrible to be conceived!"
Overcome by the frantic energy with which she had uttered these
appalling words, she sank backwards, and fell, uttering another shriek,
into the arms of the warrior of the Fleur de lis.
"Hear you this, Colonel de Haldimar?" shouted the latter in a fierce
and powerful voice, and in the purest English accent; "hear you the
curse and prophecy of this heart-broken woman? You have slain her
husband, but she has found another. Ay, she shall be my bride, if only
for her detestation of yourself. When next you see us here," he
thundered, "tremble for your race. Ha, ha, ha! no doubt this is another
victim of your cold and calculating guile; but it shall be the last. By
Heaven, my very heart leaps upward in anticipation of thy coming hour.
Woman, thy hatred to this man has made me love thee; yes, thou shall be
my bride, and with my plans of vengeance will I woo thee. By this kiss
I swear it."
As he spoke, he bent his face over that of the pale and inanimate
woman, and pressed his lips to hers, yet red and moist with blood spots
from the wounds of her husband. Then wresting, with a violent effort,
his reeking tomahawk from the cranched brain of the unfortunate
soldier, and before any one could recover sufficiently from the effect
of the scene altogether to think even of interfering, he bore off his
prize in triumph, and fled, with nearly the same expedition he had
previously manifested, in the direction of the forest.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.