When Mr. McKenzie entered the fort, it was with a clouded brow and
an oppressed heart. At the gate he met his son-in-law, Lieutenant
Elmsley, who, while burning with impatience to be near and console
his unfortunate friend, was without the power to leave his post,
and in his vexation and annoyance, kept pacing rapidly up and down
in front of the guard-house.
"What is the matter, Elmsley--what disturbs you so unusually?"
"Can you ask, sir," said the officer, "or have you not heard the
dreadful news?"
"Yes, I have heard it, but did not suppose it had as yet been
generally known."
"The whole garrison knows it. It could not be concealed. The poor
fellow rushed like a madman to announce it. He fell fainting to
the ground, and was carried to his room, where, even at this moment,
Mrs. Headley and Margaret are attending him."
"Attending whom?" demanded Mr. McKenzie with an air of astonishment,
"and to what are you alluding?"
"Why, Ronayne, of course; to whom do you allude if not to him? Have
you not heard that, while riding out with his wife and Von Voltenberg
this afternoon, they were intercepted by a party of hostile Indians,
and poor Maria taken prisoner."
"God bless my soul, is it possible? This is terrible, indeed. Are
we then already surrounded by hostile Indians, and is the war
already brought to our door?"
"War! what war?" asked the subaltern, "and what has this fearful
piece of treachery to do with open war--war with whom?"
"And have you not heard that England and the United States are
openly engaged in hostilities--has Winnebeg not revealed this?"
"Not a word," replied Lieutenant Elmsley, astonished, in his turn,
at the information.
"At another moment, and on an indifferent occasion, this mutual
misunderstanding might afford room for pleasantry," continued Mr.
McKenzie with a grave smile; "but it is not so. Winnebeg, I see,
has been true to his trust; and although cognizant of the nature
of the despatches, revealed the information to no one but myself,
whom he regarded as having not only a right to possess it at the
earliest moment, but as being the most proper person to advise with
the commanding officer, at the earliest moment, on the measures to
be adopted. I am here for that purpose; think you I shall find him
alone, for I wouldn't enter upon the subject before Mrs. Headley."
"I have just said that Mrs. Headley and Margaret are in attendance
on the unfortunate Ronayne," replied Elmsley. "You will, therefore,
be sure to find him alone, and no doubt busied in the formation of
plans of operations consequent on this intelligence."
"Recollect, not a word of this until it is officially revealed. I
shall not even let Captain Headley know that I am aware of the
facts, but simply state that, having heard he was in receipt of
despatches, I had come to know if there was any news of importance.
But, of one thing I would warn you, Elmsley; there will be a council
of war to-morrow, and I could wish that your view of the subject
may lead you to prefer defending the fort to the last extremity in
preference to a long and uncertain retreat to Fort Wayne, which I
know is suggested in the despatch."
"I shall have no difficulty in arriving at that decision," returned
the officer of the guard, "for common sense only is necessary to
show the advantages of one course over the other. In the meantime,
I shall evince no knowledge of what you have conveyed to me, until
the hour of council. Did no other consideration weigh with me, I
would oppose a movement which cuts us off from all hope of restoring
the dear lost wife of Ronayne to her distracted husband."
"Good bye, God bless you," answered the trader, as he moved towards
the quarters of Captain Headley.
"Then," mused Elmsley, when alone, "are the forebodings of that
fusty old number of the National Intelligencer which I have thumbed
for hours over and over again for the last three months at length
finally realized--and war was come at last; well be it so! My
chief anxiety is for Margaret. Would that she and all the rest of
the weak women in this fortress were safe within the fortifications
of Detroit; but all evil seems to be coming upon us at once."
"Ah! Mr. McKenzie, I am very glad to see you," said Captain Headley,
rising as the trader entered the room set apart for his library
and the transaction of military official business. "Take a seat.
You could not have paid me a more opportune visit."
"I had understood that Winnebeg had just returned with despatches
from Detroit," remarked the trader, "and am come to learn the news."
"Bad enough," answered Capt. Headley, gravely, as he handed to him
the despatch from General Hull. "Read that!"
Mr. McKenzie attentively perused the document. It was evidently of
a nature not to please him, for as he read he knit his brow,
bit his lip, and uttered more than one ejaculatory "pish!"
"And what do you intend to do, Captain Headley?" he demanded, as
he twisted the paper in his fingers impatiently.
"Stay, my dear sir," said the commanding officer, anxiously, "do
not thus disfigure or slight the general's official--I must preserve
it as the only voucher for the course I shall in all probability
pursue."
"What is that course?" asked Mr. McKenzie; "surely, Captain Headley,
you will not strictly follow the letter of these instructions? You
are not compelled to do so. It is left optional with yourself; and
there cannot be a question as to the great disadvantage attending
a retreat."
"Pardon me," said the commanding--officer, with something of the
hauteur of one sensible of his own personal responsibility; "I
consider every paragraph in this official as a direct order. The
only sentence that would appear to leave a certain option with
myself is where reference is made to the _practicability_ of retreat.
Now, I can see nothing impracticable in it. We have nothing to
apprehend, with a body of five hundred brave Pottowatomies for our
escort, while, if we continue here we must expect a strong British
force speedily upon us."
"Let me give you a word of counsel before this question is publicly
discussed," returned the trader seriously; "I know the Indians
well, and how easily they are influenced by circumstances. Friendly
as these Pottowatomies now seem to be, the influence of the majority
of the tribes who have joined the British forces may soon change
them from friends into foes."
"My life on their fidelity," returned Captain Headley, with unusual
energy. "While Winnebeg continues with them, I feel that I should
dishonor by doubting him."
"Do not mistake me," returned the trader. "Your faith in the honesty
of Winnebeg, Capt. Headley, is not greater than my own--nay, not
so great, perhaps, for I have known and always regarded him from
his boyhood; but all the Pottowatomies are not Winnebegs, neither
are the warriors so completely under the control of their chiefs
as to permit their counsels alone to influence their actions."
"You do not mean to say that you have reason to doubt any of these
people, Mr. McKenzie?" remarked the captain, seriously and
inquiringly.
"Not at all; but I wish to show how much more imprudent it would
be to trust to them than to ourselves; reinforcements may arrive
in time if they are sent for immediately, and should they not, it
will be time enough to think of evacuating when our Indian spies
bring us notice of the preparations of the British to attack us."
"And should they arrive before our retreat is begun, then must, we
be driven into an unequal contest, for the order of the secretary
at war expressly declares that no post shall be surrendered without
a battle. It is evident that the fort cannot be maintained against
a regular force; therefore, the garrison, or they who survive the
assault, must be made prisoners in any case; whereas, by retiring
now, we not only prevent the advance of the enemy, to the manifest
ruin of yourself and other settlers in the neighborhood, but carry
succor to Fort Wayne. This is the resolution I have taken. After
first consulting with my officers on public parade in the morning,
when our position shall be fully made known to all, I shall
meet the Indians in council. The necessary directions have been
conveyed to Winnebeg."
"I can only regret, sir," returned Mr. McKenzie, with great gravity
of speech and deportment, "that your determination should have been
formed before consulting with your officers. In a case of this
kind, involving the interests of all, it becomes, I should conceive,
not a mere courtesy but a duty, that the opinions and advice of
all competent to judge should be taken."
"You need not be alarmed, Mr. McKenzie; I perfectly know how to
act on this occasion. The opinions of my officers shall be taken,
even as I have taken yours. If you have anything further to offer,
therefore, I shall be happy to hear it."
"Captain Headley," returned the trader, rising with dignity, and
taking up his hat, "I have nothing further of advice to offer to
one so confident in his own judgment; but bear in mind what I now
tell you, that if you follow the letter of these instructions rather
than the spirit, you will have cause to repent it. I make not this
remark from mere considerations of my own personal interests, which,
of course, will be greatly affected by this abandonment of the
post, but because I sincerely believe that a defence will entail
less disaster than a march through the vast wilderness we shall
have to traverse, hampered as we shall be with women, less able to
bear up against fatigue, privation, and disaster. As the Indian
orators say, 'I have spoken!' and now, sir, I have the honor of
wishing you a very good day."
"Well, what says he--what does he intend?" asked Lieutenant Elmsley,
who was lingering near the gate, waiting for the return of his
father-in-law.
"He is an obstinate, conceited ramrod," returned the latter,
peevishly; "but you will know all to-morrow, for he really intends
to do you the honor to consult you in the morning."
"But what is his decision? You have not said."
"To give up everything to the Indians, and retreat forthwith."
"Can it be possible?" exclaimed the officer, perfectly indignant
at the communication.
"Even so. Alas, for the poor women, and the ladies particularly!
what a march for them; but I go, meanwhile, to 'set my house in
order.' Well, Elmsley, all I had garnered up through a quarter of
a century of incessant toil, as a heritage for you and yours, will,
I fear, be utterly lost."
"God bless you," said the officer, grasping his hand, "think not
of that. There are far weightier considerations at stake than
those of a merely pecuniary nature. The lesson Margaret has taught
herself--to be contented to live on a soldier's pay--will not have
altogether been thrown away upon her. The loss of her fortune is
the least calamity to be dreaded."
"Nobly said, Elmsley. Well are you worthy of her!" He warmly shook
the hand that still lingered in his own, and then turned the angle
of the gateway leading down to his own dwelling.