The party were so refreshed by once more sleeping upon good beds, that
they were up and dressed very early, and shortly after seven o'clock
were all collected upon the rampart of the fort, surveying the
landscape, which was indeed very picturesque and beautiful. Before them,
to their left, the lake was spread, an inland sea, lost in the horizon,
now quite calm, and near to the shores studded with small islands
covered with verdant foliage, and appearing as if they floated upon the
transparent water. To the westward, and in front of them, were the
clearings belonging to the fort, backed with the distant woods: a herd
of cattle were grazing on a portion of the cleared land; the other was
divided off by a snake fence, as it is termed, and was under
cultivation. Here and there a log-building was raised as a shelter for
the animals during the winter, and at half a mile's distance was a small
fort, surrounded with high palisades, intended as a place of retreat and
security for those who might be in charge of the cattle, in case of
danger or surprise. Close to the fort, a rapid stream, now from the
freshets overflowing its banks, poured down its waters into the lake,
running its course through a variety of shrubs and larches and
occasional elms which lined its banks. The sun shone bright--the
woodpeckers flew from tree to tree, or clung to the rails of the
fences--the belted kingfisher darted up and down over the running
stream--and the chirping and wild notes of various birds were heard on
every side of them.
"This is very beautiful, is it not?" said Mrs. Campbell; "surely it can
not be so great a hardship to live in a spot like this?"
"Not if it were always so, perhaps, madam," said Colonel Forster, who
had joined the party as Mrs. Campbell made the observation. "But Canada
in the month of June is very different from Canada in the month of
January. That we find our life monotonous in this fort, separated as we
are from the rest of the world, I admit, and the winters are so long and
severe as to tire our patience; but soldiers must do their duty, whether
burning under the tropics or freezing in the wilds of Canada. It can not
be a very agreeable life, when even the report of danger near to us
becomes a pleasurable feeling from the excitement it causes for the
moment.
"I have been talking, Mr. Campbell, with Captain Sinclair, and find you
have much to do before the short summer is over, to be ready to meet the
coming winter; more than you can well do with your limited means. I am
happy that my instructions from the Governor will permit me to be of
service to you. I propose that the ladies shall remain here, while you,
with such assistance as I can give you, proceed to your allotment and
prepare for their reception."
"A thousand thanks for your kind offer, Colonel--but no, no, we will all
go together," interrupted Mrs. Campbell; "we can be useful, and we will
remain in the tents till the house is built. Do not say a word more,
Colonel Forster, that is decided; although I again return you many
thanks for your kind offer."
"If such is the case, I have only to observe that I shall send a fatigue
party of twelve men, which I can well spare for a few weeks, to assist
you in your labors," replied Colonel Forster. "Their remuneration will
not put you to a very great expense. Captain Sinclair has volunteered
to take charge of it."
"Many thanks, sir," replied Mr. Campbell; "and as you observe that we
have no time to lose, with your permission we will start to-morrow
morning."
"I certainly shall not dissuade you," replied the commandant, "although
I did hope that I should have had the pleasure of your company for a
little longer. You are aware that I have the Governor's directions to
supply you with cattle from our own stock, at a fair price. I hardly
need say that you may select as you please."
"And I," said Captain Sinclair, who had been in conversation with Mary
Percival, and who now addressed Mr. Campbell, "have been making another
collection for you among my brother-officers, which you were not
provided with, and will find very useful, I may say absolutely
necessary."
"What may that be, Captain Sinclair?" said Mr. Campbell.
"A variety of dogs of every description. I have a pack of five; and,
although not quite so handsome as your pet dogs in England, you will
find them well acquainted with the country, and do their duty well. I
have a pointer, a bull-dog, two terriers, and a fox-hound--all of them
of good courage, and ready to attack catamount, wolf, lynx, or even a
bear, if required."
"It is, indeed, a very valuable present," replied Mr. Campbell, "and you
have our sincere thanks."
"The cows you had better select before you go, unless you prefer that I
should do it for you," observed Colonel Forster. "They shall be driven
over in a day or two, as I presume the ladies will wish to have milk. By
the by, Mr. Campbell, I must let you into a secret. The wild onions
which grow so plentiful in this country, and which the cattle are very
fond of, give a very unpleasant taste to the milk. You may remove it by
heating the milk as soon as it has been drawn from the cows."
"Many thanks, Colonel, for your information," replied Mr. Campbell, "for
I certainly have no great partiality to the flavor of onions in milk."
A summons to breakfast broke up the conversation. During the day, Henry
and Alfred, assisted by Captain Sinclair and Martin Super, were very
busy in loading the two _bateaux_ with the stores, tents, and various
trunks of linen and other necessaries which they had brought with them.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, with the girls, were equally busy in selecting
and putting on one side articles for immediate use on their arrival at
the allotment. As they were very tired, they went to bed early, that
they might be ready for the next day's re-embarkation; and after
breakfast, having taken leave of the kind commandant and the other
officers, they went down to the shore of the lake, and embarked with
Captain Sinclair in the commandant's boat, which had been prepared for
them. Martin Super, Alfred and Henry, with the five dogs, went on board
of the two _bateaux_, which were manned by the corporal and twelve
soldiers, lent by the commandant to Mr. Campbell. The weather was
beautifully fine, and they set off in high spirits. The distance by
water was not more three miles, although by land it was nearly five, and
in half an hour they entered the cove adjoining to which the allotment
lay.
"There is the spot, Mrs. Campbell, which is to be your future
residence," said Captain Sinclair, pointing with his hand; "you observe
where that brook runs down into the lake, that is your eastern boundary;
the land on the other side is the property of the old hunter we have
spoken of. You see his little log-hut, not much bigger than an Indian
lodge, and the patch of Indian corn now sprung out of the ground which
is inclosed by the fence. This portion appears not to be of any use to
him, as he has no cattle of any kind, unless indeed they have gone into
the bush; but I think some of our men said that he lived entirely by the
chase, and that he has an Indian wife."
"Well," said Emma Percival, laughing, "female society is what we never
calculated upon. What is the man's name?"
"Malachi Bone," replied Captain Sinclair. "I presume you expect Mrs.
Bone to call first?"
"She ought to do so, if she knows the _usage_ of society," replied Emma;
"but if she does not, I think I shall waive ceremony and go and see
her. I have great curiosity to make acquaintance with an Indian squaw."
"You may be surprised to hear me say so, Miss Emma, but I assure you,
without having ever seen her, that you will find her perfectly well
bred. All the Indian women are--their characters are a compound of
simplicity and reserve.--Keep the boat's head more to the right, Selby,
we will land close to that little knoll."
The commandant's boat had pulled much faster, and was a long way ahead
of the _bateaux_. In a few minutes afterward they had all disembarked
and were standing on the knoll, surveying their new property. A portion
of about thirty acres, running along the shore of the lake, was what is
termed natural prairie, or meadow of short fine grass; the land
immediately behind the meadow was covered with brushwood for about three
hundred yards, and then rose a dark and impervious front of high timber
which completely confined the landscape. The allotment belonging to the
old hunter, on the opposite side of the brook, contained about the same
portion of natural meadow, and was in other respects but a continuation
of the portion belonging to Mr. Campbell.
"Well," said Martin Super, as soon as he had come up to the party on the
knoll, for the _bateaux_ had now arrived, "I reckon, Mr. Campbell, that
you are in luck to have this piece of grass. It would have taken no few
blows of the ax to have cleared it away out of such a wood as that
behind us. Why, it is as good as a fortune to a new settler."
"I think it is, Martin," said Mr. Campbell.
"Well, sir, now to work as soon as you please, for a day is a day, and
must not be lost. I'll go to the wood with five or six of the men who
can handle an ax, and begin to cut down, leaving you and the captain
there to decide where the house is to be; the other soldiers will be
putting up the tents all ready for to-night, for you must not expect a
house over your heads till next full moon."
In a quarter of an hour all were in motion. Henry and Alfred took their
axes, and followed Martin Super and half of the soldiers, the others
were busy landing the stores and pitching the tents, while Captain
Sinclair and Mr. Campbell were surveying the ground, that they might
choose a spot for the erection of the house. Mrs. Campbell remained
sitting on the knoll, watching the debarkation of the packages; and
Percival, by her directions, brought her those articles which were for
immediate use. Mary and Emma Percival, accompanied by John, as they had
no task allotted to them, walked up the side of the stream toward the
wood.
"I wish I had my box," said John, who had been watching the running
water.
"Why do you want your box, John?" said Mary.
"For my hooks in my box," replied John.
"Why, do you see any fish in this small stream?" said Emma.
"Yes," replied John, walking on before them.
Mary and Emma followed him, now and then stopping to pick a flower
unknown to them: when they overtook John, he was standing immovable,
pointing to a figure on the other side of the stream, as fixed and
motionless as himself.
The girls started back as they beheld a tall, gaunt man, dressed in deer
hides, who stood leaning upon a long gun with his eyes fixed upon them.
His face was browned and weather-beaten--indeed so dark that it was
difficult to say if he were of the Indian race or not.
"It must be a hunter, Emma," said Mary Percival; "he is not dressed like
the Indians we saw at Quebec."
"It must be," replied Emma; "won't he speak?"
"We will wait and see," replied Mary. They did wait for a minute or
more, but the man neither spoke nor shifted his position.
"I will speak to him, Mary," said Emma at last. "My good man, you are
Malachi Bone, are you not?"
"That's my name," replied the hunter in a deep voice; "and who on earth
are you, and what are you doing here? Is it a frolic from the fort, or
what is it, that causes all this disturbance?"
"Disturbance!--why we don't make a great deal of noise; no, it's no
frolic; we are come to settle here, and shall be your neighbors."
[Illustration: MALACHI.]
"To settle here!--why, what on earth do you mean, young woman? Settle
here!--not you, surely."
"Yes, indeed, we are. Don't you know Martin Super, the trapper? He is
with us, and now at work in the woods getting ready for raising the
house, as you call it.--Do you know, Mary," said Emma in a low tone to
her sister, "I'm almost afraid of that man, although I do speak so
boldly."
"Martin Super--yes, I know him," replied the hunter, who without any
more ceremony threw his gun into the hollow of his arm, turned round,
and walked away in the direction of his own hut.
"Well, Mary," observed Emma, after a pause of a few seconds, during
which they watched the receding form of the hunter, "the old gentleman
is not over-polite. Suppose we go back and narrate our first adventure?"
"Let us walk up to where Alfred and Martin Super are at work, and tell
them," replied Mary.
They soon gained the spot where the men were felling the trees, and made
known to Alfred and Martin what had taken place.
"He is angered, miss," observed Martin; "I guessed as much; well, if he
don't like it he must squat elsewhere."
"How do you mean squat elsewhere?"
"I mean, miss, that if he don't like company so near him he must shift
and build his wigwam further off."
"But, why should he not like company? I should have imagined that it
would be agreeable rather than otherwise," replied Mary Percival.
"You may think so, miss; but Malachi Bone thinks otherwise; and it's
natural; a man who has lived all his life in the woods, all alone, his
eye never resting, his ear ever watching; catching at every sound, even
to the breaking of a twig or the falling of a leaf; sleeping with his
finger on his trigger and one eye half open, gets used to no company but
his own, and can't abide it. I recollect the time that I could not. Why,
miss, when a man hasn't spoken a word perhaps for months, talking is a
fatigue, and, when he hasn't heard a word spoken for months, listening
is as bad. It's all custom, miss, and Malachi, as I guessed, don't like
it, and so he's _rily_ and angered. I will go see him after the work is
over."
"But he has a wife, Martin, has he not?"
"Yes; but she's an Indian wife, Master Alfred, and Indian wives don't
speak unless they're spoken to."
"What a recommendation," said Alfred, laughing; "I really think I shall
look after an Indian wife, Emma."
"I think you had better," replied Emma. "You'd be certain of a quiet
house,--when _you_ were out of it,--and when at home, you would have all
the talk to yourself, which is just what you like. Come, Mary, let us
leave him to dream of his squaw."
The men selected by the commandant of the fort were well used to handle
the ax; before dusk, many trees had been felled, and were ready for
sawing into lengths. The tents had all been pitched: those for the
Campbells on the knoll we have spoken of; Captain Sinclair's and that
for the soldiers about a hundred yards distant; the fires were lighted,
and as the dinner had been cold, a hot supper was prepared by Martin and
Mrs. Campbell, assisted by the girls and the younger boys. After supper
they all retired to an early bed; Captain Sinclair having put a man as
sentry, and the dogs having been tied at different places, that they
might give the alarm if there was any danger; which, however, was not
anticipated, as the Indians had for some time been very quiet in the
neighborhood of Fort Frontignac.