The Losing and Finding of Ailie
It was not until they had completed the day's task and the wood was all
ready to be loaded into the cart, that Mr. Macrae missed Ailie.
Not seeing her about, he called out:
'Ailie, Ailie, my bairnie, where are you? Come ye here noo!'
Then, getting no response, he began to call louder and louder, and to
go this way and that among the trees, looking anxiously for the
golden-haired lassie, while Hector ran out on the prairie calling with
all his might:
'Ailie! Ailie! come here.' Still no answer, and as the sun had set
and it was already beginning to grow dusk, the anxiety of father and
brother became intense.
Little Ailie was lost--lost on the prairie--and in a short time night
would be upon them. Oh, what was to be done?
After the first hurried rushing hither and thither without avail, Mr.
Macrae, realizing that it would be necessary to carry on the search on
a larger scale, called Hector to him and said:
'We must have help. I'll go and get our friends. Ye bide here. Maybe
Ailie will come back of herself.'
So saying, Mr. Macrae set off on foot across the prairie at a swift
pace, far faster than could have been made by the heavily-loaded cart.
Thus left alone, Hector, in spite of himself, began to feel nervous.
Snow, the first of the year, began falling softly and silently.
For some time Hector sat waiting, then the happy thought came to him to
set the dogs on Ailie's trail. He took from his pocket a ribbon the
child had dropped the day before, and showing it to the clever
creatures, told them to 'find Ailie.' They seemed to understand at
once what was expected of them, and set out on the vanishing, whitening
trail, Hector keeping up with them as best he might.
Soon after this, Mr. Macrae and his party arrived, each man bearing a
lantern or torch. They were greatly dismayed to find Hector also
missing, and doubly hastened their preparations for the search. Under
Mr. Macrae's directions, the party, leaving their horses tied to the
trees, until they had first made search on foot, spread out in a long
line, ten yards or so separating each man from his neighbour, and
proceeded to make a thorough search of the prairie.
It was a weird night, and one such as never before had been seen
there--the long line of lights bobbing about as the searchers moved
through the darkness.
Meanwhile, Hector's search was being diligently made. Dour and Dandy
hesitated once or twice as if puzzled, but in a moment trotted on
again, and before very long they led Hector to the coulee. The excited
boy fell rather than climbed down, and made straight for a sort of
pocket in the bank where he could hear the dogs sniffing.
And there lay Ailie! Curled up like a kitten, and so motionless that,
for a moment, Hector's heart stood still with fear. Then a quick move
forward in the dim light, and his hand was among the clustered curls,
and touching the warm, soft neck.
Ailie was alive! hurt, perhaps, but alive, and in the greatness of his
joy the boy sent forth a shout that caused Dour and Dandy above to
break forth into an 'exposition of barking' that attracted the
attention of several of the searchers, making them wonder if the wise
dogs might not have discovered something.
Hector picked up Ailie with the utmost tenderness. The child, aroused
from her stupor, gave a little cry of fear, then threw her arms about
her brother's neck, and burst into tears.
He hugged, and patted, and soothed her with loving words. 'And are ye
no hurt anywhere?' he asked her, half in wonder, half in joy. 'Just to
think of it. Oh, but the good God took wonderfu' care of you. Now
just you bide there a minute, and I'll try to let them know I found ye.'
Ailie, puzzled but obedient, stood as she was directed, and Hector
began to shout with all the vigour of his healthy young lungs. 'Hi
there! Come here! I've found her! She's not hurt.'
The clear strong voice rose out of the coulee, and was first heard by
those who had noticed the eager barking of Dour and Dandy. 'Ah! ha!'
exclaimed one of them, Black Rory Macdonald, his shaggy face lighting
up eagerly. 'Come awa', there,'--and off he went as fast as his mighty
legs could carry him. He had no trouble in locating the dogs, and
holding his lantern over the edge of the little hollow, he at once
caught sight of Hector and Ailie.
'The gude Lord be praised!' he cried fervently. 'The bairnie's found,
and there's nae hurt upon her.'
His joyous shouts rapidly brought the other searchers, Mr. Macrae being
among the first to reach the spot. Without loss of time, the boy and
girl were lifted out of the coulee, to be overwhelmed with
demonstrations of delight and affection from men who ordinarily kept
their feelings very strictly under control.
'And noo awa' tae yer mither--yer poor distracted mither,' broke in Mr.
Macrae, gathering up Ailie and starting towards the place where the
horses were tethered. With long impatient steps he swept over the
ground, and, taking the first horse he came to, put Ailie upon the
saddle before him, and galloped off for the encampment, where, with
brimming eyes and trembling lips, he placed the child in the mother's
arms, saying softly: 'Praise God, Mary, oor bairnie's given back to us.'
The winter came soon after this, and it was well for the Highland folk
that they had at home been inured to the cold, for Jack Frost certainly
did not spare them at Pembina.
The clear, dry atmosphere misled them at first. They would not realize
how cold it really was, until nose or cheeks were nipped. And more
than one of them had a narrow escape from being frozen to death.
Yet, upon the whole, the winter passed quite comfortably, albeit the
question of food sometimes became a pressing one, when the hunters had
been unsuccessful for a time.
One day, Narcisse, who took a lively interest in Hector, rushed to tell
him that a great moose had been seen in the woods to the north, and
that he was going out next day to hunt for him. He invited Hector to
go with him.
Of course, the boy jumped at the invitation, and, his father not
objecting, for he had considerable confidence in Narcisse, arrangements
for the enterprise were made at once.