CHAPTER XV.
“What pearl is it that rich men cannot buy,
That learning is too proud to gather up;
But which the poor and the despised of all
Seek and obtain, and often find unsought?
Tell me—and I will tell thee what is truth.”
Cowper.
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The meeting with the Indian and his wife, excited no surprise
in the majority of those who witnessed the occurrence,
but Mabel, and all who knew of the manner in which this
chief had been separated from the party of Cap, simultaneously
entertained suspicions, which it was far easier to feel,
than to follow out, by any plausible clue to certainty. Pathfinder,
who, alone, could converse freely with the prisoners,
for such they might now be considered, took Arrowhead
aside, and held a long conversation with him, concerning the
reasons of the latter for having deserted his charge, and the
manner in which he had been since employed.
The Tuscarora met these inquiries, and he gave his answers
with the stoicism of an Indian. As respects the
separation, his excuses were very simply made, and they
seemed to be sufficiently plausible. When he found that the
party was discovered in its place of concealment, he naturally
sought his own safety, which he secured by plunging into the
woods, for he made no doubt that all who could not effect
this much, would be massacred on the spot. In a word, he
had run away, in order to save his life.
“This is well,” returned Pathfinder, affecting to believe
the other's apologies; “my brother did very wisely; but his
woman followed?”
“Do not the pale-faces' women follow their husbands?
Would not Pathfinder have looked back to see if one he
loved was coming?”
This appeal was made to the guide, while he was in a
most fortunate frame of mind to admit its force; for Mabel,
and her blandishments and constancy, were getting to be
images familiar to his thoughts. The Tuscarora, though he
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could not trace the reason, saw that his excuse was admitted,
and he stood, with quiet dignity, awaiting the next inquiry.
“This is reasonable and natural,” returned Pathfinder in
English, passing from one language to the other, insensibly
to himself, as his feelings or habit dictated—“this is natural,
and may be so. A woman would be likely to follow
the man to whom she had plighted faith, and husband and
wife are one flesh. Mabel, herself, would have been likely
to follow the serjeant, had he been present, and retreated in
this manner; and, no doubt, no doubt, the warm-hearted girl
would have followed her husband! Your words are honest,
Tuscarora,” changing the language to the dialect of the other.
“Your words are honest, and very pleasant, and just. But
why has my brother been so long from the fort? his friends
have thought of him often, but have never seen him!”
“If the doe follows the buck, ought not the buck to follow
the doe!” answered the Tuscarora smiling, as he laid a finger
significantly on the shoulder of his interrogator. “Arrowhead's
wife followed Arrowhead; it was right in Arrowhead
to follow his wife. She lost her way, and they made her
cook in a strange wigwam.”
“I understand you, Tuscarora. The woman fell into the
hands of the Mingos, and you kept upon their trail.”
“Pathfinder can see a reason, as easily as he can see the
moss on the trees. It is so.”
“And how long have you got the woman back, and in
what manner has it been done?”
“Two suns. The Dew of June was not long in coming,
when her husband whispered to her the path.”
“Well, well, all this seems natural, and according to matrimony.
But, Tuscarora, how did you get that canoe, and
why are you paddling towards the St. Lawrence, instead of
the garrison?”
“Arrowhead can tell his own from that of another. This
canoe is mine; I found it on the shore, near the fort.”
“That sounds reasonable, too, for the canoe does belong
to the man, and an Indian would make few words about taking
it. Still, it is extraordinary that we saw nothing of the
fellow and his wife, for the canoe must have left the river before
we did ourselves.”
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This idea, which passed rapidly through the mind of the
guide, was now put to the Indian in the shape of a question.
“Pathfinder knows that a warrior can have shame. The
father would have asked me for his daughter, and I could not
give him to her. I sent the Dew of June for the canoe, and
no one spoke to the woman. A Tuscarora woman would
not be free in speaking to strange men.”
All this, too, was plausible, and in conformity with Indian
character, and Indian customs. As was usual, Arrowhead
had received one half of his compensation previously to quitting
the Mohawk; and his refraining to demand the residue
was a proof of that conscientious consideration of mutual
rights that quite as often distinguishes the morality of a savage,
as that of a Christian. To one as upright as Pathfinder,
Arrowhead had conducted himself with delicacy and propriety,
though it would have been more in accordance with his
own frank nature, to have met the father, and abided by the
simple truth. Still, accustomed to the ways of Indians, he
saw nothing out of the ordinary track of things, in the course
the other had taken.
“This runs like water flowing down hill, Arrowhead,”
he answered, after a little reflection, “and truth obliges me
to own it. It was the gift of a red-skin to act in this way,
though I do not think it was the gift of a pale-face. You
would not look upon the grief of the girl's father?”
Arrowhead made a quiet inclination of the body, as if to
assent.
“One thing more my brother will tell me,” continued Pathfinder,
“and there will be no cloud between his wigwam and
the strong-house of the Yengeese. If he can blow away this
bit of fog, with his breath, his friends will look at him, as he
sits by his own fire, and he can look at them, as they lay
aside their arms, and forget that they are warriors. Why
was the head of Arrowhead's canoe looking towards the St.
Lawrence, where there are none but enemies to be found?”
“Why were the Pathfinder and his friends looking the
same way?” asked the Tuscarora, calmly. “A Tuscarora
may look in the same direction as a Yengeese.”
“Why, to own the truth, Arrowhead, we are out scouting,
like;—that is sailing—in other words, we are on the king's
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business, and we have a right to be here, though we may not
have a right to say why we are here.”
“Arrowhead saw the big canoe, and he loves to look on
the face of Eau-douce. He was going towards the sun at
evening, in order to seek his wigwam; but finding that the
young sailor was going the other way, he turned that he
might look in the same direction. Eau-douce and Arrowhead
were together on the last trail.”
“This may all be true, Tuscarora, and you are welcome.
You shall eat of our venison, and then we must separate.
The setting sun is behind us, and both of us move quick: my
brother will get too far from that which he seeks, unless he
turns round.”
Pathfinder now returned to the others, and repeated the
result of his examination. He appeared himself to believe
that the account of Arrowhead might be true, though he admitted
that caution would be prudent with one he disliked;
but his auditors, Jasper excepted, seemed less disposed to put
faith in the explanations.
“This chap must be ironed at once, brother Dunham,”
said Cap, as soon as Pathfinder finished his narration; “he
must be turned over to the master-at-arms, if there is any
such officer on fresh-water, and a court-martial ought to be
ordered as soon as we reach port.”
“I think it wisest to detain the fellow,” the serjeant answered,
“but irons are unnecessary so long as he remains
in the cutter. In the morning the matter shall be inquired
into.”
Arrowhead was now summoned and told the decision. The
Indian listened gravely, and made no objections. On the
contrary, he submitted with the calm and reserved dignity
with which the American Aborigines are known to yield to
fate; and he stood apart, an attentive but calm observer of
what was passing. Jasper caused the cutter's sails to be filled,
and the Scud resumed her course.
It was now getting near the hour to set the watch, and
when it was usual to retire for the night. Most of the party
went below, leaving no one on deck but Cap, the serjeant,
Jasper, and two of the crew. Arrowhead and his wife also
remained, the former standing aloof in proud reserve, and the
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latter exhibiting, by her attitude and passiveness, the meek
humility that characterizes an Indian woman.
“You will find a place for your wife below, Arrowhead,
where my daughter will attend to her wants,” said the serjeant,
kindly, who was himself on the point of quitting the
deck; “yonder is a sail, where you may sleep yourself.”
“I thank my father. The Tuscaroras are not poor. The
woman will look for my blankets in the canoe.”
“As you wish, my friend. We think it necessary to detain
you, but not necessary to confine, or to maltreat you.
Send your squaw into the canoe for the blankets, and you
may follow her yourself, and hand us up the paddles. As
there may be some sleepy heads in the Scud, Eau-douce,”
added the serjeant, in a lower tone, “it may be well to secure
the paddles.”
Jasper assented, and Arrowhead and his wife, with whom
resistance appeared to be out of the question, silently complied
with the directions. A few expressions of sharp
rebuke passed from the Indian to his wife, while both were
employed in the canoe, which the latter received with submissive
quiet, immediately repairing an error she had made,
by laying aside the blanket she had taken, and searching
another that was more to her tyrant's mind.
“Come, bear a hand, Arrowhead,” said the serjeant, who
stood on the gunwale, overlooking the movements of the
two, which were proceeding too slowly for the impatience of
a drowsy man; “it is getting late; and we soldiers have
such a thing as reveillé—early to bed and early to rise.”
“Arrowhead is coming,” was the answer, as the Tuscarora
stepped towards the head of his canoe.
One blow of his keen knife severed the rope which held the
boat, and then the cutter glanced ahead, leaving the light
bubble of bark, which instantly lost its way, almost stationary.
So suddenly and dexterously was this manœuvre performed,
that the canoe was on the lee quarter of the Scud,
before the serjeant was aware of the artifice, and quite in her
wake, ere he had time to announce it to his companions.
“Hard-a-lee!” shouted Jasper, letting fly the jib-sheet with
his own hands, when the cutter came swiftly up to the breeze,
with all her canvass flapping, or was running into the wind's
eye, as seamen term it, until the light craft was a hundred feet
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to windward of her former position. Quick and dexterous as
was this movement, and ready as had been the expedient, it
was not quicker, or more ready, than that of the Tuscarora.
With an intelligence that denoted some familiarity with vessels,
he had seized his paddle, and was already skimming the
water, aided by the efforts of his wife. The direction he
took was south-westerly, or on a line that led him equally
towards the wind and the shore, while it also kept him so far
aloof from the cutter, as to avoid the danger of the latter's
falling on board of him, when she filled on the other tack.
Swiftly as the Scud had shot into the wind, and far as she
had forged ahead, Jasper knew it was necessary to cast her,
ere she had lost all her way; and it was not two minutes
from the time the helm had been put down, before the lively
little craft was aback forward, and rapidly falling off, in
order to allow her sails to fill on the opposite tack.
“He will escape!” said Jasper, the instant he caught a
glimpse of the relative bearings of the cutter and the canoe.
“The cunning knave is paddling dead to windward, and the
Scud can never overtake him!”
“You have a canoe!” exclaimed the serjeant, manifesting
the eagerness of a boy to join in the pursuit, “let us launch
it, and give chase!”
“'T will be useless. If Pathfinder had been on deck,
there might have been a chance; but there is none now. To
launch the canoe would have taken three or four minutes;
and the time lost would be sufficient for the purposes of
Arrowhead.”
Both Cap and the serjeant saw the truth of this, which
would have been nearly self-evident even to one unaccustomed
to vessels. The shore was distant less than half a mile, and
the canoe was already glancing into its shadows, at a rate
to show that it would reach the land ere its pursuers could
probably get half the distance. The canoe, itself, might
have been seized, but it would have been a useless prize; for,
Arrowhead, in the woods, would be more likely to reach the
other shore without detection, than if he still possessed the
means to venture on the lake again; though it might be, and
probably would be, a greater bodily labour to himself. The
helm of the Scud was reluctantly put up again, and the cutter
wore short round on her heel, coming up to her course
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on the other tack, as if acting on an instinct. All this was
done by Jasper in profound silence, his assistants understanding
what was necessary, and lending their aid in a sort of
mechanical imitation. While these manœuvres were in the
course of execution, Cap took the serjeant by a button, and
led him towards the cabin-door, where he was out of earshot,
and began to unlock his stores of thought.
“Harkee, brother Dunham,” he said with an ominous face,
“this is a matter that requires mature thought, and much
circumspection.”
“The life of a soldier, brother Cap, is one of constant
thought and circumspection. On this frontier, were we to
overlook either, our scalps might be taken from our heads in
the first nap.”
“But I consider this capture of Arrowhead as a circumstance—
and I might add his escape as another. This Jasper
Fresh-water must look to it!”
“They are both circumstances truly, brother; but they
tell different ways. If it is a circumstance against the lad,
that the Indian has escaped, it is a circumstance in his favour,
that he was first taken.”
“Ay, ay, but two circumstances do not contradict each
other, like two negatives. If you will follow the advice of
an old seaman, serjeant, not a moment is to be lost, in taking
the steps necessary for the security of the vessel, and all on
board of her. The cutter is now slipping through the water
at the rate of six knots, and as the distances are so short on
this bit of a pond, we may all find ourselves in a French
port before morning, and in a French prison before night.”
“This may be true enough; what would you advise me
to do, brother?”
“In my opinion you should put this Master Fresh-water
under arrest, on the spot; send him below, under the charge
of a sentinel, and transfer the command of the cutter to me.
All this you have power to perform, the craft belonging to
the army, and you being the commanding officer of the
troops present.”
Serjeant Dunham deliberated more than an hour on the
propriety of this proposal; for, though sufficiently prompt
when his mind was really made up, he was habitually
thoughtful and wary. The habit of superintending the
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personal police of the garrison had made him acquainted with
character, and he had long been disposed to think well of
Jasper. Still that subtle poison, suspicion, had entered his
soul; and so much were the artifices and intrigues of the
French dreaded, that, especially warned as he had been by
his commander, it is not to be wondered the recollection of
years of good conduct, should vanish under the influence of
a distrust so keen, and seemingly so plausible. In this embarrassment,
the serjeant consulted the Quarter-Master, whose
opinion, as his superior, he felt bound to respect, though, at
the moment, independent of his control. It is an unfortunate
occurrence, for one who is in a dilemma, to ask advice of
another who is desirous of standing well in his favour; the
party consulted being almost certain to try to think in the
manner which will be the most agreeable to the party consulting.
In the present instance, it was equally unfortunate,
as respects a candid consideration of the subject, that Cap,
instead of the serjeant himself, made the statement of the
case; for the earnest old sailor was not backward in letting
his listener perceive to which side he was desirous that the
Quarter-Master should lean. Lieutenant Muir was much too
politic to offend the uncle and father of the woman he hoped
and expected to win, had he really thought the case admitted
of doubt; but, in the manner in which the facts were submitted
to him, he was seriously inclined to think that it would
be well to put the control of the Scud temporarily into the
management of Cap, as a precaution against treachery. This
opinion then decided the serjeant, who, forthwith, set about
the execution of the necessary measures.
Without entering into any explanations, Serjeant Dunham
simply informed Jasper, that he felt it to be his duty to deprive
him, temporarily, of the command of the cutter, and to
confer it on his own brother-in-law. A natural and involuntary
burst of surprise, which escaped the young man, was
met by a quiet remark, reminding him that military service
was often of a nature that required concealment, and a declaration
that the present duty was of such a character, that
this particular arrangement had become indispensable. Although
Jasper's astonishment remained undiminished—the
serjeant cautiously abstaining from making any allusion to
his suspicions — the young man was accustomed to obey
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with military submission; and he quietly acquiesced—with
his own mouth directing the little crew to receive their further
orders from Cap, until another change should be effected.
When, however, he was told the case required that not only
he, himself, but his principal assistant, who, on account of
his long acquaintance with the lake, was usually termed the
pilot, were to remain below, there was an alteration in his
countenance and manner that denoted strong feeling, though
it was so well mastered as to leave even the distrustful Cap
in doubt as to its meaning. As a matter of course, however,
when distrust exists, it was not long before the worst
construction was put upon it.
As soon as Jasper and the pilot were below, the sentinel at
the hatch received private orders to pay particular attention
to both; to allow neither to come on deck again without giving
instant notice to the person who might then be in charge
of the cutter, and to insist on his return below, as soon as
possible. This precaution, however, was uncalled for; Jasper
and his assistant, both throwing themselves silently on
their pallets, which neither quitted again that night.
“And, now, serjeant,” said Cap, as soon as he found himself
master of the deck, “you will just have the goodness to
give me the courses and distance, that I may see the boat
keeps her head the right way.”
“I know nothing of either, brother Cap,” returned Dunham,
not a little embarrassed at the question. “We must
make the best of our way to the station among the Thousand
Islands, where `we shall land, relieve the party that is already
out, and get information for our future government.' That 's
it, nearly word for word, as it stands in the written orders.”
“But you can muster a chart—something in the way of
bearings and distances, that I may see the road?”
“I do not think Jasper ever had anything of the sort to
go by.”
“No chart, Serjeant Dunham!”
“Not a scrap of a pen, even. Our sailors navigate this
lake without any aid from maps.”
“The devil they do!—They must be regular Yahoos.
And do you suppose, Serjeant Dunham, that I can find one
island out of a thousand, without knowing its name, or its
position—without even a course, or a distance?”
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“As for the name, brother Cap, you need not be particular,
for not one of the whole thousand has a name, and so a
mistake can never be made on that score. As for the position,
never having been there myself, I can tell you nothing
about it, nor do I think its position of any particular consequence,
provided we find the spot. Perhaps one of the hands
on deck can tell us the way.”
“Hold on, serjeant—hold on, a moment, if you please,
Serjeant Dunham. If I am to command this craft, it must be
done, if you please, without holding any councils of war with
the cook and cabin-boy. A ship-master is a ship-master,
and he must have an opinion of his own, even if it be a
wrong one. I suppose you know service well enough to understand
that it is better in a commander to go wrong, than
to go nowhere. At all events, the Lord High Admiral
could n't command a yawl with dignity, if he consulted the
cockswain every time he wished to go ashore. No—sir—if
I sink, I sink; but d—e, I 'll go down ship-shape and with
dignity.”
“But, brother Cap, I have no wish to go down anywhere,
unless it be to the station among the Thousand Islands, whither
we are bound.”
“Well, well, serjeant, rather than ask advice, that is, direct,
bare-faced advice, of a fore-mast hand, or any other than a
quarter-deck officer, I would go round to the whole thousand
and examine them one by one, until we got the right haven.
But, there is such a thing as coming at an opinion without
manifesting ignorance, and I will manage to rowse all there
is, out of these hands, and make them think, all the while, that
I am cramming them with my own experience. We are
sometimes obliged to use the glass at sea, when there is nothing
in sight, or to heave the lead, long before we strike
soundings. I suppose you know in the army, serjeant, that
the next thing to knowing that which is desirable, is to seem
to know all about it. When a youngster, I sailed two v'y'ges
with a man who navigated his ship pretty much by the latter
sort of information, which sometimes answers.”
“I know we are steering in the right direction, at present,”
returned the serjeant, “but in the course of a few hours we
shall be up with a headland, where we must feel our way
with more caution.”
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“Leave me to pump the man at the wheel, brother, and
you shall see that I will make him suck, in a very few minutes.”
Cap and the sergeant now walked aft, until they stood by
the sailor who was at the helm, Cap maintaining an air of
security and tranquillity, like one who was entirely confident
of his own powers.
“This is a wholesome air, my lad,” Cap observed, as it
might be incidentally, and in the manner that a superior on
board a vessel sometimes condescends to use to a favoured
inferior. “Of course, you have it in this fashion, off the land,
every night?”
“At this season of the year sir,” the man returned, touching
his hat, out of respect to his new commander and Serjeant
Dunham's connexion.
“The same thing, I take it, among the Thousand Islands?—
The wind will stand of course, though we shall then have
land on every side of us.”
“When we get further east, sir, the wind will probably
shift, for there can then be no particular land-breeze.”
“Ay, ay—so much for your fresh-water! It has always
some trick that is opposed to nature. Now, down among the
West India Islands, one is just as certain of having a land-breeze,
as he is of having a sea-breeze. In that respect there
is no difference, though it 's quite in rule it should be different
up here, on this bit of fresh-water. Of course, my lad,
you know all about these said Thousand Islands?”
“Lord bless you, Master Cap, nobody knows all about
them, or anything about them. They are a puzzle to the
oldest sailor on the lake, and we don't pretend to know
even their names. For that matter, most of them have no
more names than a child that dies before it is christened.”
“Are you a Roman Catholic?”—demanded the serjeant,
sharply.
“No, sir, nor anything else. I'm a generalizer about
religion, never troubling that which don't trouble me.”
“Hum! a generalizer; that is, no doubt, one of the new
sects that afflict the country!” muttered Mr. Dunham, whose
grandfather had been a New Jersey Quaker, his father a
Presbyterian, and who had joined the church of England
himself, after he entered the army.
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“I take it, John,” resumed Cap—“your name is Jack, I
believe?”
“No, sir; I am called Robert.”
“Ay, Robert—it 's very much the same thing—Jack, or
Bob—we use the two indifferently. I say, Bob, it 's good
holding-ground, is it, down at this same station for which we
are bound?”
“Bless you, sir, I know no more about it than one of the
Mohawks, or a soldier of the 55th.”
“Did you never anchor there?”
“Never, sir. Master Eau-douce always makes fast to the
shore.”
“But in running in for the town, you kept the lead going,
out of question, and must have tallowed as usual?”
“Tallow! and town, too! Bless your heart, Master Cap,
there is no more town than there is on your chin, and not
half as much tallow.”
The serjeant smiled grimly, but his brother-in-law did not
detect this proof of facetiousness.
“No church-tower, nor light, nor fort, ha! There is a
garrison, as you call it hereaway, at least.”
“Ask Serjeant Dunham, sir, if you wish to know that!
All the garrison is on board the Scud.”
“But, in running in, Bob, which of the channels do you
think the best, the one you went last, or—or—or—ay, or the
other?”
“I can't say, sir. I know nothing of either.”
“You didn't go to sleep, fellow, at the wheel, did you?”
“Not at the wheel, sir, but down in the fore-peak, in my
berth. Eau-douce sent us below, soldiers and all, with the
exception of the pilot, and we know no more of the road than
if we had never been over it. This he has always done, in
going in and coming out; and, for the life of me, I could tell
you nothing of the channel, or of the course, after we are
once fairly up with the islands. No one knows anything of
either, but Jasper and the pilot.”
“Here is a circumstance for you, serjeant!” said Cap,
leading his brother-in-law a little aside—“there is no one on
board to pump, for they all suck from ignorance, at the first
stroke of the brake. How the devil am I to find the way to
this station, for which we are bound?”
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“Sure enough, brother Cap; your question is more easily
put than answered. Is there no such thing as figuring it out
by navigation? I thought you salt-water mariners were able
to do as small a thing as that! I have often read of their
discovering islands, surely.”
“That you have, brother; that you have; and this discovery
would be the greatest of them all, for it would not
only be discovering one island, but one island out of a thousand.
I might make out to pick up a single needle on this
deck, old as I am, but I much doubt if I could pick one out of
a haystack.”
“Still, the sailors of the lake have a method of finding the
places they wish to go to.”
“If I have understood you, serjeant, this station, or block-house,
is particularly private?”
“It is indeed; the utmost care having been taken to prevent
a knowledge of its position from reaching the enemy.”
“And you expect me, a stranger on your lake, to find this
place without chart, course, distance, latitude, longitude, or
soundings—ay, d—e, or tallow! Allow me to ask if
you think a mariner runs by his nose, like one of Pathfinder's
hounds?”
“Well, brother, you may yet learn something by questioning
the young man at the helm; I can hardly think that he
is as ignorant as he pretends to be.”
“Hum—this looks like another circumstance! For that
matter, the case is getting to be so full of circumstances, that
one hardly knows how to foot up the evidence. But we will
soon see how much the lad knows.”
Cap and the serjeant now returned to their station near the
helm, and the former renewed his inquiries.
“Do you happen to know what may be the latitude and
longitude of this said island, my lad?” he asked.
“The what, sir?”
“Why, the latitude or longitude; one or both; I 'm not
particular which, as I merely inquire in order to see how
they bring up young men on this bit of fresh-water.”
“I 'm not particular about either, myself, sir, and so I do
not happen to know what you mean.”
“Not what I mean!—You know what latitude is?”
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“Not I, sir,” returned the man, hesitating, “though I believe
it is French, for the upper lakes.”
“Whe-e-e-w,” whistled Cap, drawing out his breath, like
the broken stop of an organ; “latitude, French for upper
lakes! Harkee, young man; do you know what longitude
means?”
“I believe I do, sir—that is five feet six, the regulation
height for soldiers in the king's service.”
“There 's the longitude found out for you, serjeant, in the
rattling of a brace-block! You have some notion about a
degree, and minutes, and seconds, I hope?”
“Yes, sir, degree means my betters, and minutes and
seconds are for the short or long log-lines. We all know
these things, as well as the salt-water people.”
“D—e, brother Dunham, if I think even Faith can get
along on this lake, much as they say it can do with mountains.
I 'm sure character is in no security. Well, my lad,
you understand the azimuth, and measuring distances, and
how to box the compass.”
“As for the first, sir, I can't say I do. The distances we
all know, as we measure them from point to point, and as
for boxing the compass, I will turn my back to no admiral
in his Majesty's fleet. Nothe-nothe and by east, nothe-nothe-east,
nothe-east and by nothe, nothe-east; nothe-east and by
east, east-nothe-east, east-and-by-nothe, east;—”
“That will do—that will do. You 'll bring about a shift
of wind, if you go on in this manner. I see very plainly,
serjeant,” walking away again, and dropping his voice,
“we 've nothing to hope for, from that chap. I 'll stand on
two hours longer on this tack, when we 'll heave-to and get
the soundings; after which we will be governed by circumstances.”
To this the serjeant, who, to coin a word, was very much
of an idiosyncratist, made no objections; and, as the wind
grew lighter, as usual with the advance of night, and there
were no immediate obstacles to the navigation, he made a
bed of a sail, on deck, and was soon lost in the sound sleep of
a soldier. Cap continued to walk the deck, for he was one
whose iron frame set fatigue at defiance, and not once that
night did he close his eyes.
It was broad daylight when Serjeant Dunham awoke, and
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the exclamation of surprise that escaped him, as he rose to
his feet, and began to look about him, was stronger than it
was usual for one so drilled to suffer to be heard. He found
the weather entirely changed; the view bounded by driving
mist, that limited the visible horizon to a circle of about a
mile in diameter, the lake raging and covered with foam,
and the Scud lying-to. A brief conversation with his brother-in-law,
let him into the secrets of all these sudden changes.
According to the account of Master Cap, the wind had died
away to a calm, about midnight, or just as he was thinking
of heaving-to, to sound, for islands ahead were beginning to
be seen. At one A. M. it began to blow from the north-east,
accompanied by a drizzle, and he stood off to the northward
and westward, knowing that the coast of New York lay in
the opposite direction. At half past one, he stowed the stay-sail,
reefed the mainsail, and took the bonnet off the jib. At
two, he was compelled to get a second reef aft; and by
half past two, he had put a balance reef in the sail, and was
lying-to.
“I can't say but the boat behaves well, serjeant,” the old
sailor added; “but it blows forty-two pounders! I had no
idee there were any such currents of air, up here on this bit
of fresh-water, though I care not the knotting of a yarn for
it, as your lake has now somewhat of a natural look, and—”
spitting from his mouth, with distaste, a dash of the spray
that had just wetted his face, “and if this d—d water had
a savour of salt about it, one might be comfortable.”
“How long have you been heading in this direction, brother
Cap,” inquired the prudent soldier; “and at what rate may
we be going through the water?”
“Why two or three hours, mayhap, and she went like a
horse for the first pair of them. Oh! we 've a fine offing,
now, for, to own the truth, little relishing the neighbourhood
of them said islands, although they are to windward, I took
the helm myself, and run her off free, for some league or
two. We are well to leeward of them, I 'll engage. I say to
leeward, for, though one might wish to be well to windward
of one island, or even half a dozen, when it comes to a thousand,
the better way is to give it up at once, and to slide
down under their lee, as fast as possible. No—no—there
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they are, up yonder in the drizzle,—and there they may stay,
for anything Charles Cap cares!”
“As the north shore lies only some five or six leagues
from us, brother, and I know there is a large bay, in that
quarter, might it not be well to consult some of the crew
concerning our position, if indeed we do not call up Jasper
Eau-douce, and tell him to carry us back to Oswego? It
is quite impossible we should ever reach the station with this
wind directly in our teeth.”
“There are several serious professional reasons, serjeant,
against all your propositions. In the first place, an admission
of ignorance, on the part of a commander, would destroy
discipline—No matter, brother, I understand your shake of
the head, but nothing capsizes discipline so much, as to confess
ignorance. I once knew a master of a vessel who went
a week on a wrong course, rather than allow he had made a
mistake; and it was surprising how much he rose in the
opinions of his people, just because they could not understand
him.”
“That may do on salt-water, brother Cap; but it will hardly
do on fresh. Rather than wreck my command on the Canada
shore, I shall feel it a duty to take Jasper out of arrest.”
“And make a haven in Frontenac! No, serjeant, the
Scud is in good hands, and will now learn something of
seamanship. We have a fine offing, and no one but a madman
would think of going upon a coast in a gale like this.
I shall ware every watch, and then we shall be safe against
all dangers, but those of the drift, which, in a light, low craft
like this, without top-hamper, will be next to nothing. Leave
it all to me, serjeant, and I pledge you the character of
Charles Cap, that all will go well.”
Serjeant Dunham was fain to yield. He had great confidence
in his connection's professional skill, and hoped that
he would take such care of the cutter as would amply justify
his good opinion. On the other hand, as distrust, like
love, grows by what it feeds on, he entertained so much
apprehension of treachery, that he was quite willing any one
but Jasper should, just then, have the control of the fate of
the whole party. Truth, moreover, compels us to admit
another motive. The particular duty on which he was now
sent, should have been confided to a commissioned officer,
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of right; and Major Duncan had excited a good deal of discontent
among the subalterns of the garrison, by having
confided it to one of the serjeant's humble station. To return,
without having even reached the point of destination,
therefore, the latter felt would be a failure from which he
was not likely soon to recover; and the measure would, at
once, be the means of placing a superior in his shoes.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
