The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe ConquestThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: The ConquestAuthor: H. Bedford-JonesIllustrator: Ivan DoseffRelease date: February 28, 2022 [eBook #67520]Most recently updated: October 18, 2024Language: EnglishOriginal publication: United States: David C. Cook Publishing Company, 1924Credits: Al Haines*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: The ConquestAuthor: H. Bedford-JonesIllustrator: Ivan DoseffRelease date: February 28, 2022 [eBook #67520]Most recently updated: October 18, 2024Language: EnglishOriginal publication: United States: David C. Cook Publishing Company, 1924Credits: Al Haines
Title: The Conquest
Author: H. Bedford-JonesIllustrator: Ivan Doseff
Author: H. Bedford-Jones
Illustrator: Ivan Doseff
Release date: February 28, 2022 [eBook #67520]Most recently updated: October 18, 2024
Language: English
Original publication: United States: David C. Cook Publishing Company, 1924
Credits: Al Haines
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST ***
Title page
By
H. BEDFORD-JONES
Published byDAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING COMPANY
Elgin Chicago New York BostonPublishing House and Mailing Rooms, — Elgin, Illinois
COPYRIGHT, 1914,THE DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING COMPANY.
CONTENTS
I.What We Found on the MoorII.Gib o' ClarclachIII.The "Lass o' Dee" SailsIV.The Man from the SeaV.How the "Lass" Was DriftedVI.Radisson the GreatVII.Grim HowlsVIII.DesertedIX.The Great Adventure BeginsX.The Keeper and The ArrowXI.In the Villages of the CreesXII.The Moose of MysteryXIII.The RaidersXIV.The PursuitXV.OutgeneraledXVI.A Voice in the NightXVII.A Martyr of the SnowsXVIII.Hudson's EndXIX.The Mighty OneXX.How Pierre Radisson SleptXXI.The Shadow of the CrossXXII.The End of the Long Trail
FOREWORD
The story of Pierre Radisson, which is herein related, has passed into history. That he was the first white man to reach the Mississippi, after De Soto, is now admitted. It was he who founded the Hudson's Bay Company, and who opened up the great Northwest to the world, receiving the basest of ingratitude in return.
The materials and facts used in this narrative I owe in part to Agnes C. Laut, who has rescued him from oblivion and given him his rightful place in history. The manner of his death no man knows to this day, but it is hard to imagine this world-wandered dying in his bed in London town; one likes to think of him as finding the peace of his "heart's desire" in the far land which he knew and loved and served so well.—H. Bedford-Jones.
DEDICATED
To my mother, whose picture is thepicture of Ruth MacDonald in these pages.
THE CONQUEST
By H. BEDFORD-JONES
My father cocked up one eye at the heavens and stroked his heavy beard, and, as the storm was all but over, he growled assent in the Gaelic tongue that we of the west used among ourselves.
"Aye, come along, Davie. We'll have work to find the sheep and get them together after this blow. Belike they are huddled up in some corner of the moor—over beyond the Glowerie-gap, no doubt."
So blithely enough I whistled to Grim, and the three of us set off across the moors, while mother stood at the door and waved us a cheery farewell. Little she thought what burden we would fetch back with us that day! The great storm had blown itself out, and as we went along I asked permission to go down by the cliffs that afternoon and hunt for washed-up wonders of the ocean.
"Not you, lad," replied my father in his stern fashion, yet kindly enough. "There is work and to spare at home. Besides, the cliffs are no place for you this day. There'll be wreckers out betwixt here and Rathesby."
So with that I fell silent, wishing with all my heart that I might see the wreckers at work. For I was but a boy of nine and the life of a wrecker seemed to me to be the greatest in all the world. Little I knew of the sore work that was done along the west coast that day!
Years before, my great-grandfather, a MacDonald of the isles, had come across to the mainland and settled on Ayrby farm, and on this same stead I had spent my nine years. All my life had been one of peace and quietness, but I knew full well that the old claymore hanging beside the fireplace could not say as much.
For my father, Fergus MacDonald, had married late in life and my mother had come out of the south to wed him. I had heard strange whispers of the manner of that wedding. It was said, and my father never denied it, that he had been one of those who, many years before, had hoisted the blue banner of the Covenant and ridden behind the great prophet Cameron, even to the end. Then, when the Covenant was shattered by the king's troops, he had fled into the hills of the south, and when the hunting was done and a new King come to the throne, he had brought home as his wife, the woman who had sheltered and hidden him in her father's barn.
How true these things were I never knew, but my father's fame had spread afar. In this year of grace 1701 the days of the Covenant were all but over. The order of things was shifting; rumors were flying abroad that the Stuart was coming to his own ere long, and that all wide Scotland would rise behind him to a man.
Of this my thoughts were busy as we strode over the heather, side by side. Grim following us sedately and inconspicuously, as a sheep dog should when he has age and experience. I always respected Grim more and liked him less than the younger brood of dogs, for he seemed to have somewhat of the dour, silent, purposeful sternness of my father in his nature, and was ever rebuking me for my very boyishness.
"Come, Davie," said my father suddenly, "we'll cut off a mile by going down beside the cliffs. Like enough we will strike on a few of the lambs among the bowlders, where there would be shelter."
This set my mind back on the sheep once more, and I followed him meekly but happily to the cliff-path over the sea. Fifteen miles to the north lay the little port of Rathesby, and on rare occasions I would go thither with my father and enjoy myself hugely, watching the fishermen and sailors swaggering through the cobbled streets, and hearing strange tongues—English and Irish, and sometimes a snatch of Dutch or French. I knew English well enough, and south-land English at that, while my mother had taught me a good knowledge of French; but the honest Gaelic was our home speech and this I knew best of all, and loved best.
Our path, to give it that distinction, followed the winding edge of the cliff, where many a gully and ravine led down to the beach below. I cast longing glances at these, and once saw a shattered spar driving on the rocks, but was careful to betray naught of the eagerness that was in me. When my father Fergus had once said a thing, there was no naysaying it, which was a lesson I had learned long before.
Of a sudden Grim made a little dash around me and planted himself in the path before us. He made no sound, but he was gazing across the moors, and to avoid stepping on him we stopped perforce. It was an old trick of his, thus to give us warning, and I have heard that in the old days Grim and Grim's father had accompanied more than one fleeing Covenanter safely through the hills to shelter.
Now these tales leaped into my mind with full force at a muttered exclamation from my father, and I saw a strange sight. The sun, in the east, was just breaking through the storm clouds, lighting up the rolling heather a quarter-mile beyond us. There, full in its gleam, was a tiny splotch of scarlet.
The old days must have returned on my father, for as I glanced at him I saw his hand leap to his side. But the old claymore hung there no longer, and his face relaxed.
"What is it, Grim?" he said kindly. "Yon is a scarlet coat right enough, lad, but scarlet coats hunt men no longer over the moors. What make you of it, Davie?"
"No more than you, father," I replied, proud that he had appealed to me. The crimson dot was motionless, and no farther from the cliffs than we. So, with a word to Grim, we walked along more hastily, the sheep clear forgot in this new interest. Scarlet coats were uncommon in these parts, and little liked. As we drew nearer we began to see that this could be no man, as at first we had thought, nor yet a woman. Indeed, it seemed to be a garment flung down all in a heap, and I stared at it in vain.
Then the sun outburst all around us. As it did so, the crimson thing yonder seemed to be imbued with life, and my father gave a cry of amazement.
"A lassie! Now, where can she—"
My father gave a cry of amazement.My father gave a cry of amazement.
Without finishing, he broke into a run, and I followed excitedly, for the figure was plainly that of a little girl. But what a girl! She was no more than mine own age, and the scarlet cloak fell from neck to heels about her as she came to meet us. Over the cloak was streaming a mass of yellow hair that seemed like spun gold in the sunlight, and presently I slowed my pace to stare at her.
Young though I was, I noted a peculiar quality in her as she ran to meet my father with outstretched hands, tears still upon her cheeks. I know not how to describe this quality, save that it was one of absolute faith and confidence, as if she had been waiting there for us. Old Grim hung behind, seemingly in doubt, but my father caught the lassie to him, which in itself was quite enough to make me all the more amazed.
"Why, the bairn's gey weet!" he cried out in the Scots dialect he seldom or never used. And with that I came up to them, and saw that in truth she was dripping wet. In reply to my father's words she spoke to him, but not in English or Scots, nor in any tongue that I had ever heard.
Bewildered and somewhat fearful, my father addressed her in honest Gaelic, but she only stared at him and me, her arms cuddled around his beard and neck in content. Then, to my further surprise, she laughed and broke out in French.
"You will take me home, gentlemen? Have you seen my mother?"
By the words, I knew her for a lady, and stammered out what she had said, to my father. He, poor man, was all for looking at her bonny face and stroking her hair, so I bespoke her in his place.
"Home? And where have you come from? Where is your mother?"
At this her lips twisted apprehensively, whereat my father cried out on me angrily; but she came around right bravely and made reply.
"We were going back to France, young sir. And my mother was in the boat."
"In the boat!" I repeated, the truth coming upon me. "Then how came you here?"
"Why," she returned prettily, "it was dark, and the big waves frightened poor mother, and I fell in the water and got all wet. Then I climbed out and looked for mother, but could not find her."
I put her words into Gaelic, staring the while at her cloak-clasp, which was like a seal of gold bearing a coat of arms. But when my father heard the story he drew her to him with a half-sob.
"Davie, the lassie came ashore in the storm! Take Grim and run down to the beach. If you find any others, men or women, bring them home. And mind," he flung over his shoulder savagely, "mind you waste no time hunting for shells and the like!"
He swung the little maid to his shoulder, bidding Grim go with me, and so was striding off across the moor before the words were done. I stared after the two of them, and the lass waved a hand to me gayly enough; but as I turned away I felt something grip on my throat, for well I knew what her story boded. Many a good ship has been blown north of the Irish coast and full upon our cliffs, from the time of the great Armada even to this day, and few of them all have weathered the great rocks that strew our coast from Bute to Man.
There was little hope in my mind that I would find anything left of that "boat" the maid spoke of, but I called Grim and started for the nearest gully leading down to the shore. Soon the rocks were towering above me, and the beat of the surf thundered ahead, and then I entered a little sheltered cove where I had gathered shells many a time.
Almost at my feet there was a boat—a ship's longboat, rolling bottom side up on the rocks. I stood looking around, but could see no living thing on the spray-wet rocks that glittered black in the sunlight. Then Grim gave a little growl and pawed at something just below us. I felt a thrill, for more than once he had found in just such fashion the body of a dead sailor, but as I stooped down to the object rolling in the foam I saw it was nothing but a helpless crab washed up into a pocket. I pulled him out with a jerk and flung him back into the waves, turning away. The longboat was not worth saving, being battered to pieces, and if any of the crew had reached the shore they were not in sight.
So Grim and I returned home across the moor. How had a French ship come so far north, and on our western coasts too, I wondered? As we went, Grim found a score of sheep clustered in a hollow, so I hastened on and left him to drive the poor brutes home.
When I reached the house I made report of my errand, seeking some trace of the maid. But she was asleep in my own cot, and her crimson cloak was drying before the peat-fire, which seemed more like to fill it with smoke than dryness.
"Did you find who she was or whence?" I asked my mother, knowing that she spoke the French tongue far better than I.
"The poor child knew naught," she replied, as she mixed a bowl of broth and set it to keep warm. "The only name she knows is Marie—"
"Which will be spoke no more in my house," broke out my father with a black frown. "I doubt not the lassie's people were rank Papists—"
"Shame on you, Fergus!" cried my mother indignantly, facing him. "When a poor shipwrecked bairn comes and clings her arms about your neck, you name her Papist—shame on you! Begone about your business, and let sleeping dogs lie, Fergus MacDonald. Cameron and Claverhouse are both forgot, and see to it—"
But my father had incontinently fled out the door to get in the sheep, and my mother laughed as she turned to me and bade me give the red cloak a twist to "clear the peat out of it."
Now, that was the manner of the coming of the little maid. Two days later my father took me to Rathesby with him to seek out her folk, if that might be. But no tidings had been brought of any wreck, and the best we might do was to write—with much difficulty, for my father was ever handier with staff than with pen—a letter to Edinburgh, making a rude copy of the arms on the gold buckle, and seeking to know what family bore those arms. No reply ever came to this letter, and whether it ever arrived we never knew.
And for this we were all content enough, I think. The lassie had twined herself about my mother's heart by her winning ways, and that confident, all-trusting matter laid hold strongly upon my father's heart, so that ere many weeks it was decided that she should stay with us until her folk should come to seek her.
I remember that there was some difficulty over naming her, for my father would have called her Ruth, which he plucked at random from the Bible on the hearth. I think my mother was set on calling her Mary, but the name of Mary Stuart was hard in my father's memory, and he would not.
So the weeks lengthened into months, and the months into years, and ever Ruth and I were as brother and sister in the farmstead at Ayrby. She learned English readily enough, but the Gaelic tongue was hard for her, which was great sorrow to my father all his days.
Seven of those years were the happiest of all my life, perhaps. Ruth and I dwelt quiet at home, and between whiles of the work my mother taught us much that we had never known else. She was of good family, of the Eastoun Errols, and how she came to love my father, who was rough and rude, was always something of a mystery to me. But love him she did, and he her, and it was a bad day for Fergus MacDonald when my mother died.
This happening took place seven years after the coming of Ruth, and was a sore grief to all of us. I never realized just how sore a grief it was to my father, Fergus, until later. She was buried beside those of the Covenant who had escaped the harrying to die in peace, and I mind me that it was on a cold, gray day which gave us little cheer.
The elder, old Alec Gordon, had carried pistol and sword at Ayrsmoss, being given to preaching later in life. His mind was a bitter one, setting well with that of my father, and this day of my mother's funeral gave me a distaste for the men of the Covenant that I never outgrew. When it was all over I crept away and went down to the cliff-edge, where Ruth presently joined me, and we sat along with the heart-hunger that was eating at us until the night-mists warned us home.
For many days thereafter my father spoke few words, and of a sudden his age had come upon him, together with a strange unrest that I had not seen in him before. But still we abode there on the old farm until I was almost nineteen, and Ruth, as we guessed, a year younger. Then came the first of those strange happenings that led us so far afield and drew us into so weird a strand of Fortune's net before we had done.
Two years after my mother's death, my father began to have a succession of visitors. There was much talk in those days of the new lands over sea, and the rich farms to be had there for the taking. From what scattered words that came to us, Ruth and I judged rightly enough that these folk were talking of the plantations to my father, and so indeed it proved. Alec Gordon was the most constant visitor, and in time it came out that he would make a settlement in the new world, of a number of our folk. My father was much taken with the scheme, as were Muckle Jock Grier and Tam Graham, and others of the families near by. At length my father announced that the next day but one Ruth and I should go with him to Rathesby.
His temper was dour and sullen in these days, and I dared not question him overmuch, but Ruth got the truth of the matter out of him on the way to town. It seemed that the elder, Alec Gordon, had prevailed upon a dozen families to carry the Covenant to the New World, and there to found a settlement to the glory of God, where there would be none to interfere or hinder, and where, as my father put it, "a new folk might be given growth by the Lord's grace, free from the temptations of the world and the wiles of the devil." But there were more devils in the New World than my father or old Alec wotted of.
I think he was much moved to this end by thought of Ruth and me, for he was earnest that we should follow in his footsteps and grow up God-fearing, respected young folk such as Lang Robin Grier. Now I ever was, and am still, I trust, God-fearing; but sour faces were little to my liking, and ranting Lang Robin much less. I mind me that when Robin would have impressed some doctrinal point upon Ruth, with many wise sayings and much doubting that her mind was sound in the faith, I went home with sore knuckles, and Robin went home with a sore face and a story that wrought much discredit upon me. Howbeit, to my tale.
We rode into Rathesby, where my father was to see Wat Herries, the master of the stout lugger that sailed to Ireland and France and beyond, and that even then lay in Rathesby bay. Smaller vessels than the "Lass o' Dee" had passed overseas in safety, and my father trusted in the hand of God more than he trusted in the hand of Wat Herries.
It was still early morn when we reached the port and put up our ponies at the Purple Heather, kept by old Gib Lennox. Then my father told me to wander at my will, taking good care of Ruth and returning at midday, while he strode off in search of Master Herries. The "Lass," we found, was newly come from France, and in her crew were many dark-faced fellows whose tongue sounded sweet in the ears of Ruth, so that we had to stop more than once and listen.
In the front of her cloak, now a modest gray one, she wore that same brooch with which she had come to us. I had hard work to keep her from speaking to the strange men in their own tongue, but after a time we came to the edge of the town and sat there among the rocks, well content to watch the lugger in the harbor and the fishing boats that lay around her.
As we sat there two men came strolling by—two of the sailors whom we had seen in the town. One was ordinary enough, the other a not ill-favored rogue save for deep pock-marks on his face that bespoke the plague, and a roving, cunning eye that bespoke a shifty soul. These passed so close that their talk floated to us, and naught would do Ruth but that I must call them over so that she might speak to them in French. Whereat, somewhat sullenly, I obeyed, and the men strolled across the shingle to us.
"And what might you wish, pretty maid?" asked the pock-marked fellow civilly enough.
"I but wished to hear the French tongue, sir," she replied with a smile. "It is long since I have spoken it—why, what is the matter?"
For a sudden the man had given a little start, his eyes fixed on her throat. Then he stared into her eyes, and at the look of him I half gained my feet.
"Your name?" he asked quickly. "What is your name, little one?"
"What is that to you, fellow?" I made hot answer, angry at his insolence. But Ruth caught my sleeve and pulled me down.
"Nay, Davie! Why should he not know? It were but civil to speak him fair, after calling to him. My name is Ruth, Ruth MacDonald," she added in French. At this it seemed to me that the man stared harder than ever, a puzzled look in his face.
"And how come you to speak our tongue?" he said, smiling quickly, so that I lost my anger. "It is strange to find one on these coasts who speaks so well and fluently!"
Ruth replied that she had had good teachers, and after a few words more the men walked on. But I noted that the one we had spoken with flung back more than one glance, and I was glad when midday came and we made our way back to the inn to eat.
There we found my father in deep converse with Master Herries, a hearty man of some two-score years, and straightway all thought of the two seamen fled my mind. For now the talk was all of lading and cargo, of whether sheep might be fetched in the lugger and of how many persons might sail with her. My father was set on taking with us as many sheep as might be, notwithstanding Wat Herries told him there was little sheep-land in the plantations.
While we ate and listened, Alec Gordon came in and brought a list of all those who had covenanted to go on the "Lass." The price was then agreed on, and much against my will my father bade me take Ruth forth again for an hour or two, as the inn was filling with seamen who drank much and talked loud, and there was but the one room.
So down to the sea we went once again, having had our fill of the town-sights, and wandered south along the low cliffs and the shore. Luckily enough, as it chanced, I picked up a water-clean cudgel that lay among the rocks and used it in sport as a staff. A bit after, I espied a small cuttlefish washed into a pool, and swooped down on the place in delight. But Ruth, who cared little for such creations as had snaky arms and hideous aspect, rambled onward among the rocks.
I was much concerned with my find, and had great sport. Once the foot-long arms were wound around that stick of mine, the creature would not let go, even though I beat him gently against the rock. I had no mind to lose the cudgel by leaving it there, and neither had I cruelty enough to crush out the life of the ugly creature, so I stayed and fought gently with him and forgot the passage of time.
On a sudden came a faint cry to my ears and I heard my name as if called from far away. Looking up, I saw no one and remembered that Ruth had gone on alone. Thinking that she had fallen into some pool among the rocks, mayhap, I caught up the stick, cuttlefish and all, and ran to the point of rocks that hid the farther shore from me. And there I gave a great cry of anger and amazement.
For, a quarter of a mile distant, I saw Ruth being carried up the cliff by two men. Though I could not see them well, for they were in the cliff-shadow, I remembered the two seamen instantly. Without pausing to think, I ran swiftly back to a little path that led up the cliff, in white anger. I knew these parts well, and when I gained the crest I would be betwixt the three and the town.
In this thought I was right, for in my haste I had beat them to the cliff-top and was running toward them when they appeared. Plainly they had not counted on me, because as I appeared they seemed no little alarmed. Then when I drew near, there came a flash of steel in the sunlight and my heart stood still, lest they injure Ruth.
But whatever their intention, it was unfulfilled. Before I could get to them Ruth began to struggle, and broke away just as the knives gleamed. One of the rogues wanted to run, but the other called to him to stay steady and regain the maid when they had flung the boy over the cliff. This did not serve to calm me over-much, and I must have clean forgot to fear their knives.
As I ran up, the one of them sprang, but I whirled around the cudgel, which the cuttlefish yet clung to. The swing of it flung him off, and while I was still a few paces from the seaman I saw the creature strike him full in the face, as though thrown from a hand-sling—though it was the sheerest good fortune. With a great shriek the man turned and made off, clutching at his face, and I saw no more of him after.
But with the second man, him of the pock-marks, I was right soon busied. Amazed as he was at the somewhat ludicrous fate of his fellow, he came at me evilly. With a quick motion I shortened the cudgel and stabbed him in the breast with it, the point of his knife just shearing through my shirt, but harming me not at all. Then I gripped him by the neck and wrist.
Now we MacDonalds have ever been accounted strong men, and although scant nineteen, my father was wont to say that I promised not to disgrace the family in my strength. That was no light praise from his lips, but I never knew the worth of it till I gripped that seaman in my two hands. The anger that was upon me for the sake of Ruth was so great that there seemed to be a red haze in my eyes, and then I realized that the man had dropped his knife and was all but limp. Whereat I lifted him up and threw him to the heather, where he lay quiet.
Then I knew that Ruth was hanging to my arm, pleading with me not to harm the man. I stared down at her, breathing heavily, and wondered what to do with him.
"Were you hurt, lassie?" I asked in haste.
"No, Davie. They came upon me suddenly, and I had but time to cry to you before they clapped a kerchief to my mouth and lifted me. At the top of the cliff I broke from them. But—oh, I fear me you have hurt this man sore!"
"And well enough for him," I responded grimly. "He is like to be worse hurt when my father lays hands on him."
"David! Surely they are punished enough!" she cried out. Looking down at her, I saw that her golden hair was streaming free and in her face was that same all-trusting look wherewith she had met us nine years before. The memory of that day struck me like a shock, so that I stared speechless. Just then the sailor groaned, rolled over, and sat up. I put my foot on his knife, debating whether to hale him to Rathesby or not.
"Let him go, David," pleaded Ruth. "Truly, they did me no harm, and if father knew of it he would be very angry. Do not tell him, Davie, for it can do no good and will only make him dour for days."
Now this was true enough, and when the flame of my wrath had quieted somewhat I was not over-anxious to kindle the flame again in my father's heart. So I looked down at the man and bade him stand up, which he did with a groan, rubbing his neck.
"Who are you," I asked sternly. "What was your intent?"
He glanced from me to Ruth, an odd gleam in his crafty eyes which liked me little. He seemed to hesitate before answering, though I had spoken in his own tongue.
"I am called Gib o' Clarclach," he replied surlily, in right good Gaelic. As I stared in amazement, he darted a venomous look at me. "But elsewhere I am known as The Pike," he added, "and I have friends you wot not of, stripling. So best say no more of this."
"That for you and your friends," and I snapped my fingers. "What wanted you with this maid? Answer, or you lie in Rathesby gaol this night."
But all the answer I got was a mocking laugh, as the fellow sprang away and was gone down the cliff-path. I plunged forward, but Ruth's hand clutched mine and her voice pulled me back. "Nay, Davie! Leave him go and let us return—for—for I am afraid!"
And the little sob she gave held me to her more than her grip, so that I laid her head against my shoulder and comforted her until she smiled once more. But she did not smile until I had promised to say no word of the affair to my father Fergus.
We talked little on the way back to the town, but none the less I was wondering greatly. So this seeming Frenchman could talk good Gaelic speech, as well as chatter French! That set me to marveling, for he looked like a Frenchman right enough. And what he called himself—The Pike! Surely that was no name for an honest man to bear, considering what kind of fish the pike was, even had the very giving of such a name not been a heathenish and outlandish thing. I had heard that the heathen in the colonies were named after beasts and birds, and so I came to the conclusion that he must have lived overseas. His Gaelic, however, was not that of the west coast, but held the burn of the Highlands.
I kept all this thinking to myself for the next few days. No harm had been done Ruth, so no harm had come of it; though why they dared to carry off a Scots maiden so near home was more than I could explain. In the end I gave up the attempt, having other things to busy myself with.
When we had reached the inn once more we found my father ready to depart. With him was sour old Alec Gordon, who would bide with us at Ayrby over night. They rode on ahead, and from their talking Ruth and I gained some inkling of the great scheme.
The "Lass" had been engaged to take over the expedition upon her return from the next cruise, which would be in a month's time. This would give us who were going plenty of time to sell our farms and stock and to make all ready for departure. As to selling these, there would be little trouble about that, for the hill folk and those from the south would be glad enough to take them over and pay ready cash. We of the west have alway been accounted poor folk, but even in those days it was a poor farm indeed that did not have a leathern sack hidden away beneath the hearth, with something therein to clink. The days of Claverhouse had taught the west folk a stern lesson.
Neither Ruth nor I was greatly in favor of seeking the New World. We had many a conversation about Gib o' Clarclach, which usually resolved itself into wondering why he had stared so at the golden brooch; and in the end Ruth placed it away and wore it no more until our departure. She loved our home, with its rolling moors and cliffs and mountains, and could see no reason for change; for that matter, neither could my father, except that, as I said before, he was restless and thinking about our future state.
As for me, I was wild to stay. Most lads would have wanted to cross the world, but not I, for there was great talk of the Stuart in the air. My father, who held all Stuarts for Papists, was bitter strong for Orange and the Dutch, but the romance of Prince Charles was eager in me. There were constant rumors that the French fleet was coming, that men were arming in the Highlands, and that the clans and the men of the Isles were up, but nothing came of it all and our preparations went steadily forward.
It was no light task in those days to go into the New World and found a settlement there. We were to take a dozen sheep, and my father refused to part with Grim, of course. All the rest was to be handed over to my father's kinsman, Ian MacDonald, together with the stead itself. Our personal possessions were all packed stoutly in three great chests of oak bound with iron, and into one of these went Ruth's little red cloak, that my mother had kept always.
Those were sad days for us, were the days of parting. There was ever something of the woman in my boy nature, I think, for it grieved me sore to part with the things I had known all my life, but especially to turn over to strangers the things about the house that my mother had loved and used. There was a big crock, I remember, which she had used for making the porridge every morning, and Ruth after her; this my father would not let us pack, saying that broken pots would make poor porridge in the colonies.
"Then it shall make porridge no more," I replied hotly, and caught up the heavy crock. Ruth gave a little cry as it shattered on the hearthstone, and I looked to feel my father's staff. But instead, he only gazed across the room and nodded to himself.
"Let be, Davie lad. We cannot always dash our crocks upon the stones and start anew. Now fetch in some peat ere the fire dies."
Very humbly, and a good bit ashamed, I obeyed. I had not thought there was so much restraint in my father, of late.
To tell the honest truth, Fergus MacDonald, as the neighbors said, was "fey" ever since the death of my mother. He would take his staff and Grim and so stride across the moors, return home in the evening, and speak no word for hours. These moods had been growing on him, but the bustle and stir of our preparations seemed to wake him out of himself in some degree, for which I was duly thankful.
The day of sailing had been set for the end of May, in the year 1710. Alec Gordon rode over with the word that the "Lass" had returned and her cargo—which as all knew, was contraband—had been safely "run" farther down the coast. The Griers were already in Rathesby, with two or three other families, and old Alec was gathering his flock together for the voyage.
So early the next morning we shut up the stead for Ian to take charge when he would, and departed for ever, as it seemed. We rode but slowly, Grim driving the sheep steadily before him and us, until we came to a roll of the moor we paused for a last look at the old place. As we turned away I caught a sparkle on my father's gray beard and the sight put a sudden sob in my throat; as for Ruth, she made no secret of her tears. And thus we left the little gray house behind us and rode with out faces toward the west and the sound of the sea beating on our ears.
We came down to Rathesby at last and found the little port in wild confusion. In all, there were eight families leaving—the Griers, two Grahams, three of the Gordons, Auld Lag Hamilton and his sons, and our own little party from Ayrby. All that afternoon we were busy getting the sheep stowed away on board—which Wat Herries considered sheer foolishness, as I did myself—and for that night we put up at the Purple Heather, the women sleeping in the guest-rooms while we men rolled up in our plaids and lay in the great room down below.
There was much talking that night ere the rushlights were blown out, and I learned that our destination was to be the colony taken from the Dutch long before and renamed New York, where land might be had for the taking. Indeed, I learned for the first time that Alec Gordon had not gone into this venture blindly, but had procured letters to the folk there from others of the faith in Holland, so that we were sure of a goodly welcome.
There was one matter that troubled me greatly that night, and kept sleep from me for a long time. This was that while we were loading sheep aboard that day I had seen a face among Master Herries' crew, and it was the face of Gib o' Clarclach, as he called himself. I wondered at his daring to return in the "Lass," knowing her loading and her errand, and for a moment I was tempted to have a word with Herries himself on the matter. Howbeit, I decided against it and thereupon fell off to sleep, concluding that the man had sufficient punishment already and that to pursue him for a past fault would be no worthy end. But in days to come I repented me much of this, as you shall see.
In the morning we made a hasty breakfast together, and assembled in the big room for a last prayer. It was like to be morning-long, and after taking due part for an hour I slipped quietly through the door; not out of disrespect, but out of sheer weariness, for Alec Gordon was famed for his long-windedness. Master Herries and his men were waiting aboard the "Lass," but as I watched the ship from the bench outside the inn, I was aware of a man calling my name and pointing.
Turning, I saw that he was directing me to the hillsides, and there in the gleam of the sunlight I saw a dozen men riding breakneck toward the port.
"Best get auld Alec out," suggested the fisherman, and the look of him told me there was more afoot than I knew. So, taking my courage in hand, I slipped in through the side door again and so up behind the elder, in the shadow of the big settle. Waiting till he had finished a drawn-out phrase, I leaned toward his ear.
"Alec Gordon, there be men riding hard down the moors."
It seemed to me that his face changed quickly, but not his voice, for he continued quietly enough.
"Tam Graham, lead your flock to the boats. Do you follow him, Fergus, and all of you make what haste is possible." With that he fell into the border tongue as they all looked up in amazement. "Scramble oot, freends!" he cried hastily. "The kye are in the corn!"
Now well enough I knew that for the old alarm-cry of the men of Cameron, nor was I the only one. There was a single deep murmur, and the Grahams poured forth into the street. After them came the rest of us, I falling in at Ruth's side behind my father, and we hastened down to the boats. I failed utterly to see what danger there could be, and cast back an eye at the riders. They were still a quarter-mile away, but coming on furiously.
In less time than it takes to tell, we were into the small boats and rowing out to the ship. As I scrambled up the side I could hear the clatter of hoofs on the cobbles, but above us there was a creak of ropes and a flutter of canvas. Then there came shouts from shore, but we could not hear the words and paid no heed.
"Hasten!" shouted Master Herries, roaring like a bull at the men, and we saw a boat pulling out from shore. It reached us just as our anchor lifted, and over the rail scrambled a stout man waving a parchment with dangling seals.
"Halt, in the Royal name!" he squeaked, and my father stepped out to him.
"What's a' the steer aboot?" asked my father quietly. At this I looked for trouble, for it was in my mind that whenever Fergus MacDonald had come to using the Scots dialect, there had been doings afterward.
"Ha' ye permission to gan awa' frae Scotland?" cried the stout man, puffing and blowing as he glared around. "Well ye ken ye hae nane, Fergus MacDonald, an' since I hae coom in siccan a de'il's hurry—"
"Be off," broke in my father sternly, pointing to the shore. For answer the fellow waved out his parchment spluttering something about the "Royal commeesioner" that I did not fully catch. But my father caught it well enough, and his face went black as he strode forward and lifted the stout man in both hands, easily.
"Say to him it wad fit him better to look to his ain life than ours," he roared, and therewith heaved up the man and sent him overside into the bay. Wat Herries cried out sharply to duck behind the bulwarks lest shot be flying, but there was none of that. I saw the stout man picked up by his boat and return to shore, shaking his fist vainly at the laughter which met and followed him; then the wind bellied out our sails and the voyage was begun. A little later it came out that news had spread abroad of our purpose and that the commissioner had wished to stop us, but for what reason I never knew.
My father conjectured shrewdly enough that we would have been sent elsewhere than to New York. However, we soon forgot that, for the whole party was clustered on the poop watching the purple hills behind us. The little port faded ere long into a solid background, for the breeze was a stiff one, and that afternoon we looked our last on Scotland. This was the occasion for another address and prayer from Alec Gordon, and this time I joined in right willingly. I had never been so far from land before, and the tossing of the ship made me no wee bit uneasy.
Nor was this lessened during the following days. Five in all I suffered, together with all the moor-folk, as I never want to suffer more. Ruth was free from the sickness, as was my father, but Maisie Graham, poor soul, came near dying with it. After the fifth day, however, I crawled out on deck a new man, albeit weak in the legs, and never knew that the sun could feel so good.
The next day thereafter I was almost myself again, and paid back the jests of Ruth with interest. She had great sport of my sickness, although to tell the truth she tended me with unremitting care and kindness, when my father would have let me be to get over it as best I could.
To confess it straightway, I gained greater respect for Alec Gordon in those days, and in those to come, than I had ever felt before. The sight of the great ocean around us and the feel of the tossing deck that alone kept us from harm, put the fear of God into my heart in good surety, so that I entered into the morning and evening meetings with new earnestness. Nor was it only while the danger lasted that I felt thus. I had seen the ocean full often, but I had never so much as gone out with a fishing-boat, and those first few days were full of grim earnestness that proved their worth in the end.
It was on the twelfth day out that the first untoward event happened, for one of the seamen cried down to us that he had sighted a small boat that was all but sinking. Sure enough, we on deck could descry a point of white ahead, and all of us gathered in eagerness as we drew up to her. Thus far we had had good weather, and by now even Maisie Graham was free of the sickness.
As we came closer to the little boat, which was no larger than a sloop, we saw that she held only one man. Then a sense of strangeness seemed to settle over us when we knew that this one man was old, his long white hair and beard flying in the wind, but he stood erect and tall at his tiller. The strangest thing of all was that his cranky old craft was headed west, into the ocean itself, instead of back toward the land.
As we came closer to the little boat we saw that she held only one man.As we came closer to the little boatwe saw that she held only one man.
At our hail he came about readily enough, for his boat seemed much battered and was half full of sea-water. Handling her with no little skill, he laid us aboard and sprang over the rail. As he did so, I heard some of the seamen muttering in Gaelic—something about one of the sea-wizards; but to this I gave little heed as we all hastened to surround the old man and to talk with him.
A fine-looking man he was, too, despite his age. I put him down as three-score and ten, and found later that I had not been far wrong. His face was hard-set and stern, like that of some eagle, his nose finely curved, and his deep-set eyes—ah, what eyes those were! Never since have I seen eyes like his. They seemed to be gazing far off, even as they looked into one's own; they seemed to see some great vision not given to other men's sight, as in truth I believe they did.
His hair was snow-white, but very thick, hanging about his shoulders, and on his bronzed neck was tattooed some strange animal which I had never before seen. So we stood about him, staring, while Wat Herries cast off the little sloop and left her to sink as she would.
The stranger searched us with those great black eagle-eyes, but shook his head at Alec Gordon's Gaelic, and muttered something that fetched a joyful cry from Ruth, for it was in the French tongue.
"You are a Frenchman?" she inquired quickly, pushing to my side. The stranger glanced at us, then his great figure quivered as a tree shakes beneath the ax. I could have sworn that a tinge of red leaped into his pale cheeks and that he was gazing at the golden brooch which once more held Ruth's cloak, but he replied slowly and calmly in a musical voice:
"I speak French, mademoiselle, though I may not claim to belong to that nation."
"Who are you?" asked Ruth, "and what are you doing in that little boat?"
"As to my name, that matters not," he replied with a bow that could only have been learned in courts. "I was sailing to the west, and if I might thank your company for saving me from a leaky and all but disabled craft, I would fain do so through you."
Ruth put his words into our own tongue, somewhat disconcerted at his courteous aloofness, whereat Alec Gordon rubbed his chin, and bade us salute him courteously.
"Tell the man that he must e'en go to the colonies with us," he said, knitting his gray eyebrows. "If he will not tell his name, we care little. Ask him of his religion."
And so Ruth did. But at the question the old man straightened up and a flash of fire leaped into his wondrous eyes.
"Who are you that dare to question me?" he replied sternly and proudly. "As to my religion, that is my own affair. May I ask your name, mistress?"
"We are of Scotland, of the Covenant," she returned simply, giving her name. He frowned as if in perplexity. "Fear not," smiled the little maid, mistaking his attitude. "You are with friends, old man, and if you be not a Papist your religion matters not."
He laughed shortly, staring down upon her. "Not I, maiden. As to fear, I am more hungered than fearful, though I have felt fear often in my time."
As Ruth gave his words to the others and my father led him to the cabin, I turned over this speech in my mind and set him down, boylike, as a coward. Therein I made a grave mistake, as I found out ere long.
It was but natural that the stranger should make great talk among us all, and when he returned on deck, his tall figure wrapped in a spare plaid of Tam Graham's, we gazed at him ever more eagerly. But he gave us little heed, going forward into the bow and sitting there upon a coil of rope, gazing out into the west as if the ship sped not fast enough for him. After a little, Ruth and I, being the only ones aboard who could speak French, save the sailors, came to him. He did not repel us—nay, there was something about the man that drew us both, and Ruth more than me; he seemed like one who had seen many strange things, and the secret that shone forth from his deep eyes half frightened while it attracted me. As for Ruth, she felt sorry for him in his loneliness and wished to talk her French also, for she ever held that my accent was most vile.
He gave us a kindlier welcome than I had looked for, and when he smiled all his sternness vanished and I knew on the instant that here was a man who had suffered and loved greatly, and who knew how to win love from other men. There was about him something of that same quality which Ruth so greatly possessed, the quality of drawing out the faith of others, of quiet trust and confidence. I was not to know for many long weeks what it really meant to love and be loved by him, but, as I perched on the anchor chains and stared frankly at him, I thought that it must indeed be hard to tell this man a lie.
"If you would speak English," he smiled in the southland speech, "I can converse well in that."
"Nay," and Ruth's laugh rippled out, "French is mine own mother-tongue, and seldom do I get a chance to use it."
"Are you French, then? With your name?" he asked quickly. Now, though I knew full well that Ruth had come there with no such thought, she poured out the tale of her coming to us over the moors, as she had heard it often from my mother and me. This surprised me all the more because as a rule she made light of it and claimed Ayrby for home, and my people for her people.
The old stranger listened to all her story, but he remained silent and fell to staring over the bowsprit again as if he had not heard. But I who watched him saw him try to speak, as it were, then stop suddenly and gulp in his throat.
"It is a strange tale," he replied after a little, "and I thank you for the telling, maiden. Know you whither we are bound?"
"For the New York colony," I replied, somewhat downcast that he had not trusted us in turn with his own tale. He must have read the thought in my eyes, for he smiled sadly and I felt emboldened to question him. "What is that mark on your throat?" I continued, gazing at the tattooed animal. "Is that some strange beast?"
"Aye, strange enough," he turned human all at once and laughed in my face like a boy. "It is a beaver, an animal of the New World and of the old, yet stranger never lived. You will see many a beaver-skin—aye, and sell them, too, perchance!"
"Then you have been in the New World!" cried out Ruth, settling down snugly at his side. "Tell us all about it, sir!"
"The tale would outlast the voyage," he said, looking down at her face. A sudden mad thought came into my mind, and before I thought to stay it, sprang to my lips.
"In the New World," I asked eagerly, "did you ever know a man who was called The Pike?"
The answer to that question was wonderful enough. With one quick motion he leaned forward and gripped my shoulder in a hand of iron; and when his eyes bored into mine own I all but cried out, so like pure flame was the look therein.
"What know you of him?" he asked bitingly, and his tone minded me of my father's when he had flung the Commissioner's man over the rail. In that instant I feared this old stranger as never in my life had I feared anyone, no, not even my father; and so I gave him all I knew of Gib o' Clarclach, without let or hindrance. While I spoke, his grip loosened, but his shaggy brows came down until they met.
"Lad," he said when I had made an end, "keep this maid from that man as if he were the plague itself! Let him not touch her, should you ever meet again, and if he so much as looks at her put your knife into him as into a dog gone mad!"
"Why, the fellow is aboard now," I answered in wonder, and in no little fear. But to my surprise the old man only turned and gazed out into the sunset once more, checking Ruth when she would have spoken.
"My children," he said very softly, "while I am here you are safe from this man, remember that. Nay, I would not harm him. I am an old man, but I have been where no other white man has been; I have been a ruler among men whose skins are not as ours, and I go even now to end my days among these people. He, also, has been among them, and I know not what evil he is about here; but it seems to me that the hand of God has drawn me to you and to this ship, lest you come to harm. Now leave me, my children, and count me ever as a friend of the best."
Hand in hand, like two frighted bairns, we left him and went aft in awe. When we were alone in the cabin, all the other folk being above, Ruth looked strangely at me and caught my hand.
"Davie, is he not a wonderful man? Do you like him?"
"I fear him," I replied honestly. "But I think I could even love him, an' I had the chance. He is some great man, Ruth, that I know!"
"I like him, too, and I am not a bit feared of him," she said earnestly. "Say naught to anyone of what he said, Davie, for I think he would trust us more than others."
Whereto I agreed willingly enough, remembering that shoulder-grip which still burned me. But that did not save me from much speculating to myself. First, why had the old man been sailing westward in a small and battered sloop, scarce fit for coast fishing? Second, what did he know of Gib o' Clarclach? And last and greatest— who was he? These questions drove through my mind as I went back to the deck, but it was long ere any of them were answered. All that evening I looked about for the face of Gib the sailor, but saw it not.
Oddly enough, that same night a terrific gale from the south came on us. Odd, because until then the weather had been perfect, and also because of what followed. It was such a gale as I had never known before, keeping up day after day and driving us ever west and north, for the poor little "Lass" could only run with a single shred of sail to keep her right end forward.
That was a hard time for all of us. Morn and eve we held assembly in the larger of the cabins, where we men slept, and Alec Gordon led us in prayer. At each of these meetings the old stranger attended, although he took no part himself, which my father liked but ill. During those days we younger men helped the crew pull and haul, but the others were cooped up in the cabin—and a dreary place it was. Alec and the rest kept up an ever-lasting argument on Effectual Calling and Reason Annexed, together with other such topics as the articles of faith afforded, and I was glad enough to be sharing with the crew instead of listening to such talk below, for I was ever fonder of action than discussion.
I had nearly forgot the other part of our crew and cargo—Grim, who kept company with half a dozen more sheep dogs, and the poor beasts stowed away in hasty-built pens below. The day the old stranger came aboard, three of the sheep died, and what with broken legs from the rolling of the "Lass," and from sickness, the rest followed speedily. Wherein Wat Herries was proved to know his business better than my father. As for Grim, he kept close below after the storm began, and remained there in safety, keeping near to my father's heels as usual.
For a week that storm blew down on us, and there was rest or comfort for none aboard. On the seventh day we had clear weather once more and returned to our course, from which we had been sadly driven. Two days after this befell a sore accident, for Master Herries was knocked down by a lower yard breaking from its cordage, and when we picked him up his right leg was found broken below the knee.
We carried him to his cabin and there my father, who had no little leechcraft, tended him. This placed the ship in the hands of an Ireland man called Black Michael, who was good enough in his way, but a poor mate, for as events proved he had little hold on the men forward.
As if this were not enough, the storm came back upon us the next day and again the poor "Lass" fled helpless before it. It was now that first I noted a peculiar manner among the men, who like all our west coast seamen were highly superstitious. I thought little of it, nor dreamt how it tended, until one night when I crept forward to steal a pannikin of water from the butt for Grim. On my way back I heard two seamen talking in Gaelic, behind a corner of the cabins, and the wind carried me their words.
"Duar na Criosd!" muttered one, an Irisher like the mate. "There is no doubt of it, Eoghan! I have seen it before, and I tell you that unless Ruadh has green stuff in plenty, he will die! It is the scurvy, and we have naught aboard to fight it with."
"Scurvy an' you like," replied the other sullenly, "but I say it is the old wizard whom we took aboard. Do you mind the tale of Jonah in the Scriptures? Do you mind how the sheep began to die when he came, and how he brought the gale with him?"
There was a little silence, and I felt my heart sound against my ribs as I began to comprehend their words.
"Like enough," answered the first with an oath. "But the scurvy is upon us, and we be all dead men, Eoghan, unless we fetch land right soon. Nor is the manner of that rotting death pleasant, and with this he described the workings of scurvy until my flesh creeped.
"Then let us have this Jonah overboard," cried out the other man on a sudden, and despair was in his voice. "Gib o' Clarclach is with us, and the rest. Black Michael matters not; put this wizard overside and we will have fair weather again. Who ever heard tell of such gales at this season?"
Which same was true enough, and I even wondered a trifle if the man might not be right.
"Stay," returned the first. "I have a better plan. The old wizard sleeps in the cabin aft, with the captain. I will slip in there this very night, when the watch is changed, and have my knife in him and out again. Let the elder lay it to the Lord's vengeance an' he will, being overfond of such talk."
At this the other man laughed shortly, but I crept very silently across the heaving deck to the cabin, and there was great fear in my heart for all of us.
On hands and knees, the deck beneath me groaning and pitching to the tossing of the great waves, and the howling wind still seeming to thrill those muttered words to me, I crawled on and with some difficulty brought the water to Grim, who thanked me in his own way. Then I rose and looked about.
Around the table were lashed my father, Alec Gordon, and Robin Grier, all arguing at the top of their tongues. In the bunks lay the others, or on heaps of padded canvas along the floor. Then I understood that the old stranger had gone to Master Herries' cabin, where the mate sometimes lay also, and was caring for the injured man. Besides Grim there were five other dogs lying around, but the womenfolk were all safe asleep in their own place.
I misliked saying anything to my father and old Alec, for fear they would disbelieve me. Had Ruth been there I would have sought counsel from her, and have gained it, too; but a notion came to me that the work might be done without a quarrel. Had I told my father the tale, he might have sought out the two men and cracked their heads together, likely getting a knife in him for it. So, without disturbing any of the three at the table, I caught hold on Grim and drew him out of the cabin.
The master's cabin, where were the old man and Wat, was but a miserable hole to one side of our main room, and had indeed been intended for some other use. It would be easy enough for a man to slip in and out again, I considered as I crossed the few feet of open deck to get to it, Grim holding back stiff-legged, in wild fear with each toss of the lugger. Then I cast open the door of the little place and went in, flinging Grim before me.
A roll of the ship assisted me in this, so that Grim and I went in together and fetched up against the old stranger, clean taking him off his legs. A ship's lanthorn swung above, and by its light the old man made out who we were, as we all rolled in the corner in a heap. For that matter, he had long since proved a better sailor than any of us on board, and now he was on his feet instantly, and soon had me up.
There was little room for others when the door was shut, and I saw that the old man had been lying in the mate's bunk when we came. Above this lay Master Herries, asleep in his own bunk despite all the uproar. Now, it had been in my mind to set Grim awatch, but when the old man smiled on me and asked my errand, I had blurted out the whole before I thought. At the story he threw back his head and laughed heartily, seeming to take it as a huge joke.
"Nay, lad, be not put out," he cried kindly, seeing that his laughter made me angry, and therewith clapped me on the shoulder. "I laughed not at you, but at them. Why, it is a rare jest indeed, their taking me for a wizard and thinking me overside—belike it is the work of our friend, Gib, too. Bide you here, David, and methinks we will carry out that jest somewhat."
Pushing me and Grim into the corner, he reached up and blew out the lanthorn, then caught my hand in his and reached for Grim's head as we all settled down together. I had begun to feel fear of him, but when Grim suffered his petting I took heart and cast it off. Grim was a good judge of men, and allowed few to handle him as did this old stranger.
"This is not unlike a night I once spent in the Canadas," broke out the rich, musical voice of the old man. "It was deep winter, and I lay in a little cave with two of my red brothers, after escaping from a great town of the Ottawa nation. For you must know, lad, there are many races of these red men, each at war with the other."
"I know little about it, sir," I answered.
Methought he gave a little impatient sigh at that. "Lord, will these thick-headed English never learn where lies their greatest rulership? But no matter. My own people, among whom I was a chief, were named Mohawks, and we had been captured by the Ottawas after a great raid out to the westward. All of us were sore wounded and far from home, having no meat save two rabbits we caught, all during the two weeks we lay there.
"Well, on this night of which I speak we were all but frozen, and at length made shift to build a small fire. All around us were our enemies, and we had seen a dozen braves searching that same day. It was something like midnight when I, who was on watch, saw a tall deer pass—"
And more of that story I never heard, because just at that instant the door of the cabin opened very softly, and I almost thought it had been done by a lurch of the ship but for feeling Grim bristle. Then my hair stood on end with pure horror, for in the cabin above the timber-groan and howl of the wind, there came three shrill, clear hoots of an owl.
A dark shape which had filled the doorway suddenly paused. Grim began a growl, but I checked him at hearing a chuckle from the old man, and berated myself for a fool. It was his work, of course. But there in the dark it sounded eerie enough, and when two raven-calls echoed out I scarce repressed a cry. A ragged streak of lightning outside showed us the figure of a man in the doorway, others behind him, and the gleam of bare steel; then as the light passed I sprang up, for in my ears had shrilled up the long sobbing howl of a wolf—a sound to wake the dead!
Wake me it did, and Grim too, for he answered it with another and leaped away from me. We heard a startled yell from the men, and then the old stranger slammed the door before Grim could escape.
"Easy, old boy, easy! Wait a bit till we get a light."
With a dexterous flint and steel he soon had the lanthorn going, to my no small satisfaction. Wat Herries was still sleeping, which I wondered at. I was still blinking when the old man pulled me up and took my hands in his.
"Davie, lad," he said softly, "you did a good deed this night. Now begone, and fear not for me. Those devils yonder will come near me no more save in the light of day."
"But—but—" I stammered fearfully, "was it witchcraft or—"
"Witchcraft? Forest craft, more like," he laughed, his white beard shaking at me. "'Tis a gift the Lord and the Mohawks gave me, but we will e'en give the Lord credit, Davie. So get you gone to sleep and breathe no word of this."
Much reassured at finding he had no dealings with the black art, though I deemed his speech not far from blasphemy, I caught hold on Grim and we both returned to the main cabin, where all was as we had left it and Alec Gordon still arguing stoutly. I flung down on a pile of canvas and went to sleep with Grim still in my arms, but that wolf-howl echoed through and through my dreams that night and I woke with it still in my ears. Indeed, it then seemed scarce a thing of this world, though I have since heard it often enough.
When I went on deck next morning we were in worse plight than ever, for it was biting cold and there were masses of ice around us, floating in the sea. I learned that we had been driven far north, where the seas are full of ice even in June, but it seemed a mighty strange thing to me. There was some fog also, and every now and then the "Lass" would heave her bows into an ice-cake with a shivering crash that boded ill for her timbers.
That day two of the womenfolk, both Gordons, complained of a new sickness, and Robin Grier said his teeth were loose in his head. My father and old Alec were puzzled enough, but when the stranger heard of it he ordered that the sick ones be given naught save green stuff to eat. That minded me of the talk I had overheard, but a warning glance from the old man checked the words on my lips. It was then we learned that many of the crew were sick likewise, of that plague called scurvy, which comes from eating no fresh green things. We were in sorry plight, for save a few potatoes our green stuff had all vanished long since.
That day there was no wind to speak of, and I drew Ruth up into the bows again, where we sat gloomily enough with plaids wrapped around to keep out the damp fog. I had seen Gib o' Clarclach once or twice, but he kept well out of my way and out of sight as much as might be. I told Ruth all that had taken place the night before, but at my fears of witchcraft and wizardry she laughed outright.
"Yet the old man said himself that he had been a chief among the red heathen of the Colonies," I argued, "while his speech was all but blasphemous."
Whereat she only laughed the more, and I grew sulky until she pointed to a little bunch of the crew in the shelter of the rail below us, in the waist.
"I am more feared of them than of any wizard, Davie," she said. "This terrible sickness is come upon us all, and we cannot fight against it. And see where we are come—up into the sea of floating ice! With Master Herries laid up in his bunk, and the men agog with superstition, we are like to have an ill time ere we reach the plantations."
"Just the same," I repeated stubbornly, "I cannot see how any one can be a chief among the heathen cannibals and still remain a God-fearing man. And why will he not tell his name, and whence he comes?"
This silenced Ruth for the time, and though she laughed again I could see that she was perplexed also. But with the contrariness of women she declared that the talk wearied her, and so changed the topic abruptly.