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Cornell University Library 
 PR9298.R64F7 1896 
 
 The forge in the forest; being the narrat 
 
 3 1924 013 514 967 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013514967 
 
The Forge in the Forest 
 
The 
 
 Forge in the Forest 
 
 Being 
 
 The Narrative of the Acadian Ranger, "Jean 
 
 de Afer, Seigneur de Briart ; and how 
 
 he crossed the Black Abbe ; and of 
 
 his Adventures in a Strange 
 
 Fellowship 
 
 By 
 
 Charles G. D. Roberts 
 
 . VTCRE5CIT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lamson, Wolffe and Company 
 Boston, New York and London 
 
 William Briggs, Toronto 
 
 MDCCCXCVII 
 
A- Ca o A G ^O 
 Copyright, 1896, 
 By Lamson, Wolffe, and Company. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 Second Edition 
 
 The Norwood Press 
 
 J. S. Cutting & Co. — Berwick £f Smith 
 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
To 
 
 George E. Fenety, Esq. 
 
 This Story of a Province 
 
 among whose Honoured Sons he is 
 
 not least distinguished 
 
 is dedicated 
 
 with esteem and affection 
 

 Contents 
 
 
 Part I. — Marc 
 
 A Foreword . 
 
 Chapter 
 I. 
 
 The Capture at the Forge 
 
 II. 
 
 The Black Abbe . 
 
 III. 
 
 Tamin's Little Stratagem . 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Governor's Signature 
 
 V. 
 
 In the Run of the Seas 
 
 VI. 
 
 Grul 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Commander is Embarrassed 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 
 
 IX. 
 
 The Abbe Strikes Again . 
 
 X. 
 
 A Bit of White Petticoat . 
 
 XI. 
 
 I Fall a Willing Captive . 
 
 Page 
 1 1 
 
 >S 
 
 27 
 
 33 
 46 
 60 
 
 72 
 
 85 
 
 98 
 
 11 1 
 
 124 
 
 137 
 
 Part II. — Mt^pah 
 
 XII. In a Strange Fellowship . . 155 
 
 XIII. My Comrade . . . .167 
 
 XIV. My Comrade Shoots Excellently Well 178 
 XV. Grul's Hour 193 
 
 7 
 
Contents 
 
 Chapter 
 
 
 Page 
 
 XVI. 
 
 I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 
 
 207 
 
 XVII. 
 
 A Night in the Deep 
 
 219 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 The Osprey, of Plymouth 
 
 229 
 
 XIX. 
 
 The Camp by Canseau Strait . 
 
 242 
 
 XX. 
 
 The Fellowship Dissolved 
 
 257 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The Fight at Grand Pre 
 
 272 
 
 XXII. 
 
 The Black Abbe Strikes in the Dark 
 
 287 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 The Rendezvous at the Forge . 
 
 302 
 
Part T 
 Marc 
 
The Forge in the Forest 
 
 A Foreword 
 
 WHERE the Five Rivers flow down 
 to meet the swinging of the Minas 
 tides, and the Great Cape of Blomi- 
 don bars out the storm and the fog, lies 
 half a county of rich meadow-lands and 
 long-arcaded orchards. It is a deep- 
 bosomed land, a land of fat cattle, of 
 well-filled barns, of ample cheeses and 
 strong cider ; and a well-conditioned folk 
 inhabit it. But behind this countenance 
 of gladness and peace broods the memory 
 of a vanished people. These massive 
 dykes, whereon twice daily the huge tide 
 beats in vain, were built by hands not 
 suffered to possess the fruits of their 
 labour. These comfortable fields have 
 
12 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 been scorched with the ruin of burning 
 homes, drenched with the tears of women 
 hurried into exile. These orchard lanes, 
 appropriate to the laughter of children or 
 the silences of lovers, have rung with battle 
 and run deep with blood. Though the 
 race whose bane he was has gone, still 
 stalks the sinister shadow of the Black 
 Abbe. 
 
 The low ridge running between the 
 dykelands of the Habitants and the dyke- 
 lands of the Canard still carries patches 
 of forest interspersed among its farms, 
 for its soil is sandy and not greatly to be 
 coveted for tillage. These patches are 
 but meagre second growth, with here 
 and there a gnarled birch or overpeer- 
 ing pine, lonely survivor of the primeval 
 brotherhood. The undergrowth has long 
 smoothed out all traces of what a curious 
 eye might fifty years ago have discerned, 
 — the foundations of the chimney of a 
 blacksmith's forge. It is a mould well 
 steeped in fateful devisings, this which 
 lies forgotten under the creeping roots 
 of juniper and ragged-robin, between the 
 
A Foreword 13 
 
 diminished stream of Canard and the yel- 
 low tide of Habitants. 
 
 The forest then was a wide-spreading 
 solemnity of shade wherein armies might 
 have moved unseen. The forge stood 
 where the trail from Pereau ran into the 
 more travelled road from the Canard to 
 Grand Pre. The branches of the ancient 
 wood came down all about its low eaves ; 
 and the squirrels and blue jays chattered on 
 its roof. It was a place for the gathering 
 of restless spirits, the men of Acadie who 
 hated to accept the flag of the English 
 king. It was the Acadian headquarters 
 of the noted ranger, Jean de Mer, who 
 was still called by courtesy, and by the 
 grace of such of his people as adhered to 
 his altered fortunes, the Seigneur de Briart. 
 His father had been lord of the whole 
 region between Blomidon and Grand Pre ; 
 but the English occupation had deprived 
 him of all open and formal lordship, for 
 the de Briart sword was notably conspicu- 
 ous on the side of New France. Never- 
 theless, many of Jean de Mer's habitants 
 maintained to him a chivalrous allegiance, 
 
14 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and paid him rents for lands which in the 
 English eye were freehold properties. He 
 cherished his hold upon these faithful folk, 
 willing by all honest means to keep their 
 hearts to France. His one son, Marc, 
 grew up at Grand Pre, save for the three 
 years of his studying at Quebec. His 
 faithful retainer, Babin, wielding a smith's 
 hammer at the Forge, had ears of wisdom 
 and a tongue of discretion for the men 
 who came and went. Once or twice in 
 the year, it was de Mer's custom to visit 
 the Grand Pre country, where he would 
 set his hand to the work of the forge after 
 Babin's fashion, playing his part to the 
 befooling of English eyes, and taking, in 
 truth, a quaint pride in his pretended 
 craft. At the time, however, when this 
 narrative opens, he had been a whole 
 three years absent from the Acadian land, 
 and his home-coming was yet but three 
 days old. 
 
Chapter I 
 The Capture at the Forge 
 
 IT was good to be alive that afternoon. 
 A speckled patch of sunshine, hav- 
 ing pushed its way through the branches 
 across the road, lay spread out on the 
 dusty floor of the forge. On a block just 
 inside the door sat Marc, his lean, dark 
 face, — the Belleisle face, made more 
 hawklike by the blood of his Penobscot 
 grandmother, — all aglow with eagerness. 
 The lazy youngster was not shamed at the 
 sight of my diligence, but talked right on, 
 with a volubility which would have much 
 displeased his Penobscot grandmother. It 
 was pleasant to be back with the lad again, 
 and I was aweary of the war, which of late 
 had kept my feet forever on the move 
 from Louisbourg to the Richelieu. My 
 fire gave a cheerful roar as I heaved upon 
 is 
 
1 6 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 the bellows, and turned my pike-point in 
 the glowing charcoal. As the roar sighed 
 down into silence there was a merry whirr 
 of wings, and a covey of young partridges 
 flashed across the road. A contented 
 mind and a full stomach do often make 
 a man a fool, or I should have made 
 shift to inquire why the partridges had 
 so sharply taken wing. But I never 
 thought of it. I turned, and let the iron 
 grow cool, and leaned with one foot on 
 the anvil, to hear the boy's talk. My 
 soul was indeed asleep, lulled by content, 
 or I would surely have felt the gleam of 
 the beady eyes that watched me through 
 a chink in the logs beside the chimney. 
 But I felt those eyes no more than if I 
 had been a log myself. 
 
 " Yes, Father," said Marc, pausing in 
 rich contemplation of the picture in his 
 mind's eye, " you would like her hair ! 
 It is unmistakably red, — a chestnut red. 
 But her sister's is redder still ! " 
 
 I smiled at his knowledge of my little 
 weakness for hair of that colour ; but not 
 of a woman's hair was I thinking at that 
 
The Capture at the Forge 17 
 
 moment, or I should surely have made 
 some question about the sister. My 
 mind ran off upon another trail. 
 
 "And what do the English think 
 they're going to do when de Ramezay 
 comes down upon them ? " I inquired. 
 " Do they flatter themselves their tumble- 
 down Annapolis is strong enough to hold 
 us off"? " 
 
 The lad flushed resentfully and straight- 
 ened himself up on his seat. 
 
 " Do you suppose, Father, that I was 
 in the fort, and hobnobbing with the 
 Governor ? " he asked coldly. " I spoke 
 with none of the English save Prudence 
 and her sister, and the child." 
 
 " But why not ? " said I, unwilling to 
 acknowledge that I had said anything at 
 which he might take offence. " Every 
 one knows your good disposition toward 
 the English, and I should suppose you 
 were in favour at Annapolis. The Gov- 
 ernor, I know, makes much of all our peo- 
 ple who favour the English cause." 
 
 Marc stood up, — lean, and fine, and a 
 good half head taller than his father, — 
 
1 8 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and looked at me with eyes of puzzled 
 wrath. 
 
 " And you think that I, knowing all I 
 do of de Ramezay's plans, would talk to 
 the English about them ! " he exclaimed 
 in a voice of keen reproach. 
 
 Now, I understood his anger well 
 enough, and in my heart rejoiced at it; 
 for though I knew his honour would 
 endure no stain, I had nevertheless feared 
 lest I should find his sympathies all Eng- 
 lish. He was a lad with a way of think- 
 ing much and thinking for himself, and 
 even now, at twenty year, far more of a 
 scholar than I had ever found time to be. 
 Therefore, I say, his indignation pleased 
 me mightily. Nevertheless I kept at him. 
 
 " Chut ! " said I, " all the world knows 
 by now of de Ramezay's plans. There 
 had been no taint of treachery in talking 
 of them ! " 
 
 Marc sat down again, and the ghost 
 of a smile flickered over his lean face. 
 Though free enough of his speech be- 
 times, he was for the most part as unsmil- 
 ing as an Indian. 
 
The Capture at the Forge 19 
 
 " I see you are mocking me, Father," 
 he said presently, relighting his pipe. 
 " Indeed, you know very well I am on 
 your side, for weal or ill. As long as 
 there was a chance of the English being 
 left in peaceable possession of Acadie, I 
 urged that we should accept their rule 
 fully and in good faith. No one can say 
 they haven't ruled us gently and gener- 
 ously. And I feel right sure they will 
 continue to rule us, for the odds are on 
 their side in the game they play with 
 France. But seeing that the game has 
 yet to be played out, there is only one 
 side for me, and I believe it to be the 
 losing one. Though as a boy I liked 
 them well enough, I have nothing more 
 to do with the English now except to 
 fight them. How could I have another 
 flag than yours ? " 
 
 "You are my own true lad, whatever 
 our difference of opinion !" said I. And 
 if my voice trembled in a manner that 
 might show a softness unsuited to a vet- 
 eran of my training, bear in mind that, 
 till within the past three days, I had not 
 
20 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 seen the lad for three years, and then but 
 briefly. At Grand Pre, and in Quebec at 
 school, Marc had grown up outside my 
 roving life, and I was just opening my 
 eyes to find a comrade in this tall son 
 of my boyhood's love. His mother, a 
 daughter of old Baron St. Castin by his 
 Penobscot wife, had died while he was yet 
 at the breast. A babe plays but a small 
 part in the life of a ranging bush-fighter, 
 though I had ever a great tenderness for 
 the little lad. Now, however, I was look- 
 ing upon him with new eyes. 
 
 Having blown the coals again into a 
 heat, I returned to Marc's words, certain 
 of which had somewhat stuck in my 
 crop. 
 
 " But you speak with despondence, lad, 
 of the chances of the war, and of the hope 
 of Acadie ! By St. Joseph, we'll drive the 
 English all the way back of the Penobscot 
 before you're a twelvemonth older. And 
 Acadie will see the Flag of the Lilies flap- 
 ping once more over the ramparts of Port 
 Royal." 
 
 Marc shook his head slowly, and seemed 
 
The Capture at the Forge 2.1 
 
 to be following with his eyes the vague 
 pattern of the shadows on the floor. 
 
 " It seems to me," said he, with a con- 
 viction which caught sharply at my heart 
 even though I bore in mind his youth and 
 inexperience, " that rather will the Flag of 
 the Lilies be cast down even from the 
 strong walls of Quebec. But may that 
 day be far off! As for our people here in 
 Acadie, during the last twelvemonth it has 
 been made very clear to me that evil days 
 are ahead. The Black Abbe is preparing 
 many sorrows for us here in Acadie." 
 
 " I suppose you mean La Game ! " said 
 I. " He's a diligent servant to France ; 
 but I hate a bad priest. He's a danger- 
 ous man to cross, Marc ! Don't go out 
 of your way to make an enemy of the 
 Black Abbe ! " 
 
 Again that ghost of a smile glimmered 
 on Marc's lips. 
 
 " I fear you speak too late, Father ! " 
 said he, quietly. "The reverend Abbe 
 has already marked me. He so far hon- 
 ours me as to think that I am an obstacle 
 in his path. There be some whose eyes 
 
22 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 I have opened to his villany, so that he 
 has lost much credit in certain of the par- 
 ishes. I doubt not that he will contrive 
 some shrewd stroke for vengeance." 
 
 My face fell somewhat, for I am not 
 ashamed to confess that I fear a bad priest, 
 the more so in that I yield to none in my 
 reverence for a good one. I turned my 
 iron sharply in the coals, and then ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Oh, well, we need not greatly trouble 
 ourselves. There are others, methinks, 
 as strong as the Black Abbe, evil though 
 he be ! " But I spoke, as I have often 
 found it expedient to do, with more confi- 
 dence than I felt. 
 
 Even at this moment, shrill and clear 
 from the leafage at one end of the forge, 
 came the call of the big yellow-winged 
 woodpecker. I pricked up my ears and 
 stiffened my muscles, expectant of I knew 
 not what. 
 
 Marc looked at me with some surprise. 
 
 " It's only a woodpecker ! " said he. 
 
 " But it's only in the spring," I pro- 
 tested, " that he has a cry like that ! " 
 
The Capture at the Forge 23 
 
 " He cries untimely, as an omen of the 
 ills to come ! " said Marc, half meaning it 
 and half in jest. 
 
 Had it been anywhere on the perilous 
 frontier, — on the Richelieu or in the 
 West, or nigh the bloody Massachusetts 
 line, my suspicions would have sprung up 
 wide awake. But in this quiet land be- 
 tween the Habitants and the Canard I 
 was off my guard, — and what a relief it 
 was, indeed, to let myself be careless for a 
 little ! I thought no more of the wood- 
 pecker, but remembered that sister with 
 the red hair. I came back to her by in- 
 direction, however. 
 
 " And how did you manage, lad, to be 
 seeing Mistress Prudence, and her sister, 
 and the child, and yet no others of the 
 English ? A matter of dark nights and 
 back windows ? Eh ? But come to think 
 of it, there was a clear moon this day four 
 weeks back, when you were at Annapolis." 
 
 " No, Father," answered Marc, " it was 
 all much more simple and less advent- 
 urous than that. Some short way out 
 of the town is a little river, the Equille, 
 
24 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and a pleasant hidden glade set high upon 
 its bank. It is a favoured resort of both 
 the ladies ; and there I met them as often 
 as I was permitted. Mizpah would 
 sometimes choose to play apart with the 
 child, down by the water's edge if the tide 
 were full, so I had some gracious oppor- 
 tunity with Prudence. — My time being 
 brief, I made the most of it ! " he added 
 drily. His quaint directness amused me 
 mightily, and I chuckled as I shaped the 
 red iron upon the anvil. 
 
 " And who," I inquired, " is this kind 
 sister, with the even redder hair, who goes 
 away with such a timely discretion ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Marc, " I forgot you 
 knew nothing of her. She is Mistress 
 Mizpah Hanford, the widow of a Cap- 
 tain Hanford who was some far connection 
 of the Governor's. Her property is in and 
 about Annapolis, and she lives there to 
 manage it, keeping Prudence with her for 
 companionship. Her child is four or five 
 years old, a yellow-haired, rosy boy called 
 Philip. She's very tall, — a head taller 
 than Prudence, and older, of course, by 
 
The Capture at the Forge 25 
 
 perhaps eight years ; and very fair, though 
 not so fair as Prudence; and altogether — " 
 
 But at this point I interrupted him. 
 
 " What's the matter with the Indian ? " 
 I exclaimed, staring out across Marc's 
 shoulders. 
 
 He sprang to his feet and looked around 
 sharply. An Indian, carrying three shad 
 strung upon a sapling, had just appeared 
 on the road before the forge door. As 
 he came in view he was reeling heavily, 
 and clutching at his head. He dropped 
 his fish ; and a moment later he himself 
 fell headlong, and lay face downward in 
 the middle of the road. I remember 
 thinking that his legs sprawled childishly. 
 Marc strolled over to him with slow in- 
 difference. 
 
 " Have a care ! " I exclaimed. " There 
 may be some trap in it ! It looks not 
 natural ! " 
 
 " What trap can there be ? " asked 
 Marc, turning the body over. " It's Red 
 Moose, a Shubenacadie Micmac. I like 
 not the breed ; but ever since he got a 
 hurt on the head, in a fight at Canseau last 
 
26 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 year, he has been subject to the falling 
 sickness. Let us carry him to a shady 
 place, and he'll come to himself pres- 
 ently!" 
 
 I was at his side in a moment, and we 
 stooped to lift the seemingly lifeless figure. 
 In an instant its arms were about my neck 
 in a strangling embrace. At the same 
 time my own arms were seized. I heard 
 a fierce cry from Marc, and a groan that 
 was not his. The next moment, though 
 I writhed and struggled with all my 
 strength, I found myself bound hand and 
 foot, and seated on the ground with my 
 back against the door-post of the forge. 
 Marc, bound like myself, lay by the road- 
 side ; and a painted savage sat near him 
 nursing with both hands a broken jaw. 
 A dozen Micmacs stood about us. Lean- 
 ing against the door-post over against me 
 was the black-robed form of La Game. 
 He eyed me, for perhaps ten seconds, 
 with a smile of fine and penetrating sar- 
 casm. Then he told his followers to 
 stand Marc up against a tree. 
 
Chapter II 
 The Black Abbe 
 
 WHEN first I saw that smile on the 
 Black Abbe's face, and realized 
 what had befallen us, I came nigh 
 to bursting with rage, and was on the 
 point of telling my captor some truths to 
 make his ears tingle. But when I heard 
 the order to stand Marc up against a tree 
 my veins for an instant turned to ice. 
 Many men — and some women, too, God 
 help me, I then being bound and gagged, 
 — had I seen thus stood up against a tree, 
 and never but for one end. I could not 
 believe that such an end was contemplated 
 now, and that by a priest of the Church, 
 however unworthy of his office ! But I 
 checked my tongue and spoke the Abbe 
 fair. 
 
 " It is quite plain to me, Monsieur," 
 27 
 
28 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 said I, quietly, " that my son and I are the 
 victims of some serious mistake, for which 
 you will, I am sure, feel constrained to 
 ask our pardon presently. I await your 
 explanations." 
 
 La Game, still smiling, looked me over 
 slowly. Never before had I seen him 
 face to face, though he had more than 
 once traversed my line of vision. I had 
 known the tireless figure, as tall, almost, 
 as Marc himself, stoop-shouldered, but 
 robust, now moving swiftly as if propelled 
 by an energy irresistible, now languid with 
 an affectation of indolence. But the face 
 — I hated the possessor of it with a per- 
 sonal hate the moment my eyes fell upon 
 that face. Strong and inflexible was the 
 gaunt, broad, and thin jaw, cruel and cun- 
 ning the high, pinched forehead and nar- 
 row-set, palely glinting eyes. The nose, 
 in particular, greatly offended me, being 
 very long, and thick at the end. "I'll 
 tweak it for him, one fine day," says I to 
 myself, as I boiled under his steady smile. 
 
 "There is no mistake, Monsieur de 
 Briart, believe me ! " he said, still smiling. 
 
The Black Abbe 29 
 
 There could be no more fair words, of 
 course, after that avowal. 
 
 "Then, Sir Priest," said I, coldly, "you 
 are both a madman and a scurvy rogue, 
 and you shall yet be on your knees to me 
 for this outrage. You will see then the 
 nature of your mistake, I give you my 
 word." 
 
 The priest's smile took on something 
 of the complexion of a snarl. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed, Monsieur de Briart," 
 said he. " You are quite safe, because I 
 know you for a good servant to France ; 
 and for your late disrespect to Holy 
 Church, in my person, while in talk with 
 your pestilent son, these bonds may be 
 a wholesome and sufficient lesson to 
 you ! 
 
 "You shall have a lesson sufficient 
 rather than wholesome, I promise you ! " 
 said I. 
 
 " But as for this fellow," went on the 
 Abbe, without noticing my interruption, 
 " he is a spy. You understand how spies 
 fare, Monsieur ! " And a malignant light 
 made his eyes appear like two points of 
 
30 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 steel beneath the ambush of his ragged 
 brows. 
 
 I saw Marc's lean face flush thickly 
 under the gross accusation. 
 
 "It is a lie, you frocked hound ! " he 
 cried, careless of the instant peril in which 
 he stood. 
 
 But the Black Abbe never looked at 
 him. 
 
 " I wish you joy of your son, a very 
 good Englishman, Monsieur, and now, 
 I fear, not long for this world," said he, 
 in a tone of high civility. " He has long 
 been fouling with his slanders the names 
 of those whom he should reverence, and 
 persuading the people to the English. 
 But now, after patiently waiting, I have 
 proofs. His treachery shall hang him ! " 
 
 For a moment the dear lad's peril froze 
 my senses, so that it was but dimly I 
 heard his voice, ringing with indignation 
 as he hurled back the charge upon the 
 lying lips that made it. 
 
 "If the home of lies be anywhere out 
 of Hell, it is in your malignant mouth, 
 you shame of the Church," he cried in de- 
 
The Black Abbe 31 
 
 fiance. " There can be no proof that I 
 am a spy, even as there can be no proof 
 that you are other than a false-tongued 
 assassin, defiling your sacred office." 
 
 It was the galling defiance of a savage 
 warrior at the stake, and even in my fear 
 my heart felt proud of it. The priest was 
 not galled, however, by these penetrating 
 insults. 
 
 "As for the proofs," said he, softly, 
 never looking at Marc, but keeping his 
 eyes on my face, " Monsieur de Ramezay 
 shall judge whether they be proofs or 
 not. If he say they are not, I am con- 
 tent." 
 
 At a sign, a mere turn of his head it 
 seemed to me, the Indians loosed Marc's 
 feet to lead him away. 
 
 "Farewell, Father," said he, in a firm 
 voice, and turned upon me a look of 
 unshakable courage. 
 
 " Be of good heart, son," I cried to 
 him. " I will be there, and this devil 
 shall be balked ! " 
 
 "You, Monsieur," said the priest, still 
 smiling, "will remain here for the present. 
 
2)1 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 To-night I will send a villager to loose 
 your bonds. Then, by all means, come 
 over and see Monsieur de Ramezay at 
 Chignecto. I may not be there then 
 myself, but this business of the spy will 
 have been settled, for the commander 
 does not waste time in such small mat- 
 ters ! " 
 
 He turned away to follow his painted 
 band, and I, shaking in my impotent 
 rage and fear, called after him : — 
 
 "As God lives and is my witness, if 
 the lad comes to any harm, these hands 
 will visit it upon you an hundredfold, till 
 you scream for death's mercy ! " 
 
 But the Black Abbe moved off as if 
 he heard no word, and left me a twisted 
 heap upon the turf, gnawing fiercely at 
 the tough deer-hide of my bonds. 
 
Chapter III 
 Tamin's Little Stratagem 
 
 I HAD been gnawing, gnawing in an 
 anguish at the thongs, for perhaps 
 five minutes. There had been no more 
 than time for the Abbe's wolf-pack to 
 vanish by a turn of the road. Suddenly 
 a keen blade slit the thongs that bound 
 my wrists. Then my feet felt them- 
 selves free. I sat up, astonished, and 
 saw stooping over me the droll, broad 
 face of Tamin the Fisher, — or Tamin 
 Violet, as he was rightly, though sel- 
 dom, called. His mouth was solemn, as 
 always, having never been known to 
 wear a smile ; but the little wrinkles 
 laughed about his small bright eyes. I 
 sprang up and grasped his hand. 
 
 " We must not lose a moment, Tamin, 
 my friend ! " I panted, dragging him into 
 the thick shade of the wood. 
 
 33 
 
34 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " I was thinking you might be in a 
 hurry, M'sieu," said my rescuer. "But 
 unless the mouse wants to be back in 
 the same trap I've just let it out of, 
 you'd better keep still a half-minute 
 and make up your mind. They've a 
 round road to go, and we'll go straight ! " 
 
 " You saw it all ? " I asked, curbing 
 myself as best I could, for I perceived 
 the wisdom of his counsel. 
 
 "Oh, ay, M'sieu, I saw it!" re- 
 plied the Fisher. "And I laughed in 
 my bones to hear the lad talk up to the 
 good father. There was more than one 
 shot went home, I warrant, for all the 
 Black Abbe seemed so deaf. They're fes- 
 tering under his soutane even now, be- 
 like ! " 
 
 " But come ! " said I. " I've got my 
 wind ! " And we darted noiselessly through 
 the cool of the great trees, turning a little 
 east from the road. 
 
 We ran silently for a space, my com- 
 panion's short but massive frame leap- 
 ing, bending, gliding even as lightly as 
 my own, which was ever as lithe as a 
 
Tamin's Little Stratagem 35 
 
 weasel's. Tamin was a rare woodsman, 
 as I marked straightway, though I had 
 known him of old rather as a faithful 
 tenant, and marvellously patient to sit in 
 his boat all day a-fishing on the drift of 
 the Minas tides. 
 
 Presently he spoke, under his breath. 
 
 " Very like, " said he, drily, " when we 
 come up to them they will all fall down. 
 So, we will take the lad and walk away ! 
 eh, what, M'sieu ? " 
 
 " Only let us come up to them, " said I, 
 " and learn their plans. Then we will 
 make ours ! " 
 
 " Something of theirs I know, " said 
 Tamin. "Their canoes are on the Ca- 
 nard maybe three furlongs to east of the 
 road. Thence they will carry the lad to 
 de Ramezay, for the Black Abbe will have 
 things in due form when he can conven- 
 iently, and now it is plain he has a scheme 
 well ripe. But if this wind holds, we'll be 
 there before them. My boat is lying hard 
 by." 
 
 " God be praised ! " I muttered ; for in 
 truth I saw some light now for the first 
 
36 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 time. Presently, drawing near the road 
 again, I heard the voice of La Game. We 
 at once went softly, and, avoiding again, 
 made direct for where lay the canoes. 
 There we disposed ourselves in a swampy 
 thicket, with a little breadth of water 
 lying before and all the forest behind. 
 The canoes lay just across the little 
 water, and so close that I might have 
 tossed my cap into them. The clean 
 smell of the wet salt sedge came freshly 
 into the thicket. The shadows lay long 
 on the water. We had time to grow quiet, 
 till our breathing was no longer hasty, our 
 blood no longer thumped in our ears. A 
 flock of sand-pipers, with thin cries, 
 settled to feed on the red clay between the 
 canoes and the edge of the tide. Suddenly 
 they got up, and puffed away in a flicker 
 of white breasts and brown wings ; and I 
 laid a hand on Tamin's shoulder. The 
 painted band, Marc in their midst, La 
 Game in front, were coming down the 
 slope. 
 
 The lad's face was stern and scornful. 
 To my joy I saw that there was to be no 
 
Tamin's Little Stratagem 37 
 
 immediate departure. The redskins flung 
 themselves down indolently. The Black 
 Abbe saw his prisoner made fast to a tree, 
 and then, telling his followers that he had 
 duties at Pereau which would keep him 
 till past sunset, strode off" swiftly up the 
 trail. Tamin and I, creeping as silently 
 as snakes back into the forest, followed 
 him. 
 
 For half an hour we followed him, 
 keeping pace for pace through the shadow 
 of the wood. Then said I softly to 
 Tamin : — 
 
 " This is my quarrel, my friend ! Do 
 you keep back, and not bring down his 
 vengeance on your head. " 
 
 " That for his vengeance ! " whispered 
 Tamin, with a derisive gesture. " I will 
 take service with de Ramezay, as a regular 
 soldier of France ! " 
 
 " Even there, " said I, " his arm might 
 reach and pluck you forth. Keep back 
 now, and let him not see your face ! " 
 
 "Priest though he be, M'sieu," urged 
 Tamin, anxiously, " he is a mighty man of 
 his hands ! " 
 
38 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 I turned upon him a face of scorn 
 which he found sufficient answer. Then, 
 signing to him to hold off, I sped forward 
 silently. No weapon had I but a light 
 stick of green ash, just cut. There was 
 smooth, mossy ground along the trail, and 
 my running feet made no more sound 
 than a cat's. I was within a pace of spring- 
 ing upon his neck, when he must have felt 
 my coming. He turned like a flash, 
 uttered a piercing signal cry, and whipped 
 out a dagger. 
 
 (( They'll never hear it, " mocked I, and 
 sent the dagger spinning with a smart pass 
 of my stick. The same stroke went nigh 
 to breaking his wrist. He grappled bravely, 
 however, as I took him by the throat, and 
 I was astonished at his force and supple- 
 ness. Nevertheless the struggle was but 
 brief, and the result a matter to be sworn 
 to beforehand ; for I, though not of great 
 stature, am stronger than any other man, 
 big or little, with whom I have ever come 
 to trial ; and more than that, when I was 
 a prisoner among the English, I learned 
 their shrewd fashion of wrestling. In a 
 
Tamin's Little Stratagem 39 
 
 little space the Black Abbe lay choked 
 into submission, after which I bound him 
 in a way to endure, and seated him against 
 a tree. Behind him I caught view of 
 Tamin, gesturing drolly, whereat I laughed 
 till I marked an amazement growing in 
 the priest's malignant eyes. 
 
 "How like you my lesson, good 
 Father ? " I inquired. 
 
 But he only glared upon me. I sup- 
 pose, having no speech that would fitly 
 express his feelings, he conceived that his 
 silence would be most eloquent. But I 
 could see that my next move startled him. 
 With my knife I cut a piece from my 
 shirt, and made therewith a neat gag. 
 
 " Though you seem so dumb at this 
 present," said I, " I suspect that you 
 might find a tongue after my departure. 
 Therefore I must beseech you to wear 
 this ornament, for my sake, for a little." 
 And very civilly prying his teeth open, I 
 adjusted the gag. 
 
 " Do not be afraid ! " I continued. " I 
 will leave you in this discomfort no 
 longer than you thought it necessary to 
 
40 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 leave me so. You shall be free after to- 
 morrow's sunrise, if not before. Farewell, 
 good Father, and may you rest well ! 
 Let me borrow this ring as a pledge for 
 the safe return of the fragment of my 
 good shirt which you hold so obstinately 
 between your teeth ! " And drawing his 
 ring from his finger I turned away and 
 plunged into the forest, where Tamin 
 presently joined me. 
 
 Tamin chuckled, deep in his stomach. 
 
 " My turn now ! " said he. " Give me 
 the ring, M'sieu, and I'll give you the 
 boy!" 
 
 " I see you take me ! " said I, highly 
 pleased at his quick discernment. 
 
 We now made way at leisure back to 
 the canoes, and our plans ripened as we 
 went. 
 
 Before we came within hearing of the 
 Indians I gave over the ring with final 
 directions, to Tamin, and then hastened 
 toward the point of land which runs far 
 out beyond the mouth of the Habitants. 
 Around this point, as I knew, lay the 
 little creek-mouth wherein Tamin kept 
 
Tamin's Little Stratagem 41 
 
 his boat. Beyond the point, perchance a 
 furlong, was a narrow sand-spit covered 
 deep at every flood tide. In a thicket of 
 fir bushes on the bluff over against this 
 sand-spit I lay down to wait for what 
 Tamin should bring to pass. I had some 
 little time to wait ; and here let me unfold, 
 as I learned it after, what Tamin did whilst 
 I waited. 
 
 About sunset, the tide being far out, 
 and the Indians beginning to expect their 
 Abbe's return, came Tamin to them run- 
 ning in haste along the trail from Pereau, 
 as one who carried orders of importance. 
 Going straight to the chief, he pointed de- 
 risively at Marc, whose back was towards 
 him, and cried : — 
 
 "The good father commands that you 
 take this dog of a spy straightway to the 
 sand-spit that lies off the point yonder. 
 There you will drive a strong stake into 
 the sand, and bind the fellow to it, and 
 leave him there, and return here to await 
 the Abbe's coming. You shall do no 
 hurt to the spy, and set no mark upon 
 him. When the tide next ebbs you will go 
 
42 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 again to the sand-spit and bring his body- 
 back ; and if the Abbe finds any mark 
 upon him, you will get no pay for this 
 venture. You will make your camp here 
 to-night, and if the good father be not 
 returned to you by sunrise to-morrow, 
 you will go to meet him along the Pereau 
 trail, for he will be in need of you." 
 
 The tall chief grunted, and eyed him 
 doubtfully. After a brief contemplation 
 he inquired, in broken French : — 
 
 " How know you no lie to me ? " 
 
 " Here is the holy father's ring, in war- 
 ranty ; and you shall giy^e it back to him 
 when he comes." 
 
 "It is well," said the chief, taking the 
 ring, and turning to give some commands 
 in his own guttural tongue. Tamin re- 
 peated his message word by word, then 
 strode away ; and before he got out of 
 sight he saw two canoes put off for the 
 sand-spit. Then he made all haste to 
 join me on the point. 
 
 Long before he arrived the canoes had 
 come stealing around the point and were 
 drawn up on the treacherous isle of sand. 
 
w~^ 
 
 
Tamin's Little Stratagem 43 
 
 My heart bled for the horror of death 
 which, as I knew, must now be clutching 
 at Marc's soul ; but I kept telling myself 
 how soon I would make him glad. It 
 wanted yet three hours or more till the 
 tide should cover the sand-spit. I lay 
 very still among the young fir trees, so 
 that a wood-mouse ran within an arm's 
 length of my face, till it caught the mov- 
 ing of my eyes and scurried off with a 
 frightened squeak. I heard the low 
 change in the note of the tide as the 
 first of the flood began to creep in upon 
 the weeds and pebbles. Then with some 
 farewell taunts, to which Marc answered 
 not a word, the savages went again to 
 their canoes and paddled off swiftly. 
 
 When they had become but specks on 
 the dim water, I doffed my clothes, took 
 my knife between my teeth, and swam 
 across to the sand-spit. There was a low 
 moon, obscured by thin and slowly drift- 
 ing clouds, and as I swam through the 
 faint trail of it, Marc must have seen me 
 coming. Nevertheless he gave no sign, 
 and I could see that his head drooped for- 
 
44 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 ward upon his breast. An awful fear came 
 down upon me, and for a second or two I 
 was like to sink, so numb I turned at the 
 thought that perchance the savages had 
 put the knife to him before quitting. I 
 recovered, however, as I called to mind 
 the orders which Tamin had rehearsed to 
 me ere starting on his venture ; for I 
 knew how sorely the Black Abbe was 
 feared by his savage flock. What they 
 deemed him to have commanded, that 
 would they do. 
 
 Drawing closer now, I felt the ground 
 beneath my feet. 
 
 " Marc," I called softly, " I'm coming, 
 lad!" 
 
 The drooped head was lifted. 
 
 " Father ! " he exclaimed. And there 
 was something like a sob in that cry of 
 joy. It caught my heart strangely, telling 
 me he was still a boy for all he had borne 
 himself so manfully in the face of sudden 
 and appalling peril. Now the long ten- 
 sion was loosed. He was alone with me. 
 As I sprang to him and cut the thongs 
 that held him, one arm went about my 
 
Tamin's Little Stratagem 45 
 
 neck and I was held very close for the 
 space of some few heart-beats. Then he 
 fetched a deep breath, stretched his cramped 
 limbs this way and that, and said simply, 
 " I knew you would come, Father ! I 
 knew you would find a way ! " 
 
Chapter IV 
 The Governor's Signature 
 
 THE clouds slipped clear of the 
 moon's face, and we three — 
 Marc, I, and the stake — cast sudden 
 long black shadows which led all the way- 
 down to the edge of the increeping tide. 
 I looked at the shadows, and a shudder 
 passed through me as if a cold hand had 
 been laid upon my back. Marc stood off 
 a little, — never have I seen such quick 
 control, such composure, in one so inex- 
 perienced, — and remarked to me : — 
 
 "What a figure of a man you are, 
 Father, to be sure ! " 
 
 I fell into his pretence of lightness at 
 once, a high relief after the long and 
 deadly strain ; and I laughed with some 
 pleasure at the praise. In very truth, I 
 cherished a secret pride in my body. 
 4 6 
 
The Governor's Signature 47 
 
 " 'Tis well enough, no doubt, in a dim 
 light," said I, " though by now surely 
 somewhat battered ! " 
 
 Marc was already taking off his clothes. 
 As he knotted them into a convenient 
 bundle, there came from the woods, a 
 little way back of the point, the hollow 
 " Too-hoo-hoo-whoo-00 ! " of the small 
 gray owl. 
 
 " There's Tamin ! " said I, and was on 
 the point of answering in like fashion, 
 when the cry was reiterated twice. 
 
 " That means danger, and much need 
 of haste for us," I growled. Together 
 we ran down into the tide, striking out 
 with long strokes for the fine white line 
 that seethed softly along the dark base of 
 the point. I commended the lad might- 
 ily for his swimming, as we scrambled 
 upon the beach and slipped swiftly into 
 our clothes. Though carrying his bundle 
 on his head, he had given me all I could 
 do to keep abreast of him. 
 
 We climbed the bluff, and ran through 
 the wet, keen-scented bushes toward 
 the creek where lay the boat. Ere we 
 
48 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 had gone half-way Tamin met us, breath- 
 less. 
 
 " What danger ? " I asked. 
 
 " I think they're coming back to tuck 
 the lad in for the night, and see that 
 he's comfortable ! " replied Tamin, pant- 
 ing heavily. " I heard paddles when they 
 should have been long out of earshot." 
 
 " Something has put them in doubt ! " 
 said Marc. 
 
 " Sure," said I, " and not strange, if one 
 but think of it ! " 
 
 "Yet I told them a fair tale," panted 
 Tamin, as he went on swiftly toward his 
 boat. 
 
 The boat lay yet some yards above the 
 edge of tide, having been run aground 
 near high water. The three of us were 
 not long in dragging her down and get- 
 ting her afloat. Then came the question 
 that was uppermost. 
 
 "Which way?" asked Tamin, laconi- 
 cally, taking the tiller, while Marc stood 
 by to hoist the dark and well-patched sail. 
 
 I considered the wind for some mo- 
 ments. 
 
The Governor's Signature 49 
 
 " For Chignecto ! " said I, with empha- 
 sis. " We must see de Ramezay and settle 
 this hound La Game. Otherwise Marc 
 stands in hourly peril." 
 
 As the broad sail drew, and the good 
 boat, leaning well over, gathered way, 
 and the small waves swished and gurgled 
 merrily under her quarter, I could hardly 
 withhold from laughing for sheer glad- 
 ness. Marc was already smoking with 
 great composure beside the mast, his lean 
 face thoughtful, but untroubled. He 
 looked, I thought, almost as old as his 
 war-battered sire who now watched him 
 with so proud an eye. Presently I heard 
 Tamin fetch a succession of mighty 
 breaths, as he emptied and filled the 
 ample bellows of his lungs. He snatched 
 the green and yellow cap of knitted wool 
 from his head, and let the wind cool the 
 sweating black tangle that coarsely thatched 
 his broad skull. 
 
 " Hein ! " he exclaimed, with a droll 
 glance at Marc, "that's better than that!" 
 And he made an expressive gesture as of 
 setting a knife to his scalp. To me this 
 
50 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 seemed much out of place and time ; but 
 Tamin was ever privileged in the eyes of 
 a de Mer, so I grumbled not. As for 
 Marc, that phantom of a smile, which I 
 had already learned to watch for, just 
 touched his lips, as he remarked calmly : 
 
 " Vraiment, much better. That, as you 
 call it, my Tamin, came so near to-night 
 that my scalp needs no cooling since ! " 
 
 "But whither steering?" I inquired; 
 for the boat was speeding south-eastward, 
 straight toward Grand Pre. 
 
 Tamin's face told plainly that he had 
 his reasons, and I doubted not that they 
 were good. For some moments that 
 wide, grave mouth opened not to make 
 reply, while the little, twinkling, contra- 
 dictory eyes were fixed intently on some 
 far-off landmark, to me invisible. This 
 point being made apparently to his satis- 
 faction, he relaxed and explained. 
 
 " You see, M'sieu," said he, " we must 
 get under the loom o' the shore, so's we'll 
 be out of sight when the canoes come round 
 the point. If they see a sail, at this time 
 o' night, they'll suspicion the whole thing 
 
The Governor's Signature 51 
 
 and be after us. Better let 'em amuse 
 themselves for a spell hunting for the lad 
 on dry land, so's we won't be rushed. 
 Been enough rush ! " 
 
 " Yes ! Yes ! " assented I, scanning 
 eagerly the point behind us. And Marc 
 said : — 
 
 " Very great is your sagacity, my Tamin. 
 The Black Abbe fooled himself when he 
 forgot to take you into his reckoning ! " 
 
 At this speech the little wrinkles 
 gathered thicker about Tamin's eyes. 
 At length, deeming us to have gone far 
 enough to catch the loom of the land, as 
 it lay for one watching from the sand-spit, 
 Tamin altered our course, and we ran up 
 the basin. Just then we marked two 
 canoes rounding the point. They were 
 plainly visible to us, and I made sure we 
 should be seen at once ; but a glance at 
 Tamin's face reassured me. The Fisher 
 understood, as few even among old woods- 
 men understand it, the lay of the shadow- 
 belts on a wide water at night. 
 
 Noiselessly we lowered our sail and lay 
 drifting, solicitous to mark what the sav- 
 
52 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 ages might do. The sand-spit was by this 
 so small that from where we lay it was not 
 to be discerned ; but we observed the 
 Indians run their canoes upon it, disem- 
 bark, and stoop to examine the footprints 
 in the sand. In a moment or two they 
 embarked again, and paddled straight to 
 the point. 
 
 " Shrewd enough ! " said Marc. 
 
 "Yes," said I, "and now they'll track 
 us straight to Tamin's creek, and under- 
 stand that we've taken the boat. But they 
 won't know what direction we've taken ! " 
 
 "No, M'sieu," muttered Tamin, "but 
 no use loafing round here till they find 
 out ! " 
 
 Which being undoubted wisdom of 
 Tamin's, we again hoisted sail and con- 
 tinued our voyage. 
 
 Having run some miles up the Basin, 
 we altered our course and stood straight 
 across for the northern shore. We now 
 felt secure from pursuit, holding it highly 
 improbable that the savages would guess 
 our purpose and destination. As we sat 
 contenting our eyes with the great belly- 
 
The Governor's Signature $3 
 
 ing of the sail, and the fine flurries of 
 spray that ever and again flashed up from 
 our speeding prow, and the silver-blue 
 creaming of our wake, Marc gave us a 
 surprise. Thrusting his hand into the 
 bosom of his shirt he drew out a packet 
 and handed it to me. 
 
 " Here, perhaps, are the proofs on which 
 the gentle Abbe relied ! " said he. 
 
 Taking the packet mechanically, I stared 
 at the lad in astonishment. But there was 
 no information to be gathered from that 
 inscrutable countenance, so I presently rec- 
 ollected myself, and unfolded the papers. 
 There were two of them. The moon was 
 partly clear at the moment, and I made 
 out the first to be an order, written in 
 English, on one Master Nathaniel Ap- 
 thorp, merchant, of Boston, directing him 
 to pay Master Marc de Mer, of Grand 
 Pre in Nova Scotia, the sum of two hun- 
 dred and fifty pounds. It was signed 
 " Paul Mascarene, Gov r of Nova Scotia." 
 The other paper was written in finer and 
 more hasty characters, and I could not 
 decipher it in the uncertain light. But 
 
54 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 the signature was the same as that ap- 
 pended to the order on Mr. Apthorp. 
 
 " I cannot decipher this one, in this bad 
 light," said I ; " but what does it all mean, 
 Marc ? How comes the English Gov- 
 ernor to be owing you two hundred and 
 fifty pounds ? " 
 
 " Does he owe me two hundred and 
 fifty pounds ? That's surely news of in- 
 terest ! " said Marc. 
 
 I looked at him, amazed. 
 
 " Do you mean to say that you don't 
 know what is in these papers ? " I inquired, 
 handing them back. 
 
 " How should I know that ? " said 
 Marc, with a calmness which was not a 
 little irritating. " They were placed in my 
 pocket by the good Abbe ; and since then 
 my opportunities of reading have been but 
 scant ! " 
 
 Tamin ejaculated a huge grunt of indig- 
 nant comprehension ; and I, beholding all 
 at once the whole wicked device, threw up 
 my hands and fell to whistling an idle air. 
 It seemed to me a case for which curses 
 would seem but tame and pale. 
 
The Governor's Signature 55 
 
 " This other, then," said I, presently, 
 " must be a letter that would seem to have 
 been written to you by the Governor, and 
 worded in such a fashion as to compro- 
 mise you plainly ! " 
 
 " 'Tis altogether probable, Father," re- 
 plied Marc, musingly, as he scanned the 
 page. He was trying to prove his own 
 eyesight better than mine, but found the 
 enterprise beyond him, — as I knew he 
 would. 
 
 " I can make out nothing of this other, 
 save the signature," he continued. " We 
 must even wait for daylight. And in the 
 meanwhile I think you had better keep 
 the packet, Father, for I feel my wits and 
 my experience something lacking in this 
 snarl." 
 
 I took the papers and hid them in a 
 deep pocket which I wore within the bosom 
 of my shirt. 
 
 " The trap was well set, and deadly, 
 lad," said I, highly pleased at his confi- 
 dence in my wisdom to conduct the affair. 
 " But trust me to spring it. Whatever 
 this other paper may contain, de Ramezay 
 
56 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 shall see them both and understand the 
 whole plot." 
 
 " 'Twill be hard to explain away," said 
 Marc, doubtfully, " if it be forged with any 
 fair degree of skill ! " 
 
 " Trust my credit with de Ramezay for 
 that. It is something the Black Abbe has 
 not reckoned upon ! " said I, with assur- 
 ance, stuffing my pipe contentedly with 
 the right Virginia leaf. Marc, being well 
 tired with all that he had undergone that 
 day, laid his head on the cuddy and was 
 presently sound asleep. In a low voice, 
 not to disturb the slumberer, I talked with 
 Tamin, and learned how he had chanced 
 to come so pat upon me in my bonds. 
 He had been on the way up to the Forge, 
 coming not by the trail, but straight 
 through the forest, when he caught a view 
 of the Indians, and took alarm at the 
 stealth of their approach. He had tracked 
 them with a cunning beyond their own, 
 and so achieved to outdo them with their 
 own weapons. 
 
 The moon now swam clear in the naked 
 sky, the clouds lying far below. By the 
 
The Governor's Signature 57 
 
 broad light I could see very well to read 
 the letter. It was but brief, and ran 
 thus : — 
 
 To my good Friend and trusted Helper Monsieur 
 Marc de Mer : — 
 
 Dear Sir, — As touching the affair which 
 you have so prudently carried through, and my 
 gratitude for your so good help, permit the en- 
 closed order on Master Apthorp to speak for 
 me. If I might hope that you would find it in 
 your heart and within your convenience to put 
 me under yet weightier obligations, I would be 
 so bold as to desire an exact account of the 
 forces at Chignecto, and of the enterprize upon 
 which Monsieur de Ramezay is purposing to 
 employ them. 
 
 Believe me to be, my dear Sir, yours with 
 high esteem and consideration, 
 
 Paul Mascarene. 
 
 With a wonder of indignation I read it 
 through, and then again aloud to Tamin, 
 who cursed the author with such ingenious 
 Acadian oaths as made me presently smile. 
 
 " It is right shrewdly devised," said I, 
 " but the deviser knew little of the blunt 
 
58 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 English Governor, or never would he have 
 made him write with such courtly circum- 
 locutions. De Ramezay, very like, will 
 have seen communications of Mascarene's 
 before now, and will scarce fail to note the 
 disagreement." 
 
 "The fox has been known to file his 
 tongue too smooth," said Tamin, senten- 
 tiously. 
 
 By this we were come over against the 
 huge black front of Blomidon, but our 
 course lay far outside the shadow of his 
 frown, in the silvery run of the seas. The 
 moon floated high over the great Cape, 
 yellow as gold, and the bare sky was like 
 an unruffled lake. Far behind us opened 
 the mouth of the Piziquid stream, a bright 
 gap in the dark but vague shore-line. On 
 our right the waters unrolled without ob- 
 struction till they mixed pallidly with the 
 sky in the mouth of Cobequid Bay. Five 
 miles ahead rose the lofty shore which 
 formed the northern wall of Minas Chan- 
 nel, — grim and forbidding enough by 
 day ; / but now, in such fashion did the 
 moonlight fall along it, wearing a face of 
 
The Governor's Signature 59 
 
 fairyland, and hinting of fountained pal- 
 aces in its glens and high hollows. After 
 I had filled my heart with the fairness and 
 the wonder of it, I lay down upon a thwart 
 and fell asleep* 
 
Chapter V 
 In the Run of the Seas 
 
 IT seemed as if I had but fairly got my 
 eyes shut, when I was awakened by a 
 violent pitching of the boat. I sat up, 
 grasping the gunwale, and saw Marc just 
 catching my knee to rouse me. The boat, 
 heeling far over;, and hauled close to the 
 wind, was heading a little up the channel 
 and straight for a narrow inlet which I 
 knew to be the joint mouth of two small 
 rivers. 
 
 " Where are you going ? Why is our 
 course changed ? " I asked sharply, being 
 nettled by a sudden notion that they had 
 made some change of plan without my 
 counsel. 
 
 "Look yonder, Father!" said Marc, 
 pointing. 
 
 I looked, and my heart shook with 
 60 
 
In the Run of the Seas 61 
 
 mingled wrath and apprehension. Be- 
 hind us followed three canoes, urged on 
 by sail and paddle. 
 
 " They outsail us ? " I inquired. 
 
 "Ay, before the wind, they do, M'sieu ! " 
 said Tamin. " On this tack, maybe not. 
 We'll soon see ! " 
 
 " But what's this but a mere trap we 
 are running our heads into ? " I urged. 
 
 " I fear there's nothing else but to quit 
 the boat and make through the woods, 
 Father," explained Marc ; " that is, if 
 we're so fortunate as to keep ahead till we 
 reach land." 
 
 "In the woods, I suppose, we can out- 
 wit them or outfoot them," said I; "but 
 those Micmacs are untiring on the trail." 
 
 " I know a good man with a good boat 
 over by Shulie on the Fundy shore," in- 
 terposed Tamin. " And I know the way 
 over the hills. We'll cheat the rogue of 
 a priest yet ! " And he shrewdly meas- 
 ured the distance that parted us from 
 our pursuers. 
 
 " It galls me to be running from these 
 dogs ! " I growled. 
 
62 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Our turn will come," said Marc, 
 glowering darkly at the canoes. " Do 
 you guess the Black Abbe is with 
 them ? " 
 
 " Not he ! " grunted Tamin. 
 
 " Things may happen this time," said 
 I, " and the good father may wish to keep 
 his soutane clear of them. It's all plain 
 enough to me now. The Indians, find- 
 ing themselves tricked, have gone back on 
 the Pereau trail and most inopportunely 
 have released the gentle Abbe from his 
 bonds. He has seen through our game, 
 and has sent his pack to look to it that 
 we never get to de Ramezay. But he 
 will have no hand in it. Oh, no ! " 
 
 " What's plain to me now," interrupted 
 Tamin, with some anxiety in his voice, 
 " is that they're gaining on us fast. 
 They've put down leeboards ; an' with 
 leeboards down a Micmac canoe's hard 
 to beat." 
 
 " Oh ! " I exclaimed bitterly, " if we 
 had but our muskets ! Fool that I 
 was, thus to think to save time and not 
 go back for our weapons ! Trust me, 
 
In the Run of the Seas 63 
 
 lad, it's the first time that Jean de Mer 
 has had that particular kind of folly to 
 repent of! " 
 
 " But there was nought else for it," 
 Father," said Marc. " And if, as seems 
 most possible, we come to close quarters 
 presently, we are not so naked as we 
 might be. Here's your two pistols, my 
 good whinger, and Tamin's fishy dirk. 
 And Tamin's gaff" here will make a 
 pretty lance. It is borne in upon me 
 that some of the good Abbe's lambs will 
 bleat for their shepherd before this night's 
 work be done ! " 
 
 There was a steady light in his eyes 
 that rejoiced me much, and his voice rose 
 and fell as if fain to break into a war 
 song ; and I said to myself, " The boy 
 is a fighter, and the fire is in his blood, 
 for all his scholar's prating of peace ! " 
 Yet he straightway turned his back upon 
 the enemy and with great indifference went 
 to filling his pipe. 
 
 "Ay, an' there be a right good gun in 
 the cuddy ! " grunted Tamin, after a sec- 
 ond or two of silence. 
 
64 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 "The saints be praised!" said I. And 
 Marc's long arm reached in to capture it. 
 It was a huge weapon, and my heart beat 
 high at sight of it. Marc caressed it for 
 an instant, then reluctantly passed it to 
 me, with the powder-horn. 
 
 " I can shoot, a little, myself," said he, 
 " but I would be presumptuous to boast 
 when you were by, Father ! " 
 
 " Ay, vraiment," said Tamin, sharply ; 
 "don't think you can shoot with the Sieur 
 de Briart yet ! " 
 
 " I don't," replied Marc, simply, as he 
 handed me out a pouch of bullets and a 
 pouch of slugs. 
 
 The pursuing canoes were by this come 
 within fair range. There came a strident 
 hail from the foremost : — 
 
 " Lay to, or we shoot ! " 
 
 " Shoot, dogs ! " I shouted, ramming 
 home the good measure of powder which 
 I had poured into my hand. I followed 
 it with a fair charge of slugs, and was 
 wadding it loosely, when — 
 
 " Duck. ! " cries Tamin, bobbing his 
 head lower than the tiller. 
 
In the Run of the Seas 65 
 
 Neither Marc nor I moved a hair. 
 But we gazed at the canoes. On the 
 instant two red flames blazed out, with 
 a redoubled bang ; and one bullet went 
 through the sail a little above my head. 
 
 " Not bad ! " said Marc, glancing tran- 
 quilly at the bullet hole. , 
 
 But for my own part, I was angry. 
 To be fired upon thus, at a priest's orders, 
 by a pack of scurvy savages in the pay of 
 our own party, — never before had Jean 
 de Briart been put to such indignity. I 
 kneeled, and took a very cautious aim, — 
 not, however, at the savages, but at the 
 bow of the nearest canoe. 
 
 Tamin's big gun clapped like a cannon, 
 and kicked my shoulder very vilely. But 
 the result of the shot was all that we could 
 desire. As I made haste to load again I 
 noticed that the savage in the bow had 
 fallen backward in his place, hit by a stray 
 slug. The bulk of the charge, however, 
 had torn a great hole in the bark, close to 
 the water-line. 
 
 " You've done it, Father ! " said Marc, 
 in a tone of quiet exultation. 
 
66 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Hein ! " grunted Tamin. " They 
 don't like the wet!" 
 
 The canoe was going down by the 
 bow. The other two craft ranged hur- 
 riedly alongside, and took in the gesticu- 
 lating crew, — all but one, whom they 
 left in the stern to paddle the damaged 
 canoe to land, being loth to lose a service- 
 able craft. With broken bow high in air 
 the canoe spun around, and sped off up 
 the Basin before the wind. The remain- 
 ing two resumed the chase of us. We 
 had gained a great space during the con- 
 fusion, yet they came up upon us fast. 
 
 But now, ere I judged them to be 
 within gunshot, they slackened speed. 
 
 "They think better of it!" said I, 
 raising the gun again to my shoulder. 
 As I did so they sheered off in haste to 
 a safer distance. 
 
 "They are not such fools as I had 
 hoped ! " said Marc. 
 
 "I so far flatter myself as to think," 
 said I, with some complacency, "that 
 they won't trust themselves willingly again 
 within range of this good barker." 
 
In the Run of the Seas 67 
 
 By this we were come well within the 
 wide mouth of the estuary, and a steep, 
 wooded point thrust out upon our right. 
 All at once I muttered a curse upon my 
 dulness. 
 
 " What fools we are, to be sure ! " 
 I cried. " No reason that we should 
 toil across the mountains to your good 
 man's good boat at Shulie, my Tamin. 
 Put her about, and we'll sail in comfort 
 around to Chignecto ; and let these fel- 
 lows come in range again at their peril ! " 
 
 " To be sure, indeed ! " grunted Tamin ; 
 and with a lurch and great flapping we 
 went about. 
 
 The canoes, indeed, now fled before us 
 with excellent discretion. Our new course 
 carried us under the gloom of the promon- 
 tory, whence, in a few minutes, we shot out 
 again into the moonlight. It was pleas- 
 ant to see our antagonists making such 
 courteous haste to give us room. I could 
 not forbear to chuckle over it, and wished 
 mightily that the Black Abbe were in one 
 of the canoes. 
 
 " I fear me there's to be no work for 
 
68 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 Tamin's fishy dirk or my good whinger," 
 sighed Marc, with a nice air of melan- 
 choly ; and Tamin, with the little wrinkles 
 thicker than ever about his eyes, yelled 
 droll taunts after our late pursuers. In 
 fact, we were all three in immense high 
 feather, — when on a sudden there came a 
 crashing bump that tumbled us headlong, 
 the mast went overboard, and there we 
 were stuck fast upon a sharp rock. The 
 boat was crushed in like an egg-shell, and 
 lay over on her side. The short, chop- 
 ping seas huddled upon us in a smother. 
 As I rose up, sputtering, I took note of 
 Tamin's woollen cap washing away debo- 
 nairly, snatched off, belike, by a taut rope 
 as the mast fell. Then, clinging all three 
 to the topmost gunwale, the waves jump- 
 ing and sousing us derisively, we stared at 
 each other in speechless dismay. But a 
 chorus of triumphant screeches from the 
 canoes, as they noted our mishap and made 
 to turn, brought us to our senses. 
 
 " Nothing for it but to swim ! " said I, 
 thrusting down the now useless musket 
 into the cuddy, where I hoped it might 
 
In the Run of the Seas 69 
 
 stay in case the wrecked boat should drift 
 ashore. It was drenched, of course, and 
 something too heavy to swim with. I 
 emptied the slugs from my pocket. 
 Tamin ducked his head under water and 
 fumbled in the cuddy till I was on the 
 point of plucking him forth, fearing he 
 would drown, — Marc, meanwhile, look- 
 ing on tranquilly and silently, with that 
 fleeting remembrance of a smile. But 
 now Tamin arose, gasping, with a small 
 sack and a salted hake in his hands. The 
 fish he passed over to me. 
 
 " Bread, M'sieu ! " said he, holding up 
 the drenched sack in triumph. "Now 
 for the woods ! " 
 
 'Twas but the toss of a biscuit to shore, 
 and we had gained it ere our enemies were 
 come within gunshot. Running swiftly 
 along the strip of beach that skirted the 
 steep, we put the shoulder of the cape 
 between, and were safe from observation 
 for a few minutes. 
 
 " To the woods, M'sieu ! " cried Tamin, 
 in a suppressed voice. 
 
 "No!" said I, sternly. "Straight 
 
70 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 along the beach, till I give the word to 
 turn in ! Follow me ! " 
 
 "'Tis the one chance, to get out of 
 sight now ! " grumbled Tamin, running 
 beside me, and clutching at his wet sack 
 of bread. 
 
 " Don't you suppose he knows what 
 he is doing, my Tamin ? " interrupted 
 Marc. "'Tis for you and me to obey 
 orders ! " 
 
 Tamin growled, but said no more. 
 
 " Now in with you to cover," I com- 
 manded, waving my salt fish as it had 
 been a marshal's baton. At the same 
 moment I turned, ran up the wet slope 
 where a spring bubbled out of the wood's 
 edge and spread itself over the stones, and 
 sprang behind a thick screen of viburnums. 
 My companions were beside me on the 
 instant, — but it was not an instant too 
 soon. As we paused to look back, there 
 were the canoes coming furiously around 
 the point. 
 
 Staying not long to observe them, I 
 led the way straight into the darkness of 
 the woods, aiming for the seashore at the 
 
In the Run of the Seas 71 
 
 other side of the point. But Tamin was 
 not satisfied. 
 
 " Our road lies straight up yon river," 
 said he. 
 
 " My friend," said I, " we must e'en 
 find another road to Shulie. Those fel- 
 lows will be sure to agree that we have 
 gone that way. Knowing that I am a 
 cunning woodsman, they will say, ' He will 
 make them to run in the water, and so 
 leave no trail.' And they will give hot 
 chase up the river." 
 
 " But there be two rivers," objected 
 Tamin. 
 
 " Bien," said I, " they will divide their 
 party, and give hot chase up two rivers ! " 
 
 " And in the meanwhile ? " inquired 
 Marc. 
 
 "I'll find the way to Shulie," said I. 
 " The stars and the sun are guide enough ! 
 I know the main lay of all these coasts." 
 
Chapter VI 
 Grul 
 
 THE undergrowth into which we had 
 now come was thick and hinder- 
 ing, so there was no further chance of 
 speech. A few minutes more and we 
 came out upon the seaward slope of the 
 point. We pushed straight down to the 
 water, here sheltered from the wind and 
 little troubled. That our footprints 
 might be hidden, at least for a time, we 
 ran, one behind the other, along the lip 
 of the tide, where the water was about 
 ankle deep. In the stillness our splash- 
 ing sounded dangerously loud, and Tamin, 
 yet in a grumbling humour, spoke of it. 
 
 " But you forget, my friend," said I, 
 gently, "that there is noise and to spare 
 where our enemies are, — across there in 
 the wind ! " 
 
 73 
 
Grul 73 
 
 In a moment Tamin spoke again, point- 
 ing some little way ahead. 
 
 "The land drops away yonder, M'sieu, 
 'twixt the point and the main shore! " he 
 growled, with conspicuous anxiety in his 
 voice. He was no trembler ; but it fretted 
 him to be taking what he deemed the 
 weaker course. " Nothing," he added, 
 " but a bit of bare beach that the waves 
 go over at spring tides when the wind's 
 down the Basin ! " 
 
 I paused in some dismay. But my 
 mind was made up. 
 
 "We must go on," said I. " But we 
 will stoop low, and lose no time in the 
 passage. They'll scarce be landed yet." 
 
 And now, as I came to see how low 
 indeed that strip of perilous beach was, I 
 somewhat misdoubted of success in getting 
 by unseen. But we went a little deeper in 
 the tide, and bowed our bodies with great 
 humbleness, and so passed over with painful 
 effort but not a little speed. Being come 
 again under shelter; we straightened our- 
 selves, well pleased, fetched a deep breath 
 or two, and ran on with fresh celerity. 
 
74 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " But if a redskin should think to 
 step over the beach, there'd be our goose 
 cooked ! " muttered Tamin. 
 
 " Well said ! " I answered. " There- 
 fore let us strike inland at once ! " And 
 I led the way again into the darkness of 
 the forest. 
 
 Dark as it was, there was yet light 
 enough from the moon to enable me to 
 direct my course as I wished. I struck 
 well west of the course which would have 
 taken us most speedily to Shulie, being 
 determined to avoid the valley of the 
 stream which I considered our pursuers 
 were most likely to ascend. To satisfy 
 Tamin's doubts I explained my purpose, 
 which was to aim straight for Shulie as 
 soon as we were over the water-shed. 
 And I must do him the justice to say 
 he was content, beginning now to come 
 more graciously to my view. We went 
 but slowly, climbing, ever climbing. At 
 times we would be groping through a 
 great blackness of hemlocks. Again the 
 forest would be more open, a mingling 
 of fir trees, and birches, and maples. 
 
Grul 75 
 
 Coming at last to more level ground, 
 we were still much hindered by innu- 
 merable rocks, amid which the under- 
 brush and wild vines prepared pitfalls for 
 our weary feet. But I was not yet will- 
 ing to call a halt for breath. On, on we 
 stumbled, the wet branches buffeting our 
 faces, but a cool and pleasant savour 
 of the wild herbs which we trod upon 
 ever exhaling upwards to refresh our 
 senses. As we crossed a little grassy 
 glade, I observed that Marc had come 
 to Tamin's help, and was carrying the 
 sack of bread. I observed, also, that 
 Tamin's face was drawn with fatigue, 
 and that he went with a kind of dogged 
 heaviness. I took pity upon him. We 
 had put, I guessed, good miles between 
 ourselves and our pursuers, and I felt 
 that we were, in all reason, safe for the 
 time. At the further limit of the glade 
 there chattered a shallow brook, whose 
 sweet noise reminded me that I was 
 parched with thirst. The pallor of first 
 dawn was now coming into the sky, and 
 the tree tops began to lift and float in 
 
j 6 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 an aerial grayness. I glanced at Marc, 
 and his eyes met mine with a keen 
 brightness that told me he was yet un- 
 wearied. Nevertheless I cried : — 
 
 "Halt, and fall out for breakfast." 
 And with the words I flung myself down 
 by the brook, thrust my burning face 
 into the babbling chill of it, and drank 
 luxuriously. Tamin was beside me in an 
 instant; but Marc slaked his thirst at 
 more leisure, when he had well enjoyed 
 watching our satisfaction. 
 
 We lay for a little, till the sky was 
 touched here and there with saffron and 
 flying wisps of pink, and we began to see 
 the colour of grass and leaves. Then we 
 made our meal, — a morsel each of the 
 salt hake which I had clung to through 
 our flight, and some bits of Tamin's black 
 bread. This bread was wholesome, as I 
 well knew, and to our hunger it was not 
 unsavoury ; but it was of a hardness which 
 the sea-water had scarce availed to mitigate. 
 
 As we ground hastily upon the meagre 
 fare, I felt, rather than heard, a presence 
 come behind me. I turned my head with 
 
Grul 77 
 
 a start, and at the same instant heard a 
 high, plangent voice, close beside us, cry- 
 ing slowly : — 
 
 " Woe, woe to Acadie the Fair, for the 
 day of her desolation cometh." 
 
 It was an astonishing figure upon which 
 my eyes fell, — a figure which might have 
 been grotesque, but was not. Instead of 
 laughing, my heart thrilled with a kind of 
 awe. The man was not old, — his frame 
 was erect and strong with manhood ; but 
 the long hair hanging about his neck, was 
 white, the long beard streaming upon his 
 half-naked breast was white. He wore 
 leathern breeches, and the upper portion 
 of his body was covered only by a cloak 
 of coarse woollen stuff, woven in a staring 
 pattern of black and yellow. On his head 
 was a rimless cap of plaited straw, with a 
 high, pointed crown ; and this was stuck 
 full of gaudy flowers and feathers. From 
 the point of the crown rose the stump of 
 what had been, belike, a spray of golden- 
 rod, broken by a hasty journeying through 
 the obstructions of the forest. The man's 
 eyes, of a wild and flaming blue, fixed 
 
78 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 themselves on mine. In one hand he 
 carried a white stick, with a grotesque 
 carven head, dyed scarlet, which he pointed 
 straight at me. 
 
 " Do you lie down, like cows that chew 
 the cud, when the wolves are on the trail ? " 
 demanded that plangent voice. 
 
 " It's Grul ! " cried Tamin, springing to 
 his feet and thrusting a piece of black 
 bread into the stranger's hand. 
 
 But the offering was thrust aside, while 
 those wide eyes flamed yet more wildly 
 upon me. 
 
 " They are on the trail, I tell you ! " he 
 repeated. " I hear their feet even now ! 
 Go ! Run ! Fly ! " and he stooped, with 
 an ear toward the ground. 
 
 " But which way should we fly ? " I 
 asked, half in doubt whether his warning 
 should be heeded or derided. I could see 
 that neither Marc nor Tamin had any 
 such doubts. They were on the strain 
 to be off, and only awaited my word. 
 
 " Go up the brook," said he, in a lower 
 voice. "The first small stream on your 
 left hand, turn up that a little way, and 
 
Grul 79 
 
 so — for the wolves shall this time be 
 balked. But the black wolf's teeth bite 
 deep. They shall bite upon the throats 
 of the people ! " he continued, his voice 
 rising keenly, his white staff, with its 
 grinning scarlet head, waving in strange, 
 intricate curves. We were already off, 
 making at almost full speed up the brook. 
 Glancing back, I saw the fantastic form 
 running to and fro over the ground where 
 we had lain ; and when the trees hid him 
 we heard those ominous words wailed 
 slowly over and over with the reiterance 
 of a tolling bell : — 
 
 " Woe, woe for Acadie the Fair, for the 
 day of her desolation cometh ! " 
 
 " He'll throw them off the trail ! " said 
 Tamin, confidently. 
 
 " But how did they ever get on it ? " 
 queried Marc. 
 
 "'Tis plain that they have seen or heard 
 us as we passed the strip of beach ! " said 
 I, in deep vexation, for I hated to be over- 
 reached by any one in woodcraft. " If 
 we outwit them now, it's no thanks to my 
 tactics, but only to that generous and as- 
 
80 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 tonishing madman. You both seemed to 
 know him. Who, in the name of all the 
 saints, might he be ? What was it you 
 called him, Tamin ? " 
 
 " Griil ! " replied Tamin ; and said no 
 more, discreetly husbanding his wind. But 
 Marc spoke for him. 
 
 " I have heard him called no other 
 name but Grill ! Madman he is, at times, 
 I think. But sane for the most part, and 
 with some touches of a wisdom beyond 
 the wisdom of men. The guise of mad- 
 ness he wears always ; and the Indians, as 
 well as our own people, reverence him 
 mightily. It is nigh upon three years 
 since he first appeared in Acadie. He 
 hates the Black Abbe, — who, they say, 
 once did him some great mischief in some 
 other land than this, — and his strange 
 ravings, his prodigious prophesyings, do 
 something here and there to weaken the 
 Abbe's influence with our people." 
 
 " Then how does he evade the good 
 father's wrath ? " I questioned, in wonder. 
 
 "Oh," said Marc, "the good father 
 hates him cordially enough. But the 
 
Grul 8 1 
 
 Indians could not be persuaded, or bullied, 
 or bribed, to lift a hand against him. They 
 say a Manitou dwells in him." 
 
 " Maybe they're not far wrong ! " 
 grunted Tamin. 
 
 And now I, like Tamin, found it pru- 
 dent to spare my wind. But Marc, whose 
 lungs seemed untiring, spoke from time to 
 time as he went, and told me certain inci- 
 dents, now of Grill's acuteness, now of his 
 gift of prophecy, now of his fantastic mad- 
 ness. We came at length, after passing 
 two small rivulets on the right, to the stream 
 on the left which Grul had indicated. It 
 had a firm bed, wherein our footsteps left 
 no trace, and we ascended it for perhaps 
 a mile, by many windings. Then, with 
 crafty care, we crept up from the stream, 
 in such a fashion as to leave no mark of 
 our divergence if, as I thought not likely, 
 our pursuers should come that way. After 
 that we fetched a great circuit, crossed the 
 parent brook, and shortly before noon 
 judged that we might account ourselves 
 secure. Where a tiny spring bubbled be- 
 neath a granite boulder and trickled away 
 
82 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 north toward the Fundy shore, we stopped 
 to munch black bread and the remnant of 
 the fish. We rested for an hour, — Tamin 
 and I sleeping, while Marc, who protested 
 that he felt no motion toward slumber, 
 kept watch. When he roused us, we set 
 off pleasantly refreshed, our faces toward 
 Shulie. 
 
 Till late that night we journeyed, hav- 
 ing a clear moon to guide us. Coming at 
 length to the edge of a small lake set with 
 islands, " Here," said I, "is the place 
 where we may sleep secure ! " 
 
 We stripped, took our bundles on our 
 heads, and swam out into the shining still- 
 ness. We swam past two islets, and 
 landed upon one which caught my fancy. 
 There we lay down in a bed of sweet- 
 smelling fern, and were well content. As 
 we supped on Tamin's good black bread, 
 two loons laughed to each other out on 
 the silver surface. We saw their black, 
 watchful heads, moving slowly. Then we 
 slept. It was high day when we awoke. 
 The bread was now scarce, so we husbanded 
 it, and made such good speed all day that 
 
Grul 83 
 
 while it wanted yet some hours of sunset 
 we came out upon a bluff's edge and saw 
 below us the wash and roll of Fundy. 
 We were some way west of Shulie, but not 
 far, Tamin said, from the house of his 
 good friend with the good boat. 
 
 To this house we came within the hour. 
 It was a small, home-like cabin, among 
 apple trees, in a slant clearing that over- 
 hung a narrow creek. There, by a little 
 jetty, I rejoiced to see the boat. The man 
 of the house, one Beaudry, was in the 
 woods looking for his cow, but the good- 
 wife made us welcome. When Beaudry 
 came in he and Tamin fell on each other's 
 necks. And I found, too, that the name 
 of Jean de Briart, with something of his 
 poor exploits, was not all unknown in the 
 cabin. 
 
 How well we supped that night, on fresh 
 shad well broiled, and fresh sweet barley 
 bread, and thin brown buckwheat cakes ! 
 It was settled at once that Beaudry should 
 put us over to de Ramezay's camp with 
 the first of the morrow's tide. Then, over 
 our pipes, sitting under the apple tree by 
 
84 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 the porch, we told our late adventures. I 
 say we, but Tamin told them, and gave 
 them a droll colouring which delighted 
 me. It must have tickled Marc's fancy, 
 too, for I took note that he let his pipe 
 out many times during the story. Beaudry 
 kept crying " Hein ! " and " Bien ! " and 
 " Tiens ! " in an ecstasy of admiration. 
 The goodwife, however, was seemingly 
 most touched by the loss of Tamin's 
 knitted cap. With a face of great concern, 
 as who should say " Poor soul ! " she 
 jumped up, ran into the house, was gone a 
 few moments, and returned beaming be- 
 nevolence. 
 
 " Via ! " she cried ; and stuck upon 
 Tamin's wiry black head a bran-new cap 
 of red wool. 
 
Chapter VII 
 The Commander is Embarrassed 
 
 NEXT day we set out at a good 
 hour, and came without further 
 adventure to Chignecto. Having landed, 
 amid a little swarm of fishing-boats, we 
 then went straight to de Ramezay's head- 
 quarters, leaving Beaudry at the wharf 
 among his cronies. We crossed a strip 
 of dyked marsh, whereon were many sleek 
 Acadian cattle cropping the rich aftermath, 
 and ascended the gentle slope of the up- 
 lands. Amid a few scattered cabins were 
 ranged the tents of the soldiers. Camp 
 fires and sheaves of stacked muskets gave 
 the bright scene a warlike countenance. 
 Higher up the hill stood a white cottage, 
 larger than the rest, its door painted red, 
 with green panels ; and from a staff on 
 its gable, blown out bravely by the wind 
 85 
 
86 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 which ever sweeps those Fundy marsh- 
 lands, flapped the white banner with the 
 Lilies of France. 
 
 The sentry who challenged us at the 
 foot of the slope knew me, — had once 
 fought under me in a border skirmish, — 
 and, saluting with great respect, summoned 
 a guard to conduct us to headquarters. 
 As we climbed the last dusty rise and 
 turned in, past the long well-sweep and 
 two gaunt, steeple-like Lombardy poplars, 
 to the yard before the cottage, the door 
 opened and the commander himself stood 
 before us. His face lit up gladly as I 
 stepped forward to greet him, and with 
 great warmth he sprang to embrace me. 
 
 " My dear Briart ! " he cried. " I have 
 long expected you ! " 
 
 " I am but just returned to Acadie, my 
 dear friend," said I, with no less warmth 
 than he had evinced, " or you would 
 surely have seen me here to greet you 
 on your coming. But the King's service 
 kept me on the Richelieu ! " 
 
 "And even your restless activity, my 
 Jean, cannot put you in two places at 
 
The Commander is Embarrassed 87 
 
 once," said he, as he turned with an air 
 of courteous inquiry to my companions. 
 Perceiving at once by his dress that 
 Tamin was a habitant, his eyes rested 
 upon Marc. 
 
 " My son Marc, Monsieur de Rame- 
 zay," said I. 
 
 The two bowed, Marc very respect- 
 fully, as became a young man on pre- 
 sentation to a distinguished officer, but 
 de Ramezay with a sudden and most 
 noticeable coldness. At this I flushed 
 with anger, but the moment was not one 
 for explanations. I restrained myself; and 
 turning to Tamin, I said in an altered 
 tone : — 
 
 "And this, de Ramezay, is my good 
 friend and faithful follower, Tamin Violet, 
 of Canard parish, who desires to enlist for 
 service under you. More of him, and all 
 to his credit, I will tell you by and by. 
 I merely commend him to you now as 
 brave, capable, and a good shot ! " 
 
 " I have ever need of such ! " said 
 de Ramezay, quickly. "As you recom- 
 mend him, he shall serve in Monsieur 
 
88 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 de Ville d'Avray's company, which forms 
 my own guard." 
 
 Summoning an orderly, he gave direc- 
 tions to this effect. As Tamin turned to 
 depart with the orderly, both Marc and 
 I stepped up to him and wrung his 
 hands, and thanked him many times for 
 the courage and craft which had saved 
 Marc's life as well as the honour of our 
 family. 
 
 " We'll see you again to-night or in the 
 morning, my Tamin," said Marc. 
 
 " And tell you how goes my talk with 
 the commander," added I, quietly. 
 
 "And for the boat we wrecked," con- 
 tinued Marc, "why, of course, we won't 
 remain in your debt for a small thing like 
 that ; though for the great matter, and for 
 your love, we are always your debtors 
 gladly ! " 
 
 "And in the King's uniform," said I, 
 cutting short Tamin's attempted protesta- 
 tions, " even the Black Abbe will not try 
 to molest you." 
 
 I turned again to de Ramezay, who was 
 waiting a few paces aside, and said, with a 
 
The Commander is Embarrassed 89 
 
 courtesy that was something formal after 
 the warmth of our first greeting : — 
 
 " Your pardon, de Ramezay ! But 
 Tamin has gone through much with us 
 and for us. And now, my son and I 
 would crave an undisturbed conversation 
 with you." 
 
 At once, and without a word, he con- 
 ducted us into his private room, where he 
 invited us to be seated. As we complied, 
 he himself remained standing, with every 
 sign of embarrassment in his frank and 
 fearless countenance. I had ever liked 
 him well. Good cause to like him, in- 
 deed, I had in my heart, for I had once 
 stood over his body in a frontier skirmish, 
 and saved his scalp from the knives of the 
 Onondagas. But now my anger was hot 
 against him, for it was plain to me that he 
 had lent ear to some slanders against 
 Marc. For a second or two there was a 
 silence, then Marc sprang to his feet. 
 
 "Perhaps if I stand," said he, coldly, 
 " Monsieur de Ramezay will do us the 
 honour of sitting." 
 
 De Ramezay's erect figure — a very 
 
90 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 soldierly and imposing figure it was in its 
 uniform of white and gold — straightened 
 itself haughtily for an instant. Then he 
 began, but with a stammering tongue : — 
 
 " I bitterly regret — it grieves me, — it 
 pains me to even hint it, — " and he kept 
 his eyes upon the floor as he spoke, — 
 " but your son, my dear friend, is ac- 
 cused — " 
 
 Here I broke in upon him, springing 
 to my feet. 
 
 " Stop ! " said I, sternly. 
 
 He looked at me with a face of sorrow- 
 ful inquiry, into which a tinge of anger 
 rose slowly. 
 
 " Remember," I continued, " that what- 
 ever accusation or imputation you make 
 now, I shall require you to prove beyond 
 a peradventure, — or to make good with 
 your sword against mine ! My son is the 
 victim of a vile conspiracy. He is — " 
 
 "Then he is loyal, you say, to France?" 
 interrupted de Ramezay, eagerly. 
 
 " I say," said I, in a voice of steel, 
 " that he has done nothing that his father, 
 a soldier of France, should blush to tell, 
 
The Commander is Embarrassed 91 
 
 — nothing that an honest gentleman 
 should not do." My voice softened a 
 little as I noticed the change in his counte- 
 nance. "And oh, Ramezay," I continued, 
 " had any man an hour ago told me that 
 you would condemn a son of mine un- 
 heard, — that you, on the mere word of 
 a false priest or his wretched tools, would 
 have believed that a son of Jean de Mer 
 could be a traitor, I would have driven 
 the words down his throat for a black lie, 
 a slander on my friend ! " 
 
 De Ramezay was silent for a moment, 
 his eyes fixed upon the floor. Then he 
 lifted his head. 
 
 " I was wrong. Forgive me, my friend ! " 
 said he, very simply. " I see clearly that 
 I ought to have held the teller of those 
 tales in suspicion, knowing of him what 
 I do know. And now, since you give me 
 your word the tales are false, they are 
 false. Pardon me, I beg of you, Mon- 
 sieur ! " he added, turning to Marc and 
 holding out his hand. 
 
 Marc bowed very low, but appeared 
 not to see the hand. 
 
92 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " If you have heard, Monsieur de 
 Ramezay," said he, "that, before it was 
 made plain that France would seek to 
 recover Acadie out of English hands, I, 
 a mere boy, urged my fellow Acadians to 
 accept the rule in good faith ; — if you 
 have heard that I then urged them not 
 to be misled to their own undoing by an 
 unscrupulous and merciless intriguer who 
 disgraces his priestly office ; — if you have 
 heard that, since then, I have cursed bit- 
 terly the corruption at Quebec which is 
 threatening New France with instant ruin, 
 — you have heard but truly ! " 
 
 De Ramezay bit his lips and flushed 
 slightly. Marc was not making the situa- 
 tion easier ; but I could scarce blame him. 
 Our host, however, motioned us to our 
 seats, taking his own chair immediately 
 that he saw us seated. For my own part, 
 my anger was quite assuaged. I hastened 
 to clear the atmosphere. 
 
 " Let me tell you the whole story, 
 Ramezay," said I, " and you will under- 
 stand. But first let me say that my son 
 is wholly devoted to the cause of France. 
 
The Commander is Embarrassed 93 
 
 His former friendly intercourse with the 
 English, a boyish matter, he brought to 
 an utter end when the war came this 
 way." 
 
 "And let me say," interrupted de 
 Ramezay, manfully striving to amend his 
 error, " that when one whom I need not 
 name was filling my ear with matter not 
 creditable to a young man named Marc 
 de Mer, it did not come at all to my 
 mind — and can you wonder ? — that the 
 person so spoken of was a son of my 
 Briart, of the man who had so perilled his 
 own life to save mine ! I thought your 
 son was but a child. It was thus that the 
 accusations were allowed to stick in my 
 mind, — which I do most heartily repent 
 of! And for which I again crave pardon ! " 
 
 " I beg of you, Monsieur, that you will 
 think no more of it ! " said Marc, heartily, 
 being by this quite appeased. 
 
 Then with some particularity I told our 
 story, — not omitting Marc's visit to his 
 little Puritan at Annapolis, whereat de 
 Ramezay smiled, and seemed to under- 
 stand something which had before been 
 
94 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 dark to him. When the Black Abbe came 
 upon the scene (I had none of our host's 
 reluctance to mention the Abbe's name !) 
 de Ramezay's brows gathered gloomily. 
 But he heard the tale through with breath- 
 less attention up to the point of our land- 
 ing at Chignecto. 
 
 "And now, right glad am I that you 
 are here," he exclaimed, stretching out a 
 hand to each of us. The frank welcome 
 that illuminated the strong lines of his 
 face left no more shadow of anger in our 
 hearts. 
 
 " And here are the Abbe's precious 
 documents ! " said I, fetching forth the 
 packet. 
 
 De Ramezay examined both letters with 
 the utmost care. 
 
 " The reward," he said presently, with 
 a dry smile, "is on a scale that savours 
 of Quebec rather more than of thrifty 
 New England. When Boston holds 
 the purse-strings, information is bought 
 cheaper than that ! As for the signature, 
 it is passable. But I fear it would scarce 
 satisfy Master Apthorp ! " 
 
The Commander is Embarrassed 95 
 
 " I thought as much," said I, " though 
 I have seen Mascarene's signature but 
 once." 
 
 De Ramezay fingered the paper, and 
 held it up to the light. 
 
 " But a point which will interest you 
 particularly, Monsieur," he continued, ad- 
 dressing Marc, " is the fact that this paper 
 was made in France ! " 
 
 " It is gratifying to know that, Mon- 
 sieur ! " replied Marc, with his vanishing 
 smile. 
 
 " It would be embarrassing to some 
 people," said de Ramezay, " if they 
 knew we were aware of it. But I may 
 say here frankly that they must not know 
 it. You will readily understand that my 
 hands are something less than free. As 
 things go now at Quebec, there are 
 methods used which I cannot look upon 
 with favour, and which I must therefore 
 seem not to see. I am forced to use 
 the tools which are placed in my hands. 
 This priest of whom you speak is a power 
 in Acadie. He is thought to be indis- 
 pensable to our cause. He will do the 
 
g6 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 things that, alas, have to be done, but 
 which no one else will do. And I believe 
 he does love France, — he is surely sin- 
 cere in that. But he rests very heavily, 
 methinks, on the conscience of his good 
 bishop at Quebec, who, but for the 
 powers that -interfere, would call him to 
 a sharp account. I tell you all this so 
 that you will see why I must not charge 
 the Abbe with this villany of his. I am 
 compelled to seem ignorant of it." 
 
 I assured him that I apprehended the 
 straits in which he found himself, and 
 would be content if he would merely give 
 the Abbe to understand that Marc was 
 not to be meddled with. 
 
 " Of course," said Marc, at this point, 
 " I wish to enter active service, with 
 Father ; and I shall therefore be, for the 
 most part, beyond the good Abbe's reach. 
 But we have business at Grand Pre and 
 Canard that will hold us there a week or 
 thereabouts; and it is annoying to walk 
 in the hourly peril of being tomahawked 
 and scalped for a spy ! " 
 
 " I'll undertake to secure you in this 
 
The Commander is Embarrassed 97 
 
 regard," laughed de Ramezay ; "and in re- 
 turn, perchance I may count on your sup- 
 port when I move against Annapolis, as 
 my purpose is to do ere many weeks ! " 
 
 "Assuredly ! " said Marc, " if my father 
 have made for me no other plans ! " And 
 he turned to me for my word in the matter. 
 
 As it chanced, this was exactly as I had 
 purposed, which I made at once to appear. 
 It was presently agreed, therefore, that we 
 should tarry some days at Chignecto, re- 
 turning thereafter to despatch our affairs 
 at home and await de Ramezay's sum- 
 mons. As the Commander's guests we 
 were lodged in his own quarters, and 
 Tamin was detailed to act as our or- 
 derly. The good Beaudry, with his good 
 boat, was sent home not empty-handed 
 to his goodwife near Shulie, with instruc- 
 tions to come again for us in five days. 
 And Tamin, having now no more need of 
 it, sent back to Madame Beaudry, with 
 best compliments, her knitted cap of red 
 wool. 
 
Chapter VIII 
 The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 
 
 OF the pleasant but something irrele- 
 vant matter of how merrily we supped 
 that night with de Ramezay and his offi- 
 cers, — many of whom I knew, all of 
 whom knew me or my adventurous re- 
 pute, — I will not linger to discourse. 
 Nor of the costly dainties from France 
 which enriched the board, side by side 
 with fair salmon from the Tantramar 
 and bursting-fat plover from the Joli- 
 Coeur marshes. Nor of the good red 
 wine of Burgundy which so enhanced the 
 relish of those delectable birds, — and of 
 which I might perhaps have drunk more 
 sparingly had good Providence but made 
 me more abstemious. Let it suffice to 
 say, there was wit enough to spice plainer 
 fare, and courtesy that had shone at Ver- 
 98 
 
The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 99 
 
 sailles. The long bare room, with its 
 low, black-raftered ceiling and polished 
 floor, its dark walls patterned with shelves, 
 was lit by the smoky flames of two-score 
 tallow candles. 
 
 By and by chairs were pushed back, 
 the company sat with less ceremony, 
 the air grew clouded with the blue va- 
 pours of the Virginia weed, and tongues 
 wagged something more loosely than be- 
 fore. There were songs, — catches from 
 the banks of Rhone, rolling ballads of 
 our own voyageurs. A young captain 
 quite lately from Versailles, the Sieur de 
 Ville d'Avray, had an excellent gift of 
 singing. 
 
 But now, just when the Sieur de Ville 
 d'Avray was rendering, with most com- 
 mendable taste and spirit, the ballade 
 of "Frere Lubin," there came an inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 " U presche en theologien, 
 Mais pour boire de belle eau claire, 
 Faictes la boire a vostre chien, 
 Frere Lubin ne le peult faire," — 
 
ioo The Forge in the Forest 
 
 sang the gay voice, — we all nodding our 
 heads in intent approval, or even, maybe, 
 seeing that the wine was generous, tapping 
 the measure openly with our fingers. But 
 suddenly, though there was no noise to 
 draw them, all eyes turned to the door- 
 way, and the singer paused in his song. 
 I tipped my chair back into the shadow 
 of a shelf, as did Marc, who sat a little 
 beyond me. For the visitor, who thus 
 boldly entered unannounced, was none 
 other than the Black Abbe himself. 
 
 I flung de Ramezay a swift glance of 
 anticipation, which he cSSght as he arose 
 in his place to greet the new-comer. On 
 the faces around the table I took note of 
 an ill-disguised annoyance. The Abbe, 
 it was plain, found small favour in that 
 company. But to do him justice, he 
 seemed but little careful to court favour. 
 He stood in the doorway, frowning, a 
 piercing and bitter light in his close-set 
 eyes. He waited for de Ramezay to come 
 forward and give him welcome, — which 
 de Ramezay presently did, and would have 
 led him to a seat at the table. 
 
The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 101 
 
 But " No ! " said the grim intruder. 
 "With all thanks for your courtesy, 
 Monsieur, I have no time, nor am I in 
 the temper, for revellings. When I have 
 said my word to you I will get me to 
 the house of one of my flock, and sup 
 plainly, and take what rest I may, for 
 at dawn I must set out for the Shube- 
 nacadie. There is much to be done, and 
 few to do it, and the time grows short ! " 
 and he swept a look of reprimand about 
 the circle. 
 
 " Would you speak with me in private, 
 Father ? " asked de Ramezay, with great 
 civility. 
 
 " It is not necessary, Monsieur ! " re- 
 plied the Abbe. " I have but to say that 
 I arrested the pestilent young traitor, 
 Marc de Mer, on his father's estate at 
 Canard, and left him under guard while 
 I went to attend to other business. I 
 found upon his person clear proofs of his 
 treachery, which would have justified his 
 hanging on the instant. But I preferred 
 that you should be the judge ! " 
 
 "You did well!" said de Ramezay, 
 
102 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 gravely. " I must ask even you, Mon- 
 sieur l'Abbe, to remember on all occasions 
 that I, and I only, am the judge, so long 
 as I remain in Acadie ! " 
 
 To this rebuke, courteous though it 
 was, the priest vouchsafed no reply but 
 a slight smile, which uncovered his strong 
 yellow teeth on one side, like a snarl. 
 He continued his report as if there had 
 been no interruption. 
 
 "In my brief absence his father, with 
 some disaffected habitants, deceived my 
 faithful followers by a trick, and carried 
 off the prisoner. But I have despatched 
 a strong party on the trail of the fugi- 
 tives. They will certainly be captured, 
 and brought at once — " 
 
 But at this point his voice failed him. 
 His face worked violently with mingled 
 rage and amazement, and following his 
 gaze I saw Marc standing and bowing 
 with elaborate courtesy. 
 
 "They are already here, Sir Abbe," 
 said he, "having made haste that they 
 might give you welcome ! " 
 
 A ripple of laughter went around the 
 
The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 103 
 
 table, as the company, recovering from 
 some moments of astonishment, began 
 to understand the situation. I, too, rose 
 to my feet, smiling expectantly. The 
 priest's narrow eyes met mine for a 
 second, with a light that was akin to 
 madness. Then they shifted. But he 
 found his voice again. 
 
 " I denounce that man as a proved 
 spy and traitor ! " he shouted, striding 
 forward, and pointing a yellow finger of 
 denunciation across the table at Marc, 
 while the revellers over whom he leaned 
 made way for him resentfully. " I de- 
 mand his instant arrest." 
 
 "Gently, Monsieur l'Abbe," said de 
 Ramezay. " These are serious charges 
 to bring against French gentlemen, and 
 friends of the Commander; have you 
 proofs — such as will convince me after 
 the closest scrutiny ? " he added, with 
 unmistakable significance. 
 
 " I have myself seen the proofs, I tell 
 you," snarled the Abbe, beginning to exert 
 more self-control, but still far unlike the 
 cool, inexorable, smiling cynic who had 
 
104 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 so galled my soul with his imperturba- 
 bility when I lay in his bonds beside the 
 Forge. 
 
 " I would fain see them, too," insisted 
 de Ramezay. 
 
 The priest glared at me, and then at 
 Marc, baffled. 
 
 " I have them not," said he, in his slow 
 and biting tones ; " but if you would do 
 your duty as the King's servant, Monsieur 
 de Ramezay, and arrest yonder spy, you 
 would doubtless find the proofs upon his 
 person, if he has not taken the pains to 
 dispose of them." Upon this insolent 
 speech, de Ramezay took his seat, and 
 left the priest standing alone. When, 
 after a pause, he spoke, his voice was 
 stern and masterful, as if he were address- 
 ing a contumacious servant, though he 
 retained the forms of courtesy in his 
 phrases. 
 
 " Monsieur," said he, " when I wish to 
 learn my duty, it will not be the some- 
 what well-known Abbe la Game whom I 
 will ask to teach me. I must require you 
 not to presume further upon the sacred- 
 
The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 105 
 
 ness of your office. Your soutane saves 
 you from being called to account by the 
 gentleman whose honour you have as- 
 persed. Monsieur Marc de Mer is the 
 son of my friend. He is also one of 
 my aides-de-camp. I beg that you will 
 Understand me without more words when 
 I say that I have examined the whole 
 matter to which you refer. For your 
 own credit, press it no further. I trust 
 you catch my meaning ! " 
 
 " On the contrary," said the Abbe, 
 coolly, being by this time quite himself 
 again, and seemingly indifferent to the 
 derisive faces confronting him — " on 
 the contrary, your meaning altogether 
 escapes me, Monsieur. All that I un- 
 derstand of your singular behaviour is 
 what the Governor and the Intendant, 
 not I their unworthy instrument, will be 
 called to pass judgment upon." 
 
 " I will trouble you to understand also, 
 Sir Priest," said de Ramezay, thoroughly 
 aroused, his tones biting like acid, "that 
 if this young man is further troubled by 
 any of your faithful Shubenacadie flock, I 
 
106 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 will hold you responsible ; and the fact 
 that you are useful, having fewer scruples 
 than trouble a mere layman, shall not 
 save you." 
 
 " Be not disturbed for your spy, Mon- 
 sieur," sneered the Abbe, now finely 
 tranquil. " I wash my hands of all re- 
 sponsibility in regard to him ; look you 
 to that." 
 
 For the space of some seconds there 
 was silence all about that table of feasting, 
 while the Abbe swept a smiling, bitter 
 glance around the room. Last, his eyes 
 rested upon mine and leaped with a sud- 
 den light of triumph, so that one might 
 have thought not he but I had been 
 worsted in the present encounter. Then 
 he turned on his heel and went out, scorn- 
 ful of courtesy. 
 
 A clamour of talk arose upon this most 
 cherished departure ; but I heard it as in 
 a dream, being wrapped up in wonder as 
 to the meaning of that look of triumph. 
 
 " Has the Black Abbe cast a spell upon 
 you, Father?" I heard Marc inquiring 
 presently. Whereupon I came to my- 
 
The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 107 
 
 self with a kind of start, and made merry 
 with the rest of them. 
 
 It was late when Marc and I went to 
 the little chamber where our pallets were 
 stretched. There we found Tamin await- 
 ing us. He was in a sweat of fear. 
 
 " What is it, my Tamin ? " asked Marc. 
 
 "The Black Abbe," he grunted, the 
 drollness all chased out of the little 
 wrinkles about his eyes. 
 
 "Well," said I, impatiently. "The 
 Black Abbe ; and what of him ? He is 
 repenting to-night that he ever tried con- 
 clusions with me, I'll wager." 
 
 I spoke the more confidently because 
 in my heart I was still troubled to know 
 the meaning of the Abbes glance. 
 
 " Hein," said Tamin. " He looked — 
 his eyes would lift a scalp ! I was stand- 
 ing in the light just under the window, 
 when of a sudden the door closed ; and 
 there he stood beside me, with no sound, 
 and still as a heron. He looked at me 
 with those two narrow eyes, as if he 
 would eat my heart out ; and I stood 
 there, and shook. Then, of a sudden, 
 
108 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 his face changed. It became like a good 
 priest's face when he says the prayer for 
 the soul that is passing ; and he looked 
 at me with solemn eyes. And I was yet 
 more afraid. ' It is not for me to rebuke 
 you,' he said, speaking so that each word 
 seemed an hour long; 'red runs your 
 blood on the deep snow beneath thi 
 apple tree.' And before I could steady 
 my teeth to ask him what he meant, he 
 was gone. ' Red runs your blood beneath 
 the apple tree.' What did he mean by 
 that ? " 
 
 " Oh," said I, speaking lightly to en- 
 courage him, though in truth the words 
 fell on me with a chill, "he said it to 
 spoil your sleep and poison your content. 
 It was a cunning revenge, seeing that he 
 dare not lift a hand to punish you other- 
 wise." 
 
 " To be sure, my Tamin, that is all of 
 it," added Marc. " Who has ever heard 
 that the Black Abbe was a prophet ? 
 Faith, 'tis as Father says, a cunning and 
 a devilish revenge. But you can balk it 
 finely by paying no heed to it." 
 
The Black Abbe Comes to Dinner 109 
 
 Tamin's face had brightened mightily, 
 but he still looked serious. 
 
 " Do you think so ? " he exclaimed with 
 eagerness. " 'Tis as you say indeed, — the 
 Black Abbe is no prophet. Had it been 
 Grul, now, that said it, there were some- 
 thing to lie awake for, eh ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed, if Grul had said it," mut- 
 tered Marc, contemplating him strangely. 
 
 But for me, I was something impatient 
 now to be asleep. 
 
 " Think no more of it, my friend," said 
 I, and dismissed him. Yet sleepy as I 
 was, I thought of it, and even I must 
 have begun to dream of it. The white 
 sheet of moonlight that lay across my 
 couch became a drift of snow with blood 
 upon it, and the patterned shadow upon 
 the wall an apparition leaning over, — 
 when out of an immense distance, as it 
 were, I heard Marc's voice. 
 
 "Father," he cried softly, "are you 
 awake ? " 
 
 "Yes, dear lad," said I. "What is it?" 
 
 " I have been wondering," said he, 
 "why the Black Abbe looked at you, 
 
no The Forge in the Forest 
 
 not me, in his going. He had such a 
 countenance as warns me that he purposes 
 some cunning stroke. But I fear his 
 enmity has turned from me to you." 
 
 " Well, lad, it was surely I that balked 
 him. What would you have ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh," said he, heavily, " that I should 
 have turned that bloodhound onto your 
 trail ! " 
 
 " Marc, if it will comfort you to know 
 it, carry this in your memory," said I, 
 with a cheerful lightness, like froth upon 
 the strong emotion that flooded my heart. 
 " When the Black Abbe strikes at me, it 
 will be through you. He knows where I 
 am like to prove most vulnerable ! " 
 
 " 'Tis all right, then, so as we sink or 
 swim together, Father," said Marc, quietly. 
 
 " That's the way of it now, dear lad ! 
 Sweet sleep to you, and dreams of red 
 hair!" said I. And I turned my face 
 drowsily to the wall. 
 
Chapter IX 
 The Abbe Strikes Again 
 
 THE few days of our stay at Chig- 
 necto were gay and busy ones ; 
 and all through them hummed the wind 
 steadily across the pale green marshes, 
 and buffeted the golden-rod on our high 
 shoulder of upland. De Ramezay grati- 
 fied me by making much of Marc. The 
 three of us rode daily abroad among the 
 surrounding settlements. And I spent 
 many hours planning with de Ramezay 
 a fort which should be built on the site 
 of this camp, in case the coming campaign 
 should fail to drive the English out of 
 Acadie. De Ramezay, as was ever his 
 wont, was full of confidence in the event. 
 But of the sorry doings at Quebec, of the 
 plundering hands upon the public purse, 
 of the shamelessness in high places, he 
 in 
 
H2 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 hinted to me so broadly that I began to 
 see much ground for Marc's misgivings. 
 And my heart cried out for my fair coun- 
 try of New France. 
 
 On the fifth day of our stay, — it was a 
 Wednesday, and very early in the morn- 
 ing, — the good Beaudry with his good 
 boat came for us. The tide serving at 
 about two hours after sunrise, we set out 
 then for Grand Pre, well content with the 
 jade Fortune whose whims had so far 
 favoured us. De Ramezay and his officers 
 were at the wharf-end to bid us God- 
 speed ; and as I muse upon it now they 
 may have thought curiously of it to see 
 the loving fashion in which both Marc 
 and I made a point to embrace our faith- 
 ful Tamin. But that is neither here nor 
 there, so long as we let him plainly under- 
 stand how our hearts were towards him. 
 
 The voyage home was uneventful, save 
 that we met contrary winds, whereby it 
 fell that not until evening of the second 
 day did we come into the Gaspereau 
 mouth and mark the maids of Grand 
 Pre carrying water from the village well. 
 
The Abbe Strikes Again 113 
 
 The good Beaudry we paid to his satis- 
 faction, and left to find lodging in one of 
 the small houses by the water side ; while 
 Marc and I took our way up the long 
 street with its white houses standing amid 
 their apple trees. Having gone perhaps 
 four or five furlongs, returning many a 
 respectful salutation from the doorways as 
 we passed, we then turned up the hill by a 
 little lane which was bordered stiffly with 
 the poplar trees of Lombardy, and in short 
 space we came to a pleasant cottage in a 
 garden, under shadow of the tall white 
 church which stood sentinel over the Grand 
 Pre roofs. The cottage had some apple 
 trees behind it, and many late roses bloom- 
 ing in the garden. It was the home of the 
 good Cure, Father Fafard, most faithful 
 and most gentle of priests. 
 
 With Father Fafard we lodged that 
 night, and for some days thereafter. The 
 Cure s round face grew unwontedly stern 
 and anxious as we told him our advent- 
 ures, and rehearsed the doings of the 
 Black Abbe. He got up from time to time 
 and paced the room, muttering once — 
 
ii4 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 "Alas that such a man should discredit 
 our holy office ! What wrath may he not 
 bring down upon this land ! " — and more 
 to a like purport. 
 
 My own house in Grand Pre, where 
 Marc had inhabited of late, and where I 
 was wont to pay my flitting visits, I judged 
 well to put off my hands for the present, 
 foreseeing that troublous times were nigh. 
 I transferred it in Father Fafard's presence 
 to a trusty villager by name Marquette, 
 whom I could count upon to transfer it 
 back to me as soon as the skies should clear 
 again. I knew that if, by any fortune of 
 war, English troops should come to be 
 quartered in Grand Pre, they would be 
 careful for the property of the villagers ; 
 but the house and goods of an enemy 
 under arms, such would belike fare ill. I 
 collected, also, certain moneys due me in 
 the village, for I knew that the people 
 were prosperous, and I did not know how 
 long their prosperity might continue. 
 This done, Marc and I set out for my own 
 estate beside the yellow Canard. There I 
 had rents to gather in, but no house to put 
 
The Abbe Strikes Again 115 
 
 off my hands. At the time when Acadie 
 was ceded to England, a generation back, 
 the house of the de Mers had been handed 
 over to one of the most prosperous of our 
 habitants, and with that same family it had 
 ever since remained, yielding indeed a pre- 
 posterously scant rental, but untroubled 
 by the patient conqueror. 
 
 My immediate destination was the 
 Forge, where I expected to find Babin 
 awaiting me with news and messages. At 
 the Forge, too, I would receive payment 
 from my tenants, and settle certain points 
 which, as I had heard, were at dispute 
 amongst them. 
 
 As we drew near the Forge, through the 
 pleasant autumn woods, it wanted about 
 an hour of noon. I heard, far off, the 
 muffled thunder of a cock-partridge drum- 
 ming. But there was no sound of hammer 
 on clanging anvil, no smoke rising from 
 the wide Forge chimney ; and when we 
 entered, the ashes were dead cold. It was 
 plain there had been no fire in the forge 
 that day. 
 
 " Where can Babin be ? " I muttered in 
 
n6 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 vexation. " If he got my message, there 
 can be no excuse for his absence." 
 
 " I'll wager, Father," said Marc, " that if 
 he is not off on some errand of yours, then 
 he is sick, abed, or dead. Nought besides 
 would keep Babin when you called him." 
 
 I went to a corner and pulled a square 
 of bark from a seemingly hollow log up 
 under the rafters. In the secret niche 
 thus revealed was a scrap of birch bark 
 scrawled with some rude characters of 
 Babin's, whence I learned that my trusty 
 smith was sick of a sharp inflammation. 
 I passed the scrap over to Marc, and felt 
 again in the hollow. 
 
 " What, in the name of all the saints, is 
 this ? " I exclaimed, drawing out a short 
 piece of peeled stick. A portion of the 
 stick was cut down to .a flat surface, and 
 on this was drawn with charcoal a straight 
 line, having another straight line perpen- 
 dicular to it, and bisecting it. At the top 
 of the perpendicular was a figure of the 
 sun, thus : — 
 
 * 
 I 
 
The Abbe Strikes Again 117 
 
 " It's a message from Grul," said Marc, 
 the instant that his eyes fell upon it. 
 
 " H'm ; and how do you know that ? " 
 said I, turning it over curiously in my 
 fingers. 
 
 "Well," replied Marc, "the peeled 
 stick is Grul's sign manual. What does 
 he say ? " 
 
 "He seems to say that he is going to 
 build a windmill," said I, with great 
 seriousness ; " but doubtless you will give 
 this hieroglyphic quite a different inter- 
 pretation." 
 
 Marc laughed, — yes, laughed audibly. 
 And it is possible that his Penobscot 
 grandmother turned in her grave. It 
 was good to know that the lad could 
 laugh, which I had begun to doubt ; but 
 it was puzzling to me to hear him laugh 
 at the mere absurdity which I had just 
 uttered, when my most polished witti- 
 cisms, of which I had shot off many of 
 late at Chignecto, and in conversation with 
 good Father Fafard, had never availed to 
 bring more than a phantom smile to his 
 lips. However, I made no comment, but 
 
1 1 8 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 handed him " Grul's sign manual," as he 
 chose to call it. 
 
 "Why, Father," said he, "you under- 
 stand it well enough, I know. This is 
 plainly the sun at high noon. At high 
 noon, therefore, we may surely expect to 
 see Grul. He has been here but a short 
 time back ; for see, the wood is not yet 
 dry." 
 
 "Sapristi!" said I, "do you call that 
 the sun, lad ? It is very much like a 
 windmill." 
 
 How Marc might have retorted upon 
 me, I know not ; for at the moment, though 
 it yet wanted much of noon, the fantastic 
 figure of the madman — if he were a mad- 
 man — sped into the Forge. He stopped 
 abruptly before us and scrutinized us for 
 some few seconds in utter silence, his eyes 
 glittering and piercing like sword points. 
 His long white hair and beard were disor- 
 dered with haste, the flowers and feathers 
 in his pointed cap were for the most part 
 broken, even as when we had last seen 
 him, and his gaudy mantle was somewhat 
 befouled with river mud. Yet such power 
 
The Abbe Strikes Again ng 
 
 was there in his look and in his gesture, 
 that when he stretched out his little white 
 staff toward me and said " Come," I had 
 much ado to keep from obeying him with- 
 out question. Yet this I would not per- 
 mit myself, as was natural. 
 
 " Whither ? " I questioned. " And for 
 what purpose ? " 
 
 By this time he was out at the door, 
 but he stopped. Giving me a glance of 
 scorn he turned to Marc, and stretched 
 out his staff. 
 
 " Come," he said. And in a breath he 
 was gone, springing with incredible swift- 
 ness and smoothness through the under- 
 brush. 
 
 " We must follow, Father ! " cried 
 Marc ; and in the same instant was away. 
 
 For my own part, it was sorely against 
 me to be led by the nose, and thus blindly, 
 by the madman — whom I now declared 
 certainly to be mad. But Marc had gone, 
 so I had no choice, as I conceived it, but 
 to stand by the lad. I went too. And 
 seeing that I had to do it, I did it well, 
 and presently overtook them. 
 
iao The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " What is this folly ? " I asked angrily, 
 panting a little, I confess. 
 
 But Marc signed to me to be silent. 
 I obeyed, though with ill enough grace, 
 and ran on till my mouth was like a 
 board, my tongue like wool. Then the 
 grim light of the forest whitened sud- 
 denly before us, and our guide stopped. 
 Instinctively we imitated his motions, as 
 he stole forward and peered through a 
 screen of leafage. We were on a bank 
 overlooking the Canard. A little below, 
 and paddling swiftly towards the river- 
 mouth, were two canoes manned with 
 the Abbe's Micmacs. In the bottom of 
 one canoe lay a little fair-haired boy, 
 bound. 
 
 " My God ! " cried Marc, under his 
 breath, "'tis the child! 'tis little Philip 
 Hanford." 
 
 Grul turned his wild eyes upon us. 
 
 "The power of the dog!" he muttered, 
 " the power of the dog ! " 
 
 "We must get a canoe and follow 
 them ! " exclaimed Marc, in great agita- 
 tion, turning to go, and looking at me 
 
The Abbe Strikes Again 121 
 
 with passionate appeal. But before I 
 could speak, to assure him of my aid 
 and support, Grul interfered. 
 
 " Wait ! " he said, with meaning empha- 
 sis, thrusting his little staff almost in the 
 lad's face. " Come ! " and he started up 
 along the river bank, going swiftly but 
 with noiseless caution. I expected Marc 
 to demur, but not so. He evidently had 
 a childlike faith in this fantastic being. 
 He followed without a protest. Needless 
 to say, I followed also. But all this mys- 
 tery, and this blind obedience, and this 
 lordly lack of explanation, were little to 
 my liking. 
 
 We had not gone above half a mile 
 when Grul stopped, and bent his mad 
 head to listen. Such an attitude of lis- 
 tening I had never seen before. The 
 feathers and stalks in his cap seemed to 
 lean forward like a horse's ears ; his hair 
 and beard took on a like inclination of 
 intentness ; even the grim little scarlet 
 head upon his staff seemed to listen with 
 its master. And Marc did as Grul did. 
 Then came a sound as of a woman weep- 
 
122 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 ing, very close at hand. Grul motioned 
 us to pass him, and creep forward. We 
 did so, lying down and moving as softly 
 as lizards. But I turned to see what our 
 mysterious guide was doing — and lo, he 
 was gone. He might have faded into 
 a summer exhalation, so complete and 
 silent was his exit. 
 
 This was too much. Only my expe- 
 rience as a woods-fighter, my instinctive 
 caution, kept me from springing to my 
 feet and calling him. But my suspi- 
 cions were all on fire. I laid a firm 
 hand of detention on Marc's arm, and 
 whispered : — 
 
 " He's gone ; 'tis a trap." 
 
 Marc looked at me in some wonder, 
 and more impatience. 
 
 " No trap, Father ; that's Grul's way." 
 
 "Well," I whispered, "we had better 
 go another way, I'm thinking." 
 
 As I spoke, the woman's weeping came 
 to us more distinctly. Something in the 
 sound seemed to catch Marc's heart, and 
 his face changed. 
 
 "'Tis all right, I tell you, Father!" 
 
The Abbe Strikes Again 123 
 
 came from between his teeth. " Come ! 
 come ! Oh, I know the voice ! " And 
 he crept forward resolutely. 
 And, of course, I followed. 
 
Chapter X 
 A Bit of White Petticoat 
 
 WE had not advanced above a score 
 of paces when, peering stealthily 
 between the stems of herbs and under- 
 brush, we saw what Grul had desired us to 
 see. Two more canoes were drawn up at 
 the water's edge. Four savages were in 
 sight, sprawling in indolent attitudes un- 
 der the shade of a wide water-maple. In 
 their midst, at the foot of the tree, lay a 
 woman bound securely. She was huddled 
 together in a posture of hopeless despair ; 
 and a dishevelled glory of gold-red tresses 
 fell over her face to hide it. She lay in a 
 moveless silence. Yet the sound of weep- 
 ing continued, and Marc, gripping my 
 hand fiercely, set his mouth to my ear 
 and gasped : — 
 
 " 'Tis my own maid ! 'Tis Prudence ! " 
 124 
 
A Bit of White Petticoat 125 
 
 Then I saw where she sat, a little apart, 
 a slender maid with a lily face, and hair 
 glowing dark red in the full sun that 
 streamed upon her. She was so tied to 
 another tree that she might have no com- 
 fort or companionship of her sister, — for 
 I needed now no telling to convey it to 
 me that the lady with the hidden face 
 and the unweeping anguish was Mistress 
 Mizpah Hanford, mother of the child 
 whom I had just seen carried away. 
 
 I grieved for Marc, whose eyes stared 
 out upon the weeping maid from a face 
 that had fallen to the hue of ashes. But 
 I praised the saints for sending to our aid 
 this madman Grul, — whom, in my heart, 
 I now graciously absolved from the charge 
 of madness. Seeing the Black Abbe's 
 hand in the ravishment of these tender 
 victims, I made no doubt to cross him yet 
 again, and my heart rose exultantly to the 
 enterprise. 
 
 " Cheer up, lad," I whispered to Marc. 
 " Come away a little till we plot." 
 
 I showed my confidence in my face, and 
 I could see that he straightway took heart 
 
126 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 thereat. Falling back softly for a space 
 of several rods, we paused in a thicket to 
 take counsel. As soon as we could speak 
 freely, Marc exclaimed, "They may go at 
 any moment, Father. We must haste." 
 
 " No," said I, " they'll not go till the 
 cool of the day. The others went because 
 they have plainly been ordered to part the 
 child from his mother. It is a most cun- 
 ning and most cruel malice that could so 
 order it." 
 
 " It is my enemy's thrust at me," said 
 Marc. " How did he know that I loved 
 the maid ? " 
 
 " His eyes are in every corner of Aca- 
 die," said I ; " but we will foil him in this 
 as in other matters. Marc, my heart is 
 stirred mightily by that poor mother's 
 pain. I tell you, lad," — and I looked 
 diligently to the priming of my pistols as 
 I spoke, — "I tell you I will not rest till 
 I give the little one back into her arms." 
 
 But Marc, as was not unnatural, thought 
 now rather of his lily maid sobbing under 
 the tree. 
 
 "Yes, Father," said he, "but what is 
 
A Bit of White Petticoat 127 
 
 to be done now, to save Prudence and 
 Mizpah ? " 
 
 " Of course, dear lad," I answered, smil- 
 ingly, " that is just what we are here for. 
 But let me consider." And sitting down 
 upon a fallen tree, I buried my face in my 
 hands. Marc, the while, waited with what 
 patience he could muster, relying wholly 
 upon my conduct of the business, but fret- 
 ting for instant action. 
 
 We were well armed (each with a brace 
 of pistols and a broadsword, the forest 
 being no place for rapiers), and I ac- 
 counted that we were an overmatch for the 
 four redskins. But there was much at 
 stake, with always the chance of accident. 
 And, moreover, these Indians were allies 
 of France, wherefore I was most unwilling 
 to attack them from the advantage of an 
 ambush. These various considerations 
 decided me. 
 
 " Marc, we'll fight them if needful," 
 said I, lifting up my head. " But I'm 
 going to try first the conclusions of peace. 
 I will endeavour to ransom the prisoners. 
 These Micmacs are mightily avaricious, 
 
128 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and may yield. It goes against me to 
 attack them from an ambush, seeing that 
 they are of our party and servants of 
 King Louis." 
 
 At this speech Marc looked very ill 
 content. 
 
 " But, Father," he objected, " shall we 
 forego the advantage of a surprise ? We 
 are but two to their four, and we put the 
 whole issue at hazard. And as for their 
 being of our party, they bring shame upon 
 our party, and greatly dishonour the ser- 
 vice of King Louis." 
 
 " Nevertheless, dear lad," said I, " they 
 have their claim upon us, — not lightly to 
 be overlooked, in my view of it. But 
 hear my plan. You will go back to 
 where we lay a moment ago, and there 
 be ready with your pistols. I will ap- 
 proach openly by the water side and 
 enter into parley with them. If I can 
 buy the captives, well and good. If they 
 deny me, we quarrel. You will know 
 when to play your part. I am satisfied 
 of that. I shall feel safe under cover of 
 your pistols, and shall depend upon you 
 
A Bit of White Petticoat 129 
 
 to account for two of the four. Only, do 
 not be too hasty ! " 
 
 " Oh, I'm cool as steel now, Father," 
 said Marc. "But I like not this plan. 
 The danger is all yours. And the quar- 
 rel is mine. Let us go into it side by 
 side ! " 
 
 " Chut, lad ! " said I. " Your quarrel's 
 my quarrel, and the danger is not more 
 for me than for you, as you won't be long 
 away from me when the fight begins, — 
 if it comes to a fight. And further, my 
 plan is both an honest one and like to 
 succeed. Come, let us be doing ! " 
 
 Marc seized my hand, and gave me a 
 look of pride and love which put a glow 
 at my heart. " You know best, Father," 
 said he. And turning away, he crept 
 toward his post. For me, I made a cir- 
 cuit, in leisurely fashion, and came out 
 upon the shore behind a point some rods 
 below the spot where the savages lay. 
 Then I walked boldly up along the 
 water's edge. 
 
 The Indians heard me before I came 
 in view, and were on their feet when I 
 
130 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 appeared around the point. They re- 
 garded me with black suspicion, but no 
 hostile movement, as I strode straight up 
 to them and greeted, fairly enough but 
 coldly, a tall warrior, whom I knew to 
 be one of the Black Abbe's lieutenants. 
 He grunted, and asked me who I was. 
 
 "You know well enough who I am," 
 said I, seating myself carelessly upon a 
 rock, " seeing that you had a chief hand 
 in the outrages put upon me the other 
 day by that rascally priest of yours ! " 
 
 At this the chief stepped up to me with 
 an air of menace, his high-cheeked, cop- 
 pery face scowling with wrath. But I eyed 
 him steadily, and raised my hand with a 
 little gesture of authority. " Wait ! " said 
 I ; and he paused doubtfully. " I have no 
 grudge against you for that," I went on. 
 "You but obeyed your master's orders 
 faithfully, as you will doubtless obey mine 
 a few weeks hence, when I take command 
 of your rabble and try to make you of 
 some real service to the King. I am one 
 of the King's captains." 
 
 At this the savage looked puzzled, 
 
A Bit of White Petticoat 131 
 
 while his fellows grunted in manifest un- 
 certainty. 
 
 " What you want ? " he asked bluntly. 
 
 I looked at him for some moments 
 without replying.. Then I glanced at the 
 form of Mizpah Hanford, still unmoving, 
 the face still hidden under that pathetic 
 splendour of loosened hair. Prudence I 
 could not catch view of, by reason of an- 
 other tree which intervened. But the 
 sound of her weeping had ceased. 
 
 " I am ready to ransom these prisoners 
 of yours," said I. 
 
 The savages glanced furtively at each 
 other, but the coppery masks of their 
 features betrayed nothing. 
 
 " Not for ransom," said the chief, with 
 a dogged emphasis. 
 
 I opened my eyes wide. " You aston- 
 ish me ! " said I. " Then how will they 
 profit you ? If you wanted their scalps, 
 those you might have taken at Annapolis." 
 
 At that word, revealing that I knew 
 whence they came, I took note of a stir 
 in the silent figure beneath the maple. 
 I felt that her eyes were watching me 
 
132 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 from behind that sumptuous veil which 
 her bound hands could not put aside, 
 I went on, with a sudden sense of 
 exaltation. 
 
 " Give me these prisoners," I urged, 
 half pleading, half commanding. " They 
 are useless to you except for ransom. 
 I will give you more than any one else 
 will give you. Tell me your price." 
 
 But the savage was obstinate. 
 
 " Not for ransom," he repeated, shak- 
 ing his head. 
 
 " You are afraid of your priest," said I, 
 with slow scorn. " He has told you to 
 bring them to him. And what will you 
 get ? A pistole or two for each ! But 
 I will give you gold, good French crowns, 
 ten times as much as you ever got before ! " 
 
 As I spoke, one of the listening sav- 
 ages got up, his eyes a-sparkle with eager- 
 ness, and muttered something in Micmac, 
 which I could not understand. But the 
 chief turned upon him so angrily that he 
 slunk back, abashed. 
 
 "Agree with me now," I said earnestly. 
 " Then wait here till I fetch the gold, and 
 
A Bit of White Petticoat 133 
 
 I will deliver it into your hands before 
 you deliver the captives." 
 
 But the chief merely turned aside with 
 an air of settling the question, and re- 
 peated angrily : — 
 
 " I say white girls not for ransom." 
 
 I rose to my feet. 
 
 " Fools, you are," said I, "and no men, 
 but sick women, afraid of your rascal 
 priest. I offered to buy when I might 
 have taken ! Now I will take, and you 
 will get no ransom ! Unloose their 
 bonds ! " 
 
 And I pointed with my sword, while 
 my left hand rested upon a pistol in my 
 belt. I am a very pretty shot with my 
 left hand. 
 
 Before the words were fairly out of 
 my lips the four sprang at me. Stepping 
 lightly aside, I fired the pistol full at the 
 chief's breast, and he plunged headlong. 
 In the next instant came a report from 
 the edge of the underbrush, and a second 
 savage staggered, groaned, and fell upon 
 his knees, while Marc leaped down and 
 rushed upon a third. The remaining one 
 
134 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 snatched up his musket (the muskets 
 were forgotten at the first, when I seemed 
 to be alone), and took a hasty aim at me ; 
 but before he could pull the trigger my 
 second pistol blazed in his face, and he 
 dropped, while his weapon, exploding 
 harmlessly, knocked up some mud and 
 grass. I saw Marc chase his antagonist 
 to the canoes at the point of his sword, 
 and prick him lightly for the more speed. 
 But at the same instant, out of the corner 
 of my eye, I saw the savage whom Marc's 
 shot had brought down struggle again to 
 his feet and swing his hatchet. With a 
 yell I was upon him, and my sword point 
 (the point is swifter than the edge in an 
 emergency) went through his throat with 
 a sobbing click. But I was just too late. 
 The hatchet had left his hand ; and the 
 flying blade caught Marc in the shoulder. 
 The sword dropped from his grasp, he 
 reeled, and sat down with a shudder before 
 I could get to his side. I paid no further 
 heed to the remaining Indian, but was 
 dimly conscious of him launching a canoe 
 and paddling away in wild haste. 
 
A Bit of White Petticoat 135 
 
 I lifted the dear lad into the shade, and 
 anxiously examined the wound. 
 
 " 'Tis but a flesh wound," said he, 
 faintly ; but I found that the blow had 
 not only grievously gashed the flesh, but 
 split the shoulder blade. 
 
 " Flesh wound ! " I muttered. " You'll 
 do no more fighting in this campaign, dear 
 lad, unless they put it off till next spring. 
 This shoulder will be months in mending." 
 
 " When it does mend, will my arm be 
 the same as ever ? " he asked, somewhat 
 tremulously. " 'Tis my sword arm." 
 
 " Yes, lad, yes ; you need not trouble 
 about that," said I. " But it is a case for 
 care. 
 
 In the meantime, I was cleansing the 
 wound with salt water which I had 
 brought from the river in my cap. 
 Now, I cast about in my mind for a 
 bandage ; and I looked at the prisoner 
 beneath the maple. Marc first, courtesy 
 afterwards, I thought in my heart; for 
 I durst not leave the wound exposed with 
 so many flies in the air. 
 
 The lady's little feet, bound cruelly, 
 
136 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 were drawn up in part beneath her dark 
 skirt, but so that a strip of linen petti- 
 coat shone under them. I hesitated, but 
 only for a second. Lifting the poor little 
 feet softly to one side, with a stammered, 
 "Your pardon, Madame, but the need 
 is instant ! " I slit off a breadth of the 
 soft white stuff with my sword. And 
 I was astonished to feel my face flush 
 hotly as I did it. With strangely thrill- 
 ing fingers, and the help of my sword 
 edge, I then set free her feet, and with 
 no more words turned hastily back to 
 Marc, abashed as a boy. 
 
 In a few moments I had Marc's wound 
 softly dressed, for I had some skill in this 
 rough and ready surgery. I could see by 
 his contracting pupils that the hurt was 
 beginning to agonize, but the dear lad 
 never winced under my fingers, and I 
 commended him heartily as a brave 
 patient. Then placing a bundle of cool 
 ferns under his head for a pillow, I 
 turned to the captives, from whom there 
 had been never a word this while. 
 
Chapter XI 
 I Fall a Willing Captive 
 
 THE lady whose feet I had freed 
 had risen so far as to rest crouch- 
 ing against the gnarled trunk of the 
 maple tree. The glorious abundance of 
 her hair she had shaken back, revealing 
 a white face chiselled like a Madonna's, a 
 mouth somewhat large, with lips curved 
 passionately, and great sea-coloured eyes 
 which gazed upon me from dark circles 
 of pain. But the face was drawn now 
 with that wordless and tearless anguish 
 which makes all utterance seem futile, 
 — the anguish of a mother whose child 
 has been torn from her arms and car- 
 ried she knows not whither. Her hands 
 lay in her lap, tight bound ; and I 
 noted their long, white slenderness. I 
 felt as if I should go on my knees to 
 137 
 
138 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 serve her — I who had but just now 
 served her with such scant courtesy as 
 it shamed my soul to think on. As I 
 bent low to loose her hands, I sought 
 in my mind for phrases of apology that 
 might show at the same time my necessity 
 and my contrition. But lifting my eyes 
 for an instant to hers, I was pierced with 
 a sense of the anguish which was rending 
 her heart, and straightway I forgot all 
 nice phrases. 
 
 What I said — the words coming from 
 my lips abruptly — was this : " I will 
 find him ! I will save him ! Be com- 
 forted, Madame ! He shall be restored 
 to you ! " 
 
 In great, simple matters, how little 
 explanation seems needed. She asked 
 not who I was, how I knew, whom I 
 would save, how it was to be done ; and 
 I thrill proudly even now to think how 
 my mere word convinced her. The tense 
 lines of her face yielded suddenly, and 
 she broke into a shaking storm of tears, 
 moaning faintly over and over — "Philip! 
 — Oh, my Philip ! — Oh, my boy ! " I 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 139 
 
 watched her with a great compassion. 
 Then, ere I could prevent, she amazed 
 me by snatching my hand and pressing 
 it to her lips. But she spoke no word 
 of thanks. Drawing my hand gently 
 away, in great embarrassment, I repeated : 
 " Believe me, oh, believe me, Madame ; I 
 will save the little one." Then I went 
 to release the other captive, whom I had 
 well-nigh forgotten the while. 
 
 This lily maid of Marc's, this Prudence, 
 I found in a white tremour of amazement 
 and inquiry. From where she sat in her 
 bonds, made fast to her tree, she could 
 see nothing of what went on, but she 
 could hear everything, and knew she 
 had been rescued. It was a fair, frank, 
 childlike face she raised to mine as I 
 smiled down upon her, swiftly and gently 
 severing her bonds ; and I laid a hand 
 softly on that rich hair which Marc had 
 praised, being right glad he loved so sweet 
 a maid as this. I forgot that I must have 
 seemed to her in this act a shade familiar, 
 my fatherly forty years not showing in my 
 face. So, indeed, it was for an instant, I 
 
140 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 think ; for she coloured maidenly. But 
 seeing the great kindness in my eyes, the 
 thought was gone. Her own eyes filled 
 with tears, and she sprang up and clung 
 to me, sobbing, like a child just awakened 
 in the night from a bad dream. 
 
 " Oh," she panted, " are they gone ? 
 did you kill them ? how good you are ! 
 Oh, God will reward you for being so 
 good to us ! " And she trembled so she 
 would certainly have fallen if I had not 
 held her close. 
 
 "You are safe now, dear," said I, 
 soothing her, quite forgetting that she 
 knew me not as I knew her, and that, 
 if she gave the matter any heed at all, 
 my speech must have puzzled her sorely. 
 "But come with me!" And I led her 
 to where Marc lay in the shade. 
 
 The dear lad's face had gone even 
 whiter than when I left him, and I saw 
 that he had swooned. 
 
 "The pain and shock have overcome 
 him ! " I exclaimed, dropping on my 
 knees to remove the pillow of ferns 
 from under his head. As I did so, I 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 141 
 
 heard the girl catch her breath sharply, 
 with a sort of moan, and glancing up, 
 I saw her face all drawn with misery. 
 While I looked in some surprise, she 
 suddenly threw herself down, and crushed 
 his face in her bosom, quite shutting off 
 the air, which he, being in a faint, greatly 
 needed. I was about to protest, when 
 her words stopped me. 
 
 " Marc, Marc," she moaned, " why did 
 you betray us ? Oh, why did you betray 
 us so cruelly ? But oh, I love you even 
 if you were a traitor. Now you are dead" 
 (she had not heard me, evidently, saying 
 he had swooned), " now you are dead I 
 may love you, no matter what you did. 
 Oh, my love, why did you, why did 
 you ? " And while I listened in bewil- 
 derment, she sprang to her feet, and her 
 blue eyes blazed upon me fiercely. 
 
 " You killed him ! " she hissed at me 
 across his body. 
 
 This I remembered afterwards. At the 
 moment I only knew that she was calling 
 the lad a traitor. That I was well tired 
 of. 
 
142 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Madame ! " said I, sternly. " Do not 
 presume so far as to touch him again." 
 
 It was her turn to look astonished now. 
 Her eyes faltered from my angry face to 
 Marc's, and back again in a kind of help- 
 lessness. 
 
 " Oh, you do well to accuse him," I 
 went on, bitterly, — perhaps not very rel- 
 evantly. " You shall not dishonour him 
 by touching him, you, who can believe 
 vile lies of the loyal gentleman who loves 
 you, and has, it may be, given his life for 
 the girl who now insults him." 
 
 The girl's face was now in such a con- 
 fusion of distress that I almost, but not 
 quite, pitied her. Ere she could find 
 words to reply, however, her sister was 
 at her side, catching her hands, murmur- 
 ing at her ear. 
 
 "Why, Prudence, child," she said, 
 "don't you see it all? Didn't you see 
 it all ? How splendidly Marc saved us " 
 (I blessed the tact which led her to put 
 the first credit on Marc) — " Marc and 
 this most brave and gallant gentleman ? 
 It was one of the savages who struck 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 143 
 
 Marc down, before my eyes, as he was 
 fighting to save us. That dreadful story 
 was a lie, Prudence ; don't you see ? " 
 
 The maid saw clearly enough, and with 
 a mighty gladness. She was for throwing 
 herself down again beside the lad to cover 
 his face with kisses — and shut off the air 
 which he so needed. But I thrust her 
 aside. She had believed Marc a traitor. 
 Marc might forgive her when he could 
 think for himself. I was in no mind to. 
 
 She looked at me with unutterable re- 
 proach, her eyes filling and running over, 
 but she drew back submissively. 
 
 " I know," she said, " I don't deserve 
 that you should let me go near him. But 
 — I think — I think he would want me 
 to, sir ! See, he wants me ! Oh, let me!" 
 And I perceived that Marc's eyes had 
 opened. They saw no one but the maid, 
 and his left hand reached out to her. 
 
 " Oh, well ! " said I, grimly. And 
 thereafter it seemed to me that the lad 
 got on with less air than men are accus- 
 tomed to need when they would make 
 recovery from a swoon. 
 
144 The Forge in the Forest - 
 
 I turned to Mizpah Hanford ; and I 
 wondered what sort of eyes were in Marc's 
 head, that he should see Prudence when 
 Mizpah was by. Before I could speak, 
 Mizpah began to make excuses for her 
 sister. With heroic fortitude she choked 
 back her own grief, and controlled her 
 voice with a brave simplicity. Coming 
 from her lips, these broken excuses 
 seemed sufficient — though to this day 
 I question whether I ought to have 
 relented so readily. She pleaded, and I 
 listened, and was content to listen so 
 long as she would continue to plead. 
 But there was little I clearly remember. 
 At last, however, these words, with 
 which she concluded, aroused me : — 
 
 " How could we any longer refuse to 
 believe," she urged, " when the good priest 
 confessed to us plainly, after much ques- 
 tioning, that it was Monsieur Marc de 
 Mer who had sent the savages to steal us, 
 and had told them just the place to find 
 us, and the hour ? The savages had told 
 us the same thing at first, taunting us 
 with it when we threatened them with 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 145 
 
 Marc's vengeance. You see, Monsieur, 
 they had plainly been informed by some 
 one of our little retreat at the riverside, 
 and of the hour at which we were wont to 
 frequent it. Yet we repudiated the tale 
 with horror. Then yesterday, when the 
 good priest told us the same thing, with 
 a reluctance which showed his horror of 
 it, what could we do but believe ? Though 
 it did seem to us that if Marc were false 
 there could be no one true. The priest 
 believed it. He was kind and pitiful, and 
 tried to get the savages to set us free. He 
 talked most earnestly, most vehemently 
 to them ; but it was in their own barba- 
 rous language, and of course we could not 
 understand. He told us at last that he 
 could do nothing at the time, but that he 
 would exert himself to the utmost to get 
 us out of their hands by and by. Then 
 he went away. And then — " 
 
 "And then, Madame," said I, "your 
 little one was taken from you at his 
 orders ! " 
 
 "Why, what do you mean, Mon- 
 sieur ? " she gasped, her great sea-coloured 
 
146 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 eyes opening wide with fresh terror. " At 
 his orders ? By the orders of that kind 
 priest ? " 
 
 " Of what appearance was he ? " I in- 
 quired, in return. 
 
 " Oh," she cried breathlessly, " he was 
 square yet spare of figure, dark-skinned 
 almost as Marc, with a very wide lower 
 face, thin, thin lips, and remarkably light 
 eyes set close together, — a strange, strong 
 face that might look very cruel if he were 
 angry. He looked angry once when he 
 was arguing with the Indians." 
 
 "You have excellently described our 
 bitterest foe, and yours, Madame," said I, 
 smiling. " The wicked Abbe La Game, 
 the pastor and master of these poor tools 
 of his whom I would fain have spared, 
 but could not." And I pointed to the 
 bodies of the three dead savages, where 
 they lay sprawling in various pathetic 
 awkwardnesses of posture. 
 
 She looked, seemed to think of them 
 for the first time, shivered, and turned 
 away her pitiful eyes. 
 
 "Those poor wretches," I continued, 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 147 
 
 " were sent by this kind priest to capture 
 you. He knew when and where to find 
 you, because he had played the eaves- 
 dropper when Marc and I were talking 
 of you." 
 
 " Oh," she cried, clenching her white 
 hands desperately, " can there be a priest 
 so vile ? " 
 
 "Ay, and this which you have heard 
 is but a part of his villany. We have 
 but lately baulked him in a plot whereby 
 he had nearly got Marc hanged. This, 
 Madame, I promise myself the honour of 
 relating to you by and by ; but now we 
 must get the poor lad removed to some 
 sort of house and comfort." 
 
 "And, oh," cried this poor mother, in 
 a voice of piercing anguish and amaze- 
 ment, as if she could not yet wholly 
 realize it, — " my boy, my boy ! He is 
 in the power of such a monster ! " 
 
 " Be of good heart, I beseech you," 
 said I, with a kind of passion in my voice. 
 " I will find him, I swear I will bring him 
 back to you. I will wait only so long as 
 to see my own boy in safe hands ! " 
 
148 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 Again that look of trust was turned 
 upon me, thrilling me with invincible 
 resolve. 
 
 " Oh, I trust you, Monsieur ! " she 
 cried. Then pressing both hands to her 
 eyes with a pathetic gesture, and thrusting 
 back her hair — "I knew you, somehow, 
 for the Seigneur de Briart," she went on, 
 " as soon as I heard you demanding our 
 release. And I immediately felt a great 
 hope that you would set us free and save 
 Philip. I suppose it is from Marc that I 
 have learned such confidence, Monsieur!" 
 
 I bowed, awkward and glad, and with- 
 out a pretty word to repay her with, — I 
 who have some name in Quebec for well- 
 turned compliment. But before this 
 woman, who was young enough to be my 
 daughter, I was like a green boy. 
 
 " You are too kind," I stammered. " It 
 will be my great ambition to justify your 
 good opinion of me." 
 
 Then I turned away to launch a canoe. 
 
 "While I busied myself getting the canoe 
 ready, and spreading ferns in the bottom of 
 it for Marc to lie on, Mizpah walked up 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 149 
 
 and down in a kind of violent speechless- 
 ness, as it were, twisting her long white 
 hands, but no more giving voice to her 
 grief and her anxiety. Once she sat down 
 abruptly under the maple tree, and buried 
 her face in her hands. Her shoulders 
 shook, but not a sound of sob or moan 
 came to my ears. My heart ached at the 
 sight. I determined that I would give her 
 work to do, such as would compel some 
 attention on her part. 
 
 As soon as the canoe was ready I asked : 
 " Can you paddle, Madame ? " 
 She nodded an affirmative, her voice 
 seeming to have gone from her. 
 
 "Very well," said I, "then you will 
 take the bow paddle, will you not ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! " she found voice to cry, 
 with an eagerness which I took to signify 
 that she thought by paddling hard to find 
 her child the sooner. But the manner in 
 which she picked up the paddle, and took 
 her place, and held the canoe, showed me 
 she was no novice in the art of canoeing. 
 I now went to lift Marc and carry him 
 to the canoe. 
 
150 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Let me help you," pleaded Prudence, 
 springing up from beside him. " He 
 must be so heavy ! " Whereat I laughed. 
 
 " I can walk, I am sure, Father," said 
 Marc, faintly, " if you put me on my feet 
 and steady me." 
 
 "I doubt it, lad," said I, "and 'tis 
 hardly worth while wasting your little 
 strength in the attempt. Now, Prudence," 
 I went on, turning to the girl, " I want 
 you to get in there in front of the middle 
 bar, and make a comfortable place for this 
 man's head, — if you don't mind taking a 
 live traitor's head in your lap ! " 
 
 At this the poor girl's face flushed scar- 
 let, as she quickly seated herself in the 
 canoe ; and her lips trembled so that my 
 heart smote me for the jest. 
 
 " Forgive me, child. I meant it not as 
 a taunt, but merely as a poor jest," I has- 
 tened to explain. "Your, sister has told 
 me all, and you were scarce to blame. 
 Now, take the lad and make him as com- 
 fortable as a man with a shattered shoulder 
 can hope to be." And I laid Marc gently 
 down so that he could slip his long legs 
 
I Fall a Willing Captive 151 
 
 under the bar. He straightway closed his 
 eyes from sheer weakness ; but he could 
 feel his maid bend her blushing face over 
 his, and his expression was a strangely 
 mingled one of suffering and content. 
 
 Taking my place in the stern of the 
 canoe, I pushed out. The tide was just 
 beginning to ebb. There was no wind. 
 The shores were green and fair on either 
 hand. My dear lad, though sore hurt, 
 was happy in the sweet tenderness of his 
 lily maid. As for me, I looked perhaps 
 overmuch at the radiant head of Mizpah, 
 at the lithe vigorous swaying of her long 
 arms, the play of her gracious shoulders 
 as she paddled strenuously. I felt that 
 it was good to be in this canoe, all of us 
 together, floating softly down to the little 
 village beside the Canard's mouth. 
 
Part II 
 M i z p ah 
 
Chapter XII 
 In a Strange Fellowship 
 
 I TOOK Marc and the ladies to the 
 house of one Giraud, a well-tried and 
 trusted retainer, to whom I told the whole 
 affair. Then I sent a speedy messenger 
 to Father Fafard, begging him to come at 
 once. The Cure of Grand Pre was a 
 skilled physician, and I looked to him to 
 treat Marc's wound better than I could 
 hope to do. My purpose, as I unfolded 
 it to Marc and to the ladies that same 
 evening, sitting by Marc's pallet at the 
 open cottage door, was to start the very 
 next day in quest of the stolen child. I 
 would take but one follower, to help me 
 paddle, for I would rely not on force but 
 on cunning in this venture. I would 
 warn some good men among my tenants, 
 and certain others who were in the coun- 
 iS5 
 
156 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 sels of the Forge, to keep an unobtrusive 
 guard about the place, till Marc's wound 
 should be so far healed that he might go 
 to Grand Pre. And further, I would put 
 them all in the hands of Father Fafard, 
 with whom even the Black Abbe would 
 scarce dare to meddle openly. 
 
 " The Cure," said I, turning to Mizpah, 
 " you may trust both for his wisdom and 
 his goodness. With him you will all be 
 secure till my return." 
 
 Mizpah bowed her head in acknowl- 
 edgment, and looked at me gratefully, 
 but could not trust herself to speak. 
 She sat a little apart, by the door, and 
 was making a mighty effort to maintain 
 her outward composure. 
 
 Then I turned to where Marc's face, 
 pallid but glad, shone dimly on his pillow. 
 I took his hand, I felt his pulse — for the 
 hundredth time, perhaps. There was no 
 more fever, no more prostration, than was 
 to be accounted inevitable from such a 
 wound. So I said : — 
 
 " Does the plan commend itself to you, 
 dear lad ? It troubles me sore to leave 
 
In a Strange Fellowship 157 
 
 you in this plight; but Father Fafard is 
 skilful, and I think you will not fret for 
 lack of tender nursing. You will not 
 need me, lad ; but there is a little lad with 
 yellow hair who needs me now, and I must 
 go to him." 
 
 The moment I had spoken these last 
 words I wished them back, for Mizpah 
 broke down all at once in a terrible passion 
 of tears. But I was ever a bungler where 
 women are concerned, ever saying the 
 wrong thing, ever slow to understand 
 their strange, swift shiftings of mood. 
 This time, however, I understood ; for 
 with my words a black realization of the 
 little one's lonely fear came down upon 
 my own soul, till my heart cried out with 
 pity for him ; and Prudence fell a-weeping 
 by Marc's head. But she stopped on the 
 instant, fearing to excite Marc hurtfully, 
 and Marc said : — 
 
 " Indeed, Father, think not a moment 
 more of me. 'Tis the poor little lad that 
 needs you. Oh that I too could go with 
 you on the quest ! " 
 
 "To-morrow I go," said I, positively, 
 
158 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 "just as soon as I have seen Father 
 Fafard." 
 
 As I spoke, Mizpah went out suddenly, 
 and walked with rapid strides down the 
 road, passing Giraud on the way as he 
 came from mending the little canoe which 
 I was to take. I had chosen a small and 
 light craft, not knowing what streams I 
 might have to ascend, what long carries 
 I might have to make. As Mizpah 
 passed him, going on to lean her arms 
 upon the fence and stare out across the 
 water, Giraud turned to watch her for a 
 moment. Then, as he came up to the 
 door where we sat, he took off his woollen 
 cap, and said simply, " Poor lady ! it goes 
 hard with her." 
 
 " My friend," said I, " will these, while 
 I am gone, be safe here from their ene- 
 mies, — even should the Black Abbe come 
 in person ? " 
 
 "Master," he replied, with a certain 
 proud nobility, which had ever impressed 
 me in the man, "if any hurt comes to 
 them, it will be not over my dead body 
 alone, but over those of a dozen more 
 
In a Strange Fellowship 159 
 
 stout fellows who would die to serve 
 you. 
 
 " I believe you," said I, reaching out 
 my hand. He kissed it, and went off 
 quickly about his affairs. 
 
 Hardly was he gone when Mizpah 
 came back. She was very pale and calm, 
 and her eyes shone with the fire of some 
 intense purpose. Had I known woman's 
 heart as do some of my friends whom I 
 could mention, I should have fathomed 
 that purpose at her first words. But as 
 I have said, I am slow to understand a 
 woman's hints and objects, though men 
 I can read ere their thoughts find speech. 
 There was a faint glory of the last of 
 sunset on Mizpah's face and hair as she 
 stood facing me, her lips parted to speak. 
 Behind her lay the little garden, with its 
 sunflowers and lupines, and its thicket of 
 pole beans in one corner. Then, beyond 
 the gray fence, the smooth tide of the 
 expanding river, violet-hued, the copper 
 and olive wood, the marshes all greenish 
 amber, and the dusky purple of the hills. 
 It was all stamped t upon my memory 
 
160 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 in delectable and imperishable colours, 
 though I know that at the moment I saw 
 only Mizpah's tall grace, her red-gold 
 hair, the eyes that seemed to bring my 
 spirit to her feet. I was thinking, "Was 
 there ever such another woman's face, or 
 a presence so gracious ? " when I realized 
 that she was speaking. 
 
 " Do I paddle well, Monsieur ? " she 
 asked, with the air of one who repeats a 
 question. 
 
 " Pardon, a thousand pardons, Ma- 
 dame ! " I exclaimed. " Yes, you use 
 your paddle excellently well." 
 
 "And I can shoot, I can shoot very 
 skilfully," she went on, with strong em- 
 phasis. " I can handle both pistol and 
 musket." 
 
 " Indeed, Madame ! " said I, considera- 
 bly astonished. 
 
 "Ask Marc if I am not a cunning 
 shot," she persisted, while her eyes seemed 
 to burn through me in their eager intent- 
 ness. 
 
 " Yes, Father," came Marc's whispered 
 response out of the shadow, where I 
 
In a Strange Fellowship 161 
 
 saw only the bended head of the maid 
 Prudence. "Yes, Father, she is a more 
 cunning marksman than I." 
 
 I turned again to her, and saw that she 
 expected, that she thirsted for, an answer. 
 But what answer ? 
 
 " Madame," said I, bowing profoundly, 
 and hoping to cover my bewilderment 
 with a courtly speech, " may I hope that 
 you will fire a good shot for me some 
 day; I should account it an honour above 
 all others if I might be indebted to such a 
 hand for such succour." 
 
 She clasped her hands in a great glad- 
 ness, crying, "Then I may go with 
 your 
 
 " Go with me!" I cried, looking at 
 her in huge amazement. 
 
 "She wants to help you find the child," 
 whispered Marc. 
 
 The thought of this white girl among 
 the perils which I saw before me pierced 
 my heart with a strange pang, and in my 
 haste I cried rudely : — 
 
 "Nonsense! Impossible! Why, it 
 would be mere madness ! " 
 
1 62 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 So bitter was the pain of disappoint- 
 ment which wrung her face that I put 
 out both hands towards her in passionate 
 deprecation. 
 
 "Forgive me; oh, forgive me, Ma- 
 dame ! " I pleaded. " But how could I 
 bring you into such perils ? " 
 
 But she caught my hands and would 
 have gone on her knees to me if I had 
 not stayed her roughly. 
 
 "Take me with you," she implored. 
 " I can paddle, I can serve you as well 
 as any man whom you can get. And I 
 am brave, believe me. And how can I 
 wait here when my boy, my darling, my 
 Philip, is alone among those beasts ? I 
 would die every hour." 
 
 How could I refuse her? Yet refuse, 
 her I would, I must. To take her would 
 be to lessen my own powers, I thought, 
 and to add tenfold to the peril of the 
 venture. Nevertheless my heart did now 
 so leap at the thought of this strange, 
 close fellowship which she demanded, 
 that I came near to silencing my better 
 judgment, and saying she might go. 
 
In a Strange Fellowship 163 
 
 But I shut my teeth obstinately on 
 the words. 
 
 At this moment, while she waited 
 trembling, Marc once more intervened. 
 
 "You might do far worse than take 
 her, Father. No one else will serve you 
 more bravely or more skilfully, I think." 
 
 So Marc actually approved of this in- 
 credible proposal ? Then was it, after all, 
 so preposterous ? My wavering must 
 have shown itself in my face, for her 
 own began to lighten rarely. 
 
 " But — those clothes ! " said I. 
 
 At this she flushed to her ears. But 
 she answered bravely. 
 
 " I will wear others ; did you think I 
 would so hamper you with this guise ? 
 No," she added with a little nervous 
 laugh, " I will play the man ; be sure." 
 
 And so, though I could scarce believe 
 it, it was settled that Mizpah Hanford 
 should go with me. 
 
 That night I found little sleep. My 
 thoughts were a chaos of astonishment 
 and apprehension. Marc, moreover, kept 
 tossing, for his wound fretted him sorely, 
 
164 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and I was continually at his side to give 
 him drink. At about two in the morn- 
 ing there came a horseman to the garden 
 gate, riding swiftly. Hurrying out I met 
 him in the path. It was Father Fafard, 
 come straight upon my word. He turned 
 his horse into Giraud's pasture, put saddle 
 and bridle in the porchway, and then fol- 
 lowed me in to Marc's bedside. 
 
 When he had dressed the wound anew, 
 and administered a soothing draught, Marc 
 fell into a quiet sleep. 
 
 " He will do well, but it is a matter 
 for long patience," said the Cure. 
 
 Then we went out of the house and 
 down to the garden corner by the thicket 
 of beans, where we might talk freely and 
 jar no slumberers. Father Fafard fell in 
 with my plans most heartily, and accepted 
 my charges. To hold the Black Abbe in 
 check at any point, would, he felt, be 
 counted unto him for righteousness. 
 
 My mind being thus set at ease, I 
 resolved to start as soon as might be after 
 daybreak. 
 
 Before it was yet full day, I was again 
 
In a Strange Fellowship 165 
 
 astir, and goodwife Giraud was getting 
 ready, in bags, our provision of bacon and 
 black bread. I had many small things to 
 do, — gathering ammunition for two mus- 
 kets and four pistols, selecting my paddles 
 with care from Giraud' s stock, and loading 
 the canoe to the utmost advantage for ease 
 of running and economy of space. Then, 
 as I went in to the goodwife's breakfast, 
 I was met at the door by a slim youth in 
 leathern coat and leggins, with two pistols 
 and Marc's whinger. I recognized the 
 carven hilt stuck bravely in his belt, and 
 Marc's knitted cap of gray wool on his 
 head, well pulled down. The boy blushed, 
 but met my eye with a sweet firmness, and 
 I bowed with great courtesy. Even in this 
 attire I thought she could not look aught 
 but womanly — for it was Mistress Miz- 
 pah. Yet I could not but confess that 
 to the stranger she would appear but as a 
 singularly handsome stripling. The glory 
 of her hair was hidden within her cap. 
 
 " These are the times," said I, seriously, 
 " that breed brave women." 
 
 Breakfast done, messages and orders 
 
1 66 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 repeated, and farewells all spoken, the sun 
 was perhaps an hour high when we pad- 
 dled away from the little landing under 
 Giraud's garden fence. I waved my cap 
 backwards to Prudence and the Cure, 
 where they stood side by side at the 
 landing. My comrade in the bow waved 
 her hand once, then fell to paddling dili- 
 gently. I was still in a maze of wonder- 
 ment, ready at any time to wake and 
 find it a dream. But the little seas that 
 slapped us as we cleared the river mouth, 
 these were plainly real. I headed for the 
 eastern point of the island, intending to 
 land at the mouth of the Piziquid and 
 make some inquiries. The morning air 
 was like wine in my veins. There was 
 a gay dancing of ripples over toward 
 Blomidon, and the sky was a clear blue. 
 A dash of cool drops wet me. It was 
 no dream. 
 
 And so in a strange fellowship I set 
 out to find the child. 
 
Chapter XIII 
 
 My Comrade 
 
 I COULD not sufficiently commend 
 the ease and aptness with which 
 my beautiful comrade wielded her paddle. 
 But in a while the day grew hot, and I 
 bade her lie back in her place and rest. 
 At first she would not, till I was com- 
 pelled to remind her in a tone of railing 
 that I was the captain in this enterprise, 
 and that good soldiers must obey. Where- 
 upon, though her back was toward me, I 
 saw a flush creep around to her little ears, 
 and she laid the paddle down something 
 abruptly. I feared that I had vexed her, 
 and I made haste to attempt an explana- 
 tion, although it seemed to me that she 
 should have understood a matter so ob- 
 vious. 
 
 " I beg you to pardon me, Madame, 
 167 
 
1 68 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 if I seem to insist too much," said I, with 
 hesitation. " But you must know that, 
 if you exhaust yourself at the beginning 
 of the journey, before you are hardened 
 to the long continuance of such work, 
 you will be unable to do anything to- 
 morrow, and our quest will be much 
 hindered." 
 
 " Forgive me ! " she cried ; " you are 
 right, of course. Oh, I fear I have done 
 wrong in hampering you ! But I am 
 strong, truly, and enduring as most men, 
 Monsieur." 
 
 "Yes," I answered, "but to do one 
 thing strenuously all day long, and for 
 days thereafter, that is hard. I believe 
 you can do it, or I should have been 
 mad indeed to bring you. But you 
 must let me advise you at the beginning. 
 For this first day, rest often and save 
 yourself as much as possible. By this 
 means you will be able to do better to- 
 morrow, and better still the day after. 
 By the other means, you will be able to 
 do little to-morrow most likely, and per- 
 haps nothing the day after." 
 
My Comrade 169 
 
 " Well," she said, turning her head 
 partly around, so that I could see the 
 gracious profile, "tell me, Monsieur, 
 when to work and when to rest. I will 
 obey. It is a lucky soldier, I know, who 
 has the Seigneur de Briart to command 
 him." 
 
 "But I fear, Madame," said I, "that 
 discipline would sadly suffer if he had 
 often such soldiers to command." 
 
 To this she made no reply. I saw 
 that she leaned back in her place and 
 changed her posture, so as to fulfil my 
 wish and rest herself to the best advan- 
 tage. I thought my words over. To 
 me they seemed to have that savour of 
 compliment which I would now avoid. 
 I felt that here, under these strange cir- 
 cumstances, in an intimacy which might 
 by and by be remembered by her with 
 some little confusion, but which now, 
 while she had no thought but for the 
 rescue of the little one, contained no 
 shadow of awkwardness for her clear and 
 earnest soul, — I felt that here I must 
 hold myself under bonds. The play of 
 
170 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 graceful compliment, such as I would 
 have practised in her drawing-room to 
 show her the courtliness of my breeding, 
 must be forsworn. The admiration, the 
 devotion, the worship, that burned in my 
 eyes whensoever they dwelt upon her, 
 must be strictly veiled. I must seem to 
 forget that I am a man and my com- 
 panion the fairest of women. Yes, I 
 kept telling myself, I must regard her 
 as a comrade only, and a follower, and 
 a boy. I must be frank and careless in 
 my manner toward her ; kind, but blunt 
 and positive. She will think nothing of 
 it now, and will blush the less for it by 
 and by, when the child is in her arms 
 again, and she can once more give her 
 mind to little matters. 
 
 And so I schooled myself; and as I 
 watched her I began to realize more and 
 more, with a delicious warming of my 
 heart, what instant need I had of such 
 schooling if I would not have her see 
 how I was not at all her captain, but 
 her bondsman. 
 
 At the mouth of the Piziquid stream 
 
My Comrade 171 
 
 there clustered a few cottages, not enough 
 to call a village ; and here we stopped 
 about noon. A meal of milk and eggs 
 and freshly baked rye cakes refreshed us, 
 and eager as was our haste, I judged it 
 wise to rest an hour stretched out in the 
 shade of an apple tree. To this halt, 
 Mizpah, after one glance of eager ques- 
 tion at my face, made no demur, and I 
 replied to the glance by whispering : — 
 
 " That is a good soldier ! We will gain 
 by this pause, now. We will travel late 
 to-night." 
 
 The cottagers of whom we had our 
 meal were folk unknown to me ; and 
 being informed that the Black Abbe had 
 some followers in the neighbourhood, I 
 durst give no hint of our purpose. By 
 and by I asked carelessly if two canoes, 
 with Indians of the Shubenacadie, had 
 gone by this way. I thought that the 
 man looked at me with some suspicion. 
 He hesitated. But before he could reply 
 his goodwife answered for him, with the 
 freedom of a clear conscience. 
 
 "Yes, M'sieu," she chattered, "two 
 
172 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 canoes, and four Indians. They went by 
 yesterday, toward sundown, stopping here 
 for water from our well, — the finest water 
 hereabouts, if I do say it ! " 
 
 "They went up the river, I suppose," 
 said I. 
 
 " Oh, but no, M'sieu," clattered on the 
 worthy dame. " They went straight up 
 the bay. Yes, goodman," she continued, 
 changing her tone sharply, " whenever 
 I open my mouth you glare at me as 
 if I was talking nonsense. What have 
 I said wrong now, I'd like to know. 
 Yes, I'd like very much to know that, 
 goodman. Why should not the gentle- 
 man know that they had — " 
 
 But here the man interrupted her 
 roughly. "Will you never be done 
 your prating ? " he cried. " Can't you 
 see that you worry the gentlemen ? 
 How should they care to know that 
 the red rascals made a good catch of 
 shad off the island ? Now, do go and 
 get some of your fresh buttermilk for 
 the gentlemen to drink before they go. 
 Don't you see they are starting ? " 
 
My Comrade 173 
 
 And, indeed, Mizpah's impatience to 
 be gone was plainly evident, and we had 
 rested long enough. I durst not look at 
 her face, lest our host should perceive 
 that I had heard what I wanted to hear. 
 I spoke casually of the weather, and in- 
 quired how his apples and his flax were 
 faring, and so filled the minutes safely 
 until the goodwife came with the butter- 
 milk. Having both drunk gratefully of 
 the cool, delicately acid, nourishing liquor, 
 we gave the man a piece of silver, and set 
 out in good heart. 
 
 " We are on the right track, comrade," 
 said I, lightly, steering my course along 
 the shore toward Cobequid. 
 
 Her only answer was to fall a-paddling 
 with such an eagerness that I had to 
 check her. 
 
 " Now, now," I said, " more haste, less 
 speed." 
 
 " But I feel so strong now, and so 
 rested," she cried passionately. " Might 
 we not overtake them to-night ? " 
 
 " Hardly so soon as that, I fear, 
 Madame," I answered. " This is a stern 
 
174 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 chase, and it is like to be a long one ; 
 you must make up your mind to that, 
 if you would not have a fresh disappoint- 
 ment every hour." 
 
 " Oh," she broke out, " if it were your 
 child you were trying to find and save, 
 you would not be so cool about it." 
 
 " Believe me, Madame," said I, in a 
 low voice, " I am not perhaps as cool as 
 I appear." 
 
 " Oh, what a weak and silly creature 
 I must seem to you ! " she cried. " But 
 I will not be weak and silly when it comes 
 to trial, Monsieur, I promise you. I will 
 prove worthy of your confidence. But 
 make allowance for me now, and do not 
 judge me harshly. Every moment I 
 seem to hear him crying for me, Mon- 
 sieur." And her head drooped forward 
 in unspeakable grief. 
 
 I could think of nothing, absolutely 
 nothing, to say. I could only mutter 
 hoarsely, " I do not think you either weak 
 or silly, Madame." 
 
 This answer, feeble as it appeared to 
 myself, seemed in a sense to relieve her. 
 
My Comrade 175 
 
 She put down her paddle, leaned forward 
 upon the front bar, with her face in her 
 hands, and sobbed gently for a few min- 
 utes. Then, while I gazed upon her 
 in rapt commiseration, she all at once 
 resumed the paddle briskly. 
 
 For my own part, being just lately re- 
 turned from a long expedition, my muscles 
 were like steel ; I felt that I should never 
 weary. Steadily onward we pressed, past 
 the mouths of several small streams whose 
 names I did not know, past headland 
 after headland of red clay or pallid plaster 
 rock. As the tide fell, we were driven 
 far out into the bay, till sometimes there 
 was a mile of oozy red flats parting us 
 from the edge of the green. But as the 
 tide rose again, we accompanied its seeth- 
 ing vanguard, till at last we were again 
 close in shore. A breeze soon after mid- 
 day springing up behind us, we made 
 excellent progress. But soon after sun- 
 set a mist arose, which made our journey 
 too perilous to be continued. I turned 
 into a narrow cove between high banks, 
 where the brawling of a shallow brook 
 
176 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 promised us fresh water. And there, in a 
 thicket of young fir trees growing at the 
 foot of a steep bank, I set up the canoe 
 on edge, laid some poles and branches 
 against it, and had a secluded shelter for 
 my lady. She looked at it with a grati- 
 fied admiration and could never be done 
 with thanking me. 
 
 Being now near the Shubenacadie mouth, 
 I durst not light a fire, but we uncomplain- 
 ingly ate our black bread ; and then I said : 
 
 "We will start at first gray, comrade. 
 You will need all the sleep you can win. 
 Good night, and kindly dreams." 
 
 " Good night, Monsieur," she said 
 softly, and disappeared. Then going 
 down to the water's side, I threw off 
 my clothes, and took a swift plunge 
 which steadied and refreshed me might- 
 ily. Swimming in the misty and mur- 
 murous darkness, my venture and my 
 strange fellowship seemed more like a 
 dream to me than ever, and I could 
 scarce believe myself awake. But I was 
 awake enough to feel it when, in stum- 
 bling ashore, I scraped my foot painfully 
 
My Comrade 177 
 
 on a jagged shell. However, that hurt 
 was soon eased and staunched by holding 
 it for a little under the chill gushing of 
 the brook. ; after which I dressed myself, 
 gathered a handful of ferns for a pillow, 
 and laid myself down across the opening 
 which led into the thicket. 
 
Chapter XIV 
 My Comrade Shoots Excellently Well 
 
 FROM a medley of dreams, in which 
 I saw Mizpah binding the Black 
 Abbe with cords of her own hair — tight, 
 tighter, till they ate into his flesh, and I 
 trembled at the look, of shaking horror in 
 his face ; in which then I saw the child 
 chasing butterflies before the door of the 
 Forge in the Forest, and heard Babin's 
 hammer beating musically on his anvil, 
 till the sound became the chiming of the 
 Angelus over the roofs and walls of Que- 
 bec, where Mizpah and I walked hand 
 fast together on the topmost bastion, — 
 from such a fleeting and blending con- 
 fusion as this, I woke to feel a hand 
 laid softly on my face in the dark. I 
 needed no seeing to tell me whose was 
 the hand, so slim, so cool, so softly firm ; 
 178 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 179 
 
 and I had much ado to keep my lips from 
 reverently kissing it. 
 
 " Monsieur, Monsieur," came the whis- 
 per, " what is that noise, that voice ? " 
 
 " Pardon me, comrade, for sleeping so 
 soundly," I murmured, sitting up, and 
 taking her hand in mine with a rough 
 freedom of goodwill, as merely to reas- 
 sure her. " What is it you hear ? " 
 
 But before she could reply, I heard 
 it myself, a strange, chanting cry, slow 
 and plangent, from far out upon the 
 water. Presently I caught the words, 
 and knew the voice. 
 
 " Woe, woe to Acadie the fair," it came 
 solemnly, " for the day of her desolation 
 draws nigh ! " 
 
 " It is Grul," said I, " passing in his 
 canoe, on some strange errand of his." 
 
 "Grul? Who is Grul?" she ques- 
 tioned, clinging a little to my hand, and 
 then dropping it suddenly. 
 
 "A quaint madman of these parts," 
 said I ; " and yet I think his madness 
 is in some degree a feigning. He has 
 twice done me inestimable service — once 
 
180 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 warning us of an immediate peril, and 
 again yesterday, in leading us to the spot 
 where you were held captive. For some 
 reason unknown to me, he has a mar- 
 vellous kindness for me and mine. But 
 the Black Abbe he hates in deadly fashion 
 — for some ancient and ineffaceable wrong, 
 if the tale tell true." 
 
 " And he brought you to us ? " she 
 murmured, with a sort of stillness in her 
 voice, which caught me strangely. 
 
 "Yes, Gruldid!" said I. 
 
 And then there was silence between us, 
 and we heard the mysterious and sol- 
 emn voice passing, and dying away in the 
 distance. My ears at last being released 
 from the tension of listening, my eyes 
 began to serve me, and through the 
 branches I marked a grayness spreading 
 in the sky. 
 
 " We must be stirring, Madame," said 
 I, rising abruptly to my feet. " Let us 
 take our bread down to the brook and eat 
 it there." 
 
 But she was already gone, snatching up 
 the sack of bread ; and in a few minutes, 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 181 
 
 having righted the canoe and carried it 
 down to a convenient landing-place, I 
 joined her. She was stretched flat beside 
 a little basin of the brook, her cap off, her 
 hair in a tight coil high upon her head, 
 her sleeves pulled up, while she splashed 
 her face and arms in the running coolness. 
 Without pulling down her sleeves or re- 
 suming her cap, she seated herself on a 
 stone and held out to me a piece of bread. 
 In the coldly growing dawn her hair and 
 lips were colourless, the whiteness of her 
 arms shadowy and spectral. Then as we 
 slowly made our meal, I bringing water 
 for her in my drinking-horn, the rose and 
 fire and violet of sunrise began to sift 
 down into our valley and show me again 
 the hues of life in Mizpah's face. I 
 sprang up, handed her the woollen cap, 
 and tried hard to keep my eyes from 
 dwelling upon the sweet and gracious 
 curves of her arms. 
 
 " Aboard ! Aboard ! " I cried, and 
 moved off in a bustling fashion to get 
 the paddles. In a few minutes we were 
 under way, thrusting out from the shore, 
 
1 82 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and pushing through myriad little curling 
 wisps of vapour, which rose in pale hues 
 of violet and pink all over the oil-smooth 
 surface of the tide. 
 
 For some time we paddled in silence. 
 Then, when the sun's first rays fell fairly 
 upon us, I exclaimed lightly : — 
 
 "You must pull down your sleeves, 
 comrade." 
 
 " Why ? " she asked quickly, turning 
 her head and pausing in her stroke. 
 
 " For two excellent reasons besides the 
 captain's orders," said I. " In the first 
 place, your arms will get so sore with 
 sunburn, that you won't be able to do 
 your fair share of the work. In the 
 second place, if we should meet any 
 strangers, it would be difficult to per- 
 suade them that those arms were manly 
 enough for a wood-ranger." 
 
 " Oh," she said quickly, and pulled 
 down the sleeves in some confusion. 
 
 All that morning we made excellent 
 progress, with the help of a light follow- 
 ing wind. When the sun was perhaps 
 two hours high, the mouth of the Shu- 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 183 
 
 benacadie opened before us ; and because 
 this river was the great highway of the 
 Black Abbe's red people, I ran the canoe 
 in shore and concealed it till I had climbed 
 a bluff near by and scanned the lower 
 reaches of the stream. Finding all clear, 
 we put out again, and with the utmost 
 haste paddled past the mouth. Not till 
 we were behind the further point, and 
 running along under the shelter of a high 
 bank, did I breathe freely. Then I praised 
 Mizpah, for in that burst of speed her 
 skill and force had amazed me. 
 
 But she turned upon me with the ques- 
 tion which I had looked for. 
 
 " If that is the Black Abbe's river," 
 said she, with great eyes fixing mine, 
 "and the Indians have gone that way, 
 why do we pass by ? " 
 
 " I owe you an explanation, comrade," 
 said I. " I think in all likelihood, that way 
 leads straight to your child ; but if we 
 went that way, we would be the Abbe's 
 prisoners within the next hour, — and how 
 would we help the child then ? Oh, no ; 
 I am bound for the Black Abbe's back 
 
184 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 door. A few leagues beyond this lies the 
 River des Saumons, and on its banks is 
 a settlement of our Acadian folk. Many 
 of them are of the Abbe's following, and 
 all fear him ; but I have there two faithful 
 men who are in the counsels of the Forge. 
 One of these dwells some two miles back 
 from the river, half a league this side of 
 the village. I will go to him secretly, and 
 send him on to the Shubenacadie for in- 
 formation. Then we will act not blindly." 
 
 To this of course she acquiesced at 
 once, as being the only wise way ; but 
 for all that, with each canoe-length that we 
 left the Shubenacadie behind, the more 
 did her paddle lag. The impulse seemed 
 all gone out of her. Soon therefore I 
 bade her lay down the blade and rest. 
 In a little, when she had lain a while with 
 her face upon her arms, — whether waking 
 or not I could not tell, for she kept her 
 face turned away from me, — she became 
 herself again. 
 
 No long while after noon, we ran into 
 the mouth of the des Saumons. I was 
 highly elated with the success that had so 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 185 
 
 far attended us, — the speed we had made, 
 our immunity from hindrance and ques- 
 tion. We landed to eat our hasty meal, 
 but paused not long to rest, being urged 
 now by the keen spur of imagined near- 
 ness to our goal. Some two hours more 
 of brisk paddling brought us to a narrow 
 and winding creek, up which I turned. 
 For some furlongs it ran through a wide 
 marsh, but at length one bank grew high 
 and copsy. Here I put the canoe to 
 land, and stepped ashore, bidding Miz- 
 pah keep her place. 
 
 Finding the spot to my liking, I pulled 
 the canoe further up on the soft mud, and 
 astonished Mizpah by telling her that I 
 must carry her up the bank. 
 
 " But why ? " she cried. " I can walk, 
 Monsieur, as well as I could this morning 
 — though I am a little stiff," she added 
 naively. 
 
 " The good soldier asks not why," said 
 I, with affected severity. "But I will 
 tell you. In case any one should come 
 in my absence, there must be but one 
 track visible, and that track mine, leading 
 
1 86 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 up and away toward the settlement. You 
 must lie hidden in that thicket, and keep 
 guard. Do you understand, Madame ? " 
 
 "Yes," said she, — "but how can you ? 
 — I am awfully heavy." 
 
 I laughed softly, picked her up as I 
 would a child, and carried her to the edge 
 of the woods, where I let her down on 
 one end of a fallen tree. 
 
 " Now, comrade," said I, " if you will 
 go circumspectly along this log you 
 will leave no trace. Hide yourself in 
 the thicket there close to the canoe, keep 
 your pistols primedj^sifi'-watch till I come 
 back, — and the blessed Virgin guard 
 you ! " I added, with a sudden fervour. 
 
 Then, having lifted the canoe alto- 
 gether clear of the water, I set forth at 
 a swinging trot for Martin's farm. 
 
 I found my trusty habitant at home, 
 and ready to do any errand of mine ere I 
 could speak it. But when I told him 
 what I wanted of him he started in some 
 excitement. 
 
 "Why, Monsieur," he cried, "I have 
 the very tidings you seek. I myself saw 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 187 
 
 a canoe with two Indians pass up the river 
 this morning ; and they had a little child 
 with them, — a child with long yellow 
 hair." 
 
 "Up this river!" I exclaimed. "Then 
 whither can they be taking him ? " 
 
 "They did not leave him in the vil- 
 lage," answered Martin, positively, "for 
 the word goes that they passed on up in 
 great haste. By the route they have 
 taken, they are clearly bound for the 
 Straits — " 
 
 "Ay, they'll cross to the head of the 
 Pictook, and descend that stream," said 
 I. "But which way will they turn then ? " 
 — For I was surprised and confused at 
 the information. 
 
 "Well, Monsieur," said Martin, "when 
 they get to the Straits, who knows ? They 
 may be going across to He St. Jean. They 
 may turn south to He Royale ; for the 
 English, I hear, have no hold there, save 
 at Louisburg and Canseau. Or they 
 may turn north toward Miramichi. Who 
 knows — save the Black Abbe ? " 
 
 " I must overtake them," said I, reso- 
 
1 88 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 lutely. "Good-bye, my friend and thank 
 you. If all goes well, you will get a 
 summons from the Forge ere the moon 
 is again at the full;" and I made haste 
 back to the spot where Mizpah waited. 
 
 As I swung along, I congratulated my- 
 self on the good fortune which had so 
 held me to the trail. Then I fell to think- 
 ing of my comrade, and the wonder of the 
 situation, and the greater wonder of her 
 eyes and hair, — which thoughts sped the 
 time so sweetly that ere I could believe it 
 I saw before me the overhanging willows, 
 and the thicket by the stream. Then I 
 stopped as if I had been struck in the 
 face, and shook with a sudden fear. 
 
 At my very feet, fallen across the dead 
 tree which I have already mentioned, lay 
 the body of an Indian. Every line of the 
 loose, sprawled body told me that he had 
 met an instant death, — and a bullet hole 
 in his back showed me the manner of it. 
 Only for a second did I pause. Then 
 I sprang into the thicket, with' a horror 
 catching at my heart. There was Mizpah 
 lying on her face, — and a hoarse cry 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 189 
 
 broke from my lips. But even as I 
 flung myself down beside her I saw that 
 she was not dead. No, she was shaking 
 with sobs, — and the naturalness of it, 
 strange to say, reassured me on the 
 instant. I made to lift her, when she 
 sprang at once to her feet, and looked 
 at me wildly. I took her hand, to com- 
 fort her; but she drew it away, and 
 gazed upon it with a kind of shrinking 
 horror. 
 
 I understood now what had happened. 
 Nevertheless, knowing not just the best 
 thing to say, I asked her what was the 
 matter. 
 
 " Oh," she cried, covering her eyes, 
 " I killed him. He threw up his 
 hands, and groaned, and fell like a log. 
 How could I do it? How could I 
 do it?" 
 
 I tried to assure her that she had done 
 well ; but finding that she would pay me 
 no heed, I went to look at her victim. I 
 turned him over, and muttered a thanks- 
 giving to Heaven as I recognized him 
 for one of the worst of the Black Abbe's 
 
190 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 flock. I found his tracks all about the 
 canoe. Then I wen.;: back to Mizpah. 
 
 "Good soldier! Good comrade!" said 
 I, earnestly. "You have killed Little 
 Fox, the blackest and crudest rogue 
 on the whole Shubenacadie. Oh, I tell 
 you you have done a good deed this 
 day ! " 
 
 The knowledge of this appeared to 
 ease her somewhat, and in a few moments 
 I gathered the details. The Indian had 
 come suddenly to the bank, and seeing a 
 canoe there had examined it curiously, — 
 she, the while, waiting in great fear, for 
 she had at once recognized him as one of 
 her former captors, and one of whom she 
 stood in special dread. While looking at 
 our things in the canoe, he had appeared 
 all at once to understand. He had picked 
 up my coat, and examined it carefully, — 
 and the grin that disclosed his long teeth 
 disclosed also that he recognized it. 
 Looking to the priming of his musket, 
 he started cautiously up the bank upon 
 my trail. 
 
 "As soon as he left the canoe," said 
 
My Comrade Shoots Well 191 
 
 Mizpah, still shaken with sobs, "I knew 
 that something must be done. If he went 
 away, it would be just to give the alarm, 
 and then we could not escape, and Philip 
 would be lost forever. But I saw that, 
 instead of going away, he was going to 
 track you and shoot you down. I didn't 
 know what to do, or how I could ever 
 shoot a man in cold blood, — but some- 
 thing made me do it. Just as he reached 
 the end of the log, I seemed to see him 
 already shooting you, away in the woods 
 over there, — and then I fired. And 
 oh, oh, oh, I shall never forget how he 
 groaned and fell over ! " And she stared 
 at her right hand. 
 
 " Comrade," said I, " I owe my life to 
 you. He would have shot me down; for, 
 as I think of it, I went carelessly, and 
 seldom looked behind when I got into 
 the woods. To be so incautious is not 
 my way, believe me. I know not how it 
 was, unless I so trusted the comrade 
 whom I had left behind to guard my 
 trail. And now, here are news ! They 
 have brought the child this way, up this 
 
192 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 very river ! The saints have surely led 
 us thus far, for we are hot upon their 
 track!" 
 
 And this made her forget to weep for 
 the excellence of her shooting. 
 
Chapter XV 
 Grill's Hour 
 
 THOUGH we were in a hot haste to 
 get away, it was absolutely neces- 
 sary first to bury the dead Indian, lest a 
 hue and cry should be raised that might 
 involve and delay us. With my paddle, 
 therefore, I dug him a shallow grave in 
 the soft mud at the edge of the tide, 
 which was then on the ebb. This meagre 
 inhumation completed, I smoothed the 
 surface as best I could with my paddle ; 
 and then we set off, resting easy in 
 the knowledge that the next tide would 
 smooth down all traces of the work. 
 
 It was by this close upon sunset, and I 
 felt a little hesitation as to what we had 
 best do. I had no wish to run through 
 the settlement till after dark, nor was I 
 anxious to push on against the furious 
 193 
 
194 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 ebb of the des Saumons, against which the 
 strongest paddlers could make slow head- 
 way. But it was necessary to get out of 
 the creek before the water should quite 
 forsake us ; and, moreover, Mizpah was 
 in a fever of haste to be gone. She 
 kept gazing about as if she expected 
 the savage, to rise from his muddy grave 
 and point at her. We ran out of the 
 creek, therefore, and were instantly caught 
 in the great current of the river. I suf- 
 fered it to sweep us down for half a mile, 
 having noted on the way up a cluster of 
 haystacks in an angle of the dyke. Com- 
 ing to these, I pushed ashore at once, car- 
 ried the canoe up, and found that the 
 place was one where we might rest secure. 
 Here we ate our black bread and drank 
 new milk, for there were many cattle pas- 
 turing on the aftermath, and some of the 
 cows had not yet gone home to milking. 
 Then, hiding the canoe behind the dyke, 
 and ourselves between the stacks, in great 
 weariness we sought our sleep. 
 
 There was no hint of dawn in the sky 
 when I awoke with a start ; but the con- 
 
Grill's Hour 195 
 
 stellations had swung so wide an arc that 
 I knew morning was close at hand. There 
 was a hissing clamour in the river-bed 
 which told me the tide was coming in. 
 That, doubtless, was the change which 
 had so swiftly aroused me. I went to 
 the other side of the stack, where Miz- 
 pah lay with her cheek upon her arm, 
 her hair fallen adorably about her neck. 
 Touching her forehead softly with my 
 hand, I whispered : — 
 
 " Come, comrade, the tide has turned ! " 
 Whereupon she sat up quietly, as if this 
 were for her the most usual of awaken- 
 ings, and began to arrange her hair. I 
 went out upon the shadowy marsh and 
 soon accomplished a second theft of new 
 milk, driving the tranquil cow which fur- 
 nished it into the corner behind the stacks, 
 that our dairy might be the more con- 
 veniently at hand. Our fast broken (and 
 though I hinted nought of it to Mizpah, 
 I found black bread growing monotonous), 
 I carried the canoe down to the edge of 
 the tide. But Mistress Mizpah's dainti- 
 ness revolted at the mud, whereupon she 
 
196 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 took off her moccasins and stockings be- 
 fore she came to it, and I caught a gleam 
 of slim white feet at the dewy edge of 
 the grass. When I had carried down 
 the paddles, pole, and baggage, I found 
 her standing in a quandary. She could 
 not get into the canoe with that sticky 
 clay clinging to her feet, and there was no 
 place where she could sit down to wash 
 them. Carelessly enough (though my 
 heart the while trembled within me), I 
 stretched out my hand to her, saying : — 
 
 " Lean on me, comrade, and then you 
 can manage it all right." 
 
 And so it was that she managed it ; and 
 so indifferently did I cast my eyes about, 
 now at the breaking dawn, now at the 
 swelling tide, that I am sure she must 
 have deemed that I saw not or cared not 
 at all how white and slender and shapely 
 were her feet ! 
 
 In few minutes we were afloat, going 
 swiftly on the tide. The sky was all saf- 
 fron as we slipped through the settlement, 
 and a fairy glow lay upon the white cot- 
 tages. The banks on either hand took 
 
GruFs Hour 197 
 
 on the ineffable hues of polished nacre. 
 To the door of one cottage, close by the 
 water, came a man yawning, and hailed 
 us. But I flung back a mere " Bon jour," 
 and sped on. Not till the settlement was 
 out of sight behind us, not till the cross 
 on the spire of the village was quite cut 
 off from view, did I drop to the even pace 
 of our day-long journeying. When at 
 length we got beyond the influence of the 
 tide, des Saumons was a shallow, sparkling, 
 singing stream, its bed aglow with ruddy- 
 coloured rocks. Here I laid aside my 
 paddle and thrust the canoe onwards by 
 means of my long pole of white spruce, 
 while Mizpah had nought to do but lean 
 back and watch the shores creep by. 
 
 At the head of tide we had stopped to 
 drink and to breathe a little. And there, 
 seeing an old man working in front of a 
 solitary cabin, I had deemed it safe to ap- 
 proach him and purchase a few eggs. 
 After this we kept on till an hour past 
 noon, when I stopped in a bend of the 
 river, at the foot of a perpendicular cliff of 
 red rock some seventy or eighty feet in 
 
198 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 height. Here was a thicket wherein we 
 might hide both the canoe and ourselves 
 if necessary. The canoe I hid at once, 
 that, being a matter of the more time. 
 Then we both set ourselves to gathering 
 dry sticks, for it seemed to me we might 
 here risk the luxury of a fire, with a din- 
 ner of roasted eggs. 
 
 We had gathered but a handful or two, 
 when I heard a crashing in the underbrush 
 at the top of the cliff 7 ; and in a second, 
 catching Mizpah by the hand, I had 
 dragged her into hiding. Through a 
 screen of dark and drooping hemlock 
 boughs we gazed intently at the top of 
 the cliff", — and I noted, without thinking 
 worth while to remedy my oversight, that 
 I had forgotten to release Mizpah's 
 hand. 
 
 The crashing noise, mingled with some 
 sharp outcries of rage and fear, continued 
 for several minutes. Then there was 
 silence ; and I saw at the brink a pointed 
 cap stuck full of feathers, and the glare of 
 a black and yellow cloak. 
 
 " Grul ! " I whispered, in astonishment ; 
 
Grill's Hour 199 
 
 and I felt an answering surprise in the 
 tightened clasp of Mizpah's hand. 
 
 A moment more and Grul peered over 
 the brink, scrutinizing the upper and lower 
 reaches of the river. He held a coil of 
 rope, one end of which he had made fast 
 to a stout birch tree which leaned well out 
 over the edge. 
 
 " What is he going to do ? " murmured 
 Mizpah, with wide eyes. 
 
 " We'll soon see ! " said I, marvelling 
 mightily. 
 
 The apparition vanished for some 
 minutes, then suddenly reappeared close 
 to the brink. He carried, as lightly as if 
 it had been a bundle of straw, the body of 
 a man, so bound about with many cords 
 as to remind me of nothing so much as a fly 
 in the death wrappings of some black and 
 yellow spider. To add to the semblance, 
 the victim was dressed in black, — and a 
 closer scrutiny showed that he was a 
 priest. 
 
 " It is the Black Abbe, none other," I 
 murmured, in a kind of awe ; while Miz- 
 pah shrank closer to my side with a 
 
200 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 sense of impending tragedies. " Grul has 
 come to his revenge ! " I added. 
 
 In a business fashion Grul knotted the 
 end of his coil of rope about the prisoner's 
 body, the feathers and flowers in his cap, 
 meanwhile, nodding with a kind of satis- 
 fied rhythm. Then he lowered the swathed 
 and helpless but silently writhing figure a 
 little way from the brink, governing the 
 rope with ease by means of a half-twist 
 about a jutting stump. There was some- 
 thing indescribably terrifying in the sight 
 of the fettered form swinging over the 
 deep, with shudderings and twistings, and 
 the safe edge not a yard length above him. 
 I pitied him in spite of myself; and I put 
 a hand over Mizpah's eyes that she 
 might not see what was coming. But she 
 pushed my hand away, and stared in a 
 fascination. 
 
 For some moments Grul gazed down in 
 silence upon his victim. 
 
 I fancied I caught the soul-piercing 
 flame of his mad eyes ; but this was 
 doubtless due to my imagination rather 
 than to the excellence of my vision. Sud- 
 
Grill's Hour 201 
 
 denly the victim, his fortitude giving way 
 with the sense of the deadly gulf beneath 
 him, and with the pitiless inquisition of 
 that gaze bent down upon him, broke out 
 into wild pleadings, desperate entreaties, 
 screams of anguished fear, till I myself 
 trembled at it, and Mizpah covered her 
 ears. 
 
 " Oh, stop it ! save him ! " she whis- 
 pered to me, with white lips. But I shook 
 my head. I could not reach the top of 
 the cliff". And moreover, I had small 
 doubt that Grul's vengeance was just. 
 Nevertheless, had I been at the top of 
 the cliff instead of the bottom, I had cer- 
 tainly put a stop to it. 
 
 After listening for some moments, with 
 a sort of pleasant attention, to the victim's 
 ravings, Grul lay flat, thrust his head and 
 shoulders far out over the brink, and 
 reached down a long arm. I saw the gleam 
 of a knife in his darting hand ; and I drew 
 a quick breath of relief. 
 
 " That ends it," said I ; and I shifted 
 my position, which I had not done, as it 
 seemed to me, for an eternity. The vie- 
 
202 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 tim's screaming had ceased before the 
 knife touched him. 
 
 But I was vastly mistaken in thinking 
 it the end. 
 
 " He has not killed him," muttered 
 Mizpah. 
 
 And then I saw that Grul had merely 
 cut the cord which bound his captive's 
 hands. The Abbe was swiftly freeing 
 himself; and Grul, meanwhile, was lower- 
 ing him down the face of the cliff. When 
 the unhappy captive had descended per- 
 haps twenty feet, his tormentor secured 
 the rope, and again lay down with his head 
 and shoulders leaning over the brink, his 
 hands playing carelessly with the knife. 
 
 The Abbe, with many awkward gest- 
 ures, presently got his limbs free, and the 
 cord which had enwound him fell trailing 
 like a snake to the cliff foot. Then, 
 with clawing hands and sprawling feet, he 
 clutched at the smooth, inexorable rock, 
 in the vain hope of getting a foothold. 
 It was pitiful to see his mad struggles, 
 and the quiet of the face above looking 
 down upon them with unimpassioned 
 
Grill's Hour 203 
 
 interest; till at last, exhausted, the poor 
 wretch ceased to struggle, and looked 
 up at his persecutor with the silence of 
 despair. 
 
 Presently Grul spoke, — for the first 
 time, as far as we knew. 
 
 " You know me, Monsieur 1' Abbe, I 
 suppose," he remarked, in tone of placid 
 courtesy. 
 
 " I know you, Francois de Grul," came 
 the reply, gasped from a dry mouth. 
 
 " Then further explanation, I think you 
 will allow, is not needed. I will bid you 
 farewell, and a pleasant journey," went on 
 the same civil modulations of Grill's voice. 
 At the same moment he reached down with 
 his shining blade as if to sever the rope. 
 
 " I did not do it ! I did not do it ! " 
 screamed the Abbe, once more clutching 
 convulsively at the smooth rock. " I 
 swear to you by all the saints ! " 
 
 Grul examined the edge of his knife. 
 He tested it with his thumb. I saw him 
 glance along it critically. Then he touched 
 it, ever so lightly, to the rope, so that a 
 single strand parted. 
 
204 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Swear to me," he said, in the mildest 
 voice, "swear to me, Monsieur l'Abbe, 
 that you had no part in it. Swear by the 
 Holy Ghost, Monsieur l'Abbe ! " 
 
 But the Abbe was silent. 
 
 " Swear me that oath now, good Abbe," 
 repeated the voice, with a kind of cour- 
 teous insistence. 
 
 " I will not swear ! " came the ghastly 
 whisper in reply. 
 
 At this an astonishing change passed 
 over the face that peered down from the 
 brink-. Its sane tranquillity became a 
 very paroxysm of rage. The grotesque 
 cap was dashed aside, and Grul sprang to 
 his feet, waving his arms, stamping and 
 leaping, his gaudy cloak a-flutter, his long 
 white hair and beard twisting as if with a 
 sentient fury of their own. He was so 
 close upon the brink that I held my breath, 
 expecting him to be plunged headlong. 
 But all at once the paroxysm died out as 
 suddenly as it had begun ; and throwing 
 himself down in his former position, Grul 
 once more touched the knife edge to the 
 rope, severing fibre by fibre, slowly, slowly. 
 
Grul's Hour 205 
 
 With the first touch upon the rope rose 
 the Abbe's voice again, but no longer in 
 vain entreaty and coward wailings. I lis- 
 tened with a great awe, and a sob broke 
 from Mizpah's lips. It was the prayer 
 for the passing soul. We heard it poured 
 forth in steady tones but swift, against the 
 blank face of the cliff. And we waited to 
 see the rope divided at a stroke. 
 
 But to our astonishment, Grul sprang 
 to his feet again, in another fury, and 
 flung aside his knife. With twitching 
 hands he loosened the rope and began 
 lowering his victim rapidly, till, within 
 some twenty feet of the bottom, the Abbe 
 found a footing, and stopped. Then 
 Grul tossed the whole rope down upon 
 him. 
 
 " Go ! " he cried in his chanting, bell- 
 like tones. " The cup of your iniquity is 
 not yet full. You shall not die till your 
 soul is so black in every part that you will 
 go down straight into hell ! " And turn- 
 ing abruptly, he vanished. 
 
 The Black Abbe, as if seized with a 
 faintness, leaned against the rock for some 
 
206 The Forge in *the Forest 
 
 minutes. Then, freeing himself from the 
 rope, he climbed down to the foot of the 
 cliff, and moved off slowly by the water's 
 edge toward Cobequid. We trembled lest 
 he should see us, or the canoe, — I having 
 no stomach for an attack upon one who 
 had just gone through so dreadful a tor- 
 ment. But his face, neck, ears, were like 
 a sweating candle ; and his contracted eyes 
 seemed scarce to see the ground before his 
 feet. 
 
 " Seemed," I say. Yet even in this 
 supreme moment, he tricked me. 
 
Chapter XVI 
 I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 
 
 WE now, having been so long delayed, 
 gave up our purpose of a fire, and 
 contented ourselves with the eggs raw. 
 I also cut some very thin slices of the 
 smoked and salted bacon, to eat with our 
 black bread, for I knew that, working as 
 we did, we needed strong food. But 
 Mizpah would not touch the uncooked 
 bacon, though its savour, I assured her, 
 was excellent. We had but well begun 
 our meal, and I was stooping over the 
 hard loaf, when a startled exclamation 
 from Mizpah made me look up. Close 
 behind us stood Grul, impatiently twist- 
 ing his little white rod with the scarlet 
 head. His eyes were somewhat more 
 piercing, more like blue flame, than ordi- 
 narily, but otherwise he looked as usual. 
 207 
 
208 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 So little mark remained upon him of the 
 scene just enacted. Both wise and mad ! 
 I thought. 
 
 It struck me that he was pleased with 
 the impression he so plainly made on us 
 both, and for a moment he looked upon 
 us in silence. Then swiftly pointing his 
 stick at us, he said sharply : — 
 
 " Fools ! Do you wait here ? But the 
 hound is on the trail. Do you dream he 
 did not see you ? " 
 
 Then he turned to go. But Mizpah 
 was at his side instantly, catching him by 
 the wrist, and imploring him to tell us 
 which way her child had been carried. 
 
 Grul stopped and looked down upon 
 her with austere dignity, but without re- 
 plying. Passionately Mizpah entreated 
 him, not to be denied ; and at last, lightly 
 but swiftly removing her fingers from his 
 wrist, he muttered oracularly : — 
 
 " They will take him to the sea that is 
 within the heart of the land ! But go ! " 
 he repeated with energy, " or you will not 
 go far ! " and with steps so smooth that 
 they seemed not to touch the ground, he 
 
I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 209 
 
 went past the cliff foot. His gaudy 
 mantle shone for a moment, and he was 
 gone. 
 
 The ominous urgency of his warning 
 rang in our ears, and we were not slow in 
 making our own departure. 
 
 " What does he mean by c the sea that 
 is within the heart of the land ' ? " asked 
 Mizpah, as we hurriedly launched the 
 canoe. 
 
 " He means the Bras d'Or lakes," I 
 said, "those wonderful reaches of land- 
 locked sea that traverse the heart of He 
 Royale. It is a likely enough way for the 
 savages to go. There are villages both 
 of Acadians and of Indians on the island." 
 
 As we were to learn afterwards, how- 
 ever, Grul had told us falsely. The child 
 was not destined for He Royale. Whether 
 the strange being really thought he was 
 directing us aright, or, his vanity not per- 
 mitting him to confess that he did not 
 know, trusted to a guess with the hope 
 that it might prove a prophecy, I have 
 never been able to determine. As a 
 matter of fact, Fate did presently so take 
 
2io The Forge in the Forest 
 
 our affairs into her own hands, that Grul's 
 misinformation affected the end not at all. 
 But his warning and his exhortation to 
 speed we had to thank for our escape from 
 the perils that soon came upon us. Had 
 we not been thus warned, without doubt 
 we should have been taken unawares and 
 perished miserably. 
 
 On the incidents of our journey for the 
 rest of that day, and up to something past 
 noon of the day following, I need not 
 particularly dwell. Suffice to say that we 
 accomplished prodigious things, and that 
 Mizpah showed incredible endurance. It 
 was as if she saw her child ever a little 
 way before her, and hoped to come up 
 with him the next minute. When the 
 stream became hopelessly shallow, we got 
 out and waded, dragging the canoe. The 
 long portage to the head of the Pictook 
 waters we made in the night, the trail 
 being a clear one, and not overly rough. 
 At the further end of the carry, when I 
 set down the canoe at the stream's edge, 
 I could have dropped for weariness, yet 
 from Mizpah I heard no complaint ; 
 
I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 211 
 
 and her silent heroism stirred my soul to 
 a deepening passion of worship. Over 
 and over I told myself that night that I 
 would never rest or count the cost till I 
 had given the child back to her arms. 
 
 Not till we had gone perhaps a mile 
 down the Pictook did I order a halt, 
 thrusting the canoe into a secure hid- 
 ing-place. We snatched an hour of sleep, 
 lying where we stepped ashore. Then, ris- 
 ing in the redness of daybreak, we hurried 
 on, eating as we journeyed. And now, 
 conceiving that it was necessary to keep 
 up her strength, Mizpah ate of the un- 
 cooked bacon ; though she wore a face of 
 great aversion as she did so. 
 
 When, after hours of unmitigated toil, 
 we reached the head of tide and the 
 spacious open reaches of the lower river, 
 I insisted on an hour of rest. Mizpah 
 vowed that she was not exhausted, — but 
 she slept instantly, falling by the side of 
 the canoe as she stepped out. For my- 
 self I durst not sleep, but I rested, and 
 watched, and sucked an egg, and chewed 
 strips of bacon. When we pushed off 
 
212 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 again I felt that we must have put a good 
 space between us and our pursuers ; and 
 as the ebb tide was helping me I made 
 Mizpah go on sleeping, in her place in 
 the bow. 
 
 " I will need your help more by and 
 by," said I when she protested, "and 
 then you must have all your strength to 
 give me ! " 
 
 The river soon became a wide estuary, 
 with arms and indentations, — a harbour 
 fit to hold a hundred fleets. Straight 
 down mid-channel I steered, the shortest 
 course to the mouth. But by and by 
 there sprang up a light head-wind, delay- 
 ing me. 
 
 " Wake up, comrade," I cried. " I need 
 your good arm now, against this breeze ! " 
 
 She had slept there an hour, and she 
 woke now with a childlike flush in her 
 cheeks. 
 
 "How good of you to let me sleep so," 
 she exclaimed, turning to give me a grate- 
 ful glance. But the expression upon her 
 face changed instantly to one of fear, and 
 the colour all went out. 
 
I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 213 
 
 " Oh, look behind us!" she gasped. I 
 had not indeed waited for her words. 
 Glancing over my shoulder, I caught 
 sight of a large canoe, with four savages 
 paddling furiously. The one glimpse was 
 enough. 
 
 "Now, comrade, work!" said I. "But 
 steady! not too hard! This is a long 
 chase, remember ! " and I bent mightily 
 to the paddle. 
 
 Our pursuers were a good half-mile 
 behind; and had we not been already 
 wearied, I believe we could have held 
 our own with them all day. Our canoe 
 was light and swift, Mizpah paddled 
 rarely, and for myself, I have never yet 
 been beaten, by red man or white, in a 
 fair canoe-race. But as it was, I felt that 
 we must win by stratagem, if the saints 
 should so favour us as to let us win at all. 
 Half a mile ahead, on our right, was a 
 high point. Behind it, as I knew, was 
 a winding estuary of several branches, 
 each the debouchement of a small stream. 
 It was an excellent place in which to evade 
 pursuers. I steered for the high point. 
 
214 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 As we darted behind its shelter, a back- 
 ward glance told me that our enemies had 
 not gained upon us. The moment we 
 were hidden from their view I put across 
 to the other side of the channel, ran the 
 canoe behind a jutting boulder, and leapt 
 out. Not till we were concealed, canoe 
 and all, behind a safe screen of rocks and 
 underbrush, did Mizpah ask my pur- 
 pose, though she plainly marvelled that 
 I should hide so close to the entrance. 
 
 " A poor and something public hiding- 
 place is often the most secret," said I. 
 "The Indians know that up this water 
 there are a score of turns, and backwaters, 
 and brook-mouths, wherein we might long 
 evade them. As soon as they saw us turn 
 in here, they doubtless concluded that the 
 water was well known to me, and that I 
 would hope to baffle them in the inner 
 labyrinths and escape up one of the 
 streams. They will never dream of us 
 stopping here." 
 
 " I see ! " she exclaimed eagerly. 
 "When they have passed in to look for 
 us, we will slip out, and push on." It 
 
I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 215 
 
 was haste she thought of rather than 
 escape. No moment passed, I think, 
 when her whole will, her whole being, 
 were not focussed upon the finding of 
 the child. And the more I realized the 
 intensity of her love and her pain, the 
 more I marvelled at the heroic self- 
 control which forbade her to waste her 
 strength in tears and wailings. The 
 conclusion at which she had now arrived, 
 as to my plan, was one I had not thought 
 of, and I considered it before replying. 
 
 " No," said I, presently ; " that is not 
 quite my purpose, though I confess it 
 is a good one. But, comrade, this is a 
 safe ambush ! They must pass within 
 close gunshot of us ! " 
 
 " Oh," she cried, paling, and clasping 
 her hands, " must there be more blood ? 
 But yes, they bring it on themselves," 
 she went on with a sudden fierceness, 
 flushing again, and her mouth growing 
 cruel. " They would keep us from find- 
 ing him. Their blood be on their own 
 heads ! " 
 
 " I am glad you think of that," said I. 
 
ai 6 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 "They would have no mercy for us if 
 they should take us now. But indeed, 
 if it will please you to have it so, we 
 need not shoot them down. We can 
 treat them to such a medicine as they 
 had before of me, sink their canoe, and 
 leave them like drowned rats on the other 
 shore." 
 
 " Yes," said Mizpah, quietly ; " if that 
 will do as well, it will please me much bet- 
 ter. 
 
 And so it was agreed. A very few 
 minutes later the canoe appeared, round- 
 ing into the estuary. The savages scanned 
 both shores minutely, but rather from the 
 habit of caution than from any thought 
 that we might have gone to land. If, 
 however, I had not taken care to make 
 my landing behind a boulder, those keen 
 eyes would have marked some splashed 
 spots on the shingle, and we would have 
 been discovered. 
 
 But no such evil fortune came about. 
 The four paddles flashed onward swiftly. 
 The four fierce, painted and feathered 
 heads thrust forward angrily, expecting to 
 
I Cool My Adversaries' Courage 217 
 
 overtake us in one of the inner reaches. 
 I took up Mizpah's musket (which was 
 loaded with slugs, while my own carried 
 a bullet, in case I should be called upon 
 for a long and delicate shot), and waited 
 until the canoe was just a little more 
 than abreast of us. Then, aiming at 
 the waterline, just in front of the bow 
 paddle, I fired. 
 
 The effect was instant and complete. 
 The savage in the bow threw up his 
 paddle with a scream and sprang over- 
 board. He was doubtless wounded, and 
 feared a second shot. We saw him swim- 
 ming lustily toward the opposite shore. 
 The others paddled desperately in the 
 same direction, but before they had gone 
 half-way the canoe was so deep in the 
 water that she moved like a log. Then 
 they, too, seized with the fear of a second 
 shot, sprang overboard. By this time I 
 had the musket reloaded. 
 
 " If they get the canoe ashore, with 
 their weapons aboard her," said I, " they 
 will soon get her patched up, and we will 
 have it all to do over again. Here goes 
 
21 8 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 for another try, whatever heads may be 
 in the way ! " 
 
 Mizpah averted her face, but made 
 no protest, and I fired at the stern of the 
 canoe, which was directly toward me. A 
 swimmer's head, close by, went down ; and 
 in a minute more the canoe did likewise. 
 Three feathered heads remained in sight ; 
 and presently three dark figures dragged 
 themselves ashore — one of them limping 
 badly — and plunged into the woods. 
 
 "Without canoe or guns," said I, 
 "they are fairly harmless for a while." 
 But Mizpah, as we re-embarked and 
 headed again for the sea, said nothing. 
 I think that in her bosom, at this time, 
 womanly compassion was striving, and at 
 some disadvantage, with the vindictive- 
 ness of outraged motherhood. I think 
 — and I loved her the better for it — 
 she was glad I had killed one more of 
 her child's enemies ; but I think, too, 
 she was filled with shame at her gladness. 
 
Chapter XVII 
 A Night in the Deep 
 
 ONCE fairly out again into the har- 
 bour, I saw two things that were 
 but little to my satisfaction. Far away up 
 the river were three more canoes. I un- 
 derstood at once that the savages whom 
 we had just worsted were the mere van- 
 guard of the Black Abbe's attack. The 
 new-comers, however, were so far behind 
 that I had excellent hopes of eluding 
 them. The second matter that gave me 
 concern was the strong head-wind that 
 had suddenly arisen. The look of the 
 sky seemed to promise, moreover, that 
 what was now a mere blow might soon 
 become a gale. It was already kicking 
 up a sea that hindered us. Most women 
 would have been terrified at it, but Miz- 
 pah seemed to have no thought of fear. 
 
 219 
 
220 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 We pressed on doggedly. There was 
 danger ahead, 1 knew, — a very serious 
 danger, which would tax all my skill to 
 overcome. But the danger behind us was 
 the more menacing. I felt that there was 
 nothing for it but to face the storm and 
 force a passage around the cape. This 
 accomplished, — if we could accomplish 
 it, — I knew our pursuers would not dare 
 to follow. 
 
 About sundown, though the enemy had 
 drawn perceptibly nearer, I concluded that 
 we must rest and gather our strength. I 
 therefore ran in behind a little headland, 
 the last shelter we could hope for until we 
 should get around the cape. There we 
 ate a hearty meal, drank from a tiny 
 spring, and lay stretched flat on the shore 
 for a quarter of an hour. Then, after 
 an apprehensive look at the angry sea, 
 and a prayer that was earnest enough to 
 make up for some scantness in length, I 
 cried : — 
 
 " Come now, comrade, and be brave." 
 " I am not afraid, Monsieur," she an- 
 swered quietly. "If anything happens, I 
 
A Night in the Deep 221 
 
 know it will not be because you have 
 failed in anything that the bravest and 
 truest of men could hope to do." 
 
 " I think that God will help us," said I. 
 That some one greater than ourselves 
 does sometimes help us in such perils, I 
 know, whatever certain hasty men who 
 speak out of a plentiful lack of experience 
 may declare to the contrary. But whether 
 this help be a direct intervention of God 
 himself, or the succour of the blessed saints, 
 or the watchful care of one's guardian 
 spirit, I have never been able to conclude 
 to my own satisfaction. And very much 
 thought have I given to the matter by 
 times, lying out much under the stars 
 night after night, and carrying day by day 
 my life in my hands. However it might 
 be, I felt sustained and comforted as we put 
 out that night. The storm was now so 
 wild that it would have been perilous to 
 face in broad daylight and with a strong 
 man at the bow paddle. Yet I believed 
 that we should win through. I felt 
 that my strength, my skill, my sureness 
 of judgment, were of a sudden made 
 
nil The Forge in the Forest 
 
 greater than I could commonly account 
 them. 
 
 But whatever strength may have been 
 graciously vouchsafed to me that night, 
 I found that I needed it all. The night 
 fell not darkly, but with a clear sky, and 
 the light of stars, and a diffused glimmer 
 from the white crests of the waves. The 
 gale blew right on shore, and the huge 
 roar of the surf thundering in our ears 
 seemed presently to blunt our sense of 
 peril. The great waves now hung above 
 us, white-crested and hissing, till one 
 would have said we were in the very pit of 
 doom. A moment more, and the light 
 craft would seem to soar upward as the 
 wave slipped under it, a wrenching turn of 
 my wrist would drive her on a slant 
 through the curling top of foam, and then 
 we would slide swiftly into the pit again, 
 down a steep slope of purplish blackness 
 all alive with fleeting eyes of white light. 
 The strain upon my wrist, the mighty 
 effort required at each wave lest we should 
 broach to and be rolled over, were some- 
 thing that I had never dreamed to endure. 
 
A Night in the Deep 223 
 
 Yet I did endure it. And as for the brave 
 woman in the bow, she simply paddled on, 
 steadily, strongly, without violence, so that 
 I learned to depend on her for just so much 
 force at each swift following crisis. For 
 there was a new crisis every moment, — 
 with a moment's grace as we slipped into 
 each succeeding pit. At last we found 
 ourselves off the cape, — and then well 
 out into the open Strait, yet not engulfed. 
 A little, — just as much as I durst, and 
 that was very little, — I shifted our course 
 toward south. This brought a yet heavier 
 strain upon my wrist, but there was no 
 help for it if we would hope to get beyond 
 the cape. How long we were I know 
 not. I lost the sense of time. I had no 
 faculty left save those that were in service 
 now to battle back destruction. But at 
 last I came to realize that we were well 
 clear of the cape, that the sound of the 
 breakers had dwindled, and that the time 
 had come to turn. To turn ? Ay, but 
 could it be done ? 
 
 It could but be tried. To go on thus 
 much longer was, I knew, impossible. 
 
224 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 My strength would certainly fail by 
 and by. 
 
 " Comrade," said I, — and my voice 
 sounded strange, as if long unused, — 
 "keep paddling steadily as you are, but 
 the moment I say 'change,' paddle hard 
 on the other side." 
 
 " Yes, Monsieur ! " she answered as 
 quietly as if we had been walking in a 
 garden. 
 
 I watched the approach of one of those 
 great waves which would, as I knew, have 
 as vast a fellow to follow upon it. As 
 soon as we were well over the crest I began 
 to turn. 
 
 " Change ! " I shouted. And Mizpah's 
 paddle flashed to the other side. Down 
 we slanted into the pit. We lay at the 
 bottom for a second, broadside on, — then 
 we got the little craft fairly about as she 
 rose. A second more, and the wind caught 
 us, and completed the turn, — and the 
 next crest was fairly at my back. I drew 
 a huge breath, praising God and St. 
 Joseph ; and we ran in toward the hollow 
 of the land before us. That part of the 
 
A Night in the Deep 225 
 
 coast was strange to me, save as seen 
 when passing by ship ; but I trusted 
 there would be some estuary or some 
 winding, within which we might safely 
 come to land. 
 
 The strain was now different, and there- 
 fore my nerves and muscles felt a tem- 
 porary relief; but it was still tremendous. 
 There was still the imminent danger of 
 broaching to as each wave-crest seized and 
 twisted the frail craft. But having the 
 wind behind me, I had of course more 
 steerage way -, and therefore a more instant 
 and effective control. We ran on straight 
 before the wind, but a few points off; and 
 with desperate anxiety I peered ahead for 
 some hint of shelter on that wild lee 
 shore. Mizpah, of course, knew the 
 unspeakable strain of wielding the stern 
 paddle in such a sea. 
 
 " Are you made of steel, Monsieur ? " 
 she presently asked. " I can hardly be- 
 lieve it possible that the strength of human 
 sinews should endure so long." 
 
 " Mine, alas, will not endure much 
 longer, comrade," said I. 
 
226 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " And what then ? " she asked, in a 
 steady voice. 
 
 " I do not know," said I ; " but there is 
 hope. I think we have not been brought 
 through all this for nothing." 
 
 The roar of the breakers grew louder 
 and louder again, as we gradually neared 
 the high coast which seemed to slip swiftly 
 past on our right hand. It was black and 
 appalling, serried along the crest with tops 
 of fir trees, white along the base with the 
 great gnashing of the breakers. As we 
 ran into the head of the bay, with yet no 
 sign of a shelter, the seas got more peril- 
 ous, being crowded together and broken 
 so that I could not calculate upon them. 
 Soon they became a mad smother ; and I 
 knew my strength for this bout had but 
 little longer, to last. 
 
 " The end ! " said I ; " but we may win 
 through ! I will catch you when the crash 
 comes." And some blind prayer, I know 
 not what, kept repeating and repeating in 
 the inward silence of my soul. New 
 strength seemed then to flow upon nerve 
 and sinew, — and I descried, almost ahead 
 
A Night in the Deep 227 
 
 of us, a space of smooth and sloping beach 
 up which the seas rushed without rock to 
 shatter them. 
 
 " This is our chance," I shouted. A 
 wave came, smoother and more whole 
 than most, and paddling desperately I 
 kept awhile upon the crest of it. Then 
 like a flash it curled thinly, rolled the 
 canoe over, and hurled us far up on the 
 beach. Half blinded, half stunned, and 
 altogether choking, I yet kept my wits ; 
 and catching Mizpah by the arm, I 
 dragged her violently forward beyond 
 reach of the next wave. Dropping her 
 without a word, I turned back, and was 
 just in time to catch the rolling canoe. 
 It, too, I succeeded in dragging to a place 
 of safety ; but it was so shattered and 
 crushed as to be useless. The muskets, 
 however, were in it ; for I had taken care 
 to lash them under the bars before leav- 
 ing the shelter of the inlet. 
 
 The remnants of the canoe I hauled far 
 up on the beach, and then I returned to 
 Mizpah, who lay in utter exhaustion just 
 where I had dropped her, so close to the 
 
228 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 water's edge that she was splashed by the 
 spray of every wave. 
 
 " Come, comrade," I said, lifting her 
 gently. "The saints have indeed been 
 kind to us." But she made no reply. 
 Leaning heavily upon me, and moving as 
 if in a dream, she let me lead her to the 
 edge of the wood, where the herbage be- 
 gan behind a sort of windrow of rocks. 
 There, seeing that the rocks shut off the 
 wind, I released her, and dropping on the 
 spot, she went at once to sleep. Then I 
 felt myself suddenly as weak as a baby. 
 I had no more care for anything save to 
 sleep. I tried to pluck a bunch of herbage 
 to put under Mizpah's head for a pillow; 
 but even as I stooped to gather it, I for- 
 got where I was, and the tide of dreams 
 flowed over me. 
 
Chapter XVIII 
 The Osprey, of Plymouth 
 
 IT must have been a good two hours 
 that I slept. I woke with a start, with 
 a sense of some duty left undone. I was 
 in an awkward position, half on my side 
 amid stones and underbrush, my arms 
 clasping the bundle of herbage which I 
 had meant for Mizpah's pillow. The 
 daylight was fairly established, blue and 
 cold, though the sun was not yet visible. 
 The gale hummed shrilly as ever, the 
 huge waves thundered on the trembling 
 beach, and all seaward was such a white and 
 purple hell of raving waters that I shud- 
 dered at the sight of it. Mizpah was 
 still sleeping. As I looked at her the de- 
 sire for sleep came over me again with 
 deadly strength, but I resisted it, rushing 
 down to the edge of the surf, and facing a 
 229 
 
230 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 chill buffet of driven spume. I took an- 
 other glance at the canoe. It was past 
 mending. The two muskets were there, 
 but everything else was gone, washed away, 
 or ground upon the rocks. After much 
 searching, however, to my delight I found 
 a battered roll of bacon wedged into a 
 cleft. Pouncing upon this, I bore it in 
 triumph to Mizpah. 
 
 "Wake up, comrade," I cried, shak- 
 ing her softly. " We must be getting 
 away." 
 
 The poor girl roused herself with diffi- 
 culty, and sat up. When she tried to 
 stand, she toppled over, and would have 
 fallen if I had not caught her by the 
 arms. It was some minutes before she 
 could control the stiffness of her limbs. 
 At last the whipping of the wind some- 
 what revived her, and sitting down upon 
 a rock she looked about with a face of 
 hopeless misery. 
 
 " Eat a little," said I, gently, " for we 
 must get away from here at once, lest 
 our enemies come over the hills to look 
 for us." 
 
The Osprey, of Plymouth 231 
 
 But she pushed aside the untempting, 
 sodden food which I held out to her. 
 
 " Whither shall we go ? " she asked 
 heavily. "The canoe is wrecked. How 
 can we find my boy ? Oh, I wish I 
 could die ! " 
 
 Poor girl ! my heart ached for her. I 
 knew how her utter and terrible exhaus- 
 tion had at last sapped that marvellous 
 courage of hers ; but I felt that roughness 
 would be her best tonic, though it was far 
 indeed from my heart to speak to her 
 roughly. 
 
 " Shame ! " said I, in a voice of stern 
 rebuke. " Have you struggled and en- 
 dured so long, to give up now ? Will 
 you leave Philip to the savages because 
 a canoe is broken ? Where is your 
 boasted courage ? Why, we will walk, 
 instead of paddling. Come at once." 
 
 Even this rebuke but half aroused her. 
 "I'm so thirsty," she said, looking around 
 with heavy eyes. By good Providence, 
 there was a slender stream trickling in at 
 this point, and I led her to it. While 
 she drank and bathed her face, I grubbed 
 
1^2 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 in the long grasses growing beside the 
 stream, and found a handful of those 
 tuberous roots which the Indians call 
 ground-nuts. These I made her eat, 
 after which she was able to endure a little 
 of the salt bacon. Presently, she became 
 more like herself, and began to grieve at 
 the weakness which she had just shown. 
 Her humiliation was so deep that I had 
 much ado to comfort her, telling her again 
 and again that she was not responsible 
 for what she had said when she was yet 
 but half awake, and in the bonds of a 
 weariness which would have killed most 
 women. I told her, which was nothing 
 less than true, that I held her for the 
 bravest of women, and that no man could 
 have supported me better than she had 
 done. 
 
 We pushed our way straight over the 
 height of land which runs seaward and 
 ends in Cape Merigomish. Our way lay 
 through a steep but pleasant woodland, 
 and by the time the sun was an hour high 
 we had walked off much of our fatigue. 
 The tree tops rocked and creaked high 
 
The Osprey, of Plymouth 233 
 
 above us, but where we walked the wind 
 troubled us not. 
 
 " Where are we going ? " asked Miz- 
 pah, by and by — somewhat tremulously 
 for she still had in mind my censure. 
 
 " Why, comrade," said I, in a cheerful, 
 careless manner of speech, a thousand 
 miles away from the devotion in my 
 heart, - — " my purpose is to push straight 
 along the coast to Canseau. There we will 
 find a few of your country-folk, fishermen 
 mostly, and from them we will get a boat 
 to carry us up the Bras d'Or." 
 
 " But what will become of Philip, all this 
 time ? " she questioned, with haggard eyes. 
 
 "As a matter of fact," I answered, 
 " I don't think we will lose much time, 
 after all. If we still had the canoe, we 
 would be storm-bound in the bay back 
 there till the wind changes or subsides 
 — and it may be days before it does 
 the one or the other. As it is, the worst 
 that has befallen us is the loss of our 
 ammunition and our bread. But we will 
 make shift to live, belike, till we reach 
 Canseau." 
 
234 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur," she cried, in answer, 
 with a great emotion in her voice, "you 
 give me hope when my despair is black- 
 est. You seem to me more generous, 
 more brave, more strong, than I had 
 dreamed the greatest could be. What 
 makes you so good to an unhappy 
 mother, so faithfully devoted to a poor 
 baby whom you have never seen ? " 
 
 " Tut, tut ! " said I, roughly ; " I but 
 do as any proper minded man would do 
 that had the right skill and the fitting 
 opportunity. Thank Marc ! " But I 
 might have told her more if I had let 
 my heart speak truth. 
 
 " I know whom to thank, and all my 
 life long will I pray Heaven to bless that 
 one ! " said Mizpah. 
 
 Thus talking by the way, but most of 
 the way silent, we came at length over 
 Merigomish and down to the sea again, 
 fetching the shore at the head of a second 
 bay. This was all in a smother and a 
 roar, like that we had just left behind. 
 As we rounded the head of it, we came 
 upon a little sheltered creek, and there, 
 
The Osprey, of Plymouth 235 
 
 safe out of the gale, lay a small New Eng- 
 land fishing schooner. I knew her by the 
 build for a New Englander, before I saw 
 the words Osprey, Plymouth, painted in 
 red letters on her stern. 
 
 " Here is fortune indeed ! " said I, 
 while a cry of gladness sprang to Miz- 
 pah's lips. " I'll charter the craft to take 
 us up the Bras d'Or." 
 
 The little ship lay in a very pleasant 
 idleness. The small haven was full of 
 sun, the green, wooded hills sloping softly 
 down about it and shutting off all winds. 
 The water heaved and rocked ; but 
 smoothly, stirred by the yeasty tumult 
 that roared past the narrow entrance. 
 The clamour of the surf outside made the 
 calm within the more excellent. 
 
 Several gray figures of the crew lay 
 sprawling about the deck, which we could 
 see very well, by reason of the steepness 
 of the shore on which we stood. In the 
 waist was a gaunt, brown-faced man, with 
 a scant, reddish beard, a nose astonishingly 
 long and sharp, and a blue woollen cap on 
 the back of his head. He stood leaning 
 
236 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 upon the rail watching us, and spitting 
 contemplatively into the water from time 
 to time. 
 
 We climbed down to the beach beside 
 the schooner, and I spoke to the man in 
 English. 
 
 " Are you the captain ? " I asked 
 civilly. 
 
 " They do say I be," he answered in a 
 thin, high, sing-song of a voice. " Captain 
 Ezra Bean, Schooner Osprey, of Plymouth, 
 at your sarvice." And he waved his hand 
 with a spacious air. 
 
 I bowed with ceremony. " And I am 
 your very humble servant,", said I, " the 
 Sieur de Briart, of Canard by Grand Pre. 
 We were on our way to Canseau, but have 
 lost our canoe and stores in the gale. We 
 are bold to hope, Captain, that you will 
 sell us some bread, as also some powder 
 and bullets. We did not lose our little 
 money, Heaven be praised ! " 
 
 Knowing these New Englanders to be 
 greedy of gain, but highly honest, I made 
 no scruple of admitting that we had money 
 about us. 
 
The Osprey, of Plymouth 237 
 
 "Come right aboard, good sirs!" said 
 the captain ; and in half a minute the gig, 
 which floated at the stern, was thrust 
 around to us, and we clambered to the 
 deck of the Osprey, where crew and cap- 
 tain, five in all, gathered about us without 
 ceremony. The captain, I could see at 
 once, was just one of themselves, obeyed 
 when he gave orders, but standing in no 
 sort of formal aloofness. Cold salt beef, 
 and biscuit and cheese, and tea, were soon 
 set before us, and as we made a hasty 
 meal they all hung about us and talked, 
 as if we had been in one of their home 
 kitchens on Massachusetts Bay. As for 
 Mizpah, who felt little at ease in playing 
 her man's part, she spoke only in French, 
 and made as if she knew no word of Eng- 
 lish. Captain Ezra Bean had some French, 
 but no facility in it, and a pronunciation 
 that was beyond measure execrable. 
 
 But at last, being convinced that they 
 were honest fellows, I spoke of chartering 
 the Osprey, and in explanation told the 
 main part of our story, representing Miz- 
 pah as a youth of Canard. But, alas, I 
 
238 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 had not read my men aright. Honest 
 they were, and exceeding eager to turn 
 an honest penny, — but they had not the 
 stomach for fighting. When they found 
 that a war party of Micmacs was in chase 
 of us, they fell into a great consternation, 
 and insisted on our instant departure. 
 
 At this I was all taken aback, for I had 
 ever found the men of New England as 
 diligent in war as in trade. But these 
 fellows were in a shaking terror for their 
 lives and for their ship. 
 
 "Why, gentlemen," I said, in a heat, 
 " here are seven of us, well armed ! We 
 will make short work of the red rascals, if 
 they are so foolhardy as to attack us." 
 
 But no ! They would hear none of it. 
 
 " It's no quarrel of mine ! " cried Captain 
 Ezra Bean, in his high sing-song, but in a 
 great hurry. " My dooty's to my ship. 
 There's been many of our craft fell afoul 
 of these here savages, and come to grief. 
 We're fast right here till the wind changes, 
 and we'll just speak the redskins fair if 
 they come nigh us, an' there ain't goin' to 
 be no trouble. But you must go your 
 
The Osprey, of Plymouth 239 
 
 ways, gentlemen, begging your pardon ; 
 and no ill will, I hope ! " And the boat 
 being hauled around for us, they all made 
 haste to bid us farewell. 
 
 Mizpah, with a flushed face, stepped in 
 at once ; but I hung back a little, sick with 
 their cowardly folly. 
 
 "At least," said I, angrily, "you must 
 sell me a sack of bread, and some powder 
 and ball. Till I get them I swear I will 
 not go." 
 
 " Sartinly ! " sing-songed the captain ; 
 and in a twinkling the supplies were in 
 the boat. " Now go, and God speed 
 ye ! 
 
 I slipped a piece of gold into his hand, 
 and was off. But frightened as he was, 
 he was honest, and in half a minute he 
 called me back. 
 
 " Here is your silver," came the queer, 
 high voice over the rail. "You have 
 overpaid me three times," and I saw his 
 long arm reaching out to me. 
 
 " Keep it," I snapped. "We are in more 
 haste to be gone than you to get rid of 
 us." 
 
240 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 In five minutes more the woods en- 
 folded us, and the little Osprey was hid 
 from our view. I walked violently in 
 my wrathful disappointment, till at last 
 Mizpah checked me. "If the good sol- 
 dier," said she, " might advise his captain, 
 which would be, of course, intolerable, I 
 would dare to remind you of what you 
 have said to me more than once lately. 
 Is not this pace too hot to last, Mon- 
 sieur ? " And stopping, she leaned heav- 
 ily on her musket. 
 
 " Forgive me," I exclaimed, flinging 
 myself down on the moss. "And what 
 a fool I am to be angry, too, just because 
 those poor bumpkins wouldn't take up 
 our quarrel." 
 
 The look of gratitude which Mizpah 
 gave me for that little phrase, " our quar- 
 rel," made my heart on a sudden strong 
 and light. Presently we resumed our 
 journey, going moderately, and keeping 
 enough inland to avoid the windings of 
 the coast. The little Osprey we never saw 
 again; but months later, when it came to 
 my ears that a fishing vessel of Plymouth 
 
The Osprey, of Plymouth 241 
 
 had been taken by the Indians that au- 
 tumn while storm-stayed at Merigomish, 
 and her crew all slain, I felt a qualm of 
 pity for the poor lads whose selfish fears 
 had so misguided them. 
 
Chapter XIX 
 
 The Camp by Canseau Strait 
 
 IT was perhaps to their encounter with 
 the Osprey we owed it that we saw no 
 more of our pursuers. At any rate we 
 were no further persecuted. After two 
 days of marching we felt safe to light fires. 
 
 We shot partridges, and a deer; and 
 the fresh meat put new vigour into our 
 veins. We came to the beginning of the 
 narrow strait which severs He Royale from 
 the main peninsula of Acadie ; and with 
 longing eyes Mizpah gazed across, as if 
 hoping to discern the child amid the trees 
 of the opposite shore. At last, I could 
 but say to her : — 
 
 " We are a long, long way from Philip 
 
 yet, my comrade ; were we across this 
 
 narrow strait, we would be no nearer to 
 
 him, for the island is so cut up with inland 
 
 242 
 
The Camp by Canseau Strait 243 
 
 waters, many, deep, and winding, that it 
 would take us months to traverse its length 
 afoot. We must push on to Canseau, for 
 a boat is needful to us." 
 
 And all these days, in the quiet of the 
 great woods, in the stillness of the wilder- 
 ness nights when often I watched her 
 sleeping, in the hours while she walked 
 patiently by my side, her brave, sweet face 
 wan with grief suppressed, her eyes heavy 
 with longing, my love grew. It took 
 possession of my whole being till this 
 doubtful, perilous journey seemed all that 
 I could desire, and the world we had left 
 behind us became but a blur with only 
 Marc's white face in the midst to give it 
 consequence. Nevertheless, though my 
 eyes and my spirit waited upon all her 
 movements, I suffered no least suggestion 
 of my worship to appear, but ever with 
 rough kindliness played the part of com- 
 panion-at-arms. 
 
 One morning, — it was our fifth day 
 from the Osprey, but since reaching the 
 Strait we had become involved in swamps, 
 and made a very pitifully small advance, 
 
244 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 — one morning, I say, when it wanted per- 
 haps an hour of noon, we were both startled 
 by a sound of groaning. Mizpah came 
 closer to me, and put her hand upon my 
 arm. We stood listening intently. 
 
 " It is some one hurt," said I, in a mo- 
 ment, " and he is in that gully yonder." 
 
 Cautiously, lest there should be some 
 trap, we followed the sound ; and we dis- 
 covered, at the bottom of a narrow cleft, 
 an Indian lad lying wedged between sharp 
 rocks, with the carcass of a fat buck fallen 
 across his body. It was plain to me at 
 once that the young savage had slipped 
 while staggering under his load of venison. 
 
 I hesitated ; for what more likely than 
 that there should be other Indians in 
 the neighbourhood ; but Mizpah cried at 
 once : — 
 
 " Oh, we must help him ! Quick ! Come, 
 Monsieur ! " 
 
 And in truth the lad's face appealed 
 to me, for he was but a stripling, little 
 younger than Marc. Very gently we re- 
 leased him from his agonizing position ; 
 and when we had laid him on a patch 
 
The Camp by Canseau Strait 245 
 
 of smooth moss, his groaning ceased. His 
 lips were parched, and when I brought 
 him water he swallowed it desperately. 
 Then Mizpah bathed his face. Pres- 
 ently his eyes opened, rested upon her 
 with a look of unutterable gratitude, and 
 closed again. Mizpah's own eyes were 
 brimming with tears, and she turned to 
 me in a sort of appeal, as if she would 
 say: — 
 
 " How can we leave him ? " 
 
 " Let him be for a half hour now," 
 said I, answering her look. "Then per- 
 haps he will be able to talk to us." 
 
 We ate our meal without daring to 
 light a fire. Then we sat in silence by 
 the sleeping lad, till at last he opened 
 his eyes, and murmured in the Micmac 
 tongue, "water." When he had taken 
 a drink, I offered him biscuit, of which 
 he ate a morsel. Then, speaking in 
 French, I asked him whence he came ; 
 and how he came to be in such a plight. 
 
 He answered faintly in the same tongue. 
 " I go from Malpic," said he, " to the Shu- 
 benacadie, with messages. I shot a buck, 
 
246 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 on the rock there, and he fell into the 
 gully. As I was getting him out I fell 
 in myself, and the carcass on top of me. 
 I know no more till I open my eyes, and 
 my mouth is hard, and kind friends are 
 giving me water. Then I sleep again, for 
 I feel all safe," and with a grateful smile 
 his eyes closed wearily. He was fast 
 asleep again, before I could ask any more 
 questions. 
 
 " Come away," I whispered to Mizpah, 
 " till we talk about this." She came, but 
 first, with a tender thoughtfulness, she 
 leaned her musket against a tree, with his 
 own beside it, so that if he should wake 
 while we were gone he should at once see 
 the two weapons, and know that he was 
 not deserted. 
 
 When we were out of earshot, I turned 
 and looked into her eyes. 
 
 " What is to be done with him ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " We must stay and take care of him," 
 said she, steadily, " till he can take care of 
 himself." 
 
 "And Philip?" I questioned. 
 
The Camp by Canseau Strait 247 
 
 She burst into tears, flung herself down, 
 and buried her face in her hands. After 
 sobbing violently for some minutes she 
 grew calm, dashed her tears away, and 
 looked at me in a kind of despair. 
 
 "The poor boy cannot be left to die 
 here alone," she said, in a shaken voice. 
 " It is perfectly plain what we must do. 
 Oh, God, take care of my poor lonely 
 little one." And again she covered her 
 eyes. I took one of her hands in mine, 
 and pressed it firmly. 
 
 " If there is justice in Heaven, he 
 will," I cried passionately. " And he 
 will ; I know he will. I think there 
 never was a nobler woman than you, my 
 comrade." 
 
 " You do not know me," she answered, 
 in a low voice ; and rising, she returned 
 to the sick boy's side. 
 
 Seeing that we were here for some days, 
 or perchance a week, I raised two hasty 
 shelters of brush and poles. That night 
 the patient wandered in his mind, but in 
 the morning the fever had left him, and 
 thenceforward he mended swiftly. His 
 
248 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 gratitude and his docility were touching, 
 and his eyes followed Mizpah as would 
 the eyes of a faithful dog. I think his 
 insight penetrated her disguise, so that 
 from the first he knew her for a woman ; 
 but his native delicacy kept him from be- 
 traying his knowledge. As far as I could 
 see, there were no bones broken, and I 
 guessed that in a week at furthest he 
 would be able to resume his journey with- 
 out risk. 
 
 For three days I troubled him not with 
 further questions, Mizpah having so de- 
 creed. She said that questioning would 
 hinder his recovery; but I think she 
 feared what questioning might disclose. 
 At last, as we finished supper, of which 
 he had well partaken, he rose feebly but 
 with determination, took a few tottering 
 paces, and then came back to his couch, 
 where he lay with gleaming eyes of satis- 
 faction. 
 
 " I walk now pretty soon," said he. 
 " Not keep kind friends here much 
 longer. Which way you going when you 
 stopped to take care of Indian boy?" 
 
The Camp by Canseau Strait 249 
 
 I looked across at Mizpah, then made 
 up my mind to speak plainly. If I knew 
 anything at all of human nature, this boy 
 was to be trusted. 
 
 "We are going to He Royale," said I, 
 " to look for a little boy whom some of 
 your tribe have cruelly carried off." 
 
 His face became the very picture of 
 shame and grief. He looked first at 
 one of us, then the other ; and presently 
 dropped his head upon his breast. 
 
 " Why, what is the matter, Xavier ? " I 
 asked. He had said his name was Xavier. 
 
 " I know," he answered, in a low voice. 
 " It was some of my own people did it." 
 
 " What do you know ? Tell us, oh, 
 tell us everything ! Oh, we helped you ! 
 You will surely help us find him ! " 
 pleaded Mizpah, breathlessly. 
 
 " By all the blessed saints," he cried, 
 with an earnestness that I felt to be sin- 
 cere, " I will try to help you. I will risk 
 anything. I will disobey the Abbe. I 
 will — " 
 
 "Where is the child? Do you know 
 that?" I interrupted. 
 
250 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Yes, truly," he replied. " They have 
 taken him north to Gaspe, and to the 
 St. Lawrence. My uncle, Etienne le 
 Batard, was in canoe that brought him 
 to mouth of the Pictook. Then other 
 canoe took him north, where a French 
 family will keep him. The Abbe says 
 he shall grow up a monk. But he is 
 not starved or beaten, I swear truly." 
 
 " How do you know all this ? " I asked, 
 looking at him piercingly. But his eye 
 was clear and met mine right honestly. 
 
 " My uncle came to Malpic straight," 
 said he, " where the warriors had a council. 
 Then I was sent with word to my father, 
 Big Etienne, who is on the Shubenacadie." 
 
 "What word?" I asked. 
 
 But the boy shook his head. " It does 
 not touch the little boy. It does not 
 touch my kind friends. I may not tell 
 it," he said, with a brave dignity. I loved 
 him for this, and trusted him the more. 
 
 " This lad's tongue and heart are true," 
 said I, looking at Mizpah. " We may 
 trust him." 
 
 " I know it ! " said she. Whereupon 
 
The Camp by Canseau Strait 251 
 
 he reached out, grasped a hand of each, 
 and kissed them with a freedom of emo- 
 tion which I have seldom seen in the full 
 blood Indian. 
 
 "You may trust me," he said, in a low 
 voice', being by this something wearied. 
 "You give me my life. And I will help 
 you find your child." 
 
 And the manner of his speech, as if he 
 considered the child our child, though it 
 was but accident, stirred me sweetly at the 
 heart, — and I durst not trust myself to 
 meet Mizpah's eyes. 
 
 Thus it came about that, after all, we 
 crossed not the narrow strait, nor set foot 
 in He Royale. But when, three days later, 
 I judged our patient sufficiently recov- 
 ered, we set our faces again toward the 
 Shubenacadie. 
 
 The journey was exceeding slow, but to 
 me very far from tedious, for in rain or 
 shine, or dark or bright, the light shone 
 on me of my mistress's face. 
 
 And at last, after many days of toilsome 
 wandering, we struck the head waters of 
 the Shubenacadie. 
 
252 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 From this point forward we went with 
 more caution. When we were come within 
 an hour of the Indian village, Xavier 
 parted company with us. The river here 
 making a long loop, so to speak, we were 
 to cross behind the village at a safe dis- 
 tance, strike the tide again, and hide at a 
 certain point covered with willows till 
 Xavier should bring us a canoe. 
 
 We reached the point, hid ourselves 
 among the willows, and waited close upon 
 two hours. The shadows were falling long 
 across the river, and our anxieties rising 
 with more than proportioned speed, when, 
 at last, a canoe shot around a bend of the 
 river, and made swiftly for the point. We 
 saw Xavier in the bow, but there was a 
 tall, powerful warrior in the stern. As 
 the canoe drew near, Mizpah caught me 
 anxiously by the arm. 
 
 "That man was one of the band that 
 captured us at Annapolis," she whispered. 
 " What does it mean ? Could Xavier mean 
 to — ? " 
 
 " No," I interrupted ; " of course not, 
 comrade. These Indians are never treach- 
 
The' Camp by Canseau Strait 253 
 
 erous to those who have earned their grat- 
 itude. Savages though they be, they set 
 civilization a shining example in that. 
 There is nothing to fear here." 
 
 Landing just below us, the two Indians 
 came straight toward our hiding-place. 
 At the edge of the wood the tall warrior, 
 whom I now knew for a certainty to be 
 Big Etienne himself, stopped, and held 
 out both his hands, palm upwards. I at 
 once stepped forth to meet him, leaving 
 my musket behind me. But Mizpah 
 who followed me closely, clung to hers, — 
 which might have convinced me, had I 
 needed conviction, that hero though she 
 was she was yet all woman. 
 
 " You my brother and my sister ! " said 
 the tall warrior at once, speaking with dig- 
 nity, but with little of Xavier's fluency. 
 He knew Mizpah. 
 
 " I am glad my brother's heart is turned 
 towards us at last," said I. " My brother 
 knows what injury has been done to us, 
 and what we suffer at the hands of his 
 people." 
 
 "Listen," said he, solemnly. "You 
 
254 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 give me back my son, my only son, my 
 young brave," and he looked at Xavier 
 with loving pride ; " for that I can never 
 pay you ; but I give you back your son, 
 too, see ? And, now, always, I am your 
 brother. But now, you go home. I find 
 the child away north, by the Great River. 
 I put him in your arms, safe, laughing, 
 — so ; " and he made as if to place a little 
 one in Mizpah's arms. " Then you be- 
 lieve I love you, and Xavier love you. 
 But now, come ; not good to stay here 
 more." And, turning abruptly, he led 
 the way to the canoe, and himself taking 
 the stern paddle, while Xavier took the 
 bow, motioned us to get in. I hesitated ; 
 whereupon he cried : — 
 
 " Many of our people out this way. 
 River not safe for you now. We take you 
 to Grand Pre, Canard, Pereau, — where 
 you want. Then go north. Better so." 
 
 Seeing the strong reason in his words, I 
 accepted his offer thankfully, but insisted 
 upon taking the bow myself, because 
 Xavier was not yet well enough to paddle 
 strongly. 
 
The Camp by Canseau Strait 255 
 
 Thus we set out, going swiftly with the 
 tide. As we journeyed, Big Etienne was 
 at great pains to make us understand that 
 it would take him many weeks to find 
 Philip and bring him back to us, because 
 the way was long and difficult. He said 
 we must not look to see the lad before the 
 snow lay deep ; but he bound himself to 
 bring him back in safety, barring visita- 
 tion of God. I saw that Mizpah now 
 trusted the tall warrior even as I did. I 
 felt that he would make good his pledge 
 at any hazard. I urged, however, that he 
 should take me with him ; but on this 
 point he was obstinate, saying that my 
 presence would only make his task the 
 more difficult, for reasons which occurred 
 to me very readily. It cost me a struggle 
 to give up my purpose of being myself 
 the child's rescuer, and so winning the 
 more credit in Mizpah's eyes. But this 
 selfish prompting of my heart I speedily 
 crushed (for which I thank Heaven) when 
 I saw that Big Etienne's plan was the best 
 that could be devised for Philip. 
 
 Some miles below the point where the 
 
256 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 river was already widening, we passed a 
 group of Indians with their canoes drawn 
 up on the shore, waiting to ascend with 
 the returning tide. Recognizing Big 
 Etienne in the stern, they paid us no 
 attention beyond a friendly hail. Late 
 in the evening we camped, well beyond 
 the river mouth. Once on the following 
 morning, when far out upon the bosom 
 of the bay, we passed a canoe that was 
 bound for the Shubenacadie, and again 
 the presence and parting hail of our pro- 
 tector saved us from question. Our halts 
 for meals were brief and far apart, but light 
 head winds baffled us much on the journey, 
 so that it was not till toward evening of 
 the second day out from the Shubenacadie 
 mouth that we paddled into the Canard, 
 and drew up at Giraud's little landing 
 under the bank. 
 
Chapter XX 
 The Fellowship Dissolved 
 
 IN Giraud's cabin during our absence 
 things had gone tranquilly. We 
 found Marc mending, — pale and weak 
 indeed, but happy; Prudence no longer 
 pale, and with a content in her eyes which 
 told us that her time had not been all 
 passed in grieving for our absence. Father 
 Fafard was in charge, of course ; and of 
 the Black Abbe there had been nothing 
 seen or heard since our departure. 
 
 Nevertheless there was great news, and 
 a word that deeply concerned me. De 
 Ramezay had led his little army against 
 Annapolis. Just ten days before had he 
 passed up the Valley; and for me he 
 had left an urgent message, begging me 
 to join him immediately on my return. 
 This was a black disappointment ; for just 
 257 
 
258 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 now my soul desired nothing so much as 
 a few days of quiet converse with Miz- 
 pah, and the chance to show her a cour- 
 tesy something different from the rough 
 comradeship of our wilderness travels. 
 But this was not to be. It was incum- 
 bent upon me to go in the morning. 
 
 That evening was a busy one ; but I 
 snatched leisure to sit by Marc's bedside 
 and give the dear lad a hasty outline of 
 our adventure. The tale called a flush to 
 his face, and breathless exclamations from 
 Prudence ; but Mizpah sat in silence, 
 save for a faint protest once or twice when 
 I told of her heroism, and of her noble 
 self-sacrifice on behalf of the Indian lad. 
 She was weighed down with a sadness 
 which she could make no pretence to 
 hide, — doubtless feeling the more little 
 Philip's absence and loneliness as she con- 
 templated Marc's joy on my return. My 
 hands and lips ached with a longing to 
 comfort her, but I firmly forbade myself 
 to intrude upon her sorrow. By and by, 
 when I spoke of my positive determina- 
 tion to set out for Annapolis in the early 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 259 
 
 morning, both Marc and Prudence strove 
 hard to dissuade me, crying out fervently 
 against my going ; but Mizpah said 
 nothing more than — 
 
 "Why not take one day, at least, to 
 rest?" 
 
 And I was somewhat hurt at the quiet 
 way she said it. Said I to myself within, 
 " She might spare me a little thought, 
 now that she knows Philip is safe, and 
 sure to be . brought back to her." 
 
 In the morning I saw Big Etienne and 
 Xavier set forth upon their quest, — and 
 Mizpah stood beside me to wish them a 
 grateful " God-speed." Pale and sad as 
 was the exquisite Madonna face, her lips 
 were marvellously red, and wore an un- 
 wonted tenderness. Her eyes evaded 
 mine, — which hurt me sorely, but I was 
 comforted a little by her word as the 
 canoe slipped silently away. 
 
 " I wish we were going with them," 
 said she, in a wistful voice. 
 
 It was that " we " that stirred my heart. 
 
 "Would to God we were!" said I. 
 
 Half an hour later I hung over my 
 
160 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 dear lad's pallet, pressing his hands, and 
 bidding him adieu, and kissing his gaunt 
 cheeks. When at last I turned away, 
 dashing some unexpected drops from my 
 eyes (for I had eagerly desired his com- 
 radeship in this venture, and had dreamed 
 of him fighting at my side), I found that 
 Prudence and the Cure had gone down 
 to the landing to see me off, and that 
 Mizpah stood alone just outside the 
 door, looking pale and tired. I think I 
 was aggrieved that she should not take 
 the trouble to walk down as far as the 
 landing, — and this may have lent my 
 voice a touch of reserve. 
 
 " Good-bye, Madame," said I, holding 
 out my hand. " May God keep you ! " 
 
 In truth it lay heavily upon my soul 
 that she should not have one thought to 
 spare from the child, for me. Yet I was 
 not prepared for the way she took my 
 farewell. 
 
 " It was c comrade ' but yesterday," 
 she murmured, flushing, and withdrawing 
 her hand ere I could give it an instant's 
 pressure. But growing straightway pale 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 261 
 
 again, she added with the stateliness so 
 native to her : — 
 
 " Farewell, Monsieur. May God keep 
 you also ! My gratitude to the most gal- 
 lant of gentlemen, to the bravest and 
 truest succourer of those in need, I must 
 ask you to believe in without words ; for 
 truly I have no words to express it." 
 And with that she turned away, leaving 
 me most sore at heart for something more 
 than gratitude. 
 
 A few minutes later, when I had made 
 my adieux to Father Fafard, and kissed 
 Marc's lily maid, as was my right and 
 duty, I had a surprise which sent me 
 on my way something more happily. As 
 our canoe (I had Giraud with me now) 
 slipped round a little bluff below the set- 
 tlement, I caught the nutter of a gown 
 among the trees ; and the next instant 
 Mizpah appeared, waving her handker- 
 chief. She had gone a good half-mile 
 to wave me a last God-speed. 
 
 For an instant, as I bared my head, I 
 had a vision of her hair all down about 
 her, a glory that I can never think of 
 
262 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 without a trembling in my throat. I saw 
 a speaking tenderness in her Madonna 
 face, — and I seemed to hear in my heart 
 a call which assuredly her lips did not 
 utter ; then my eyes blurred, so hard was 
 it to keep from turning back. I leaned 
 my head forward for a moment on my 
 arms, as if I had been a soft boy, but 
 feeling the canoe swerve instantly from its 
 course, I rose at once and resumed my 
 paddling. 
 
 Nevertheless I turned my head ever 
 and anon toward the shore behind, till I 
 could catch no more the flutter of her 
 gown among the trees. 
 
 I have wondered many times since, how 
 Mizpah's hair chanced then to be down 
 about her in that fashion. Did some 
 wanton branch undo it as she came 
 hastily through the trees ? Or did her 
 own long fingers loosen it for me ? 
 
 Of de Ramezay's vain march against 
 Annapolis I need not speak with any 
 fulness here. The September weather 
 was propitious, wherefore the expedition 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 263 
 
 was an agreeable jaunt for the troops. 
 But my good friend the Commander 
 found the fort too strong and too well 
 garrisoned for the force he had brought 
 against it; and the great fleet from France 
 which was to have supported him came 
 never to drop anchor in the basin of 
 secure Port Royal. It is an ill tale for 
 French ears to hear, for French lips to 
 relate, that which tells of the thronged 
 and mighty ships which sailed from 
 France so proudly to restore the Flag 
 of the Lilies to her ancient strongholds. 
 Oh, my Country, what hadst thou done, 
 that the stars in their courses should fight 
 against thee ? For, indeed, the hand of 
 fate upon the ships was heavy from the 
 first. Great gales scattered them. By 
 twos and threes they met the English 
 foe, and were destroyed ; or disease broke 
 out amongst their crews, till they were 
 forced to flee back into port with their 
 dying ; or they struggled on through in- 
 finite toil and pain, to be hurled to wreck 
 on our iron capes of Acadie. The few 
 that came in safety fled back again when 
 
264 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 they knew the fate of their fellows. And 
 our grim-visaged adversaries of New Eng- 
 land, rejoicing in their great deliverance, 
 set themselves to singing psalms of praise 
 with great lustihood through their noses. 
 
 And for my own part, when I reached 
 de Ramezay's camp, the enterprise was 
 already as good as abandoned. For a 
 week longer, less to annoy the enemy, 
 than to spy out the land and commune 
 with the inhabitants, we lay before Annap- 
 olis. Then de Ramezay struck camp, 
 and bade his grumbling -companions march 
 back to Chignecto. 
 
 But of me he asked a service. And, 
 though I had hoped to go at once to 
 Canard, I could not, in honour, deny him. 
 I saw him and his little army marching 
 back whither my heart was fain to drag 
 me also ; but my face was set seaward, 
 whither I had no desire to go. 
 
 For the matter was, that de Ramezay 
 had affairs with the Abenaqui chiefs of 
 the Penobscot, which affairs he was now 
 unable to tend in person, and which he 
 durst hardly entrust to a subordinate, or 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 265 
 
 to one unused to dealing with our savage 
 allies. He knew my credit among the 
 Penobscot tribes, — and indeed, he would 
 have been sorely put to it, had I denied 
 him in the matter. The affair carried me 
 from the Penobscot country on to the St. 
 Lawrence, and then to Montreal. The 
 story of it is not pertinent to this narra- 
 tive, and moreover, which is more to the 
 purpose, the affair was no less private in 
 its nature than public in its import. Suf- 
 fice to say of it, therefore, that with my 
 utmost despatch it engaged me up to 
 the closing of the year. It was not till 
 January was well advanced that I found 
 myself again in de Ramezay's camp at 
 Chignecto, and looked out across the 
 snow-glittering marshes to the dear hills 
 of Acadie. 
 
 I found that during my absence things 
 had happened. The English governor 
 at Annapolis, conceiving that the Acadians 
 were restless to throw off the English 
 yoke, had called upon New England for 
 reinforcements. In answer, Boston had 
 sent five hundred of her gaunt and silent 
 
166 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 soldiery, bitter fighters, drinkers of strong 
 rum, quaintly sanctimonious in their cups. 
 Their leader was one Colonel Noble, a 
 man of excellent courage, but small dis- 
 cretion, and with a foolish contempt for 
 his enemies. These men, as de Ramezay 
 told me, were now quartered in Grand 
 Pre village, and lying carelessly. It was 
 his purpose to attack them at once. But 
 being himself weak from a recent sickness, 
 he was obliged to place the conduct of the 
 enterprise in the hands of his second in 
 command. This, as I rejoiced to learn, 
 was a very capable and experienced officer, 
 Monsieur de Villiers, — the same who, 
 some years later, was to capture the young 
 Virginian captain, Mr. Washington, at 
 Fort Necessity. Though our force was 
 less than that of the New Englanders, de 
 Ramezay and de Villiers both trusted to 
 the advantages of a surprise and a night 
 attack. 
 
 For my own part I liked little this plan 
 of a night attack ; for I love a fair defi- 
 ance and an open field, and all my years 
 of bush fighting have not taught me an- 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 267 
 
 other sentiment. But I was well inclined 
 toward any action that would take me 
 speedily to Canard. Moreover, I knew 
 that de Ramezay's plan was justified by 
 the smallness of the force which he could 
 place at de Villiers' command. I had 
 further a shrewd suspicion that there were 
 enough of the villagers on the English 
 side to keep the New Englanders fairly 
 warned of our movements. In this, as 
 I learned afterwards, I suspected rightly, 
 but the blind over-confidence of Colonel 
 Noble made the warning of no effect. 
 The preparations for our march went on 
 briskly, and with an eager excitement. 
 The bay being now impassable by reason 
 of the drifting ice, the journey was to be 
 made on snow-shoes, by the long, cir- 
 cuitous land route, through Beaubassin, 
 Cobequid, Piziquid, and so to the Gas- 
 pereau mouth. Every one was in high 
 spirits with the prospect of action after 
 a long and inglorious delay. But for me 
 the days passed leadenly. I was con- 
 sumed with impatience, and anxiety, and 
 passionate desire for a face that was never 
 
268 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 an hour absent from my thoughts. My 
 first act on arriving at Chignecto had 
 been to ask for Tamin, trusting that he 
 might have tidings from Canard. But de 
 Ramezay told me that he had sent the 
 shrewd fisherman-soldier to Grand Pre 
 for information. 
 
 In a fever I awaited his return. 
 
 At last, but three days before the time 
 set for our departure, he arrived. From 
 him I learned that Marc was so far re- 
 covered as to walk abroad for a short 
 airing whenever the weather was fine. 
 He, as well as the ladies, was lying very 
 close in Giraud's cottage, and their pres- 
 ence was not known to the New Eng- 
 landers at Grand Pre, at which information 
 I was highly gratified. 
 
 " And are the ladies in good health ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " The little Miss looks rugged, and her 
 eyes are like stars," said Tamin ; " but 
 Madame — Ah, she is pale, and her eyes 
 are heavy." Tamin' s own eyes almost 
 hid themselves in a network of little 
 wrinkles as he spoke, scrutinizing my 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 269 
 
 face. " She weeps for the child. She 
 said perhaps you, Monsieur, would find 
 him in your travels, and bring him back 
 to her ! " 
 
 My heart sank at the word. I could 
 not go to Canard, — I could not face 
 Mizpah again, till I could go to her 
 with Philip in my arms. I had hoped 
 that he was restored to her ere this. 
 What had happened ? Had Big Etienne 
 deceived me ? And Xavier, too ? I could 
 not think it. Yet what else could I 
 think ? 
 
 "Ah, my friend," said I, with bitter- 
 ness, " she will be grievously disappointed 
 in me. She will say I promise much, and 
 perform little. And alas, it seems even 
 so. I have not seen or heard of the 
 child. But has Big Etienne come back ? 
 Surely he has not come back without the 
 child?" 
 
 Tamin, it was plain, had heard the 
 whole story from Marc, for he asked no 
 questions, and showed no surprise. 
 
 "No," said he, "they're both away, 
 Big Etienne and Xavier, gone nigh onto 
 
270 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 four months. Some says to Gaspe; 
 some says to Saguenay. Who knows ? 
 They're Injuns ! " And Tamin shrugged 
 his shoulders, while his honest little eyes 
 grew beady with distrust. 
 
 But I no more distrusted, and my 
 heart lightened mightily. They had been 
 checked, baffled perhaps, for weeks ; but I 
 felt that they were faithful and would suc- 
 ceed. I resolved that the moment this 
 enterprise of de Villiers' was accomplished 
 I would go to help them. But I had yet 
 more questions for Tamin. 
 
 "And the Black Abbe?" I asked. 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 "At Baie Verte, minding his store, or 
 at Cobequid with his red lambs," replied 
 Tamin, puckering his wide mouth drolly. 
 " He is litde at Chignecto since he met 
 you there, Monsieur. And he has not 
 been seen at Canard since Giraud's cabin 
 grew so hospitable. But Grul is much in 
 the neighbourhood. I think the Black 
 Abbe, fears him." 
 
 Remembering the awful scene on the 
 cliffs of the des Saumons, I felt that 
 
The Fellowship Dissolved 271 
 
 Tamin's surmise was fairly founded ; and 
 I blessed the strange being who thus 
 kept watch over those whom I loved. 
 But I said nothing to Tamin of what 
 was in my mind, thinking it became me 
 to keep Grul's counsel. 
 
Chapter XXI 
 The Fight at Grand Pre 
 
 ON the 23d day of January, 1747, we 
 set out from Chignecto, four hun- 
 dred tried bush fighters, white and red, — 
 some three score of our men being Indians. 
 We went on snow-shoes, for the world was 
 buried in drifts. There was much snow 
 that winter, with steady cold and no Jan- 
 uary thaw. On the marsh the snow lay in 
 mighty windrows ; but in the woods it was 
 deep, deep, and smotheringly soft. The 
 branches of fir and spruce and hemlock 
 bent to the earth beneath the white burden 
 of it, forming solemn aisles and noiseless 
 fanes within. We marched in column. 
 The leaders, who had the laborious task of 
 tramping the unbroken snow, would keep 
 their place for an hour, then fall to the 
 rear, and enjoy the grateful ease of march- 
 272 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 273 
 
 ing in the footsteps of their fellows. Some- 
 times, as our column wound along like 
 a huge dark snake, some great branch, 
 awakened by our laughter, would let slip 
 its burden upon us in a sudden avalanche. 
 Sometimes, in crossing a hidden water- 
 course, the leading files would disappear, 
 to be dragged forth drenched and cursing 
 and derided. 
 
 But there were as yet no enemies to 
 beware of; so we marched merrily, and 
 cheered our nights with unstinted blaze of 
 camp fires. 
 
 On our fourth evening out from Chig- 
 necto, when we had halted about an hour, 
 there came visitors to the camp. My 
 ear was caught by the sentry's challenge. 
 I went indifferently to see what the stir 
 was all about. 
 
 " Monsieur, we are come ! " cried a 
 glad voice which I keenly remembered ; 
 and Xavier, his face aglow in the fire- 
 light, sprang forward to grasp my hand. 
 Behind him, standing in moveless dignity, 
 was Big Etienne, and at his feet a light 
 sledge, with a bundle wrapped in furs. 
 
274 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 My heart gave a great bound of thank- 
 ful joy ; and I stepped forward to seize 
 the tall warrior's hand in both of mine. 
 
 " He is well ! He sleeps ! " said Big 
 Etienne, gravely. In dealing with men, 
 I pride myself on knowing what to say and 
 how to say it. But at this moment I was 
 filled with so many emotions that words 
 were not at my command. Some sort of 
 thanks I stammered to express, — but the 
 Indian understood and interrupted me. 
 
 "You thank me moons ago, brother," 
 he said, in an earnest voice. "You give 
 me my boy. Now I give you yours. 
 And we will not forget. That's all." 
 
 "We will never forget, indeed, my 
 brother," said I, fervently, and again I 
 clasped hands with him, thus pledging a 
 comradeship which in many a strait since 
 then has stood me in good stead. 
 
 During the rest of that long mid-winter 
 march, Philip remained in the care of 
 young Xavier, to whom, as well as to Big 
 Etienne, he was altogether devoted; and 
 I saw a new side of the red man's char- 
 acter in the tenderness of the stern chief 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 275 
 
 toward the child. For my own part I 
 lost no time in bidding for my share in 
 Philip's affections. My love went out to 
 the brave-eyed little fellow as if he had been 
 the child of my own flesh. And moreover 
 I was fain to win an ally who would help 
 me to besiege his mother's heart. 
 
 Big Etienne had spoken within the 
 mark in saying the child was well. His 
 cheeks were dark with smoke and with 
 forgetfulness of soap and water ; but the 
 red blood tinged them wholesomely. His 
 long yellow hair was tangled, but it had 
 the burnished resilience of health. His 
 mouth, a bow of strength and sweetness, 
 — his mother's mouth, — wore the scarlet 
 of clean veins ; and the great sea-green 
 eyes with which he stirred my soul were 
 unclouded by fear or sickness. Before 
 our march brought us to the hills of 
 Gaspereau, Philip had admitted me to 
 his favour, ranking me, I think, almost as 
 he did Xavier and Big Etienne. More 
 than that I could not have dared to hope. 
 
 At sundown of the ninth of February, 
 the seventeenth day of our march from 
 
276 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 Chignecto, we halted in a fir wood only 
 three miles from the Gaspereau mouth. 
 We lit no camp fires now, but supped 
 cold, though heartily. We had been met 
 the day before by messengers from Grand 
 Pre, who told de Villiers the disposition 
 of the English troops. With incredible 
 carelessness they were scattered through- 
 out the settlement. About one hundred 
 and fifty, under Colonel Noble himself, 
 were quartered along a narrow lane, which, 
 running at right angles to the main street, 
 climbed the hillside at the extreme west 
 of the village. For my own part, though 
 de Villiers' senior in military rank, I was 
 but a volunteer in this expedition, and 
 served the chief as a kind of informal 
 aide-de-camp and counsellor. 
 
 Together we formed the plan of attack. 
 It was resolved that one half our com- 
 pany, under de Villiers himself, should 
 fall upon the isolated party in the lane 
 and cut them to pieces. That left us but 
 two hundred men with whom to engage 
 the remaining three hundred and fifty of 
 the New Englanders, — a daring vent- 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 277 
 
 ure, but I undertook to lead it. I un- 
 dertook by no means to defeat them, 
 however. I knew the fine mettle of 
 these vinegar-faced New Englanders, but 
 I swore (and kept my oath) that I would 
 occupy them pleasantly till de Villiers, 
 making an end of the other detachment, 
 should come to my aid and clinch the 
 victory. 
 
 The plan of attack thus settled, I turned 
 my attention to Philip. Nigh at hand was 
 a cottage where I was known, — where I 
 believed the folk to be very kindly and 
 honest. I told Big Etienne that we would 
 put the child there to sleep, and after the 
 battle take him to his mother at Canard. 
 
 " And, my brother," said I, laying my 
 hand on his arm, and looking into his 
 eyes with meaning, " let Xavier stay with 
 him, for he will be afraid among strangers." 
 
 "Xavier must fight," replied the tall 
 warrior. But his eyes shifted from mine, 
 and there was indecision in his voice. 
 
 " Xavier is but a boy yet, my brother," 
 I insisted. " And this is a night attack. 
 It is no place for an untried boy. No 
 
278 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 glory, but great peril, for one who has not 
 experience ! For my sake bid Xavier stay 
 with the child." 
 
 "You are right, brother. He shall 
 stay," said the Indian. 
 
 And Xavier was not consulted. He 
 stayed. But his was a face of sore disap- 
 pointment when we left him with Philip 
 at the cottage, — "to guard with your 
 life, if need be ! " said I, in going. And 
 thus gave him a sense of responsibility 
 and peril to cheer his bitter inaction. 
 
 It had been snowing all day, but lightly. 
 After nightfall there blew up a fitful wind, 
 now fierce, now breathless. At one mo- 
 ment the air would be thick with drift, 
 and the great blasts would buffet us in 
 the teeth. At another, there would seem 
 to be in all the dim-glimmering world no 
 movement and no breathing but our own. 
 
 It was far past midnight when we came 
 upon the hill-slope overlooking Grand 
 Pre village ; and the village was asleep. 
 Not a light was visible save in one long 
 row of cottages at the extreme east end, 
 close by the water side. Thither, at our 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 279 
 
 orders, the villagers had quietly with- 
 drawn before midnight. The rash New 
 England men lay sleeping, with appar- 
 ently no guards set. If there were sen- 
 tries, then the storm had driven them 
 indoors. 
 
 The great gusts swirled and roared 
 past their windows, piling the drift more 
 deeply about their thresholds. If any 
 woke, they turned perchance luxuriously 
 in their beds and listened to the blasts, 
 and praised God that the Acadian peas- 
 ants builded their houses warm. They 
 had no thought of the ruin that drew near 
 through the drifts and the whirling dark- 
 ness. I have never heard that one of 
 them was kept awake with strange terrors, 
 or had any prevision, or made special 
 searching of his soul before sleep. 
 
 It would seem as if Heaven must have 
 forgotten them for a little. Or perhaps 
 the saints remembered that the English 
 were not a people to take advice kindly, 
 or to change their plans for any sort of 
 warning that might seem to them irreg- 
 ular. But among us French, that night, 
 
280 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 there was one at least who was granted 
 some prevision. 
 
 Just before the two columns separated, 
 Tamin came to me and wrung my hand. 
 He was with de Villiers' detachment. 
 There was a certain awe, a something of 
 farewell, in his manner, and it moved my 
 heart mightily. But I clapped him on 
 the back. " No forebodings, now, my 
 friend," said I ; " keep a good heart and 
 your eyes wide open." 
 
 " The snow is deep to-night, Mon- 
 sieur ! " said he gravely, as he turned 
 away. 
 
 " True," I answered ; " but the apple 
 trees are at the other end of the village ; 
 and who ever heard that the Black Abbe 
 was a prophet ? " 
 
 Even as I spoke my heart smote me, 
 and I would have given much to wring 
 the loyal fellow's hand once more. But I 
 feared to add to his depression. 
 
 My men all knew their parts before 
 I led them from the camp. Once in the 
 village, only a few whispered orders were 
 necessary. Squad by squad, dim forms 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 281 
 
 like phantoms in the drift, filed off 
 stealthily to their places. 
 
 I, with two dozen others, Big Etienne 
 at my elbow, took post about the centre 
 of the village, where three large houses, 
 joined together, seemed to promise a 
 rough bout. Then we waited. Saints, 
 how long we waited, as it seemed ! The 
 snow invaded us. But the apple trees 
 were many, and we leaned against them, 
 gnawing our fingers, and protecting our 
 primings with the long flaps of our coats. 
 At last there came a musket-shot from 
 the far-off lane, and straightway there- 
 upon a crashing volley, followed by a 
 dreadful outcry — shouts and screams, and 
 the yelling of the Indians. 
 
 Our waiting was done. We sprang 
 forward to dash in the nearest win- 
 dows, to batter down the nearest doors. 
 Lights gleamed. Then came crashes of 
 musketry from the points where I had 
 placed my several parties, and I knew 
 they had found their posts. The fight 
 once begun, there was little room for gen- 
 eralship in that driven and shrieking dark. 
 
282 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 I could see but what was before me. In 
 those three houses there were brave men, 
 that I knew. Springing from sleep in 
 their shirts, they seemed to wake full 
 armed, and were already firing upon us 
 as we tried to force our way in through 
 the windows. The main door of the big- 
 gest house we strove to carry with a rush, 
 but that, too, belched lead and fire in 
 our faces, and we came upon a barrier of 
 household stuff just inside. By the light 
 of a musket flash, I saw a huge, sour- 
 faced fellow in his shirt, standing on the 
 barrier, with his gun-stock swung back. 
 I made at him nimbly with my sword. I 
 reached him, and the uplifted weapon fell 
 somewhere harmless in the dark. The 
 next moment I felt a sword point, thrust- 
 ing blindly, furrow across my temple, 
 tearing as if it were both hot and dull, 
 and at the same instant I was dragged out 
 again into the snow. Three of us, how- 
 ever, as I learned afterwards, stayed on 
 the floor within. 
 
 It was Big Etienne who had saved me. 
 I was dizzy for a moment with my 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 283 
 
 wound, the blood throbbing down in a 
 flood; but I ordered all to fall back 
 under the shelter of the apple trees, and 
 keep up a steady firing upon the doors 
 and windows. The order was passed along, 
 and in a few minutes the firing was steady. 
 Then winding my kerchief tightly about 
 my temples, I bade Big Etienne knot it 
 for me, and for the time I thought no 
 more of that sword-scratch. 
 
 Though my men were heavily outnum- 
 bered, the enemy could not guess how few 
 we were. Moreover, we had the shelter 
 of the trees, and our fire had their win- 
 dows to converge upon. We held them, 
 therefore, with no great loss, except for 
 those that fell in the first onslaught, which 
 was bloody for both sides. Presently a 
 tongue of flame shot up, and I knew that 
 they had set fire to one of the houses on 
 the lane. The shouting there, and the 
 yelling, died away, but a scattering crackle 
 of musketry continued. Then another 
 building burst into flame. The night 
 grew all one red, wavering glare. As the 
 smoke clouds blew this way and that, the 
 
284 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 shadows rose and fell. The squalls of 
 drift blurred everything ; but in the lulls 
 men stood out suddenly as simple targets, 
 and were shot with great precision. Yet 
 we had shelter enough, too ; for every 
 house, every barn and shed, cast a block 
 of thick darkness on its northern side. 
 Then men began to gather in upon the 
 centre. Here a squad of my own fellows 
 — yelling and cheering with triumph, if 
 they were Indians, quietly exultant if they 
 were veterans — would come from the 
 conquest of a cottage. There a knot of 
 half-clad English, fleeing reluctantly and 
 firing over their shoulders as they fled, 
 would arrive, beat at the doors before us, 
 and be let in hastily under our fire, leav- 
 ing always some of their number on the 
 threshold. It was like no other fight I 
 had ever fought, for the strange confusion 
 of it ; or perhaps my wound confused me 
 yet a little. At length a louder yelling, 
 a sharper firing, a wilder and mightier 
 clamour, arose in the direction of the lane. 
 Our own firing slackened. All eyes turned 
 to watch a little band which, fighting furi- 
 
The Fight at Grand Pre 285 
 
 ously, was forcing its way hither through 
 a swarm of assailants. " The vinegar- 
 faces can fight ! " I cried, " but we must 
 stop them. Come on, lads ! " And with 
 a score at my back I rushed to meet the 
 new-comers. Rushed, did I say ? But I 
 should have said struggled and floundered. 
 For, the moment we were clear of the 
 trampled area, and found ourselves in the 
 open fields, the snow went nearly to our 
 middles. Yet we met the gallant little 
 band, which having shaken off" its assail- 
 ants, now fell upon us with a welcome of 
 most earnest curses. Men speak of the 
 bloody ferocity of a duel in a dark room. 
 It is nothing to the blind, blundering, 
 reckless, snarling rage of that struggle in 
 the deep snow, and under that swimming 
 delusive light. Having emptied my 
 musket and my pistols, I threw them 
 all away, and fell to playing nimbly with 
 my sword. Big Etienne I saw close 
 beside me, swinging his musket by the 
 barrel. Suddenly its deadly sweep missed 
 its object. The tall warrior fell headfore- 
 most, carried off his uneasy balance by 
 
286 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 the force of the blow. Ere he could 
 flounder up again a foeman was upon 
 him with uplifted sword. But with a 
 mighty lunge, hurling myself forward 
 from the drift that held my feet, I reached 
 the man's neck with my own point, and 
 fell at his feet. He came down in a heap 
 on top of me. His knee, as I suppose 
 it was, struck me violently on the head. 
 Perhaps I was already weakened by that 
 cut upon the temple. The noise all died 
 suddenly away. I remember thinking 
 how warm the snow felt against my face. 
 And the rest of the fight was no concern 
 of mine. 
 
Chapter XXII 
 The Black Abbe Strikes in the Dark 
 
 I WAS awakened to consciousness by 
 some one gently lifting me. I strug- 
 gled at once to my feet, leaning upon 
 him. It was Big Etienne. 
 
 " You much hurt ? " he queried, in 
 great concern. 
 
 " Why, no ! " said I, presently. " Head 
 feels sore. I think I'll be all right in a 
 minute." 
 
 It was in the red and saffron of dawn. 
 The snow had stopped falling. The mus- 
 kets had stopped clattering. The battle 
 was apparently at an end. All around lay 
 bodies, or rather parts of bodies ; for they 
 were more or less hidden in the snow. 
 Close by me just a pair of knees was visi- 
 ble, thrust up through a drift into which 
 the man had plunged in falling. 
 287 
 
288 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 The snow was all mottled with blood 
 and powder, a very hideous colour to 
 look upon. I stood erect and stretched 
 myself. 
 
 "Why, brother," I exclaimed, in great 
 relief, " I am as good as new. Where is 
 the commander ? " 
 
 Big Etienne pointed in silence to the 
 street before the three houses. There I 
 saw our men drawn up in menacing array. 
 In and behind the houses were crowded 
 the dark masses of the New Englanders, 
 punctuated here and there with the scarlet 
 of an officer's coa±.»-fo u 
 
 De Villiers greeted\,i as one recovered 
 from the grave: I asked eagerly how he 
 had sped, and how the matter now rested. 
 
 " Success, everywhere success, Briart ! " 
 he answered, with a sort of controlled 
 elation. "You held these fellows, while 
 we wiped out those yonder. But it was 
 a cruel and bloody affair, and I would the 
 times, and the straits of New France, 
 required not such killing in the dark. 
 But they set fire to a house and barn 
 that they might fight in the light, and 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 289 
 
 so a band of them escaped us and cut 
 their way through here, — what was left 
 of them, at least, after they got done with 
 you ! And now their remnant is hemmed 
 in yonder." 
 
 " We've got them, then," said I. 
 
 " Surely," he answered. " But it will 
 cost our best blood to end it. They 
 have fought like heroes, though they 
 kept guard like fools. And they will 
 battle it out, I think, while a man of 
 them stands." 
 
 " Yes, 'tis the breed of them ! " said 
 I, looking across with admiration at the 
 silent and dangerous ranks. " But they 
 have done all that brave men could 
 do. They will accept honourable terms, 
 I think; and such we may offer them 
 without any touch of discredit. What 
 do you say ? " 
 
 This was, indeed what de Villiers had 
 in his heart. He withdrew his troops 
 some little distance, that negotiations 
 might be the less embarrassed; and I 
 myself, feeling a fresh dizziness, retired 
 to a cottage, where I might have my 
 
290 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 wound properly tended. But barely had 
 I got the bandage loosened, — a black- 
 eyed Acadian maid standing by, with 
 face of deep commiseration and holding 
 a basin of hot water for me, — when there 
 broke out a sudden firing. I clapped the 
 bloody bandage to my head, and ran 
 forth ; but I saw there was no need of 
 me. The English had sallied with a fierce 
 heat, hoping to retrieve their fortunes. 
 But the deep snow was like an army to 
 shut them in. Before they could come at 
 us they were exhausted, and our muskets 
 dropped them swiftly in the drifts. Sul- 
 lenly they fell back again upon their 
 houses. I turned to my basin and my 
 bandaging. 
 
 "That settles that!" said I to the 
 damsel. 
 
 " Settles what, Monsieur ? " she asked. 
 But as she spoke I saw a look of sudden 
 concern cross her face, a faintness came 
 over me, and I lay down, feeling her arm 
 support me as I sank. 
 
 Sleep is the best of medicines for me. 
 I woke late in the afternoon to find my 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 291 
 
 head neatly bandaged, and the dizziness 
 all gone. Men came and went softly. 
 I found that de Villiers was lying in the 
 same house, having got a serious wound 
 just after I left him. La Corne, a brave 
 Canadian, was in command. The Eng- 
 lish had capitulated toward noon, and had 
 pledged themselves to depart for Annapo- 
 lis within forty-eight hours, not to bear 
 arms again in Acadie within six months. 
 We had redeemed at Grand Pre our late 
 failure at Annapolis. 
 
 My first act was to send a runner, on 
 snow-shoes, to Canard, with a scrawled 
 note to Mizpah. Explaining nothing, I 
 merely begged that she and Prudence, 
 with Marc and Father Fafard, should 
 meet me at the Forge about noon of the 
 following day. In the case of Marc not 
 being yet strong enough to journey so 
 far, I prayed Mizpah herself, in any 
 event, to come without fail. My next 
 was to send a messenger for Xavier and 
 Philip. My heart had fallen to aching 
 curiously for the child, — insomuch that 
 I marvelled at it, till at length I set it 
 
292. The Forge in the Forest 
 
 down as a mere whimsical counterfeit of 
 my longing for his mother. 
 
 Being now refreshed and altogether 
 myself again, I went to visit the lane 
 wherein the fight had opened. The very 
 first house, whose shattered door and 
 windows, blood-smeared threshold, and 
 dripping window-sills, showed that the 
 fight had there raged long and madly, 
 had one great apple tree beside its gar- 
 den gate. A chill of foreboding smote 
 me as I marked it. I approached with a 
 curious and painful expectancy, the words 
 of the Black Abbe ringing again in my 
 ears. At the foot of the apple tree the 
 snow was drifted deep. It half covered a 
 pitifully huddled body. 
 
 I lifted the body. It was Tamin. 
 
 He had been shot through the lungs, 
 and his blood, melting the snow, had 
 gathered in a crimson pool beneath him. 
 Here was one grim prophecy fulfilled. 
 Carrying him into the house, I laid him 
 gently on a bed. Then I turned away 
 with a very sorrowful heart ; for there was 
 much to do, and the dead are not urgent. 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 293 
 
 Even as I turned, my heart jumped 
 with a new and sickening dread. Xavier 
 stood before me — Xavier, with wild eyes, 
 and face darkly clotted with blood. The 
 next instant he threw himself at my 
 feet. 
 
 " The child ! " he muttered, covering 
 his face. " They have carried him away. 
 They have carried Philip away ! " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " I cried, in a 
 voice which my fear made harsh, while at 
 the same time I dragged him to his feet. 
 "Who have carried him away ? Who?" 
 
 But I knew the answer ere he could 
 speak it, — I knew my enemy had seized 
 the chances of the battle and the night. 
 
 " The Black Abbe," wailed the lad, in 
 a voice of poignant sorrow. " He came 
 in the night, with two Chepody Acadians 
 dressed up like Indians, and seized me 
 asleep, and bound me." 
 
 " But Philip ! " I cried. " Where have 
 they taken him ? " And even as I spoke 
 I was planning swiftly. 
 
 "The Abbe started westward with 
 him," answered Xavier. "From what 
 
294 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 I heard say, he would go to Pereau ; 
 but which way after, I could not find 
 out." 
 
 " Come ! " I ordered roughly, " we must 
 follow them ! " But as I spoke I saw the 
 lad totter. I caught him by the arm and 
 held him up, perceiving now for the first 
 time how he was both wounded and 
 utterly spent. 
 
 " Let us go first to your father," I said 
 more gently, leading him, and putting 
 what curb I could upon the fierceness 
 of my haste. 
 
 " How did you get here ? " I asked 
 him presently. 
 
 A gleam came into the lad's faint eyes. 
 
 " The Chepody men stayed till morn- 
 ing," said he, " and then set out on the 
 road toward Piziquid, taking me with 
 them. They thought I was nothing but 
 a boy. As we went, I got my hands 
 loose, so, — and waited. At noon one 
 man went into a house, — and — so! — 
 I was free, and had the other dog by the 
 throat. He make no noise ; but he fight 
 hard, and hurt me. I got away, and left 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 295 
 
 him in the snow, and ran back all the way 
 to tell you the Black Abbe — " 
 
 But here the poor lad's voice failed, 
 and he hung upon me with all his weight. 
 He had fainted, indeed ; and now that I 
 thought of his wound, his hunger, his 
 grief, and his prodigious exertions, I won- 
 dered not at his swooning. Picking him 
 up in my arms, I carried him to the cot- 
 tage where the kind damsel had so com- 
 passionately tended my own bruises. 
 
 As I entered the thronged cottage with 
 my burden, men came about me with 
 many questions ; but I kept my own 
 counsel, not knowing whom I could trust, 
 or where the Black Abbe might not have 
 his spies posted. Moreover, I was so 
 distracted with anxiety about the child, 
 that I had small patience wherewith to 
 take questioning civilly. Every bed and 
 every settle being occupied with our 
 wounded, I laid Xavier on the floor, with 
 his head upon a blue petticoat which the 
 kind damsel — who came to me as soon 
 as she saw me enter — fetched from a cup- 
 board and rolled up deftly for me. After 
 
296 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 a careful examination I found no wound 
 upon the lad save two shallow flesh cuts, 
 one across his forehead and one down his 
 chest. I thereupon concluded that ex- 
 haustion, together with the loss of blood, 
 had brought him to this pass, and that 
 with a few days' care he would be alto- 
 gether restored. Having put some brandy 
 between his lips, and seen his eyelids 
 tremble with recovering consciousness, I 
 turned to the maiden and said: — 
 
 "Take care of him for me, Cherie. 
 He deserves your best care ; and I trust 
 him to your good heart. Give him some- 
 thing to eat now, — soup, hot milk, at 
 first. And I will come back in two days 
 from now, at furthest." 
 
 " But Monsieur must rest ! " 
 
 " No rest for me to-night ! " I inter- 
 rupted, in a low voice, as I straightened 
 myself up. " Do you know where I 
 may find the lad's father, the chief, 
 Big-" 
 
 But there was no need for me to finish 
 the question. There, close behind me, 
 stood the tall Indian, looking down at 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 297 
 
 Xavier, with trouble in his eyes. He 
 had just entered, in his silent fashion. 
 
 " There is no danger ! He is worn 
 out ! " I whispered. " He has done all 
 a brave man could do ; but the child is 
 stolen ! Come outside with me." 
 
 Big Etienne stooped quickly and laid 
 his hand upon the lad's breast, and then, 
 most gently, upon his lips. A second 
 later he had followed me out into the 
 deepening twilight. 
 
 In few words I told him what had hap- 
 pened, and my purpose of going instantly 
 in pursuit. Without a word he strode 
 off toward a small cabin about a stone's 
 throw from the cottage which we had just 
 left. 
 
 " Where are you going ? " I asked, as- 
 tonished at this abruptness. 
 
 " My snow-shoes ! " he replied. "And 
 bread. I go with you, my brother ! " 
 
 This, in very truth, was just what I had 
 hoped for. But, in my haste, I had for- 
 gotten the need of eating ; and, as for my 
 snow-shoes, usually strapped at my back, 
 they had been left at the outskirts of the 
 
29 8 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 village the night before in order that my 
 sword arm might have the freer play. It 
 was no time now to go back for them. I 
 slipped into the cottage, borrowed a pair, 
 and was presently forth again to meet Big 
 Etienne. The Indian, instead of bread, 
 had brought a goodly lump of dried beef. 
 Side by side, and in silence, we set out for 
 the cabin on the Gaspereau where Philip 
 and Xavier had been captured. 
 
 We found the place deserted. Either 
 the man of the house had been a tool of 
 La Game, or he feared that I would hold 
 him responsible. Which it was, I know 
 not to this day ; and, at the time, we gave 
 small thought to the question, merely com- 
 mending the fellow's wisdom in removing 
 himself from our indignation. What en- 
 gaged our concern was a single snow-shoe 
 track making westward, followed by the 
 trail of a little sledge. 
 
 " Yes," said I ; " Xavier is surely right. 
 The Abbe has gone to cross the Habitants 
 and the Canard where they are little, and 
 will then, belike, turn down the valley to 
 Pereau ! " 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 299 
 
 " Very like ! " grunted my companion ; 
 and, at a long lope, we started up the trail. 
 
 This pace, however, soon told upon me, 
 and brought it into my mind that I had, 
 that day, eaten nothing but a bowl of 
 broth. We halted, therefore, and rested 
 half an hour in the warmth of a dense 
 spruce coppice, and ate abundantly of that 
 very savoury beef. Then, much revived, 
 we set out again. Treading one behind 
 the other, we marched, in silence, through 
 the glimmering dark ; for Big Etienne 
 was no talker, while I, for my part, was 
 gnawing my heart with rage, and hope 
 frustrated, and the picture of Mizpah's 
 anguish. We never stayed our pace till 
 we came, at the edge of dawn, to the spot 
 where the trail went over the dwindled 
 upper current of the Habitants. 
 
 Here, to our astonishment, the trail 
 turned eastward, following down the 
 course of the river. 
 
 I looked at the Indian in wondering 
 consternation. " What can it mean ? " I 
 cried. " Can there be any new plot of his 
 hatching at Canard ? " 
 
300 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 " Maybe ! " said Big Etienne. 
 
 At thought of further perils threatening 
 Mizpah and Marc, the weariness which 
 had been growing upon me vanished, and 
 I sprang forward as briskly as if we had 
 but just set out. Even Big Etienne, 
 though he had no such incentive as mine, 
 seemed to win new vigour with the con- 
 templation of this new coil of the enemy's. 
 If, indeed, he appeared somewhat fresher 
 than I throughout the latter half of this 
 hard march, it is but justice to myself to 
 say that he bore no wound from the late 
 battle. 
 
 At last, when it was well past ten of the 
 morning, the trail led us out upon the 
 main Canard track, and turned toward 
 the settlement. 
 
 " Yes," said I, with bitter conviction ; 
 " he has gone to Canard. He would 
 never go there had he not some deep 
 scheme of mischief afoot. God grant we 
 be in time ! " 
 
 In less than half an hour we came with- 
 in sight of the Forge in the Forest. To 
 my astonishment, the smoke was pouring 
 
The Black Abbe Strikes 301 
 
 in furious volume from the forge chim- 
 ney. 
 
 " What can Babin be about ? Or can 
 Mizpah and Marc be there already ? " I 
 wondered aloud ; but got no answer from 
 my companion. A moment later, a turn 
 of the track brought us to a post of van- 
 tage whence we could see straight into the 
 forge. The sight which met our eyes 
 brought us to an instant stop from sheer 
 amazement. 
 
Chapter XXIII 
 The Rendezvous at the Forge 
 
 BESIDE the forge-fire stood Grul. 
 On his left arm was perched Philip, 
 half wrapped in the black-and-yellow 
 cloak, and playing with Grid's white 
 wand. At the back of the forge, fettered 
 to the wall, and with his hands bound 
 behind him, stood the black form of our 
 adversary. Grul was heaving upon the 
 bellows, and in the fierce white glow of 
 the coal stuck a number of irons heating. 
 These he turned and twisted with fan- 
 tastic energy, now and then drawing one 
 forth and brandishing it with a kind of 
 mad glee, so as best to show the intensity 
 of its colour ; and whenever he did so little 
 Philip shouted with delight. 
 
 The joy that surged through my breast 
 as I took in all this astonishing turn of 
 302 
 
The Rendezvous at the Forge 303 
 
 affairs, was something which 1 have no 
 words to tell of. 
 
 " Mary, Mother of Heaven, be praised 
 for this ! " I cried fervently. 
 
 "What will he do with irons?" queried 
 Big Etienne, with a curiously startled note 
 in his voice. 
 
 Indeed, what now followed was suffi- 
 ciently startling. Grfil had caught sight 
 of us. Immediately he set the child 
 down, heaved twice or thrice mightily 
 upon the bellows, and then drew from the 
 fire two white-hot rods of iron. With 
 these, one in each hand, he approached 
 the Black Abbe, treading swiftly and 
 sinuously like a panther. I darted for- 
 ward, chilled with sudden horror. A 
 short scream of mortal fear came from 
 the wretched captive's lips. 
 
 " Stop ! stop ! " I shouted, as those 
 terrible brands went circling hither and 
 thither about the cringing form. The 
 next instant, and ere I could reach the 
 scene to interfere, the Abbe gave a huge 
 bound, reached the door, and plunged 
 out into the snow, pursued by a peal of 
 
304 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 wild laughter from Grill's lips. This 
 most whimsical of madmen had befooled 
 his captive, in much the same fashion as 
 once before on the cliff beside the des 
 Saumons. He had used the deadly iron 
 merely to free him from his bonds, and 
 again held in reserve his full vengeance. 
 
 Fetching a huge breath of relief, I joined 
 in Grid's mocking laughter; while Big 
 Etienne gave a grunt of manifest dissatis- 
 faction. As for the Black Abbe, though 
 the sweat of his terror stood in beads 
 upon his forehead, he recovered his com- 
 posure marvellously. Having run some 
 dozen paces he stopped, turned, and gazed 
 steadily upon Grul for perhaps the space 
 of a full minute. Then, sweeping a scorn- 
 ful glance across the child, the Indian, 
 and myself, he half opened his lips to 
 speak. But if he judged himself not 
 then best ready to speak with dignity, — 
 let no one marvel at that. He changed 
 his purpose, folded his arms across his 
 breast, and strode off slowly and in silence 
 along the track toward Grand Pre. 
 
 I thought his shadow, as it fell long 
 
The Rendezvous at the Forge 305 
 
 and sinister across the snow, lay blacker 
 than was the common wont of shadows. 
 
 Big Etienne was already within, and 
 Philip in his arms. As I entered the 
 forge door Griil cried solemnly, as if to 
 extenuate his act in freeing the pris- 
 oner : — 
 
 " His cup is not yet full." 
 
 Seizing both his hands in mine, I tried 
 with stammering lips to thank him ; but, 
 something to my chagrin, he cut me short 
 most ungraciously. Snatching his hands 
 away, he stepped outside the door, and 
 raised his thrilling, bell-like chant : — 
 
 "Woe, woe to Acadie the Fair, for 
 the day of her desolation cometh." 
 
 Beyond all words though my grati- 
 tude was, I could not refrain from 
 shrugging my shoulders at this fantastic 
 mummery, as I turned to embrace little 
 Philip. My heart was rioting with joy 
 and hope, and I could not trouble my 
 wits with these mad whimsies of Grill's. 
 When he had quit prophesying and 
 come again within the forge, I tried to 
 draw from him some account of how he 
 
306 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 had so achieved the child's rescue and the 
 Black Abbe's utter discomfiture. But 
 he wandered from the matter, whether 
 wilfully or not I could by no means 
 decide ; and presently, catching a ghost 
 of a smile on the face of Big Etienne, 
 I gave up and rested thankful for what 
 I had got. As for Philip, he was ami- 
 ably gracious to both Big Etienne and 
 myself, but it was manifest that all his 
 little heart had gone out to Grul ; and 
 the two were presently playing together 
 . in a corner of the forge, at some game 
 which none but themselves could under- 
 stand. 
 
 It wanted yet an hour of noon, when, 
 as I stood in the door consuming my 
 heart with impatience, yet unwilling to 
 go and meet Mizpah and so mar the 
 climax which I had plotted for, I caught 
 sight of two figures approaching. I 
 needed not eyes to tell me one was 
 Mizpah, for the blood shook in all my 
 veins at sight of her. The other was 
 Father Fafard. 
 
 " Marc," said I to myself, " is not yet 
 
The Rendezvous at the Forge 307 
 
 strong enough to venture so far ; and the 
 maid Prudence has stayed with him. But 
 Mizpah is here — Mizpah is here ! " 
 
 With eyes of delight I dwelt upon her 
 tall, slim form, in its gown of blue woollen 
 cloth which set off so rarely the red-gold 
 enchantment of her hair. But when she 
 was come near enough for me to mark 
 the eager welcome in her eyes and on 
 her lips, I waved at her, clumsily enough, 
 and turned within to catch at a little self- 
 possession. Not having my snow-shoes 
 on, I could not be expected to go and 
 meet her; and that waiting in the door- 
 way was too much for me to endure. 
 
 " Keep Philip behind the chimney, out 
 of sight," I whispered eagerly to Grul; 
 and somewhat to my wonder he obeyed. 
 
 On the next instant Mizpah stood in 
 the door, smiling upon me, her face all 
 aglow with expectation and greeting ; and 
 I found myself clasping both of her white 
 hands. But my tongue refused to speak, 
 — deeming, perchance, that my eyes were 
 usurping its office. 
 
 Finding at length a word of welcome 
 
308 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 for the good priest, I wrung his hand 
 fervently, then turned again to Mizpah. 
 
 But my first speech was stupid, — so 
 stupid that I wished most heartily that 
 I had held my tongue. 
 
 " Comrade," said I, " this is a glad day 
 for me." 
 
 Her face fell, and her eyes reproached 
 me. 
 
 " Because you have defeated and slain 
 my people ? " she asked. 
 
 My face grew hot for the flat ineptitude 
 of my words. 
 
 "No! no! Not for that!" I cried 
 passionately, " but for this ! " 
 
 And I turned to snatch Philip from his 
 corner behind the chimney. 
 
 But Grul was too quick for me. He 
 could play no second part at any time, he. 
 Evading my hands, he slipped past me, 
 and himself placed the child in Mizpah's 
 arms. 
 
 I cursed inwardly at his abruptness, 
 though in truth he had done just what 
 I was intending to do myself. As Miz- 
 pah, with a gasping cry, crushed the little 
 
The Rendezvous at the Forge 309 
 
 one to her bosom, she went white as a 
 ghost and tottered against the anvil. I 
 sprang to support her, but withheld my 
 arm ere it touched her waist, for even on 
 the instant she had recovered herself. 
 With wordless mother-cries she kissed 
 Philip's lips and hair, and buried her 
 face in his neck, he the while clinging to 
 her as if never again for a moment could 
 he let her go. 
 
 Presently, while I waited in great hun- 
 ger for a word, she turned to Big Etienne 
 and Grul. 
 
 " My friends ! " she cried, in a shaken 
 voice which faithfully uttered her heart, 
 " my true and loyal friends ! " Where- 
 upon she wrung their hands, and wrung 
 them, and would have spoken further but 
 that her voice failed her. 
 
 Then, after a moment or two, she 
 turned to me, — yet not wholly. 
 
 The paleness had by this well vanished, 
 and her eyes, those great sea-coloured 
 eyes, which she would not lift to mine, 
 were running over with tears. Philip 
 took one sturdy little arm from her neck, 
 
310 The Forge in the Forest 
 
 and stretched out his hand to me ; but 1 
 ignored the invitation. 
 
 "And what — what have you got for 
 me, Mizpah ? " I asked, in a very low 
 voice, indeed — a voice perhaps not just 
 as steady as that of a noted bush-fighter 
 is supposed to be at a crisis. 
 
 The flush grew, deepening down along 
 the clear whiteness of her neck, and she 
 half put out one hand to me. 
 
 " Do you want thanks ? " she asked 
 softly. 
 
 " You know what I want, — what I 
 have wanted above all else in life from 
 the moment my eyes fell upon you ! " 
 I cried with a great passion, grown sud- 
 denly forgetful of Grfil and Big Etienne, 
 who doubtless found my emotion more 
 or less interesting. 
 
 For a second or two Mizpah made no 
 answer. Then she lifted her face, gave 
 me one swift look straight in the eyes, 
 — a look that told me all I longed to 
 know, — and suddenly, with a little laugh 
 that was mostly a sob, put Philip into my 
 arms. 
 

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The Rendezvous at the Forge 311 
 
 " There ! " she whispered, dropping her 
 eyes. 
 
 And by some means it so came about 
 that, as I took the child, my arms held 
 Mizpah also. 
 
 THE END 
 

 
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