University of Virginia Library

21. CHAPTER XXI.
CAPTAIN TOM'S FORTUNES.

It will be remembered that Captain Thomas Vrail, forgetful of
all fraternal ties, ignominiously sought his personal safety, by
availing himself, alone, of the very means of escape which had
been provided for Harry, and which the latter had nobly rejected,
until assured of his brother's flight. When he had gained the
open space in the rear of the building from which he had fled,
where the tumult of the assault was yet resounding, he ran to the
river, and on reaching its margin he took the only course which
gave any promise of safety, and the same that was, a few minutes
later, selected by the unfortunate fugitives who followed him.
The desultory nature of the battle, or rather of the separate
engagements which had taken place, and the uncertainty which
yet prevailed in each victorious quarter as to the extent of success
in other localities, produced a state of affairs favorable to the
escape of the few who had been fortunate enough to take the first
steps of flight unobserved.

The vessel which fired upon Harry was lying in the stream
when Thomas reached the shore, and caused him no slight alarm,
but he was either unobserved, or from some other unexplained
cause, he was not assailed from that quarter, and he hastened forward,
although in great trepidation.

He had not proceeded far down the stream, before he discovered,
about half a mile in advance of him, two other individuals, whose

singular and cautious movements indicated that they, like himself,
were members of the vanquished army, seeking to make good
their escape. The ground over which they were passing, was the
pebbled beach of the river, edged, at irregular intervals, with
clumps of bushes, which grew at the distance of a few yards from
the water, and served as convenient dodging-places for the
stealthy travellers. They could not go far, however, in that direction,
without approaching the vicinity of numerous dwelling-houses,
whence they would be almost certain to be seen, and so
imminent seemed the peril of progressing in the route they were
pursuing, that Vrail, much as he longed for companionship in his
distress, had not the temerity long to follow them.

But if he did not dare to proceed, still less had he courage to
return over his dangerous track, or to attempt to seek the open
country, which could only be gained by passing through a part of
the settlement. Concealing himself, therefore, in one of the
clusters of shrubbery which have been named, he watched with
painful anxiety the course of his predecessors, until, having stopped
briefly in several hiding-places, they finally entered one from
which they were not seen to emerge. Not doubting that they
had resolved to remain there until the darkness of evening should
favor their flight, Tom exulted in the hope of joining them then,
and sharing their chance of escape, and with this hope he watched
the distant bush, with little intermission, until the declining sun
withdrew his beams, and left him no longer power to discern an
object of so much interest.

He had heard, meanwhile, the firing a little further up the
river, which had so nearly proved fatal to Harry, and the return
salutes of his valiant brother, but, of course, without in the least
suspecting the extraordinary character of the engagement they
betokened. He had seen, too, the second boat which had been
sent from the war-vessel, and which, in taking its circuitous route
to avoid the magical weapon, had passed in view of both the concealed

parties, and had landed at a point considerably above them.
Tom also saw, and watched with an interest not inferior to that of
his intrepid brother, the clouds which rose to engulf the descending
sun, and which enveloped the landscape in a sudden night.

Then, eager with hope, he rushed from his hiding-place, and
fast as his cramped limbs would permit, he ran towards the spot
which he had so long and vigilantly watched. He knew that
his footsteps would be suspected as those of an enemy, and that
the fugitives, if they were yet in the bush, or near it, would wait
quietly for him to pass. He did not, therefore, attempt to approach
them noiselessly, but having gained, as nearly as he could, their
immediate vicinity, he suddenly stopped and ejaculated in a quick,
sharp tone, one of the mystic words, which served as a countersign,
and an evidence of membership among the fraternity of
patriots.

To his great joy it was instantly answered by another signal,
and the two individuals of whom he was in search, without further
reserve, approached him. It was too dark to see more than the
outline of their figures, of which one was tall and stooping, and
the other stoutish and broad-shouldered; but Vrail soon recognized
the one who spoke, although he conversed in a half whisper.

“We took you for an enemy,” he said, “and we were hesitating
whether to cut you down quietly, or let you pass, when fortunately
you gave the signal, and now I can't rightly make you out in this
light. I guess you warn't in our division.”

“No, I believe not—indeed I don't know exactly where you
were, Mr. Jones.”

It would have been difficult to tell where Barak was during the
engagement, and as he did not offer to define his position, Tom
continued:

“I am Captain Vrail, that is, if there are any titles left to us
now, and I was in”—

“Oh! you are Captain Vrail, are you? How do you dew? and

how did you get off?—and what is become of your brother, the
lieutenant—a mighty clever fellow he was—I hope he ain't killed
or taken?”

Tom replied, hesitatingly, that he believed Harry had escaped,
and he was about to add something more, when they were interrupted
by the third person, who spoke in a voice of command.

“Silence!” he said; “there will be time enough to talk when we
are off British soil. We must go forward now.”

“Who is that?” asked Vrail, quietly.

“No matter,” was the stranger's reply; “I am your commander
for the present, if you remain with us—if not, pass on or return.”

“I prefer to remain with you, and willingly place myself under
your orders,” said Tom, perceiving from the speaker's tone, that he
was accustomed to be obeyed, and having a suspicion of his character,
which greatly increased his hope of ultimate escape.

“We are coming at once to the most dangerous part of our
way,” said the stranger, “as we shall be compelled to pass near
many dwellings, and we must proceed with great vigilance.”

“Why not wait until a later hour?” interrupted Vrail.

“You can wait if you choose, young man,” was the cold reply.

“I forgot—I beg pardon, sir.”

“There is reason enough for haste,” added the leader, mollified
by the apologetic words and tone of Vrail. “At any moment
troops may be expected scouring the beach in search of fugitives,
and before morning there will be sentinels all along the coast for
miles, to see that no boats put off without inspection. This is our
only chance, and if we can get three miles further down, without
getting caught, I will answer for the rest. We must advance now
in single file, and as silent as moccasined Indians. Not a word
must be spoken, except to give warning of danger. I will go first,
and Mr. Vrail must take the rear.”

In this order the three proceeded along their perilous route for
the space of nearly an hour, passing frequently within near view of

men whose discovery of them would have led to certain capture,
and often pausing at the most critical points to wait a favorable
opportunity to advance.

The strictest silence was preserved, not a word being spoken;
and, indeed, as far as related to Jones, the order for taciturnity was
quite superfluous, for his excessive terror had quite deprived him of
the power of articulation. Fragments of his own public speeches
were floating at times through his mind, and his often-repeated
assertion, that the whole country was rising to meet the patriots,
seemed to his excited imagination about to be realized, although
in a painfully different sense from that in which he had used it.

A happy man was he, and scarcely less so was Vrail, when their
mysterious leader, suddenly pausing near a large granite rock, and
waiting for them to join him, announced their safety, with an air
of confidence which nothing in appearance around them seemed
to justify.

“But we ain't off British sile yet, Commodore,” said Barak.

“Don't `Commodore' me here, if you please, and don't talk quite
so loud, and if we should be taken yet, which isn't very likely, seeing
they won't have more than five minutes to do it in, remember
there are no titles to any of our names. Every title will cost its
owner a halter. We are but plain Sam, and Tom, and Bill.”

“I reckon they'd know you though, quick enough.”

“Well, possibly they might, but we won't give them a chance
to try. Come on,” and the speaker advanced rapidly towards the
river, which was but a few yards distant.

“Blast the man!” muttered Jones, following; “I believe he
means to swim across. I have heard of his doing almost as
wonderful things; I say, Commodore, we can't do that, you
know.”

“Hush!” was the only reply of the leader, as he proceeded with
rapid and hasty strides until he stood half boot deep in the edge
of the stream, when he stopped, and facing shoreward, peered

earnestly through the darkness for some seconds, as if trying to
recognize some of the neighboring landmarks.

“Mr. Vrail,” he said, at length, taking a small box from his
pocket, and handing it to the young man, “I must know the exact
bearing of the south end of the rock which we have just left, but
I can see nothing in this darkness. Go back to the rock, feel
your way to the lower part of it, and when you are sure you are
at the right spot, light one of these matches, and show it near the
ground for a moment—as long as you can count three—I shall
see it.”

Though greatly mystified by the stranger's conduct, Tom did
not for a moment hesitate about compliance with his orders.
With some difficulty he found the spot designated, and having
made quite sure of the correctness of his position, he exhibited his
sulphurous signal the required time, and then returned to the
place where he had left his companions, but where he now found
Jones quite alone, and in a state of extraordinary excitement.

“I might have known it,” he said; “I have often heard he was
in league with the Evil one, and now I know it. He's gone,
sir!”

“Gone? Where?”

“Right straight across the river, sir—a bee line, sir—by the
light of that match. I see him go as far as I could see, and after
that I heerd him for some time walking through the water, as
easily as you would walk on dry land.”

“Nonsense, Jones; your head is turned. He can't be far off.”

Far or near, we shall never see him again. Listen, you can
hear him going now.”

Vrail did listen, and very distinctly heard a splashing in the
water a few rods down the stream, and not far from shore, as his
affrighted companion had supposed, his alarm not admitting of his
retaining any correct idea of the course of the river. At the next
instant they heard their missing comrade's voice, modulated to a

tone which was designed to reach them, and to extend as little
further as possible, calling upon them to approach. Barak hesitated
and drew back, until Vrail, who had caught a glimmering
of the true state of affairs, plunged into the stream and proceeded
in the direction of the voice, when the former, afraid to be left
behind, followed the path of his companions, groaning bitterly at
every step in the cold water. As they approached their mysterious
leader, guided by his voice, he said,

“I've got it at last, my boys, come and take hold with me, and
help draw it out. Where's Jones?”

“Here,” said that worthy, whose chattering teeth rendered his
articulation scarcely intelligible. “Here I am up to my knees in
water. What on airth are you trying to do and what is that you
want me to take hold of?”

“This rope, and pull with a will, and when you see the bow of
a boat come to the surface, catch hold with me, and drag it to the
shore. Now, then.”

“A boat, Gineral? You don't mean to say so? Now if that
ain't what I call cute! A boat hid away under the water, and
that's what you've been fishing for, is it, when I thought you was
half way over to the States.”

The skiff was sunk in considerably deeper water than that in
which the fugitives were standing; a rope of considerable length
intervening between them and the prow of the vessel, the end of
which cable had been fastened to the bottom of the river, as near
the shore as its length would permit. The united efforts of the
three men soon raised the boat, and brought it within their reach,
after which they found little difficulty in dragging it to and upon
the beach, and discharging its cargo of water by turning it upside
down.

The promising prospect of immediate safety thus held out to
them gave them strength and courage to work with great alacrity,
and but a short time elapsed before they were fairly embarked

upon the river, for of course the sagacity which had planned such
a resort for the hour of danger, had not overlooked the minor
means to render it effectual. Two pairs of oars were found fastened
to the sides of the skiff, and both being put in action, it
was the work of but a few minutes to leave the dreaded and now
abhorred shores of Canada far behind them.

It was an easy task, too, to row to an island sufficiently remote
from the northern shore to form a safe refuge for the night,
and the wearied men were glad to avail themselves of the first
resort of the kind which offered. They drew their boat up on
shore, and sought the depth of a wood, where a fire was soon
kindled, the cheering warmth of which revived their strength
and spirits, and round which, on couches of boughs and bushes,
they passed the remainder of the night.

They had fasted since morning, but so great was their fatigue
that, despite the pangs of hunger, they sunk readily to sleep, to
partake of those endless and unsatisfying meals which tantalize
the hungry soul in dreams. But soon after daybreak Vrail and
Jones were awakened and alarmed by the report of a gun, which
proved to be that of their leader, who was already purveying for
breakfast. They immediately joined him, and in a short time
they had secured sufficient game of the smaller kind to serve for
a substantial repast, and around the rekindled fire they cooked and
ate it with a relish denied to costlier viands at luxurious boards.

Thus strengthened, they returned to their boat, and under the
pilotage of their mysterious leader whose word had become a law
to both his companions, they resumed their voyage, leisurely discussing
the perilous scenes through which they had passed, and
lamenting the fate of their less fortunate associates.

They at length approached a large cluster of islands, forming
one of the many divisions of that northern Archipelago, which
when summer smiles away its ice, and lulls its Borean blasts, may
vie in romantic beauty with the classic shores of the ægean sea.

Gliding around the coast of one of these isles, and pursuing
their way for a considerable distance through narrow channels,
which separated different members of the group, the voyagers
emerged at length into a sort of watery amphitheatre, lake-like in
the lucid beauty of its calm surface, and girded and guarded on
on all sides by islands of every size, and of all conceivable shapes.
Some of them were separated by a channel scarcely allowing the
passage of the tiny boat, which was gliding among them, and
some even permitted of an active man's leap from shore to shore
—while between others wide spaces intervened, across which a
musket ball could be sent with no certain aim.

A marked and peculiar change came over the leader of the
little party as they entered within the sheltered precincts just
described. His eye dilated, his face brightened, his voice took
an exultant tone, and he seemed a monarch returned to his rightful
realm.

“We are safe enough here, Mr. Vrail,” he said, “and we might
be happy enough too in such a place as this, if one could be content
to forget wrongs and lose aspirations.”

“I am not wrong then in supposing that you are”—

Thomas hesitated and looked around him as if he feared the
name he was about to pronounce might conjure up armed foes
even in that watery wilderness.

“You need not be afraid to speak here,” interrupted the other;
“there is none to hear, excepting yonder eagle, who is sailing
above us, and he is a fellow monarch of mine, who will betray no
secrets.”

“You then are `the hero of the thousand isles,' the brave Johnson,
whose name is on every patriot's tongue, whose praise is
spoken in every lodge of our order, both in Canada and in the
States.”

“I am William Johnson,” replied the other in a voice of
mournful cadence. “A man without titles or possessions, proscribed

and hunted by two great nations between which I dwell,
daring to go openly in neither.”

“And do they not seek you here?”

“Yes, even here the myrmidons of the Canadian government
have followed me, but they have grown tired of a sport which
always proves fatal to a portion of the pursuers without their
even obtaining sight of an enemy. Fired upon from every island
which they approach, every island is found tenantless and unoccupied
when they reach it, and the discharge of a single gun,
waking a hundred echoes, always seems to them like a volley.
They have returned to spread stories of my being backed by hundreds
of followers, who lurk among the thousand isles, and who
could destroy a regiment, if sent against them, without the loss of
a single man.”

“And you have followers in these wilds?”

Johnson did not reply for some moments, and when he did so, it
was in a voice at once musical and melancholy.

“Yes, I have followers. You shall see them.”

“Is it far to your hum?” asked Jones, who had been a very
interested listener to the old man's remarks, “and are we going
to it now?”

“All roads lead to the home of the outlaw,” replied Johnson.
“My abode is like that of the hunted hare, wherever safety
requires—but at all times in dens and caves of the earth.”

Although Thomas had heard so much of the exploits of his
present companion, he had not personally encountered him before
their flight, Johnson having joined the invaders on their approach
to Prescott, and they having been connected with different divisions
of the little army during their encampment at Windmill Point.

Continuing their conversation and their voyage, they at length
approached one of the smaller islands of the group, towards
which Johnson, who had the helm, guided the vessel, informing
his companions they would stop there.