University of Virginia Library

33. CHAPTER XXXIII.

—Old Song.

As the evening advanced, and Henrich was contemplating retirement
for the rest which he so much needed, he was surprised and
delighted to hear orders issued for re-embarking, and on seeking for
the cause of so unexpected a movement, he encountered the polite
Major Bain, who was personally superintending the preparations.

“We travel by night, you perceive, Mr. Huntington,” he said;
“our camp was pitched at dawn, and you must allow that our Indian
guides have selected an unequalled hiding-place here for an army,
where no intruder could discover us, without being first seen by our
sentinels.”

“I have neither seen nor heard of any sentinels,” replied
Henrich, “and have been wondering at your remissness in that
respect.”

“They saw you, however, I assure you, full half an hour before
you so valorously invaded us,” said the major, smiling; “there are
a dozen glowing eyes on each of these hills, sleepless as the stars,
and commanding every point of the compass; I can well believe
that you have not seen them, for if they were wrapt in that magic
mantle which is said to confer invisibility, they would not be less
easily found; in fact, I don't know exactly where they are myself;
my friend Kogegogey there, with the black feather, planted them,

and will bring them in, I presume, presently with some forest
signal.”

Major Bain offered Huntington a seat in his own boat, and everything
being in readiness, the fleet started at about eight o'clock, and
pursued their way with great rapidity. The ardor of the commanding
officer would scarcely permit him to confine his travel to the
night, which, indeed, in its earlier stages he had not done; but as
he came farther north, his Indian counsellors had urged the point
as so certainly essential to the project of surprising the garrison at
Montaigne, that he had yielded to their advice. Let but one distant
eye, they said, catch a sight of the armament, and scores of runners,
fleet as the wind, would bear the news to the baron far in advance
of their approach.

If Henrich had exulted at the unexpected embarkation of the
army, his fears all returned when he comprehended the commander's
design; for on the ensuing day at noon, terminated the stipulated
time, at the end of which Blanche had promised to become the
bride of Carlton, and he well knew that the marriage would not be
deferred materially beyond that time. Major Bain intended to invest
the castle silently by night, and as it was impossible, with any speed
which they could command, to reach it before the ensuing morning,
it could only be after another day's delay and concealment that
they would approach the walls. That day, alas, Henrich had reason
to apprehend, would be fatal to all his hopes, and the returning light
which had illumined his heart, again gave way to the inroads of
despair.

The commander had resolved, however, to make his next encampment
as near the castle as prudence would permit, in order to learn
by espionage its situation and means of defence, relying upon the
sagacity of his Indian allies to ensure meanwhile his own concealment,
and he succeeded greatly to his satisfaction, in attaining and
entering the mouth of the Sorelle, just as the waning stars proclaimed
the approach of day. Two hours more of darkness would

have enabled him, unseen, to place his forces at once under the walls
of the enemy, but he did not greatly regret the delay, as his men
were jaded with toil, and required rest to fit them for service.

As before, a favoring locality was found, for a secret camp, in a
very dense part of the forest, about eight miles south of the castle,
and here every precaution was taken to avoid discovery, sentinels
being posted in hiding-places on every side, so that any wanderer
who should be unfortunate enough to stray near the foe, would be
tenfold more likely to be caught and conveyed into their midst than
to escape and carry the tidings.

For several hours Major Bain was content to keep close in his
spider-like retreat, well satisfied that there seemed no prospect of his
being disturbed, but as the day advanced he resolved to send forth
an emissary to the neighborhood of the castle to observe its condition.
There was no difficulty in finding a messenger for such an
errand among the valorous and crafty savages, who delighted in any
achievement involving cunning and adroitness, and the commission
fell upon a young Mohawk Brave, who was celebrated for
sagacity. Being allowed to select a companion for his enterprise,
his choice, to the great chagrin of his brethren, fell upon Harry, who
could see, he said, as well as an Indian, and was three times as
strong.

It was nearly noon when they left the camp, and proceeded in a
canoe down the river about four miles, where they left their boat
concealed, and taking opposite sides of the stream, continued their
way on foot, carrying of course their usual weapons. They had been
instructed to learn whether there were any Indian villages on the
route to the castle, and it was for this purpose that they had separated,
pursuing thenceforward independent courses, and expecting
only to re-unite at nightfull at their canoe, after having completed
their separate explorations.

Harry went about a mile further on his lonely way, and was proceeding
cautiously through the forest, about a dozen rods from the

river side, when a sudden noise arrested his attention, and caused
him to drop, skulking, among the thick bushes. Looking warily out
from his covert, he saw a single horseman approaching at a slow
amble through the woods, in the direction of a beaten path which
led from the interior diagonally to the river. The road, if such it
could be called, passed about twenty yards from the negro's place of
concealment, and Harry, remaining silent, entertained no fears of
discovery, more especially as the equestrian, so far from seeming observant
or watchful, had an air of perfect ease and unconcern. As
he drew nearer, the eyes of the vigilant African, which had been
fixed unwaveringly upon him, dilated to a prodigious extent, and his
surprise found vent in the whispered words,—

“Golly! if it aint de count!”

The count it certainly was, who, as has been related, was returning
at this hour from his interview with the Algonquin Indian, and
was riding towards the castle, deeply wrapt in the contemplation of
his approaching wedding.

“I aint afraid of him, any way,” said Harry; “but den he mustn't
see me, else he gib de alarm—unless—unless—oh, jingo!” and the
negro clutched his large hands together, as if unable to restrain a
wish that had suddenly formed in his mind.

“He got pistols,” continued the soliloquist; “but dat aint nottin,
—nottin at all; be quick, Harry! make up your mind!” he said,
apostrophizing himself; “see, he almost here! he put Massa Henreek
ashore, you know; golly, I'll do it!” and the negro leaped
like some wild animal, headlong from his lair, and, at three bounds,
stood in front of the count, with one huge hand grasping the bridle
of the rearing and plunging steed. The frightened rider, scarce able
to tell whether his assailant was man or beast, was vainly trying to
draw a pistol from his belt, when the disengaged hand of Harry was
on his arm, and he felt himself dragged forcibly from his seat.

“Come a you down off dere,” said the negro, “and go along

wiv me; dere's a gempleman ober here want to see you;” and
Carlton landed, shaking, at his side.

“Dis-a-way, ef you please,” continued the negro, quickly regaining
his gun, which he had dropped on the ground, and starting at once
towards the English camp with his prisoner, while the freed horse
scampered rapidly off; “dis ere is de way—come along!”

Harry's motions had been so rapid and impetuous, that it was not
until Carlton was whirled along in his powerful grasp that he found
voice to speak; and although he now began to pour forth a most
voluble tide of ejaculations and prayers, they were in a language unintelligible
to Harry; and if it had been otherwise, they would
scarcely have interrupted the flow of his own congratulatory soliloquy.

“I got him—dat a fact,” he said; and then, looking back for an
instant, “I wish I brought de horse along; but nebber mind—I got
de count. What dat you say? more blue? yhah! yhah! it will be
more blue dan dis for you, old boy!”

Carlton recognised his captor, at length, and his terror increased,
if possible, when he did so; for although he had no suspicion of the
causes which had led to his misfortune, he did not doubt that his
dreaded rival was at hand, and that the vengeance which conscious
guilt told him was deserved, was destined now to overtake him.
The discovery made him frantic with fear; and finding his reiterated
appeals to the negro unheeded, he grew courageous enough to suddenly
draw a pistol with his disengaged hand; for Harry, in his
utter contempt of the little weapons, had forgotten to take possession
of them. He observed the motion, however, in time to strike down
the arm of the prisoner before any harm was effected, and snatching
the pistols, he flung them with sudden wrath over the tree-tops.

“Gosh,” he said, “you grow 'fract'ry, hay? here, den, I'll show
you;” and the negro, taking from his shoulder one of a pair of
thick leathern suspenders, proceeded to bind the wrists of the count
tightly together; after which, clutching him again by the arm, he

hurried along. A weary walk of five miles was before the pinioned
man, for Harry did not consider himself at liberty to take the boat
without the Indian's permission, and he reflected, moreover, that he
would be far less liable to observation or interruption, in the woods,
than on the river; he was a good pedestrian, however, and compelling
his companion to nearly equal his own prodigious strides, the distance
was soon overcome.

It was with no little surprise that Major Bain and his fellow officers
beheld the negro returning to the camp with a prisoner of so
distinguished appearance, and Henrich's astonishment and exultation
cannot easily be imagined. He had not felt himself called upon to
interfere with the movements of Harry, who had regularly joined the
army at Albany, of his own volition, after being discharged from
Huntington's service, and upon whom, indeed, he had not now the
right to enjoin neutrality or inaction, if he had desired.

Carlton's amazement at finding himself in the camp of an invading
enemy was without bounds; yet his alarm was rather diminished
than increased, for he was now a prisoner of war, and not, as he had
anticipated, the victim of personal retribution. He at once announced
his name and rank, and claimed the privilege of his parole, which
Major Bain, with a politeness that transcended his discretion, promptly
accorded. That gallant officer was incapable of suspecting a
depth of infamy in his prisoner which would render his word of
honor an insufficient barrier to his escape, while, perhaps, the inconvenience
of confining him, and the difficulty of flight, if attempted,
contributed to a leniency, which, in the peculiar situation of the invading
force, was at least impolitic.

Harry, who looked upon Carlton as peculiarly his prize, was by
no means satisfied with the result, which he was quite unable to
comprehend, and he continued to follow his released captive at a
little distance about the camp, seldom removing his eyes from him,
and indulging not infrequently in his accustomed mode of thinking
aloud.

“He look as if he wuz loose,” he said, peering curiously at the
arms and feet of the Frenchman. “Dey say he got a parole on him
somewhere, but I can't see it—golly, dey better lef de 'spender on,
by half!”

When a soldier, with whom he conversed on the subject, had in
some degree succeeded in explaining the nature of the invisible
fetters which were supposed to bind the count, the African shook
his head with marked significance.

“May be it will hold him,” he said, angrily; “but why dey no
leave de 'spender on, and put anudder on his ancles, and den let him
go on his parole, ef he want to?—Blazes!”

The Mohawk returned at dusk, and reported that he had been
within pistol shot of Castle Montaigne, and had lain concealed an
hour watching the movements of its inmates. There was no appearance
of alarm, he said, or of any unusual vigilance; the principal
gate was open, and there was much passing in and out, especially of
the Hurons, who seemed to be dressed and painted for a powow;
soldiers were lounging idly around the walls, and he had even seen
the King of the Hurons talking with a chief in the gateway. He
had discovered no Indian villages on the western side of the river,
but had judged there was a Huron settlement on the eastern shore,
and north of the castle, having seen numbers of that tribe approach
and depart in that direction. The castle walls, he said, were of earth
and timber, not more than two soldiers high, and hinted that they
could be scaled by half the army, by a sort of leap-frog operation,
over the shoulders of their fellows, a somewhat novel mode of storming
a fortress, which Major Bain promised to take into consideration.
He manifested much satisfaction at the intelligence received, and
issued orders that everything should be in readiness for departure
at the hour of ten.