William Worthington Fowler - "Woman on the American Frontier"

Unknown - "The World English Bible (WEB): Song of Solomon"

William Shakespeare - "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar"

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Wacousta

J >> John Richardson >> Wacousta




Deeply touched at the name of husband, Sir Everard could
not refrain from imprinting another kiss on the lips that
uttered it. He then gently disengaged himself from his
lovely but suffering charge, whom he deposited with her
head resting on the bed; and making a significant motion
of his hand to the woman, who, as well as old Morrison,
had been spectators of the whole scene, stole gently from
the apartment, under what mingled emotions of joy and
grief it would be difficult to describe.




CHAPTER XIII.

It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and
men, quitting their ill-relished meal, were to be seen
issuing to the parade, where the monotonous roll of the
assemblee now summoned them. Presently the garrison was
formed in the order we have described in our first volume;
that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square.
The vacant space fronted the guard-house, near one
extremity of which was to be seen a flight of steps
communicating with the rampart, where the flag-staff was
erected. Several men were employed at this staff, passing
strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended
from the extreme top, while in the basement of the staff
itself, to a height of about twenty feet, were stuck at
intervals strong wooden pegs, serving as steps to the
artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when foul,
the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter
had been removed; and, from the substitution of a cord
considerably stronger than that which usually appeared
there, it seemed as if some far heavier weight was about
to be appended to it. Gradually the men, having completed
their unusual preparations, quitted the rampart, and the
flagstaff, which was of tapering pine, was left totally
unguarded.

The "Attention!" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who
had been hitherto standing in attitudes of expectancy
that rendered the injunction almost superfluous, announced
the approach of the governor. Soon afterwards that officer
entered the area, wearing his characteristic dignity of
manner, yet exhibiting every evidence of one who had
suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head court-martial,
as in the first case of Halloway, had already been made
within the square, and the only actor wanting in the
drama was he who was to be tried.

Once Colonel de Haldimar made an effort to command his
appearance, but the huskiness of his voice choked his
utterance, and he was compelled to pause. After the lapse
of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a voice that
was remarked to falter,--

"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth."

The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery
and execution of this command was painful throughout the
ranks. All were penetrated with curiosity to behold a
man who had several times appeared to them under the most
appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest
feeling of indignation had been excited for his barbarous
murder of Charles de Haldimar. It was with mingled awe
and anger they now awaited his approach. At length the
captive was seen advancing from the cell in which he had
been confined, his gigantic form towering far above those
of the guard of grenadiers by whom he was surrounded;
and with a haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his
manner, that told he came to confront his enemy with a
spirit unsubdued by the fate that too probably awaited
him.

Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment.
He was evidently struggling for composure to meet the
scene he felt it to be impossible to avoid; and he turned
pale and paler as his enemy drew near.

At length the prisoner stood nearly in the same spot
where his unfortunate nephew had lingered on a former
occasion. He was unchained; but his hands were firmly
secured behind his back. He threw himself into an attitude
of carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the
earth with the other; riveting his eye, at the same time,
with an expression of the most daring insolence, on the
governor, while his swarthy cheek was moreover lighted
up with a smile of the deepest scorn.

"You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length
observed the governor in an uncertain tone, that, however,
acquired greater firmness as he proceeded,--"one whose
life has already been forfeited through his treasonable
practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred the
penalty of an ignominious death, by acting in this country
as a spy of the enemies of England. What say you, Reginald
Morton, that you should not be convicted in the death
that awaits the traitor?"

"Ha! ha! by Heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses
me," vociferated Wacousta. "It reminds me of Ensign de
Haldimar of nearly five and twenty years back, who was
then as cunning a dissembler as he is now." Suddenly
changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and rage:--"You
BELIEVE me, you say, to be Reginald Morton the outlaw.
Well do you know it. I am that Sir Reginald Morton, who
became an outlaw, not through his own crimes, but through
your villainy. Ay, frown as you may, I heed it not. You
may award me death, but shall not chain my tongue. To
your whole regiment do I proclaim you for a false,
remorseless villain." Then turning his flashing eye along
the ranks:--"I was once an officer in this corps, and
long before any of you wore the accursed uniform. That
man, that fiend, affected to be my friend; and under the
guise of friendship, stole into the heart I loved better
than my own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited
prisoner, stamping violently with his foot upon the earth,
"he robbed me of my affianced wife; and for that I resented
an outrage that should have banished him to some lone
region, where he might never again pollute human nature
with his presence--he caused me to be tried by a
court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, indeed,
I became the outlaw he has described, but not until then.
Now, Colonel de Haldimar, that I have proclaimed your
infamy, poor and inefficient as the triumph be, do your
worst--I ask no mercy. Yesterday I thought that years of
toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to
be crowned with success; but fate has turned the tables
on me and I yield."

To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this
declaration was productive of the utmost surprise. Every
eye was turned upon the colonel. He grew impatient under
the scrutiny, and demanded if the court, who meanwhile
had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of the
prisoner, had come to a decision in regard to his
punishment. An affirmative answer was given, and Colonel
de Haldimar proceeded.

"Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your
former life we have nothing to do. It is the decision of
this court, who are merely met out of form, that you
suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just recompense
for your double treason to your country. There," and he
pointed to the flag-staff, "will you be exhibited to the
misguided people whom your wicked artifices have stirred
up into hostility against us. When they behold your fate,
they will take warning from your example; and, finding
we have heads and arms not to suffer offence with impunity,
be more readily brought to obedience."

"I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta,
glancing earnestly at, and apparently measuring with his
eye, the dimensions of the conspicuous scaffold on which
he was to suffer. "You had ever a calculating head, De
Haldimar, where any secret villainy, any thing to promote
your own selfish ends, was to be gained by it; but your
calculation seems now, methinks, at fault"

Colonel de Haldimar looked at him enquiringly.

"You have STILL a son left," pursued the prisoner with
the same recklessness of manner, and in a tone denoting
allusion to him who was no more, that caused an universal
shudder throughout the ranks. "He is in the hands of the
Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great chief,
inferior only in power among the tribe to himself. Think
you that he will see me hanged up like a dog, and fail
to avenge my disgraceful death?"

"Ha! presumptuous renegade, is this the deep game you
have in view? Hope you then to stipulate for the
preservation of a life every way forfeited to the offended
justice of your country? Dare you to cherish the belief,
that, after the horrible threats so often denounced by
you, you will again be let loose upon a career of crime
and blood?"

"None of your cant, de Haldimar, as I once observed to
you before," coolly retorted Wacousta, with bitter sarcasm.
"Consult your own heart, and ask if its catalogue of
crime be not far greater than my own: yet I ask not my
life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered,
and fain would die the death of the soldier I WAS before
you rendered me the wretch I AM. Methinks the boon is
not so great, if the restoration of your son be the
price."

"Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, "that
if the mere mode of your death be changed, my son shall
be restored?"

"I do," was the calm reply.

"What pledge have we of the fact? What faith can we repose
in the word of a fiend, whose brutal vengeance has already
sacrificed the gentlest life that ever animated human
clay?" Here the emotion of the governor almost choked,
his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring
were manifested in the ranks.

"Gentle, said you?" replied the prisoner, musingly; "then
did he resemble his mother, whom I loved, even as his
brother resembles you whom I have had so much reason to
hate. Had I known the boy to be what you describe, I
might have felt some touch of pity even while I delayed
not to strike his death blow; but the false moonlight
deceived me, and the detested name of De Haldimar,
pronounced by the lips of my nephew's wife--that wife
whom your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven
mad--was in itself sufficient to ensure his doom."

"Inhuman ruffian!" exclaimed the governor, with increasing
indignation; "to the point. What pledge have you to offer
that my son will be restored?"

"Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without much risk.
You have only to defer my death until your messenger
return from his interview with Ponteac. If Captain de
Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have requested;
if he come not, then it is but to hang me after all."

"Ha! I understand you; this is but a pretext to gain
time, a device to enable your subtle brain to plan some
mode of escape."

"As you will, Colonel de Haldimar," calmly retorted
Wacousta; and again he sank into silence, with the air
of one utterly indifferent to results.

"Do you mean," resumed the colonel, "that a request from
yourself to the Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation
of my son?"

"Unless the Indian be false as yourself, I do."

"And of the lady who is with him?" continued the colonel,
colouring with anger.

"Of both."

"How is the message to be conveyed?"

"Ha, sir!" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to
his full height, "now are you arrived at a point that is
pertinent. My wampum belt will be the passport, and the
safeguard of him you send; then for the communication.
There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, traced
on bark, answer the same purpose among the Indians with
the European language of letters. Let my hands be cast
loose," he pursued, but in a tone in which agitation and
excitement might be detected, "and if bark be brought
me, and a burnt stick or coal, I will give you not only
a sample of Indian ingenuity, but a specimen of my own
progress in Indian acquirements."

"What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of
escape?" observed the governor, doubtingly.

Wacousta bent his stedfast gaze on him for a few moments,
as if he questioned he had heard aright. Then bursting
into a wild and scornful laugh,--"By Heaven!" he exclaimed,
"this is, indeed, a high compliment you pay me at the
expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de Haldimar
afraid to liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a
forest of bayonets? This is good; gentlemen," and he bent
himself in sarcastic reverence to the astonished troops,
"I beg to offer you my very best congratulations on the
high estimation in which you are held by your colonel."

"Peace, sirrah!" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond
measure at the insolence of him who thus held him up to
contempt before his men, "or, by Heaven, I will have your
tongue cut out!--Mr. Lawson, let what this fellow requires
be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant
Boyce, who commanded the immediate guard over the prisoner,
--"Let his hands be liberated, sir, and enjoin your men
to be watchful of the movements of this supple traitor.
His activity I know of old to be great, and he seems to
have doubled it since he assumed that garb."

The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once
more, free and unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep
and unbroken silence ensued; and the return of the adjutant
was momentarily expected. Suddenly a loud scream was
heard, and the slight figure of a female, clad in white,
came rushing from the piazza in which the apartment of
the deceased De Haldimar was situated. It was Clara.
The guard of Wacousta formed the fourth front of the
square; but they were drawn up somewhat in the distance,
so as to leave an open space of several feet at the
angles. Through one of these the excited girl now passed
into the area, with a wildness in her air and appearance
that riveted every eye in painful interest upon her. She
paused not until she had gained the side of the captive,
at whose feet she now sank in an attitude expressive of
the most profound despair.

"Tiger!--monster!" she raved, "restore my brother!--give
me back the gentle life you have taken, or destroy my
own! See, I am a weak defenceless girl: can you not
strike?--you who have no pity for the innocent. But
come," she pursued, mournfully, regaining her feet and
grasping his iron hand,--"come and see the sweet calm
face of him you have slain:--come with me, and behold
the image of Clara Beverley; and, if you ever loved her
as you say you did, let your soul be touched with remorse
for your crime."

The excitement and confusion produced by this unexpected
interruption was great. Murmurs of compassion for the
unhappy Clara, and of indignation against the prisoner,
were no longer sought to be repressed by the men; while
the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, grouped
themselves indiscriminately in the foreground. One, more
impatient than his companions, sprang forward, and forcibly
drew away the delicate, hand that still grasped that of
the captive. It was Sir Everard Valletort.

"Clara, my beloved wife!" he exclaimed, to the astonishment
of all who heard him, "pollute not your lips by further
communion with such a wretch; his heart is as inaccessible
to pity as the rugged rocks on which his spring-life was
passed. For Heaven's sake,--for my sake,--linger not
within his reach. There is death in his very presence."

"Your wife, sir!" haughtily observed the governor, with
irrepressible astonishment and indignation in his voice;
"what mean you?--Gentlemen, resume your places in the
ranks.--Clara--Miss de Haldimar, I command you to retire
instantly to your apartment.--We will discourse of this
later, Sir Everard Valletort. I trust you have not dared
to offer an indignity to my child."

While he was yet turned to that officer, who had taken
his post, as commanded, in the inner angle of the square,
and with a countenance that denoted the conflicting
emotions of his soul, he was suddenly startled by the
confused shout and rushing forward of the whole body,
both of officers and men. Before he had time to turn, a
loud and well-remembered yell burst upon his ear. The
next moment, to his infinite surprise and horror, he
beheld the bold warrior rapidly ascending the very staff
that had been destined for his scaffold, and with Clara
in his arms.

Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and
surround the flag-staff, was the immediate action of the
troops. Many of the men raised their muskets, and in the
excitement of the moment, would have fired, had they not
been restrained by their officers, who pointed out the
certain destruction it would entail on the unfortunate
Clara. With the rapidity of thought, Wacousta had snatched
up his victim, while the attention of the troops was
directed to the singular conversation passing between
the governor and Sir Everard Valletort, and darting
through one of the open angles already alluded to, had
gained the rampart before they had recovered from the
stupor produced by his daring action. Stepping lightly
upon the pegs, he had rapidly ascended to the utmost
height of these, before any one thought of following him;
and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have
served for his execution, and holding Clara firmly against
his chest, while he embraced the smooth staff with knees
and feet closely compressed around it, accomplished the
difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all who
beheld him. Gradually, as he approached the top, the
tapering pine waved to and fro; and at each moment it
was expected, that, yielding to their united weight, it
would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara and himself,
either upon the rampart, or into the ditch beyond.

More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive
in his adventurous course; but even Lieutenant Johnstone,
the most active and experienced in climbing of the party,
was unable to rise more than a few yards above the pegs
that afforded a footing, add the enterprise was abandoned
as an impossibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain
the extreme summit. For a moment he turned his gaze
anxiously beyond the town, in the direction of the bridge;
and, after pealing forth one of his terrific yells,
exclaimed, exultingly, as he turned his eye upon his
enemy:--

"Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian
ingenuity? Did I not tell you," he continued, in mockery,
"that, if my hands were but free, I would give you a
specimen of my progress in Indian acquirements?"

"If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that
of hanging," shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled
rage and terror, "restore my daughter."

"Ha! ha! ha!--excellent!" vociferated the savage. "You
threaten largely, my good governor; but your threats are
harmless as those of a weak besieging army before an
impregnable fortress. It is for the strongest, however,
to propose his terms.--If I restore this girl to life,
will you pledge yourself to mine?"

"Never!" thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual
energy.--"Men, procure axes; cut the flag-staff down,
since this is the only means left of securing yon insolent
traitor! Quick to your work: and mark, who first seizes
him shall have promotion on the spot."

Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent
themselves vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to
watch these preparations with evident anxiety; and to
all it appeared as if his courage had been paralysed by
this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen
reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth
over the edge of the rampart, he shouted,--

"One stroke more, and she perishes!"

Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of
a few moments ensued. Every eye was turned upward,--every
heart beat with terror to see the delicate girl, held by
a single arm, and apparently about to be precipitated
from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,--

"Life for life, De Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?"

"No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the
heart of my own fort," returned the governor. "Restore
my child, and we will then consider what mercy may be
extended to you."

"Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as
yours," gloomily remarked the prisoner; "but I come."

"Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a
low tone. "The instant he descends, secure him: lash him
in every limb, nor suffer even his insolent tongue to be
longer at liberty."

"Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in
readiness to lower the drawbridge," implored Sir Everard
of the officer of the guard, and in a tone of deep emotion
that was not meant to be overheard by the governor. "I
fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him to
some desperate means of escape."

While the officer whom he addressed issued a command,
the responsibility of which he fancied he might, under
the peculiar circumstances of the moment, take upon
himself, Wacousta began his descent, not as before, by
adhering to the staff, but by the rope which he held in
his left hand, while he still supported the apparently
senseless Clara against his right chest with the other.

"Now, Colonel de Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest,"
he shouted, as he rapidly glided by the cord; "enjoy your
triumph as best may suit your pleasure."

Every eye followed his movement with interest; every
heart beat lighter at the certainty of Clara being again
restored, and without other injury than the terror she
must have experienced in such a scene. Each congratulated
himself on the favourable termination of the terrible
adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure
the desperate author of the wrong. Wacousta had now
reached the centre of the flag-staff. Pausing for a
moment, he grappled it with his strong and nervous feet,
on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief
to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned
his hold, swinging himself out a few yards from the staff,
and returning again, dashed his feet against it with a
force that caused the weakened mass to vibrate to its
very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the violence
of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top
gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it
finally snapped asunder, and fell with a loud crash across
the ditch.

"Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!" exclaimed the
excited governor.

"Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the
men already stationed there ready to let loose at the
first order. The heavy chains rattled sullenly through
the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge seemed an hour
descending. Before it had reached its level, it was
covered with the weight of many armed men rushing confusedly
to the front; and the foremost of these leaped to the
earth before it had sunk into its customary bed. Sir
Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone were in the
front, both armed with their rifles, which had been
brought them before Wacousta commenced his descent.
Without order or combination, Erskine, Blessington, and
nearly half of their respective companies, followed as
they could; and dispersing as they advanced, sought only
which could outstep his fellows in the pursuit.

Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the
gradual rending asunder of the staff, had obeyed the
impulsion first given to his active form, until, suddenly
checking himself by the rope, he dropped with his feet
downward into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he
disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface;
and in the face of more than fifty men, who, lining the
rampart with their muskets levelled to take him at
advantage the instant he should reappear, seemed to laugh
their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a
shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must
pass before they could attain him, he impelled his gigantic
form with a backward movement towards the opposite bank,
which he rapidly ascended; and, still fronting his enemies,
commenced his flight in that manner with a speed which
(considering the additional weight of the drenched garments
of both) was inconceivable. The course taken by him was
not through the town, but circuitously across the common
until he arrived on that immediate line whence, as we
have before stated, the bridge was distinctly visible
from the rampart; on which, nearly the whole of the
remaining troops, in defiance of the presence of their
austere chief, were now eagerly assembled, watching, with
unspeakable interest, the progress of the chase.

Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently
continued this mode of flight from a conviction that the
instant his person was left exposed the fire-arms of his
pursuers would be brought to bear upon him, the two
officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary
exertions, were rapidly gaining upon him. Already was
one within fifty yards of him, when a loud yell was heard
from the bridge. This was fiercely answered by the fleeing
man, and in a manner that implied his glad sense of.
coming rescue. In the wild exultation of the moment, he
raised Clara high above his head, to show her in triumph
to the governor, whose person his keen eye could easily
distinguish among those crowded upon the rampart. In the
gratified vengeance of. that hour, he seemed utterly to
overlook the actions of those who were so near him. During
this brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one knee,
and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his rifle
at the heart of the ravisher of his wife. An exulting
shout burst from the pursuing troops. Wacousta bounded
a few feet in air, and placing his hand to his side,
uttered another yell, more appalling than any that had
hitherto escaped him. His flight was now uncertain and
wavering. He staggered as one who had received a mortal
wound; and discontinuing his unequal mode of retreat,
turned his back upon his pursuers, and threw all his
remaining energies into a final effort at escape.

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