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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1938-08-04, Page 6PAGE 'SIX. THE SEAFORTH NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1938 Bois Brules 1 "Wretch!" Governor Semple ex- claimed fn a loud voice. "Dare you to speak so to mel" and he caught Bou- •cher's bridle, throwing the horse back on its haunches. Boucher, agile as a cat, slipped to the ground, 'Arrest him, men!" commanded the governor. "Arrest hunt at once!" B.ut the clerk was around the other side of the horse, with 'his gun leveled across its 'back. Whether, when Boucher jumped down. our 'bloodthirsty knaves thought him shot and 'broke from Grant's con- trol to be avenged, or whether Lica- tenant Holt of the Hudson's Bay at that unfortunate juncture discharged his weapon by accident, will never be known. Instantaneously, as if 'by signal, our men with a yell 'burst from the ranks, leaped from their saddles and using horses as .breast -work, fired volley af- ter volley into the ,governor's party. The neighing and :plunging of the frenzied 'horses added to •the tumult. The Hudson's Bay men were shouting out incoherent protest; but what they said was drowned in the shrill war -cry of the Indians. Just for an instant; I thought I recognized one particular voice in that shrieking !babel, which flashed back memory of loud, derisive laughter over a camp fire and at •the buffalo hunt; but all else was forgot- ten in the •terrible consciousness that our men's murderous onslaught was deluging the prairie with innocent blood. Throwing himself between the Bois-Brules and the retreating band, the warden implored his .followers to grant truce. As well plead with -wild beasts. The half-breeds were deaf to commands, and in vain their leader argued with blows. The shooting 'had been of a blind sort, and a few shots did more than wound; 'but the natives were venting the :pent-up 'hate* of three years and would give no quart- er. From musketry volleys the fight had become hand-to-hand 'butchery. I had dismounted and was beating the scoundrels back with the butt end of my gun, !begging, commanding, ab- §uring them to desist, when a Hud- son's Bay youth swayed forward and fell wounded at my feet, There was the baffled, anguished scream of some poor wounded fellow driven to bay, and I saw Laplante across the field, covered with blood, reeling and stag- gering 'back from a .dozen sed -skin fu- ries, who pressed upon their fagged victim, snatching at his throat like hounds at the neck of a beaten stag. With a 'hound across the prostrate farm of the youth, I ,tan to the Frenchman's aid. Louis saw me com- ing and struck out so valiantly, the wretched cowards darted back jut as I have seen a miserable pack of open- mouthed curs fledge the last desperate sweep n.f antlered head. That gave me my chance, and I fell on their rear with all the might I could put in my muscle, bringing. the flat of my elm down with a crash on crested head toggery. and striking right and kat at Louis' assailants. "Alt—man Dieu—comrade," sobbed Louis, failing in my arms from sheer exhaustion, while 'the tears trickled down in a white furrow over his blood -splashed •cheeks, "mon Dieu— comrade, but you pay me back 'gener- oils!" "Totts, man, this is no time for set- tling old scores and playing; the grand! Rauf "for your life. 'Run to the woods and swim the river!" With that I flung shim from me; dor I heard the main'body of our ]force approach- ing. "Run," I urged, giving the Frenchman •a :push. "The run—ha—ha—my old spark;" laughed Louis with a,tear.ful, lack -life sort of mirth, "the run—it has all run out," and with a pitiful reel dawn he Sell in a heap. I caught him under the armpits. hoisted him to my shoulders, and made with all speed for the Wooded river 'bank. My pace was a tumble more than a ran down the river cliff, but I left the man at the very water's edge, where he could presently strike out for the far side and regain Fort Douglas 'by swimming across again. Then 1 :hurried to the battle -field in search -of the wounded y'out'h whom I had left. As 1 'bent above him, the poor ,lad_ rolled .over, gazing up pit- eaosly with the death -look 'on his face; and I recognized the young Nor' -Wester who had picked Blowers with me for Frances Sutherland and afterwards 'deserted to the Hudson's Bay. The boy moaned and moved his lips as if speaking, bat I heard no sound, Stooping on one knee, I took his head on the other and 'bent to lis- ten; but fie swooned away. Afraid to leave 'hint—dor the savages were wreaking indescribable barbarities on the fallen—I picked him up. His arms and head fell back limply as if he were dead, and :holding Mien thus, I again dashed far the fringe of woods. Rog- ers 'of the Hudson'e Bay staggered against me wounded, with 'both hands thrown up ready to surrender, He was pleading in !broken French for mercy; but two half-breeds, one with cocked pistol, the other with knife, rushed upon him. 1 turned away that I might not see; but the man's unavailing en- treaties yet ring in my ears. Farther On, Governor .Semple lay, with lacer- ated arm and broken thigh. He was calling to Grant, "'I'm not mortally wounded; 11 you could get me con- veyed to she sort I think I would live!" Then 1 got away from the field and laid any charge in the woods. Poor lad! The pallor of 'death was on every feature. Tearing open his coat and taking letter from an inner pocket to send to relatives. I saw a knife -stab in his chest, which no mortal could survive. Battle is pitiless. I hurriedly left the dying boy and went back to the living, ordering a French half- breed to ,guard him. "See that no one mutilates this 'body," said I, "and 111 reward you." My sheet :seemed to 'recall the lad's consciousness, Whether Ice fully un- derstood the terrible significance •of my words, 1 could not tell; but he op- ened his eyes with a reproachful glazed stare; and that was the•last I saw of him. •K•nowing Grant would have ,diffi- culty in obtaining carriers for Gov- ernor Semple, and only too anxious to gain access to Fort :Douglas, I ran with 'haste towards the recumbent form of the fallen leader. Grant was at some distance scouring the field 'Inc reliable men, and while I was yet twenty or thirty yards away an In- dian glided up. "Dog!" he hissed in the prostrate man': .face. "You have caused all this! You shall not live! Dog that you are!" Then scmething caught my feet. 1 atumhled and fell. There was the, flare of a pistol shot in Governor Semple's face and a slight cry. The next mo- ment I Iva,- 'by his side The :shot had taken effect in the breast. The body was yet hot with Me; but there was neither breath, nor +heart beat. A few c,f the Hudson's Bay hand gained hiding in the shrubbery and escaped by swimming across to the east bank of the Red, but the remnant tried to reach the 'fort across the plain. Calling me, Grant, now utterly distracted, 'directed his efforts to this quarter. I with difficulty capt'ured my horse and galloped c,ff to join the warden. Our riders were circling round something not far from the fort walls and Grant was tearing over the prairie, 'commanding them to re- tire. I't seems, whenGovernor Sem- ple discovered the strength of our forces, he sent some 'of his men back to Fort Dangles for a field -piece, Poor Semple with bis European ideas of Indian warfare. The Bois-Brules did not. wait for that field -piece. The mes- sengers had trundled it out only a short distance from the ;gateway, when they met the fugitives 'flying !tack with news of the massacre. Un- der protection of the cannon, the men made a ,plucky retreat to the fort, though the Bois-Brule•s'harassed thein to the .very walls. This disappearance —or ,rather extermination—of ,the enemy, as well as the presence of the field -gun, which was a new .terror to the Indians, gave Grant 'his opportun- ity. He at once rounded the men up and led them oi•I to Frog 'Plains,on the other side of the swamp. Here we. encamped for the night, and were subsequently joined by the first divi- sion 'af Bois-Brules. C'HA'PTER XXIII. The Bois-Brules' and Indian mar- auders, who gathered to our camp, were 'drunk with the most intoxicat-' hag of ,all stimulants—human 'blood. This 'flush of victory excited the red- skins' vanity ' to a 'boastful frenzy. There was wild talk of wiping the pale -face out .of existence; and if a weaker man than Grant had been at the 'head of the "forces, 'not a white in the settlementwould have escaped massacre. In. spite of the ]bitterness to which the slaughter at Seven Oaks gave rise, I think 'a11 'fair-minded peo- ple have acknowledged that the set- tlers owed their lives to the warden's efforts. That night :pandemonium itself could not have :presented a more hi- deous scene than our encampment. Tlie lust of 'blood is abhorrent enough in 'civilized races, 'but in Indian trib-es, whose unrestrained, hard life abnorm- ally develops the instincts •of the tiger, it is a thing that may not be por- trayed. Let us not, with the deprecia- tory hypocrisy, characteristic of our age, 'befool ourselves into any belief that ,barbaric practices were more hu- mane than customs which are the flower of civilized centuries. Let us be 'truthful. Scientific ,cruelty may do its worst with intricate armaments; but the 'blood -thirst of the Indian as- sumed the ghastly earnest of victors drinking the warm life -blood of :dying enemies and .af torturers laving hands in a stream yet hot from pulsing hearts. Decked out in red -stained trophies with scalps .dangling from their waists, the natives darted 'about :like blood -whetted 'beasts; and ,the ,half- breeds were little 'better, except -that they thirsted more for 'booty than life. There was loud vaunting over the tri- umph, the ignorant rabble imagining their warriors heroes of a great bat- tle, instead of the murderous .plunder- ers they were. Pierre, the rhymester, according to his wont, broke out in jubilant celelbration of the half-breeds' feat: Ho -ho! List you now to a ,tale of truth Which I, Pierre, the rhymester. proudly sing, Of the Bois -Brutes, who deeds dismay 'The hearts of the soldiers serving the king! Swift o'er the plain rode our warriors brave To meet the gay voyageurs come from the sea. Out came the 'bold band that had pillaged aur land, And we taught them the plain is The hone of the free, We were passing along to the land- ing -place, Three hostile white we bound on th-e trail. The enemy cantle with a shout of 'acclaim, We flung aback their :taunts with the shreik of a gale, "They have come to attack us," our people cry. Oetr cohorts spread out in a cres- •cent barn, Their path we 'bar in a steel scimitar, And their empty threats we flout with scorn. They .halt in the ,face of a dauntless foe, They spit out their venom of baffled rage! Honor, aur breath to the very death! So we proffer them peace, or a hattfe-gage. The governor shouts to his sold- iers, 'Draw!" 'Tis the enemy strikes the first, fateful 'blow! Our men break from line, for the battle -wine Of a fighting race has a fiery glow. The governor ihotight himself mighty in power. the shock of. his "dtretfgth—Ha-ha! —should be known Prom the land of the sea to the Prairie free And all' ,free men should be over- thrown! But naked and dead. on the plain lies ire, Where the carrion hawk, and the slycoyote Greedily ,'feast -on the great .and the least, Without respect .for a lord of note. The governor athaught 'himself mighty . in power. He th tight' to enslave the Bois- Brules, . • "Ha -+ha," laughed the ,!gawk. Ho -hob Let thin nock. "Plain rangers ride forth to slay, to slay." Whose 'cry outpierces the nieht- Ibird's note? `Wlaase voice mavens -sadly 'tlai-ouigh .sighing trees? - What spirits wail to the prairie gale Who tells his woes to the: evening !breeze? Ha -hal We know, though we tell it not. We fought with them ':till none remained. The coyote knew, and his hungry crew -Licked clean the ,grass w'he're the turf was stained. Ho-hol List you all to my tale of truth, 'Tis 1, Pierre, the rhymester, this glory tell Of freedom saved and 'brave hands laved In the 'bl'ood •of 'tyrants who fought and fell! The whole scene was repugnant beyond -endurance. My ears were 'so filled with the death cries heard in the afternoon, I had oho relish for Pierre's crude recital of what seemed to 'frim 'a glorious 'conquest. I could not rid my mind of that dying boy's sad face. Many half -,breeds were pre- paring to pillage the settlement. In- tending to protect the Suthe'r.land home and seek the dea-d lad's body, I 'borrowed a fresh horse and left the tumult of the camp, I made a detour of the 'battle -field I madb a detour of the battle-efild in order to reach the Sutherland homestead before night. 1 might have saved myself the trouble; for -every movable object—to the doors and window sashes—had been taken from the little house, whether by father and daughter 'before :going ,to the fort, or by the marauders, I did not know. It -was ,unsafe to recur* by the wooded river trail after dark and T struck directly to the clearing and followed the path parallel to the 'bush, When I reached Seven Oaks, I was first apprised gad my whereabouts by my horse pricking forward his ears and sniffing the air uncannily. I tight- ened :rein and touched him with the spur,'but he snorted and jumpedside- ways with a suddenness that .almost unseated me, then came to a stand, shaking as if with chill. Something skulked across the trail and gained cover in the woods. With a reassuring pat, I 'urged my 'horse back towards the road, for the prairie was pitted with badger an'cl gopher holes; but the 'beast reared, baulked and abso- lutely refused to be either driven, or coaxed. "Wise when men are fools!" said 1, dismounting. Bringing the reins over his head, I tried to pull him forward; but be planted all fours and jerked back, almost dragging me off my feet. "Are you possessed " I -exclaimed, for if ever horror were plainly expres- sed 'by an animal, it was by that horse. Legs rigid, 'head 'bent down, eyes scanting forward and nostrils .blowing in and out, he was a picture of terror. Something wriggled in the thicket. The horse 'rose on his hind legs, wrenched the rein from my hand and scampered across the plain. I sent a shot into the bush. There was a snarl and a scurrying 'through the under- brush. "Pretty bold wolf! 1N -ever saw a broncho act that way over -a coyote before!" I might as well find the body of the English lad before trying to catch my horse, so I walked on. Suddenly, in the silver -white of a starry sky, I saw what had terrified the animal. Close to the shrubbery lay the stark dorm of a white man, knees drawn upwards and arms spread out like the bars of a cross. Was that the lad I• had known? I rushed towards the corpse—but as quickly turned away. From down- right lack of courage, I could not look at it; for the body evas mutilated be- yond semblance to humanity. Would that I had strength and skill to paint that dead figure as it was! Then would those, who .glory in the shed- ding of blood, glory Me. their shame; and the pageant of war be stripped of all its false tbggery revealing carnage and slaughter in their revolting naked- ness. I could not look back to know' if that were the lad, but ran 'aimlessly to- wards the scene of the Seven Oaks fray. As I approached, there was a great flapping of wings. Up rose 'buz- zards, scolding in angry discord at my interruption. A pack of wolves -skulk- ed -a 'few feat off and eyed nae impa- tiently, 'boldly waiting to return when I left, The impudence of the brutes enraged me and I let go half a dozen charges, which sent them to a more respectful distance. Here were more bodies -like the first. I counted eight within a stone's throw, and there were twice as many between Seven !Oaks and the fort. Where they lay, I could tell very well; for hawks wheeled with harsh -cries .overhead and there was a vague movement of wolfish shapes along the 'ground, 'What possessed ane to hbver a'boaat that dreadfial seene, I -cannot i'ma:gine, 'unless the fear of those creatures re- turning; shut I' did not carry -a thing with :which I could bury the dead, In- voluntarily, I, sought out Rogers and 'Governor. Semple;, for I had seen the death of each, • bt was when s'ee'king these, .that T thought I distinguished the faintest notion of one figure still clothed and ' lying apart ,from the others. The. sight riveted me'to the spot. Sorely it was a mistake! mile form could not have moved! It mutat have been 'some error of :vision, 'or' trick .of abut I 'could the shadowy- starlight; not take my eyes from the prostrate form. Again the .body moved—dis- tinctly moved—beyond .possibility :of fancy, the chest sheaving up ,and sink- ing like .a man struggling but ,newbie to rise. With the .ghastly 'dead, and' the ravening w-olves all .about, the move- ment of that wounded' man -was strangely terrifying' and my knees knocked with fear, .as I ran to his aid,. The 'roan was an Indian, bait his face I could not see; Inc'one hand staunched a wound in :his head and the other gripped a 'knife with which he had been defending 'himself. My first th'ou'ght was that he must 'be. a Nor' -Wester, or his body would not have escaped the connnon fate; hitt if a No•r'-Wester, why had he, been left on the field? So I concluded he was one of the camp -:followers, who had joined our forces :for pltntder and come to a merited end. Still he was a man; and I stooped- to examine Whim with a view to getting him .on my horse 'and taking ,him 'back to the +camp. At first he was unconscious of my presence. Gently I tried to remove the left hand from his forehead, b.at at the touch, out struck the tight band in vi- cious thrusts of the hunting -knife, 'one blind cut barely missed any arm. "Hold, man!" I cried, "I'm no foe, but a 'friend!" and I caught the right arm tightly. At the sound of my voice, the left hand swung out revealing a frightful gash; and the next thing I knew his left arm hid encircled my neck like the coil Of a strangler, five fingers were digging into the ;flesh of my throat and Le Grand Diable was mak- ing frantic efforts to d!ree his right hand and plunge that dagger into ane, The ah-ocic of the discovery threw are off guard, and for a moment there was a struggle, ,but only for a moment. Then the wounded man fell back, writhing in pain, his face oontarted with agony and hate. I do not think he could see me. He must have been blind from that wound. 'I stood back, but .his knife still cut the air, "Le Grand Diable! Fool!" 1 said, "I will not harm you! I give you the white man's ward, I will not hurt you 1" The right arm fell limp and still. Had I, by some strange irony, been led to this spot that 1 might witness the death of my foe? Was this the end of that long career of evil? "Le Grand Diable!" I cried, going a pace nearer, which seemed to bring 'back the ebbing life. "Le Grand Dia- ble! You cannot stay here among the wolves. Tell me where to find Miriam and I'll take you ibaok'to the •camp! Tell are and no one shall learnt yowl I will save you!" The thin lips moved. H -e was say- ing, or trying to say, something. "Speak louder!" and I bent over him. "Speak the truth and. I take you to' the camp!" 'The lips were still moving, 'but I could not hear a sound. "Speak louder!" I shouted. "Where is Miriam? Where is the white wo- man?" I put my ear to his lips, fearful that life might slip away before I could hear, There was a snarl through the g!ic_ telling set teeth. The prostrate body gave an upward lurch. With one swift, treacherous thrust, be drove his knife into my coat -sleeve, grazing my ,fore- arm. The effort cost him his life. He sank down with a groan. The sight- less, bloodshot eyes .opened. Le Grand Diable would never more feign death. I jerked the knife 3rom my coat, ltttrled it from me, sprang up and fled from the field as if it had been infect- ed with a pest, or 1 pursued by ,fiends. Never looking back and with supersti- tious dread of the dead Indian's evil spirit, I tore an and on, till, breath - spent and exhausted, I threw myself down with the North-Westcampafires in sight. CHAPTER XXIr,t I suppose there are times ;n. the life of every one, even the strangest —and I am not that—when a feather's weight added to a burden ntay snap power of enlatrance. I had reach.d that stage before eu.countering e Grand Diable a on theft' old of an assaa c at Seven :O•aks. With the events fit. Gte Mandane country, the long, ha d ride northward and this latest terrib e culmination fon a'f strike between Nor.- Westers and Hudson's Bay, .the putt month had been altogether too ha'rel p,aeked for my' well -:being, Tite 'mad ness of northern traders ,no longer amazed me. (To he ,continued) PROFESSIONAL CARDS Medical DR. E. A. MoMASITIERJGraduate of the Facwlty of Medicine, Univers- ity of 1lpronto, and of the New York Post Graduate School and Hospital. Member of the College' of Physicians and 'Surgeons of-'O'ntario..Office on 1High street. Phone 217. 'Office fully eq'ui'pped for x-ray •diagnosis and 'far ultra 'Short wave electric treatment,' ultra violet sun lamp treatment and infra red electric treatment. Nurse in a't'tendance. DR. 'GIL'B1ERRT C. JA'R'HOTT — Graduate of 'Faculty ,of Medicine, Un- iversity of Western :Ontario, Member of 'Giollelge •of Physicians' and'S'urgeans of •Ontario. Office 43 'Goderich street west. • Phone 317. Hours 2-4.30 p.m., 7.30-9 .p rm. Other hours 'by appoint- ment, Successor to Dr. Chas. 'Mackay, DR. H. HUGH ROSS, Physician and Surgeon Late of London' 'Hos- pital, London, England. Special at- tention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Office and residence :behind Dominion Bank. 0tiice Phone Na 5; Residence Phone 104. ,DIR. F. J. BURROW'S, Seaforth. Office and residence, ,Goderich street, east of the United Church. Coroner for the County of 'Huron. Telephone No. 46. DR. 'F.. J. R. .F'ORSTER—:Eye Ear, Nose and Throat. .Graduate in Medicine, University of Toronto 1897, Late Assistant New York Ophthal- mic and Aural Institute, Moorefield's Eye, and 'Golden .Square throat 'hospi- tals, London, At Commercial 'Hotel, Seaforth, third 'Wednesday in each month from L30 p.m. to'5 p.m. W. C. SPROAT, M.D., F.A.C.S. Surgery Phone 90-W. tOffice'J'ohn St., Seaforth Auctioneer. GEORGE ELLIOTT, Licensed Auctioneer for the County of Huron. Arrangements can be 'Made for Sale Date at The Seaforth News. Charges moderate and satisfaction guaranteed. F. W. A'HRENS, Licensed Auction' eer for Perth and. Huron Counties. Sales Solicited. Terms on Application. Farm Stock, chattels and cell estate preaperty, R. R. No. 4, .Mitchell. - Phone 634 r 6, Apply at this office. WATSON & REID REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENCY (Successors to James Watson) MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT. All kinds of Insurance risks effect- ed at lowest rates in •First -Glass Companies. THE McKILLOP Mutual Fire Insurance Ca HEAD OFFICE—SEAFORTH, Ont. OFFICERS President, Thomas Moylan, Sea - forth; Vice President, William Knox, Londesboro; Secretary Treasurer, M. A. Reid, Seaforth. Alt&ENTS F. MaKercher, R.'R.11, Dublin; John E. Pepper, R.R.1, Brucefield; E.. R. G. Yarmouth, Brodhagett; James Watt, Blyth; C. F. Hewitt, Kincardine; Wm. Yeo, Holmesville. DIRECTORS Alex. Broadfoot, Seaforth No. 3; James Sholdice, Walton; Wm. Knox, Londesboro; George Leonhardt, Bornholm No. 1; Frank McGregor, Clinton No. 5; James Connolly, God- erich; Alex McEwing, Blyth No. 1; Thomas Moylan, Seaforth No. 5; Wm. R. Archibald, Seaforth No. 4. Parties desirous to effect insurance or transact other business, will be promptly attended to by applications to any of the above named officers addressed to their respective post - offices. The Florida 'beach and' the 'blue .sky looked inviting to the visitor, 'but before venturing out to swim he thought to make sure. "You're sure .'there are no alliga- tors here?" he inquired of the guide. "Nossuh," replied the .darky, 'grin- ning broadly. "Ain't no 'gators hyah." Reassured the tourist started -out. As the water lapped about his chest he called back: "What makes you so stare there aren't any alligators?" "Dey's got too much sense," :bel- lowed the ,guide. "De 'sharks done skeered dent all away!" She: I'm awfully glad you've got a part in the dramatic Society's next s'h-ow, Have you much to say? Het Practically nothing. I'm 'play- ing the part of a husband.