HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1941-08-07, Page 6PAGE SIX
Of all eta board, the Patheind
viewed the scene with the most u
Mingled delight. His eyes feasted
the endless line of forest, and more
than once that day, notwithstanding
he found it so grateful to 'be near
kdaihel, listening to her pleasant voice,
and echoing, in teenage: at least, her
joyous laugh, did his soul pine to be
wandering beneath /he high arches
of the maples, oaks, and lindens,
where his habits had induced him to
fancy lasting and true joys were only
to be found, Cap viewed the prospect
differently; more than once he ex-
pressed his disgust at there being no
lighthouses, church -towers, beacons,
or roadsteads with their shipping,
Such another coast, he protested, the
world did not contain; and, taking the
Sergeant aside, he gravely assured
him that the region could never come
to anything as the havens were neg-
lected, the rivers had a deserted: and
seiess leak, and that even the breeze
had a smell of the forest about it,
•wh_ich spoke ill of its properties.
,Eft the humors of the different in-
dividuals in her did not stay the speed
ci the Scud: when the sun was sett-
ing she was already a hundred miles
on her route towards Oswego, into
which river Sergeant Dunham new
thought it his darty to go, in order to
receive any communications that 'Maj -
Du
or ncan enight please to make.
With a view to effect this purpose,
Gasper continued to hug the shore ail
night; and though the wind began to
fail him towards morning, it lasted
long enough to carry the cutter up to
a point that was known to he just a
3esgee or two rirom the fort. Here. the
freeze came out light at the north -
warn, and the cutter hauled a little
from the land, in order to obtain a
safe offing should it come on to blow
cr s'honid the 'weather again get to be
5 anterly. •
When the day dawned. the cutter
bed the mouth of the Oswego well
tie ::er her lee, distant ahem two miles;
•the morning .gun- from the
fort ;3,as fired, jasper gave the order
to test. off the sheets. and to (hear up
to . here At that :elementa .r\
from drew al eyes. to
theeseree r Z Y he.eastern :de of
t ctics« d here ,net xith ut the
ranee :.c,.:r:m. the light :gruns of
the ;vc•rks, with her canvas reduced
tc. 'are:;• metra: to leer, her station -
toe
i:Ie Islontcalre. (- ide:n.le' in
-c:a'•a-r for their appearance.
- he ,: b e . , he
a the eeli if.•;r,
lesee intercepted them in a few min -
vete, end t'r.e circumstances called for
;•
a r:•;ng•t decision: After a short cone
enitation, the Sergeant -gain changed
his I:an, determining to make the ,best
of his way towards the station for
•which he bad been originally destin-
ed. :resting to the speed of the Scud
to throw the enemy sc. far astern as
to ;eave no clue to her movements.
The. cutter accordingly battled neon
a hint with the ,eat possible de:ay,
v everything se that would draw
Gees .were fired from the fort, en-
signs shown, and the ramr,arts were
again crowded. But sympathy was all
the aid that Lundie could lend to his
party; and the Montcalm, also firing
four or five guns of defiance, and
throwing abroad several of the ban-
ners of France, was soon in chase 'un-
der a cloud of canvas.
'For several hours the two vessels
were •pressing through the water as
fast as possible, marking short stretch-
es to windward, apparently wsth a
view ,to 'keep the port under lee, the
one to enter it if possible, and the
other to intercept it in the attempt.
Art meridian the French ship was
hull cioy n, deal tee leeward, the die
-
n
openly, since the only cruiser of force
a-Ithe French possessed at the moment
on 1
was under their lee, and not in a sit-
uation to .do them any immediate in-
jury,
(Left to himself, Jasper Western
soon proved haw much was really in
him. He weathered upon the islands
passed :them and on ,coming out to
the eastward, kept broad away, with
nothing in sight in his wake or to lee-
ward. By sunset again the °utter was
up with the first of the islands that
lie in the outlet of the lake; and ere it
was -dark she was running through the
narrow channels on her way to the
long -sought station. At nine o'clock,
however, Cap insisted that they
should anchor; for the maze of islands
,became so complicated and obscure,
that he feared, at every opening, the
party would find thenselves under the
guns of a French fort, Jasper consent-
ed cheerfully, it being a part of his
standing instructions to approach the
station 'under such circumstances as
would prevent the men from Obtain-
ing any very accurate notions of its
position, lest a deserter might betray
the little garrison to the enemy.
The Scud was brought to in a small
retired bay, where it `would have
been difficult to find her by daylight,
and where she was perfectly conceal-
ed at night, when all but a solitary
sentinel on deck sought their rest.
Cap had been so harassed during the
previous eight -and -forty ,hours, that
his slumbers were long and deep; nor
did he awake from his first nap until
the day was just beginning to dawn.
His eyes were scarcely open, how-
ever. when his nautical instinct told
him that rthe cutter was under way.
Springing up, he found jasper and
the pilot, unless the sentinel be ex-
cepted, who had not in the least in-
terfered with movements that he had
every reason to (believe were as regul-
ar as they were necessary,
"How's this, Master !Western?" de-
manded Cap, with sufficient ,fierceness
for the occasion; "are you running ns
into Frontenac at last, and we all
asleep below, like so many mariners
waiting for the `sentry go'?"
"Title is accardiue to orders, Mas-
ter Cap, IMajar Duncan having com-
manded Inc neve: 4o approach the
station unless ata moment when the
per'pie were below: for he does not
evish there should he more pilots in
these waters than the king has meed
.\'!'he—e—e—•w1 a pretty job I
shoeid have made of running down
these ,ette1es and rocks with no one
an deck! Why, a regular York ,branch
could make nothing of such a
channel,"
"I always thought, sir," said Jasper,
smiling. "you would have done better
had you left the cutter to my hands
until she had safely reached her place
of destination:'
"We ehauld have done it. jasper,
we should have done it, had it not
been for a circumstance; these cir-
cumstances are serious matters, and
no prudent man will overlook them."
'Well, sir, I hope there is now an
end of them, We shall arrive in less
than an hour if the wind holds, and
then you'll be safe from any circum-
stances that 1 ,can contrive."
"Hvanph l"
tCap was Obliged to acquiesce; and,
as everything around him had the atp-
pearance of Jasper's !being sincere,
there was not match difficulty in mak-
ing up his mind to sulbmit, IIt ,would
not have been easy indeed for a per-
son the .most sensitive on the sub-
ject of circumstances eo fancy that
the Scud was anywhere in the vicinity
of a 'port so long 'established and so
rtvell known -on the frontiers as IFron
tenac, The islands might not have
been literally a thousand in not -Myer,
butthey were so numerous, though
occasionally one df larger size than
common was passed, jasper had ‘quit-
ted what might have been termed the
main channel, and was -winding his
way, with a good stifff breeze so nar-
row that there appeared to be barely
room sufficient for the 'Scud's spars
to ,clear the tree„s, while at ,other
oments he shot 'across little bays,
parity of saftirng o n a wind being very
great, and some ,islands were near by,
behind which jasper said it 'would be
possible for the cutter to conceal her
fiutuee movements. Although Cap and
the Sengeant, and particularly ;Lieut-
enant Muir, to judge by his language
still felt a (good deal of distrust of the
young man, and IFrontenac was not
distant, this advice was followed; 'foe
time pressed, and the Quartermaster
discreetly observed that jasper could
mat wellbetray them without running an
THE SEAFORTH NEWS
and (buried the cutter again tonic]
roctks,.,fortrats, and ,hushes. The water
was so transparent that there was no
occasion for the lead, and being of
very equal depth, little risk was act-
ually nun, though ;Cap, with his marit-
tim•e habits, was in a constant fever
lest they should 'strike,
"I give up, I 'give up, Pathfinder-"
the okd seaman at length exclaimed,
when the little vessel emerged in saf-
ety front the twentieth of these nar-
row inlets throttgh which she had
been so 'boldly carried; "-this is defy-
in;g the very nature of seamanship,
and sending all its laws and rules to
the d--11"
"Nay, nay, Saltwater,t
'� is the per-
fection of the art. You perceive that
Jasper never 'falters, but, like a hound
with a true nose, he runs with his
head high as if he had a strong scent,
1),1y life on it, the lad brings us out
right in the end, as he would have
in the 'beginning had we given him
iearve,"
'No ;pilot, no lead, no !beacons,
buoys, or lighthouses, ,no— -"
Ir<il"
n
,
interrupted Pted
Pathfinder;
em'
("for that to ane is the most myster-
ious part of the !business. IWhter has
no trail as everyone knows; and yet
here is Jasper moving ahead as bold-
ly as he had !before his eyes the ,prints
of the moccassins on leaves as plain -
1)' as eve •can see the sun in the hea-
ven,"
"D --nae, if II )believe there is even
any compass-"
'"(Stand by to haul down the jib,"
called out jasper ,who merely smiled
at the remarks of ,his companion.
'Haul .down—starboard your holm-
starboard hard—so—meet her --gently
there with the helm --touch Irer.dightly
—now jump ashore with the -fast,
lad—no, heave, there are some of our
people ready to take it."
All this (passed so quickly as bare-
ly to allow' the spectators time to note
the different evolutions, ere the Scald
had been thrown into the wind 4uitil
her mainsail shivered, next cast a
little thy the use of the rudder only.
and then she set bodily alongside of a
natural rooky quay, where she was
immediately secured by ,good fasts
ram to the shore. In a word, the stat-
ion was reached, and the men of the
515-th were greeted Iby their expecting
comrades, with the satisfaction ,which
a relief usually brings,
[Mabel sprang upon the shore with
a delight which she did not care to
express; and her father led his men
after her with an alacrity which prov-
ed how wearied he had become of the
cutter. The station, as the place was
familiarly termed by the soldiers of
the 56th, was indeed a spot to raise
expectations of enjoyment among
those who had been cooped up so long
in a vessel of the dimensions of the
Scud. None of the islands were ,high
though all lay sufficiently above
the water to Tender them 'perfectly
healthy and secure. Each had more or
lets of wood; and the greater number
at that distant day were clothed with
the virgin forest. The one selected Iby i
the troops for their purpose was smal r
containing about +twenty acres of land r
and by some of the accidents of the
wilderness it had been partly stripped
of its trees, probably centuries before s
the period of which we are writing, n
and a little grassy ,glade covered near-
ly half its surface.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1941
great care had been -taken to pre-
serve then, as they ;answered as a
screen to conceal the persons and
things .collected within their circle.
Favoured by ,this shelter, as well as
by ,that of several thickets of trees
and different copses, some six or eight
low' huts had been erected to lbe used
as quarters for the officer and his
men, be contain. stores, and to serve
the purposes of ;kitchen, hospital, etc.
These huts were built of Togs in the
usual manner, had Ibsen roofed by
bank brought from a distance, lest
the signs of labour should attract at-
tention, and, as they had now Ibeen in-
habited some months, were as com-
fortable as dwellings of that descript-
ion usually ever get to be.
At the eastern extremity of she is-
land, however, was a small densely -
wooded peninsula, with a thicket of
underbrush so •closely matted as near-
ly to ;prevent the possibility of seeing
across it, so long as the leaves re-
mained on the 'branches. Near the
narrow neck that connected this acre
with the rest of the island, a small
blocohe had
skh n
s been erected, with
w th
some attention to its means of resist-
ance. The logs were Ibulle�t-iproof,
squared and jointed with a care to
leave no -defenceless ,points; the win
dows were loopholes, the door mas-
sive and small, and the roof, like the
rest of the structure, was framed of
hewn timber, covered properly, with
bark •to -exclude the •ram. The lower
apartment as nnseial contained stores
and provisions; here indeed the party
kep all their supplies; the second
storey was intended for a dwelling, as
well as for the citadel, and a low gar-
ret was sulbdivided into two or three
rooms, and could hold the pallets of
some ten or :fifteen persons, All the
arrangements were exceedingly sim-
ple and oheap, but they were Suffic-
ient to protect the soldiers against the
effects of a surprise. As the whole
building was •consideralbly less than
forty ,feet high, its summit was con-
cealed by the tops of the trees except
from the eyes of those .who had reach-
ed the interior of the island. On that
side the view was open -from the up-
per loops, though !bushes even there,
more or less, concealed the base of
the wooden tower.
The object being purely defence,
care had. Ibee.0 taken to place the
blockhouse so near an opening in ;tie
limestone rock that formed the based
of the islanas to admit of a bucket's
being dropped into the water, in or-
der to obtain that great essential in
the event of a siege. In order to fac-
ilitate this .operation, and to enfilade
the these of the building. the upper
storeys projected several feet !beyond
the lower, in the manner reseal to
blockhouses, and pieces of wood fill-
ed the apertures out in the long floor-
ing, which were intended as loops and
traps. The communications between
the different storeys were by means
of ladders. If we add that these block-
houses were intended as citadels ,for
garrisons or settlements to retreat to,
n the case of attacks, the general
ceder will obtain a sufficiently cor-
ect idea of the arrangements it is
curt wish to explain.
But the situation of the island it -
elf formed its principal merit as a
iilitary position. Lying in the midst
of twenty others, it Was not an easy
matter to find it; since boats might
The shores of Station Island were ;p
particular island would the taken for
a part of some ether, " Indeed, the
channels between the islands nvltich
lay emend the one we have been •des-
critbecling were so narrow that it was
even diffitu'lt to say which por-
tions of the land were connected, or
which separated, even as one stood in
the centre, with the express desire of
ascertaining the truth. The little 'hay
in Ipartiouiar, which 'jasper used as a
(harbour, was so embowered with
bushes and shut in with islands, ,that,
the sailsof the cotter being louvered
her own people on one occasion had
searched for 'hours ;before they could
find the 'Scud, in &heir return from e.
short ,excursion among the adjacent
channels in ,quest of dish, bn short, the
place was admirably adapted to its
present objects, and its natural ad-
vantages 'had been as ingeniously inn -
proved .as economy and the limited
means of a -frontier (post would very
well allow.
The hour which satcceeded the ar-
rival of the Scud ,was one of hurried
excitement, The party in possession
had done nothing worthy of 'being
mentioned, and, wearied 'with their
seoulsion they were all eager to re-
turn to Oswego. The 'Sergeant and
and the officer the came to relieve had
Ito sooner gone through the little
ceremonies of ;transferring the .com-
mand, than the latter 'hurried on
board the Scud with his whole (party;
and .Jasper, who ,would ,gladly have
passed the day ,on :the island, was re-
quired to get funder way forthwith,
tate wind promising a quick passage
alp the river and' across the nolle. 'Be-
fore separating, •however, Lieutenant
Moir, ;Cap, and the Sergeant had a
private ,conference with the ensign
who had been relieved, in which the
last was made acquainted with the
suspicions that existed against the
fidelity of the young sailor. ,Promising
dale caution, the .officer embarked, and
in less than three hours from the time
when she had arrived the cutter was
again in motion.
!Malbel had taken possession a a
hent; and with female readiness and
skill she made all the simple little
domestic arrangements of which the
circumstances ,would admit not only
for her own -comfort, but for that of
her father. To save labour, a mess -
table was prepared in a hut set apart
for that purpose, where all the heads
of the detachment were to eat; the
soldier's wife performing the necess-
ary labour, The hut -of the Sergeant,
which was the best on the island,
bei» g thus freed'from any of the vul-
gar offices of a household, admitted
of such a display of womanly taste,
that, for the first time since her arr-
ival on the !frontier, Weibel felt ;proud
of her home. As soon as these import-
ant duties were discharged, she strol-
led out on the island, taking a path
,which led through the pretty glade,
and which -conducted to the only point
not covered with ;bushes. Here she
stood gazing at the limpid water,
which lay with scarcely a ruffle on it
at her feet, musing on the novel sit-
uation in which she was placed, and
permitting a ,pleasing and deep excite-
ment to steal over her feelings, as she
remembered scenes through which
she .had so lately (passed, and conject-
ured those ,which still lay veiled in the
future.
`You're a ;beautiful fixture, in a
autiful spot, Mistress !Mabel," said
ata quite near, and, by glimpses be
completely fringed with bushes, and cauzht through the openings, this D
avid ;Muir sauldenl ap earing at
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The Seaforth News
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO,
PROFESSIONAL CARDS
MEDICAL
SEAFORTH CLINIC
Dr. E. A. McMaster, M.B., Graduate
of University of Tbronto.
Paul L. Brady, M.D., Graduate of
University of Toronto,
The. Clinic In fully equipped with
complete and modern x-ray and other
up-to-date diagnostic and thereuptie
equipment.
Dr, F. J. R. Forster, Specialist in
Diseases of the Ear, Eye, Nose and
Throat, will be at the Clinic the first
Tuesday in every month from 4 to
6 p.m.
Free well -baby clinic will be held
on the second and last Thursday in
every month from 1 to 2 p.m.
JOHN A. GORWiLL, B.A.,M.D.
Physician and Surgeon
In Dr, H. H. Ross' office. Phone 6J
DR. F. J. R. FORSTER
Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat
Graduate in Medicine, University
of Toronto. Late Assistant New York
Ophthalmic and Aural Institute,
Moorefield's Eye, and Golden Square
throat hospitals, London, Eng. At
Commercial Hotel, Seaforth, third
Wednesday in each month from 2 to
4 Am. Also at Seaforth Clinic first
Tuesday in each month, -63 Waterloo
St., Stratford. Telephone 267.
AUCTIONEER
GORDON M. GRANT, Licensed
Auctioneer for the County of Huron.
Arrangements can be made for Sale
Date at the Seaforth News, or by -
writing Gordon M. Grant, Goderich
Charges moderate and satisfaction
guaranteed.
F. W. AHRENS, Licensed Auction•
ser for Perth and Huron Counties.
Sales Solicited. Terms on Application,
Farm Stock, chattels and real estate
prope"ty. R. R. No. 4, MitchelL
Phone 634 r 6. Apply at this office,
HAROLD JACKSON
Licensed in Huron and Perth coon -
ties. Prices reasonable; satisfaction
guaranteed. For information, write
or phone Harold Jackson, phone 14
on 661; R. R. 4, Seaforth,
EDWARD W. ELLIOTT, Licensed
Auctioneer for Huron. Correspond.
ence promptly answered. Immediate
arrangements can be made for Sale
Date by calling Phone 203, Clinton.
Charges moderate and satisfaction
guaranteed.
Watson & Reid
REAL ESTATE
AND INSURANCE AGENCY
(Successors to James Watson)
MAIN ST„ SEAFORTH, ONT.
All kinds of Insurance risks effectl
ed at lowest rates in First -Class
Companies.
The McKillop Mutual
Fire Insurance Co.
HEAD OFFICE—SEAFORTH, Ont.
OFFICERS
President, Wm. Knox, Londesboro,
Vice President, W. R. Archibald
Seaforth; Secretary Treasurer, M. A
Reid, Seaforth.
AGENTS
F. McKercher, R. R.1, Dublin; Joh),
E. Pepper, R. R. 1, Brucefield; J. .1f,
Prneter, Brodhageu; James Watt
Blyth; Aldred Yeo, Holmesville,
DIRECTORS
Alex Broadtoot, Seaforth; William
Knox, Londesboro; Chris Leonhardt,
Dublin; E. J. Trewartha, Clinton;
Thomas Moylan, Seaforth; W. R,
Archibald, Seaforth; Alex MoDwing,
Blyth; Frank McGregor, Clinton;
Hugh Alexander, Walton,
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.
er elbow; "and I'll no' engage you-
're not just the handsomest of the
two,"
"Are you going shopping today?"
said a night watchmanto his wife.
"Yes, do you want anything?" she
asked:
"I want an alarm clock:'
"An alarm clock?' Whatever for?"
"Well, I've been late coming home
from work these last • three morn-
ings," said the watchman.
A man who - had had a slight mot-
oring accident, which ' necessitated
the application of sticking -plaster to
his nose, was called upon to inter-
view the local inspector of taxes.
"Had an accident to your nose?" the
latter said, sympathetically.
"No," said the taxpayer, "I've
been paying through it for so long
that it has given way under the
strain."
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