Elsie on the Hudson Part 18

"Not a very great pity, I think," said his father. "It is not needed now, and I hope will not be ever again."

"I hope that famous elm tree is there yet," remarked Grandma Elsie.

"I do not know," replied the captain. "But probably it is."

"Oh, what about it, papa?" asked Elsie; and her father answered, "At the beginning of the siege all the water the garrison needed had to be taken from the river. The elm tree was on the opposite side of the river, and the Indians used to climb up and hide themselves in its thick foliage and from there fire across at the water carriers. In that way they killed several of our men. Then the Kentucky riflemen fired at them; and it is said that not less than 6 of them were struck and fell to the ground out of that tree."

"Why didn't our men dig a well?" asked Ned.

"It seems they did afterward, for the place is spoken of as having had a well at the time of the political campaign of 1840, when Harrison was elected President of the United States."

They were now entering the Maumee Bay, and the talk ceased, as all wished to gaze about upon the new scenes as they pa.s.sed through the bay and up the river. They visited the ruins of Fort Meigs, then took carriages and drove three miles up to Presqu' Isle Hill, alighted there, and wandered over the battlefield of the Fallen Timber.

By tea-time they were again on board the _Dolphin_, which lay at anchor through the night in Maumee Bay. It was a delightful evening, clear and slightly cool on the water, the stars shining, and a gentle breeze stirring; and they sat upon the deck for an hour or more.

"Where are we going to-morrow, papa?" asked Grace in a pause in the conversation, which had been running upon the scenes and adventures of the day.

"To Erie, to view it as the scene of some of Commodore Perry's doings--if that plan suits the wishes of those present," returned her father. "What do you say, mother?"

"That I highly approve," answered Mrs. Travilla's sweet voice.

"As no doubt we all do," added Mrs. Lilburn.

"Yes," said her husband--"even to the one who may be suspected of belonging to the British side. But what doings there have you to tell of, captain?"

"It was there that Perry's fleet was made ready for the celebrated Battle of Lake Erie," said Captain Raymond--"Perry's victory was won September 10, 1813."

"Just a few weeks after the fight at Fort Stephenson," remarked Lucilla.

"Yes," said her father; "and at that time the fleet was nearly ready.

What we now speak of as Erie was then called Presqu' Isle. The harbor is a large bay, one of the finest on the lake. A low, sandy peninsula juts out some five miles into the lake. It has sometimes been an island, when storms have cleft its neck; and it was a barren sand bank, though now it has a growth of timber upon it. In Perry's time the harbor was a difficult one to enter, by reason of having a tortuous channel, shallow and obstructed by sand bars and shoals."

"Was Erie a city at the time Perry's fleet was built there, papa?"

asked Grace.

"No; only an insignificant village, hardly twenty years old; and there were many miles of wilderness, or very thinly populated country, between it and the larger settlements. All the supplies for our men, except the timber for the vessels, had to be brought from a distance, with great labor."

"Captain, was it not at Erie that General Wayne died?" asked Grandma Elsie.

"Yes," he said. "In 1794 General Wayne established a small garrison there and caused a blockhouse to be built at the lake sh.o.r.e of Garrison Hill. He returned there after his victory over the Indians in the Maumee Valley, and occupied a loghouse near the blockhouse, where he died of gout. At his own request he was buried at the foot of the flag-staff."

"Is his grave there now, papa?" asked Elsie.

"No," replied the captain; "his remains were removed to Pennsylvania in 1809. The first building there was a French fort, supposed to have been erected in 1749. I think some of its remains--ramparts and ditches--are still to be seen upon a point overlooking the entrance to the harbor. When Canada became an English possession the fort was allowed to go to decay."

"Why, papa?" asked Ned.

"Because it was no longer needed, my son. The blockhouse built by General Wayne fell into decay and was replaced by a new one in the winter of 1813-14, and a second one was built on the point of the peninsula of Presqu' Isle. The old one was burned by some mischievous person in 1853."

"Well, my dear, I highly approve of your expressed intention to take us to Erie to-morrow," said Violet in a lively tone, as the captain seemed to have come to the end of his account. "I am sure that I for one shall be greatly interested in everything there connected with the past history of our country."

All present seemed to be of the same opinion, and before separating for the night every arrangement was made for an early start next morning.

The yacht was again in motion at an early hour--even before any of her pa.s.sengers were out of their beds. The sun had not yet appeared above the horizon when the captain was joined upon the deck by Percy Landreth.

"Ah, good-morning, Percy," he said in his usual pleasant tones.

"Showing yourself so early a bird makes me fear you have not found your berth as comfortable a couch as could be desired."

"But it is surely none too early for a perfectly healthy fellow to be out, and I was anxious to see the sun rise. I never have seen it come up out of the water."

"Then I advise you to gaze steadily eastward, and you will see it apparently do that in five minutes or less."

Captain Raymond had a strong suspicion that the beautiful sight they presently witnessed was not all the young man had joined him for at that early hour, so he was not surprised when the next moment Percy, turning a rather flushed, embarra.s.sed face toward him, said entreatingly, "Captain, I am sure you are a very kind-hearted man; will you not remove your prohibition of two years ago, and let me tell Miss Lu how I admire and love her?"

"Better not, my young friend," returned the captain pleasantly.

"Believe me, you would gain nothing by it, even were her father willing to let her listen to such protestations and engage herself while she is still so young."

"Then she is still free?" Percy asked, his countenance brightening somewhat.

"Yes--heart and hand; and I hope will remain so for some years to come."

"That is some consolation, captain; and it is a great pleasure to be with her, even in the presence of others, and though prohibited to say a word in my own behalf."

"Try to have patience, my young friend," returned the captain, still speaking in a kindly tone; "you are young yet, and though you cannot believe it possible now, the time may come when you will see some other maiden who will be even more attractive to you than my little girl is now."

"I do not know how to believe it, sir," sighed Percy; but at that moment the approach of a light footstep put a sudden end to their talk.

"Good-morning, father, and Percy too! Why, you are out unusually early, are you not?" Lucilla exclaimed, holding out a hand to him. "Is it haste to catch the first glimpse of Erie--not lake but city--that has brought you on deck so soon?"

"Not only that, Miss Lu; it is a delightful time for being on deck--the sunrise was very beautiful," he said, taking the pretty hand for an instant, and giving it a friendly squeeze; "but you are a trifle too late for that."

"Yes," she said; "but I have seen it a number of times, and may hope to see it many times more on the waters of lakes or oceans."

"I hope you may," he returned pleasantly. "I wish with all my heart that every sort of enjoyment may be yours--now and always."

"Very kind of you," she said with a smile; "but I doubt if it would be best for me to be always free from every sort of trial and trouble.

Papa," turning to him, "shall we have our usual stroll back and forth upon the deck--Percy joining us, if he wishes?"

"Yes," her father answered, drawing her hand within his arm; and the three paced back and forth, chatting pleasantly on the ordinary topics of the day till joined by the other members of their party and summoned to the breakfast table.

There was no disappointment in the visit to Erie; it proved quite as interesting as any one of the party had antic.i.p.ated; the return voyage was delightful. They anch.o.r.ed for the night in the near vicinity of the island where they had landed on first coming to the neighborhood, and whence they received their daily mail.

CHAPTER XII.

"I wonder if Walter won't be joining us soon?" Lucilla remarked to her father as they walked the deck together the next morning.