The Cryptogram Part 27

There was still an interval of time left in which to reach a decision--perhaps half an hour. By then, at the most, the house would be a furnace in which nothing could live. As yet owing to the snow on the roof, the flames were confined to the south side. But there they had eaten through the wall, and were roaring and crackling with fury as they devoured the thick beams and timbers. They had seized both angles of the house, and were licking their way into the room. We could see the ruddy glare under the closed door, and could feel the scorching heat. From cracks and crevices puffs of yellow smoke darted into the hall; had a wind been blowing in our direction we should have been suffocated long before.

"Shall we stay here to perish like trapped beasts?" cried Andrew Menzies, his voice ringing above the infernal clamor of the savages.

"Let us unbar the door, rush out, and sell our lives dearly! Take your muskets, my brave fellows! We will fight to the death, and kill as many of the devils as we can. And if no merciful bullets reach the women, we will shoot--them--with our--own--"

He could say no more. He stood with his hands clasped and his lips moving in prayer, while the men, almost unanimously shouted eager approval of his plan.

"Make ready, all!" cried Captain Rudstone, "we must be quick about it, for at any moment the heat or a spark may touch off the powder in yonder back room."

That the explosion might come that instant, and so insure us a speedy and merciful death, was my heartfelt wish as I leaned against the wall.

I groaned aloud as I pictured Flora lying in the snow, her beautiful face and hair dabbled with blood. Just then a bullet, fired through a loophole at one side of the door, whistled within an inch of my ear. It gave me such a start that I lost my balance and reeled against an old desk of the factor's that stood under the shelf holding the candle. It yielded, and we came to the floor together.

I picked myself up and saw the desk broken open and a number of loose papers scattered at my feet. A word on one of them arrested my attention. I reached for it--it was a yellow doc.u.ment, faded with age, once folded--and on the outside, scrawled in big letters with a quill, I read the following:

"PLAN OF A SECRET Pa.s.sAGE FROM FORT ROYAL, 1762."

I fairly held my breath as I tore the paper open. Inside was a rude drawing that I recognized at a glance, and more writing below it. The latter I studied for a moment, and then my head turned dizzy with joy.

"Hurrah!--hurrah!" I cried, waving the precious paper in the air. "Thank G.o.d for His wonderful mercy! If this proves true we are saved--saved!"

My companions crowded round me excitedly, some thinking that I had suddenly taken leave of my senses.

"What is it?" they demanded. "What do you mean, Carew?"

"Look, look!" I shouted. "A secret pa.s.sage from the fort--an underground exit built years ago--leading from the cellar to the very bank of the river! It opens from the east wall; the stone is marked with a cross!"

The paper was quickly pa.s.sed from hand to hand, studied and read. The scene that followed--the transition from blackest despair to radiant hope--I am utterly unable to describe. Indeed, I saw but little of the behavior of the men. I ran to Flora, clasping her in my arms, and we mingled our tears of happiness together.

"Listen, men!" shouted Andrew Menzies. "I fully believe that this doc.u.ment is to be relied upon--that the pa.s.sage exists. There was a rumor years ago that one of the forts was so provided when it was built, and that the tunnel was not repeated afterward on account of the vast labor; but I did not suspect it to be Fort Royal. Griffith Hawks alone knew the secret, and he died with it untold. We will proceed at once to verify this good news; there is not a moment to spare. Denzil, you and Captain Rudstone will come with me."

He turned to the others.

"There is much to be done," he added, "and it must be done quickly. Load a sledge with provisions, and get others ready for the wounded who are unable to walk. Let each may take a supply of powder and ball, and put on snowshoes. Helen, do you and Miss Hatherton prepare for a long and tiresome march."

There was, indeed, no time to be wasted. The entire side of the house was a ma.s.s of flames, and the hall was so scorching hot, so filled with smoke, as to be almost unendurable. The Indians were in a cordon around us, whooping at the top of their voices, firing occasional shots, and evidently expecting that the flames would drive us to meet death in the open.

Leaving the rest to execute Menzie's orders--Carteret volunteered to fetch the women their outdoor wraps from upstairs--the three of us procured a lantern and gained access to the cellar from the room at the end of the hall. a.s.sisted by the plan, we quickly found on the east wall, a big square slab of stone marked by a faint cross.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Menzies. "Try to pry it out with axes."

Two minutes of work sufficed. The stone fell inward, and we shouted with delight when we saw a yawning black hole before us, large enough for two stooping men to walk abreast. Captain Rudstone hurried upstairs with the glad news, and meanwhile Menzies and I ventured some distance into the pa.s.sage, finding the air sweet and pure.

When we returned to the mouth all of our little party were a.s.sembled in the cellar, each man--and the women as well--carrying a pair of snowshoes. Flora and Mrs. Menzies were protected against the bitter weather by furred cloaks. Of the five wounded men one had died within the hour; the other four were able to hobble along temporarily with some a.s.sistance. For transporting these when we were safely away from the fort we had two sledges, not counting the one laden with food supplies.

As yet the redskins did not suspect that they were in danger of being cheated of their triumph; we could hear their frenzied cries faintly.

Overhead the flames were roaring and hissing, and the cellar itself was hazy with pungent smoke.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

A STRANGE DISCOVERY.

"All ready?" exclaimed Menzies. "Then forward. If no mishap occurs we shall be miles away before our escape is discovered."

He entered the pa.s.sage first, flashing the lantern in front of him, and the others followed in double file. Captain Rudstone and I, who came last, took the precaution to replace the slab of stone as we had found it.

It was a strange experience to thread that underground corridor, built with herculean toil, when the fort was reared, for just such an emergency as it was serving now. We had to stoop low to avoid the raftered roof. The air was close, and not a sound reached us from outside. We groped along in semi-darkness for the lantern cast no light behind. It gave one a ghastly oppressive feeling of being buried alive.

The tunnel seemed longer than it really was. We were certain over and over again that we had pa.s.sed under the fort yard and the outer clearing, yet still we went on. But at last Menzies stopped, and called in a low voice that he had come to the end. Captain Rudstone and I made our way up to him, and saw that further progress was barred by a slab of rock that fitted exactly across the pa.s.sage.

"It will yield with a hard push," said Menzies.

"Wait!" said I. "Let us first blow out the lantern."

This was done, and the three of us put our weight to the stone. It grated like rusty iron, gave way slowly, and went down with a crunching noise. Ah, the happiness of that moment--the joy of that first glimpse and breath of the air of freedom! It was all we could do to keep from shouting and cheering.

The tunnel had brought us out on a narrow ledge midway down the steep and wooded bluff that rose from the edge of the river. A canopy of trees sheltered us overhead, and below us, through the evergreen foliage, the frozen, snow-crusted river gleamed against the murky background of the night.

A short time before we had stared death in the face; now the hope of life and safety thrilled our hearts with grat.i.tude for a merciful and wonderful Providence. All the circ.u.mstances seemed in our favor.

Off behind us the Indians were still holding mad revelry in the fort yard, little dreaming, as they screeched and bowled, of the trick that had been played upon them. Not a sound could be heard close by; there was reason to believe that all the savages were gathered inside of the inclosure. And the snow was falling so fast and thickly that it must cover our tracks almost as soon as made.

To put some miles between ourselves and our bloodthirsty foes was our first thought, and we did not lose an instant by delay. Creeping down to the foot of the bluff, we strapped our snowshoes to our feet, and fixed the four wounded men comfortably on the two empty sledges. As we started off--twenty-one of us in all--the factor's house seemed to be wrapped in flames, to judge from the increasing glare that shone around us. We traveled rapidly to the south, up the river's course, and closely skirted the timbered sh.o.r.e nearest the fort. Gradually the whooping of the Indians died away, and the reflection of the fire faded, until it was only a flickering glow on the dark and wintry horizon. In the excitement of leaving the fort we had given no thought to our future plans; but now, as we hurried along the frozen bed of the river, we discussed that all-important matter. It had been commonly understood in a vague way that we should strike direct for Fort York. However, on reflection, we abandoned that plan. If the Indians should discover our escape, as was only too likely, they would suspect that Fort York was our destination, and make a quick march to cut us off.

"We must look after the interests of the company as well as our own lives," said Menzies, "and I think I see a clear way to do both. The rising of the redskins and the Northwest people may be checked by prompt action; it is probably not yet known beyond Fort Royal, nor have there been attacks elsewhere. So I suggest that we split into two parties. I will command one, take the wounded with me, and push on to Fort Elk, which is about eighty miles to the southeast. You will command the other, Denzil, and strike for Fort Charter. It lies rather more than a hundred milts to the south, and your shortest route will be by way of old Fort Beaver. If we both succeed--and the chances are in our favor--two forts will be put on the alert, and couriers can be sent to other posts."

This plan commended itself to us all, and was ultimately decided upon.

There was little danger of pursuit, or of meeting hostile Indians in the directions we proposed to go. We made a brief halt at a small island about five miles from Fort Royal, and separated our party into two.

Menzies, having the shorter journey, insisted on taking less men, and I reluctantly yielded.

Including himself and wife, and the four wounded, his party numbered eleven. I had eight men in mine, as follows: Captain Rudstone, Christopher Burley, an Indian employee named Pemecan, two voyageurs, Baptiste and Carteret, and three old servants of the company, by name Duncan Forbes, Malcolm Cameron, and Luke Hutter. Flora, of course, went with me, and she had made me radiantly happy by a promise to become my wife at Fort Charter, if the ceremony could be arranged there. One of the sledges, with a quant.i.ty of supplies, was turned over to us.

It was a solemn parting, at the hour of midnight, by that little island on the frozen river. The women embraced and shed tears; the men clasped hands and hoa.r.s.ely wished each other a safe journey. Then Menzies and his companions vanished in the forest on the right bank of the river, and through the driving snow I led my band of followers to the south.

Flora was beside me, and I felt ready to surmount any peril for her sake.

It was well toward noon of the next day, and snow was still falling, when we ventured to halt in a desolate region near the headwaters of the Churchill. We rested a few hours, and then pushed on until night, camping in a deep forest and not daring to light a fire. Of what befell us after that I shall speak briefly. The weather cleared and grew colder, and for two days we marched to the south. We made rapid progress--Flora rode part of the time on the sledge--and saw no sign of Indians, or, indeed, of any human beings. We all wore heavy winter clothing, so suffered no hardships on that score; and the second night we built huge camp fires in a rocky gorge among the hills. But our stock of provisions was running short, and this fact caused us some uneasiness.

As the sun was setting that second day--it was the third day's journey in all--we glided from the depths of the virgin forest and saw what had been Fort Beaver on the further side of a shallow clearing. I had been thinking with strange emotions of the past since morning--since we began to draw near the neighborhood--and at sight of my old home, close to which both my father and mother were buried, my eyes grew dim and a choking lump rose in my throat.

"I have never been this way before," remarked Captain Rudstone, "but I know the place by repute. It was of importance in its day; now it is a ma.s.s of crumbling ruins."

"Is this really where you were born, Denzil?" Flora asked me.

"Yes," I replied; "here I spent my early years and happy ones they were."

"Ah, this is interesting," Christopher Burley said, thoughtfully. "And here your father, Bertrand Carew, lived from the time he left England until his death?"