The Cryptogram Part 31

"My father used to have it sent to him from England," I replied, "and this cask must have been mislaid and covered up."

"Your father?" muttered the captain: and he gave me one of those strange looks that had so mystified me in the past.

"Yes, he was a judge of wine, I believe," I answered. "Come, we'll go up. Cameron can wet his whistle now, and we'll all be the better for a little sound port."

When we returned to our companions with the cask, and told them what it held, they gave us an eager and noisy welcome. We rummaged about until we found a sufficient number of cracked gla.s.ses and cups, and then we filled them with the fragrant, ruddy beverage.

"Miss Hatherton shall drink first," said I, as I sat down beside her and handed her a gla.s.s.

My own I held up with a little nod, and she partly understood me. Such a roguish look twinkled in her eyes that I carried out my purpose.

"Attention!" I cried, standing up. "A toast, comrades! to my promised wife!"

With an earnestness that I liked, the men drank, one and all, and Flora smiled very prettily through her confusion and blushes.

"Ah, she's a bonnie lady," old Malcolm Cameron said bluntly.

"And with the spirit of a man," added Luke Hutter.

I acknowledged these compliments with a bow as I sat down. Most of the drinking vessels were emptied and pa.s.sed to Carteret to be filled. That done, at a sign from me he carried the cask to a closet at the other side of the room. Some of the men were bibulously inclined, and for Flora's sake I had to be cautious.

Of a sudden Captain Rudstone rose, his handsome, stern face almost transformed by an expression of genial good will.

"Mr. Carew," he began, "on such an occasion as this I feel that I must say a word. Indeed you have won a prize. 'Tis an old proverb that a man married is a man marred, but in you I see an exception. Were I a few years younger I should have ventured to enter the lists against you. I have knocked about the world, and I can pay Miss Hatherton no higher compliment than to say that she is equally fitted to be queen of a London drawing room or mistress of a factor's humble house. But enough.

I wish you every prosperity and happiness, and a long career in the service of the company."

The captain was evidently sincere, and I had never liked him so well as now, though I must confess that I felt a spark of jealousy when Flora made him a smiling courtesy.

He was no sooner down in his seat than Christopher Burley stood up. The law clerk's face was flushed, and his eyes had an unwonted sparkle. He had drunk but two gla.s.ses of port, yet he was a different man to look at.

"Mr. Carew and Miss Hatherton, my compliments," he said. "I shall think of this convivial gathering when I am back in London--in that crowded, bustling heart of the world, and I hope some day to have the pleasure of seeing you there--of seeing all of you, my friends. I will take you to my favorite haunt, the Cheshire Cheese, in Fleet Street, where the great and learned Dr. Johnson was wont to foregather. But I have much to do before I can return to England. The task that brought me to this barbarous country--this land of snow and ice--is of a most peculiar and difficult nature. I will take the present opportunity to inquire--"

"Enough!" suddenly interrupted Captain Rudstone in a harsh voice. "Your tongue is rambling sir. I am doing you a service by requesting you to sit down."

"Sir, do you mean to insinuate--" began Christopher Burley.

But at that instant voices were heard outside and the door was thrown open.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

ON THE WAY.

A visitor of any sort was the last thing we could have expected, and the reader can imagine what a surprise and scare the interruption gave us.

We leaped to our feet with such haste that several of the benches wore knocked over, and Christopher Burley, who was in the act of sitting down at the time, landed on the floor with a heavy crash. But there was no occasion for alarm--no need to rush frantically for our muskets. The intruder was not an Indian, not an enemy. In the open doorway, framed against the whiteness of the storm, stood a big, bearded man clad in the winter uniform of the Hudson Bay Company.

And the moment I saw him I recognized an old acquaintance--a hunter who had of late years served at Fort Charter.

"Tom Arnold!" I cried gladly, as I hurried forward to greet him.

"By Jupiter, if it ain't Carew!" he shouted, clasping my hand. Turning round, he called loudly: "Come in, boys, it's all right!"

At the bidding five more men stamped noisily into the house, shaking the snow from their clothing, and dragging a well-laden sledge behind them.

"I left these chaps outside, not knowing who might be in the fort," Tom explained; "but when I listened a bit I reckoned it was safe to enter. I heard a couple of voices that sounded kind of familiar. And no mistake either! We're in luck to find friends and shelter at one stroke. What a snug place you've got here!"

A scene of merriment and excitement followed, and hands were clasped all round; for the most of our party and of the new arrivals were acquainted with one another, even Captain Rudstone finding a friend or two.

After a generous gla.s.s of wine, Tom Arnold lit his pipe, stretched his feet to the blazing logs, and volunteered explanations, which we had been waiting anxiously to hear. He and his party, it seemed, had left Fort Charter on a hunting trip three days before. On the previous night they had chosen a poor camping-place--it afforded little shelter against the storm, and so, in the morning, they determined to try to reach old Fort Beaver.

"That's my yarn," Tom concluded, "and now let's have yours, Carew. What are you doing in this part of the country, and with a pretty girl in tow?"

As briefly as possible I related all that had happened, from the swift beginning of trouble at Fort Royal to the night when we escaped by the secret pa.s.sage. Every word of it was new to Tom and his companions, and they listened with breathless interest and dilated eyes, with hoa.r.s.e exclamations of rage and grief. And when the narrative was finished a gloom fell upon all of us.

"So the country is quiet down your way?" asked Captain Rudstone.

"Yes, as far as Fort Garry and the Red River," Tom replied. "We had dispatches within a week, and though they mentioned bad feeling and a few rows in which men were killed on both sides, there has been no general outbreak. As for the trouble up north, we hadn't an inkling of it."

"Apparently, then," said the captain, "the attack on Fort Royal was a private grudge--an act of revenge instigated solely by Cuthbert Mackenzie, who stirred up the redskins to help him. There was motive enough, you know, for a man of his nature."

"It's likely as you say," Tom answered, "but at the same time I'm afraid the Northwest Company knew what was on foot, and will declare open war as soon as they hear of the fall of Fort Royal. The Indians may have gone north to attack other forts on the bay, or possibly they will march to Fort Charter next. We must lose no time in getting back and giving the alarm. This is the worst of news."

"I am sure there is no danger," I said hurriedly, noticing that. Flora looked disturbed and anxious. "The Indians must have gone toward Fort York to cut us off; if they had come this way you would have heard of them long ago."

"Yes, that's right," a.s.sented Captain Rudstone. "It will be time enough to start in the morning, when the storm will likely be over. If you set off now, you have ten chances to one of perishing in the snow. You can't do better than share our cozy quarters."

"I'll think about it," Arnold answered doubtfully. "At all events, we'll have a jolly good feed together, and then we'll see what the weather promises. I ought to be back at the fort long before to-morrow morning."

By this time the dinner was ready. Carteret had found a packet of cornmeal that had been overlooked before, and our visitors contributed freely from their own ample store of food. So our spirits brightened a little, and while we ate and drank we chatted of more pleasing things than Indians and warfare. But Christopher Burley was in a sullen mood and showed a very curt manner to Captain Rudstone. Why the latter had cut the law clerk's speech short so brusquely, and why he had been disturbed by it, were mysteries to which I could find no solution.

Indeed, I felt keenly disappointed, for I knew that Burley had been on the point of explaining the task that had brought him out to the Canadas.

The meal over, a surprise was in store for us. We observed that more light shone through the frosted window panes, and Tom Arnold rose and opened the door. He gave a shout that drew most of us after him, and we were amazed to see the change that had taken place in so short a time.

Of the howling storm there was not a trace, save the fresh snowdrifts.

It was still blowing a little, but no snow was falling, and through the clear air the clouds gave signs of breaking.

"Hurray! We can start now!" cried Tom.

"Yes, if the calm lasts," added Captain Rudstone.

"What do you think of it?" I asked of Carteret, who was considered an authority on the weather.

The old voyageur sniffed the air for a moment.

"It's hard to tell in this case, sir," he replied. "The clouds may break and clear away for good; and then ag'in, the storm may come on as bad as ever, within the hour. But it's worth risking the chance."

Some held Carteret's opinion, and others were in favor of waiting till morning. But in the end the latter were won over, and we decided to start at once. For a little while there was bustle and commotion as the men repacked the sledges, donned their furred coats and snowshoes, and looked to the priming of their muskets.