CHAPTER XVI.
A RESOLVE THAT FAILED.
Two things were clear to my mind--first, that Flora was lost to me, andthat honor forbade me to speak one word of love to her again; second,that I could not remain permanently under the same roof with her,whether she was married or single. The latter was a delicate anddifficult affair, and I had some misgivings as to how it could bearranged; but, fortunately, chance came to my aid, as I shall show.
The factor's house was shared by several other non-commissionedofficers of the company, one of whom was married. The single spareroom was assigned to Mr. and Mrs. Gummidge. I saw my opportunity, andeagerly volunteered to give my own apartment to Flora, whose properplace was with the women. The matter was easily arranged, and within twohours of our arrival at the fort I was installed in a little room in themen's quarters.
I was sitting there after supper, gloomily smoking my pipe, when Ireceived a visit from Griffith Hawke. The sight of his rugged, kindlyface gave me a keen twinge of conscience. He had been like a father tome in the past, and I hated to think how nearly I had done him a foulinjury.
"All going well?" I asked.
"Within the fort, yes," he replied gravely, as he sat down. "MissHatherton is quite recovered, and has an appetite. She seems to be abrave and spirited girl."
"She is," I assented. "You knew they were sending her, I suppose?"
"Yes, Lord Selkirk forwarded me a little water color sketch of hermonths ago. I am afraid there is a considerable disparity in our ages,but that can be overcome. I shall make her a good husband, and a steadyone--eh, Denzil?"
With a forced smile, I pretended to appreciate the jest.
"How is Moralle?" I asked abruptly.
"He is a very sick man," said the factor; "but it is not a hopelesscase. With care, he may recover. But I came to have a serious talk withyou, my boy. First of all, tell me everything that happened from thetime you met Miss Hatherton in Quebec until I ran across you up theriver this morning. I have heard only fragments of the narrative."
I did as he requested, and he hung on my words with close attention andwith a deepening look of anxiety in his eyes. When I had finished, heasked me numerous questions, and then pondered silently for a fewmoments.
Finally he leaned forward and began to fill his pipe. By this time mymind had strayed from the subject, and on a sudden impulse I plungedinto the thing that I was so anxious to have done and over with.
I grew confused from the start--a lie was so foreign to my nature--and Ifear I made rather a mess of it. What words I used I cannot recall, butI incoherently told the factor that I wished to leave the fort at onceand go down country, pleading as an excuse that I was tired of thelonely life of the wilderness and had taken a fancy to carve a futurefor myself among the towns.
By the expression of his face I was certain that he suspected the truth,and I could have bitten my tongue off with chagrin and shame. He lookedat me hard.
"You would leave the service of the company?" he asked. "And with yourfine chances!"
"I might be transferred--Fort Garry would suit me nicely," I blundered,quite forgetting what I had said previously.
"This is not the time to make such a demand," Griffith Hawke replied,not unkindly. "I want you here. There will be trouble in the Northbefore many days."
"I am very anxious to go," I persisted doggedly.
"I can't spare you," he said sharply. "Let that end the discussion forthe present. In the spring if you are of the same mind--"
"I will wait until then," I broke in.
I saw that all was against me, and that there was nothing to do but makethe best of it.
"I can hardly believe," continued the factor, "that Cuthbert Mackenziewould have undertaken so desperate an affair, or that the Indians wouldhave taken service under him, unless both he and they knew that they hadthe Northwest Company back of them. I am of the opinion that theredskins have been bought over--that hostilities are about to begin.What do you think?"
"I am inclined to agree with you," I replied.
"My duty is plain," said Griffith Hawke. "I have already despatched afull report of the matter by messenger to Fort York. To-morrow I shallsend a dozen men out to scour the country to the east, west and south.They are not likely to find Mackenzie--he is doubtless safe in one ofthe Northwest Company's posts by this time--but they may run across someof Gray Moose's braves, and ascertain from them what is brewing."
"I hope they may," said I.
"There is a chance of it," replied the factor. "Will you take charge ofthe expedition, Denzil?"
I had been waiting craftily for this offer, which meant a prolongedabsence from the fort. Nothing could have suited me better--short oftransference to another post--and I accepted without hesitation. Wetalked the matter over together until it was time to turn in for thenight.
I was off two hours after sunrise the next day, in command of twelve ofour best men. I did not see Flora before I started, nor did I wish to.And I fervently hoped, as we plunged into the forest and lost sight ofthe fort that the priest would have arrived and the marriage be overbefore I returned.
I do not intend to write at length of the expedition, and indeed butlittle could be said of it. We scoured the wilderness in threedirections, but we found no trace of Cuthbert Mackenzie or of his hiredband of savages. They had melted away mysteriously, and the emptyfastnesses of the Great Lone Land told us nothing of what we sought tolearn. The Indians of those parts we met in abundance, but they werepeacefully engaged in trapping, and denied that any overtures had beenmade to them by the Northwest Company.
We were gone a fortnight, and covered some hundreds of miles. Meanwhilethe winter had set in, and we returned on snowshoes. The weather wasbitterly cold, the streams and lakes were frozen, and the snow lay twofeet deep. Away from the fort I had been in better spirits. When Ientered the stockade again, and realized that I was near Flora my heartbegan to ache as before.
I was soon informed of what had taken place during my absence. Gummidgeand his wife had departed for Fort Garry a week previously. Moralle wasout of danger, and was mending slowly. The messenger was back from FortYork, bringing news that Captain Rudstone had not yet returned there--aswas his intention before coming south--and that matters were quiet.Moreover the priest had not yet arrived at Fort Royal, and there hadbeen no marriage. Flora was still single, and likely to remain so for atime.
A week slipped by rapidly. The winter raged in all its severity, andthere was a steady influx of Indians laden with furs and pelts. I hadmuch to do, and was kept busy. I did not return to the factor's house,as I might have done, but stuck to my new quarters. I saw Floraoccasionally, but at a distance. By mutual consent we seemed to avoideach other.
Then a memorable day dawned--a day fraught with a series of events thatstamped themselves indelibly on my memory.
The Cryptogram: A Story of Northwest Canada Page 16