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Chapter I. The Rescue

TT has been said that just as the canoe was -*- nearing the ice-floe on which Mauleverer and Flo were standing, the two boatmen, after a brief consultation in the French patois, which Captain Peacocke understood very imperfectly, turned hurriedly, and paddled back in the direction from which they had come; while Peacocke, astonished at their behaviour, and rendered desperate by the consciousness that the two lost ones, having observed the approach of the canoe, and counted on succour from its occupants, would find the trial harder to bear, entreated and threatened by turns, hoping to VOL. II. B force the watermen thus to make the attempt once more. For a few minutes they, busy in guiding their frail bark in and out among the floating masses cf ice that menaced its destruc tion, allowed him to rave at them without an swering ; but when, in his earnestness, finding they paid no attention to his words, he bent for ward, and taking Bontemps by the shoulder, shook him violently, desiring him at once to go back, the stalwart waterman turned on him sternly, saying, " Is it not enough that my comrade and I have consented to face the perils of the water and the ice to save your friends, without you, in your madness, adding tenfold to the dangers of the passage ?

Sit still ! Stir not again till you are ordered to do so, or, by all the saints in Paradise ! we will toss you into the river ! Fool! Cannot you see that to pass through that whirlpool of sharp-edged ice-blocks is an impossibility in this or in any other boat ? But there is a ' lead ' of open water yonder, by AA'hich skilful men might make the attempt to reach the castaways ; and it is to arrive at that ' lead ' that we have gone back." Ashamed of his hastiness, Peacocke said nothing, but waited in silence for what might follow. Slowly they worked their way round through devious narrow channels ; as they did so the night grew ever darker, till even the keen eyes of the Avatermen could barely distin guish the forms of those they sought. The two lost ones, who had given up all hope, and sat still in the cold and twilight, waiting their doom, tried to console each other, and make their cruel fate seem lighter, by giving utterance to the love they would hardly have dared to avow under other circumstances, when the consent of their families had not been obtained.

But already the cold was beginning to take effect. Flo, sheltered in her lover's arms, be came drowsy, and hardly felt his caresses or comprehended his words of love, under the stupefying influence of the fatal sleep that was beginning to creep over her ; while he, strong and inured to hardship as he was, knew that, before long, he too should succumb in the same way to the mortal chill that had begun to settle upon him. It seemed to him very hard that such a fate b2 should come upon her ; she, fragile and tender, had borne up against natural weakness and terror with strange fortitude, but not the less did it appear to him horrible that this doom should have overtaken one so young and fair, and so beloved. Yes, therein lay almost the keenest sting of this bitter trial. All the love of which she was the object had been poAverless to save her ; there was no strength in the strong arm thrown round her, no cunning in the skilful hand clasping hers that could avail to help now; no warmth in the passionately beating heart that should suffice to keep off the chill of death, or revive the numbed form, over Avhich the fatal breath of the keen northerly blast was silently creeping.

He pitied her with so great a pity, with so entire a self abandonment of love, that he never thought of his .oavii young and stronglife, cut off in its Spring-time, nor of the desolate fireside at home, and the grief of his grey-haired father, when the news of what had befallen should have reached the quiet English village, standing warm and sunlit in the bloom of early May. If he thought of himself at all, it was to believe himself happy that he, and no other, had been Avith his love in this desperate crisis, and that he had heard words of affection whispered from her lips to him, when death was already dead ening her faculties, and when nothing hence forth could come between them. Had they lived — he could not tell — but he fancied that the free expression of their love would have been denied them.

Flo herself had but just said her father would never relent, and it was evident she feared his anger. But for her, he was too happy there in the cold and darkness, holding her to his heart, to care much if he never saw the light of another sun rise over the frozen earth. Suddenly, while he thought thus, he was startled by the sound of a human voice, shouting quite close to him. His senses were getting dulled, and, Avithout stirring, he wondered vaguely whether it Avas really a human voice, or whether it was but one of the strange, unearthly noises produced by the grinding ice as it forced its passage down the river. But again the cry rose near him, and this time, almost unconsciously, he raised his voice in answer. It sounded thin and faint and changed in his ears. Replying to it came another cry, that might have been the echo of his OAvn but for its fuller, more robust tones.

Then, straining his eyes through the darkness in the direction from which the sound proceed ed, some black, moving object became discerni ble amidst the greyish-Avhite flood on which it floated. It was — it must be — the canoe they had observed before, and which had, they thought, left them to their fate. He waited and watched its approach silently, not trying to arouse his companion until he was sure that, this time, there would be no disappointment. But as he sat Avaiting she raised her head, saying feebly, " I thought I heard you speak. What is it ?" His shout, in ansAver to that from the canoe men, had penetrated through her dulled hear ing to her torpid brain, but it had seemed to her only as a faint Avhisper ; and though she had aroused herself to answer, she had not comprehended the meaning of the sound that had attracted her attention.

" Look up, my darling ; we are saved !" he answered, joyfully, for the canoe was now near, and there was at least the certainty that its occupants would reach them, — " Look up ; the danger is over, and you will soon be at home !" " At home !" she repeated, sitting up, and putting her stiffened hand slowly to her fore head, — " I do not think we shall ever be there again ;" and her head drooped forward as she spoke, like that of a person dozing by a cheerful fireside. " Stand up, dearest," whispered the young man, passing his arm round her, and raising her to her feet. It was necessary she should make some exertion, and not be lost in the hour of deliverance, as it seemed to him only too probable she would be. When she was once more standing up, she seemed for a minute unable to support herself; but the change of attitude aroused her a httle, and in another minute the canoe, almost along side, attracted her attention.

Then her droop ing, dulled faculties revived; she stood up by herself, turning to her companion, trembling with excitement, and saying, " They are here — they have not left us, and Ave shall be saved !" Tears sprang to her eyes in the sudden re vulsion of feeling and return of all her mental faculties ; but this time she had no power over herself to keep them back, and they flowed freely. In another minute the rescue party jumped upon the floe, and drawing the canoe after them, paused for a minute to take breath, Avhile Captain Peacocke pressed eagerly for ward to ask Flo if she had not suffered from the cold, and to grasp Avarmly Mauleverer's outstretched hand. But Flo did not answer his inquiry, she was sinking again into a state of torpor ; and Mauleverer, after the first happy greeting was over, turned to her, full of alarm and anguish.

" What can we do for her, Peacocke ?" he said. " She has been too long exposed to this bitter cold ; I fear it will kill her. I did not like to disturb her as long as there was no hope, but now she must be roused." As he spoke he began to pull off his fur coat, and then wrapped it round her tenderly, not heeding the cold breeze that struck through and through his already chilled frame ; but the two boatmen — hardy, vigorous men, heated from their exertions, — watching this action, looked at each other with a glance of mutual understanding. " The lad will catch his death," said Pierre Bontemps, grimly ; " and it is a brave gar^on who thinks nothing of himself, while he tries to save la petite demoiselle. He is welcome to mv coat, if he will have it." Stooping over the canoe as he spoke, Bon temps lifted out a huge, shaggy fur garment, which he handed to Vyvian, desiring him to put it on.

For a moment the young man re monstrated, saying the boatman Avould want it himself; but Bontemps laughed as he an- SAvered : " For what should I Avant it ? Am I not over-heated already ? And now, in a few minutes, the moon rises, and we will seek to make our way back by her light. It is but a short time, more or less, the coat gives you, my friend," he added, " for if we have reached you with the help of the Holy Virgin and the favour of the current, we can never fight our Avay back with a heavier load up stream ; and to land down here, unless we can reach some A'illage where the little lady can get succour, will not save her life, though it may yours or mine; and by moonlight it is almost impossible even to reach this nearest shore. Two hours ago I should have said it could not be done, but I have learned something since Ave left the loAver toAvn ; for Ave are here, safe and sound, having done what no man ever did before."

Whilst Bontemps was speaking, Jacques Avas fumbling in the bottom of the canoe Avhere his coat Avas lying, and presently, straightening himself up, he produced a small black bottle, which turned out to be full of Upper Canada whiskey, so Avell known throughout the length and breadth of the Dominion. This he tender ed to Vyvian, saying that, if the young lady would but condescend to taste it, she would be better immediately. Very thankfully Mau leverer took the bottle, and persuaded her to take a few drops. The fiery spirit had a wonderful effect on her ; her half-closed eyes opened, and she looked round Avith astonishment. " Where are we ?" she said, " and Avho are these people ? " Then, recognising Captain Peacocke, she added — " Where have you left Maude ? — is she safe ?" " She is, thank God," answered Peacocke ; "safe Avhere I wish we Avere — Avhere I hope, with the assistance of these brave men, we may be yet.

But take some more of the whiskey — it has done you good already, and a little more will drive out the cold for at least a Avhile longer." With an effort she obeyed ; for now that she had recovered her faculties, she found the strong spirit burnt her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow it ; but she knew that this was not a case in which she could hesitate from fear of so slight an inconvenience, and she obeyed at once. When she handed back the bottle to Mau leverer, it was passed round the party, and after they had all refreshed themselves with its contents, Jacques restored it to its hiding place in his coat ; then spreading that garment in the bottom of the canoe, he suggested that the little lady was light, and if she would consent to lie down in the bottom of the canoe, and be covered up with his coat, she Avould not be in their way ; they would lift the light ves sel out of the water, with her Aveight in it, quite easily.

Flo was so much better by this time, that at first she was umvilling to take advantage of this proposal, fearing that it would inconvenience them ; but Mauleverer urged her so ear nestly to accept the offer that at last she agreed to it, and, lying down in the bottom of the canoe, was covered up so snugly in the waterman's buffalo coat that she presently got quite warm, and ia proportion as she revived under the influence of the genial heat, did she become aware of the magnitude of their present danger. Whilst they remained on the large ice-field on Avhich they had been cast aAvay, they were comparatively safe, except from the dangers resulting from exposure to cold ; the floe was so much the largest of any of those about that it crushed and overbore everything that came in its way. As long as it came in collision with no ice of greater size or strength, it was likely to carry them on in safety; but when they should attempt to leave it, and to set off again through the mad chaos in their endeavour to reach the land, then death appeared to each of them to be inevitable.

As they stood there silently — a httle band of brave, resolute men, waiting for the rising moon to shed her light over the scene, before they began their battle Avith their inexorable and mighty foes — it dawned for the first time on Captain Peacocke's mind that though he had prevailed on these men to accompany him, and though he had accomplished the first part of his project, and joined Flo and Mauleverer on the ice, after all he had not yet saved them ; and as far as human judgment could forecast, it was but, as the French boatman had said, two or three deaths the more. Would Maude, hearing of the fate that had overtaken him, realize fully hoAv great was the devotion that had nerved him to throw away life in the fruitless effort to save her sister? Would she sorrow for him bitterly, and keep his memory green in her heart, through long, loveless years?

His trust in her was as great as his love, and he believed she would do so ; while at the thought of her pain, and the remembrance that he might never see her again, tears rose to his eyes, and he turned away from his companions, that they might not see his emotion, nor guess at the despair that caused it. Then they all stood silently gazing at the dark line of the mountains, behind which a bright space in the heavens indicated that the moon was about to rise. Already the darkness was growing light round them, as her beams illuminated the sky, Avhile her disc was still hid den behind the dark fringe of hills. Eagerly they waited — longing for the minute when they might make their perilous attempt, anxious to put an end to this terrible strain of sus pense and endurance by one bold effort, which should be crowned with victory or result in fatal failure.

The brightness behind the hills grew and increased, blinding the stars that shone in its vicinity, and throwing the outline of the mountains into bold relief, revealing the white-set faces of the resolute, waiting band, and showing every minute more clearly the perils with which they were surrounded. Then at length, stealthily, slowly, the white face of the pallid moon crept out from behind the hills, and looked down coldly on the raging river, and the little, lonely group in the midst of a torrent of desolation. " Enfin .'" murmured the French boatmen as they beheld her, glancing round anxiously to see what chance of escape her beams revealed. Looking back at each other after that glance, their eyes met, and they shook their heads, a mute communication by each to the other of his unfavourable opinion of the state of affairs ; then, with a shrug of the shoulders that still further revealed their sentiments, they turned to the canoe, and lifting it and its burden in then stalwart arms, they launched it in a " lead " of open water that reached to one side of the ice field on which they stood.

" Now, messieurs," cried Bontemps, " in with you, and be ready to jump out at a moment's notice ; we cannot make up stream, the way Ave came; we will try to make shorewards doAvn stream in the direction of those lights you see in the distance, to the right. They are the lights of a village ; may the Virgin and all the saints bring us to it in safety!" In another minute they were dancing over the boiling current, propelled along the " lead " of open water by the boatmen's vigorous, skilful arms, eA'ading with miraculous closeness and precision the dangers that threatened them, and slowly advancing to the shore along their devious path. Over and over again they were obliged to jump out on to some tossing, slippery ice block, lifting the canoe and its burden after them ; if at such times the frail bark had received one crush from the sharp-edged ice fragments they must all have perished, and the knoAvledge of this impelled the boatmen to feats of super human courage and activity.

Once it seemed that the canoe would infallibly have been nipped ; they had not perceived the approach of a floe, till it was so near there Avas no possibility of lifting the canoe out in time ; then Bontemps, springing out on the op posite side from that on which the others were landing, made good his footing on the menacing ice-block, and with the paddle, which he held in his hand, planted against the opposite floe, kept the two fragments apart until Jacques and Mauleverer had hfted the canoe from between them. Then, panting and breathless, he rejoin ed his companions, and they waited for another favourable opportunity to launch again. Thus they crept on shorewards — now full of hope, and with hearts beating high in joyful anticipa tion of a happy reunion with their friends ; again despairing and almost worn out, reading in each other's faces the bitter anticipation of ap proaching death.

It was a brave fight for life, a glorious contest of weakness, disciplined by human mind and human will, against blind, mad, chaotic, unreasoning, purposeless force. And weakness, schooled by endurance and courage, won the victory ; exhausted, trembling, drenched, and utterly prostrate, at length they reached the shore, too much overcome, Avhen they felt themselves safe, and had, for the last time, lifted the canoe out of the seething Avaters, to speak one word of congratulation, or raise one cheer of triumph. But all kneeling on the snow-covered ground, grasped each other's hands with the fervent grasp of life-long friendship, and thanked God silently for then great deliverance. VOL. II. G When they rose to walk to the village, the lights from Avhich gleamed brightly before them, Bontemps turned to the canoe that lay by the water's edge.

" Fear not, mon brave" he said, with true French sentiment, " I will return for thee. Never had any man a truer friend than thou hast been to me this day ; never while life lasts will I forget thee." He laid his hand on tbe dumb servant caressingly as he spoke, and turned to follow his companions. None of those together that night ever forgot the French man or his fragile A'essel, to which they owed their deliverance, and which, in after years, formed the pride and idol of the two boatmen, who had taken it through so many perils. Though the village lights gleamed decep tiA'ely near, and though the bright moonlight shone out gaily over the strip of cultivated ground that lined the shore, and that was shut in landward by a belt of dark pine-trees, yet it took the weary wanderers some little time to reach their desired haven of rest.

As they walked they discussed what they had better do, situated as they were. Whether it would be better for them to obtain a sleigh in the village and drive back at once to Point Levey, in the hope that some way of crossing might be found, when once they arrived there, and thus they might return that night and set at rest the minds of their friends ; or whether they should remain in the village that night, and despatch a messenger to convey the news that otherwise they would have conveyed themselves. Flo was anxious to get home as soon as possible, but the others were inclined to think that, exhausted as she was, the journey would be too much for her ; disencumbered of ber extra wraps, and plodding along stoutly through the snow, she declared she was equal to anything, and her wishes ultimately prevailed.

As for the tAvo Frenchmen, they decided at once on remaining in the village for the night; they had friends there, they said, and they would not leave the canoe to fall a prey to any dishonest person who might chance to see it. By morning most likely they could return in it to Quebec, and in the meantime all they desired was that Captain Peacocke, on his return, should send down to Bontemp's wife, C2 Avho lived at such an address in the LoAver Town, and let her know of his safety. " You are married !" exclaimed Peacocke, when he received this injunction ; " I did not know that when I forced you to go with me on such an errand. I OAve you even more than I had supposed." Again the Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. " It was my metier," he said, " she knows Avhat is likely to happen sooner or later ; Avhat difference will it make if it comes a little earlier than Ave counted on ?

Noav Jacques here was braver than I Avas," he continued ; " he is to be married in May, while I have lived with my Avise many years, and we do not think so much of each other as a younger couple. Fleurette will be thinking thou art lost, Jacques ; return to-night with these gentlemen, since they will take thee, and I Avill bring back the canoe to-morroAV." " It will be too much for thee to manage alone," answered Jacques, thoughtfully ; " but since it is true that Fleurette will be grieving if she sees me not returning to-night, I will ask these gentlemen to send to her Avhen they send to your wife, and I will stand by you, Bontemps, until we are back once more safe in the old town ; we have been comrades in too much danger for me to leave thee with the job but half finished." By this time they were walking up the long, straggling village street, and finally Pierre, who seemed to know the place, stopped before a kind of tavern, where he assured his companions they would get either shelter and refreshment for the night, or a sleigh to take them on to Point Levey.

One glance round the house, as they entered it, settled the question of whether they would go or remain. The dirt, the smell of stale tobacco and other abominations, and the intense choking stove heat, completely overpowered them after then long exposure to the keen outside air. They beat a hasty retreat to the door, and standing there, entered into a lively bargaining with the host, a dirty "habitant," for a large sleigh to take them on to Point Levey. At first the host de clared he had no sleigh to give them on hire — that they were all out — then that he had none but a carriole, which of course could hold but one be side the driver ; finally, seeing he had to deal Avith determined men, Avho would doubtless get a sleigh somewhere else in the village, if he would not let them have it, he said it Avas possible he might be able to procure one that would hold four, but that he would have to pay high for it, getting it at such an unseasonable hour, and that he must charge in proportion.

At length all difficulties were overcome, and they set out on their return journey, having vainly endeavoured to procure a cup of tea for Flo, Avho was tired Avith her walk in the deep snoAv, and who Avas beginning to feel the reaction that must infallibly follow the intense mental strain she had passed through. They had a long way to go, and their horse, a.broken doAvn, Avorn-out animal, went along in a weary jot-trot that made the journey seem yet longer ; silence fell over the exhausted party, and the only sounds heard Avere the tinkling of the sleigh bells, and the constant cracking of the driver's Avhip as he urged his jaded steed onward. With real re gret they had taken leave of the two brave men to whom they owed their safety, promising to deliver the messages Avith Avhich they Avere charged ; then they had driven off aud left the watermen to seek out their friends, and rest themselves after the fatigues they hadundergone.

Captain Peacocke sat in front beside the driver, and thought with rapture of the greeting that awaited him from Maude on his return. Surely, if ever a lover had deserved Avell of the Avoman he loved, he was that man— for, powerless as he had been to assist those in danger with his own hands, he had by his example, and by the free offer of his own life as a sacrifice, succeeded in stimulating into action those in whose power it lay to succour the castaways. The two sitting behind, with hand clasped in hand, told their love in the mute eloquence of that firm clasp, and in the silent language of the eye, reA'ealed by the bright moonlight. In the rapture of that hour, when danger had been replaced by safety, and despair by hope, they failed to think of any obstacles to the course of their love, and only thought of their happiness, and of their rescue from the past peril.

To them, indeed, the tired horse, the length of the weary way, and the shadows of the dark pine-groves through which they passed, mattered little. They Avere not disturbed by the burning impatience that consumed Peacocke, Avho was longing to arrive at his destination, that he might relieve Maude from her anxiety, and receive the reward he so richly merited. A suspicion of the state of affairs betAveen the two behind him never dawned upon his mind ; he fancied that Flo kept silence because she was done up, and that her companion was quiet for fear of disturbing her. At length they arrived at the hotel close to the railway-station and ferry at Point Levey ; here, after making inquiries, they found it would be possible to get boatmen to take them across the river. Part of the ice above the toAvn as yet held firm, though now and then pieces would become detached from the main body, and float off down the stream, adding to the block and turmoil down below.

By this firm piece there Avas a comparatively clear " lead," and boats were plying backAvards and forwards along it, carrying passengers to and from the trains. They had not come so far to be daunted by this, which seemed to them a very small risk compared with those they had that day gone through. Very shortly after arriving at Point Levey, they were once more standing safe on the Quebec side, where the news spread like wild-fire through the Lower Town, that the little lady and the gentleman with her had been rescued by Pierre Bontemps and Jacques Le maitre, whose absence at such a crisis, when they should have been there to relate the news themselves, was regarded as very culpable on their part. Driving round through the Lower Toavu to the addresses indicated, the rescued party left the messages they had promised to deliver, and went on with all possible expedition to Miss Philips', where they hoped to be the first to bring the joyous tidings of their safety.

Just as they drove up, they descried a boy leaving the door of the house, and running away quick ly, as though he dreaded their observing him ; a minute after, as they pulled up at the door, they found the servant still standing with it open, gazing vacantly down the street. On seeing them, she threw up her hands with a shrill cry, exclaiming, " Then it is true after all ? Sure, I thought the boy was only hoaxing me when he told me you Avere all back safe and sound. Take care how you go near the ladies, for the joy of it Avill kill them, Avhen they have given you all up for dead." Then, having stood straight in the door- Avay while she was speaking, she moved aside to alloAv them to enter. At the same time Maude Philips, hearing the girl scream, and confident that some news of the lost ones had arrived, appeared pale and grief- Avorn at the head of the stairs.