l//^' I 
 
 THE WITCH 
 
 A CANADIAN LEGEND 
 
 BY 
 
 ABBE H. R. CASORAIN 
 
 Translated from the French 
 
 BY 
 
 
 MONTREAL 
 
 C. O. Bealchbmin di FiLB, Printers and Booksellerg 
 
 256 and 258, 8t. Paul Street 
 
 1B96 
 

 Y.*^.- 
 
 Entered according to act of Parliament of Canada 
 in the year 1875, by Rev. H. R. Casgrain, at the 
 office of the Hon. Minister of /vgricultiire, Ottawa. 
 
 The undersigned have acquired from Rev. H. R. 
 Casgrahi the proi)erty and the right of translation 
 ot the present work. 
 
 ('. 0. BEAUCHEMIN & Fils, 
 /^ y\ ^ 0n ^ . iW^ditors & Booksellers, 
 
 C^5Qf{fi\H^i4 t\ Montreal. 
 
 
THE WITCH. 
 
 1st PART. 
 
 THE NIGHT-TRAVELLERS. 
 
 It was an autumn night, dark and foggy. 
 
 A bark-canoe was bring silently launched 
 from the shore of Quebec, some paces from 
 the part where the old church of the lower 
 town rises. 
 
 On the sand of the shore, a man was 
 standing, holding a dark lantern in his hand, 
 whose luminous cone, directed towards the 
 waves, threw a light on a canoe manned 
 by four persons. 
 
?• THE WITCH. 
 
 * 
 
 By means of the pale light which shone 
 from the lantern, it was easy to see that he 
 who was seated at the stern of the canoe, was 
 a Canadian hunter. 
 
 He was clothed with a blue striped shirt of 
 fine gray stuff, and wore on his head a 
 beaver \m cap. 
 
 According to the invariable custom of 
 voyageurs, he had taken care, previous to 
 taking his seat on the narrow end of the 
 canoe, to place under him his cap, carefully 
 folded. 
 
 A red sash, whose fringes waved over his 
 left leg, was lied round his loins. 
 
 His feet were shod with Indian boots, of 
 which the overlap of sheepskin enveloped 
 the bottom of his breeches, and fastened 
 below the knee by thongs of eel-skin. 
 
 He was a man of dry temperament, but 
 bony frame, and very tall. 
 
THE WITCH. 
 
 The sleeves of his waistcoat, turned up to 
 the elbow, displayed muscles of steel, which 
 revealed uncommon strength. 
 
 His arms, of excessive length, were covered 
 with tatooings representing different objects, 
 amongst which was noticed the figure of a 
 canoe. 
 
 The appearance of his face, burnt by the 
 sun ; and of a remarkable regularity, seemed 
 to have been carved in a block of Florentine 
 bronze. 
 
 His beard was black, whilst his hair, 
 which he had allowed to grow for a long 
 time, fell negligently over his shoulders, was 
 of a fair auburn color 
 
 A great appearance of kindness reflected 
 itself over all his physiognomy. 
 
 His eyes, which he kept continually half 
 closed, gave to him, at first, a dull appear- 
 ance ; but they sparkled with a rare intelli- 
 gence, enchased under their black and thick 
 
THE WITCH. 
 
 eyebrows, when he was under the influence 
 of a lively emotion. 
 
 Beyond this, there was nothing remark- 
 able in his person, unless it was an appear- 
 ance of apathy and carelessness, which the 
 slowness of his movements led one naturally 
 to suppose. 
 .'* His extraordinary skilful ness in manag- 
 
 ing a canoe, caused to be given to him the 
 name ot " The Canoer." 
 
 The wavering light of the lantern illumin- 
 ated at intervals another personage seated 
 at the head of the canoe, whose dress was 
 f sufficient to designate as belonging to the 
 
 race of redskins. 
 
 He was a splendid man, with the eye of an 
 eagle, thin lips, and boldly curved, a high 
 forehead, shining with intelligence and 
 honesty, and such an irreproachable figure 
 that Phideas or Canova might copy it with 
 advantage, as a type of a man in a natural 
 state. 
 
THE WITCH. 5 
 
 According to Indian custom, his hair was 
 flattened down, with the exception of a tuft 
 attached to the top of his head, with feathers 
 of falcon, bustard and wild goose, which 
 took the form of the crest of an ancient 
 helmet. 
 
 He wore a sort of cloak, bordered with 
 rose and lilac, made of caribou skin, orange- 
 coloiT,* which the Indians alone know how 
 to render so silken and soft. 
 
 Mocassins ornamented with glass beads 
 and porcupine quills, coloured red and blue 
 covered his feet. 
 
 The warriors of his tribe called him Misti 
 hhin^pik, f that is to say, " The Great 
 
 • The Indians obtained this colour, while passing 
 the skins through the smoke of their cabins, and 
 the white colour, by rubbing them with the 
 animal's brains. 
 
 t This expression, as also the other words which 
 we employ in the course of this story, belongs to 
 the Chippewayan dialect, which is derived from 
 the Algonican language. 
 
6 THE WTTCir. 
 
 Adder," on account of bis extraordinary 
 suppleness, and from the figure of that 
 reptile tattooed on his body. 
 
 The purple reflections from the lantern 
 also-showed the profiles of two other persons 
 seated in the middle of the canoe. 
 
 It was that of a young woman, and child 
 of from eight to ten years. 
 
 A deep melancholy, together with anxiety, 
 sbowed itself on the countenance, full of 
 energy, of Mrs Houel. 
 
 Thus was the young woman named. 
 
 The nobleness of her appearance and the 
 elegance of her clothes revealed a person of 
 distinction. . ... 
 
 At the moment the canoe was crossing the 
 shade cast forth by the light, she was 
 occupied in spreading a shawl over the 
 shoulders of her child, in order to preserve 
 him from the humidity of the night. 
 
THE WITCH. 
 
 
 When the canoe had entirely disappeared 
 in the darkness, the man with the lantern, 
 slowly drew up his boat. 
 
 " The deuce 1 " murmured he to himself, 
 ** madam must have great courage to embark 
 " at such a night." 
 
 ** I well know that Mr Houel has been 
 '' seriously wounded." 
 
 *' But what necessity was there to hasten 
 ** and expose herself thus to an evident 
 *' danger ? " 
 
 *' Could she not at least have waited until 
 " to morrow morning." 
 
 " But scarcely had she learned the fatal 
 " news, when she did not even take time to 
 " pack her trunks." 
 
 " Ah 1 1 greatly fear that some mibfortune 
 ** will happen to her." 
 
 ** And then this massacre of three men by 
 ** a party of Iroquois, who came down, the 
 
 ^ 
 
8 . THE WITCH. 
 
 ' day before yesterday, into the Isle of 
 *' Orleans, and scalped a woman and four 
 "children." 
 
 *' They will be very fortunate, if they do 
 " not meet with some of those enraged 
 *' devils." 
 
 Whilst making those reflections, he dis- 
 appeared behind the angle of a house, and 
 returned to the darkness. 
 
 THE LAMP OF THE SANCTUARY 
 
 However, the frail skiff, driven forward by 
 two vigorous paddles, was going down the 
 river with rapidity. 
 
 Light as foam, it glides without noise, 
 over the waves, leaving only a pale track 
 behind its stern. 
 
 The travellers preserved silence for some 
 time; and nothing was troubling the repose 
 of nature around them, unless it was the 
 
THE WITCH. 
 
 rippling of the water against the sides of the 
 light canoe, the monotonous song, and fall 
 of the waves under the paddles. - 
 
 Soon the darkness of night blended the 
 vague tints of the various buildings of the 
 town into a uniform shade ; and they could 
 no longer distinguish anything behind them, 
 except a line undulating and cutting into 
 darkness on the sky, the surrounding of 
 Cape Diamond. 
 
 From one time to another, the rippling of 
 the wave on the pebbles on the shore, or the 
 grating of a weather-cock, agitated by the 
 sudden force of the night wind, still reached 
 their ears. - ' 
 
 But soon, all these noises ceased. 
 
 It was the solemn hour of night, when 
 everything in nature reposes, and carnivo- 
 rous animals having returned from their 
 nightly hunts, the birds hidden under the 
 
10 THE WITCH. 
 
 leaf, and man fatigued with the care of 
 daily labours. 
 
 The distant torrent even seems to subdue 
 its sobs ; and under the expiring breeze of 
 night, the forest exhales from its immense 
 organ only a feeble sigh. 
 
 In the mean time the young woman, her 
 eyes turned towards the sleepy town, was 
 attentively contemplating a glimmer, almost 
 imperceptible and immoveable, on the coast. 
 
 One might say that she dreaded the 
 moment when she would see it entirely dis- 
 appear, there was in her looks such great 
 anxiety. 
 
 It was not the light from the lantern, 
 which had disappeared a long time since. 
 
 The faint light which had just sparkled 
 on the edge of her eyelid, where a tear was 
 trembling, was bursting out from a heart 
 both mysterious as well as consoling. 
 
 It was the pale clearness of the lamp of 
 the sanctuary of the old church, virginal 
 
THE WITCH. 11 
 
 sacrifice, the touching emblem of eternal 
 pmyer. 
 
 * * 
 
 While she was contemplating this chaste 
 star, her mouth murmured a fervent prayer. 
 
 The prayer I invisible vestal that watches 
 unceasingly ; a star in front, in the temple, 
 without blemish, of the pious soul. 
 
 The whole of her life seemed to have 
 passed into her eyes, so much ardour was 
 there in her glance ; and the mystical ray 
 just running lightly over her eye-balls, with 
 its golden wand, seemed like the glance of 
 God concealed under the adorable masks, 
 hearing favourably her petition, and casting 
 forth a reflection of hope into her mournful 
 mind. 
 
 Oh ! the poor woman, she had indeed 
 great need of heavenly support, at the time 
 of facing so many dangers among the am- 
 bushes of night 1 
 
12 THE WITCH. 
 
 At last the darkness invading the weak 
 ridge of light, from all parts, extinguished 
 it under a sheet of obscurity. 
 
 * 
 
 — ** Oh I it is very dark," the child says 
 to his mother, in an undertone, after a long 
 silence, '* I cannot even see your face." 
 
 *' If I was not so near you, my dear little 
 ** mamma, I believe that I should be 
 "afraid." 
 
 *' Why did we set out so promptly ? 
 
 " I was sleeping so confortably in my bed, 
 *' when you came to awaken me." 
 
 " Shall we soon arrive ? " 
 
 And the child, seized with an involuntary 
 trembling, instinctively drew near to his 
 mother, as if to seek shelter from the pham- 
 toms which night caused to dance before 
 the imagina;ion of childhood. 
 
THE WITCH. 18 
 
 * 
 4c •■* 
 
 
 The young woman uttered a sigh, and 
 without replying to his questions: 
 
 Lie down on my knees, Harold," said 
 
 she to him, you need to go to sleep again." 
 
 *' Take a good sleep, while it is dark, I 
 
 " will awaken you when it is day, and you 
 
 *' will see the beautiful sun rise. 
 
 " Then you will no longer be afraid." 
 The child obeyed, without saying any- 
 thing, and placed ,his head on his mother's 
 knees. .■■■....::, . 
 
 " Mamma," murmured he in a low voice, 
 after some minutes, " do you see down there, 
 " that great white woman who is walking on 
 " the water ? She is advancing towards us, 
 " and making a sign for me to go to her." 
 " Do you hear, mamma, how she sings ?" 
 '' Do you understand what she says ? " 
 And the child pointed with his finger, to 
 the phantom which he believed he saw. 
 
14 THE WITCH. 
 
 *' Mamma," he continued in a trenibl'ng 
 voice, " I am afraid ! I am afraid 1 Let us 
 " return home. She is coming to take me 
 " away." 
 
 And the child hid his head on his mother's 
 knees, wile stifling a sob. 
 
 " Sleep then, my child, fear nothing ; there 
 *' is not any danger." 
 
 " That great white spot which you see 
 ** down there, is not a phantom, but the 
 *' Falls of Montmorency." 
 
 "The noise which you hear, is that of the 
 ** water falling from the mountain." 
 
 Sleep quietly ; your mamma is watching 
 " near you " . . - 
 
 " Ho-ho ! " the Indian suddenly inter- 
 rupted, uttering from his breast this gut- 
 tural exclamation, common to Indians to 
 express surprise and astonishment. '^ Matshi 
 Skouhul** 
 
THE WITCH. 15 
 
 These words spoken in Indian language, 
 pronounced in an undertone of voice, seemed 
 to paralyze the arms of the Canadian 
 hunter. 
 
 For some instants his paddle remained 
 motionless in his hands. 
 
 Then, on a signal from the Indian, each 
 commence to row vigorously, but whith the 
 lest possible noise. 
 
 HALLUCINATIONS. - 
 
 — " Is your child now asleep? " asked the 
 hunter at last, a long silence. 
 
 —"Yes," replied Mrs Houel, " he is so tired 
 " from having been disturbed this night, 
 " that he went to sleep in a few seconds." 
 
 — " Well I madam, he replied in a solemn 
 voice, with his habitual slowness, and 
 bending forward, towards the middle of the 
 canoe, so as to be able to speak lower, and 
 
16 THE WITCH. 
 
 make himself heard, " now that I believe 
 *' the danger is past, I must tell you that, by 
 " a happy chance, or special protection of 
 " Providence, we have just escaped from an 
 *' enemy quite as dangerous as the bands of 
 '* Iroquois, who have been roaming on our 
 " shores for some weeks past." 
 
 " If the circumstance had happened to 
 *' any body but yourself, I would have care- 
 " fully avoided revealing this incident ; but 
 " I know the firmness of your character, 
 " and your desire to have nothing concealed 
 *' from you." 
 
 — " You are perfectly right," Canoer," con- 
 tinue." 
 
 — " You believed perhaps that, for an 
 ** instant, your child was the sport of a 
 " dream, when he pointed at that strange 
 " figure, of which we only got a glimpse in 
 " the darkness ; but be well assured that it 
 " was not an illusion." 
 
 " Children sometimes penetrate secrets 
 
THE WITCH. 17 
 
 ' which we others, men, are incapable of 
 ' diving into. 
 
 ** The innocence of that age brings it near 
 ' to the world of spirits, and reveals to it 
 ' often dangers which are invisible to our 
 ' sight." . 
 
 *' If I had known, some hours ago, what 
 ' the good angel of this child caused him to 
 ' see and hear, I never would have ventured 
 ' to go out this night." 
 
 — " How, " Canoer ' I " replied Mrs Houel, 
 ' is it possible that you permit yourself to 
 ' be trammeled by wretched superstition; 
 ' you, an old hunter, who have passed all 
 ' your life in the woods, and have braved 
 
 * so many dangers in the midst of Indians ? " 
 " Tiuly, I no longer recognize you ; never 
 
 * should I have imagined that you could 
 ' have been capable of such a weakness." 
 
 " This pretended phantom, has it not 
 
 " entirely a natural cause? " 
 
 — " Madam," replied the b unter, in a grave 
 
 2 
 
18 THE WITCH. 
 
 tone, " did you believe, for a moment, that 
 " this apparition was merely the reflection 
 '' of the falls, through the darkness ? " 
 
 " Do you believe that at the distance we 
 " were from it, this sheet of water could be 
 " visible, on such a dark night ? " - 
 
 " Ah ! trust to the experience of an old 
 " wood-ranger, whom the solitude and 
 " desert have taught a science which is not 
 ** to be found in books." 
 
 '* Since twenty years of age, I have led a 
 " life in the woods, I ought to have acquired 
 " some knowledge of the phenomena of 
 " nature." ;^ > 
 
 '• The noise of waters, winds, or wild ani- 
 " mals is not unknown to me ; the thousand 
 '* voices of the desert are familiar to me ; and 
 " I can imitate them all, when I want to." 
 
 *' Very often, at night time, in the bosom 
 " of forests, near lakes or rivers, sometimes 
 " during the winter-hunts, I have passed 
 "long hours in studying the different aspects 
 
Till-: WITCH. 19 
 
 " of darkness and light, and the uncertain 
 *' twinkling of the stars, by the flame of the 
 " wood -pile, by a bright moonlight, or 
 " indeed on a dark and foggy night like 
 " this one." 
 
 *' There are but few objects, be it night or 
 " day-time, which can long deceive my eye- 
 " sight, trained by long experience." 
 
 " Well ! madam, I tell you that this airy 
 " glimmer neither comes from heaven nor 
 ''earth." 
 
 — " Might it not perhaps be the fire of 
 " some Indian camp covered by the mist? " 
 
 — "You have never confounded the rays of 
 " your lamp with the clearness of the moon, 
 " is not so, madam ? " 
 
 " Well ! it would be just as difficult for 
 " me to confound this strange glimmer with 
 *' the fire of an Indian encampment." 
 
 — " A superstitious fear has troubled your 
 " vision," replied Mrs Houel, with a mo- 
 vement of impatience and incredulity. 
 
20 THE WITCH. 
 
 * 
 
 This re])r()ach pi'iued to the quick, the 
 brave Ctinoer, whofor a moment preserved 
 fcilence. 
 
 Then, in a voice, trembling with emotion. 
 
 — " Madam, a man who has passed half of 
 " his life, exposed every day to be attacked 
 " and scalped by fierce enemies, who has 
 " served as a guide in ten expeditions 
 " against the five cantons, who has killed 
 " with his own hand, more than sixty Tro- 
 " quoif«, who, in order to save his friend 
 '• MUhi-Tiihinepik^ has seen himself twice, 
 " without trembling, fastened to a post, 
 " ready to be burnt alive, who has heard the 
 '* the war-song whilst they pulled oft' two ot 
 " his fingers from their phalanxes, after 
 " having smokoil thorn for him in a pipe, 
 *' who lauglicd at the torments, when they 
 " put round his neck a collar of red hot 
 " hatchets, ot which he still preserves the 
 
THE WITCH. 21 
 
 " scars, this man has a light to believe 
 '' hinipelf to be little accessible to fear. " 
 
 " But although you doubt my word," 
 question Tshinepik. 
 
 "You heard the exclamation of this 
 ' Indian, at the same moment as your child 
 
 * pointed to that mysterious object, which 
 
 * only appeared to our eyes as a light 
 
 * 
 
 ' vapour." 
 
 " The words of the child have been for 
 ' him a disclosure of light ; and if you had 
 ' understood the Indian language, the 
 ' words ' Matshi Skoueou ', which escaped 
 
 * from him, you would have had it all re- 
 ' vealed to you, without having the necessity 
 ' for offering a word ; for you have, without 
 ' doubt, heard speak of those whom the 
 ' Whites call '' The Lady with the flags " *,, 
 
 *" The Lady with the flags (sedge). So called, 
 from her having the repute of weariug a wi*eath of 
 these leaves or flowers on her head* 
 
22 THE WITCH. 
 
 " an'^. whom the Indians know by the name 
 " of—" Matshi Skou^oti" that is to say, the 
 " bad woman, or the witch. 
 
 * * 
 
 At this well known name, Mrs Houel, 
 although gifted with a rare energy of cha- 
 racter, could not restrain an involuntary 
 shudder. • 
 
 For it was at a period when superstition 
 was so spread and lively, that educated 
 people even, who did not believe the popular 
 fictions, were unable, while listening to 
 them, to help having a secret dread. 
 
 And in such a country as Canada was then, 
 covered with immense unexplored forests, 
 peopled by foreign races, and scarcely 
 known, all was calculated to foster and 
 foment superstitious ideas. 
 
 In fact, thought she, I have heard speak 
 of this celebrated witch, who has acquired 
 such a great influence over the Iroquois 
 
THE WITCH. 23 
 
 tribes, and of whom the missionary -fathers 
 have related such marvellous things. . 
 
 They do not doubt but that she has com- 
 munications with the evil spirit, and that 
 she works by its influence, inconceivable 
 wonders. * •. 
 
 It is said that she came to raise up the 
 
 * There is hardly a doubt but that the jugglery 
 practised among the Indians had a diabolical cha- 
 racter. It is a fact which has often been proved 
 by eye-witnesses worthy of belief. This is the 
 manner in which the Rev. Fr.ther Arnaud, a mis- 
 sionary of Labrador, expresses himself: *' By the 
 power of their will '* says he, " the cabin (of 
 " the jugglers) is put into motion as a turning 
 " table, and it answers by raps or jumps, the 
 " questions which are put to it." '* Well ! these beat 
 " all the inventors of table-turning and spirit- 
 '* rapping ! The jugglers of the infidel Indians can 
 " hold themselves as masters, and show more sur- 
 " prising things than those have ever known. AH 
 *' our great magnetizers would be equally surprised 
 " to see with what facility these jugglers use 
 " the magnetic fluid, to which I would hero wil- 
 " lingly give the name of diabolical fluid.** 
 
24 THE WITCH. 
 
 Five Nations against the colony, that the 
 ambassadors last sent to the Governor, under 
 the pretext of concluding peace, was only 
 infamous treason plotted, in order to lull 
 the colonists, and that they had a project, 
 at that time, to massacre every French 
 person, even to the last one. 
 
 Could it be true, as it is said, that at the 
 head of a party of Iroquois, she roamed 
 about, £^t the head of a party of Iroquois, to 
 seize some important prisoner, and them to 
 sacrifice him to th ir god, Areshoui ; and 
 thus propitiate him, in regard to the new 
 war? 
 
 THE MIRAGE OF THE LAKE. 
 
 After having, for some instants, turned 
 these reflections over in her mind : 
 *' Canawish I * said she, adressing the im- 
 
 * An Indian expression, similar in meaning to 
 cou) rade." 
 
THE WITCH. 25 
 
 passionate Indian, who had listened to the 
 previous conversation, without speaking a 
 word, what do you say, as to the presages 
 of the ' Canoer ? ' '» 
 
 The Indian seemed to pay no attention to 
 this question, and did not make any reply. 
 
 "Why does not the 'Great Adder 'answer, 
 '* when the daughter of the pale- faces speaks 
 "tohim?" 
 
 There was yet another moment of silence. 
 
 At last the Indian, in his language filled 
 with metaphor, said : 
 
 " The ' Mirage of the Lake' which sleeps 
 " on the knees of the snow-drop is more 
 ** beautiful than the white lily of the great 
 *• waters." 
 
 " The lake, where the oats and reeds of 
 ** the shore grow, is less limpid than his 
 " eyes, and his glance is more brillant than 
 *' the evening star." 
 
26 THE WITCH. 
 
 " His lips are tWO bunches of ripe atraw- 
 ' berries, and his teeth are snow-flakes. 
 
 " The twigs, in spring time, are less 
 ' flexible than his hair." 
 
 " And so, when the * Snow- drop ' contem- 
 
 * plates the young pale-face, the smile is on 
 ' her lips, and her eyes are full of tears of 
 'tenderness." 
 
 " Could the * Snow-drop ' then be tired 
 ' with the life of her child ? " 
 
 " Does she not know that, in order to 
 ' evoke that which the young ear of the 
 ' Mirage of the Lake has heard, and what 
 ' his eyes have seen, it suffices to pronounce 
 
 * its name ? " 
 
 — *' Oh I if there is nothing more than that 
 
 * to fear," " replied Mrs Houel, '* smiling, 
 ' you can speak ; the * Lady with the flags ' 
 ' is not a spirit, that she could hear, from 
 ' the depth of the woods, the voice of ' The 
 'Great Adder,' when his word3 scarcely 
 
 * reach the ear of * Snow-drop.* " 
 
THE WITCH. 27 
 
 9|C O 
 
 " Since my sister asks it replied the 
 Indian, " the ' Great Adder ' will speak ; but 
 "if his words bring forth the ' MatshiSbmeou,^ 
 " the ' Snow -drop ' will only be able to 
 ** blame herself." 
 
 — " The daughter of the pale- faces fears 
 *• nothing ; her heart is as bold as that of 
 »• iBhin^pick 1 " 
 
 --** When the * Snow -drop ' knows that the 
 *• * Matshi Shouhu would be ready to set at 
 'Miberty al" the white captives among the 
 ** Iroquois, in order to be able to place her 
 ** hand on the child of a chief of the pale 
 " faces, such as the * Mirage of the Lake,' 
 • * will her heart be equally brave ? " 
 
 * * ■ 
 
 At tbifl terrible menace, Mrs Houel 
 trembled, and instinctively pressed to her 
 heart the charming child, who inconscious 
 of danger slept quietly on her knees. 
 
28 THE WITCH. 
 
 He appeared not even to be aware of this 
 Fudden movement ; for the contact of that 
 soft hand was familiar to him. 
 
 And what is there to be feared, indeed, 
 the child being in the sanctuary of maternal 
 love? 
 
 Does the swallow in its nets, fear the wind 
 or storm? .. 
 
 Is not the child between the arms of his 
 mother, the fresh dew-drod hidden in the 
 corolla of the lily ? 
 
 Does it not seem that such innocence and 
 purity ought to escape misfortune? 
 
 A SPIRIT. 
 
 Hardly had Mrs Houel yielded to this 
 impulse, when she blushed at her weakness. 
 
 Ashamed of having given way to a super- 
 stitious idea, she added in a firm tone of 
 voice : 
 
THE WITCH. 29 
 
 *' While near the ' Great Adder ' and the 
 " ' Canoer, ' the ' Snow-drop ' does not 
 '* tremble for the days of her child. My 
 " brother may speak." 
 
 —''Your two friends are ready to give their 
 " lives for you," replied the Indian; " they 
 '• will die, sooner than allow any enemy to 
 " approach your child ; but who could 
 " struggle against that one who has com- 
 '' maud over spirits? " 
 
 The Indian then recited everything that 
 was marvellous, with which the Indian 
 imagination surrounded the celebrated 
 witch. 
 
 Often the "Canoer," carried away by his 
 habit of talking, interrupted him, in order 
 to speak of fresh prodigies with which the 
 Whites embellished the Indian legend. 
 
 The " Matshi Skoueou," the popular tradi- 
 tions say, is in communication with the evil 
 spirits. 
 
30 THE WITCH. 
 
 Her power equals that of the syren, 
 with twisted hair, which discloses on the 
 shores of the southern seas, the beds of 
 golden placers, and banks of pearls. 
 
 She has never been seen by day light. 
 
 They say that, in the dark, her sea-green 
 eye-balls sparkle like live coal, and that the 
 sinister and wan light which they dart forth, 
 fascinates like the serpent or the abyss. 
 
 A river of hair, as black as a crow's wing, 
 inundates her head, always crowned with 
 flags, and gushes out in cascades over her 
 shoulders. 
 
 Her copper-coloured complexion, her 
 scaly skin, the sardonic smile which 
 shrivels her violet lips, makes one shudder, 
 even to the marrow of the bones. 
 
 She raises up, at each movement, a dust 
 of bluish sparks which dance around her, 
 drawing in the shade, strange profiles. 
 
 An incombustible salamander, she moves 
 with impunity, through the flame of quick. 
 
THE WITCH. 31 
 
 clear fires, without the fire-brands daring 
 even to catch the flaps of her dress. 
 
 * 
 
 The nightly breeze, the passing cloud 
 faithful messengers, bring to her, the sound 
 of the voice of those who invoke her. 
 
 At her shriek, the owls awake, opening 
 their sleepy eyes, going forth from crevices 
 of rocks and ruins and answering to her call. 
 
 At the hour of midnight, she descends on 
 a spinning star, or on a ray of the moon, and 
 appears in the sheet of the cascades, in the 
 shade of darkness, on the silent sand of the 
 downs, or among the vapours of the valleys. 
 
 This is the hour which she chooses, in 
 order to accomplish her mysteries, for it is 
 the hour when the breeze lulls itself asleep 
 on the summit of the trees, and when every- 
 thing in nature reposes ; this is the hour 
 
32 THE WITCH. 
 
 when the wild fires dance on the pale grass 
 of the prairies, in the glades, or upon the 
 verdant waters of the swamps ; it is the 
 hour when the bats, in crowds, fly with their 
 transparent wings, and cling with their 
 slender claws, to the corners of rocks; it is 
 the hour when one no longer hears any 
 noise whatever, except the croaking of frogs 
 and toads, with fixed eyes, and the mournful 
 hou hou of the night-birds. - 
 
 It is also the hour when the *' Lady with 
 the Flags " descends among the reeds of the 
 river, on the banks of lagoons, to gather the 
 flowers of the flag, with which she crowns 
 her head, and to make her invocations 
 to the Great Spirit. 
 
 Although not a breath of wind ruffles the 
 air, there is seen to tremble the trunks of 
 algas and alders, which she disturbs in 
 order to plunge into the water of the river ; 
 and shortly her head is seen to appear, like 
 a meteor, among the rushes and lilies. 
 
THE WITCH. 33 
 
 • ♦ * 
 
 At the moment the new moon rises, airy 
 anddistant murmurs, mixed with the mono- 
 tonous croaking of frogs, ascend from the 
 bosom of aquatic phints. 
 
 Supernatural voices which seem to surge 
 up from the bottom of the waters ; myste- 
 rious incantations, at first indistinct, then 
 rising gradually, and extending over the 
 waves melodiously, by turns, like the voices 
 of children, or subdued like the evening 
 breeze among the thickets ; but sometimes 
 also loud and terrible, like the roaring of a 
 a wounded bear, a peal of thunder, or 
 cataracts. 
 
 Sometimes also, when the equinoctial gale 
 roars and twirls up the forest by its roots, 
 she places her foot on the slope of the vapour, 
 swifter than that of the driven mist, with 
 which the mountain then surrounds ita 
 shoulder of stone. 
 
34 THE WITCH. 
 
 It is said that, during these freaks of 
 nature, she is seen to jump on the silver 
 crest of the foamy waves, and that then the 
 lightnings rend the sides of the clouds 
 angrily, in order to twist into aureolas over 
 her head. 
 
 '* Children ! " the old men say, " do not 
 " you go in the evening at the rising of the 
 " new moon, on the banks of the river." 
 
 ** Squatted down behind the green fringe 
 " of the reeds, the " Lady with the flags " 
 " watches for little children ; and her songs 
 " fascinate and entrance, like the glance of 
 " the reptile fixed on its prey." 
 
 *' Oh ! what a misfortune to him who falls 
 " into her hands I " 
 
 *' The fate which is reserved for him, is 
 
 " more terrible than that of the prisoner 
 
 garrotted at the post of punishment." 
 
 " The tortures of fire, the flames of wood 
 ** thrust into the flesh, the burning cinder 
 
 " on the scalped head, the necklace of red 
 
THE WITCH. 35 
 
 " hot axes, do not frighten the brave hearted 
 warrior." 
 
 " He sings his death song, when his 
 enemiea rend his flesh in flames." 
 
 " But the " Matshi Skoueou " invents 
 " tortures otherwise atrocious." 
 
 " It is in the midst of horrible agonies of 
 " fright and terror, that she causes the death 
 " of her prey." 
 
 *' And while the victim's heart trembles 
 •'and palpitates like that of the timid 
 '' hare, when his hair stands on end, his 
 " eyes dilate with terror, his palid lips 
 " tremble like the aspen-leaf, his teeth 
 " shake against each other, in his mouth, 
 " his bones creak with horror, and his limbs 
 " shake like the twigs of trees twisted by the 
 " tempest, the " Lady with the flags " is in 
 " ecstasy and she relishes, like a song, these 
 " lamentable groans ; for she hears the voice 
 " of the dark spirit which reveals to her its 
 " secrets, through the death-rattles and 
 " despair." 
 
36 THE WITCH. 
 
 LIKE AN IVORY LUTE. 
 
 After this recital, pronounced in a voice 
 moved by a sort of religious enthusiasm, 
 the Indian and " Canoer " preserved a 
 moment of silence. 
 
 — That is indeed in reality what the 
 missionnaries state, thought Mrs Houel, 
 with anxiety. 
 
 — ** Heavens! if my dear Harold ever 
 " came to " — 
 
 ** Oh my God I protect my child I 
 
 — " Well " rejoined the Indian, "is the 
 " heart of the "Snow-drop " as brave now?" 
 
 — " I shall have faith in all these mys- 
 *' teries when I have witnessed them", 
 answered Mrs Houel, in a voice which 
 Bought in vain to reassure herself. 
 
 " You have never yet seen her, neither 
 *' you, nor the " Canoer " ; it is not so?" 
 
THE WITCH. 37 
 
 
 — " Madam," replied the Canadian hunter, 
 with his habitual slowness, and solemn tone, 
 which denoted a profound conviction, "one 
 " evening, I was going up the Saguenay, I 
 "met"— 
 
 He suddenly stopped. *" 
 
 A hollow snorting, like the deep breathing 
 of the porpoise, when he comes to the sur- 
 face of the water to respire, was heard in 
 front of the canoe. 
 
 A man who had not been accustomed to 
 uncivilized life, would not have paid any 
 attention to this noise. 
 
 But the experienced ear of the " Canoer " 
 could not mistake it. 
 
 It was indeed the voice of Tshin6pik. who, 
 in order to make known to him some danger, 
 without giving the a^arm, imitated the 
 breathing of the porpoise. 
 
38 THE WITCH. 
 
 
 The hunter listened an instant, and 
 seemed to hear, in the distance, a strange 
 and hollow sound, at first hardly perceptible, 
 then approaching nearer, becoming more 
 distinct, and extending over the waves, in 
 soft undulations, then becoming distant, 
 oscillating again, and ceasing, an instant 
 after. 
 
 For a long time, these mysterious vibra- 
 tions, which seemed sometimes to descend 
 from the clouds, at other times to rise up 
 from the depths of caverns in the sea, 
 or escape from a large sea-shell, or pass 
 through the opening of the woods, fluttered 
 in intermittent notes, amidst the solemn 
 silence of night; only reaching his ear at 
 long intervals, and in weak scraps. 
 
 He at first believed it to be an illusion ; 
 but after some minutes of silence, the same 
 odd melody, but more distinct and nearer.. 
 
THE WITCH. 89 
 
 — " Well I madam," whispered the " Ca- 
 ncer," '* do you hear ? " Do you now believe 
 " the words of a man who has not learnt 
 " what he knows, in books? 
 
 And continuing as if he was talking to 
 
 himself: '* Midnight I this evening, the 
 
 *' new moon and the " 
 
 " Bah 1 " replied Mrs Houel, ** the cry of 
 " some seal on the rocks " * 
 
 The '* Cancer " shrugged his shoulders and 
 waited, without answering. 
 
 — " You were right," at last replied Mrs 
 Houel, after some time of silence, ** I now 
 " hear a voice very clearly ; but is it a 
 " voice? I have never heard anything so 
 " extraordinary." 
 
 *' I know that the Indians are renowned 
 " for the beauty of their voices, but these 
 " magic sounds have nothing human, yet 
 
 * It is said that the cry of the seal imitatei 
 exactly the crying of a child. 
 
40 THE WITCH. 
 
 " they captivate and entrance with an irres- 
 " istible attraction." 
 
 „, * * 
 
 In fact it was a sort of fantastic incan- 
 tation, which borrowed from the eombre 
 majesty of those solemn hours, and from its 
 unknown origin, a singular character of the 
 marvellous and supernatural ; a sort of 
 chant, sometimes plaintif and dreamy, 
 drowned by mystery and melancoly, undu- 
 lating over the surge, floatingin the atmos- 
 phere and losing itself in the mist; endless 
 sighs, echoes of angels' voices, dreams of 
 children in the cradle, song of the curlews ; 
 or indeed lively and light, cut off in sharp 
 accents of sound, rising and descending in 
 aerial spirals, groups of frolicsome notes 
 holding by the hand ; and then suddenly sad 
 and mournful, like the wind of autumn, 
 which brays in the arbours, like the funeral 
 hymn over the tombs ; or an unheard of 
 flourish of trumpets. 
 
THE WITCH. 41 
 
 ■..'i ' ' lit 
 
 " I quite distinguish some words," Mrs 
 Houel said in a whisper, to the " Canoer," 
 " but of a language which is quite unknown 
 *' to me." 
 
 — " I understand them, but it is not pos- 
 " sible for me to translate them to you ; the 
 " meaning is more in the song, than in the 
 *' words..." - 
 
 Two sudden flashes, followed by a double 
 explosion, suddenly interrupted the evo- 
 ciitions of the unknown sibyl ; and at the 
 same time, two bullets coming from the 
 opposite side to that whence they heard this 
 mysterious music, one of which passed 
 through the bow of the canoe, a few inches 
 only from the canoer whistled by the ears of 
 the travellers. 
 
 A blast of terror seemed to roll in the 
 
42 THE WITCH. 
 
 atmosphere, with the echo of the double 
 explosion, repercussed by the clouds, and 
 both banks of the river. 
 
 And then everything returned to a silence 
 so deep, that one might have said that the 
 river had always been completely a desert. 
 
 THE CHASE. ' 
 
 — "Seven Iroquois in the canoe," whis- 
 pered the Tshin^pik'; " I had time to 
 " count them by the light of the explosion." 
 
 ** Comrade, we are going to be placed 
 " between two fires." 
 
 ** On the right, the Iroquois ; on the left, 
 •' the " Matshi Skouhu " and her compa- 
 " nions." 
 
 ** There is only one way, replied the 
 " Canoer," with the presence of mind, and 
 promptitude of decision which calmness and 
 coolness give, the fruit of a long habit of 
 
THE WITCH. 43 
 
 life in the midst of dangers ; " it is by lea- 
 " ding our enemies astray. " 
 
 — ** Scie,* Tshin6pik, we will go back for a 
 ** time then we shall gain the bank by means 
 " of our paddles. 
 
 — " Madam, restrain the crying of your 
 " child ; we must be silent, so as to conceal 
 
 " our course." 
 
 — " Lie down at the bottom of the canoe, 
 " you run less risk of being hit by the 
 " bullets." 
 
 — " Ah I Iroquois, you, dogs I " murmured 
 he between his teeth, "it ia very fortunate 
 " for you that the life of these two weak 
 " beings have been confided to my care ; 
 " or you would not see me thus retreat 
 " before you : a bitter experience ought 
 " to have taught you that such is not 
 " my custom." 
 
 • A nautical term: " scie" means to "back 
 ^ater," so as to propel the canoe backward, instead 
 oi forward. 
 
44 THE WITCH. 
 
 ** What pleasure I might have in put- 
 " ting some lead into some of your skulls, 
 " to keep my hand in practice I Truly 
 ** I have a mind to do it, for it is already a 
 " long time since I have tried my musket 
 "against a redskin. But let matters ree^l, 
 * you lose nothing by waiting 
 
 -s--;. ,■,•--,■■ ^--r,'":., * * ; ...;.;;■':■■•;■■■■■; ■-■■:.> ■ ■': _ 
 
 Fully occupied with these reflections, tlie 
 " Canoer," after having given a retrograde 
 movement to the canoe, for some time, had 
 turned the head of the light skifif towards 
 the shore, and paddled vigorously in that 
 direction. 
 
 — " Row, row, now as hard as you like, 
 ** silly Iroquois," said he in an under tone^ 
 with irony, *' you will be sometime, I think, 
 " without reaching us, if you continue on 
 " that side." 
 
 ** You believe that a white man is as 
 •* stupid as you and that he " — 
 
THE WITCH. 45 
 
 The cry of a huard *, which rose at some 
 distance, in front of the canoe, awakened his 
 anxiety, and interrupted the course of his 
 invectives, which he never spared, against 
 his enemies, in the moment of danger. 
 
 " I greatly deceive myself, if that was the 
 *' cry of a huard ; there are sounds there 
 *' which are not those of a huard." 
 
 " The infamous rogues 1 have they per- 
 ** ceived our movement, by chance? " 
 
 He had hardly uttered these words, when 
 two flashes of fire tore the veil of the shades 
 in front of them. 
 
 Fortunately for our travellers, the night 
 was so dark, that the enemy could hardly 
 see them. 
 
 The bullets, directed by an uncertain hand, 
 bounded on the surface of the water, at some 
 feet from the canoe. 
 
 * The naino of a bird. 
 
46 THE WITCH. 
 
 — " Our ruse is discovered ! " exclaimed 
 the ** Canoer," with bitterness. : ' 
 
 And with one stroke of the paddle, he 
 described an angle at the prow of the canoe 
 80 as to return to his former course. 
 
 — " It is useless to think of reaching the 
 ' shore," continued he. " Tahinepik, now 
 ' is the time to show whether we understand 
 ' anything about handling the paddle." 
 
 " They are seven against two ; but theii 
 ' canoe appears to be heavier than ours, 
 ' and I doubt whether they all have 
 
 * paddles." 
 
 " Madam, we shall be obliged to throw 
 ' your goods into the water, so as to lighten 
 
 * our canoe as much as possible, and not 
 
 * impede our course ; for this will be a des- 
 ' perate race." 
 
 — "Do so, do just as you like, so that you 
 ' snatch my child from the claws of these 
 
 * tigers, " exclaimed Mrs Houel, with 
 ' anguish. 
 
THE WITCH. 47 
 
 * 
 * * 
 
 In the twinkling of an eye, the canoe was 
 relieved of everything that could over- 
 burden it. 
 
 — '* Now Tshinepikj let us paddle bravely, 
 " and in accord 1 But before that, let us shout 
 *' our war cry, to show these miscreants that 
 '* we do not fear them any more than the fish 
 " which are swimming beneath our feet." 
 
 
 Two horrible yells, capable of thrilling the 
 hearts of the most intrepid, escaped all at 
 once, from the breasts of the two warriors, 
 and were prolonged afar off on the billows. 
 
 Mrs Houel closed her ears, from terror. 
 
 — •* ' The Canoer ! ' the ' Great Adder ' " the 
 Iroquois repeated in chorus, recognizing the 
 voices of the two heroes who had acquired 
 such terrible celebrity in killing such a 
 fearful number of their bravest warriors ; 
 
48 THE WITCH. 
 
 and dreadfull yells responded to their 
 war-cry. 
 
 Then to this infernal harmony, succeeded 
 a mournful and funeral silence, as if entire 
 nature, frozen with horror, had suspended 
 
 every noise. 
 
 "- , '^ _- 
 
 '■'•.'.■■■/.■'' ••■' , ' '■ ", . He •,''..'■■■■■*■ 
 
 '-■•;■■■:.. - ■ . * * 
 
 There was heard nothing more except the 
 bubbling up of the water under the strokes 
 of the paddles, and the plashing of the 
 waves against the sides of the light canoe, 
 which bounded under the enormous strokes 
 of the '* Canoer," aided by Tshin^pik, and 
 flew over the surface of the river like de- 
 tached feathers of birds' wings, which the 
 strong sea-breeze carries away, as if sporting 
 on the waves. 
 
 The safety of the fugitives no longer 
 depended on anything except the strength 
 of the muscles of the two rowers. 
 
THE WITCH. 49 
 
 Ifweariness happened, a moment, to ener- 
 vate and relax the steel of their muscles, it 
 would be fatal to them, and their scalps 
 would grow dry at the waists of the Iroquois. 
 
 T^hinepik, it is true, was a skilful and 
 l)o\verful rower ; and the superiority of the 
 " Canoer in managing a canoe, and hand- 
 ling the paddle, was unequalled. ,, 
 
 His skill in this matter, was so well known 
 throughout the whole colony, that even 
 among the Indinu triljes, it had gained for 
 him the name of " Canoer." 
 
 Besides a long habit, acquired during 
 a whole existence consecrated to Indian life, 
 nature, in furnishing him with an extra- 
 ordinary strength of muscle, and deve- 
 loping two long arms to an extreme extent, 
 seemed to have formed him expressly for 
 this sort of exercise. 
 
 Moreover, it is a fact worthy of notice, 
 that the Whites, when once accustomed to 
 the Indian manners and arts, soon surpass 
 
50 THE WITCH. 
 
 them, not only in skill, but even in 
 strength. 
 
 For, not to speak of their intellectual 8U- 
 periority, they also enjoy a more robust 
 constitution. 
 
 * * . 
 
 But whatever were the personal advan- 
 tages of the two rowers, they were too in- 
 ferior in numbers to be able, apparently, to 
 struggle for any length of time, with a 
 chance of escaping. 
 
 And then a stray bullet might from one 
 moment to another, break an arm or split a 
 paddle. 
 
 However, these dangers so imminent, did 
 not cause the '* Canoer " to lose his admi- 
 rable coolness, and appeared to have no other 
 effect than to loosen his tongue. 
 
 — " We must to show these dogs of 
 ** Iroquois that we are good judges of the 
 •' bark of the birch-tree, Tshinepik. 
 
THE WITCH. 51 
 
 " I do not deny that they possess some 
 " skill in building a canoe; but they do not 
 " know how, as we do, to choose the real 
 "bark." 
 
 '* And then, have they ever learned the 
 " knack of gracefully raising up the two 
 " ends of a canoe so as to give it that 
 " light form which lends to ours such 
 " a coquettish appearance, when they dance 
 " over the surge." 
 
 " Don't speak to me either of a canoe badly 
 *' gummed; it is necessary, in order that it 
 *' may glide well on the water, that 
 " the coating of gum be put on with such 
 " care, that the sides are polished and 
 " glazed like the blade of a razor." 
 
 '' Then it is no longer a canoe, it in a 
 " feather, a wing of a bird which swims in 
 " the air; it is a cloud chased by a hurri- 
 " cane ; it is something aerial, winged, which 
 " flies like — like— we are now doing." 
 
52 THE WITCH. 
 
 * 
 
 The " Canoer " spoke the truth, for the 
 light canoe, obedient to the gigantic strokes 
 of the paddle, appeared scarcely to touch 
 the waves. 
 
 It might have been mistaken for a teal, 
 frightened by a sportman and shaving the 
 crest of the swift waves. 
 
 — " Comrade, here are again two bullets 
 " in our direction," interrupted 7\^hlnepik, 
 who until then had preserved that phleg- 
 matic silence which caractorises the Indian 
 race, and which savages affect above all, in 
 time of danger, so as to conceal all emotion; 
 '' the Iroquois already imagines that they 
 " are ahead of us, for their shots have been 
 " fired behind our canoe." 
 
 '• But does not my brother perceive that 
 *' we have gained nothing, and that they 
 
 are ahvays in line with us ? " 
 
 — " You are right, it cannot last, replied 
 
 (( 
 
THE WITCH. 53 
 
 the '* Canoer," shaking his heiid, " we shall 
 *' never be able to leave them behind. They 
 " are too numerous against U3." 
 
 THE TOMAHAWK. 
 
 Thcvfi ensued a moment of mou*nful 
 silence, full of terrible anxiety . 
 
 The " Canoer " sought in vain an outlet 
 to escape from this bad strait. 
 
 — " Let us promise a mass in honour of tho 
 '* good St. Ann," said Mrs Houel, who had 
 not ceased to pray, since the commencement 
 of the struggle, ** and I am sure that the 
 good God will save us." 
 
 — " I well know it, madam There is 
 
 " no one but God who can enable us to 
 
 ** escape As for me, I have exhausted 
 
 *' all my resources But you, Tshinepik. 
 
 ** have you any expedient to suggest? *' 
 
 The Indian reflected. 
 
54 THE WITCH. 
 
 
 — " My brother is a great rower, the 
 ' salmon which ascends the rapids, is not 
 ' more skilful with his tail, than my brother 
 
 * with his paddle." ^ 
 
 " At each stroke of hi?, Tshinepik feels 
 ' the canoe rise itself under him." ' * 
 
 " But has my brother an arm strong 
 ' enough to paddle alone by himself, like 
 
 * us too together, whilst Tshinepik tries 
 
 * to knock over an Iroquois ? " 
 
 — " I will endeavour to do all that is pos- 
 ' sible for a man, with two good arms," 
 
 * replied the " Canoer " ; but I believe that 
 ' it will be almost useless, for you can only 
 ' shoot at random, by night, which it is now ; 
 ' and then a shot from the gun would reveal 
 ' exactly our position." 
 
 —"An arrow does not leave a flash of light 
 *' behind it," coolly replied the Indian ; 
 ** and Tshinepik will wait for the time when 
 
THE WITCH. 55 
 
 " the Iroquois fires, and wUl take aim by 
 ** the flash of the priming.* " 
 
 " Well thought of," said the " Cancer, 
 with enthusiasm, beginning to row with 
 such prodigious strength, that it seemed 
 that so far, he had hardly dipped his paddle 
 into the water. " I have always maintained 
 " with reason, that there is indeed often 
 ** more sense in the head of an Indian, than 
 " in that of a European." 
 
 — " Be ready, Tshin^pikj I just heard a 
 ** sharp sound, like that of a gun being 
 *' cocked ; I believe they are going to fire " 
 
 An explosion interrupted his speech. 
 
 * 
 
 4c « 
 
 Immediately afterwards, a scream of death 
 resounded from the side of the enemy's 
 canoe, and proved that the arrow of the 
 Bkilful Indian had not missed his aim. 
 
 * Flint-muskets were used in those days. 
 
56 THE WITCH. 
 
 But at the same time, another cry, a cry 
 of rage, replied to it. 
 
 It was the voice of the " Canoer." 
 
 A bullet had just split his paddle in two. 
 
 * * 
 
 There are in the existence moments oi 
 mental suffering, that no torture, nor cor- 
 poral punishment, not even death itself 
 can equal. 
 
 It is the fatal moment when one sees 
 standing before him the implacable phan- 
 tom of certain death ; when one feels the 
 mortal grasp seize him with a firm hand. 
 
 It is then the paroxism of suffering. 
 
 Heroism alone is capable of facing it 
 coolly. ,.. ^ 
 
 Such was however the position in which 
 the fugitives found themselves. 
 
 The " Canoer " had exhausted all the 
 resources with which Indian genius and 
 long experience could inspire him. 
 
THE WITCH. 1(7 
 
 There remained nothing more than to 
 wait for death. 
 
 * 
 
 There was already heard, some small 
 distance in front of the canoe, the rippling 
 of the water under the paddles of one of 
 the enemy's canoes. ' 
 
 — *' Is my brother ready to die ? " said the 
 " Canoer " in a caloi tone. 
 
 — TshMpik has ever been so." 
 
 And as if a sudden light had crossed his 
 brain,he add'sd some words in the Indian lan- 
 guage and passed his paddle to the "Canoer." 
 
 One might have then seen him leaning 
 slowly over the bow of the canoe, gliding 
 from it «rithout noise, and then disappearing 
 In the water. 
 
 The light canoe, suddenly relieved, rose 
 up at the fore-part, whilst the "Canoer" 
 gave to it a retrograde movement, so as to 
 avoid a collision with the enemy's canoe. 
 
68 THE WITCH. 
 
 \ : ■-./■• * * 
 
 At this moment, the moon sent forth one 
 of its rays through the rolling mist ; and 
 the pale eyelash of silver glancing upon the 
 edge of a clould less opaque, permitted to 
 be observed, for an instant, the scene of the 
 fight. 
 
 All of a sudden, the Iroquois canoe cap- 
 sized, in the midst of dreadfull yells. 
 
 It was then a scene of indescribable con- 
 fusion. 
 
 There was to be seen, duringsome instants, 
 an arm armed with a tomahawk, striking 
 terrible blows on the heads of the Iroquois 
 who were struggling in the midst of the 
 waves. 
 
 * 
 * * 
 
 The attention of the " Canoer," who re- 
 mained at a short distance, so as to prevent 
 the wrecked Iroquois from seizing his canoe, 
 and who followed the different phases of the 
 
THE WITCH. 59 
 
 struggle, in order to rescue in time his bold 
 friend, was then arrested by a piercing 
 shriek uttered by Mrs Houel. 
 
 — "The witch 1" 
 
 At the same time he caught a glimpse of 
 something like a black form, which seemed 
 to rise from the 'waves, at the side of the 
 canoe, and extend its hand, as if to seize the 
 young child. - • 
 
 To discharge a vigorous blow with the 
 paddle, on the indistinct object which he 
 imagined he saw in the shade, was the 
 affair of an instant ; but his blow passed 
 into a void, and only caused a gushing forth 
 of spray. " 
 
 Theory of a pirouys* was then heard; 
 and the " Canoer," recognizing the signal 
 agreed upon with the Indian, turned his 
 
 * A sort of game, also known by the name of 
 " chevalier" the name " pirouys," which hunters 
 give it» is an imitation of its cry. 
 
60 THE WITCH. 
 
 canoe in the direction where the cry came 
 from ; and in an instant after, the trium- 
 phant " Tshin^pik " got skilfully into the 
 light canoe, holding in his hand a paddle. 
 
 With that presence of mind, which so emi- 
 nently distinguishes savages, and which 
 they preserve in the midst of the greatest 
 dangers, the Indian, during the fight, had 
 seized from the hands of an Iroquois, this 
 paddle, of which they had absolute need, for 
 their flight. 
 
 Whilst the other Iroquois canoe was 
 hastening to the assistance of those wrecked, 
 whom the tomahawk of the '' Tshin^pik " 
 had not been able to reach, the fugitives 
 profited by the profond darkness which then 
 existed, from the dense clouds which were 
 rolling heavily in the sky, and gained the 
 shore, without their enemies having been 
 able to perceive the direction which they 
 had taken. 
 
THE WITCH. Gl 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN-ECHO. 
 
 The following day, the *' Canoer " per- 
 ceived, on awaking at day-break, the Indian 
 occupied in dressing a large cut which he 
 had received in the face, in the fight of the 
 preceding day, and two deep wounds, one 
 one the breast, and the other on the left 
 arm. 
 
 The Indian had not even taken the trouble 
 to mention a word about it to his friend. 
 
 — " My brother was badly hurt yester- 
 day," said the " Canoer " : " Five Iroquois 
 " corpses are now adrift, and will serve as 
 " food for the fishes. But my brother has 
 " been wounded ? " 
 
 — " It is nothing ; the Iroquois is a woman; 
 
 *■ and only makes little scratches." 
 I — " My brother has lost much blood; he 
 
 »> needs rest. But I will go into the wood, to 
 
 *♦ kill some game for our breakfast." 
 
62 THE WITCH. 
 
 On his return, the " Canoer " was seized 
 with horror, at perceiving on the bank 
 which he had recently quitted, a sea of blood, 
 and three lifeless bodies extended. 
 
 One of them had its head scalped ; and he 
 recognized it, with unspeakable grief, as his 
 faithful companion whom the Iroquois had 
 surprised and massacred during his absence. 
 
 The two Iroquois dead bodies lying on the 
 side, and two long courses of blood, which 
 lost themselves over the edge of the bank, 
 testified that he had sold his life dearly. 
 
 Mrs Houel and her child had disappeared, 
 but no trace on the sand indicated whither 
 they had taken flight. 
 
 In raising his eyes oowards the horizon, 
 the "Canoer" noticed in the distance, two 
 canoes loaded with Iroquois, who were 
 descending the river by means of their 
 paddles. •, 
 
THE WITCH. 63 
 
 * . - ,. 
 
 Overcome with despair, he remained for a 
 long time immoveable, his eyes fixed on the 
 body of his faithful friend, as if grief had 
 petrified all his limbs. 
 
 The first rays of the rising sun, which 
 were then falling on the figure of the Indian, 
 and illuminating it with a halo of opal, con- 
 cealed for an instant the horrible fixeness of 
 look which the last agony had imprinted. 
 
 And that last reflexion of its eyes seemed 
 to bid him a last farewell. 
 
 Rousing himself at last from his lethargy, 
 the " Canoer " bent slowly over the corpse 
 of him whom he had so much loved, and 
 who had shared for so many years, all his 
 joys, griefs, triumphs and dangers, and 
 taking him up gently in his arms, with 
 the enefgy of despair, pressed it to his 
 breast, as if he had desired, by this supreme 
 embrace, to pass all his soul into that ina- 
 nimate body. 
 
64 THE WITCH. 
 
 A deep sigh then escaped from his breast, 
 which, rose up like a mountain. 
 
 This man of iron, whom neither dangers 
 nor tortures had ever been able to affect, 
 succumbed under the weight of grief. 
 
 Torrents of tears overflowed his cheeks. 
 
 — *' Oh my friend ! my well beloved 
 friend ! " he exclaimed at last, while sob- 
 bing-. " I have then lust thee for ever. 
 
 " It is my fate ; alone henceforth I must 
 " wander across these forests, and rivers 
 *' where we have so often travelled toge- 
 *' ther ! " 
 
 " Henceforth in solitude I shall walk in 
 " the paths of life, without ever hearing 
 " your friendly voice ! " ^ •' 
 
 " Happy event, had death taken me off 
 first 1" 
 
 " You at least have a friend to render the 
 " last services; but as for me, no one at my 
 
THE WITCH. 65 
 
 *' last hour, will come to throw a little earth 
 '* over my body." 
 
 "Oh "Tshinepik"! "Tshinepik'M 
 
 " farewell I » 
 
 * * 
 
 The echo from the mountain repeated in 
 the distance, " farewell I " 
 
 At this voice, the " Canoer " trembled as 
 if he had heard that of his faithful compa- 
 nion uttering a last wofu oi acjinowxeug- 
 ment. ^ 
 
 * * 
 
 At last, depositing his precious burden, he 
 dug a hole in the sand on the bank, and 
 there laid down the body. 
 
 After having covered it over, he plucked 
 a young sappling which grew at the head 
 of the grove and fixing on the trunk a 
 branch crosswise, made of it a cross. 
 
 Then scalping the two dead bodies of the 
 
66 THE WITCH. 
 
 Iroquois lying on the shore, he fixed their 
 scalps with •' Tshinepik's " knife on the 
 centre of the cross. 
 
 Strange and terrible trophy, but woithy 
 of that hero of the woods. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE INDIAN SUMMER* AND THE 
 GRINDERS. 
 
 Many years have passed since the event 
 which we have just related. 
 
 It is a^ain an autumn day, one of those 
 beautiful rosy and sunny mornings which 
 summer lets fall from its crown, in its flight 
 before the chilly wind, which already begins 
 to blow on the sun. 
 
 _ * The last fine days of autumn are generally 
 Tcnown in Canada under tho name of " Indian 
 summer." 
 
THE WITCH. 67 
 
 Already the morning dews, so tepid in 
 July, crystalize in hoar frost, on the pent- 
 houses, and blades of grass, which are 
 becoming yellow. 
 
 It is the season of October, the melancholy 
 time of dead leaves I 
 
 Resting yonder on the mountain, it casts 
 forth a last smile full of intoxicating lan- 
 guor, at the harvester who is hastening to 
 gather his sheaf in the meadows. 
 
 In the sky, some gray clouds in the more 
 gloomy blue; in the calm air, the divine 
 silence of nature which falls asleep ; on the 
 dome of the woods, the richest and most 
 varied tints; red and crimson on the foliage 
 of maple trees ; straw -yellow on the aspen, 
 birch and hazel trees ; of a dark green on the 
 spinets ; lighter on the larch, and glittering 
 twigs of fir-trees. 
 
 * 
 * * 
 
 It is also the season of autumnal labours. 
 In the fields bearded with golden yellow. 
 
68 THE WITCH. 
 
 on all sides are to be seen robust peasants 
 tracing their furrow of the plough with a 
 firm hand. 
 
 A loud voice, at times, raises itself, in the 
 sonorous air : hue ! dia ! it is cry of the child 
 who leads the oxen while his father holds 
 the handles. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 While the men are busy working in the 
 fields, the women do not remain inactive; 
 for it is also the time to bray the flax : and 
 it is necessary to hasten to profit by the 
 last fine days. 
 
 Canadian life does not offer more attractive 
 rural scenes, fresher and more picturesque ; 
 but alas I the railroads, steamboats and 
 civilization will have soon ^ jmoved from us 
 even the last vestiges of these delightful 
 scenes of customs which give to our country 
 its characteristic physionomy. 
 
 Let us hasten to collect some of it, and 
 paint the smiling pictures, so that at least 
 
THE WITCH. G9 
 
 these recollections of the past may poetize a 
 little our future. 
 
 * 
 
 Do you remember those groups of women 
 that one sometimes .sees, in October, assem- 
 bled on the border of the wood, on the side 
 of some rock? 
 
 They are the flax-brayers. 
 
 They generally choose these places, so as 
 to shelter themselves from the wind. 
 
 Two little walls of ^tone, three or four feet 
 high are made to lean against the side of 
 the rock, in such a manner as to form a sort 
 of chimney, on which are placed cross-wise 
 four or five sticks of hard wood, which serve 
 for a clothes-horse for the flax. 
 
 A large log of wood placed on the ground, 
 at the entrance of the chimney, prevents the 
 fire from extending itself, and protects the 
 f^toker, who has to concentrate all her atten- 
 
70 THE WITCH. 
 
 tion on the flax, in order to prevent it 
 igniting. 
 
 For it would be a misfortune to her, if she 
 happened to scorch it. 
 
 The laughter and jests of her companions 
 await her, to make her expiate her awk- 
 wardness. 
 
 * * 
 
 As soon as the flax is sufficiently dried, 
 each person seizes a handful of it, and 
 pounds it vigorously, while it is warm, 
 between the two pieces of wood of the brayer, 
 in order to remove from the flax its peel. 
 
 There is nothing so gay, nothing so poetic 
 even, than the sharp and loud sound of 
 the brayevs striking, rising and falling 
 in cadence, in the midst of cries, and joyous 
 bursts of laughter from the children who 
 dally under the colonade of the grove.* 
 
 * The pounder or brayer (le braye) is an instru- 
 ment composed of two p eces of wood held by one 
 ot the ends, enclosing one in the other, similar to a 
 mortise. 
 
THE WITCH. ' 71 
 
 It is near one of thepe groups, assembled 
 at the foot of a rock, framed with branches 
 of trees, and situated at a little distance 
 from the River Quelle, that the thread of 
 our story is tied again. 
 
 A SOUL WHOSE BLOSSOM IS SHED. 
 
 — " Peter," said one of the women to her 
 child, go and tell your father to come to 
 dinner, it is nearly noon. 
 
 The sonorous and distant sounds of the 
 angelus,* fell in vibrating cascades, from 
 the old steeple of Riviere Ouelle, and 
 turned their joyous undulations between the 
 two banks of the valley, to announce the 
 hour of noon, when the labourer arrived in 
 the midst of his family. 
 
 * *• Angelus" the name of a prayer said at noon, 
 when the clock strikes tbivt hour. 
 
72 THE WITCH. 
 
 — " The angeluc I my children, said he, in 
 a grave tone of voice, while turning towards 
 the steeple, and taking off his woollen cap. 
 
 Then, with his eyes towards heaven, he 
 recited slowly the pious invocation. 
 
 Nowhere the ray of divinity is more 
 visible than on the simple and serene face 
 of the farm -labourer, when the Angel of 
 piety thus comes to touch him with his wing. 
 
 * * 
 
 — " Papa! " exclaimed little Peter, when 
 finishing the sign of the cross, " there are 
 " two men down there yonder, who have 
 " just disembarked from a canoe at the end 
 *' of the head-land." 
 
 — ** Some officers of the porpoise-fishing 
 ** company, who have just come on their 
 " round.* " 
 
 * Formerly porpoise fjshing in the River Quelle, 
 was carried on by a company of rich merchants of 
 Quebec 
 
THE WITCH. ^8 
 
 " Not SO however, they are only two." 
 " Have you anything to give them for 
 dinner, wife ?" 
 " We will go and invite them." 
 " Good day, gentlemen," added he, an 
 instant after the arrival of the two travellers, 
 who were proceeding in a straight line 
 towards the rock, as if they knew perfectly 
 well the places which they were travelling 
 over. 
 " Do you wish to take something ?" 
 "You have still pretty far to go, before 
 
 
 ." A piece of bread does no harm, when 
 one has rowed half a day." 
 
 — " Since, you are so obliging, we will not 
 refuse, especially as we are not going any 
 farther than here." 
 
 " How is that ? Are you not going down 
 to the houses?" said the brave peasant, quite 
 puzzled, casting his eyes, in vain, around 
 him, to find out what could be the object of 
 their visit to this isolated rock. 
 
74 THE WITCH. 
 
 The travellers looked at each other 
 without replying ; and one of them, with a 
 sad and broken-down manner, could not re- 
 press a sigh. 
 
 During their frugal repast, they replied 
 politely to the questions which were ad- 
 dressed to them, but they were little com- 
 municative. 
 
 The elder was a tall bald man, who 
 seemed to surround his companion with 
 that respectful protection which a long 
 devotedness authorizes to an inferior. 
 
 Easy manners, and an air of dignity, 
 disclosed in the person who accompanied 
 him, a higher birth ; and beneath the 
 simplicity of his clothes, a careful edu- 
 cation showed forth. 
 
 The freshness of his appearance indicated 
 a man in the prime of life, but yet his hair 
 was entirely white. 
 
 But to an observant eye, it was easy to see 
 
THE WITCH. 75 
 
 that misfortune, more than age, had snowed 
 his brow. ^ 
 
 There might be noticed also on his phy- 
 sionomy, that particular formation of the 
 muscles which takes place in the course of 
 time, when the depth of the mind reflects 
 unceasingly an image always ead ; and in 
 his look, that melancholy mask which en- 
 velops and dims the eye-ball, a sad thought 
 which continually rises from the heart to 
 the eyes. 
 
 Thifc" sad look chilled everybody and 
 froze the smile over the lips of every one. 
 
 However, the incarnation of sadness on 
 his face had nothing repulsive ; on the con- 
 trary, this grief, entirely sympathetic, only 
 excited compassion. 
 
 It was the crape of a noble mourning, and 
 not the sinister cloud of remorse. I 
 
 * * 
 
 By degrees the noisy prattling of the 
 children ceased before this eyelid, which 
 
76 THE WITCH. 
 
 rose up slowly on them, sad and mournful, 
 like the half open lid of a coffin, and from 
 which came a glance that fell on their lips 
 like the finger of death. 
 
 The manner of the stranger appeared to 
 become visibly depressed, since his arrival, 
 and his haggard eye fixed itself with such 
 severity, upon the ground about him, that 
 it seemed that each bit of earth recalled to 
 him some broken hearted souvenir. - 
 
 A constrained silence succeeded to the 
 gaiety but lately so lively among the family. 
 
 The brave countryman greatly desired to 
 
 know the object of their journey ; but the two 
 
 unknown persons did not seem willing to 
 touch upon that subject. 
 
 At last he ventured to put some questions. 
 
 — " You will perhaps think that I am 
 *' rather inquisitive," said he, turning 
 *' towards the old man ; but will you allow 
 " me to ask you your name ? " 
 
THE WITCH. 77 
 
 — " It would be almost useless for you to 
 " know it; for I am hardly known by my 
 family-name." 
 
 " My ears even have forgotten it." 
 
 " For many years, I have never been 
 " called by any other name than the 
 " Canoer." 
 
 It was in fact our faithful guide. 
 
 But the brave hunter had became very 
 old, since the day he had laid in the grave 
 a part of himself, with the body of him whom 
 he had loved more than life. 
 
 The wind of evil days had caused his 
 head to become bald, and had only left on 
 his temples, a few locks of white hair. 
 
 Alas 1 the forehead so lapidly loses its 
 crown, when a coffin weighs heavily on 
 the heart ! The wrinkles which make the 
 face look ol(ier, are not always deepened 
 by the course of years ; oftener they are the 
 tombs of those who were dear to us I 
 
78 THE WITCH. 
 
 * 
 
 The reader now surmises the name of the 
 second personnage. ^ 
 
 It was no other than Mrs Houei'd son, 
 arrived at the prime of life. 
 
 — " Should I be indiscret, in asking you 
 *' the motive of your visit to this place ? " 
 continued the labourer, still addressing 
 himself to the *' Canoer." 
 
 The latter did not reply, but contented 
 himself with casting a look of enquiry at 
 his companion. 
 
 — " A very sad duty," at last said Mr 
 Houel's son, in a voice whose melancholy 
 sound was in harmony with the sadness of 
 his look. 
 
 " Have you never heard speak of a tragic 
 event which happened here formerly ? " 
 
 — '* I have indeed heard something I 
 
 " must tell you that it is not a long time 
 *' since I bought a piece of land near here 
 
THE WITCH. 79 
 
 " and I have never had the opportunity of 
 "■ becoming acquainted with this story." 
 
 Yelding then to the desires of his hosts, 
 Mrs Houel's son gave the recital of the events 
 which the reader already knows. 
 
 THE VISIONS. 
 
 — *' After the Iroquois had made my 
 •' mother and myself prisoners," continued 
 "he, they bound our hands and feet strongly, 
 " placed us at the bottom of one of their 
 " canoes, and went away with precipitation. 
 
 " For several days, they went down the 
 " river, always going along by the coast. 
 
 *' God alone knows of the unheard of tor- 
 *' tures which we were made to suffer, during 
 •' this almost interminable passage. 
 
 " The straps, composed of very hard bark, 
 ** which bound our limbs, were so tightened 
 ** that our feet and hands became quite blue. 
 
 ** From time to time, the barbarians gave 
 
80 THE WITCH. 
 
 ** themselves the pleasure of throwing water 
 " over those straps, so as to increase *our 
 " sufferings. 
 
 " Then the bands becoming tighter and 
 '• tighter, our pains became intolerable. 
 
 " I did not cease to utter lamentable 
 " groans, which rent the soul of my poor 
 " mother. 
 
 " As for her, insensible to her own suffer- 
 ** ings, she only had tears for me. 
 
 " Alas I what torment for the heart of a 
 *' mother I feeling her child near her, seeing 
 " his tears flowing, hearing his pitiable cries, 
 " seeing him twist himself, in the agony of 
 " despair, and being unable to relieve him» 
 " Oh ! for the soul of a mother what a pang ! 
 " what a martyrdom ! 
 
 ' "'is :|t " ' 
 
 ** When the Iroquois were tired, they - 
 ''■ unbound our hands, and without regard 
 *' to the delicate health of my mother, or the 
 ** weakness of my ago (I was scaroejy teu 
 
THE WITCH. 81 
 
 *• years old then), they forced us to row, in 
 " their place." 
 
 "We could hardly hold the paddles, our 
 " fingers were so benumbed by the cords. 
 
 " Then they overwhelmed us with blows, 
 " so that at last we redoubled our painful 
 " efforts, rendered still more oppressive, 
 " from want of practice. 
 
 " Some remnants of game, or putrid scraps 
 " of moose meat which a ferocious pity 
 " threw to us, formed all our nourishment 
 
 " During this long voyage, we did not 
 " once see the wich, who kept herself (at 
 " least such was our conviction) in the other 
 '' can(^e, always well in front of ours." 
 
 " All the orders seemed to emanate from 
 '^ her; from her came the evolutions of the 
 " little army. ,; 
 
 * 
 
 " Every evening, at night-fall, after having 
 *' lighted their fire on the bank, and finished 
 
 6 , 
 
82 THE WITCH. 
 
 " their repast, they diverted themselves by 
 " inventing new tortures for us; and when 
 " we were entirely exhausted, they left us 
 ** for dead, stretched on the ground, bound 
 " and exposed to the frozen humidity of 
 « night. 
 
 ' ** The fe\er which our bruises caused, 
 *' rendered us more sensitive to cold, and 
 " we passed entire nights quite chilled, 
 without being able to close our eyes. 
 
 " Another subject of anguish still in- 
 *' creased the horror of those almost eternal 
 " hours, which formed long years of endless 
 " nights : it was fear. 
 
 " In the midst of torpor and agitated 
 " sleep, which at last caused prostration of 
 " the forces of nature, a thousand dazzlings, 
 " a thousand false lights, a thousand 
 *' grinning phantoms, with livid eyes and 
 " grinding teeth, that the nervous exci- 
 " tement caused by the fever, rushed over 
 
THE WITCH. bo 
 
 " my heated brain made me start on my 
 *' frozen couch. 
 
 " And then that invisible witch attached 
 '* to our steps like an evil genius was 
 " setting up continually its vampire-spectre 
 '* before our inflamed imagination. 
 
 *' Then, whilst a cold sweat streamed over 
 " my brow, as my hair bristled up on 
 " my head, when a shuddering of dread 
 " passed over my skin, while my teeth 
 " chattered in my mouth, I half raised 
 " myself up, and my eyes fixed and gaping, 
 " I endeavoured to repel the gestures and 
 " threatening contortions of those impal- 
 " pable beings which the infernal vision had 
 " raised up. 
 
 " One night during one of these night- 
 *' mares, I experienced on my body, a hor- 
 *' rible sensation ; something cold and 
 " humid brushed itself along my cheek. 
 
 " Was it the sepulcral finger of the dia- 
 " bolical witch ? 
 
84 THE WITCH. 
 
 *' I bounded on the ground, uttering, a 
 " cry which aWoke the camp 
 
 " It was the glutinous and cold body of a 
 ** snake, which had just glided near me, and 
 ** passed over my body ! 
 
 Gazelles and tigers. 
 
 " At last we disembarked, one evening, at 
 " the creeks which you see down yonder, 
 *' and where you noticed us land, some 
 '' instants ago. 
 
 " The passage which we had just made, 
 " could have been accomplished in a short 
 " space of time, but our voyage was much 
 " retarded by strong gales of wind from the 
 "north-east. 
 
 " The Iroquois made us carry their canoes 
 " on land, and came to encamp here, at the 
 " foot of this rock, 
 
 " Although it was not yet very late, the 
 
 ix 
 
THE WITCH. 85 
 
 " shade of evening had already penetrated 
 '* under the arch of the grove ; for it was the 
 *' the time of autumn. 
 
 " After we had heaped up, near their fire, 
 " a supply of wood for the night, and they 
 ** had stretched themselves some time, on 
 " the grass, to rest, after their repast, they 
 " rose up suddenly together, without 
 *' uttering a word, and assembled in coun- 
 " oil, under this clump of trees, which still 
 ** rise up, some paces from here. 
 
 *' This spontaneous move led me to believe 
 " it was due to an invisible order from the 
 "witch whom, either by effect of hallucina- 
 *' tion or in reality, I thought I saw walking 
 ** every night with a step as light as that of a 
 ** spirit on the border of the shade produced 
 " by the flame of the wood fire." 
 
 " The mysterious manner which they had 
 " affected, during the whole day, theprepar- 
 *' ations of the evening, and this extraordi- 
 ** nary council, caused us to have a pressen- 
 
 
86 THE WITCH. 
 
 ■^ 
 
 " timent that the formidable hour had ar- 
 " rived, when our fate would be decided. 
 
 * * 
 
 " Having knelt down with my mother, 
 " near a maple-tree, on the trunk of whi"-h 
 " she had hung up a little figure of the holy 
 " virgin, which she carried always with her, 
 '* I joined my trembling prayer with hers, 
 " and following her ardent look, fixed on 
 '" the sacred image, which the reflection of 
 '* the clear fire encircled with a purple 
 "halo, ineffable symbol of the celestial 
 " ray which emitted, at that moment a last 
 " spark of hope, in the midst of the agonies 
 " of our hearts. 
 
 " At intervals, my restless eyes cast 
 " themselves again involuntarily on the 
 *' group of Indians, whose unintelligible 
 " words we were able to hear, brought by 
 *' the nightly breeze, and to catch a glimpse, 
 *' confusedly, of their expressive pantomime, 
 '* through the shades. 
 
THF WITCH. 87 
 
 " After they had all spoken and seated 
 " themselves, each one in his turn, a shadow 
 " stood up in the centre of the council, and 
 " posed on the opaque veil of night its 
 *' wavering profile, which absorbed at a 
 " distance, the intermittent redness of the 
 ** hearth ; and a voice, of which my terrified 
 " ear seemed to recognise the strange sound, 
 " resounded in the silence. 
 
 *' It was (at least so I then believed), the 
 " voice of the witch. 
 
 " For a long time she spoke and gesti- 
 ;^ " culated, as if she desired to urge advice 
 *' which found but little response in the 
 *• minds of her wild auditors. 
 
 " At last, the hand of the unknown being 
 ** indicated with a gesture the two pri- 
 " soners, and the council terminated. 
 
 ** All the Indians rose up together. 
 
 ** This was the fatal hour. 
 
 " At this thought alone, all my limbs 
 
 " tremble again with terror 1 My breath- 
 
 " ing stops I I choke with horror I 
 
88 
 
 THE WITCH. 
 
 ** — Oh my God 1 murmured my mother, 
 in an undertone, thinking that I did not 
 hear her, and pressing me to her heart, 
 with her two hands, which only trembled 
 
 for me : Oh my God I My child ! Let 
 
 them do to me what they like ! I am 
 
 ready to endure all their tortures ; but 
 
 my dear Harold I Ah I pity, my God !.... 
 
 pity for this tender lamb 1... pity for my 
 
 poor child !... 
 
 ** And all sobbing, she clasped me with 
 
 that desperate embrace of maternal love, 
 
 transfigured by the heart-rending ecstacy 
 
 of the supreme sacrifice. 
 
 " She did not even think of imploring for 
 
 mercy from those heartless monsters. 
 
 " Does the tiger, moved with pity, spare 
 
 the innocent sheep ? 
 
 " Her soul, shut out from all hope, no 
 
 longer turned toward any one but God, 
 
 from whom alone succour could come. 
 
 **Ah I my mother I heaven heard your 
 
THE WITCH. 89 
 
 *' prayer, and your sacrifice was accepted ; 
 ** but at what price, great God 1... 
 
 * * 
 
 '' One of the Iroquois, holding in his hand 
 ** a long splinter of thin wood, approached 
 " me, and putting it into my hands, made 
 *' sign to me with that caressing and 
 ** ironical manner which Indians love to do 
 *' in exercising their cruelties, to thrust it 
 " into my mother's arm, which he had just 
 " seized by the wrist." 
 |l " Petrified with horror at this atrocious 
 1 *' proposition, I pretended not to under- 
 " stand ; but after some attempts, seeing 
 ** my persistence, he threatened me with his 
 " tomahawk, 
 
 ** Then, in order to escape from the hor- 
 " rible punishment of being myself the 
 *' executioner of my mother, I threw the 
 *' the rod far away from me, in the hope of 
 " making him kill me. 
 
 
90 THE WITCH. 
 
 ** Alas 1 why did I not then have the 
 " good fortune to terminate my wretched 
 '* existence ? 
 
 ** I should not have been condemned to 
 ** suffer all at once all the agonies, without 
 '* dying. 
 
 " Mamma I mamma I I cried out and 
 ** throwing myself into her arms, whilst the 
 " irritated Indian raised his tomahawk to 
 " strike a blow at my head ; mamma 1 let 
 " him kill me, if he likes, I prefer death to 
 " causing you to suffer. 
 
 * >K 
 
 " During all this time, that one whom I 
 " loved, glad to see the fury of our enemies 
 " turned against herself, became motion- 
 " less, ready to submit to all their tortures. 
 
 " She stooped over me, so as to cover me 
 " with her body. 
 
 " The Indian was brandishing his weapon 
 
THE WITCH. 91 
 
 * in order to strike, when a hand held him 
 
 * back. 
 
 " Was it that of the witch ?... 
 
 " Alas 1 far from being inspired by pity, 
 •* this novement only proceeded from a 
 " ferocious design. 
 
 *' I did not discover it till some moments 
 *' later. 
 
 " The horror which I evinced at the idea 
 " of being myself the tormentor of my 
 " mother, was as a flash of light which 
 " appeared to reveal to the Indian fere city, 
 " a refinement of diabolical cruelty. 
 
 * 
 
 ** The Indian threw aside his tomahawk, 
 " snatched me violently from my mother's 
 ** arms, and bound me to a tree. 
 
 " Then acting always under the inspiration 
 *' of the witch, he climbed up one of these 
 '* large pine tress which you see there, and 
 " crawled along one of its branches, to the 
 
92 THE WITCH. 
 
 " extremity of which he attached two long 
 " strap which he carried in his hands. 
 
 *' Another Indian beneath him, then seized 
 " one of the cords and stretching it out, 
 " made a circuit round the trunk of a 
 " neighbouring tree, whilst his companion 
 ** caused the branch to bend, by the weight 
 ** of his body. 
 
 " It only required a light effort to prevent 
 " the cord thus rolled round the tree, from 
 " slipping, and set the branch free. 
 
 ** Full of anxiety, and trembling all over, 
 
 " I followed with my eyes, all these prepar- 
 
 ** ations, without being able to understand 
 
 *' the end. - 
 
 *' The Indian approached me, placed in 
 
 " my hands the end of the cord rolled 
 
 ** round the tree, and ordered me not to 
 
 " loosen it." 
 
 " The other Iroquois descended from his 
 
 *' tree, and after having driven my mother 
 
 *• under the bent branch ha set to fasteninjr 
 
 ** the other cord round her neck. 
 
THE WITCH. 93 
 
 *' A cry of terror and despair escaped from 
 " my breast, and I let go the rope. 
 
 " Then I understood their horrible 
 " design ! 
 
 "My God ! to be myself the executioner 
 " of my mother I 
 
 
 " Foaming with rage, one of the Iroquois 
 " flung his hatchet at me, which unfortu- 
 " nately only stained my head with the 
 •' blood flowing from the skin of my skull, 
 *' and remained driven into a tree. 
 
 " Believing me to be mortally wounded, 
 ** my mother snatched hex self from the 
 ** hands of the executioner, and precipitated 
 *' herself towards me." 
 
 — " Harold ! she cried out in a stifflcd 
 ** voice, 
 
 — " Mamma !... it is nothing j 
 
 ** And I burst into tears. 
 
94 THE WITCH. 
 
 •' She seized my head between her two 
 
 * hands and pressed her lips on my brow, 
 
 * covered wit blood. 
 
 " Her tears wet my face all over. 
 
 " Oh my mother ! this was your last 
 
 * caress to your poor child I 
 
 " kh. I since that moment, how bitter 
 
 * have been the days of your unfortunate 
 
 * son I 
 
 " Ah ! if you had known her I... An angel 
 ' in mortal form ! heaven was reflected in 
 ' her eyes, tabernacle of her soul ! and her 
 ' soul was more beautiful than her look. 
 
 " All the treasures of Christian tender- 
 
 * ness ! a seraphic serenity 1 a courage, de- 
 
 * votedness and abnegation incomparable!... 
 *' And I embraced her for the last time ! 
 
 ' And I was never again to clasp her in my 
 
 * arms ! 
 
THE WITCH. 95 
 
 THE INFERNAL ORCHESTRA. 
 
 ** In an instant, the branch is bent again, 
 " and the cord wound round the tree ; but 
 " this time, the wretches, previously to 
 " putting it into my hands, take care to 
 '* to fasten the other cord round the neck of 
 " my poor mother, after having tied her 
 " hands behind her back. 
 
 " Then they present to me the cord. 
 
 " I refused to take it, and they let it 
 " quietly slip away, with a diabolical laugh, 
 " till at last, seeing the branch raise itself 
 " up, and tighten the cord which held my 
 *' mother, from despair, I am obliged to take 
 "hold of it. 
 
 " Torture inspired by all the genii of 
 " hell ! The monsters relish by anticipation, 
 " with ecstacy, all the horrors af the tor- 
 •* tures which they have just invented. 
 
 " Weakened from fatigue, after long days 
 ** ofunheard of sufferings, it is impossible I 
 " can bear up long. 
 
90 THE WITCH. 
 
 " The savages have well foreseen it. 
 
 " They know that nature will soon be 
 *' conquered, and the crime consummated. 
 
 " What a night 1 what hours I wrestling 
 " without hope against all the faintings of 
 ** nature 1 
 
 " What a gulf of atrocities I all the pains, 
 ** all the terrors, all the distresses of mind 
 " and body I all the pangs of death, without 
 " the prospect of the ..nal rest ' 
 
 * 
 * * 
 
 " The infernal band removed themselves 
 " some paces, and with yells at the top of 
 " their voices, bowlings, and contortions of 
 '' demons, executed on the sandy shore, 
 " senseless dances the prelude of jugglery." 
 
 " Their naked limbs, reddened by the 
 ** crimson tongues of fire which the night- 
 '* wind caused to burst forth from the 
 " hearth, might make them to be taken for 
 ** a troop of sorcerers or necromancers es- 
 " caped from hell. 
 
THE WITCH. 97 
 
 *' Their round glittering whirl was like a 
 *' hurricane." 
 
 " In the midst of their shoutings, a voice, 
 *' always the same, a funeral knell, which 
 " still tingles in my ears, distinguished itself 
 " and regulated their steps. 
 
 " The owls, screech owls, and other night- 
 " birds, attracted by the flame, and those 
 " unusual noises which disturb the silence 
 " of their watching, hop from tree to tree, 
 " mixing their frightful cries with the 
 '* roaring of the forest, with the sea-surf on 
 " the sides of the cliff, and the chuckling of 
 " the orgie." 
 
 " Farewell to the last hope I 
 
 " All is ended 1 
 
 "It is belli 
 
 *' Around me a network of blood ; the 
 
 *' abyss beneath my feet ; over my head the 
 
 " roaring of the tempest, mourning and 
 
 7 
 
98 THE WITCH. 
 
 *' funerals in my mind ; everywhere, within 
 ** and without, dizziness, darkness, despair 
 " and death I 
 
 " Alone I... alone 1... one glimmer, one 
 " ray of light I... the sweet voice of my 
 " mother ; the sighs from her heart, 
 *• through which I still have a glimpse of 
 ** heaven... Whatl heaven I... so near hell I 
 *' The angel at... the side of demons 1 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 ** In a trembling, but calm voice, calm as 
 her soul, which no longer belongs to earth : 
 
 — " Harold 1 my child, why weep?... 
 '* Stop your tears ! 
 
 " We must part. God calls me to him, my 
 *• troubles are going to cease !... Be happy I 
 " Up above there, I will pray to God for 
 *' for you 1... In heaven I shall love you 
 " better than on earth 1... 
 
 ** Mamma 1 m>',mma !... oh 1... no, you 
 ** are not dying I 
 
THE WITCH. 99 
 
 ** No, my child, one does not die when 
 *' going to heaven ! 
 
 " I have offered my life for you, God has 
 " accepted it. You will live, my son ; but 
 " when I shall be no longer near you, ro- 
 " member always the lessons of your 
 *' mother. 
 
 " Ah ! when you feel tha.t your faith is 
 " near givin'^- way, think much of the good 
 " God, and., a little of your mother... 
 
 " Harold ! let us pray together ; let us 
 " pray for our ennemies, let us pray for the 
 '• female sinner I 
 
 * 
 
 " Mamma ! what have we done to them, 
 " that they make us suffer so much ? 
 
 " Has the gcnd God abandoned us ? 
 
 *' Oh no, my child, it is the hour of dark- 
 ** ness, look to heaven and pray with me I... 
 
100 THE WITCH. 
 
 " The unfortunate people I they know 
 *' not what they do. 
 
 " Lord, ^ity for these poor tribes lying 
 " under the shadow of death. 
 
 " Will they then never see the light of 
 " the holy Gospel shine upon them ? 
 
 " The blood of our apostle-martyres cries 
 *' out to you. 
 
 " Hear the groans of those sacrificed 
 " victims who stand before your throne 1 
 
 " Oh mother of griefs I by the sword 
 *' which pierced thy soul on Calvary, cast 
 " down one look of pity on my poor child, 
 " nailed like thine, upon the cross. 
 
 " Contemplate the affliction and agonies 
 *' of a mother, and save my child ! 
 
 " Harold 1... I bless you I... Farewell I... 
 
 — "Ah me 1 ah me ! help I I already 
 ** feel my arm becoming numb, and my 
 ''fingers stiff I Mammal Ah I I am 
 
THE WITCH. 101 
 
 *' going to kill you !.... Will you pardon 
 "me?... I wish to die, I wish to die!... 
 *' Shall I be able to live without remorse ? 
 " my God 1 a cloud passes over my sight 1... 
 " i can no longer see... I can no longer 
 '' hear... nothing!... I am dying !... 
 
 .* 
 
 " All of a sudden, in the midst of my 
 " swoon, I think I feel that my benumbed 
 " fingers open ; the fatal cord slips between 
 " my hands, it is grating round the tree, 
 " and... it escapes from me ! 
 
 " An extreme start awake me from my 
 " swoon ; I rush forward, and fortunately 
 '• get to the strap to again catch hold of it. 
 
 " But it is in vain ; nature is exhausted ; 
 '• I struggle sometime longer; my strength 
 ** abandons me ; my head falls heavily on 
 " my breast. A fresh swoon... 
 
 '' Suddenly, frightful yells arouse me from 
 ** my lethargy ; my hair stands on end, my 
 " God I I have killed my mother I... 
 
102 THE WITCH. 
 
 " An exclamation of horror breaks forth 
 *' from my bosom. 
 
 *' Between the earth and sky, the dead 
 " body, which swings from the branches, 
 " by the force of the wind, is there. 
 
 " Dizziness and stupor freeze the blood 
 " in my veins. 
 
 '* Everything appear to turn around me ! 
 
 " A funeral crape passes over my sight. 
 
 •' I feel the claw of death biting me to 
 " heart. 
 
 He 
 * * 
 
 '* From that instant, until the moment of 
 *• losing all feeling of existence, all my 
 '' ideas were disconcerted, and became con- 
 " fused in my memory. 
 
 " Some pallid glimpses of recollection, 
 *' as if in a dream : the grating noise of the 
 " cord on the fatal branch, the wind weeps 
 " sadly over my head, and sighs the chant 
 *• of death ; at the approach of day-break, 
 
THE WITCH. 103 
 
 *' there is the croaking of a crow that has 
 " just perched upon the branch. 
 
 " It approaches nearer and nearer, in 
 " order to scent the corpse, brushes it lightly 
 *' with its wing, whilst hopping, and then 
 " uttering a cry, suddenly flies awav. 
 
 " Across the veil of death wich covers my 
 " eyes, I fancy that I see, oh horror I... a 
 " frightful face, and how green and spark- 
 '• ling eye-balls, a sphinx, the colour of 
 " blood, which passes and repasses, at two 
 " fingers' distance from my face, with a 
 " hellish chuckling 1... The ghost of the 
 " witch I... 
 
 " Does it come to gloat over its prey, to 
 " insult its victim ?... Oh I it thrusts its 
 ** claws into my heart I... 
 
 " A convulsive trembling... a deadly short 
 ** chill in all my limbs... the blood flies to 
 *' my head... sparks skip in my brain... a 
 
104 THE WITCH. 
 
 * a buzzing in my ears... a last indefinite 
 
 * pressure, dim, without horizon... a last 
 ' crispation, then everything is eclipsed, and 
 
 * loses itself in the gloomy lake of nothing- 
 ' ness. 
 
 THE ORPHAN. 
 
 ** On awaking from my long swoon, I was 
 " stretched out on a bed of fir-tree branches, 
 ** in the midst of a forest of maple-trees. 
 
 *' A pallid day-light filtered through the 
 " trellice of the foliage ; and large dark 
 " clouds, seen through an opening of the 
 ** trees in a piece of the sky, distilled a 
 *' cold rain. 
 
 " How sad were these numerous drops of 
 *' rain, which fell with a little monotonous 
 ** noise, on each reddened leaf, and trembled 
 ** at their points in tears of blood, which 
 ** dropped on the ground I 
 
THE WITCH. 1C5 
 
 " And yet there was more of sadness and 
 " of tears in my heart. 
 
 " Alas I why did 1 awake from that long 
 " insensibility ? 
 
 " I could sleep the sleep of peace, at the 
 •* bottom of the tomb, at the side of that 
 " one whom I shall never see any more ! 
 
 " Since that unfortunate day, that internal 
 " sun has become veiled for ever. 
 
 " The surf of years, in breaking over my 
 " heart, brings always to me the remains of 
 *' a coffin ; for me the earth has become a 
 " valley of wormwood, where I drag on a 
 " life, under the cross, crowned with thorns. 
 
 
 " On his knees near me, under the shelter 
 " which he had fixed above me, the brave 
 " Canoer " supported my head with one 
 ** hand, and with the other, bathed my 
 ** temples with fresh water. 
 
106 THE WITCH. 
 
 " You remember, my well beloved, with 
 ** what an inexpressible embrace I threw 
 " my childish arms around your neck when 
 " I recognized you, and saw big tears stream- 
 " ing over your cheeks 1 
 
 " How long we remained embraced in 
 *' that dumb effusion of our grief 1.... 
 
 " Tell us now with what intrepid boldness 
 " you managed to effect my deliverance. 
 
 The " Canoer " did not reply ; choked by 
 " his sobbings, speech expired on his lips. 
 
 Mrs Houel's son could not then restrain 
 the ocean of bitterness with which his soul 
 was watered. 
 
 Several times, during this lamentable 
 recital, the witnesses of this scene, moved 
 by so many sufferings and misfortunes, 
 mixed tears with theirs. 
 
 But it was then an explosion of unspeak- 
 able emotion, to which succeeded one of 
 thoso solemn silences which the majesty 
 of a great grief imposes and of which no 
 
THE WITCH. 107 
 
 human word could equal the raute elo- 
 quence : unheard language of minds which 
 heartily sympathize with, and understand it 1 
 
 After a long pause, the " Canoer " began 
 to speak : 
 
 — " When I had rendered the last services 
 ** to the ' Tshinepik ', the incomparable 
 " friend, for whom I shall never cease to 
 " weep, I hastened to repair the canoe, 
 " which the Iroquois, previous to leaving 
 " the sho-e, had taken care to pierce with 
 " several blows of the hatchet, and I went 
 *' in their pursuit. 
 
 " Unfortunately the boat had been much 
 " damaged, and it was not until after several 
 " hours' work, that I was able to put her 
 " again afloat. 
 
 " This delay gave the Iroquois a long 
 " start of me, and was the reason that, in 
 " spite of tJl my diligence, I was not able to 
 
108 TiiE WITCH. 
 
 '• rejoin them till several days later, when 
 •' they had just camped here. 
 
 *' Overcome by fatigue, after those long 
 " days of superhuman efforts, I began, even 
 •' on that night, to despair of being able to 
 " overtake them, when, through the dark- 
 " ness, I perceived their fire on the shore. 
 
 " It was already very late, when I landed 
 " at the Point ; but the dreadful uproar of 
 " their jugglery, rendered it very easy for 
 " me to approach their camp. 
 
 " In vain I sought to distinguish the 
 ** two prisoners ; the underwood which grew 
 *' at the edge of the wood, interrupted my 
 
 *' view. 
 
 " I glided along and creeping to where 
 *' their canoes were overturned on the sand, 
 *' I found there all their guns loaded, ready 
 *' to fire. 
 
 " After having put a second ball into each 
 ** of the guns, and renewed the priming, I 
 *' ascended some paces on the bank, and 
 
THE WITCH. 109 
 
 " concealed myself behind a fiat rock, on 
 ** which I placed the guns in a row, all 
 " loaded. 
 
 ** The Iroquois were eight in number ; 
 " consequently it was necessary for me to 
 ** exercise all my skill, so as not to lose any 
 " chance ; for if I had the misfortune to 
 *' to commit the least blunder, I was lost. 
 
 *' It behoved me then to wait quietly for 
 
 ** a time. 
 
 *' For a long time, my finger on the 
 " trigger, I followed with the muzzle of my 
 " gun the frantic movements of the orgie 
 ** without being able to aim with cer- 
 *' tiinty. 
 
 " At last, I was able to aim at two 
 " Iroquois' heads ; the shot was fired, and 
 *' two Iroquois fell stone dead. 
 
 " Profiting immediately by the moment 
 •* of disturbance and stupor which this 
 " unexpected attack produced among them, 
 ** I eeized a second gun, and fired. 
 
no THE WITCH. 
 
 V 
 
 *' A thii'd Indian fell, never to rise again, 
 " and another grievously wounded, after 
 •' having made three or four tumbles, on 
 " the sand, took to flight towards the border 
 " of the wood. 
 
 *' The four other Iroquois hastened 
 " towards the canoes, in the hope of there 
 " finding their arms, but anticipating this 
 " movement, I had taken the precaution of 
 " going some paces away from the place of 
 " landing. 
 
 *' Whilst they were stooping around their 
 " canoes, looking for their guns, I had time 
 '' to knock over yet two others. 
 
 " Howling and foaming with rage, the two 
 *' last rushed towards me, tomahawk in hand. 
 
 " I still hoped to be able to overthrow 
 *' them, before they could come up to me ; 
 " but ill luck, my gun missed fire. 
 
 *' The struggle was becoming unequal ; 
 " my two assailants were not more than a 
 " few paces off. 
 
THE WITCn. Ill 
 
 *' Without losing an instant I threw my 
 " gun aside, and seizing my knife by the 
 *' blade, I threw it with all the strength of 
 " my arm, at the heart of one of the Iro- 
 ^' quois. 
 
 " The murderous weapon caught him 
 '* right in the chest, and the Indian, mor- 
 " tally wounded, bounded up, while 
 '* utterring a war-cry, and sank down. 
 
 " At the same time, the last Iroquois was 
 " about to beat his tomahawk down my 
 " head. 
 
 " This man was a colossus, whose despair 
 " and rage increased his strength and bold- 
 " ness a hundred-fold. 
 
 " I had only time to parry the blow with 
 " my axe, which broke against that of the 
 " Indian, and flew into splinters. \ 
 
 " The violence of the shock was such, that 
 '' the Indian's tomahawk slipped from his 
 " fingers, and fell at several feet distant. 
 
 '' There I was, without a weapon, facing 
 *' this giant 
 
112 THE WITCH. 
 
 " One plan alone of safety still offerred 
 " itself: it was to seize the knife which hung 
 *' at his side. " 
 
 " With one hand I clutch the Iroquois by 
 " by the throat, and with the other, I try to 
 " seize his knife. 
 
 "Our hands meet at his waist ; his al- 
 " ready holds the end of the handle, and I 
 *' scarcely have time to clasp the middle of 
 " the knife, at the junction of the handle 
 " and blade. 
 
 ** A terrible struggle takes place. 
 
 '' We both roll over on the sand. 
 
 " Unfortunately the knife wounds me in 
 "the hand. -• ^ '^^ 
 
 " It is going to escape from me. 
 
 " By a supreme efiort, I force my fingers 
 " Anto his throat, so as to choke him, but 
 " he does not yield. 
 
 " In fine, after a last shake, the knife falls 
 " from his hand. 
 
 " In an instant I drove the fatal weapon 
 " into his body, he stirred no more. 
 
THK WITCH. 
 
 Alas ! what a terrible spectacle offerH itself 
 to mv view. (V. p. 113). 
 
THE WITCH. 113 
 
 * * 
 
 *' The two prisoners were then saved ! 
 
 " I hasten toward the wood-pile ; I enter 
 " the border of the wood. 
 
 "Alas I what a terrible spectacle offers 
 " itself to my view 1 
 
 '• The dead body of Mrs Houel is suspend - 
 ♦' ed at the end of a rope, the violet-coloured 
 " figure and its limbs hanging in the immo- 
 " veability of death. 
 
 "A single motion still agitates the corpse : 
 *• it is that of the branch shaken by the Yf ind, 
 " which causes it to rise and fall, giring a 
 •' slight undulation to its vestments. 
 
 * * 
 
 " At some paces farther off, is the child's 
 ** body, fastened to the trunk of a tree, the 
 " head stained with blood, hanging down 
 •' on his breast, deprived of feeling. 
 
 " I believed him to be without life. 
 
 8 
 
114 THE WITCH 
 
 ** Poor little flower, scarcely detached from 
 " the maternal tie, and already ripe for death I 
 
 " I remained cast down, as if struck by a 
 " thunder-bolt. 
 
 ** After having cut the cords, I placed the 
 *' two bodies, one on the side of the other. 
 
 " I then remarked, with terror, that the 
 '' child's hair, whose curls had but lately 
 " glittered with such a beautiful black, had 
 *' become completely white I 
 
 " Had he died then of fright, sooner than 
 " from his wounds ? 
 
 " I crossed his two motionless arms on 
 " his breast, and after having placed the 
 " arms of Mrs Howel around his neck, I 
 " caused his body, pale and white as ivory, 
 " to rest on his mother's heart. 
 
 " You have watched over him in his life- 
 *' time, oh tender and unfortunate mother, 
 *' watch again over him in death I 
 
THE WITCH. 115 
 
 
 '* Before thinking of consigning these 
 " inanimate remains to the earth, I remem- 
 " bered that several of the Iroquois had 
 ** only been wounded ; and in order to 
 " reassure myself, I lighted a bark torch, 
 *' and went to examine them carefully. 
 
 *• All were dead, with the exception of 
 *' two, who could hardly breathe, and had 
 " only a few hours to live. 
 
 " But the principal author of so many 
 " crimes and desasters, was not among the 
 *' number of the victims. 
 
 " The witch had disappeared. 
 
 " Was she then wounded by one of my 
 ** bullets, had she fled towards the wood ? 
 
 ** I followed, for some time, traces of 
 *' blood through the forest, but soon every 
 ** mark disappeared, and I was obliged to 
 ** abandon a useless search. 
 
116 THE WITCH, 
 
 ♦** 
 
 *' On my return to the place of the catas- 
 " trophe,! perceived that the child's wound 
 " was but slight, and that he was again 
 *' breathing. 
 
 *' I lavished on him then, all the care of 
 '* which I was capable ; but he did not 
 " revive and become sensible, until several 
 *' hours later. 
 
 *' It was during that interva. that I trans- 
 " ported him to the shelter of a neigh- 
 '* bouring maple-tree, after having dug the 
 " grave of his unfortunate mother. 
 
 " It is even here, under this hillock, that 
 " she rests, and the purpose of our journey, 
 '* delayed a long time by the absence of Mr 
 " Houel from the colony, is to bring back 
 " her remains, and reunite them with the 
 ** the ashes of her family. 
 
THE WITCH. n? 
 
 * 
 
 On the evening of the same day, the 
 brave peasant alone, near the rock, was 
 leaning on a spade, some paces from a 
 heap of freshly removed earth, and looking 
 with a pensive eye, at a canoe which was 
 going away slowly from the shore. 
 
 It was Mrs Houel's son, accompanied by 
 the faithful ** Canoer," who was carrying 
 away the sacred remains of his mother. 
 
 The two travellers waved their hands, as 
 a last sign of farewell to their host, to which 
 he replied, wiping away with the other side 
 of his rough hand, a tear which fell, in spite 
 of him, down his cheek. 
 
 His emotional glances followed the canoe, 
 without being detached an instant from it, 
 until at last it had disappeared, in doubling 
 the extremity of the River Quelle Point. 
 
118 THE WITCH. 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 The remembrance of this tragic legend, is 
 not yet effaced from the memories of the old 
 storytellers of the coast, although the details 
 differ, and the variations which multiply, 
 threaten it, like all our other traditions, 
 with the winding sheet of oblivion. 
 
 Already the twilight sets in around all 
 these old recollections, the outlines fade, 
 and soon darkness will invade them on all 
 sides, so we hasten to light the torch, and 
 arrest the darkness where it deepens. 
 
 
 The story of The Witch was related to us 
 for the first time, by a Canadian hunter, an 
 old fisherman of the gulf, old in years, very 
 superstitious, versed in all the traditions of 
 the country. 
 
THE WITCH. 119 
 
 " As an historical monument which con- 
 secrates this event, a point, situated at a 
 short distance from the rock, a witness of 
 this bloody tragedy, still bears the name of 
 " The Iroquois Point." 
 
 Moreover, this shore, from all time, has 
 been in evil repute, and the name of " The 
 Devil's Cape," given to a promontory which 
 extends into the sea, some miles lower 
 down, is not a stranger to the memory of the 
 terrible witch 
 
 * 
 
 The charm and the marvellous, with 
 which popular superstition has surrounded 
 this mysterious being, are not yet extinct ; 
 and many pretend that the snow-shoes, 
 which may yet be seen incrusted on one of 
 the rocks on the shore, were imprinted by 
 her steps. * 
 
 * These singular impressions are still perfoc tly 
 distinct, although the sea-water ami rain are gra- 
 
120 THE WITCH. 
 
 The people of the River Quelle Point, 
 whose love of marvellous stories is well 
 known, affirm that they have often seen, 
 during the evening, lights moving about 
 here and there, over the sandy shore, and 
 large white phantoms which are decidedly 
 not caused by the revulsion of the sea, 
 wander, during certain times, over the rocks, 
 on the edge of the water. 
 
 Moreover, they are quite sure of having 
 heard cries and groans, during stormy 
 nights ; so much so, that there is not a man 
 amongst them who would run the risks of 
 
 dually altering and effacing them. These traces of 
 snow-shoes are indented on the sloping side of a 
 rock, which the waves bathe, during the strong 
 winds and high water. There was also to have 
 been seen, some years ago, on the same rock, the 
 impression, very visible on the front part, of two 
 feet, also of the extremities of two hands situated 
 near, similar to traces which would be left on the 
 sand by a man supporting himself on his hands 
 and feet ; but at the present time, the traces of 
 snow-shoes are alone visible. 
 
THE WITCH 
 
 121 
 
 going to sleep alone, at the end of "The 
 Point," in the old house which affords 
 shelter to the porpoise-fishermen. 
 
 
 As to the place and circumstances of the 
 death of the terrible heroine, nothing is 
 known positively. 
 
 Some pretend that she was burned by a 
 party of hostile Indians. 
 
 Others state that, one day, a missionary 
 was called to the bedside of an Iroquois 
 witch who they say was her. 
 
 What passed between the man of God and 
 the wild Indian woman, nobody knows. 
 
 Did God hear favourably the dying prayer 
 of Mrs Houel ? 
 
 These funeral sound, add the chroniclers, 
 are always heard at night-time ; they fas- 
 cinate or freeze with terror, like the incan- 
 tations of former times. 
 
122 THE WITCH 
 
 Every one is then silent, and listens, 
 while trembling. 
 
 These are the cries of the "The Witch," 
 they say, who asks for prayers. Let us say 
 for her an Ave Maria. 
 
 (finis.) 
 Quebec, May, 1861.