LIEUI COL. ANDREW HAGGARD , H A Bond of Sympathy BV THE SAME AUTHOR A CANADIAN GIRL Crown 8vo, 6s. Some Opinions of the Press "... The spirited power of description which enlivens so many pages with its movement and sparkle."— jPa// Mall Gazette. " Interesting from the first sentence."— OK/Zao/t. " A picturesque and exciting story." — Yorkshire Post. " Will delight a very large section of the public." —Globe. " The novel will be read with much interest." — Scotsman. " Colonel Haggard must be congratulated on a successful romance." — Leeds Mercury. " The author has a vivid imagination and a smooth style, and his story should be read with interest." — Birminghant Post. " A clever study of the contrasted temp>eraments of the French and English Canadian. . . . The incidents are brightly told, and the numerous intrigues and contretemps skilfully onstructed." — Birmingham Gazette. A Bond of Sympathy By Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Haggard D.s.o. Author of " Under Crescent and Star," " Sporting Yarns,'' " Tempest Torn," "Sidelights on the Court of France," etc. London John Long 13 and 14 Norris Street, Haymarket [All Rights Reserved] First Published m 1905 Published in America under the title of" Silver nells." ¥■72. f H/Zh PREFACE Silver Bells was an Indian maiden who really existed. With exception of the final scene, which was learned from other sources, the facts concerning her and her English lover came direct from Ready- Rifle to the author. To C. E. E. UssHER, Esq., Of Montreal, Canada. My dear Mr Ussher, Where the iron horse now runs across the vast continent of British North America the buffalo and the Indian roamed formerly undisturbed. Since, however, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway across the Rockies to the Pacific, Canada became one vast Dominion, the sportsman and the wanderer in tiie wilds need not regret the change from former days. To none more than yourself, and your considerate colleagues in the management of the mighty line, must we wieldcrs of the rifle and the rod give thanks. Through you, can we not now roam much farther afield than when the Indian and buffalo alone held undisputed sway ? To you — Brother Sportsman — who, rifle in hand, have often experienced the charm of the wilderness, I dedicate the pages of my story. ANDREW HAGGARD. CONTENTS CHAP. I. CHRISTMASTIDE AT THORNHAM U. STRIKE FOR THE UNION JACK III. UNDER THE WHITE ENSIGN IV. THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER V. A BOND OF SYMPATHY VI. Geoffrey's accomplishments VII. FATHER Antony's farewell gift VIII. SOME botany and A BEAR FIGHT IX. THE ADMIRAL ASTRAY X. A TERRIBLE MONSTER XI. SILVER BELLS XII. A BAND OF BEARS XIU. A MEETING IN THE WILDS XIV. THE GREAT NAMAYCUSH XV. AN UNEXPECTED INTERRUPTION XVI. DRIFTING XVII. THE priest's COUNSEL XVIII. THE WILY REDSKIN . XIX. A MEAL FOR THE WHISKEY JACKS XX. A FEARFUL ENCOUNTER 7 PAGE 9 i8 31 37 44 50 60 70 79 89 97 106 112 121 130 139 146 1 5+ 163 Contents CHAF. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVl. XXXVII. xxxviii. XXXIX. XL. A NOBLE ACTION A TIME OF WAITING . SILVER BELLS SEEKS KNOWLEDGE A HIBERNATING BEAR WILL THE ICE BEAR ? WABANOU A RECEPTIVE MIND HOME NEWS . THE EVE OF THE WEDDING WITHOUT A COMPASS COVERING HIS TRACKS A MELANCHOLY MORNING THE SEARCH OF SILVER BELLS ALONE FAMILIAR FACES THE LIGHT HAS GONE OUT A WEARY HEART WESTWARD BOUND TOGETHER l'envoi PAGE 171 176 185 192 201 209 216 223 231 241 • 2 + 7 253 258 265 274 281 290 297 306 316 A Bond of Sympathy CHAPTER I CHRISTMASTIDE AT THORNHAM Thornham Hall, in the county of Norfolk, was ablaze with light. From the big doors, thrown widely open as each successive carriage drove up crunching the gravel but lightly powdered with snow, there shone forth the genial glow of an enormous fire of Yule logs blazing within. In the oak panelled hall, upon whose walls, well bedecked with holly, there hung many a trophy of the chase, stood Mr Digby, the Squire. As he waited to receive his guests he kept glancing with pride at the stalwart figure beside him, indeed towering over himi by a head, that of his only son, Geoffrey. Both father and son were attired in the dress costume of the Hunt of which the Squire had been for many years the master. The firelight from the enormous blaze dancing upon the polished gilt buttons of their scarlet, or, as custom has it, " pink " coats, was the sole illumination that displayed them to view. For the Squire's will it was that no other light save that of the mighty Yule fire should shine forth into the frosty night to delight the eyes of his good friends arriving from all the countryside. It was enough indeed, and far more cheery as a welcoming beacon after a long night drive than that of the enormous hanging chandeliers glittering in the spacious rooms 9 A Bond of Sympathy beyond, cleared for dancing and steaming with the fragrant coffee awaiting the half-frozen visitors. The father was a handsome man of middle age, ruddy and healthy, with a quick blue eye and well- trimmed beard, as yet but slightly touched with grey, while his hair was still as brown as that of the tall young fellow beside him. His face showed both geniality and determination ; a conscious strength of character lay in its clearly cut features, which often had made itself felt when either commanding in the hunting field or presiding over his brother magistrates as chairman of Quarter Sessions. The son, in whose honour the Squire had thrown his house open, had a peculiarly frank and manly and yet modest bearing ; his eyes were blue like his father's, but with a more dreamv, self-contained expression. He was athletic in build and looked about twenty-four. Had it not been for the pronounced moustache which relieved his somewhat pale, if tanned, features, one would have called him almost a bov. He seemed rather nervous in manner when, a batch of guests having arrived, had been shaken hands with by the father, presented to the son and ushered into a disrobing room beyond, Geoffrey and the Squire were left momentarily alone. "Father," said the young man, with a deprecating smile, "don't you think you could let me off any more of this ? I feel as if I were being made a show of to all these people, not half of whom I know, and upon my word, father, I don't like it, you know." "Well, I do like it, old fellow," replied his parent, *' and surely, after gratifying your own inclinations bv wandering about Canada for so long and fighting that rascally rebel Riel in the backwoods and getting vour- self wounded, you will now gratify my paternal pride for once by way of a change. Confound it, lad ! I have only got one son, and precious little it is that either I or anyone else have seen of him, so now that I have the opportunity of showing him off, bv Jove ! you would lO Christmastide at Thornham not grudge the old governor the pleasure, would you?" " Oh ! all right, father. If you put it that way I don't mind, and I'll stick by you here as long as you like, but only upon one condition all the same, or else I'll make a bolt of it and join my mother and sister in the drawing-room." "Join the squaws, will you ? as I suppose you call 'em. Well I'm hanged if I let you just yet, GeofF, so tell me the condition and I'll see if we can make terms." " Simply that you don't say another word to anyone who arrives about my having been fighting or got wounded. If you do, I'm oflFlike a shot." " All right, my boy, I'll keep it to myself, especially," he added with a gratified chuckle, "as there is not a man, woman or child in the county who has not seen the account of the fight at Duck Lake reported at length in the Norfolk Chronicle." "Yes, and my blessed father's remarks in the Shire Hall at SwaflFham as well, I suppose, confound it ! " said the young man, impatientlv, after which he resigned himself to his fate. Presently, however, there arrived a group in the door- way which made him forget evervthing in his delight at seeing a much longed for face again. "Mrs Strangford, how are "you ? Why, Connie, Connie ! how glad I am to see you," he added a moment later, extending both hands to the daughter as soon as he could with decency relinquish the hand of the mother. To judge by the bright light which sprang to the eyes of the brilliant girl, whom Geoffrey rapidly divested of her cloak, thus detaining her while her mother and a gentleman accompanying them passed on with the Squire, Constance Strangford was as pleased as Geoffrey himself. "Oh ! what a long time it has been, Geoff, since I saw you, and I am so glad that you're home safe at last and now we'll have fine times again, won't we ? How II A Bond of Sympathy is your wound, Geoff? We are all so proud of you here in'Nortolk." " Oh ! bother my wound. How splendid you look. Here, take this programme and let me put myself down for the first three dances to start with. 1 can have them, can't I, Connie ? " "Of course I — oh, but I forgot, perhaps only two. Sir Reginald might not quite like it." *'Sir^ Reginald?" " Yes, Sir Reginald Carnforth, who is staying with us, you know ; he just went on with mother. He's an old diplomat and a bit of a stickler for les convenances ; so mother, who thinks a lot of him, told me to be careful. He rather admires mother, I think, and, well, she does look handsome to-night, doesn't she ?" " I never noticed, Connie, I am ashamed to say, for I had eyes for no one but you, but still, of course, if vou want to keep her in a good humour we'll only put them down by twos, all over the programme, here and there. Will that suit you ? " " Yes, I suppose so," said the girl, rather doubtfully. " I don't think Sir Reginald can mind — " " Oh ! bother the old fool, of course he can't ; anyway, I have a right to vou, I suppose ? Now come along, we'll get rid of your cloak and join your mother before she is waiting for vou. Ah, here she comes ! Mrs Strangford, will you come and have some coffee ? I'll just hand in Connie's cloak !" When the young man reappeared from the door of the disrobing room, where it had only taken him a second to hand the fur cloak to a maid, he was rather chagrined to see that his Connie had already been marched off by the courtly Sir Reginald, while her mother awaited himself to follow them to the coffee table. Here several guests separated them from the others. Presently Mrs Strangford, again taking Geoffrey's arm, said, " Now, shall we go to your mother ?" At the same time she made a sign to her daughter, and the Baronet with her, to join them. 12 Christmastide at Thornham As she presented the latter to Geoffrey the young man thought that he had never seen features that he disHked so much. There was something sinister and sly in the otherwise refined face of Sir Reginald Carnforth, a man of about fifty-five, and very well preserved in appearance. There was, so it seemed also to the heir of Thornham, something aggressively protective in the manner in which the old diplomat held the daughter's arm in his own. He did not quite know why, but he did not like the manner any more than the man. Nevertheless, he shook hands with him politely, smothering any trace or what he felt or fancied, and led the way into the ball- room with Mrs Strangford. When they had joined his mother. Lady Grace Digby, who was a daughter of the Earl of Fransham, his sister was standing next Mrs Strangford. Geoffrey rapidly exchanged a word with his handsome sister Grace. She was his only sister, two years older than himself, and they were tenderly devoted to each other. " Grace," said he, " I want particularly to introduce you to that old man with Connie. I don't quite know why, but I don't like him, and I want you to help me to keep him away from her." " Oh ! you jealous boy," laughed back Grace. " Why, they say he is making love to her mother ! " "Then why the dickens does he keep hold of Connie's arm in that unnecessary way ? Do you know him at all?" "No, I have never met him yet. Well, look here, Geoff, if vou want to get rid of him introduce him to me. I'll make him come and dance the opening quadrille with me, treating him as one of the most important personages, you know, then you can get your Connie away, and keep her when you've got her as long as you can." " Grace, you're a regular brick," said Geoff. " Come along then." In a moment the Baronet was introduced to the 13 A Bond of Sympathy daughter of his hostess, who, a second later, led him away with her successfully, thus giving her brother his opportunity to repossess himself of Connie. As he marched ofF with her and felt the warm pressure of her arm upon his own he did not care for anything or anybody else in the world for the time being. For was she not his betrothed ? Had they not at least always been to each other that indefinite some- thing which is called in the country being more than half entrased ? Asserting his rights, he marched the reallv beautiful young lady back out of the ballroom, through the coffee- room, and into a corridor. Up the corridor lie led her until he came to a little doorway which he opened and entered with her. Although it was dark. Miss Strangford did not stumble as she was ushered into what was the gallery at the back of the organ of the private chapel belonging to the old Hall. For often in years gone by she had been there before. Once inside, Geoffrey closed the door. " Now Connie, dear old Connie," he said, " to make up for lost time." And they made up for lost time, and then after some minutes of blissful silence marched back to the ballroom just as the first quadrille had. commenced. Geoffrey noticed that Mrs Strangford, who was dancing with the Earl of Fransham, looked rather severely at them as they entered, but what did he care ? He felt as if he walked upon air, he danced internally for joy upon air ! And although Connie met the sinister glance of the Baronet sliding her way with a searching look of disapproval, it is to be feared that neither did she care, for she was internally dancing for joy upon air also. During that dch'ghtful evening Geoffrey had it all his own way with the acknowledged beauty of the county, and this was right and fitting, for was he not himself the hero of the occasion ? »4 Christmastide at Thornham Nevertheless, in spite of other delightful visits to the organ loft and other old hiding-places which these two had been wont to frequent together in former days, in spite, too, of the tenderness of Connie, the cup of his happiness was not made quite complete. For one thing Geoffrey could not succeed in doing — this was in making his dear Connie give him a definite promise to be his wife. That she longed to do so was evident, that, for some reason she dared not do so, or could not quite make up her mind to do so, was also made evident. Nevertheless, she fenced all round the question, giving him every kind of a promise which was not a definite one, promising in generalities, saying yes of course they must be married, that she longed to marry him, she only lived for him, had only lived for him all the time he had been away, that she had nearly died when she had heard that he was wounded, and many other dear and consoling things which were undoubtedly true. But the whole truth she did not tell him, which was that her mother had, before coming, distinctly forbidden her to give him a definite promise, and, moreover, utterly distasteful as it was to her, she did not say that she knew her mother's reason. Nevertheless, she fooled herself almost as much as Geoffrey that night, poor girl, when, during their last stolen interview, she burst into tears as she drew the handsome head down to hers and kissed the eyes she loved, while assuring him that she knew it would be all right soon ; in a day or two at latest she would be able to tell him that he could call her his affianced before all the world, that he could make arrangements to marry her in that very chapel wherein they then stood. And so they left each other, straining each other to the heart in a fond embrace — an embrace which was, alas ! their last for ever. For after the ball the rich old Baronet's diplomatic manners proved too much for the daughter, when backed up as they were by the persuasive eloquence of an ambitious mother. A Bond of Sympathy Thus, when Connie was purposely taken away to Norwich to be out of Geoffrey's reach, and then, when he wrote that he was coming to Norwich, spirited off at the Baronet's suggestion to London, the game, so far as Geoffrey was concerned, was lost. P'or Connie was now daily so clearlv shown the advantages of a title, of wealth, of position, the folly of mere love with a young man of wandering habits just for love's sake, that by degrees she gave wav, ever yielding more and more to the wiles of her ancient suitor. For he had already bought the mother, and when at length the fair young beauty was sold in turn by that mother into his arms, she did not go as an entirely unwilling sacrifice to be an old man's bride. She had, it is true, some foolish, vague idea that perhaps he would not live long, and that then, endowed with his wealth and title, she would be all the more acceptable to Geoffrey in a few years' time. How she wrote all this to the man who from early boyhood had thought of naught but her fair face, her endearing ways, Connie alone knew. But the letter that she sent him nearly broke his heart. When, moreover, a few months after their marriage, Sir Reginald and his fair young wife came to live at Great Cressingham Hall, a place the Baronet had bought not ten miles from Thornham, Geoffrey's determination was made. Not all the prayers of his mother, not all the tears of his loving sister, not all the vigorous remonstrances from his grieved and dis- appointed father could shake that determination, which was to go back again to Canada to the backwoods of the primeval forest. There, with the beasts, the fishes and the trees for sole companions, would he make his home — no woman should come into his life. There, amid the Red Indians with whom he had already sojourned and warred, he would remain, never willingly consorting with white men, and vowing to set his eyes upon no white woman's face. Sad and bitter was the parting with his mother and sister as he turned his back upon Thornham Hall ; and i6 Christmastide at Thornham deeper still the grief between father and son as they wrung each other's hands upon the floating dock at Liverpool. And so Geoffrey sailed away to Quebec, while his family were left at home to mourn him almost as one dead. Meanwhile, the happiness that she had expected did not come to Connie, neither did it come to her mother. For the story became known, and so univers- ally popular were the Digbys in Norfolk that public sympathy went with them, and a strong tide of disfavour set in against the Baronet and his young wife from the very first. Her former friend, Grace Digby, and her mother, refused to visit Constance, and when the wife and daughter of the popular Master of the Hounds took this step all the rest of the county families followed suit. As for Mrs Strangford, after her dauo-hter's marriage none of her old friends would have anything to do with her. Moreover, to make things worse for the pair, Sir Reginald Carnforth was suddenly seized with an attack of paralysis which, while disabling him and rendering him almost speechless, did not kill him. Moreover, he was unable to be moved, and so lived on for years at Great Cressingham in this disabled con- dition. Thus were Mrs Strangford and her daughter, Lady Carnforth, unable to leave a county where they had no one to speak to and were universally detested. 17 CHAPTER II STRIKE FOR THE UNION JACK The month of May was drawing to its close as the steamship Bosnia sailed out of the Mersey and, after touching at Moville in the north of Ireland, steered away for her ten days' trip across the Atlantic. She was a vessel of only 4500 tons burthen, and was crowded with passengers, by whom Geoffrey Digby was soon voted an unsociable being. For, although for the first six days of the voyage the weather was clear and the sea fairly smooth, he never joined in any of the deck sports with his fellow-passengers, nor, when two rainy, squally days ensued, would he take part in the whist or poker parties or other amusements in the saloon. From daylight to dark his occupation was ever the same. With a grim, impassive look upon his features the young man either paced up and down the deck or leaned over the taffrail looking ahead ; he never looked back. He had secured a cabin to himself and so had no room- mate to disturb his solitary thoughts. Many, however, some of whom indeed had met him before or heard of his deeds during the recent Riel Rebellion, strove to draw him into conversation. In this they failed signally. For, while polite and courteous to all who approached him, as he never originated a remark himself, the one- sided conversation naturally fell flat. Thus he was left alone to his meditations and interest in him subsided. The two squally days had been accompanied by strong head winds. There had been, moreover, although it was not realised at first, owing to the impossibility of taking sun observations, a strong sea current which had borne 18 Strike for the Union Jack the Bosnia considerably to the northward of her course. Upon the ninth day, when the ship should have been well over the banks of Newfoundland and near the island of Anticosti in the Gulf of St Lawrence, there was a dense fog which occasioned considerable anxiety. The fog horn was kept sounding from morning till night and the engines were stopped, but as for twenty-four hours no answering fog horns were heard from other vessels the truth was guessed by all on board. Nevertheless, the fear of collision with some other ship was great. No one knew at what moment some huge form might appear looming up suddenly through the mist, only to be suc- ceeded by an awful crash which might mean death to all on board. As a second day of impenetrable gloom succeeded, the gathering terror among the almost panic- stricken passengers increased. Their anxiety was how- ever somewhat allayed upon this second day by the assurances of the ship's officers that, from the nature of the deep sea surroundings that were being made, they were sure of their position, which was well out of the track of other vessels ; moreover, that the time of year not being sufficiently advanced, there was no danger of collision with floating icebergs. The first of these well- meant assurances was false and only intended to allay alarm. The second was true. But neither one nor the other affected Geoffrey Digby in the least. Throughout the fog, as throughout the fair weather, he maintained his impassibility, paced up and down the deck and gazed ahead over the taffrail. There was no wind, but a heavy swell on the second of these days of foggy gloom which considerably increased the discomfort of all on board, the Bosnia rolling and lurching continuously, now on the summit, now in the hollow of the waves. Suddenly a sound was heard which thrilled every heart with terror. Over the windless sea was distinctly audible, and growing plainer and plainer, the dull roar of breakers dashing upon some rock-bound shore. The passengers were horror- stricken, and their blanched faces and wild, anxious questions plainly showed their fear. Nevertheless, there 19 A Bond of Sympathy was no confusion among the crew, who, under the decisive orders of Captain Dalrymple, hove the lead, which, however, reached no bottom, cut adrift the lashings of the anchors ready to let go at a moment's notice, and removed the canvas coverings from the boats. In these this foreseeing commander had already, quietly during the previous night, caused to be stored both water and provisions. The falls of all the boats too had been previously secretly tested, to see that they would run clear at a moment's notice should they require to be lowered away. Indeed, without taking any steps openly which could alarm the crowd of human beings committed to his care, all that human foresight could do to avert unforeseen disaster had been done by this brave and praiseworthy sailor. Owing to his being known as a strict disciplinarian and his averseness to answering the fooh'sh questions with which the ship's officers are so often needlessly beset by passengers, neither was Captain Dalrymple himself nor his first officer, Mr Crowquill, who followed his example, ^ jpular on board. The North Atlantic Steamship Company possessed, however, no more trustworthy servants than these two in the whole of their fleet. Suddenly, without the least warning, while still the leads found no bottom and the sound of the breakers was distant, the ship struck with a horrible crunching upon a sunken rock. At the same moment the distant sound of a gun was heard reverberating through the fog- laden air. The captain alone instantly realised what it was. "That, Mr Crowquill, is the midday gun sound- ing at St Johns, Newfoundland ; go and avert panic among the passengers and have the boats cleared away. I will see to the rest, the ship is not moving on the rocks. Only preserve order and there will be no danger of loss of life." There was already, had he but known it, danger of loss of life ; for the shock of the ship striking had precipitated two persons overboard into the sea. One of these was Father Anthony, a Catholic priest, the other Lady McGeorge, the young and elegant 20 Strike for the Union Jack wife of the General commanding the troops at Halifax, Nova Scotia, who was going out to join her husband. Lady McGeorge had been quite the smartest woman on board the Bosnia. Amid the general panic that prevailed one man saw their peril and heard their cries. Himself crying loudly, " Man overboard ! " Geoffrey Digby plunged into the water. Although there was a slight surf now breaking against the ship's side, he seized the priest at once by his cassock, and urging him to remain still, swam with him to the side of the first boat that was lowered, in which he saw a lifebuoy, of which he possessed himself. Leaving the priest clinging to the gunwale of the boat, Geoffrey now swam away with the lifebuoy, striking out vigor- ously in the direction of the piteous cries which he heard coming from the lady as the current slowly bore her away. In a minute he was lost to the priest's sight in the gloom, and save those twain no one had marked the lady's fall into the sea. Nevertheless, Geoffrey succeeded in reaching the almost choking woman in time. Seizing her from behind, to avoid her possible struggles, he pushed the lifebuoy in front of her while relinquishing it himself. Then when she had grasped it he remained beside her, encouraging her while treading water himself. Presently, seeing that she had become quite calm, and that he could approach her with safety, he contrived to do so, and to place the lifebuoy over her head. Then, with one hand upon it just to steady himself, he floated by her side and listened for the sound of oars of a boat coming to their deliverance. But no boat came, though plenty of other sounds were heard, steam whistles and cannon on the ship making the air hideous with their roarings. Fortunately the water was quite temperate, being from the Gulf Stream. Nevertheless, before long, Geoffrey noticed as they floated along that the lady's clothes were sadly dragging her down. She acknowledged as much when he asked her, but, being a plucky woman, now that she had recovered her breath and had her 21 A Bond of Sympathy head above water, never gave way to despair and kept cool. "Only hold on tight and never fear and we shall be saved," he murmured cheerfully. "You must get rid of these encumbrances. 1 have a knife and will cut your waistbands." In a moment he had done this and drawn away the clogging skirts which were dragging her down. Once her limbs were thus made free Lady McGeorge found that she was relieved indeed. "Can you swim ? " asked Geoffrey. " Only a little," replied the lady. " I am tired." " A little will do. By God's providence I will pull you out of this mess. Help me to get rid of my water- proof and coat. Lean your elbows on the lifebuoy, and each time I say * Now ' give a pull at the sleeve." "All right, I can do it." " Now," said Geoffrey, " There ! — now — again ! " The waterproof was off, and, after a moment's delay, the coat was sent to rejoin the other garments in the deep. "That is ever so much better," said Geoffrey, as with- out assistance he easily divested himself of his waistcoat also. " Now to get rid of my shoes," he said. "I will give you my knife, and as I throw myself on my back will put up each foot in turn on the lifebuoy. Cut each string; I can kick them off! Bravely done," said the young man, a minute later, when both of his deck shoes had gone to the bottom of the sea. Noticing that his companion was beginning to look distressed, he said again, " That coat — does it not tire you ? " It was a loose coat richly trimmed with sables. " It drags me down awfully." "Then it must go also," said the young man; " but you must not attempt to pull it off or you will slip out of the lifebuoy. I must cut it off from behind. Throw your weight a little forward and keep your mouth closed." It took ten minutes at least to rip up the seams of the jacket from behind, for, hus- banding his strength, Geoffrey rested between whiles. 22 Strike for the Union Jack At length, however, it was ripped to pieces. The sleeves were ripped up, when the fragments of the beautiful sables fell away from the lissom young figure. Again she felt renewed buoyancy. Half an hour had passed when Lady McGeorge said quite suddenly, " I have swallowed some water and my corsets are choking me. I am slipping away, I can hold on no longer. God bless you ! I sink ! " She threw up her arms and would have sunk through the centre of the lifebuoy to the bottom of the sea. Geoffrey, how- ever, seized her by the knot of her hair and held her with her mouth well above water — her hat had gone long ago. "Courage! courage! I will save you! Hear those distant guns — they are from the shore ! There comes a puff of wind. The fog is lifting. Can you not see the shore ? " Just then the lifebuoy rose upon a wave, and plainly and clearly were disclosed to their view high in air the two bold headlands which form the entrance to the harbour of St Johns. "The current is setting that way. Do you not see the flagstaff yonder with the Union Jack ? A good omen, a British harbour. I will make you all right now, pull your courage together again. I must use my knife once more, then tie you for safety." " I do feel my courage returning. But how will you tie me, you have no cord ?" " That is easy," replied Geoffrey. He had already un- fastened the braces from his back and after first cutting loose the tight bodice and corset laces he bound his braces round her waist and fastened her with them to the little cords hanging round the lifebuoy. " Now we are all right and are going to swim in earnest. I will push. Remain passive until you feel stronger; you can give a stroke at times. Strike towards that Union Jack. You cannot possibly sink, and soon you will be seen — and rescued." "But you ! who are lashed to no lifebuoy ? " "Never mind me, I shall live to see you through it," replied Geoffrey, doggedly. " Do not say another word, strike for the Union Jack ; we must 23 A Bond of Sympathy swim for our lives and save our breath." For at least another long hour after that did this young hero swim, slowly pushing the lifebuov before him. Sometimes on the top of a wave he would, the fog having quite litted, actually see the channel to the harbour of St John's between the jutting cliffs which guard its entrance. At others, sunk in the hollow between two seas, nothing was visible but the Union Jack fluttering on the summit of the coastguard signal staff. But, true Briton that he was, that beacon gave him hope. He saw the masts of ships now — even saw boats, but none came their way ! Still he struggled on and on, pushing the fair young form before him. A wave had lapped over her head occasion- ally and she was very still and inert. Another quarter of an hour elapsed ; it seemed a lifetime. But still no boat ! no boat ! and the Union Jack, although nearer, was now only seen at times and indistinctly, for the crest of the waves frequently lapped over the head of the en- gulfed swimmer also. He felt drowsy as his sight failed him. He thought vaguely of his mother, of his sister Grace, of the old Squire, of Connie in the old times in the or2;an loft. And then, as once or twice his hands lost their touch of the lifebuoy altogether, he vaguelv remembered this young lady, whose body he could feel there some- where, whom he had promised to save. Then with a sense of duty he struggled on, ever on, till his force was all spent. The crest of yet one more wave swept over him, he lost his hold of the lifebuoy, he could not find it again. The wave shut out the light of the sky from his eyes. The green water closed over him as he sank down, down. And this, then, was death ' CHAPTER III UNDER THE WHITE ENSIGN As Geoffrey came to the surface after sinking for the second time an excited priest in a dripping cassock sprang from a steam launch into the water and seized him. A moment later the sturdy arms of British bluejackets had pulled not only them into the launch but also the form of the lady, lashed to a lifebuoy with a pair of braces. She, like Geoffrey Digby, was almost divested of clothing and quite insensible ; indeed, they both appeared to the sailors to be dead. Turning the two insensible forms upon their faces, so that the water might run out of their mouths, the gallant bluejackets, who, under the command of a young lieutenant, had strained every pound of steam in the en- gines to reach them in time, covered both up reverently with the white ensign which had been floating astern, then steamed swiftly for the battleship Renown lying in the harbour of St Johns. Before arriving there, however, a strange discovery had been made. Shortly after the inanimate forms had been dragged on board the steam launch and the task ofdisentangling the lady from the lifebuoy had been completed, a cry of horror sprang to the lips of Mr Montgomery, the sub-lieutenant in command. For upon his lifting the white ensign to in- spect her features, no sooner were the wet masses of black hair gently brushed on one side from the pallid face of the lifeless woman than, despite the closed eyes and absence of all expression, the young naval officer recognised her. That limp, draggled being was none other than his own elder sister, Geraldine, whom he had 25 A Bond of Sympathy never seen since her marriage, three years previously. And now to find her thus ! " Hurry, lads, hurry ! Full steam ahead to the ship," gasped the young man. " By Heaven ! this is my own sister ! But who, I wonder, is this gallant fellow who has so nobly risked his life for hers?" " He is, I believe, a Mr Digby ! " exclaimed Father Antony, "and the voung gentleman we were in search of who saved my life; but who the lady was I did not know, as I did not see her face when she fell overboard. I will see if I detect signs of life in either," he continued, and tenderly leaning over and raising the ensign of St George he felt the heart of each in turn. "I fear that God Almighty has called them to His rest," he exclaimed presently, rising sadly and making the sign of the Cross over each. " His will be done ! " " Please God as they bean't dead, begging your Reverence's pardon," here ejaculated Muirhead, the coxswain of the launch, touching his hat with one hand as he steered with the other ; "and you, Mr Montgomery, don't lose heart, sir. Many's the drowned man that looked as dead as them as I've seen broug-ht round a^ain. Why, here's Bill Jenkins, sittin' alongside me, as looked just like that when we picked him up that night in the Bay o' Fundv." " Ay, ay, sir," chimed in Bill Jenkins, " I was just as dead as that, sir, an' look at me now ! They pulled me through, sure enough, so there's hopes for they, God bless 'em ! " " Prav God vou mayonlv be right, my good fellows," replied Harry Montgomery, wiping away the tears which, despite all his fortitude, rolled silently down his awe- stricken cheek ; " here, Jenkins, lend a hand, we'll turn them L':ently from side to side — that's the way." " There's a deal o' water coming out ; raise them a bit brisker sir ; and you, your Reverence, begging your pardon, press their chesties a bit, the more water as runs out the more chance o' life," here intervened the cox- swain once more. But all the efforts of those in the 26 Under the White Ensign launch were useless to restore consciousness. Presently, when they ran the launch alongside the flagship Re- nown^ there was medical help ready and waiting. As Mr Montgomery, springing quickly up the gangway, saluted the first lieutenant with the usual report of, "Come on board, sir," he added, "a lady and gentleman both drowned, I fear, sir, and the lady is my own sister. Lady McGeorge." "Good God!" ejaculated the elder of a group or officers standing by the gangway. " Hats off, gentle- men ! " It was the Admiral, the famous old fighting Sir Arthur. " Forward, lads, -with the stretchers," ordered the first lieutenant ; " the surgeons are in attendance, sir, and all is in readiness below. Where shall we remove them to ? " he added, addressing the white-haired Admiral, who, cap in hand like the rest, looked anxiously down into the launch. " Remove the poor things to my state saloon, and be careful there, my lads, lift them gently," ordered the old Admiral. " And you, Mr Montgomery, would no doubt wish to accompany me there with the doctors and the hospital hands ? " he added considerately. Gently but speedily the two inanimate figures were carried up the gangway on the stretchers, every officer and man standing at attention and bareheaded as they were carried across the quarter-deck and below to the Admiral's saloon astern. Meanwhile, the dripping Father Antony, who, quite forgetful of himself, was turning to accompany the mournful procession, attracted the Admiral's attention. "Who is this clergyman, Mr Montgomery?" he inquired as they moved along. " We found him in a boat, sir, coming from the wreck of the Bosnia^ when he hailed us and asked us to take him in search of this gallant gentleman, whom he said, after first saving his life, had swum off into the fog after my sister with a lifebuoy. And he sprang into the water himself to seize the drowning man, who was 27 A Bond of Sympathy sinking as we neared him, although I don't believe that he can swim. I do not know the clergyman's name though, sir, I have not asked him." " Gallant deeds, if some scarcely wise ones, have been done to-day, and I see that you are worthy of your cloth, Father," said the Admiral. "Give me your hand, sir, and tell me your name, which it will be an honour to learn," continued the courtly old gentleman. " They call me Father Antony and I am a missionary among the Indians," returned the Padre. " Since God's mercy and that poor young man's bravery have spared me to continue my labours I trust that you will allow me to attend and give such poor help as is in my power to my preserver — should there still be life in him ? " The Admiral halted while the stretcher-bearers passed below. " No, sir, not until you have been cared for yourself, for you look in need of some stimulant and must have a change of clothing at once. I will send for Mr McTavish, our chaplain, who will take care of you, and we will find you a berth on board if you will favour me by considering yourself my guest for the present." So when Mr McTavish, who was standing close by, came up the worthy Padre was handed over into his care, and shortly afterwards, to the amusement of the onlooking bluejackets, the Roman Catholic missionary was seen issuing from that clergyman's cabin attired in the ordinary garb of a minister of the Church of England. Had not the occasion been such a solemn one the worthy Father would have been one of the first to smile at his travesty himself. As it was, having been brought up in the school of Jesuits, it was by no means the first time that he had assumed a disguise. For he held that any garb was a good one so that it was assumed for a right- ful object. Thus, his choice having been between a suit of plain clothes, offered him by the first lieutenant, and a suit of Anglican raiment, which was all that Mr McTavish had to offer, Father Antony had selected the latter as more befitting to his calling. Having also been 28 Under the White Ensign fortified by a strong dose of brandy, which had quite restored him after his immersion, he now proceeded to Sir Arthur's state saloon. Here he found, to his grief, that, despite all the efforts of the surgeons, Mr Digby had as yet shown no sign of life, although, in the case of Lady McGeorge, after the prescribed rules for the aid of those dying from drowning had been vigorously applied for nearly an hour, the faintest flutter of the heart had just been perceived. Finding that his preserver's case was about to be abandoned as hopeless by the worn-out workers, Father Antony asked if he might be permitted to lend a hand. He had, he said, once seen a method tried among the Indians for restoring consciousness, which was, he believed, quite unknown among the medical profession in Europe, and it had then been tried with success. Having received the required permission, the Padre went to work with a will. He was a wiry, muscular man, and he strove hard indeed to restore the life of the man who had rescued him, bending the body backwards and forwards with repeated action, until he was almost exhausted in his attempts to induce respiration. At length, with a cry of delight, the good man declared to the hospital attendant assisting him that he had heard a sigh. Redoubling their efforts, a few minutes later a looking-glass applied to the lips of the man apparently for so long dead disclosed to view distinctly a slight film upon its surface. There was no doubt of the matter. Geoffrey Digby had at length been recalled to life from the shades in which his soul had been wander- ing, although his new life was as yet but a very feeble flicker. To the immense joy of her brother, Geraldine McGeorge, after the first heart beats had been felt, had continued her recovery quickly. Her respiration now came distinctly and regularly, there was also a faint glow of colour returning to her pallid cheeks. More- over, the blood commenced flowing from a wound not previously noticed in the back. The surgeons an- 29 A Bond of Sympathy nounced her life as saved, whereupon she was rolled up in blankets and installed in the Admiral's own bed. It was an hour later, however, before they could give an equally satisfactory report of the man to whom she owed her continued existence in the land of the living. 30 CHAPTER IV THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER By the following morning Lady McGeorge had sufficiently recovered to have been able to rise betimes, save for a slight difficulty, which had been quite over- looked by the good-hearted naval officers. This was that she had no clothes. For although the position of the wreck was no worse than it had been on the previous day, the sea had got up a bit, and the surf breaking over the Bosnia prevented any salvage operations from being carried on. Thus none of the passengers' baggage could be got at when Harry Montgomery went off to the stranded vessel with a party of bluejackets from the flagship to lend a hand to Captain Dalrymple and his crew, who had also revisited the scene of their mis- fortune. Hearing, upon her brother's return, of his fruitless errand, Lady McGeorge was none the less impatient to rise and visit the bedside of the man who had saved her, of whose condition she had a bad report from the ship's surgeon. It was the gallant old Admiral who came to her assistance. Visiting her, with her brother, as she lay in her berth, in a fatherly manner he expressed his delight at her restoration to life from a watery grave. When Geraldine McGeorge had in turn expressed her heartfelt thanks for his great kindness, she explained to him, half comically, the trouble that she was in. " You see my difficulty, Sir Arthur. I have got not a thing to put on. At this very moment the only garments I wear consist of a shirt and under vest of my 31 A Bond of Sympathy brother's, and thev are oceans too big for nic. Look how Harry's things become a lady ! " Holding out her arms, the Admiral could not help laughing as he saw that the articles in question exceeded by the whole length of the cufF the fair arms they enclosed. " Then, Sir Arthur, there is something else to be con- sidered. Do you know that I have actually not got a single hairpin ? Can't you do something for me ? " And whimsically Lady McGeorge raised her pretty head and shook her black tresses at the Admiral, and very espiegle the gallant old boy thought she looked as she did so. " Hum— ha," he replied, " 1 could hardly say how we could select clothes on shore. Still, as the sea is now going down, I daresay we may be able to rescue your own by some time in the afternoon ; but then you will have to wait in bed, you know, and you say you want to get up at once. Really, how impatient you young ladies are ! " " No, Sir Arthur, you malign me, it is not ordinary feminine impatience which makes me want to rise, although I confess I am impatient enough at times — but it is something more. Do you know" — she seized his hand — "that that poor young gentleman who saved my life, and almost lost his own in doing it, that man who swam after me in the fog and who stuck to me gallantly in that horrible ocean " — she shuddered — "that horrible ocean, for hours, is terribly ill, awfully weak, they say, and rambling at times, and I may never see him to thank him. I must see him. I must watch over him ? I am a woman, he wants a woman to nurse him, to do all those little things which you kind, brave men cannot do for each other, don't you understand ? Oh ! do help me somehow to get up at once and go to him. You know I am all right save for a bit of a cut on the back from his knife when he cut my things off so cleverly, and that is nothing. Only suggest something, give me something, your own dressing-gown will do — if Admirals at sea have dressing-gowns, that is," and she smiled inquiringly. 3* The Efficacy of Prayer The Admiral rose to the occasion. " I can do better than the Admiral's dressing-gown," said Sir Arthur, laughing. "What about the flag- midshipman's outfit ? If you don't mind asking my signal-midshipman yourself, I am sure he would give you anything you wanted." "Oh ! send for him — send for him at once! How tall is he ? " cried Lady McGeorge, jumping at the idea. "Here, Montgomery, just step forward and ask Mr Conway to come here," said the Admiral. "We'll see if he cannot oblige your sister. I should think he could soon turn her into a boy." Five minutes later a slim young lad with rosy cheeks, which become rosier still as he entered, stood in the Admiral's cabin. "This is Mr Conway, Lady McGeorge. Now you ask the young gentleman what you want and I will answer for it he will be delighted to give you any- thing or everything down to a pair of shoes. Won't you, my lad?" inquired Sir Arthur. Delighted indeed was the young gentleman. Blushingly he said that he would supply the shipwrecked lady with a complete set of midshipman's attire " — all except a pair of braces that is ; I have broken my second pair," he added naively. " Never mind the braces, I see the pair with which I was lashed to the lifebuoy hanging over that chair ! " exclaimed Lady McGeorge. " Thank you, thank you, Mr Conway. Oh ! please get me your things at once, and I shall be eternally grateful to you." The result of this arrangement was that half an hour later as pretty a girl-midshipman as ever was seen on the stage of a theatre — even the long black hair having been arranged somehow — was to be seen leaning over the couch upon which lay Geoffrey Digby. She found him quite unconscious, rambling at times in a low muttering manner. Installing herself by his bedside, Geraldine McGeorge never left it all day. The erstwhile smart lady soon proved to the ship's surgeons that although transmogrified to a midshipman she had all the skill of a hospital nurse. c 33 A Bond of Sympathy She added to her attentions the tenderness of a sister in her care of this brave fellow. As the day wore on his rambling utterances became more distinct. The only name which she heard, however, was Connie, and Connie was often repeated, sometimes happily, but more often bitterly, reproachfully. As, under his nurse's tender care, during the rest of that and the following day, Geoffrey Digby's bodily strength gradually returned, his mind seemed still to re- main entirely unhinged. The shock of the immersion, coming on top of the long period of self-repression, appeared to have entirely obliterated all consciousness of the past or the present from his mind, save in so far as the past related to Constance Strangford. Upon the afternoon of the second day Geoffrey be- came feverish, and mistaking his nurse for his faithless love, spoke plainly and volubly to her, reproaching her for her infidelity. Becoming almost frightened at times, Lady McGeorge sent for Father Antony to keep her company. Although her brother often came to her when his duties permitted him to do so, she considered that it would be unfair to her preserver to allow any one living save herself and the priest to hear the secrets of his soul thus laid bare. Her pity for Geoffrey was so great that as she vainly strove to soothe him the tears came to her eyes. " Poor fellow ! " she said to the priest when, late on that second afternoon after a storm of denunciation, their patient had sunk back upon his pillows exhausted. " Oh ! what can we two, who owe our lives to him, do to re- store his peace of mind ? He never sleeps, and the doctor says he will have brain fever if he gets no rest soon, and if he has brain fever he will surely die. Oh ! how I wish that I had that Connie here," Lady McGeorge continued viciously. "I'd send her adrift without even a lifebuoy, although drowning would be too good for a woman who has brought a noble fellow to this condition of mind. I hope she'll come to a bad end ! I feel as though she were my personal enemy. 34 The Efficacy of Prayer And now she's married — you heard her name — Father, and well — I shall — " " Hush-sh, my dear young lady," said the good priest. "Do not harbour evil thoughts, they will not help our mutual preserver. Rather, since you ask me what you and I can do for him, join me in prayer. Are you a believer in Christ r " "Good Father Antony, I fear," returned Lady McGeorge somewhat shamefacedly, "that I was far more of an atheist than a believer in either Christ or a God of any sort until my recent great peril. The teachings of the world — reason, science, experience — had all seemed to convince me that there was no God — no Saviour possible of poor humanity." "But in your great peril, my daughter — when this noble fellow was for hours supporting you, when, at the risk, the utter peril of his life, he, after first abandoning his hope of safety in the boat to which he had conveyed me, accompanied you, encouraged you, kept you from sinking, what did you do then ? " "In that great peril, Father, I prayed as I had never prayed before for both him and for myself." " And whom did you pray to, my daughter ? " "I prayed to God to save us for Christ's sake as I had been taught to do in the days before I became an un- believer." " Well, your prayers were you see answered, so far as you yourself were concerned — God saved you as He saved me. Now then, let us together on our knees here by this young man's bedside pray once more to God for Christ's sake — pray as we never prayed before. Let us return Him our united thanks for His great mercies vouchsafed to us, and let us implore Him, earnestly and long, for the life of this man who, a stranger to us, has preserved to us both our being, our power to pray. Are you willing, my daughter, to join me ? " " Both willing and ready. Father Antony." Together by the couch knelt the strangely-assorted couple. The Roman Catholic priest, in the garb of a 35 A Bond of Sympathy minister of the Church of England, and the woman of the world in the uniform of a midshipman. Hah an hour later, as the Admiral, accompanied by Lieutenant Montgomery, came quietly to the doorway of the saloon, they beheld this strange sight. And as the priest prayed fervently aloud, the lady re- peating each sentence after him, both earnestly begging for the life of Geoffrey Digby, the onlookers were sur- prised by a stranger sight still. For presently they saw rise from the couch, and gaze with great astonishment at the two heads bowed before him, the sick man. And, moreover, they perceived that his eyes were no longer the eyes of a man out of his senses, but those of a man calm and sane as themselves. The worthy priest was ending his prayer with the words, " In life or death, O God, we thank thee for all thy mercies. Amen I " when to the great joy of the worshippers the words were distinctly repeated after him, in unison with Lady McGeorge, by the man for whom they were praying. Their prayer had been accepted — and answered. 36 CHAPTER V A BOND OF SYMPATHY Although as the weather calmed down sufficiently it was found possible to tow the Bosnia off the rock and into the harbour of St Johns, any thought of continuing the passage in her was out of the question. The whole of the cargo and stores had been removed unhurt, thus all the passengers who had taken such refuge as they could on shore were able to obtain their property, while the rescued trio on board the flagship recovered their goods and chattels also. All the limited places of accommodation in the town being already crowded to overflowing, and there being no steamers available in which to continue the voyage to Quebec, the Admiral insisted upon the three who had been saved from a watery grave remaining on board the Renown until that ship and other men-of-war should go to the St Lawrence at some time within the next month. After Geoffrey first recovered his senses, to see a young midshipman with a woman's face and a clergy- man, whose features were quite unremembered by him, praying earnestly by his bedside, it was considerably more than a week before he was strong enough to rise. There were indeed anxious moments during the first few days in which he suffered serious relapses. But still Lady McGeorge nursed him faithfully and Father Antony sat by his bedside for hours, to relieve her when he could induce her to allow him to do so. As she found him slowly growing stronger, Geraldine McGeorge, who had taken a great personal interest in her patient apart from the gratitude which she owed him, en- 37 A Bond of Sympathy deavoured, womanlike, to draw his confidences to her- seU. She felt that there was a bond between them such as can rarely exist among people in this world, and she sought to improve upon it, for there was a charm and gentleness about Geoffrey which filled her with sympathy. His manners were so courteous and kind, he seemed so genuinely grateful for any little attention, that she found it a pleasure greater by far to sit by his bedside than to promenade on the quarter-deck or pay visits to the town of St Johns with the Admiral, or with any of the younger officers. All of these, however, were only too anxious, now that for once in their lives they had actually got a lady, and a handsome lady too, on board a man-of-war, to vie with each other in seeking her society. Oddly enough, although hitherto Lady McGeorgei had been considered lively and fond of flirtation, of all the naval officers whose companionship she occasionally accepted there was none to whom she showed so much partiality as the little midshipman who had rigged her out with a suit of clothes. Thus while his seniors — captain, commander, lieutenants, and the other and bigger middies — were quite jealous of the signal-midshipman, he, as he strutted up and down the deck by her side with his telescope under his arm, was puffed out to twice his natural size by the pride of the situation. Quite unnecessarily, too, did young Conway point out to her objects and signals to be observed through his spy-glass merely for the pleasure of holding it for her, while she leant the arms which he was proud to think had worn his clothes upon his shoulders. He enjoyed himself thoroughly upon these occasions. Moreover, the young monkey made them last as long as possible by giving her the glass out of focus at first ; this he did especially whenever he saw the flag-lieutenant, whom he particularly hated, observ- ing them. There was, he found, one object upon which he could never lay the telescope too often to please Lady McGeorge. This was the Union Jack on the coastguard flagstaff. While gazing one day long 3« A Bond of Sympathy and earnestly upon this emblem of Britain's might — so long that the signal midshipman, who thought that she must be counting the threads in the bunting, had ample time to enjoy his glory — Geraldine lived over again those thrilling moments when the encouraging voice of the man behind her had said, " Strike for the Union Jack." She remembered too the moments preceding it, when the kindly hand had cut away her clinging garments ; she well remembered, above all, the sharp dig ot the knife, which she had received as he had severed the laces of her corsets. She had not winced at the time although the point of the blade was keen, and now, she scarcely knew why, she somehow hoped that the scar would never heal, that she might always be able to feel the cicatrice, or see it in the glass. This thought reminded her that she was staying too long away from her charge. She closed the telescope, gave it back to young Conway and hurried below. And while the flag-lieutenant, under whose especial orders was the signal midshipman, was taking particular pains to make things lively for that young gentleman on deck, just to take the conceit out of him, she quietly seated herself by Geoffrey's bedside and soothed his still burning brow with her cool, delicate hand. It seemed strange to her to observe how completely all the stren2;th had been taken out of the well-knit frame of this young man, which had been a frame of iron even at the date of the shipwreck, or never could she and the lifebuoy have been pushed forward for hours towards that Union Jack. More strange to her seemed the actual cause of this complete breaking down, which she accurately judged to have been created by the pangs of ill-requited love more than by the apparent state of death from drowning in which Geoffrey Digby had lain for so long. She wondered, as she bathed his forehead with eau de Cologne, how it was that the brain below it could dwell for so long or so vividly upon the pangs caused by a worthless woman, one unworthy to be loved by such a noble fellow, of whose gallant deeds 39 A Bond of vSympathy during the Ricl Rebellion in the North-VVest his nurse had now learned. And she felt, yes, in spite of the preaching of Father Antony, she still felt she would willingly have sent that woman adrift without a lifebuoy as a punishment for her crimes. While Lady McGeorge took so keen an interest in her patient, while she sought, although vainly at first, to draw his confidences towards her, she was grieved — it may be confessed slightly piqued — at the entire lack of interest which he took in her own personality, one which she was accustomed hitherto to find that all con- sidered charming. It had been several days before he even asked her name, when she had replied, Geraidine McGeorge. Never had he inquired if she was married or single, merely calling her "my kind nurse." He would not suffer her to thank him for saving her from death, and did not seem to think that there was any particular importance in having so saved her individual self. It might, she thought, have been any woman, no matter whom, it would have been all the same to him. He would have saved her just the same, and been just as well contented. The realisation of this fact gave Geraidine a little pang at the heart. It may have been disappointed pride, she did not quite know what it was, but it hurt. Finding that he took no particular interest in her she this day strove to create one. She told him therefore who she was; that her brother it had been whose boat had picked them both up ; that she was married to a man thirty years older than herself. It had been her father's wish, she said, and she had obeyed, her father and her husband having been old brother officers in the Giiards together. While the fact of her brother having picked him up, or the fact of his having been saved at all, did not seem in the least to interest Geoffrey, who, having died to all intents and purposes, evidently wished that he had stopped dead — this last piece of information did, to her satisfaction, seem to interest him. 40 A Bond of Sympathy It was a satisfaction, however, which was short lived, Lady McGeorge noticing that Geoffrey was more reticent with her even than before after he had learned that she was married to a man thirty years older than herself. A kind of thought wave, coming from his brain to hers, which felt in unison with his, told her the reason. She knew instantly, as well as if he had said it, that he was now classing her with his own faithless Connie, that he deemed her equally unworthy, since she too had married an elderly man for name, position or wealth. Instantly the nurse felt — she knew not quite why — that she was under some necessity of explanation, of self-excuse, to Geoffrey Digby. Not knowing what impelled her, she exclaimed in a low but earnest tone, " No, I am not as bad as your Connie. I did not love another man. I was not beloved by a true and trusting spirit." "My Connie! What do you know about my Connie ? " asked the sick man, feverishly. " I have never mentioned her. She is not mine either !" This was indeed the first time that that name had been mentioned since Geoffrey had recovered conscious- ness, but having broken the ice thus unintentionally Lady McGeorge was glad of being able to plunge deep into the hole. Here indeed was at last the opportunity of gaining the confidence that she so eagerly sought. Taking Geoffrey's feverish hand in both of hers, to prevent its nervous twitching, Geraldine now told him of his delirium, of how she had kept all away from the bedside saving Father Antony, and that his secret was safe with them. Then, with an infinite gentleness, she besought him, for his own good, for the sake of his own peace of mind, to treat her like a sister — or, she smiled — " an old mother confessor," and tell her all — pour out his soul to her — and thus lift all the weight and burden oppressing him from his bosom. "In me, my dear friend, my saviour, you see a grateful woman who will never cause you pain, who will never 41 A Bond of Sympathy grieve you by dwelling on or recurring to the subject of your trials again. Remember, you gave me all I now have — my life. I, in return, will give you a life of sympathy if you trust in me, lean on me. Thus a lifelong bond of kindness will be between us. I will encourage you? I will help you. Par or near, you will be able to think of me as knowing that I share the weight of your pain, that your burden is no longer borne alone. I, Gcraldine McGeorge, the woman whom you saved from death, will strive to make you feel that you have not saved her for nothing, but saved her — my poor, broken-hearted boy — to be a help, a comfort to yourself." She paused a moment, and no thought save unselfish ones and good were in her mind as she added, " Now, do you accept what I ofjer ? " The strong, stubborn heart of the young man was melted. The tears were in his eyes as, putting up his arm, he drew gently down to him the beautiful face, then said, "My kind nurse, I accept the sweet gift of your sympathy, I will give to you my confidence. I feel that what you say is true — your sympathy may save my brain. The accident which ordained that we all but died together has doubtless also ordained that there should be a bond of confidence between us, given and accepted by one and the other in all honour." With the black tresses almost brushing Geoffrey's cheek, with her expressive eyes gazing steadily, thought- fully, almost tenderly into his, Geraldine remained a moment. She seemed hesitating, debating within her- self as she looked deep into those blue eyes so calmly meeting her own. Whatever she found, whatever she missed, and she found or missed something, the delicate organism of the fibres of her soul were touched by it upon some unseen key. Scarcely did she know herself if the faint re-echo of the music was a harmony or a discord. At length shesighed. "Ah — h," a long-drawn sigh. Then repeat- ing his own words, "In all honour," she firmly pressed the hand that she held. It was but a bond of sympathy A Bond of Sympathy which had been sealed, and all that it brought were the unrestrained confidences of a young fellow. Yet, as the hours passed by, and still the nurse sat by the patient, a happier air, one almost of contentment, seemed to over- spread the flushed and feverish features of the latter. Noticing the good that her prescription was already doing, despite a momentary sadness at learning GeofFrey's idea of going to bury himself for life in the backwoods among the Indians, the nurse became gay, a load seemed lifted from her mind, she had done good indeed in taking this weight of confidence upon her, her heart felt joyful. When all the story was ended, when all the past was unravelled and there was no more to say, Lady McGeorge spoke brightly and confidently to GeofTVey about his future. She did not fall into the error of endeavouring directly to combat his ideas. On the contrary, she commended his idea of leading a life as a hunter and trapper, of entirely neglecting the society of all white faces, especially those of all fair women. But she merely suggested one little amelioration of his scheme. *' When, my dear friend, your powder and shot is exhausted, when — no matter how utterly distasteful to you all society may still remain — the want of supplies will drive you, as it must do at times, back into a town, then you must always remember our bond of union, first drawn up when you held me from sinking in those dreadful waves, and signed to-day, and for a time come back to me." Since it seemed that Geoffrey Digby scarcely now looked upon her as ought save a kind impersonal friend, one indeed of no definite sex, it would appear from these words almost as if Geraldine McGeorge wished him for ever to forget that she too was a woman — one with a fair face. But had she, in her devotion to his interests, her ardent desire for his happiness, entirely forgotten that fact herself? Ah ! who can say ? 43 CHAPTER VI Geoffrey's accomplishments Owing to the measures which the Admiral instituted for blasting away the unknown rock upon which the Bosnia had been stranded, the departure of the flagship from St Johns was delayed for a period longer than at first intended. During this delay Geoffrey completely recovered ; his restoration to health dating visibly, much to her satisfaction, from the day when he had laid bare the inner recesses of his soul to Geraldine McGeorge. No sooner was he able to get about than he became a universal favourite with all on board ; especially did Harry Montgomery look upon him as a hero worthy of imitation in all respects. Yet so great was his natural modesty and reserve that, even in the conviviality of the evening pipe and glass of grog, the naval officers found great difficulty in extracting from him any details as to his exploits, either during his recent experiences in the North- West, or in the pursuit of big game in many lands during the four years pre- vious to the recent rebellion of the Indians and half- breeds under Riel. Nevertheless that, young as he was, he had already been a mighty hunter became known. For such is the fraternity of sport among Englishmen that he became gradually drawn out as re<2;ards his hunting experiences, until his adventures, although he always made light of their dangerous side, were the envy of his listeners. The fact was that as " the poet is born not made," so had Geoffrey Digby been a hunter born. From his earliest childhood his instincts had been those of his primeval 4+ Geoffrey's Accomplishments ancestors who had lived by the capture or destruction of fish, fowl and fera natura. He was, moreover, a naturalist of a high order, who understood not only the habits of all wild creatures but their genus, species and anatomy. Nor was he unacquainted with botany or geology — indeed, all subjects having to do with the woods and fields were at his fingers' ends. Even quite as a child at Thornham, long before most children are allowed to run about alone, he had been the terror of his governesses, who could never keep him in control. Despite the earnest recommendations of his doting mother not to let the child out of her sight, so surely as the anxious young instructress's back was turned for a second the little boy would disappear. With the stealthiness of the Red Indian he would slip off into the woods in search of birds' eggs or butterflies, frequently secreting himself high up in the branches of some mighty tree while his distracted preceptress, accom- panied by his sister Grace, wandered about below calling his name in vain. Nor could many whippings cure him. As he grew a little older his bed would often be found untenanted when his mother visited it late at night. Then it was probably discovered that the little lad was out watching rabbit snares, that he had set him- self with skill worthy of a poacher. Locking him in his room was found to be of no use, for young Geoffrey climbed down from the window by a water-spout or the ivy on the wall. When his room was changed to one with no ivy or water-spout adjacent, the boy secreted a knotted rope under the mattress of his bed in the day- time, to climb down by it at night. For these delinquencies his father gave him a few good floggings and sent him to school. At school, although he did well at his lessons, he was frequently in trouble for being absent — as usual hunting something. He also got into trouble for trespassing on private grounds or tickling trout in preserved waters. When he grew bigger and came home for the holidays he not only learned to shoot but, almost as soon as he 45 i( A Bond of Sympathy could lift a gun to his shoulder, was found to be a dead shot. As for trapping vermin, the head keeper declared to his father one day, when the youth was barely fourteen, Master Geoffrey he du fare to kill a rare sight o' varmint, that he du. Squire. I'll lay a guinea that he hev killed more cats an' stoats an' weasels in these here Easter holidays o' his than me and Sam Adcock and Billy Eves ha' killed among us all t' year." By this time, moreover, he had given up tickling trout, and there being a fine stream running past the ruins of Castle Acre Abbey, not far away from Thornham, his father obtained permission from its noble owner for the lad to learn to fly fish in it. Now it was that his natural aptitude for the rod came in. Although he had never seen a line cast upon water in his life. Master Geoffrey had had as schoolfellow a Scotch lad, older than himself, from whom he had received a certain amount of oral instruction. It was one day when they were out together, shooting at an obnoxious farmer's sheep with bows and arrows — for which they were severely punished — that young Dundas had first disclosed to him the delights of fly fishing and its superiority over tickling, or, as he called it, <'guddling" trout. The farmer pursued them just then, but when they had temporally eluded him, it was with a slender wand and a long piece of string that Geoffrey took his first lesson in casting the fly, aiming at a daisy to practise precision. His next holidays, when he had an opportunity of fishing for real trout instead of daisies, he struck at first so hard when the big fellows rose at his fly that, with the coarse gut that he used, he either dragged them straight out of the water, or else, to his chagrin, found that he had torn off the upper lip, which remained sticking on his hook while the trout remained in the stream. It was not long, however, before these little defects were remedied, with a result which soon proved fatal to himself. For during the following fishing season an old clergyman, who alone had for years enjoyed the privilee:e of fishine the delight- 46 Geoffrey's Accomplishments ful stream, happened upon several occasions to be in the vicinity of Castle Acre Abbey w^hen the young son of the Squire of Thornham was on the vi'ater. And, as bad luck would have it, upon each of these occasions, whereas the hoary-headed man of God had only two or three small trout in his own creel, he found Geoffrey with a basket full of speckled beauties, all large ones and includ- ing fish of two pounds in weight. Not at all understand- ing the reason of the lad's extraordinary success, the jealous old bov at once wrote off to the noble Earl that Geoffrey Digby must certainly be poaching the water with worms and that he had better be looked after ! As a matter of fact the reverend gentleman had much maligned young Digby. What was the real cause of his success consisted in the fact that he had thus early dis- covered for himself the art of using a dry fly and of care- fully stalking his fish. In any case the result for the boy was the same, Geoffrey having been restricted for the future to two days in the season upon the coveted waters. He only fished the stream for one season after that, but when he did so he contrived upon his two days to get level with his traducer. For weeks he visited the banks of the river before he fished it, carefully then spotting the lie of the big fish in every hole and corner. At such times he would leave his rod uncased and ready for use in the charge of the water-bailiff, an old friend whom he often tipped — which the parson never did — and who accordingly svmpathised with him completely. Then when the water-bailiff, who was on the watch, saw the clergyman coming to the river side, he hurried to the lad with his rod and gave him warning. Geoffrey in the meantime had been studying the flies upon the water and marked where the biggest fish were rising. There- fore, before even his ancient enemy had got his tackle together, the boy contrived to let him see him land one or two splendid trout, while by the end of the day — well, the parson himself had better be left to finish that story — no layman could do it proper justice. 47 A Bond of Sympathy In addition to these varied accomplishments, it is not to be supposed that Geoffrey Digby was the son of the Master of the Hounds without knowing how to ride. He had a fine seat and light hands upon a liorse,and rode as straight as a die. His father had indeed every cause to be proud of his youthful heir from the day when, according to the old Norfolk custom, his face was " blooded " with the recently severed brush of the first fox of which he had managed to be in at the death. It is no wonder that, having no cause to enter a pro- fession, a young man with tastes such as these should have sought frequent opportunities of travel in search of sport so soon as ever he had left college, which he did very early. Geoffrey's father had not sought to thwart him, with the result that, young as he was, Geoffrev had already killed boars and tigers in India, lions in Abyssinia, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros in East Africa, and bisons, bears and wolves in Canada. Moreover, although not yet quite twenty-five years of age, he had already found time for a salmon fishing expedition to Newfound- land and had explored its rivers thoroughly. When the Admiral heard of this, he was delighted. For fighting Sir Arthur was among other things a most ardent and enthusiastic angler, although not a very scientific wielder of the trout rod. Nevertheless he adored a salmon and all pertaining to one, and now found to his immense satisfaction that he had here ready to his hand the very man who could tell him, far better than the natives of the island, the best places to visit in pursuit of his favourite sport. There was no railwav in Newfoundland in those days. The rivers, therefore, running as they do entirely through wild, uncultivated lands of forest and marsh, could only be visited with hopes of success by those having both means and time at their command. For either the sea vovage or the terribly hard journey through the bush, having to be undertaken to reach each one in succession, might only result in a disappointment in each stream, owing to the varying habits of the fish which, in Newfoundland, frequent different parts of the 4S Geoffrey's Accomplishments almost inaccessible waters at different seasons of the year. The knowledge of this fact, coupled with the difficulty of obtaining accurate information at St Johns, it was which had hitherto debarred the Admiral from indulging in his favourite relaxation. Now, however, all difficulties would be cleared away. Sir Arthur, by instructions which arrived from home, found that it would be necessary for him, before proceeding to the coast of Canada, to visit various small villages and settlements on the coasts and inlets of Newfoundland. For the eternal " French Shore Question " was then, as for the past hundred years, agitating the brains of puzzle-headed politicians in Paris and London. There was then, indeed, no probability of its being ever settled until after the next war between England and France. In the meantime a man-of-war had from time to time to go through the form of visiting the poverty-stricken fishermen of both nationalities, while its commander had to repeat the old and well-tried farce of inquiring into their respective quarrels and grievances, and reporting thereon. Sir Arthur therefore determined to combine business with pleasure and, under the leadership of the man so recently saved from drownine, to make a real and determined on- slaught upon the sahno salar of Newfoundland. Nor, since he had learned that the trout in its waters were most unsuspicious and confiding, did he intend to neglect them. For who can entirely despise splendid fontinalh running at times up to six pounds in weight ! 49 CHAPTER VII FATHER Antony's farewell gift Although there was no railway in Newfoundland and passenger steamers came and went irregularly, yet, the electric cable being already in existence, Lady McGeorge had been able at once to communicate with her husband in Halifax. Having duly assured him of her safety and whereabouts, she did not evince any great anxiety at the delay which kept her a guest upon the man-of-war. On the contrary, although had she been extremely anxious to continue her journey she would have been able to do so by small coasting craft, her terror of the sea in anything but a large and solid ship, coupled w^ith the unexpected pleasure of being able for a time to enjoy her brother's society, quiteoverbalanced in her mind the inconvenience of delay in proceeding to Nova Scotia. Therefore, when Sir Arthur asked her to continue a while longer as his guest, promising eventually to land her, not at Quebec but at Halifax itself, she was pleased to remain on board the Renown^ especially as her host was planning some camping-out expeditions which he asked her to grace with her presence. Geoffrey Digby, who was perfectly indifferent as to whether he remained in Newfoundland or proceeded direct to the backwoods of Canada, in which he purposed to pass the rest of his life, was, she knew, going to remain also. Father Antony, however, although pressed by the hospitable Admiral to stay, urged the necessity of an earlv departure for himself, in order that he might take advantage of the summer weather to proceed up country to the far and distant point where he 5° Father Antony's Farewell Gift proposed to continue his ministrations among the Red Indians. It was settled therefore that he was to take leave of his rescuer and host at Port au Basque at the south- western corner of the island. Here the Renown was to stay for a few days, and a journey of not more than a day by coasting schooner or steamship would land the priest upon Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, whence his further progress to the town of Truro would be possible by land. At Truro he would be able to proceed on his journey as far as Montreal by train. When the flagship had reached Port au Basque the month of Tune had commenced. Moreover, although the weather during May had been foggy and rainy, June set in fine, the glass being steady. The worthy Father Antony found a schooner just about to sail for New Sydney, but before his departure he had taken many opportunities of conversation with Geoffrey Digby, telling him of the country to which he was proceeding, giving him particulars of the Indians there, and assuring him of his good offices among them should his preserver — as he hoped — turn his steps in the same direction. As he warmly pressed Geoffrey's hand preparatory to leaving, he thrust into it as a parting gift a thick book written in manuscript which was likelv to prove of the greatest utility. This was nothing less than a vocabulary and grammar, written by the Father himself, of the Soto language, which, as Digby already knew, was the tongue spoken with but slight variations by both of those great Indian families, the Ojibboways and Crees. It had. Father Antony said, taken him years to compile and was the only book of the kind in existence. The language was, he explained, a soft and musical one, and Geoffrey, who already knew a few Indian words, would not find the slightest difficulty in learning the pronunciation, if he only followed the Italian method of pronouncing the vowels, in which the book was arranged upon a simple plan. SI A Bond of Sympathy Geoffrey was loth to deprive the Padre of so valuable a result of his labours, but the good man would take no denial. "I can now get on quite well without it," he said, *' having already by its aid translated a great part of the holy Gospels, You, my dear young friend, who have saved my life, may, if you persist in your present inten- tion, hiid many occasions when a simple sentence from that book may preserve your own. Look here for instance," he continued with a smile. He turned over the pages of his book until he came to one headed by the word " Friend." Under this were a series of sentences, the first one of which he read aloud as follows : — *"I am a friend, do not shoot me.' There," he con- tiiiued, "while your Indians are pondering over your first remark you can instantly go on to the next one. ' I am willing to befriend the Indians with the Govern- ment and help them to obtain their rights.' Thus they will learn that vou sympathise with them, and once your Indian appreciates that fact you are safe with him. Never contradict him if he says he has wrongs. For, as the Red Indian foresees the approach of the iron horse further into his fastnesses and wilds, so is he ever more and more suspicious of the intentions of the Government which has already attempted to impose upon him game laws and forest regulations. One of the two rebellions you have seen yourself already. I only hope and pray that there may not be a third and a bloodier one ere long. But now," Father Antony resumed, with pardonable pride, " I can show you something more that will be useful to you in this book. Under the headings of Gun, for instance — here it is, ' Gun-Bashkissigun,' just glance at that page and the next, you will see the nature of it. Then turn on to * Trap and Trap- ping,' you will find a few things there. I don't think I have forgotten much that is likely to be of interest to a hunter." p'ather Antony stood by smilingly watching the as- 52 Father Antony's Farewell Gift tonishment coming over Geoffrey's face as he read such sentences as follows : — "Do you trap your mink by the creek ? I usually bait my traps with fish. I prefer a log-fall trap for bear. I trap my foxes with frozen fish in winter. I cut a hole in the ground with my axe. I cover the trap with crumbled up buUrush heads. Less beaver are now trapped yearly." Geoffrey looked up amazed. "Why, Father, you must have been a trapper yourself, or you could never have learned all this in English, much less have turned it into Soto." " Precisely, my son," laughed the wily priest, " that is exactly what I have been, and not a bad hand either. It was at all events under the garb of a trapper that I first managed to get into touch with the Indians now living to the north of Lake Manitoba, who would have shot me down like a dog had they known that my real mission was to save souls, not to catch lynxes. I traded in skins. It was only long after they had taken pity upon me, for being such a bungler, and had taught me a thing or two, that by degrees I won their confidence. Then, by working with them, from Nature and all her works up to the great Manitou who made nature, I gradually instructed them in Christianity. Should you cdme to visit me with the band of Crees with whom I am now going to live once more you will find many of them Christians." "And," inquired Geoffrey, "do you then still dress and live like a hunter or like a clergyman, and do you accompany them on the warpath — since these Indians still wage war with each other sometimes, I know ? Excuse me. Father Antony, but this is all so interesting to me, and your methods are so unusual for a missionary, that I cannot help thirsting for more information." " Don't mind asking," responded the priest with a smile. "Yes, except on Sundays, I dress like a hunter, and I have even, for the sake of attending to the wounded, accompanied the Indians upon the warpath. 53 A Bond of Sympathy I had a dreadful time of it though once," he added with a sliudder, "when I was present years ago with a large body of Crees at a night attack made upon a band of Sioux somewhere about the American border. In spite of all I could do the Crees would insist upon murdering all the women and children. Oh ! it was dreadful ! dreadful I The whole band was wiped out completely !" "The bloodthirsty scoundrels !" exclaimed Geoffrey, indignantly. " I wonder you ever lived with them after that, Father." "Not at all !" replied Father Antony, cheerfully. " There was, on the contrary, all the more reason for my continuing to reside among them, since I do not think that they would do it now. Moreover, from the point of view of the ethics of an Indian, as they pointed it plainly out to me at the time, I almost think, if there had to be war at all that perhaps they were right to kill off everybody." " Upon my word, Father, you astonish me. Why, what possible excuse could they give for such cold-blooded barbarity ? " " Well, when I argued hotly with Kichipinn6, or Big Partridge, their leader, he maintained stubbornly that I was wrong, declaring that, even on the grounds of humanity and to prevent future bloodshed, it was better to destroy all of their enemies when they had the chance to do so. "' For,' he said, 'look here, white man ! suppose I spare the Sioux women, then they breed more children to kill me and my sons. Suppose I let the young dogs live, the boys will become braves to go on the warpath against us, while the girls, like their mothers before them, will bring more braves into the world to fight against the Crees. Now we shall hear nothing more of the Sioux for a long time, whereas if I had spared any of them, perhaps some time they would have come and done the same to us — killed us, men, women and children. It has always been their way — there won't be any left to come now.' 5+ Father Antony's Farewell Gift "As a matter of fact that massacre finished the war. The Sioux were never strong enough to attack the Crees any more until the latter migrated north-east, to get out of the way of their more powerful enemies the Blaclcfeet, who would not let them hunt the buffalo, which will also soon be wiped out." *' There are a good many buffalo left in Canada yet, Father Antony. It is not two years ago since I killed four in one day myself, and I saw enormous herds then. But I suppose you are right, they too will before long get cleared off the Canadian prairie, as they are fast dis- appearing on the United States side of the border. It is the spread of the railways in the States that kills off the buffalo. If ever the Canadian Railway is extended across the continent, from Montreal to the Rockies, as they say it will be, every white and red rapscallion with a gun on the face of the earth will be after them, butchering them merely for the sake of their tongues, and leaving their bodies to rot. But let us hope that it will be many years before such a calamity as that takes place. Why, what should we hunters do in winter time, supposing that we could no longer procure ourselves buffalo skin coats or buffalo robes for our sleighs ? I cannot imagine what everyone in Canada would do ! " "What, indeed ?" said the Father ; and shortly after that he had to say farewell to Geoffrey and all on board the Renown. Half an hour later the white sails of his schooner were seen disappearing in the distance in the direction of Cape Breton Island. After Father Antony's departure, the French shore business kept the Admiral too busy for a time in one place and another off the coast to go in search of salmon, but for a week or so all the officers of the Renown who could be spared from their duties were allowed to visit any rivers which they could get at, they being given the use of the ship's steam launches for the purpose. But although in this manner the mouths of such well- known rivers as the Codroy, Harry's Brook, Robinson's 55 A Bond of Sympathy Head Brook and the Barachoix wereall visited, the officers came back disappointed as rcgardssalmon fishing. They had caught quantities ot splendid trout it is true, the sa/mo fontinalis which, in Newfoundland as in Canada, often visits the sea, returning to the fresh waters coated with a silvery sheen overlying its ordinary brilliant colours and spots of blue, black, red and yellow. Of salmon, how- ever, they had captured but few and small ones, for they reported that the mouths of all the rivers were completely barred with nets, which nets had a mesh so unfairly small, in fact illegally so, that nothing but a small grilse could pass through. Those who returned with captured salmon to the ship exhibited them to the Admiral, who swore forcibly when he saw that every one had its back scored with the mark of these nets. After a few days off the lower coasts of the island the Renown proceeded to the beautiful Bay of Islands. She was anchored there, and one of the most magnificent bits of scenery in the world soon delighted the eyes of all on board, the water running inland between the fine bold headlands of the coast having exactly the appearance ot a Norwegian Fjord. But alas ! a very short trip up the splendid waters of the Humber displayed to view a scene not so pleasant, in the shape of the obnoxious nets once more completely barring the waterway and so prevent- ing the king of fishes from ascending. For thus it is, even nowadays, years later, in spite of legislation, some of the islanders will go on killing the goose that lays the golden eggs by preventing the salmon from ascending the rivers to perform the natural laws of reproduction upon the gravelly beds of their upper waters. Sir Arthur, in despair, turned to Geoffrey who, while recruiting his health, had not yet left the ship. "Confound it all, Digby, don't you at all events know of any place in this infernal island which is not infested by these arrant fish poachers? Cannot you lend us a hand, my lad ? Can't you put us on to a spot where a few of us can go into camp and have a good time with- out there being any abominable nets ? I should like to 56 Father Autonyms Farewell Gift take Lady McGeorge and Montgomery and you, of course. I think that would be enough of us not to over fish the pools, and we will take one or two of the blue- jackets as our gillies." "No, not enough of us," here interposed Lady McGeorge, laughing, "for I want Mr Conway to come as my gillie, if you please. Admiral. Will you let him come ? He has promised to be a very good boy indeed, and says he knows how to use a landing-net well to land my trout for me, and I intend to catch plenty." " Most assuredly we will take the lad if you like, Lady McGeorge, that is if Captain Ponsonby will kindly spare him to us from his duties, and we will make him your gillie if Digby will only tell us where to go," responded Sir Arthur. " Come, Digby, where shall it be ? No nets, and lots of fish for all, is what will suit us." Geoffrey replied without hesitation that he knew of the very place to go to for a week, and that he would promise everyone a good time if only the weather was fair and they were not eaten to death by the numerous stinging and biting flies for which Newfoundland is famous, or infamous. "There are, Sir Arthur," he said, "no inhabitants settled as yet near the mouth of the Gambo River. Also, although there are some big stones in the bed of that stream, we can ascend it in boats, especially at this time of year when there is plenty of water. Then, a mile or two up, we reach the first of the great ponds through which the river passes, for they call all the rivers brooks, and all the lakes ponds here, as you know. Now you see my point ? As there are no inhabitants there will be no netting, and I have fished these waters before with success. Well, after reaching the narrows, at the head of the first pond, we have to traverse another lake or pond of the same size. In the narrows con- necting the two I have caught some good salmon, and in the upper pond I have caught all sorts of things at certain spots I know." "What do you mean by all sorts of things?" in- 57 A Bond of Sympathy terrupted the Admiral, who was getting excited as his hopes rose. " Well, there arc salmon and anv number of huge sea-trout ; there also are the wrongly so-called land- locked salmon, which, however, are notland-locked at all as they have a clear run to the sea. The fish really is a sort of fresh-water salmon trout, like those they have in Canada, in the Province of (Quebec, in Maine and else- where." "I know," cut in Sir Arthur. "They call them ouananiche on the Saguenay, and swear that they are really the same as the salmon, or were so once upon a time, which I don't agree with. They are nevertheless fine sporting fish that jump out of the water all the time when hooked, but they can't compare with salmon in size or running powers." " Well, the Newfoundland land-locked salmon do nothing much but jump either, Sir Arthur, but they jump so high and so often that they often jump off the fly and sometimes actually jump into the boat," "Oh, what fun ! I must catch some of those fish. Sir Arthur. I hope that you will make up your mind to take us all to this Gander River, and I only hope that when I hook these jumping monsters they won't make a goose of me and jump off again." " Gambo not Gander, if you please, Lady McGeorge," interposed Geoffrey, laughing ; "but since you are to have Mr Conway for your gillie it will be his duty to take care of your interests in that matter. All that I can do is to take you, if the Admiral likes, to the place where you can pit your prowess against that of the fish. And I warn you that you will have to look out for broken lines with the huge trout far more than with those leaping terrors, for there are literally monsters in the lakes, and plenty of them, and they rise freelv too." " What about the salmon ? How do they rise ? " asked Sir Arthur, anxiously. " Like salmon everywhere else, very well indeed upon some days and very badly indeed upon others, but more often than not very well." 58 Father Antony's Farewell Gift "Then that settles the matter ! We will make all arrangements for the Gambo Brook and Ponds, and the sooner we begin makintr them the better." "Here, Mr Conway," he called, "I want Mr Mont- gomery at once." The rosv-faced lad had been standing within earshot during this conversation, gradually drawing nearer and nearer, open-mouthed with excite- ment as he learned that he was to be invited to the Admiral's fishing-party. His tormentor, the Hon. Claude Rapp, the flag- lieutenant was also standing not far away. And, if the truth must be known, it was almost as much to annoy him as to please Hugh Conway that Geraldine McGeorge had asked for the lad to be invited, for she had taken a dislike to the Hon. Mr Rapp, who was a bit of a fop and a coxcomb, whom she found it necessary to keep under. Moreover, she had heard him most unjustly pitching into young Conway on the previous evening, and had a very good idea of the reason. So she thought that if the boy could have a little pleasure through any action of hers, in return for the severe reprimand she had heard him receive, she felt sure, on account of her, then she would endeavour to procure that pleasure for him. Thus was the expedition organised, tents and every- thing to make everyone comfortable being arranged for from the ship. One thing especially was not forgotten. By Geoffrey's recommendation a concoction consisting chiefly of tar and vaseline was taken for the smearing of faces and hands to keep off the mosquitoes and black flies. For the naval officers who had already been on fishing expeditions had all returned marked as if they had an attack of smallpox. 59 CHAPTER VIII SOME BOTANY AND A BEAR FIGHT In Newfoundland, perhaps more than any other country in the world, the comfort of a camping-out party is made or marred by the weather. For while there is often a misty rain, sometimes warm and muggy, sometimes accompanied by cold biting winds, there is also the pest of insects to be warred against. And, rain or shine of one kind or another, the flies are always with you. Their tortures can be borne in fine weather, when it is possible to stay in the open air most of the time, but when the persistent rain makes confinement to the tent obligatory life becomes a burden shut up with myriads of mosquitoes and sand flies, which will get inside and stop in despite of all one's efforts. In addition to the above-mentioned pests there are several other winged creatures which bite freely in the daytime. First there is the ubiquitous black fly, the little creature so well known in Canada whose poisonous bite not only draws blood but leaves a little sore which itches violently for days, constantly forming a new head which suppurates when rubbed off. Another pest is a brown creature called the caribou or deer flv, which looks like an ordinary gadfly or small bee, and is said to be bred from larvae which feed in the nostrils and palates of the caribou or reindeer with which Newfoundland abounds. Lastly comes a much more ferocious-looking insect, thicker than, and about the size of, a hornet, which it resembles in being barred with black and yellow. This formidable insect the Newfoundlanders call the stout. Fortunately, although both the caribou fly and the stout 60 Some Botany and a Bear Fight bite hard and suddenly and draw blood in the operation, neither has a sting. Moreover, the irritation caused by their bite soon disappears, instead of remaining to torment one with fiery burning like that of the mosquito, black fly, and sand flies. These last tiny pests appear solely in the evening, and bite, if possible, worse than all the rest put together. Even when mosquito curtains are available, in camping out, whether in Newfoundland or Canada, it is always desirable in summer to avoid pitching the tents actually in the forests, to select, if possible, some point devoid of trees. The beach of a lake, a sand bank, or a point running out into the water which is well swept by the breeze is best. For wind in a great measure keeps all these brutes away. Fortunately for the comfort of the partv proceeding up the Gambo River, Geoffrey knew that he could find some such advantageous spots for camping ; moreover, the weather being sunshiny, with good breezes, the party of anglers who were chiefly to fish from boats were not likely, upon the open waters of the wind-swept lakes, to suffer so severely as the naval officers who had recently visited the rivers running through the forests. There, the rank insect-breeding vegetation had been everywhere close around them as thev had plied their willing rods. Everything that could be arranged for the comfort of Lady McGeorge, and indeed of all, had been thought of by the Admiral. With a view to this expedition he had, while at St John's, laid in manv yards of mosquito netting, and even of finer netting. He had bought up, in fact, all the coarse muslin that he could find in the city. For, old campaigner as he was, the Admiral, to use his own expression, intended "to get to windward of" even the sand flies. Fighting Sir Arthur had been camping out many a time before and age had brought experience. He had got two good tents already, and the bluejackets were to rig up more out of sailcloth. Enough netting was taken not only to form a screen to the doorway of each tent, to make curtains to surround the couches of 6i A Bond of Sympathy all, formed of blankets spread upon the fragrant scented spruce boughs, but also to form, when elevated on poles and laths, a large roomy apartment to be entered by a passage with two doorways. It would be possible, under cover of this cunningly-devised rampart, to take the aHresco meals in safety, while smiling contentedly at the thwarted flies buzzing savagely outside in tiie sun- shine by day or humming disappointedly in the light of the camp-fire at night. It was found quite practicable, owing to the high state of the river, to ascend its lower portion, and also to tra- verse the whole of the lower lake with the smallest of the ship's steam launches, although considerable care was necessary in the river to avoid either the launch or the boats, which she towed astern, from coming into contact with rocks here and there. The ascent, therefore, was made very slowly until the first pond was entered, where the water was deep for the nine miles of its length. Nevertheless a good lookout was kept forward for rocks, and the lead heaved occasioiially for soundings to be taken. Upon landing for luncheon upon the shores of this picturesque lake, on whose waters no steam pinnace had ever floated before, marks were seen upon the sandy beach, which speedily told a tale to the experienced eye of Geoffrey Digby, not however so apparent to the eyes of the others. " Look here. Sir Arthur," exclaimed Lady McGeorge, gaily, almost as soon as she stepped ashore, " Mr Digby has been fibbing in telling us that this country is unin- habited, for there must be a farm round here somewhere, where we shall be able to obtain fresh milk for our tea. See, here are the footprints of cows in the sand ; there is no mistaking them." Sir Arthur was puzzled, he looked at the footprints, then at Geoflfrey, inquiringly. The latter laughed. " Cows that are scarcely tame enough to milk, I fear, Lady McGeorge, although their near relatives the rein- deer are certainly domesticated. These are the footprints 62 Some Botany and a Bear Fight of a bull and cow caribou which may be now reclining not half a mile away from us in that thick spruce wood yonder. For the caribou hide in the forests in the summer, to escape the flies, and haunt the barren lands in the autumn and winter in great numbers." " Oh, how interesting this is ! But see, Mr Conway is making excited signs over yonder, he too has found something. What is it, I wonder ? " "A panther has been here, I think !" exclaimed the midshipman, excitedly, as he pointed out some footprints. " Do come here, Mr Digby, and tell us what it is. If this isn't the track of a panther I'll be jiggered." " Those are the marks of a lynx ! " exclaimed Geoffrey. "There are probably lots of them about here. Vicious beasts that belons; to the cat tribe. This must have been a very big one. Look here, he has been eating a dead salmon ; here are its head and tail, and it must have been a big fish too." "By Jove !" said the Admiral, admiringly, as he looked at the remains, " I wish I had been the lynx to get that fish. I wonder how on earth he got him out of the water." As the bluejackets were putting up rough tables, getting wood together, starting a fire, and generally getting things ready for lunch, the party, wandering about in all directions, had an opportunity of observing the vegetation upon the land adjacent to the sandy beach, which was quite new and interesting. With pleasure Geoffrey answered any questions put to him about the plants overspreading the marsh-like land, which, that sunny June day, was radiant with bright flowers, and looked like some rough wild garden, its varied hues were so many. However, with the exception of Geraldine, none of the party took any interest in botany. The Admiral, inspired with enthusiasm by the sight of the dead fish, went to the boat, and with a bluejacket's assistance began undoing a bundle of fishing-rods. Young Conway, with an enormous revolver of service 63 A Bond of Sympathy pattern in his hand, strolled off to a clump of bushes and began drawing it for a possible lynx, while Harry Mont- gomery, rifle in hand, wandered away with Muirhead, the coxswain of the launch, saying something about caribou calf making doubtless very good veal, if one could only get one in the spruce trees over there. Thus Geraldine found herself alone with Geoffrey. She asked him to walk with her a little way across the marsh and tell her something about the mosses and flowers. She had good boots on, she said, so was not afraid of getting wet, but that seemed hardly necessary if one picked one's way. As they tramped along, she soon found herself sinking ankle deep in a lichen-like moss to which Geoffrey called her attention. " Look at this," he said. " This in itself is sufficient to account for the presence of the caribou ; it is the Iceland moss upon which they feed. Then, too, do you see those lovely flowers ? They are orchids." "Oh ! do help me to gather a bunch of them," she replied. " How delicate and beautiful they are. And what is this plant, with the green leaves like box leaves and a white flower, which grows so luxuriantly ?" "That, Ivady McGeorge, is the Labrador tea plant, of which the leaves make an excellent beverage very like real tea." "Oh, capital! I am going to gather some, and I will prepare some tea for Sir Arthur, and see if he knows the difference, so will you please go on getting me the orchids. I see another kiiui over there." Presently Geraldine called out to Geoffrey. " See," she said, "what a large bunch of tea plants I have got, and lots of it has a pink flower instead of a white one. Now, Mr Digbv, am not I a good girl ? I shall be able to make tea for all of you, not only for the Admiral, you see." "And poison us all, thank you kindly," replied Geoffrey, with a smile, as he rose from his flower picking. 64 Some Botany and a Bear Fight " Poison you ! what do you mean ? Didn't you tell me — "Certainly not that this pretty pink-flowered plant was Labrador tea, although it so much resembles it. No, indeed, Lady McGeorge, that plant is called lambskill, and is deadly — at all events to sheep. I never knew of its being tried as yet on man." " Oh ! dear, dear ! " wailed the young woman," I am afraid I shall never make a botanist, and it looks so innocent too!" She held her bunch out comically at arm's length. " Please teach me some more about these plants and forgive me for being a goose." "Well, here is an innocent and dainty little plant if you like, the most delicately fragrant flower too in the northern hemisphere. Just look at its twin bells and scent its sweet perfume." " Oh, how delicious ! " said Geraldine. " May I keep it ? And what is it called ? I don't see any more." " Of course you may keep it if you like. The dainty little plant is named Linnaus borealis^ after the Swedish philosopher and botanist whose favourite it was. It is not very common here." " Well, now it is my favourite also, so I shall put it away in my purse and press it. Can you give me a piece of paper to put it in ? " Taking out a pocket-book from his breast pocket, Geofi^rey tore out a leaf, and carefully folding up the flower with its twin bells therein, was handing it back when Lady McGeorge made a further request. " Do you know," she said, in rather a diffident manner, " that I have not a scrapof your handwriting ? Indeed, I have never even seen it ! Well, since I have now become your mother confessor, I don't think that is quite right, you know, so will you do a little thing to please me?" She reddened slightly, looked down, then looked up aeain at him appealingly. "I will do anything to please you," said Geofi^rey, lookingr her pleasantly in the eyes with a kindly smile. " Well, I see you have a pencil, so will you just write B 65 A Bond of Sympathy upon that paper the name of this plant. Then put Geraldine McGeorge from Geoffrey Digby, Newfound- land, June 17th, 18 — ." " Why, that is quite a letter, Lady McGeorge. And what on earth will you do with it ? " Geoffrey paused, pencil in hand — hesitatingly. "I shall keep it when there are no letters — to remind me of the kind-hearted man who saved my life. May I not do that ? You said you would do anything to please me just now." " Oh ! certainly, if you like. Will you hold my pocket-book while I write on it for you ?" When this little operation was completed, Geraldine took the paper and the flower almost in reverence and put them away in her purse. Her eyes looked her thanks, and if they looked or said anything more Geoffrey did not see what they said. Turning in silence they commenced to retrace their steps, and in avoiding a shallow pool of water advanced unconsciously in the direction of the clump of willow bushes which young Conway had selected for his lynx- hunting operations. Near the edge of this pool Geoffrey paused, and picking up a vine leaf shaped plant and flower which grew on its brink, held it out to his companion. " You have been in Norway, I believe. Now I will see if you are a botanist or not. What is that ? Do you remember ? " Geraldine gave a little cry of delight. " Of course I do — Molterr ! the delicious yellow molterr berry of which I have eaten basins full in August. Fancy its being here. What do they call it ? " " Here they call it the bake apple, and they prize it highly as it is hard to find. But what is that ?" He turned quickly as a shot was heard in the distance, in the spruce trees. Directly after there was another shot, then a sound of shouting. A second later there emerged into the open, running at some distance across their front, the form of an 66 Some Botany and a Bear Fight enormous black bear. It shambled along, not at a very rapid pace, when presently there emerged after it the figure of a bluejacket. The foolish fellow was brandish- an axe, and while running after the bear shouting, in selected terms of the choicest " sailorman " language, to the brute to stop and let him catch him ! But, over the deep moss, the bear gained considerably upon the foolhardy bluejacket. "Oh, Heavens !" cried Geraldine, as she gripped her companion's arm," let us run for our lives, the brute is coming this way ! " It was true. At that moment the enormous creature, which looked as large as a big calf, turned in their direction. Glancing round, Geoffrey saw in a second that to attempt to run would be fatal. The willow bushes would afford no protection even if they could reach them ; moreover, to run would only make the animal pursue them — to face it might frighten it awav. " Don't run ! Down on the ground ! — flat — there behind me. Don't move for your life !" and he forced Lady McGeorge flat down into some low scrub of bog myrtle which grew knee-high ; in this she was com- pletely concealed. It was now Geoffrey's turn to advance — shouting. He faced the bear but did not turn it. It moderated its pace, however, but, loudly growling and showing its teeth, came on determinedly towards him. When the huge brute was but twenty yards from him Geoilfrey shouted louder than ever, and seizing his cap dashed it at the bear, then he stood still with his arms folded, regarding it boldly. The bear stopped, seized the cap in its huge jaws with a roar of rage, shaking it viciously and growling horribly. Then it rushed forward ten yards — fifteen yards. At only five yards from Digby it raised itself on its hind legs and stood with its huge paws extended. It was about to hurl itself upon the form of the man who stood motionless, when the sailor with the axe, still ad- 67 A Bond of Sympathy vancing yelling nautical oaths, made the creature turn its head. Even in that moment of deadly peril Digby could hardly help a smile as he recognised the kindly features of Muirhead the coxswain of the launch. What would he not have given himself for that axe ! He had nothing but a penknife ! That would be useless, but he would risk anything to save Lady McGeorge. In a second it flashed across his brain that he had once met a half-breed named Wilson, who had held a bear's jaws with his hands, wrestled with it and escaped alive in the end. Even as the bear turned its head, GeoftVev it was who sprang upon the bear. Yelling to the panting sailor, " Come quick ! strike at his neck ! " GeoftVev Digby seized the jaws of the bear which were closed as they still held the cap. He held them together with his powerful right hand, grasping its throat with the other. The brute threw its claw-tipped paws around the man's body, in an endeavour to crush him ; but Geoff'rey was strong and sinewy and threw his weight all forward, thrusting well into the breast of the bear. It lost its balance and fell backwards. In its efforts to rise it lost its grip of Geoff'rev and beat the air for a moment. At that moment, while man and bear were so mixed up together that the sailor could never have struck a blow, Geraldine McGeorge, who had been absolutely impelled to rise to her feet, screamed for help, and unex- pected help arrived. With an eldritch veil of" Hold on to him, Mr Digby, I'm coming I " the form of a rosy-cheeked boy was seen dashing out of the willows. A second later, running up to the side of the struggling pair, Midshipman Conway seized the huge bear bv the ear, placed the muzzle of his pistol inside it, and fired. The animal rolled back struggling horribly, apparently in its dying throes, but not dead, Geoffrey Digby instantiv tore himself clear ; he was unharmed save for a few claw scratches and a coat torn to ribbons. 68 Some Botany and a Bear Fight Again the brave boy fired his pistol, this time discharg- ing it into the chest of the monster. To the surprise and horror of Geraldine, instead of killing the animal, this second shot seemed only to revive it and to increase its rage. It suddenly regained its feet, and turning savagely was just about to spring upon the boy when Muirhead arrived with his axe. With a slogan of triumph he whirled the axe high above his head. With a flash the blade descended — a flash and a crash ! Surely the ancestor of the striker must have been an executioner at the Court of the Scottish Kings ! For lo ! and behold ! the bluejacket had completely beheaded the bear ! With the blood spurting out from the severed trunk the body stood for a second — then fell. Before that blow descended Geraldine McGeorge had rushed forward and seized the brave boy in her arms. She had torn him aside so that if the bear had charged home it would have been upon herself that its attack would have fallen, not upon the midshipman. 69 CHAPTER IX THE ADMIRAL ASTRAY The jets of blood spurting from the bear's neck had covered Lady McGeorge and young Hugh Conway with their gore, especially Geraldine, who had partly shielded the boy when holding him behind her by sheer force, wrought up in her excitement. However she never noticed that circumstance, but when she saw that the bear was dead rushed to Geoffrey, who was calmly picking his mutilated cap from the ground and examining it critically. A long claw mark upon his face and scalp made his bleeding features look rather ghastly as Geraldine seized him impulsively with both hands. She held them firmly. " Heavens ! how brave you arc ! " she exclaimed, " and this dear boy too. Bless you, my brave lad ; your splendid pluck saved Mr Digby's life at that critical moment. If ever you lack a mother or a sister's love come to Geraldine McGeorge." She threw her arms around the slim rosy-cheeked boy and kissed him. His revolver still in his hand and eyes sparkling with delight as the panting Geoffrey also now extended his hand to him in an eloquent silence, the plucky lad expostulated, — "Oh! thanks awfully, Lady McGeorge, but I did nothing, I enjoyed shooting the bear awfully ; besides, it was Muirhead there killed him, you know." ^ " Yes, and I thank him for it too with all my heart. Mr Muirhead, give me your hand. I thank you for saving us all. It was a magnificent stroke I You are a fine fellow." 70 The Admiral Astray The coxswain of the launch, who had just picked up the huge bear's head, shifted it from one hand to the other, then rubbed his gory hand on his trousers ere he timidly extended it, saying, " It ain't for the likes of me to be shakin' hands with the likes of you, my lady, but as, by the way you tore that there young gentleman behind you to save him from the bear, I knows you ain't afraid of nothing livin', I makes my excuses for taking such a liberty, and there's my hand, mv lady." " Nonsense ! No liberty indeed !" exclaimed Geraldine, and she wrung the huge blood-stained hand of the blue- jacket. "But explain," she questioned. "What were you doing ? Why were you running after the bear with only an axe like that ? It was a crazy action that nearly cost Mr Digby and myself our lives, you know." " Yes, Muirhead ! What on earth were you doing there ? " said Digby, speaking for the first time since he had told Lady McGeorge to lie flat on the ground. " Were you mad to run after the bear like that r " "Only obeying orders, sir," replied the sailor. "You see, sir, Mr Montgomery he says to me, after he shot the other bear, he says, ' That bear's hit too, run, Muirhead, an' see where it stops. Don't let the varmint out of your sight.' And so I was running, sir, especially as I wanted to get a clip at him myself For a bear ate up my little sister, sir, and nearly ate me too, when we was children together, where we was born in Canada, sir. That's how it was, sir. I thought the beast was wounded and intended a-finishin? him off for sure." " What, has my brother shot a bear too r " exclaimed Geraldine. " Was he in danger also ? " '* Yes, my lady, and a beauty she is too, but not so big as this one. We came on the two together, sudden-like, when we was a-lookin' for deers. Then she came first, bouncin' right on us, and Mr Montgomery shot her dead ; then this one he jumped out after her, makin' at us roarin', but bolted when he was shot at. So I gave chase astarn full steam ahead." " With the result we know. Well, now. Lady 71 A Bond of Sympathy McGeorge," said Geoffrey, "don't you think we should be o-ettina; back to the beach. The Admiral will be anxious with all this shooting and shouting going on, and your dress will sadly require washing, at which we shall have to help you. Moreover, you must be tired after this excitement and want your luncheon." She looked at him reproachfully. " And vou, are you not tired after your terrible wrestle, that you should be, as usual, only thoughtful for others? But you are right, the Admiral must be anxious. Let us return to him. I wonder indeed that the shots have not brought him to join us already." "Oh! he was fishing," said Hugh Conway. " I saw his line going swish, swish, like anything, when I was lynx-hunting on the other side of the willows. Per- haps he has hooked something big and not been able to come away." "In that case we had certainly better go and help him ; but I think," said Geoffrey, " that I will bathe my face a minute first in this pool and make myself present- able. You, Conway, had better go on with Muirhead as quick as you can and tell him it is all right." *' Very well, Mr Digby. Come on, Muirhead, bring the old bear's nut along with you. We'd better run, and perhaps we'll be in time to see some more fun. I think this Newfoundland's just a jolly place for larks." And off rushed the boy as lively as if nobody had been in any danger, Muirhead, carrying the "old bear's nut," making good time after him, although rather hampered bv his sanguinary burden. But when they got to the beach they could see neither the Admiral nor anyone else. Moreover, one of the boats was missing, although its oars were lying on the shore. They ran down the beach some way to see if Sir Arthur had perchance had it towed round a slight point jutting out a little way off, thinking it possible that he might have anchored there and sent the other boat back. Meanwhile, as Geraldine with her own dainty pocket- handkerchief insisted upon striving to staunch the blood 72 The Admiral Astray from the nasty scratch on Geoffrey's face, she said to him quietly but determinedly, "Geoffrey Digby, I really cannot allow you to call me Lady McGeorge any longer." " Well, what then, Lady McGeorge, am I to call you, since that is your own name? Oh, thanks, you really have bathed my face long enough. Let me wash the blood off your dress." "What indeed? Do not you see that you cannot go on for ever saving my life and yet treating me with such absurd formality. You must call me Geraldine." "And do you think your husband would like it if he were to hear me addressing you by your Christian name ? " " My husband ! my husband ! " she answered im- patiently. "I hardly know if I have a husband. I certainly was married to my father's old friend a few years ago, just to please them both — certainly not to please myself; but the old General always tells me that I am to look upon him as a second father, nothing else. Most assuredly he would not mind in the least ; he never minds what I do for that matter." " Do you mean to tell me that Sir Peter would not object to my calling you Geraldine in his presence ? Unless you can tell me that I should prefer not to do it." " Oh ! you do not know my husband. I, at all events, am going to call you Geoffrey now, even as I shall do when I present you to him as the man to whom he owes the life of his wife, preserved to him by that man twice over. I know that when I tell him that I wished vou to waive formality and that you would not do it he will think it very ridiculous. Of this I can assure you, for he always agrees with me in everything. You will see I speak the truth." Geoffrey smiled. "Oh, very well, that settles this weighty matter. I do not want to seem ridiculous in your husband's eyes nor in yours, so I will call you 73 A Bond of Sympathy what you like for the remainder of the short time I shall still see you — Geraldine." "Thank you, Geoffrey, that is kind of you, and I am really grateful to you for thus giving way to my wishes. Harry, who already feels to you as if you were a brother, will be delighted, for he told me only yesterday he wished that we were members of one family." " All right then, that settles it. If there are no secrets or mysteries between any of us I do not mind. Now, Geraldine, let us go back to Sir Arthur ; but before we do so let me tell you one thing, it is that your pluck in protecting that boy, who is a little brick, has sent you ever so far up in my estimation. When I look at that huge carcase lying there and remember that you, a frail woman, deliberately interposed your body between that lad and the bear, I realise that you are a brave woman — 1 can say no more." " Had I only been afforded an opportunity of saving you, as twice now you have preserved me," returned Geraldine, " then I should have had some satisfaction." " Had we not better be getting back to the Admiral ? " remarked Geoffrey, adding a moment later, " Geraldine McGeorge, you have shown that you are capable of noble deeds and I shall not forget it." They returned to the shore of the lake without another word on either side — both were doubtless thinking of the danger just escaped. As they reached it, they saw Hugh Conway, Harry Montgomery and Muirhead with another bluejacket, Bill Jenkins, just getting a boat launched. Harry rushed to his sister, kissed her warmly and as warmly grasped Geof^'rey's hand. "Thank God you are safe, Gerry ; but what an awful mess you are in. Digby, I have heard of your magnificent pluck. God bless you for it. But we have no time to talk now. The Admiral has disappeared completely, gone in a boat without oars. Jenkins just now was holding the stern of the dinghy, while Sir Arthur was fishing from the other end of it. He had already caught a big sea trout 74 The Admiral Astray when he heard my first shot. He sent Jenkins off at once, telling him to come and see what I had shot. The cook and other men ran off with Jenkins and now are skinning my bear and cutting meat off it. That was half an hour ago. When I came back here with Jenkins I found Conway and Muirhead coming back up the beach. They reported the Admiral missing, and there is, you see, now a heavy breeze blowing offshore. I am horribly anxious. Can the boat have foundered ? She is not anywhere visible. We must pull up the lake and search." "Stop a minute, Montgomery," said Geoffrey, " per- haps I can help you ; I will come with you." " No, you stop here with Gerry, there's a good fellow. This place seems full of wild beasts. Besides we four are enough." " Well, then, I have an idea where the Admiral may be. Look across the lake ; the other shore does not look half a mile away over there, but it is much more. What you see just opposite to us is the long island covered with trees. This end curves back so that the trees upon it blend with the fir trees on a point of the shore behind, while it is in reality separated from them by a wide channel. I have been down behind the island and know. Now if the boat got adrift the wind might easily have carried the dinghy behind that island ; that is far more probable than that the dinghy has foundered. You will probably find the Admiral round there peacefully fishing away and waiting to be discovered." "Oh ! thanks, thanks. I hope to Heaven it may be so. Good-bye now." "Jump in, lads. Give way there." They were off, three of them pulling while Hugh Conway steered. Geoffrey meanwhile got hold of one of the little tents which had with other things been taken out of the dinghy, and pitched it round behind the point of trees. He, moreover, from his own hunting kit, which had also been lifted ashore from the boat when the Admiral 75 A Bond of Sympathy entered it, soon fished out a camp washing-basin, soap, towels, a waterproof sheet, a rug, all sorts of things. Then, taking Geraldine to this tent, he told her to maice herself tidy and comfortable within, but to give him out her cloth jacket and skirt which he would wash for her thoroughly and dry in the sun. He promised, moreover, to remain within easy call on the other side of the trees, so that she might not be nervous. As Lady McGeorge gratefully accepted all these little comforts and attentions and ensconced herself within the little tent, she murmured to herself with a sigh of satisfaction, — " How could anyone ever be nervous with a man like Geoffrey Digby anywhere in the neighbourhood ? How considerate he is, how neat and handv too — nothing for my comfort is forgotten, and yet half an hour or so ago that man was struggling for his life with a bear." She looked round the little tent — nothing indeed was forgotten. Upon the ground was the waterproof sheet, while upon it, folded up for her to sit upon, was the rug. An india-rubber camp bath was filled with clean water from the lake, with a cake of Pears' soap alongside it, while an india-rubber bucket with more water stood handy. The mosquito curtains were rigged up across the doorway on the side facing the lake, while, so that Geraldine might have something to wear when denuded of her dress, Geoffrey had even had the forethought to place handy for her his own waterproof coat. Soon she was revelling in the delicious water, enjoy- ing the while the satisfaction of the feeling of being pro- tected, of realising that Geoffrey was within sound of her voice, would fly to her in a moment if she needed him. Thus in a state of blessed beautitude Geraldine enjoyed her tub, delighting, like the celebrated Diana de Poitiers before her, in the caressing embrace of the cool liquid. When almost dressed, suddenly she heard a little rustling in the grass and fallen pine needles behind the blanket. Now so entirely unforeseen and sudden had been the two 76 The Admiral Astray great dangers that had already overtaken her that Geraldine's nerves, so recently lulled to repose, were instantly on the alert for some fresh calamity — she feared snakes. Again a rustle, and then something small scuttled across the floor of her tent. A piercing scream brought Geoffrey rushing to the door merely to see escaping from the entrance a little tiny squirrel known as a chipmunk, scarcely larger indeed than a good-sized mouse. His cheery laughter without soon restored the equanimity of, although it covered with confusion. Lady McGeorge within. Nevertheless she was delighted to hear his merriment. For the reassuring tones of the peals, which proclaimed that there was no danger, were those of the first laughter that she had ever heard proceeding from the reserved Geoffrey. As, realising how nearly akin the sublime is to the ridiculous, Geraldine hurriedly continued her toilet after this, Geoffrey called out good-humouredly that bethought that he had better go off guard for a minute to see if he could not find a bluejacket with an axe to decapitate the monster. Five minuteslater,however, he returned, calling out as he approached that he had brought her something really useful. Her toilet was sufficiently advanced for her to be able to push her shapely head out of the tent, although her luxuriant black tresses were all in the wildest disorder. " I only pray to Heaven that it may be a looking-glass and not a chopper," she cried, laughing, her brightly- coloured cheeks slightly blushing as she remembered the chipmunk. Geoffrey brought his hand from behind his back where he had concealed something, or rather some things. He actually had broug-ht a pocket looking-glass, and, what was more, a bottle of " Mahal," his own particular hair tonic, these luxuries being accompanied by a new tortoise-shell comb in a case. "Pears' sc-p and 'Mahal'! Why that is what I always use myself ! Geoffrey Digby I " exclaimed Lady McGeorge, jestingly, "you never forget anything, no 77 A Bond of Sympathy matter what, from a lifebuoy to a loolcing-glass ! I declare that you deserve to make every woman adore you." "That's nice," he replied, "but I have news for you. They've found the Admiral. I can see the two boats now, but there's something goina: on that I cannot understand. If you want to see, you had better hurry up." 78 CHAPTER X A TERRIBLE MONSTER When that gallant sailor fighting Sir Arthur once started fishing it required little less than an earthquake or an eruption of Mont Pel6e to stop him, if the fish were rising. Therefore, when he had heard Harry Montgomery's first shot fired he had barely turned his head to tell the bluejacket to run off and see if the young gentleman had killed a caribou. Then he had continued casting his flies. Just as the second shot was fired he hooked a land-locked salmon, whose jumpings and tuggings interested him far more than the second report of the rifle. It was an obstinate fish — thus, although the Admiral was perfectly well aware of the fact that the boat had gone adrift, he did not care in the least, he intended to kill his fish, the other boat would come for him, in time. Now it so happened that, although he had a long reel line on a salmon reel attached to the rod, the rod itself was only a light grilse rod. It therefore took him some little time to tire out the fish, and even then, owing to the length of the rod, the Admiral found it very difficult, in the little lumpy sea which was rising on the lake, to get the fish near enough to the side of the boat to reach it with his landing-net. One moment he would see its brown back in the crest of a wave, then there would be a swirl and only the broad tail of the ouananiche would appear for a second, as it dived again into a hollow of the sea. And still the boat went on drifting. When at length, by dint of shortening up his line to 79 A Bond of Sympathy merely the length of his rod, Sir Arthur did contrive to get within reach of his fish, he found it so large that he could not conveniently get it into the net. However luclc eventually favoured him ; the fish being moment- arily quiescent, he managed deftly to swoop it into the boat, although once there, it returned to a more lively condition than ever, bouncing up and down upon the bottom boards like an india-rubber ball, in a way that terrified its captor lest it should get overboard again. By the time that it had been successfully collared, unhooked and knocked upon the head, the Admiral, who was a large and rather corpulent man, was quite out of breath. As he sat down to rest and survey with feelings of pride the now lifeless corpse of his victim, realising with joy that it must weigh seven pounds at least, he perceived that he had got a very long way from the shore near which the steam launch was anchored. He had never heard the shoutino- of Muirhead, the screams of Lady McGeorge, nor the pistol shots of Midshipman Conway, so was alarmed at nothing, although he perceived that he had no oars in the boat. Nor did the fact that the other boat was not yet coming to his assistance alarm him in the least, he determined to go on fishing. Having filled and lighted a pipe, the Admiral examined his flies and found that the tail fly, with which he had just killed his fish, was worn con- siderably. It was a sea trout flv like his dropper, but he now determined to change it. Although Digbv had told him that it would be almost useless to fish for salmon until they arrived at the narrows connecting the two lakes, his success had made Sir Arthur ambitious. As the little boat bumped up and down, therefore, he took out his fly book, and after examining in succession all the contents, eventually decided upon a large " Silver Doctor" with a double hook. This he affixed to the end of his cast, a new and strong salmon cast, which, knowing that the Newfoundland trout are not particular about fine tackle, he had put on to start with, just in case of emergencies. Nevertheless, the old angler 80 A Terrible Monster carefully tested, with a very heavy strain, each knot of the gut in succession ere he recommenced casting. One of the knots broke ; this he tied up afresh, cutting off the former ends near where they had parted. All this took time, so that, when Sir Arthur was ready to again commence operations he found himself well over the lake. Moreover, he noticed that his dinghy had drifted perilously near some little breakers dashing on the rocks on the point of the island which Geoffrey had pointed out to Montgomery. The direction of the wind, however, was such that the Admiral's momentary anxiety was quickly allayed, for he saw that his boat would clear the point and drift into the smoother water of the channel beyond. He commenced throwing the fly as he passed the point, and just at he had reached its lee side, he noticed a foaming, swirling eddy in a little bay, formed by wind and current combined, sweeping round a straight rock projecting at right angles to the shore of the island. Almost as soon as he saw this eddy, he saw something else which made his war-worn heart leap. It was the head and tail rise of a very big salmon right in the foam. Being within easy distance, and the boat now not drifting quickly, the Admiral had time to make five or six casts over different parts of this eddv before passing out of reach. But in each case the " Silver Doctor " fell in vain on the water, in vain was worked back in short alluring jerks towards the boat. Once indeed a big trout rose at the fly, but the fisherman saw it in time to snatch his line away without the fish getting hooked and so spoiling his chance of the salmon. At length the boat was past — well past the eddy. A last long cast, although it reached the eddy, brought no rise. The disappointed Admiral having realised that, alas ! that big salmon was not to be for him stopped working his fly and commenced disconsolately reeling in his line, the fly trailing along the top of the water. Suddenly, when the line was nearly all in, there was a tremendous splash and the rod was nearlv torn out of F 8i A Bond of Sympathy the fisherman's hands, as an enormous salmon seized the "Silver Doctor" within a few feet of the boat. It had followed the fly right away from the eddv and then come at it like a tiger. An instant later there was the flash of silver in the air, and, whirling over high above the boat, Sir Arthur saw the huge form of the tremend- ous fish which, as it came down again upon the water with a resounding smack, splashed him with the spray from head to foot. Well was it for the gallant Admiral that he had tested every knot, broken the line at the only place that it was not fit to stand the terrific strain of that first drag, of that spring into the air. For a second after the leap the angler thought the fish must be gone, as all was quiet. But if the salmon hesitated, it was only to decide the route he should take. Fortunately for the Admiral this was down wind, not back in its teeth. Now he was off, down that channel like a racehorse, the reel screaming and the bend- ing grilse rod dragged right down, so that its point was but an inch or two above the water as the line fizzed out. When about ninety yards of line were out the salmon leaped again. "A forty pounder at least, by Heaven !" ejaculated the Admiral, for even at that distance the salmon looked big. " And he will have all my line out and break me in another ten seconds, I can't stop him. Oh ! for my boat's crew, to row me in pursuit !" But there was no boat's crew — nothing but a solitary man, in a slowly drifting boat, attached to a salmon. The boat constantly, to make things worse, turned round, at times being bow first, at times stern first, at others,, drifting broadside on. A hundred and twenty yards had run out — it was nearly all gone. There were but a few turns of line left on the reel, when suddenly the great fish changed his direction. With a cowollop on the top like a porpoise, and then a third flvini^ leap, he began now to dash towards the far side of the channel, slightly approaching the boat as he 82 A Terrible Monster did so. This fortunately enabled the angler to get in some of his line. Then the fish came a little more to- wards him, yet he still managed to reel in as fast as the fish approached, so that never for an instant was there an inch of slack. For, as all salmon fishers know, if your line becomes slack, merely for an instant, you lose your fish in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. However, suddenly the fish veered, and came straight at the boat, the line fizzing as it cut through the water like a knife. No time to reel in now ! With his left hand, as quick as lightning, the Admiral pulled in the line, letting it fall on the floor of the boat. Still, even in his hurry, the old sailor managed to do this so that the coils should fall clear of each other, and so would not be mixed up together in an inextricable jumble should the fish dash off" again. Now the huge salmon is at the very boat ! If he goes under it, the slender top of the rod will be dragged beneath and smashed, the line too will be broken — good-bye salmon ! Quick as thought, Sir Arthur dashed the butt end of his rod into the water with a splash. He almost struck the salmon as he did so, so close was it. Heavens ! what a length of a fish he saw. This action just saved the situation. The fish turned, leaving a huge swirling whirlpool on the top of the water as his huge tail, like the screw of a steamer, sent him flying off^ in a different direction. This time, it was up wind he sped, towards the entrance of the channel. Thatdidnot mattersomuch now, fortheboathad drifted well down it, therefore the action of the wind against its side would not help the fish, by increasing the dis- tance rapidly, half so much as had he taken to the lake at first. But he never reached the lake. The Admiral now attemped to put on a little pressure ; it succeeded, the salmon came back, tearing now down along the side of the island. There were feathery branches of trees hanging down into the water here and there. To the horror of Sir Arthur the line actually caught against two of these in succession, but, such was the 83 A Bond of Sympathy speed and force with which the immense salmo salor was travelling, that the boughs bent and gave way before the line in each instance. At last the fish, as if tired of life, took a dash straight at the shore where there was a sand\' beach. Up this it dashed in its headlong career, landing itself clean out of the water. It was flopping and springing about now on dry land ; presently the great salmon lay quiescent. Oh ! if there were only a pair of sculls in the boat, any- thing to dash on shore and seize the monster by the gills ! But there was nothing whatever to stop the boat from drifting slowly away. And no amount of pulling could move that weight back again into the water. After the Admiral in the drifting boat had nearly let out all his line, as the distance separated him more and more from his fish, lying there high and drv as if on a fishmonger's slab, it began jumping again, up and down, head over heels, on the sand. Then it splashed into the shallow water on the brink, sending the foam flving. After resting a little it recommenced its leaps until only its back remained out. Then it gains the deep water once more and sails away towards the centre of the channel — slowly. Putting on the rod every ounce of pressure that he dared the Admiral forced the partly exhausted creature to come his way. It came, it came, nearer and nearer. But then it went down and sulked, nothing would budge it an inch from lying like a huge rock at the bottom. Now it was that Sir Arthur perceived the great peril he was in of getting his line broken. For he was rapidly drifting towards the low end of the channel, out on to the lake once more. The commander of the fleet was not going to give in for a trifle like that ! His boat was still not far from the island, although at a point where there was no beach, nothing but trees. Nevertheless, taking ofF his watch with one hand he laid it on the bottom of the boat. Still holding his rod with one hand, he cautiously lowered himself over the stern of the dinghy into the water. Then Sir Arthur commenced 84 A Terrible Monster swimming, striking out with his legs, pushing the boat before him with his left hand and at the same time care- fully letting the line run off the rod held in his right hand. Slowly he progressed, but at last to his delight he felt the bottom — he could stand. Pushing the boat into the branches of the trees he turned and faced his quarry, now giving it the butt so hard that his rod bent absolutely double. Sir Arthur had been at least twenty minutes in this position, occasionally giving a sharp tap of the hand on the butt of his rod, when at length the jar of the line thus caused made the fish stop its sulking. It began to move again, at first apparently only a foot or two at a time, then to give short rushes, but it had not either its old strength or spirit. It was now that the gallant fisherman realised that possibly he might have been able to kill his fish after all, if he only had a gaff hook. But he had no gaff ! It was at the moment when the great salmon had commenced circling round and round on the surface of the water, lashing its tail at times, that the boat with the rescuers appeared, to find to their astonishment their chief thus standing up to his middle in water, holding on tight to something like a young whale. "Have you brought the gaff?" he roared out in a voice of thunder, as his only salutation to the search- party. When Montgomery replied that, having never thought at all about salmon, that indeed their sole anxiety having been about himself, they had no gaff, the situation became critical. The Admiral's language, from his waist-deep position in the water, became at first too nautical to be chronicled. However, after having let off the steam a bit. Sir Arthur calmed down and resigned himself to the inevitable. So he directed Harry to bring his boat quietly down to him close in to shore and hold a consultation. Above all not to frighten that demon of a fish. For 8S A Bond of Sympathy- it was quite evident that something would have to be done, but — in the name of Neptune ! — what ? Heavens ! supposing, as has happened with many a noble salmon, that the hold that had held secure for so long should break away at the very last moment. Awful thought ! it made him shudder so that the water round his portly form trembled in little dimples. What if a last convulsive effort should snap the long-tried cast, and, with the " Silver Doctor " still firmly fixed in hisjaws, the splashing silvery monster should go rolling away, first slowly sinking out of sight back into the depths, then down the Gambo and back into the sea ? And vet it seemed quite probable that this was what might happen after all. Several plans to secure the beast were suggested in turn but rejected. Muirhead proposed, for instance, that they should bend a bowline on a line and noose the salmon round the body, in the manner usually followed for dragging in huge sharks when hooked. It was found, however, that the onlv line available was the painter of one of the boats, and it was feared that the sight of his would-be lassoers approaching with this thick rope would only incite the salmon to renewed struggles, with perhaps fatal results. Bill Jenkins suggested that he should swim to the fish, while the Admiral held it well up to the top, and seize it by the gills, then be hauled into the boat with his prey. He had already been nearly drowned once, he said, and would not mind risking his life again in the least in such a cause. Sir Arthur, however, would have none of this. Harry Montgomery now proposed a variation of Jenkins' plan, which was that he himself should swim to the salmon and stab it with a big knife. This, however, was also rejected unanimously by the rest of the council of war. At last, it was Midshipman Conway who came to his chief's assistance with a feasible plan. ''It's all right, sir," said the lad. "We'll get him, never fear ! I have already shot a big bear with my 86 A Terrible Monster revolver this morning and I have got three cartridges left in it. Now I'll shoot the salmon." " Shot a bear with your revolver ! What the devil," but checking his curiosity as being premature and a commodity that would keep, the Admiral entered into the plan. It was agreed that first of all Sir Arthur was to be hauled into the ship's cutter, then that he was to be rowed gently towards the fish and by keeping the point of his rod well up, endeavour to get it close to the surface. Hugh Conway in the meantime, kneeling in the bow of the dinghv, vvas to be sculled by Harry Montgomery very gently and quietly up from the other side, to watch his opportunity and fire. A wonderful plan indeed ! The first part of it, that of hauling the big man into the cutter, was the hardest, especially as he refused to loose his hold of the rod for a single second. Not, however, that anyone else wanted or dared to touch it — no, indeed ! This, however, was accomplished at length, the boat being nearlv capsized in the endeavour. So far so good, but the salmon evidentlv thought that he also had a say in the matter. No sooner did Sir Arthur attempt to reel him in close than this king of fishes, who had been merelv resting while the consultation was going on, set off for a fresh cruise, apparently with all his old vigour. He made a splendid and unexpected run, once more tearing straight down the channel, entirely clearing its lower entrance and passing out into the lake beyond the island. Both boats pursued, and it was while the little flotilla were manoeuvring to approach the still fighting fish once more that Geoffrey had perceived them from the shore. That run of the salmon was his last big effort, but he still struggled, splashed and rolled so that for another ten minutes or more there was not the slightest opportunity for the midshipman. Suddenly, when no one was in the least expecting it, there was a flash and a report. The lad had taken his chance of a snapshot. The great fish sprang perpendicularly into the air. Again 87 A Bond of Sympathy the revolver flashed and rang out. The tall Admiral felt something knock his hat off, but, with a splash like that of a rock falling into a pool, the salmon fell back into the water an inert mass of silver. He was dead at last I Hugh's hrst bullet had hit him sidewavs, at the back of his head, the second, fired while he was in the air, struck his spine, passed through his body, and then through the Admiral's hat. "All's well that ends well," sung out Sir Arthur cheerfuUv, as they hauled the gigantic fish in ; " but, by Jove ! Mr Conway, you nearly made a bigger bag than I have ! And yet, if I am not mistaken, this salmon weighs at least fiftv pounds." "Sixty, sir, at least ! " was the unanimous cry of all the others. For were they not fishermen ? " Fifty or sixty, I expect he is by far the biggest salmon ever caught with the rod in Newfoundland, and you are a deuced good shot, Master Conway — so now tell me about the bear." So, while they rowed back across the lake, gloating over the fish, they told Fighting Sir Arthur their re- spective bear stories. 88 CHAPTER XI SILVER BELLS There was a sound of barking dogs and the joyful cries of women and children, as three birch bark canoes were seen rapidly approaching a large island upon the bosom of Lake Nepigon, a lake a hundred miles in length. Through the tops of the fir trees upon the island thin wisps of smoke were seen lazily ascending, while, here and there, dotted about irregularly in the clearings, were observable Indian teepees or wigwams, formed of long poles covered with bark and skins. More joyful still became the cries upon the strand as the six hunters, plying their paddles with renewed vigour at the sight of home, drew rapidly nigh, when it was plainly noticeable that each of the frail crafts was laden down dangerously low in the water with portions of the carcase of a wapiti, the huge red deer of the Canadian forests. There were other game creatures in the canoes in addition to the wapiti ; a number of foolhens or partridges, some rabbits and some disjointed members of a young caribou, a calf of a year old, completed their burden. No wonder, with all this meat on board, that the gunwales of the canoes appeared scarcely a couple of inches above the water rippling so swiftly past their sinew-sewn sides. At length the canoes grated upon the strand when, uncere- moniously kicking on one side the savage wolf-like dogs of the Esquimo breed, four women and several children rushed forward to greet the hunters, and to greedily view the spoils of the chase, for meat had been scarce for a long time upon the island, forest fires upon the adjacent shores 89 A Bond of Sympathy of the lalcc having driven all the animals away from its immediate neighbourhood. Five of the hunters were Redskins of various ages, all men of powerful build. They wore moccasins upon their feet and loose shirts of tanned moose hide, while wide- brimmed felt hats completed a costume which was the same as that of the white man, who made the sixth of the party. Round each man's waist was a broad leather belt to which was attached a long sheath knife and, while each of the Indians had a Winchester repeating rifle, the white man, as he stepped out of his canoe, held in his hand a double-barrelled Express of British manufacture. As it was evident that a squall of wind and rain was just about to sweep over the waters of the lake, none of these hunters wasted much time in replying to the greet- ings of the women. They, moccasin-shod like the men, were dressed in short petticoats, with bright shawls about their shoulders. Their smooth black hair was uncovered, and gathered into a plait at each side of the head. It might have been noticed, as the squaws and men alike rapidly unloaded the canoes, that two of the latter cast frequent glances towards another figure of a woman in the distance. This was that of a young girl leaning over a camp-fire who, although she glanced occasionally to- wards the busy party by the canoes, did not leave the work she had in hand, but modestly refrained from coming forward. The men who looked over towards the camp-fire were Kichipinne or Big Partridge, the Chief of the party of Indians, who was her father, and the white man. Despite the brown beard which now shields the lower part of his face, despite also the five years which have passed over his head since we saw him last in Newfoundland, it is easy to recognise GcofTrey Digby. At length Kichipinnd, the Chief, impatiently addressed his wife, who had been baptized Miriam. "What is Silver Bells doing yonder ? Why does she not come hither to greet her father and his braves ? She knows well that we should not ask her to soil her dainty fingers with the 90 Silver Bells caribou meat. Perhaps, however," continued the brawny Redslcin, with a touch of irony, " the daughter of Kichi- pinne might not object to assisting the squaws to carry up that wapiti skin, since," he glanced at Geoffrey, " the white chief shot it." "The priest is still very sick with fever, she makes him some broth," replied Miriam, also glancing at Geoffrey, but impassively. "Still Miriam will call the daughter of the Crees ! Silver Bells ! Silver Bells ! " ^ Carefully depositing by the side of the fire the object which she had in her hand, the maiden arose. As the Indian girl advanced slowly and shyly towards the shore, there was heard the tinkling sound of music, such as is made by a sleigh whirling by upon the snow. This was explained when, as her lissom figure came nearer, it could be seen that around each of her high moose skin moccasins, which were richly trimmed with bead work, she wore an anklet. These anklets were composed of narrow strips of ermine skin, in the fur of which was sewn a circlet of small sleigh bells of silver, which jingled musically as she walked. From earliest infancy it had been the young maid's custom to wear these trinkets, which had been given her bv her father. Thus, through- out the tribe of Crees to which she belonged, the Chief's daughter had never been known by any other name than that of Silver Bells. The young girl was clad more richly than the other women, and her carriage, as she approached, was graceful in the extreme. Her features also were more regular and refined than those of any of the other Indians of either sex. She was about nineteen years of age, and possessed glorious dark eyes which seemed to swim with a velvet-like softness. Upon her dark face, which was a pure oval in shape, there shone the ruddy tinge of youth- ful health, while her bust and limbs were admirably pro- portioned. The feet and hands of this m^id of the forests were slender and small, seeming to betoken high breeding. To complete her charm, her mouth was 91 A Bond of Sympathy small, while the tender sensitive lips but partly concealed admirable teeth. Such, then, was Silver Bells as she walked up to her father's side and greeted him with a modest bearing. For a second Big Partridge looked upon his daughter with evident pride, then embraced her rapidly. After this, as the young girl remained standing shyly before him, with cast-down eyes as if she would not attract notice to herself, her father gave a short laugh. "Ugh ! Silver Bells, have you then no greeting for the braves of theCrees? Yonder is your brother, Soaring Swan. Here, too, is the white chief, Ready Rifle. He it was who, by a splendid long shot, killed the big elk. Surely he should be thanked, when all of you here have needed meat. Ready Rifle and Kichipinne have been partners in the hunting, and, while none like the Chief of the Crees can follow a trail, the pale face can shoot dead with the gun. He has given the Chief of the Crees that fine head and antlers, which will sell for five dollars at least at the Hudson Bay post." "Oh I Ready Rifle, how kind you are," exclaimed Silver Bells, going up to Geoffrey and extending her hand, while her cheeks reddened through the dark skin. " How good a shot you are. Silver Bells hopes you will stay in the lodges of the Crees a long time. So does Father Antony," she added hurriedly. " I hope so, too. Silver Bells," replied Geoffrey, as he pressed the slender fingers, "for I am happy with your people ; it is only since I became one of your family that I have found rest. But how is the good priest ? is he better.?" "No, he is worse. Ready Rifle. Silver Bells has been able to give him nothing to eat but fish, and was making him some fish broth, although it is not good for him. But now, the Virgin be thanked ! he can have some meat ! " "Yes, indeed. Silver Bells, Soaring Swan has some partridges, go to him and get one from him at once, the deer meat is too fresh and strong for a man with fever. Tell Father Antony I will come and see him as soon as 92 Silver Bells we have got through all the work here. There will be a lot to do, and I must not shirk my share, but help your father. Oh ! stay a minute, would you like to have my wapiti skin for your lodge ? I will cure it for you." "Oh ! Ready Rifle, Silver Bells cannot take it. You will be leaving us some day, and then you will want to take it with you, it is such a beauty." "No, I will never take it with me. If you will not have it, Silver Bells, it will be sold at the Hudson Bay post, but as it is the finest I have ever seen, I would rather you had it to keep your feet warm in winter time." "Thank you. Ready Rifle, Silver Bells will take it. Now she will go to Soaring Swan for a partridge. You always seem to think of everything and everybody but yourself." The maiden turned and left him, after a lingering look from her dewy eyes which swam with unexpressed imagin- ings. It might be suppressed admiration and wonder at this white man's prowess which made the soft dark orbs glisten so, it might be gratitude only, but, although he made no sign in return, the virginal glance of the untutored Indian maiden was not lost upon the young hunter, it sank into his heart and thrilled it strangely. During the years that had elapsed since we left him upon the Gambo Lake his had been a solitary existence. Upon arrival at Halifax, although Geraldine McGeorge had insisted upon his coming to pass a day or two at her house, and even begged him as a personal favour to remain for a ball which she gave for the Admiral and oflScers of the fleet, his momentary expansion towards her had ceased. He had seen through her design of weaning him from his ideas of seeking solitude in the backwoods, and had, in his quiet way, resented being made a hero of for the benefit of all the officers and ladies of Halifax, in which laudable endeavour Geraldine had been assisted by her brother Harry to her heart's content. Although, therefore, Geoffrey had waited for the ball, 93 A Bond of Sympathy at which he neither moped nor said with a bored expres- sion that he did not dance, but behaved Hke any ordinary young man, he had been inexpressibly annoyed when each of his partners in succession had talked to him about the wonderful feats of prowess which he had performed, in twice saving Lady McGeorge's life. The next day he turned his back upon Halifax, after a farewell in- terview with his hostess, who appeared more moved than he at the parting. During this interview, Geraldine reiterated all that she had said to him when nursing him aboard the Renown, and extracted from Geoffrey a promise that if ever he returned to civilisation he would visit her. She succeeded with difficulty in making him promise to write to her occasionally from his wilds, if ever he had the opportunity of doing so, and then they had parted. It was perhaps as well for the peace of mind of the young married woman that Geoffrey had thus hurried his departure, but he, for his part, as he sped westward by train to the Province of Quebec, felt nothing what- ever save fraternal feelings of regret at saying farewell to this elegant woman of a world he now renounced and sought never more to enter. During the first year of his wanderings on the Canadian continent he found his heart returning completely to scenes of home and the wrongs that he had suffered there at the hands of his faithless love. The more recent episodes in the island of Newfoundland faded gradually from his mind, remaining solely as an interlude in a dream. Nevertheless, letters from Geraldine McGeorge reached him from time to time at out of the way Hudson Bay Posts, as also did letters from home, but, as he had only replied twice in a period of twelve months, Geraldine gradually ceased writing to him altogether, although the warmth of her gratitude and friendship never abated towards her preserver. As time wore on, Geoffrey Digby, who had at first merely hunted, shot and fished for amusement only, 94 Silver Bells found the love of the backwoods growing upon him more and more. His wanderings had chiefly lain in a northerly direction, and it was while wintering in a post belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, on James's Bay, that he had made up his mind what to do with his life, which it seemed to him that he was merely wasting. Having made up his mind, he put his project into execution and wrote to his father, a letter which angered the Squire of Thornham exceedingly. In this letter he told his parents that, since he now found him- self in a position to maintain himself by his own exer- tions, he did not feel justified in continuing to draw the ample allowance afforded him. This sum, he stated, he had hitherto merely expended for the benefit of half- breed or Indian voyageurs^ guides and hunters, for whom he had no longer any need since he now intended to become a hunter and a guide upon his own account. All that he wished for was, he said, the sum of two hundred pounds to be placed to his credit at a bank in Quebec, to be able to draw upon in any hour of need, for the purchase of canoes, camp outfit or provisions. The allowance his father had made him he wished him now to devote to some more useful and worthy object than that of maintaining a son in idleness. It might, he suggested, be far better employed in the improve- ment of the cottages upon the Thornham estate. Angry indeed vvas the letter which Mr Digby, who could not understand his son's quixotic ideas, penned in return. But neither that nor letters from his mother and sister, begging him to give up his ridiculous ideas and return home, moved Geoffrey in the least. From that time forth young Digby became a pro- fessional hunter and guide. Sometimes trapping and shooting upon his own account, occasionally acting for the Hudson Bay Company, as voyageur upon wild northern rivers or driving teams of dog-sleighs upon the ice in winter, always leading a life of adventure, often one of hardship, he continued steadfastly the career which he had mapped out for himself. 95 A Bond of Sympathy While, however, in this manner easily earning far more than enough to support his simple wants, it is not to be supposed that Geoffrey Digby's nature suffered in the least by contact with the rough men — white trappers, half-breeds and savages — who were his sole companions. On the contrary, he remained ever a gentleman, one whose lips no foul word ever disgraced, even in the moments of greatest excitement. And even with those rough backwoodsmen, who, upon first meeting him would at times, when half drunk, swear at him as a milksop, he soon found the way to make himself respected. Moreover, this way was not usually by the use of force. Powerful as he was, force he indeed employed at times, but on behalf of others not of himself. His moral superiority, his personal weight of character, his calm cool presence of mind and resource in moments of danger, his wonderful precision with the rifle or gun, his splendid dexterity with the paddle in some terrible rapid : these were the things which impressed the mind of all the wild men who came in contact with him. These attributes it was which made his soubriquet of Ready Rifle well known and named with respect by the Indians and half-breeds all through Northern Canada, from Lake St John in the Province of Quebec to far away Winnipegosis in Manitoba. y6 CHAPTER Xn A BAND OF BEARS At the time that we meet him again, upon the island at the southern part of Lake Nepigon, Geoffrey Digby had been with the party of Cree Indians for nearly a month. The time of year was the middle of September, and his presence in that neighbourhood was accounted for as follows. Having met in the northern part of Ontario, upon James's Bay, a half-breed whom he had known previously, this man had suggested to him a lucrative partnership. His name was Wilson, and he was the same man who had once had an adventure with a bear, which adventure Geoffrey had thought about in his own moment of danger with Bruin on the shores of the Gambo Lake. The fact of the two men having both had the same experience, each having gripped the muzzle of a bear with his hand, had drawn them together. It was one night round the camp-fire that Wilson told Geoffrey about the bears in the Nepigon district, re- lating some interesting facts as follows, speaking in the Soto language, which Digby now knew well. "You see. Ready Rifle, bears are very thick indeed round about the north shore of Lake Superior, in the district around the Nepigon River, which is, by the way, the finest river in the world for trout. It is there that I come from, about ten miles to the north of where the Nepigon empties itself into that vast inland sea, Superior. " My home, where I was born, is a village with a French name situated in the forest, a little above a lake called Lake Helen, one of the quiet lakes formed by the G 97 A Bund of Sympathy Ncpigon, as ir to rest itselr at times from the tearing turmoil of its terrible rapids. "The Village du Sacrc Cceur, which consists of sub- stantial wooden houses, each in a clearing of its own, is inhabited by Indians and half-breeds, although there is very little of the white man about any of us, there being more of the Ojibboway than the European about us all. Most of the inhabitants, however, even some of the full blood Indians, go by French names, every second man you meet being either a La Ronde or a Deschamps. The La Rondes think themselves very grand, being, so they say, descended from a French Marquis de Saint Sinion, a Royalist expelled from France at the time of the French Revolution. At anyrate, the Marquisseems to have left a pretty good stock of Ojibboway descend- ants behind him, so if they want any more of his lot in France they will know where to look for them. I, myself, am descended on one side from a Scotchman, and, with several other half-breeds of Scotch descent, we used to have downright battles at times with our French fellow-villagers. That, however, is done with now, we are all frie^ids again, and this is how it came about. There was a certain half-breed named Deschamps, who had a house in the Village du Sacr6 Cccur, right out in the forest. This man m'arried a La Ronde, with whom I had had a little bit of a love affair myself. Now, when he had married the girl I did not care a bit, but Denis Deschamps never forgave me for having been preferred before him, and never lost an opportunity of doing me an ill turn. He shot at me once, vowing that it was by accident ; upon another occasion he managed to loose all his Eskimo dogs upon my trail, thinking that they would tear me to pieces. They were not pure bred 'huskies,' but half huskey, half mastiff, and 1 had great difficulty in getting away with my life." Here Wilson stopped, took a drink and laughed, as he added drollv : " Denis Deschamps took some years to breed a fresh pack of slciiih dogs after that ! "Well, Ready Rifle," he continued, "you will easily 98 A Band of Bears understand that I was not particularly likely to return good for evil. Whatever the Scotch ancestors of the Wilson family might have done, the Ojibboway part of me isn't built that way, I was accordingly meditating some revenge, and had in fact made up my mind to kill Denis .Deschamps, when my old affection for Alice la Ronde, his wife, made me do something else quite the contrary." " Which I am quite sure you don't regret now, Wilson, for you are a good-hearted fellow for all your bluster- ing," interrupted Geoffrey. " But you were going to tell me about bears." " No," replied the half-breed again, " I don't regret it now. Ready Rifle, and this is all about bears, as you will see, although you know we Indians tell a story in a round about way, and have to go through all the details, even back to our ancestors of the French Revolution, or ' Caledonia stern and wild.' " These last words Wilson said in English, which he could speak well enough if he chose, and French also for that matter, although, like many "breeds," he always spoke Indian for choice. " Well," he continued in the Soto language, " you must know that it is a terrible country for wild beasts down there, and especially for bears. " In thespringtime,about the month of June, they, both black and brown bears, collect in bands, sometimes there being some of each colour in a band. They are mostly males, as many as twenty at times, sometimes perhaps not more than three, but never more than from one to three females among them. Then they fight and kill each other and will attack any man and tear him to pieces. They will follow an Indian by his scent until he gets to water, when they lose it. Fortunately, how- ever, they won't climb a tree after a man at that period of the year ; why, 1 don't know, but it is a fact. If they did I should not be here. I tell you. Ready Rifle, it is an awful noise they make — yelling like half-choked cats and bellowing like mad bulls — even sometimes 99 A Bond of Sympathy crying just like a man shouting. It makes a man's blood run cold to hear it — and makes one thirsty to remember it too." "I should think so indeed," said Geoffrey, passing the whisky. *' I hope 1 shall be spared the pleasure. But take a drink and