The Man From Glengarry
by
Ralph Connor
Part 5 out of 8
man, O Lord, a sinful man."
His eyes wandered till they fell on Mrs. Murray's face, and then
the trouble and fear passed out of them, and in a gentler voice he
said: "Forgive us our debts." Then, feeling with his hand till it
rested on his son's head, Macdonald Dubh passed away, at peace with
men and with God.
There was little sadness and no bitter grief at Macdonald Dubh's
funeral. The tone all through was one of triumph, for they all
knew his life, and how sore the fight had been, and how he had won
his victory. His humility and his gentleness during the last few
weeks of his life had removed all the distance that had separated
him from the people, and had drawn their hearts toward him; and now
in his final triumph they could not find it in their hearts to
mourn.
But to Ranald the sadness was more than the triumph. Through the
wild, ungoverned years of his boyhood his father had been more than
a father to him. He had been a friend, sharing a common lot, and
without much show of tenderness, understanding and sympathizing
with him, and now that his father had gone from him, a great
loneliness fell upon the lad.
The farm and its belongings were sold. Kirsty brought with her the
big box of blankets and linen that had belonged to Ranald's mother.
Ranald took his mother's Gaelic Bible, his father's gun and ax, and
with the great deerhound, Bugle, and his colt, Lisette, left the
home of his childhood behind him, and with his Aunt Kirsty, went to
live with his uncle.
Throughout the autumn months he was busy helping his uncle with the
plowing, the potatoes, and the fall work. Soon the air began to
nip, and the night's frost to last throughout the shortening day,
and then Macdonald Bhain began to prepare wood for the winter, and
to make all things snug about the house and barn; and when the
first fall of snow fell softly, he took down his broad-ax, and then
Ranald knew that the gang would soon be off again for the shanties.
That night his uncle talked long with him about his future.
"I have no son, Ranald," he said, as they sat talking; "and, for
your father's sake and for your own, it is my desire that you
should become a son to me, and there is no one but yourself to whom
the farm would go. And glad will I be if you will stay with me.
But, stay or not, all that I have will be yours, if it please the
Lord to spare you."
"I would want nothing better," said Ranald, "than to stay with you
and work with you, but I do not draw toward the farm."
"And what else would you do, Ranald?"
"Indeed, I know not," said Ranald, "but something else than farming.
But meantime I should like to go to the shanties with you this
winter."
And so, when the Macdonald gang went to the woods that winter,
Ranald, taking his father's ax, went with them. And so clever did
the boy prove himself that by the time they brought down their raft
in the spring there was not a man in all the gang that Macdonald
Bhain would sooner have at his back in a tight place than his
nephew Ranald. And, indeed, those months in the woods made a man
out of the long, lanky boy, so that, on the first Sabbath after the
shantymen came home, not many in the church that day would have
recognized the dark-faced, stalwart youth had it not been that he
sat in the pew beside Macdonald Bhain. It was with no small
difficulty that the minister's wife could keep her little boy quiet
in the back seat, so full of pride and joy was he at the appearance
of his hero; but after the service was over, Hughie could be no
longer restrained. Pushing his way eagerly through the crowd, he
seized upon Ranald and dragged him to his mother.
"Here he is, mother!" he exclaimed, to Ranald's great confusion,
and to the amusement of all about him. "Isn't he splendid?"
And as Ranald greeted Mrs. Murray with quiet, grave courtesy, she
felt that his winter in the woods and on the river had forever put
behind him his boyhood, and that henceforth he would take his place
among the men. And looking at his strong, composed, grave face,
she felt that that place ought not to be an unworthy one.
CHAPTER XVII
LENOIR'S NEW MASTER
The shantymen came back home to find the revival still going on.
Not a home but had felt its mighty power, and not a man, woman, or
even child but had come more or less under its influence. Indeed,
so universal was that power that Yankee was heard to say, "The boys
wouldn't go in swimmin' without their New Testaments"--not but that
Yankee was in very fullest sympathy with the movement. He was
regular in his attendance upon the meetings all through spring and
summer, but his whole previous history made it difficult for him to
fully appreciate the intensity and depth of the religious feeling
that was everywhere throbbing through the community.
"Don't see what the excitement's for," he said to Macdonald Bhain
one night after meeting. "Seems to me the Almighty just wants a
feller to do the right thing by his neighbor and not be too
independent, but go 'long kind o' humble like and keep clean.
Somethin' wrong with me, perhaps, but I don't seem to be able to
work up no excitement about it. I'd like to, but somehow it ain't
in me."
When Macdonald Bhain reported this difficulty of Yankee's to Mrs.
Murray, she only said: "'What doth the Lord require of thee, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?'"
And with this Macdonald Bhain was content, and when he told Yankee,
the latter came as near to excitement as he ever allowed himself.
He chewed vigorously for a few moments, then, slapping his thigh,
he exclaimed: "By jings! That's great. She's all right, ain't
she? We ain't all built the same way, but I'm blamed if I don't
like her model."
But the shantymen noticed that the revival had swept into the
church, during the winter months, a great company of the young
people of the congregation; and of these, a band of some ten or
twelve young men, with Don among them, were attending daily a
special class carried on in the vestry of the church for those who
desired to enter training for the ministry.
Mrs. Murray urged Ranald to join this class, for, even though he
had no intention of becoming a minister, still the study would
be good for him, and would help him in his after career. She
remembered how Ranald had told her that he had no intention of
being a farmer or lumberman. And Ranald gladly listened to her,
and threw himself into his study, using his spare hours to such
good purpose throughout the summer that he easily kept pace with
the class in English, and distanced them in his favorite subject,
mathematics.
But all these months Mrs. Murray felt that Ranald was carrying with
him a load of unrest, and she waited for the time when he would
come to her. His uncle, Macdonald Bhain, too, shared her anxiety
in regard to Ranald.
"He is the fine, steady lad," he said one night, walking home with
her from the church; "and a good winter's work has he put behind
him. He is that queeck, there is not a man like him on the drive;
but he is not the same boy that he was. He will not be telling me
anything, but when the boys will be sporting, he is not with them.
He will be reading his book, or he will be sitting by himself
alone. He is like his father in the courage of him. There is no
kind of water he will not face, and no man on the river would put
fear on him. And the strength of him! His arms are like steel.
But," returning to his anxiety, "there is something wrong with him.
He is not at peace with himself, and I wish you could get speech
with him."
"I would like it, too," replied Mrs. Murray. "Perhaps he will come
to me. At any rate, I must wait for that."
At last, when the summer was over, and the harvest all gathered in,
the days were once more shortening for the fall, Ranald drove
Lisette one day to the manse, and went straight to the minister's
wife and opened up his mind to her.
"I cannot keep my promise to my father, Mrs. Murray," he said,
going at once to the heart of his trouble. "I cannot keep the
anger out of my heart. I cannot forgive the man that killed my
father. I will be waking at night with the very joy of feeling my
fingers on his throat, and I feel myself longing for the day when I
will meet him face to face and nothing between us. But," he added,
"I promised my father, and I must keep my word, and that is what I
cannot do, for the feeling of forgiveness is not here," smiting his
breast. "I can keep my hands off him, but the feeling I cannot
help."
For a long time Mrs. Murray let him go on without seeking to check
the hot flow of his words and without a word of reproof. Then,
when he had talked himself to silence, she took her Bible and read
to him of the servant who, though forgiven, took his fellow-servant
by the throat, refusing to forgive. And then she turned over the
leaves and read once more: "'God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'"
She closed the book and sat silent, waiting for Ranald to speak.
"I know," he said, deliberately; "I have read that often through
the winter, but it does not help the feeling I have. I think it
only makes it worse. There is some one holding my arm, and I want
to strike."
"And do you forget," said Mrs. Murray, and her voice was almost
stern, "and do you forget how, for you, God gave His Son to die?"
Ranald shook his head. "I am far from forgetting that."
"And are you forgetting the great mercy of God to your father?"
"No, no," said Ranald; "I often think of that. But when I think of
that man, something stirs within me and I cannot see, for the daze
before my eyes, and I know that some day I will be at him. I
cannot help my feeling."
"Ranald," said Mrs. Murray, "have you ever thought how he will need
God's mercy like yourself? And have you never thought that perhaps
he has never had the way of God's mercy put before him? To you the
Lord has given much, to him little. It is a terrible thing to be
ungrateful for the mercy of God; and it is a shameful thing. It is
unworthy of any true man. How can any one take the fullness of
God's mercy and his patience every day, and hold an ungrateful
heart?"
She did not spare him, and as Ranald sat and listened, his life and
character began to appear to him small and mean and unworthy.
"The Lord means you to be a noble man, Ranald--a man with the heart
and purpose to do some good in the world, to be a blessing to his
fellows; and it is a poor thing to be so filled up with selfishness
as to have no thought of the honor of God or of the good of men.
Louis LeNoir has done you a great wrong, but what is that wrong
compared with the wrong you have done to Him who loved you to His
own death?"
Then she gave him her last word: "When you see Louis LeNoir, think
of God's mercy, and remember you are to do him good and not evil."
And with that word in his heart, Ranald went away, ashamed and
humbled, but not forgiving. The time for that had not yet come.
But before he left for the shanties, he saw Mrs. Murray again to
say good by. He met her with a shamed face, fearing that she must
feel nothing but contempt for him.
"You will think ill of me," he said, and in spite of his self-
control his voice shook. "I could not bear that."
"No, I could never think ill of you, Ranald, but I would be grieved
to think that you should fail of becoming a noble man, strong and
brave; strong enough to forgive and brave enough to serve."
Once more Ranald went to the woods, with earnest thoughts in his
mind, hoping he should not meet LeNoir, and fighting out his battle
to victory; and by the time the drive had reached the big water
next spring, that battle was almost over. The days in the silent
woods and the nights spent with his uncle in the camp, and
afterward in his cabin on the raft, did their work with Ranald.
The timber cut that year was the largest that had ever been known
on the Upper Ottawa. There was great crowding of rafts on the
drive, and for weeks the chutes were full, and when the rafts were
all brought together at Quebec, not only were the shores lined and
Timber Cove packed, but the broad river was full from Quebec to
Levis, except for the steamboat way which must be kept open.
For the firm of Raymond & St. Clair this meant enormous increase of
business, and it was no small annoyance that at this crisis they
should have detected their Quebec agent in fraud, and should have
been forced to dismiss him. The situation was so critical that Mr.
St. Clair himself, with Harry as his clerk, found it necessary to
spend a month in Quebec. He took with him Maimie and her great
friend Kate Raymond, the daughter of his partner, and established
himself in the Hotel Cheval Blanc.
On the whole, Maimie was not sorry to visit the ancient capital of
Canada, though she would have chosen another time. It was rather
disappointing to leave her own city in the West, just at the
beginning of the spring gayeties. It was her first season, and the
winter had been distinguished by a series of social triumphs. She
was the toast of all the clubs and the belle of all the balls. She
had developed a rare and fascinating beauty, and had acquired an
air so distingue that even her aunt, Miss St. Clair, was completely
satisfied. It was a little hard for her to leave the scene of her
triumphs and to abandon the approaching gayeties.
But Quebec had its compensations, and then there were the De Lacys,
one of the oldest English families of Quebec. The St. Clairs had
known them for many years. Their blood was unquestionably blue,
they were wealthy, and besides, the only son and representative of
the family was now lieutenant, attached to the garrison at the
Citadel. Lieutenant De Lacy suggested possibilities to Maimie.
Quebec might be endurable for a month.
"What a lovely view, and how picturesque!"
Maimie was standing at the window looking down upon the river with
its fleet of rafts. Beside her stood Kate, and at another window
Harry.
"What a lot of timber!" said Harry. "And the town is just full of
lumbermen. A fellow said there must be six thousand of them, so
there will be lots of fun."
"Fun!" exclaimed Kate.
"Fun! rather. These fellows have been up in the woods for some
five or six months, and when they get to town where there is whisky
and--and--that sort of thing, they just get wild. They say it is
awful."
"Just horrible!" said Maimie, in a disgusted tone.
"But splendid," said Kate; "that is, if they don't hurt any one."
"Hurt anybody!" exclaimed Harry. "Oh, not at all; they are always
extremely careful not to hurt any one. They are as gentle as
lambs. I say, let us go down to the river and look at the rafts.
De Lacy was coming up, but it is too late now for him. Besides, we
might run across Maimie's man from Glengarry."
"Maimie's man from Glengarry!" exclaimed Kate. "Has she a man
there, too?"
"Nonsense, Kate!" said Maimie, blushing. "He is talking about
Ranald, you know. One of Aunt Murray's young men, up in Glengarry.
You have heard me speak of him often."
"Oh, the boy that pulled you out of the fire," said Kate.
"Yes," cried Harry, striking an attitude, "and the boy that for
love of her entered the lists, and in a fistic tournament upheld
her fair name, and--"
"Oh, Harry, do have some sense!" said Maimie, impatiently. "Hush,
here comes some one; Lieutenant De Lacy, I suppose."
It was the lieutenant, handsome, tall, well made, with a high-bred
if somewhat dissipated face, an air of blase indifference a little
overdone, and an accent which he had brought back with him from
Oxford, and which he was anxious not to lose. Indeed, the bare
thought of the possibility of his dropping into the flat, semi-
nasal of his native land filled the lieutenant with unspeakable
horror.
"We were just going down to the river," said Maimie, after the
introductions were over, "but I suppose it is all old to you, and
you would not care to go?"
"Aw, charmed, I'm sure." (The lieutenant pronounced it "shuah.")
"But it is rathaw, don't you know, not exactly clean."
"He is thinking of his boots," said Harry, scornfully, looking down
at the lieutenant's shining patent leathers.
"Really," said the lieutenant, mildly, "awfully dirty street,
though."
"But we want to see the shantymen," said Kate, frankly.
"Oh, the men! Very proper, but not so very discriminating, you
know."
"I love the shantymen," exclaimed Kate, enthusiastically. "Maimie
told me all about them."
"By Jove! I'll join to-morrow," exclaimed the lieutenant with
gentle excitement.
"They would not have you," answered Kate. "Besides, you would have
to eat pork and onions and things."
The lieutenant shuddered, gazing reproachfully at Kate.
"Onions!" he gasped; "and you love them?"
"Let us go along, then," said Harry. "We will have a look at them,
anyway."
"From the windward side, I hope," said the lieutenant, gently.
"I am going right on the raft," declared Kate, stoutly, "if we can
only find Ranald."
"Meaning who, exactly?" questioned De Lacy.
"A lumberman whom Maimie adores."
"How happy!" said De Lacy.
"Nonsense, Lieutenant De Lacy," said Maimie, impatiently and a
little haughtily; "he is a friend of my aunt's up in the county of
Glengarry."
"No nonsense about it," said Harry, indignant that his sister
should seem indifferent to Ranald. "He is a great friend of us
all; and you will see--she will fly into his arms."
"Heaven forbid!" ejaculated the lieutenant, much shocked.
"Harry, how can you be so--?" said Maimie, much annoyed. "What
will the lieutenant think of me?"
"Ah, if I only might tell!" said the lieutenant, looking at her
with languishing eyes. But already Kate was downstairs and on her
way to the street.
As they neared the lower town, the narrow streets became more and
more crowded with men in the shantymen's picturesque dress, and
they had some difficulty in making their way through the jolly,
jostling crowds. As they were nearing the river, they saw coming
along the narrow sidewalk a burly French-Canadian, dressed in the
gayest holiday garb of the shantymen.--red shirt and sash, corduroys
tucked into red top-boots, a little round soft hat set upon the back
of his black curls, a gorgeous silk handkerchief around his neck,
and a big gold watch-chain with seals at his belt. He had a bold,
handsome face, and swaggered along the sidewalk, claiming it all
with an assurance fortified by whisky enough to make him utterly
regardless of any but his own rights.
"Hello!" he shouted, as he swaggered along. "Make way, I'm de boss
bully on de reever Hottawa." It was his day of glory, and it
evidently pleased him much that the people stood aside to let him
pass. Then he broke into song:--
"En roulant ma boule roulant,
En roulant me boule."
"This, I suppose, is one of your beloved shantymen," said the
lieutenant, turning to Kate, who was walking with Harry behind.
"Isn't he lovely!" exclaimed Kate.
"Oh," cried Maimie, in terror, "let us get into a shop!"
"Quite unnecessary, I assure you," said the lieutenant,
indifferently; "I have not the least idea that he will molest you."
The lumberman by this time had swaggered up to the party, expecting
them to make way, but instead, De Lacy stiffened his shoulder,
caught the Frenchman in the chest, and rolled him off into the
street. Surprised and enraged, the Frenchman turned to demolish
the man who had dared to insult the "boss bully on de reever
Hottawa."
"Vous n'avez pas remarque la demoiselle," said the lieutenant, in a
tone of politeness.
The lumberman, who had swaggered up ready to strike, glanced at
Maimie, took off his hat, and made a ceremonious bow.
"Eh bien! Non! Pardon, Mams'elle."
"Bon jour," said Lieutenant De Lacy, with a military salute, and
moved on, leaving the lumberman staring after them as if he had
seen a vision.
"Beauty and the Beast," murmured the lieutenant. "Thought I was in
for it, sure. Really wonderful, don't you know!"
"Do you think we had better go on?" said Maimie, turning to Kate
and Harry.
"Why not? Why, certainly!" they exclaimed.
"These horrid men," replied Maimie.
"Dear creatures!" said the lieutenant, glancing at Kate with a
mildly pathetic look. "Sweet, but not always fragrant."
"Oh, they won't hurt us. Let us go on."
"Certainly, go on," echoed Harry, impatiently.
"Safe enough, Miss St. Clair, but," pulling out his perfumed
handkerchief, "rather trying."
"Oh, get on, De Lacy," cried Harry, and so they moved on.
The office of Raymond & St. Clair stood near the wharves. Harry
paused at the door, not quite sure whether to go in or not. It was
easy to discover work in that office.
"You might ask if Ranald has come," said Kate. "Maimie is too
shy."
Harry returned in a few moments, quite excited.
"The Macdonald gang are in, and the Big Macdonald was here not half
an hour ago, and Ranald is down at the raft beyond the last wharf.
I know the place."
"Oh, do let us go on!" cried Kate, to whom Harry had been extolling
Ranald on the way down. "You really ought to inspect your timber,
Harry, shouldn't you?"
"Most certainly, and right away. No saying what might happen."
"Awful slush," said the lieutenant, glancing at Maimie's face. "Do
you think the timber wouldn't keep for a week?"
"Oh, rubbish! A week!" cried Harry. "He is thinking of his boots
again."
To be quite fair to the lieutenant, it was Maimie's doubtful face,
rather than his shiny boots, that made him hesitate. She was
evidently nervous and embarrassed. The gay, easy manner which was
her habit was gone.
"I think perhaps we had better go, since we are here," she said,
doubtfully.
"Exactly; it is what I most desired," said the lieutenant, gallantly.
Scores of rafts lay moored along the wharves and shore, and hundred
of lumbermen were to be seen everywhere, not only on the timber and
wharves, but crowding the streets and the doors of the little
saloons.
For half an hour they walked along, watching the men at work with
the timber on the river. Some were loading the vessels lying at
anchor, some were shifting the loose timber about. When they
reached the end of the last wharf, they saw a strapping young
lumberman, in a shanty costume that showed signs of the woods,
running some loose sticks of timber round the end of the raft.
With great skill he was handling his pike, walking the big sticks
and running lightly over the timber too small to carry him,
balancing himself on a single stick while he moved the timber to
the bit of open water behind the raft, and all with a grace and
dexterity that excited Kate's admiration to the highest degree.
"Rather clever, that," said the lieutenant, lazily. "Hello! close
call, that; ha! bravo!" It was not often the lieutenant allowed
himself the luxury of excitement, but the lumberman running his
timber slipped his pike pole and found himself balancing on the
edge of open water. With a mighty spring he cleared the open
space, touched a piece of small timber that sank under him, and at
the next spring landed safe on the raft. Maimie's scream sounded
with the lieutenant's "bravo." At the cry the young fellow looked
up. It was Ranald.
"Hello, there!" cried Harry; and with an answering shout, Ranald,
using his pike as a jumping-pole, cleared the open space, ran
lightly over the floating sticks, and with another spring reached
the shore. Without a moment's hesitation he dropped his pole and
came almost running toward them, his face radiant with delight.
"Maimie!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand, wet and none too
clean.
"How do you do?" said Maimie. She had noticed the look of surprise
and mild disgust on the lieutenant's face, and she was embarrassed.
Ranald was certainly not lovely to look at. His shirt was open at
the neck, torn, and dirty. His trousers and boots were much the
worse of their struggle with the bush.
"This is Mr. Macdonald, Lieutenant De Lacy," Maimie hurried to say.
The lieutenant offered a limp hand.
"Chawmed, I'm suah," he murmured.
"What?" said Ranald.
"Lovely weather," murmured the lieutenant again, looking at his
fingers that Ranald had just let go.
"Well, old chap," said Harry, grasping Ranald's hand and throwing
his arm about his shoulder, "I am awfully glad to find you. We
have been hunting you for half an hour. But hold up, here you are.
Let me introduce you to Miss Kate Raymond, the best girl anywhere."
Kate came forward with a frank smile. "I am very glad to meet
you," she said. "I have heard so much about you, and I am going to
call you Ranald, as they all do."
"How lovely!" sighed De Lacy.
Her greeting warmed Ranald's heart that somehow had been chilled in
the meeting. Something was wrong. Was it this fop of a soldier,
or had Maimie changed? Ranald glanced at her face. No, she was
the same, only more beautiful than he had dreamed.
But while she was shaking hands with him, there flashed across his
mind the memory of the first time he had seen her, and the look of
amusement upon her face then, that had given him such deadly
offense. There was no amusement now, but there was embarrassment
and something else. Ranald could not define it, but it chilled his
heart, and at once he began to feel how badly dressed he was. The
torn shirt, the ragged trousers, and the old, unshapely boots that
he had never given a thought to before, now seemed to burn into his
flesh. Unconsciously he backed away and turned to go.
"Where are you off to?" cried Harry; "do you think we are going to
let you go now? We had hard enough work finding you. Come up to
the office and see the governor. He wants to see you badly."
Ranald glanced at the lieutenant, immaculate except where the slush
had speckled his shiny boots, and then at his own ragged attire.
"I think I will not go up now," he said.
"Well, come up soon," said Maimie, evidently relieved.
"No!" said Kate, impetuously, "come right along now." As she spoke
she ranged herself beside him.
For a moment or two Ranald hesitated, shot a searching glance at
Maimie's face, and then, with a reckless laugh, said, "I will go
now," and set off forthwith, Kate proudly marching at one side, and
Harry on the other, leaving Maimie and the lieutenant to follow
after.
And a good thing it was for Ranald that he did go that day with
Harry to his "governor's" office. They found the office in a
"swither," as Harry said, over the revelations of fraud that were
coming to light every day--book-keeper, clerk, and timber-checker
having all been in conspiracy to defraud the company.
"Where have you been, Harry?" said his father in an annoyed tone as
his son entered the office. "You don't seem to realize how much
there is to do just now."
"Looking up Ranald, father," said Harry, cheerfully.
"Ah, the young man from Glengarry?" said Mr. St. Clair, rising. "I
am glad to know you, and to thank you in person for your prompt
courage in saving my daughter."
"Lucky dog!" groaned the lieutenant, in an undertone to Maimie.
Mr. St. Clair spoke to Ranald of his father and his uncle in words
of highest appreciation, and as Ranald listened, the reckless and
hard look which had been gathering ever since his meeting with
Maimie passed away, and his face became earnest and touched with a
tender pride.
"I hear about you frequently from my sister, Mr. Macdonald--or
shall I say Ranald?" said Mr. St. Clair, kindly. "She apparently
thinks something of you"
"I am proud to think so," replied Ranald, his face lighting up as
he spoke; "but every one loves her. She is a wonderful woman, and
good."
"Yes," said Mr. St. Clair, "that's it; wonderful and good."
Then Maimie drew nearer. "How is auntie?" she said. "What a shame
not to have asked before!"
"She was very well last fall," said Ranald, looking keenly into
Maimie's face; "but she is working too hard at the meetings."
"Meetings!" exclaimed Harry.
"Aye, for a year and more she has been at them every night till
late."
"At meetings for a year! What meetings?" cried Harry, astonished.
"Oh, Harry, you know about the great revival going on quite well,"
said Maimie.
"Oh, yes. I forgot. What a shame! What is the use of her killing
herself that way?"
"There is much use," said Ranald, gravely. "They are making bad
men good, and the whole countryside is new, and she is the heart of
it all."
"I have no doubt about that," said Mr. St. Clair. "She will be the
head and heart and hands and feet."
"You're just right, governor," said Harry, warmly. "There is no
woman living like Aunt Murray."
There was silence for a few moments. Then Mr. St. Clair said
suddenly: "We are in an awful fix here. Not a man to be found
that we can depend upon for book-keeper, clerk, or checker."
Harry coughed slightly.
"Oh, of course, Harry is an excellent book-keeper," Harry bowed
low; "while he is at it," added Mr. St. Clair.
"Very neat one," murmured the lieutenant.
"Now, father, do not spoil a fine compliment in that way," cried
Harry.
"But now the checker is gone," said Mr. St. Clair, "and that is
extremely awkward."
"I say," cried Harry, "what will you give me for a checker right
now?"
Mr. St. Clair looked at him and then at the lieutenant.
"Pardon me, Mr. St. Clair," said that gentleman, holding up his
hand. "I used to check a little at Rugby, but--"
"Not you, by a long hand," interrupted Harry, disdainfully.
"This awfully charming brother of yours, so very frank, don't you
know!" said the lieutenant, softly, to Maimie, while they all
laughed.
"But here is your man, governor," said Harry, laying his hand on
Ranald.
"Ranald!" exclaimed Mr. St. Clair. "Why, the very man! You
understand timber, and you are honest."
"I will answer for both with my head," said Harry.
"What do you say, Ranald?" said Mr. St. Clair. "Will you take a
day to think it over?"
"No," said Ranald; "I will be your checker." And so Ranald became
part of the firm of Raymond & St. Clair.
"Come along, Ranald," said Harry. "We will take the girls home,
and then come back to the office."
"Yes, do come," said Kate, heartily. Maimie said nothing.
"No," said Ranald; "I will go back to the raft first, and then come
to the office. Shall I begin tonight?" he said to Mr. St. Clair.
"To-morrow morning will do, Ranald," said Mr. St. Clair. "Come up
to the hotel and see us tonight." But Ranald said nothing. Then
Maimie went up to him.
"Good by, just now," she said, smiling into his face. "You will
come and see us to-night, perhaps?"
Ranald looked at her, while the blood mounted slowly into his dark
cheek, and said: "Yes, I will come."
"What's the matter with you, Maimie?" said Harry, indignantly, when
they had got outside. "You would think Ranald was a stranger, the
way you treat him."
"And he is just splendid! I wish he had pulled ME out of the
fire," cried Kate.
"You might try the river," said the lieutenant. "I fancy he would
go in. Looks that sort."
"Go in?" cried Harry, "he would go anywhere." The lieutenant made
no reply. He evidently considered that it was hardly worth the
effort to interest himself in the young lumberman, but before he
was many hours older he found reason to change his mind.
After taking the young ladies to their hotel there was still an
hour till the lieutenant's dinner, so, having resolved to cultivate
the St. Clair family, he proposed accompanying Harry back to the
office.
As they approached the lower portion of the town they heard wild
shouts, and sauntering down a side street, they came upon their
French-Canadian friend of the afternoon. He was standing with his
back against a wall trying to beat off three or four men, who were
savagely striking and kicking at him, and crying the while:
"Gatineau! Gatineau!"
It was the Gatineau against the Ottawa.
"Our friend seems to have found the object of his search," said the
lieutenant, as he stood across the street looking at the melee.
"I say, he's a good one, isn't he?" cried Harry, admiring the
Ottawa's dauntless courage and his fighting skill.
"His eagerness for war will probably be gratified in a few minutes,
by the look of things," replied the lieutenant.
The Gatineaus were crowding around, and had evidently made up their
minds to bring the Ottawa champion to the dust. That they were
numbers to one mattered not at all. There was little chivalry in a
shantymen's fight.
"Ha! Rather a good one, that," exclaimed the lieutenant, mildly
interested. "He put that chap out somewhat neatly." He lit a
cigar and stood coolly watching the fight.
"Where are the Ottawas--the fellow's friends?" said Harry, much
excited.
"I rather think they camp on another street further down."
The Ottawa champion was being sorely pressed, and it looked as if
in a moment or two more he would be down.
"What a shame!" cried Harry.
"Well," said the lieutenant, languidly, "it's beastly dirty, but
the chap's done rather well, so here goes."
Smoking his cigar, and followed by Harry, he pushed across the
street to the crowd, and got right up to the fighters.
"Here, you fellows," he called out, in a high, clear voice, "what
the deuce do you mean, kicking up such a row? Come now, stop, and
get out of here."
The astonished crowd stopped fighting and fell back a little. The
calm, clear voice of command and her majesty's uniform awed them.
"Mon camarade!" said the lieutenant, removing his cigar and
saluting, "rather warm, eh?"
"You bet! Ver' warm tam," was the reply.
"Better get away, mon ami. The odds are rather against you," said
the lieutenant. "Your friends are some distance down the next
street. You better go along." So saying, he stepped out toward
the crowd of Gatineaus who were consulting and yelling.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said, politely, waving his little cane.
Those immediately in front gave back, allowed the lieutenant,
followed by the Ottawa man and Harry, to pass, and immediately
closed in behind. They might have escaped had it not been that the
Ottawa man found it impossible to refrain from hurling taunts at
them and inviting them to battle. They had gone not more than two
blocks when there was a rush from behind, and before they could
defend themselves they were each in the midst of a crowd, fighting
for their lives. The principal attack was, of course, made upon
the Ottawa man, but the crowd was quite determined to prevent the
lieutenant and Harry from getting near him. In vain they struggled
to break through the yelling mass of Gatineaus, who now had become
numerous enough to fill the street from wall to wall, and among
whom could be seen some few of the Ottawa men trying to force their
way toward their champion. By degrees both Harry and De Lacy
fought their way to the wall, and toward each other.
"Looks as if our man had met his Waterloo," said the lieutenant,
waiting for his particular man to come again.
"What a lot of beasts they are!" said Harry, disgustedly, beating
off his enemy.
"Hello! Here they come again. We shall have to try another shot,
I suppose," said the lieutenant, as the crowd, which had for a few
moments surged down the street, now came crushing back, with the
Ottawa leader, and some half-dozen of his followers in the center.
"Well, here goes," said De Lacy, leaving the wall and plunging into
the crowd, followed by Harry. As they reached the center a voice
called out: "A bas les Anglais!"
And immediately the cry, a familiar enough one in those days, was
taken up on all sides. The crowd stiffened, and the attack upon
the center became more determined than ever. The little company
formed a circle, and standing back to back, held their ground for a
time.
"Make for the wall. Keep together," cried De Lacy, pushing out
toward the side, and followed by his company. But, one by one, the
Ottawas were being dragged down and trampled beneath the "corked"
boots of their foes, till only two of them, with their leader,
beside Harry and De Lacy, were left.
At length the wall was gained. There they faced about and for a
time held their lives safe. But every moment fresh men rushed in
upon them, yelling their cries, "Gatineau! Gatineau! A bas les
Anglais!"
The Ottawa leader was panting hard, and he could not much longer
hold his own. His two companions were equally badly off. Harry
was pale and bleeding, but still in good heart. The lieutenant was
unmarked as yet, and coolly smoking his cigar, but he knew well
that unless help arrived their case was hopeless.
"We can't run," he remarked, calmly, "but a dignified and speedy
retreat is in order if it can be executed. There is a shop a
little distance down here. Let us make for it."
But as soon as they moved two more of the Ottawas were dragged down
and trampled on.
"It begins to look interesting," said the lieutenant to Harry.
"Sorry you are into this, old chap. It was rather my fault. It is
so beastly dirty, don't you know."
"Oh, fault be hanged!" cried Harry. "It's nobody's fault, but it
looks rather serious. Get back, you brute!" So saying, he caught
a burly Frenchman under the chin with a straight left-hander and
hurled him back upon the crowd.
"Ah, rather pretty," said the lieutenant, mildly. "It is not often
you can just catch them that way." They were still a few yards
from the shop door, but every step of their advance had to be
fought.
"I very much fear we can't make it," said the lieutenant, quietly
to Harry. "We had better back up against the wall here and fight
it out."
But as he spoke they heard a sound of shouting down the street a
little way, which the Ottawa leader at once recognized, and raising
his voice he cried: "Hottawa! Hottawa! Hottawa a moi!"
Swiftly, fiercely, came the band of men, some twenty of them,
cleaving their way through the crowd like a wedge. At their head,
and taller than the others, fought two men, whose arms worked with
the systematic precision of piston-rods, and before whom men fell
on either hand as if struck with sledge-hammers.
"Hottawa a moi!" cried the Ottawa champion again, and the relieving
party faced in his direction.
"I say," said the lieutenant, "that first man is uncommonly like
your Glengarry friend."
"What, Ranald?" cried Harry. "Then we are all right. I swear it
is," he said, after a few moments, and then, remembering the story
of the great fight on the Nation, which he had heard from Hughie
and Maimie, he raised the Macdonald war-cry: "Glengarry!
Glengarry!"
Ranald paused and looked about him.
"Here, Ranald!" yelled Harry, waving his white handkerchief. Then
Ranald caught sight of him.
"Glengarry!" he cried, and sprang far into the crowd in Harry's
direction.
"Glengarry! Glengarry forever!" echoed Yankee--for he it was--
plunging after his leader.
Swift and sharp like the thrust of a lance, the Glengarry men
pierced the crowd, which gave back on either side, and soon reached
the group at the wall.
"How in the world did YOU get here?" cried Ranald to Harry; then,
looking about him, cried: "Where is LeNware? I heard he was being
killed by the Gatineaus, and I got a few of our men and came
along."
"LeNware? That is our Canadian friend, I suppose," said the
lieutenant. "He was here a while ago. By Jove! There he is."
Surrounded by a crowd of the Gatineaus, LeNoir, for he was the
leader of the Ottawas, was being battered about and like to be
killed.
"Glengarry!" cried Ranald, and like a lion he leaped upon them,
followed by Yankee and the others. Right and left he hurled the
crowd aside, and seizing LeNoir, brought him out to his own men.
"Who are you?" gasped LeNoir. "Why, no, it ees not possible. Yes,
it is Yankee for sure! And de Macdonald gang, but--"turning to
Ranald--"who are YOU?" he said again.
"Never mind," said Ranald, shortly, "let us get away now, quick!
Go on, Yankee."
At once, with Yankee leading, the Glengarry men marched off the
field of battle bearing with them the rescued party. There was no
time to lose. The enemy far outnumbered them, and would soon
return to the attack.
"But how did you know we were in trouble, Ranald?" said Harry as he
marched along.
"I didn't know anything about you," said Ranald. "Some one came
and said that the bully of the Ottawa was being killed, so I came
along."
"And just in time, by Jove!" said the lieutenant, aroused from his
languor for once. "It was a deucedly lucky thing, and well done,
too, 'pon my soul."
That night, as Ranald and his uncle were in their cabin on the raft
talking over the incidents of the day, and Ranald's plans for the
summer, a man stood suddenly in the doorway.
"I am Louis LeNoir," he said, "and I have some word to say to de
young Macdonald. I am sore here," he said, striking his breast.
"I cannot spik your languige. I cannot tell." He stopped short,
and the tears came streaming down his face. "I cannot tell," he
repeated, his breast heaving with mighty sobs. "I would be glad to
die--to mak' over--to not mak'--I cannot say de word--what I do to
your fadder. I would give my life," he said, throwing out both his
hands. "I would give my life. I cannot say more."
Ranald stood looking at him for a few moments in silence when he
finished; then he said slowly and distinctly, "My father told me to
say that he forgave you everything, and that he prayed the mercy of
God for you, and," added Ranald, more slowly, "I--forgive--you--
too."
The Frenchman listened in wonder, greatly moved, but he could only
reiterate his words: "I cannot spik what I feel here."
"Sit down, Mr. LeNoir," said Macdonald Bhain, gravely, pointing to
a bench, "and I will be telling you something."
LeNoir sat down and waited.
"Do you see that young man there?" said Macdonald Bhain, pointing
to Ranald. He is the strongest man in my gang, and indeed, I will
not be putting him below myself." Here Ranald protested. "And he
has learned to use his hands as I cannot. And of all the men I
have ever seen since I went to the woods, there is not one I could
put against him. He could kill you, Mr. LeNoir."
The Frenchman nodded his head and said: "Das so. Das pretty
sure."
"Yes, that is very sure," said Macdonald Bhain. "And he made a vow
to kill you," went on Macdonald Bhain, "and to-night he saved your
life. Do you know why?"
"No, not me."
"Then I will be telling you. It is the grace of God."
LeNoir stared at him, and then Macdonald Bhain went on to tell him
how his brother had suffered and struggled long, and how the
minister's wife had come to him with the message of the forgiveness
of the great God. And then he read from Ranald's English Bible the
story of the unforgiving debtor, explaining it in grave and simple
speech.
"That was why," he concluded. "It was because he was forgiven, and
on his dying bed he sent you the word of forgiveness. And that,
too, is the very reason, I believe, why the lad here went to your
help this day."
"I promised the minister's wife I would do you good and not ill,
when it came to me," said Ranald. "But I was not feeling at all
like forgiving you. I was afraid to meet you."
"Afraid?" said LeNoir, wondering that any of that gang should
confess to fear.
"Yes, afraid of what I would do. But now, tonight, it is gone,"
said Ranald, simply, "I can't tell you how."
"Das mos' surprise!" exclaimed LeNoir. "Ne comprenne pas. I never
see lak dat, me!"
"Yes, it is wonderful," said Macdonald Bhain. "It is very wonderful.
It is the grace of God," he said again.
"You mak' de good frien' wit me?" asked LeNoir, rising and putting
his hand out to Macdonald Bhain. Macdonald Bhain rose from his
place and stepped toward the Frenchman, and took his hand.
"Yes, I will be friends with you," he said, gravely, "and I will
seek God's mercy for you."
Then LeNoir turned to Ranald, and said; "Will you be frien' of me?
Is it too moche?"
"Yes," said Ranald, slowly, "I will be your friend, too. It is a
little thing," he added, unconsciously quoting his father's words.
Then LeNoir turned around to Macdonald Bhain, and striking an
attitude, exclaimed: "See! You be my boss, I be your man--what
you call--slave. I work for noting, me. Das sure."
Macdonald Bhain shook his head.
"You could not belong to us," he said, and explained to him the
terms upon which the Macdonald men were engaged. LeNoir had never
heard of such terms.
"You not drink whisky?"
"Not too much," said Macdonald Bhain.
"How many glass? One, two, tree?"
"I do not know," said Macdonald Bhain. "It depends upon the man.
He must not take more than is good for him."
"Bon!" said LeNoir, "das good. One glass he mak' me feel good.
Two das nice he mak' me feel ver fonny. Three glass yes das mak'
me de frien' of hevery bodie. Four das mak' me feel big; I walk de
big walk; I am de bes' man all de place. Das good place for stop,
eh?"
"No," said Macdonald Bhain, gravely, "you need to stop before
that."
"Ver' good. Ver' good me stop him me. You tak' me on for your
man?"
Macdonald Bhain hesitated. LeNoir came nearer him and lowering his
voice said: "I'm ver' bad man me. I lak to know how you do dat--
what you say--forgive. You show me how."
"Come to me next spring," said Macdonald Bhain.
"Bon!" said LeNoir. "I be dere on de Nation camp."
And so he was. And when Mrs. Murray heard of it from Macdonald
Bhain that summer, she knew that Ranald had kept his word and had
done LeNoir good and not evil.
CHAPTER XVIII
HE IS NOT OF MY KIND
The story of the riot in which Ranald played so important a part
filled the town and stirred society to its innermost circles--those
circles, namely, in which the De Lacys lived and moved. The whole
town began talking of the Glengarry men, and especially of their
young leader who had, with such singular ability and pluck, rescued
the Ottawas with Harry and Lieutenant De Lacy, from their perilous
position.
The girls had the story from Harry's lips, and in his telling of it,
Ranald's courage and skill certainly lost nothing; but to Maimie,
while it was pleasant enough for her to hear of Ranald's prowess,
and while she enjoyed the reflected glory that came to her as his
friend, the whole incident became altogether hateful and distressing.
She found herself suddenly famous in her social world; every one was
talking of her, but to her horror, was connecting Ranald's name with
her's in a most significant way. It was too awful, and if her Aunt
Frances should hear of it, the consequences would be quite too
terrible for her to imagine. She must stop the talk at once. Of
course she meant to be kind to Ranald; he had done her great service,
and he was her Aunt Murray's friend, and besides, she liked him; how
much she hardly cared to say to herself. She had liked him in
Glengarry. There was no doubt of that, but that was two years ago,
and in Glengarry everything was different! There every one was just
as good as another, and these people were all her Aunt Murray's
friends. Here the relations were changed. She could not help
feeling that however nice he might be, and however much she might
like him, Ranald was not of her world.
"Well, tell him so; let him see that," said Kate, with whom Maimie
was discussing her difficulty.
"Yes, and then he would fly off and I--we would never see him
again," said Maimie. "He's as proud as--any one!"
"Strange, too," said Kate, "when he has no money to speak of!"
"You know I don't mean that, and I don't think it's very nice of
you. You have no sympathy with me!"
"In what way?"
"Well, in this very unpleasant affair; every one is talking about
Ranald and me, as if I--as if we had some understanding."
"And have you not? I thought--" Kate hesitated to remind Maimie
of certain confidences she had received two years ago after her
friend had returned from Glengarry.
"Oh, absurd--just a girl and boy affair," said Maimie, impatiently.
"Then there's nothing at all," said Kate, with a suspicion of
eagerness in her voice.
"No, of course not--that is, nothing really serious."
"Serious? You mean you don't care for him at all?" Kate looked
straight at her friend.
"Oh, you are so awfully direct. I don't know. I do care; he's
nice in many ways, and he's--I know he likes me and--I would hate
to wound him, but then you know he's not just one of us. You know
what I mean!"
"Not exactly," said Kate, quietly. "Do you mean he is not educated?"
"Oh, no, I don't mean education altogether. How very tiresome you
are! He has no culture, and manners, and that sort of thing."
"I think he has very fine manners. He is a little quaint, but you
can't call him rude."
"Oh, no, he's never rude; rather abrupt, but oh, dear, don't you
know? What would Aunt Frank say to him?"
Kate's lip curled a little. "I'm very sure I can't say, but I can
imagine how she would look."
"Well, that's it--"
"But," went on Kate, "I can imagine, too, how Ranald would look
back at her if he caught her meaning."
"Well, perhaps," said Maimie, with a little laugh, "and that's just
it. Oh, I wish he were--"
"A lieutenant?" suggested Kate.
"Well, yes, I do," said Maimie, desperately.
"And if he were, you would marry him," said Kate, a shade of contempt
in her tone that Maimie failed to notice.
"Yes, I would."
Kate remained silent.
"There now, you think I am horrid, I know," said Maimie. "I suppose
you would marry him if he were a mere nobody!"
"If I loved him," said Kate, with slow deliberation, and a slight
tremor in her voice, "I'd marry him if he were--a shantyman!"
"I believe you would," said Maimie, with a touch of regret in her
voice; "but then, you've no Aunt Frank!"
"Thank Providence," replied Kate, under her breath.
"And I'm sure I don't want to offend her. Just listen to this."
Maimie pulled out a letter, and turning over the pages, found the
place and began to read: "'I am so glad to hear that you are
enjoying your stay in Quebec'--um-um-um--'fine old city'--um-um-um--
'gates and streets,' 'old days'--um-um-um--'noble citadel,'
'glorious view'--um-um-um-um--'finest in the world'--No, that isn't
it--Oh, yes, here it is: 'The De Lacys are a very highly connected
English family and very old friends of my friends, the Lord Archers,
with whom I visited in England, you know. The mother is a dear old
lady--so stately and so very particular--with old-fashioned ideas
of breeding and manners, and of course, very wealthy. Her house in
Quebec is said to be the finest in the Province, and there are some
English estates, I believe, in their line. Lieutenant De Lacy is
her only son, and from what you say, he seems to be a very charming
young man. He will occupy a very high place someday. I suppose
Kate will'--um-um-um--'Oh yes, and if Mrs. De Lacy wishes you to
visit her you might accept'--um-um- um--'and tell Kate that I should
be delighted if she could accompany me on a little jaunt through the
Eastern States. I have asked permission of her father, but she
wrote you herself about that, didn't she?--um-um-um--And then listen
to this! 'How very odd you should have come across the young man
from Glengarry again--Mac Lennon, is it? Mac-something-or-other!
Your Aunt Murray seems to consider him a very steady and worthy
young man. I hope he may not degenerate in his present circumstances
and calling, as so many of his class do. I am glad your father was
able to do something for him. These people ought to be encouraged.'
Now you see!" Maimie's tone was quite triumphant.
"Yes," said Kate! "I do see! These people should be encouraged to
make our timber for us that we may live in ease and luxury, and
even to save us from fire and from blood-thirsty mobs, as occasions
may offer, but as for friendships and that sort of thing--"
"Oh, Kate," burst in Maimie, almost in tears, "you are so very
unkind. You know quite well what I mean."
"Yes, I know quite well; you would not invite Ranald, for instance,
to dine at your house, to meet your Aunt Frank and the Evanses and
the Langfords and the Maitlands," said Kate, spacing her words with
deliberate indignation.
"Well, I would not, if you put it in that way," said Maimie,
petulantly, "and you wouldn't either!"
"I would ask him to meet every Maitland of them if I could," said
Kate, "and it wouldn't hurt them either."
"Oh, you are so peculiar," said Maimie, with a sigh of pity.
"Am I," said Kate; "ask Harry," she continued, as that young man
came into the room.
"No, you needn't mind," said Maimie; "I know well he will just side
with you. He always does."
"How very amiable of me," said Harry; "but what's the particular
issue?"
"Ranald," said Kate.
"Then I agree at once. Besides, he is coming to supper next Sunday
evening!"
"Oh, Harry," exclaimed Maimie, in dismay, "on Sunday evening?"
"He can't get off any other night; works all night, I believe, and
would work all Sunday, too, if his principles didn't mercifully
interfere. He will be boss of the concern before summer is over."
"Oh, Harry," said Maimie, in distress, "and I asked Lieutenant De
Lacy and his friend, Mr. Sims, for Sunday evening--"
"Sims," cried Harry; "little cad!"
"I'm sure he's very nice," said Maimie, "and his family--"
"Oh, hold up; don't get on to your ancestor worship," cried Harry,
impatiently. "Anyway, Ranald's coming up Sunday evening."
"Well, it will be very awkward," said Maimie.
"I don't see why," said Kate.
"Oh," cried Harry, scornfully, "he will have on his red flannel
shirt and a silk handkerchief, and his trousers will be in his
boots; that's what Maimie is thinking of!"
"You are very rude, Harry," said Maimie. "You know quite well that
Ranald will not enjoy himself with the others. He has nothing in
common with them."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that Maimie," said Kate; "I will talk
to Ranald." But Maimie was not quite sure how she should like
that.
"You are just your Aunt Frank over again," said Harry, in a
disgusted tone; "clothes and people!"
Maimie was almost in tears.
"I think you are both very unkind. You know Ranald won't enjoy it.
He will be quite miserable, and--they'll just laugh at him!"
"Well, they'd better laugh at him when he isn't observing," said
Harry.
"Do you think Ranald would really mind?" interposed Kate, addressing
Harry. "Do you think he will feel shy and awkward? Perhaps we'd
better have him another evening."
"No," said Harry, decidedly; "he is coming, and he's coming on
Sunday evening. He can't get off any other night, and besides, I'd
have to lie to him, and he has an unpleasant way of finding you out
when you are doing it, and once he does find out why he is not
asked for Sunday evening, then you may say good by to him for good
and all."
"Oh, no fear of that," said Maimie, confidently; "Ranald has good
sense, and I know he will come again."
"Well," cried Harry, "if you are not going to treat him as you
would treat De Lacy and that idiotic Sims, I won't bring him!" And
with that he flung out of the room.
But Harry changed his mind, for next Sunday evening as the young
ladies with De Lacy and his friend were about to sit down to supper
in their private parlor, Harry walked in with Ranald, and announced
in triumph: "The man from Glengarry!" Maimie looked at him in
dismay, and indeed she well might, for Ranald was dressed in his
most gorgeous shanty array, with red flannel shirt and silk
handkerchief, and trousers tucked into his boots. Sims gazed at
him as if he were an apparition. It was Kate who first broke the
silence.
"We are delighted to see you," she cried, going forward to Ranald
with hands outstretched; "you are become quite a hero in this
town."
"Quite, I assure you," said the lieutenant, in a languid voice, but
shaking Ranald heartily by the hand.
Then Maimie came forward and greeted him with ceremonious politeness
and introduced him to Mr. Sims, who continued to gaze at the
shantyman's attire with amused astonishment.
The supper was not a success; Ranald sat silent and solemn, eating
little and smiling not at all, although Mr. Sims executed his very
best jokes. Maimie was nervous and visibly distressed, and at the
earliest possible moment broke up the supper party and engaged in
conversation with the lieutenant and his witty friend, leaving
Harry and Kate to entertain Ranald. But in spite of all they could
do a solemn silence would now and then overtake the company, till
at length Maimie grew desperate, and turning to Ranald, said:
"What are you thinking of? You are looking very serious?"
"He is 'thinking of home and mother,'" quoted Mr. Sims, in a thin,
piping voice, following his quotation with a silly giggle.
Kate flushed indignantly. "I am quite sure his thoughts will bear
telling," she said.
"I am sure they would," said Maimie, not knowing what to say.
"What were they, Ran--Mr. Macdonald?"
"I was thinking of you," said Ranald, gravely, looking straight at
her.
"How lovely," murmured the lieutenant.
"And of your aunt, Mrs. Murray, and of what they would be doing
this night--"
"And what would that be?" said Kate, coming to the relief of her
friend. But Ranald was silent.
"I know," cried Harry. "Let's see, it is ten o'clock; they will
all be sitting in the manse dining-room before the big fire; or,
no, they will be in the parlor where the piano is, and John 'Aleck'
will be there, and they will be singing"; and he went on to
describe his last Sabbath evening, two years before, in the
Glengarry manse. As he began to picture his aunt and her work,
his enthusiasm carried him away, and made him eloquent.
"I tell you," he concluded, "she's a rare woman, and she has a
hundred men there ready to die for her, eh, Ranald?"
"Yes," said Ranald, and his deep voice vibrated with intense
feeling. "They would just die for her, and why not? She is a
great woman and a good." His dark face was transformed, and his
eyes glowed with an inner light.
In the silence that followed Kate went to the harmonium and began
to play softly. Ranald stood up as to go, but suddenly changed his
mind, and went over and stood beside her.
"You sing, don't you?" said Kate, as she played softly.
"You ought to just hear him," said Harry.
"Oh, what does he sing?"
"I only sing the psalm tunes in church," said Ranald, "and a few
hymns."
"Ye gods!" ejaculated the lieutenant to Maimie, "psalms and hymns;
and how the fellow knocked those Frenchmen about!"
"Sing something, Kate, won't you?" said Maimie, and Kate, without a
word began the beautiful air from Mendelssohn's St. Paul:--
"But the Lord is mindful of His own,"
singing it with a power of expression marvellous in so young a
girl. Then, without further request, she glided into the lovely
aria, "O Rest in the Lord." It was all new and wonderful to
Ranald. He did not dream that such majesty and sweetness could be
expressed in music. He sat silent with eyes looking far away, and
face alight with the joy that filled his soul.
"Oh, thanks, very much," murmured the lieutenant, when Kate had
finished. "Lovely thing that aria, don't you know?"
"Very nice," echoed Mr. Sims, "and so beautifully done, too."
Ranald looked from one to the other in indignant surprise, and then
turning away from them to Kate, said, in a tone almost of command:
"Sing it again."
"I'll sing something else," she said. "Did you ever hear--"
"No, I never heard anything at all like that," interrupted Ranald.
"Sing some more like the last."
The deep feeling showing in his face and in his tone touched Kate.
"How would this do?" she replied. "It is a little high for me, but
I'll try."
She played a few introductory chords, and then began that sweetest
bit of the greatest of all the oratorios "He shall Feed His Flock."
And from that passed into the soul-moving "He Was Despised" from
the same noble work. The music suited the range and quality of her
voice perfectly, and she sang with her heart thrilling in response
to the passionate feeling in the dark eyes fixed upon her face.
She had never sung to any one who listened as Ranald now listened
to her. She forgot the others. She was singing for him, and he
was compelling her to her best. She was conscious of a subtle
sense of mastery overpowering her, and with a strange delight she
yielded herself to that commanding influence; but as she sang she
began to realize that he was thinking not of her, but of her song,
and soon she, too, was thinking of it. She knew that his eyes were
filled with the vision of "The Man of Sorrows" of whom she sang,
and before she was aware, the pathos of that lonely and despised
life, set forth in the noble words of the ancient prophet, was
pouring forth in the great Master's music.
When the song was ended, no one spoke for a time, and even Mr. Sims
was silent. Then the lieutenant came over to the harmonium, and
leaning toward Kate, said, in an earnest voice, unusual with him,
"Thank you Miss Raymond. That was truly great."
"Great indeed;" said Harry, with enthusiasm. "I never heard you
sing like that before, Kate."
But Ranald sat silent, finding no words in which to express the
thoughts and feelings her singing had aroused in him.
There is that in noble music which forbids unreality, rebukes
frivolity into silence, subdues ignoble passions, soothes the
heart's sorrow, and summons to the soul high and holy thoughts. It
was difficult to begin the conversation; the trivial themes of the
earlier part of the evening seemed foreign to the mood that had
fallen upon the company. At length Mr. Sims ventured to remark,
with a giggle: "It's awfully fine, don't you know, but a trifle
funereal. Makes one think of graves and that sort of thing. Very
nice, of course," he added, apologetically, to Kate. Ranald turned
and regarded the little man for some moments in silence, and then,
with unutterable scorn, exclaimed: "Nice! man, it's wonderful,
wonderful to me whatever! Makes me think of all the great things I
ever saw."
"What things?" Kate ventured to say.
For a few moments Ranald paused, and then replied: "It makes me
think of the big pine trees waving and wailing over me at night,
and the big river rolling down with the moonlight on it--and--other
things."
"What other things, Ranald," persisted Kate.
But Ranald shook his head and sat silent for some time. Then he
rose abruptly.
"I will be going now," he said.
"You will come again soon, Ranald," said Maimie, coming toward him
with a look on her face that reminded him of the days in the
Glengarry manse. She had forgotten all about his red shirt and
silk handkerchief. As Ranald caught that look a great joy leaped
into his eyes for a moment, then faded into a gaze of perplexity.
"Yes, do come," added Kate.
"Will you sing again?" he asked, bluntly.
"Yes, indeed," she replied, with a slight blush, "if you want me
to."
"I will come. When? To-morrow night?"
"Yes, certainly, to-morrow night," said Kate, blushing deeply now,
for she noticed the slight smile on Harry's face, and the glance
that passed between Mr. Sims and the lieutenant. Then Ranald said
good night.
"I have never had such pleasure in my life," he said, holding her
hand a moment, and looking into her eyes that sparkled with a happy
light. "That is," he added, with a swift glance at Maimie, "from
music or things like that."
Kate caught the glance, and the happy light faded from her eyes.
"Good night," said Ranald, offering his hand to Maimie. "I am glad
I came now. It makes me think of the last night at the manse,
although I am always thinking of it," he added, simply, with a
touch of sadness in his voice. Maimie's face grew hot with blushes.
"Yes," she answered, hurriedly. "Dear Aunt Murray!"
He stood a moment or two as if about to speak, while Maimie
waited in an agony of fear, not knowing what to expect in this
extraordinary young man. Then he turned abruptly away, and with a
good night to De Lacy and a nod to Mr. Sims, strode from the room.
"Great Caesar's ghost!" exclaimed the lieutenant; "pardon me, but
has anything happened? That young man now and then gives me a
sense of tragedy. What HAS taken place?" he panted, weakly.
"Nonsense," laughed Maimie, "your nervous system is rather delicate."
"Ah, thanks, no doubt that's it. Miss Kate, how do you feel?"
"I," said Kate, waking suddenly, "thank you, quite happy."
"Happy," sighed De Lacy. "Ah, fortunate young man!"
"Great chap, that," cried Harry, coming back from seeing Ranald to
the door.
"Very," said De Lacy, so emphatically that every one laughed.
"Some one really ought to dress him, though," suggested Mr. Sims,
with a slight sneer.
"Why?" said Kate, quietly, facing him.
"Oh, well, you know, Miss Raymond," stammered Mr. Sims, "that sort
of attire, you know, is hardly the thing for the drawing-room, you
know."
"He is a shantyman," said Maimie, apologetically, "and they all
dress like that. I don't suppose that he has any other clothes
with him."
"Oh, of course," assented Mr. Sims, retreating before this double
attack.
"Besides," continued Kate, "it is good taste to dress in the garb
of your profession, isn't it, Lieutenant De Lacy?"
"Oh, come now, Miss Kate, that's all right," said the lieutenant,
"but you must draw the line somewhere, you know. Those colors now
you must confess are a little startling."
"You didn't mind the colors when he saved you the other day from
that awful mob!"
"One for you, De Lacy," cried Harry.
"Quite right," answered the lieutenant, "but don't mistake me. I
distinguish between a fellow and his clothes."
"For my part," said Kate, "I don't care how a man is dressed; if I
like him, I like him should he appear in a blanket and feathers."
"Don't speak of it," gasped the lieutenant.
"Do let's talk of something else," said Maimie, impatiently.
"Delighted, I am sure," said De Lacy; "and that reminds me that
madam was thinking of a picnic down the river this week--just a
small company, you know. The man would drive her down and take the
hamper and things, and we would go down by boat. Awful pull back,
though," he added, regretfully, "but if it should give any
pleasure--delighted, you know," bowing gallantly to the ladies.
"Delightful!" cried Maimie.
"And Ranald pulls splendidly," said Kate.
Maimie looked at her, wondering how she knew that. "I don't think
Ranald can get away every day. I'm sure he can't; can he, Harry?"
she said.
"No," said Harry, "no more can I, worse luck! The governor is
sticking awfully close to work just now."
"And, of course, you can't be spared," said Kate, mockingly.
"But couldn't you both come later? We could wait tea for you.
"Might," said Harry. "I shall make my best endeavor for your
sake," bowing toward Kate, "but I am doubtful about Ranald.
Perhaps we'd better not--"
"Why, certainly, old chap," said the lieutenant, "what's the
matter?"
"Well, the fact is," blurted out Harry, desperately, "I don't want
to drag in Ranald. I like him awfully, but you may feel as if he
were not quite one of us. You know what I mean; your mother
doesn't know him."
Harry felt extremely awkward knowing that he came perilously near
to suspecting the lieutenant of the most despicable snobbery.
"Why, certainly," repeated the lieutenant. "That's all right.
Bring your Glengarry man along if any one wants him."
"I do," said Kate, decidedly.
"Kismet," replied the lieutenant. "It is decreed. The young man
must come, for I suspect he is very much 'one of us.'" But of this
the lieutenant was not quite so certain by the time the day of the
picnic had arrived.
CHAPTER XIX
ONE GAME AT A TIME
The Glengarry men were on the Montreal boat leaving for home.
Macdonald Bhain's farewell to his nephew was full of sadness, for
he knew that henceforth their ways would lie apart, and full of
solemn warnings against the dangers of the city where Ranald was
now to be.
"It is a wicked place, and the pitfalls are many, and they are not
in the places where the eyes will be looking for them. Ye are
taking the way that will be leading you from us all, and I will not
be keeping you back, nor will I be laying any vows upon you. You
will be a true man, and you will keep the fear of God before your
eyes, and you will remember that a Macdonald never fails the man
that trusts him." And long after the great man was gone his last
words kept tugging at Ranald's heart: "Ranald, lad, remember us up
yonder in the Indian Lands," he said, holding his hand with a grip
that squeezed the bones together; "we will be always thinking of
you, and more than all, at the Bible class and the meetings she
will be asking for you and wondering how you are doing, and by
night and by day the door will be on the latch for your coming;
for, laddie, laddie, you are a son to me and more!" The break in
the big Macdonald's voice took away from Ranald all power of
speech, and without a word of reply, he had to let his uncle go.
Yankee's good by was characteristic. "Well, guess I'll git along.
Wish you were comin' back with us, but you've struck your gait, I
guess, and you're goin' to make quite a dust. Keep your wind till
the last quarter; that's where the money's lost. I ain't 'fraid of
you; you're green, but they can't break you. Keep your left eye on
the suckers. There ain't no danger from the feller that rips and
rares and gits up on his hind legs, but the feller that sidles
raound and sorter chums it up to you and wants to pay fer your
drinks, by Jings, kick him. And say," Yankee's voice here grew low
and impressive, "git some close. These here are all right for the
woods, but with them people close counts an awful lot. It's the
man inside that wins, but the close is outside. Git 'em and git
'em good; none of your second-hand Jew outfits. It'll cost, of
course, but--(here Yankee closed up to Ranald) but here's a wad;
ain't no pertickaler use to me."
Then Ranald smote him in the chest and knocked him back against a
lumber pile.
"I know you," he cried; "you would be giving me the coat off your
back. If I would be taking money from any man I'd take it from
you, but let me tell you I will have no money that I do not earn;"
then, seeing Yankee's disappointed face, he added, "but indeed, I
owe you for your help to me--and--mi--mine, when help was needed
sore, more than I can ever pay back." Then, as they shook hands,
Ranald spoke again, and his voice was none too steady. "And I have
been thinking that I would like you to have Lisette, for it may be
a long time before I will be back again, and I know you will be
good to her; and if ever I need your help in this way, I promise I
will come to you."
Yankee chewed his quid of tobacco hard and spat twice before he
could reply. Then he answered slowly: "Now look-ye-here, I'll
take that little mare and look after her, but the mare's yours and
if--and if--which I don't think will happen--if you don't come back
soon, why--I will send you her equivalent in cash; but I'd ruther
see--I'd ruther see you come back for it!"
It was with a very lonely heart that Ranald watched out of sight
the steamboat that carried to their homes in the Indian Lands the
company of men who had been his comrades for the long months in the
woods and on the river, and all the more that he was dimly realizing
that this widening blue strip of flowing river was separating him
forever from the life he so passionately loved. As his eyes
followed them he thought of the home-coming that he would have
shared; their meetings at the church door, the grave handshakings
from the older folk, the saucy "horos" from the half-grown boys,
the shy blushing glances from the maidens, and last and dearest of
all, the glad, proud welcome in the sweet, serious face with the
gray-brown eyes. It was with the memory of that face in his heart
that he turned to meet what might be coming to him, with the resolve
that he would play the man.
"Hello, old chap, who's dead?" It was Harry's gay voice. "You
look like a tomb." He put his arm through Ranald's and walked with
him up the street.
"Where are you going now?" he asked, as Ranald walked along in
silence.
"To get some clothes."
"Thank the great powers!" ejaculated Harry to himself.
"What?"
"And where are you going to get them?"
"I do not know--some store, I suppose." Ranald had the vaguest
notions not only of where he should go, but of the clothes in which
he ought to array himself, but he was not going to acknowledge this
to his friend.
"You can't get any clothes fit to wear in this town," said Harry,
in high contempt. Ranald's heart sank. "But come along, we will
find something."
As they passed in front of the little French shops, with windows
filled inside and out with ready-made garments, Ranald paused to
investigate.
"Oh! pshaw," cried Harry, "don't know what you'll get here. We'll
find something better than this cheap stuff," and Ranald, glad
enough of guidance, though uncertain as to where it might lead him,
followed meekly.
"What sort of a suit do you want?" said Harry.
"I don't know," said Ranald, doubtfully. It had never occurred to
him that there could be any great difference in suits. There had
never been any choosing of suits with him.
"Like yours, I suppose," he continued, glancing at Harry's attire,
but adding, cautiously, "if they do not cost too much."
"About forty dollars," said Harry, lightly; then, noticing the
dismayed look on Ranald's face, he added quickly, "but you don't
need to spend that much, you know. I say, you let me manage this
thing." And fortunate it was for Ranald that he had his friend's
assistance in this all-important business, but it took all Harry's
judgment, skill, and delicacy of handling to pilot his friend
through the devious ways of outfitters, for Ranald's ignorance of
all that pertained to a gentleman's wardrobe was equaled only by
the sensitive pride on the one hand that made him shrink from
appearing poor and mean, and by his Scotch caution on the other
that forbade undue extravagance. It was a hard hour and a half for
them both, but when all was over, Ranald's gratitude more than
repaid Harry for his pains.
"Come up to-night," said Harry, as they stood at the door of the
Hotel du Nord, where Ranald had taken up his quarters.
"No," said Ranald, abruptly, unconsciously glancing down at his
rough dress.
"Then I'll come down here," said Harry, noting the glance.
"I will be very glad," replied Ranald, his face lighting up, for he
was more afraid than he cared to show of the lonely hours of that
night. It would be the first night in his life away from his own
kin and friends. But he was not so glad when, after tea, as he
stood at the door of the hotel, he saw sauntering toward him not
only Harry, but also Lieutenant De Lacy and his friend Mr. Sims.
"These fellows would come along," explained Harry; "I told them you
didn't want them."
"Showed how little he knew," said the lieutenant. "I told him you
would be delighted."
"Will you come in?" said Ranald, rather grudgingly, "though there
is nothing much inside."
"What a bear," said Mr. Sims to Harry, disgustedly, in a low voice.
"Nothing much!" said the lieutenant, "a good deal I should say from
what one can hear."
"Oh, that is nothing," replied Ranald; "the boys are having some
games."
The bar-room was filled with men in shanty dress, some sitting with
chairs tipped back against the wall, smoking the black French
"twist" tobacco; others drinking at the bar; and others still at
the tables that stood in one corner of the room playing cards with
loud exclamations and oaths of delight or disgust, according to
their fortune. The lieutenant pushed his way through the crowd,
followed by the others.
"A jolly lot, by Jove!" he exclaimed, looking with mild interest on
the scene, "and with the offer of some sport, too," he added,
glancing at the card-players in the corner, where men were losing
their winter's wages.
"What will you take?" said Ranald, prompted by his Highland sense
of courtesy, "and would you have it in the next room?"
"Anywhere," said the lieutenant, with alacrity; "a little brandy
and soda for me; nothing else in these places is worth drinking."
Ranald gave the order, and with some degree of pride, noticed the
obsequious manner of the bar-tender toward him and his distinguished
guests. They passed into an inner and smaller room, lit by two or
three smoky lamps in brackets on the walls. In this room, sitting
at one of the tables, were two Frenchmen playing ecarte. As the
lieutenant entered, one of them glanced up and uttered an
exclamation of recognition.
"Ah, it is our warlike friend," cried De Lacy, recognizing him in
return; "you play this game also," he continued in French.
"Not moche," said LeNoir, for it was he, with a grand salute.
"Will the capitaine join, and his friends?"
Ranald shook his head and refused.
"Come along," said the lieutenant, eagerly, to Ranald. The game
was his passion. "Mr. Sims, you will; Harry, what do you say?"
"I will look on with Ranald."
"Oh, come in Macdonald," said the lieutenant, "the more the better,
and we'll make it poker. You know the game?" he said, turning to
LeNoir; "and your friend--I have not the pleasure--"
"Mr. Rouleau," said Ranald and LeNoir together, presenting the
young Frenchman who spoke and looked like a gentleman.
"Do you play the game?" said the lieutenant.
"A verie leetle, but I can learn him."
"That's right," cried the lieutenant, approvingly.
"What do you say, Ranald," said Harry, who also loved the game.
"No," said Ranald, shortly, "I never play for money."
"Make it pennies," said Mr. Sims, with a slight laugh.
"Go on, De Lacy," said Harry, angry at Mr. Sims's tone. "You've
got four--that'll do!"
"Oh, very well," said De Lacy, his easy, languid air returning to
him. "What shall it be--quarter chips with a dollar limit? Brandy
and soda, Mr. LeNoir? And you, Mr. Rouleau? Two more glasses,
garcon," and the game began.
From the outset Rouleau steadily won till his chips were piled high
in front of him.
"You play the game well," said the lieutenant. "Shall we raise the
limit?"
"As you lak," said Rouleau, with a polite bow.
"Let's make it five dollars," suggested Mr. Sims, to which all
agreed.
But still the game was Rouleau's, who grew more and more excited
with every win. The lieutenant played coolly, and with seeming
indifference, in which he was imitated by Mr. Sims, the loss of a
few dollars being a matter of small moment to either.
"It would make it more interesting if we made it a dollar to play,"
at length said Mr. Sims. The suggestion was accepted, and the game
went on. At once the luck began to turn, and in a half hour's play
Rouleau's winnings disappeared and passed over to the lieutenant's
hand. In spite of his bad luck, however, Rouleau continued to bet
eagerly and recklessly, until Ranald, who hated to see the young
lumberman losing his season's wages, suggested that the game come
to an end.
"The night is early," said the lieutenant, "but if you have had
enough," he said, bowing to LeNoir and Rouleau.
"Non!" exclaimed Rouleau, "the fortune will to me encore. We mak
it de two-dollar to play. Dat will brak de luck."
"I think you ought to stop it," said Harry.
But the demon of play had taken full possession of both Rouleau and
the lieutenant and they were not to be denied. Rouleau took from
his pocket a roll of bills and counted them.
"Fifty dollars," he cried. "Bon! I play him, me!"
The others deposited a like sum before them, and the game proceeded.
The deal was De Lacy's. After a few moment's consideration, Mr.
Sims and LeNoir each drew three cards. In a tone of triumph which
he could not altogether suppress, Rouleau exclaimed "Dees are good
enough for me." The lieutenant drew one card, and the betting
began.
Twice Rouleau, when it came to his turn, bet the limit, the others
contenting themselves by "raising" one dollar. On the third round
LeNoir, remarking, "Das leetle too queek for me," dropped out.
Once more Rouleau raised the bet to the limit, when Mr. Sims
refused, and left the game to him and the lieutenant. There was no
mistaking the eager triumph in the Frenchman's pale face. He began
to bet more cautiously, his only fear being that his opponent would
"call" too soon. Dollar by dollar the bet was raised till at last
Rouleau joyously gathered his last chips, raised the bet once more
by the limit, exclaiming, as he did so, "Alas! dere ees no more!"
He had played his season's wages that night, but now he would
recover all.
De Lacy, whose coolness was undisturbed, though his face showed
signs of his many brandy-and-sodas, covered the bet.
"Hola!" exclaimed Rouleau in triumph. "Eet ees to me!" He threw
down his cards and reached for the pile.
"Excuse me," said the lieutenant, quietly looking at Rouleau's
cards. "Ah, a straight flush, queen high." Coolly he laid his
cards on the table. "Thought you might have had the ace," he said,
languidly, leaning back in his chair. He, too, held a straight
flush, but with the king.
Rouleau gazed thunderstruck.
"Mort Dieu!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "The deal was from you."
"Mine," said De Lacy, quietly, looking up at the excited Frenchman.
"Ah," cried Rouleau, beside himself. "It is--what you call? One
cheat! cheat!"
The lieutenant sat up straight in his chair.
"Do you mean that I cheated you?" he said, with slow emphasis.
"Beware what you say."
"Oui!" cried the Frenchman; "sacr-r-re--so I mean!"
Before the words had well left his lips, and before any one could
interfere De Lacy shot out his arm, lifted the Frenchman clear off
his feet, and hurled him to the floor.
"Stop! you coward!" Ranald stood before the lieutenant with eyes
blazing and breath coming quick.
"Coward?" said De Lacy, slowly.
"You hit a man unprepared."
"You are prepared, I suppose," replied De Lacy, deliberately.
"Yes! Yes!" cried Ranald, eagerly, the glad light of battle coming
into his eyes.
"Good," said De Lacy, slowly putting back his chair, and proceeding
to remove his coat.
"Glengarry!" cried LeNoir, raising the battle cry he had cause to
remember so well; and flinging off his coat upon the floor, he
patted Ranald on the back, yelling, "Go in, bully boy!"
"Shut the door, LeNoir," said Ranald, quickly, "and keep it shut."
"De Lacy," cried Harry, "this must not go on! Ranald, think what
you are doing!"
"You didn't notice his remark, apparently, St. Clair," said the
lieutenant, calmly.
"Never mind," cried Harry, "he was excited, and anyway the thing
must end here."
"There is only one way. Does he retract?" said De Lacy, quietly.
"Ranald," Harry cried, beseechingly, "you know he is no coward; you
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