With the agility of a panther, the Chevalier sprang toward the bully.
There was a terrible smile on his face as he seized the young brave"s wrists in a grip of iron. The Oneida was a strong youth, but he wrestled in vain. The Chevalier had always been gifted with strength, and these weeks of toil and hardship had turned his muscles into fibers unyielding as oak. Gradually he turned the Indian around. The others watched the engagement with breathless interest. Presently the Indian came to his knees. Quick as light the Chevalier forced him upon his face, caught an arm by the elbow and shoved the brown hand into the fire. There was a howl of pain and a yell of laughter. Without seeming effort the Chevalier then rolled the bully among the evil-tempered dogs. So long as he continued to smile, the Indians saw nothing but good-natured play, such as had been the act which caused Victor his pain. The Chevalier sat down, drew his tattered cloak around his shoulders, and once more resumed his study of the fire.
"Hoh!" grunted the fighting braves, who frankly admired this exhibition of strength.
"Curse it, why didn"t I think of that?" said the vicomte, his hand seeking his injured mouth again.
"G.o.d bless you for that, Paul," murmured Victor, the sparkle of tears in his eyes. "My hands do not hurt half so much now."
"Would to G.o.d, lad, you had gone to Spain. I am content to suffer alone; that is my lot; but it triples my sufferings to see you in pain."
"Good!" said D"Herouville. "The cursed fool of a medicine man has stopped his din. We shall be able to sleep." He doubled up his knees and wrapped his arms around them.
A squaw gave Victor some bears" grease, and he rubbed his palms with it, easing the pain and the smart.
One by one the Indians dozed off, some on their bellies, some on their backs, some with their heads upon their knees, while others curled themselves up among the warm-bodied dogs. Monsieur Chouan hooted once more; the panther"s whine died away in the distance; from another part of the village a cur howled: and stillness settled down.
Victor, kept awake by his throbbing hands, which he tried to ease by gently rocking his body, listened dully to all these now familiar sounds. Across his shoulders was flung the historic grey cloak. In the haste to pursue madame"s captors, it had mysteriously slipped into the bundle they had packed. Like a Nemesis it followed them relentlessly. This inanimate witness of a crime had followed them with a purpose; the time for its definition had not yet arrived. The Chevalier refused to touch it, and heaped curses upon it each time it crossed his vision. But Victor had ceased to feel any qualms; it kept out the chill at night and often served as a pillow. Many a time D"Herouville and the vicomte discovered each other gaping at it. If caught by D"Herouville, the vicomte shrugged and smiled; on the other hand, D"Herouville scowled and snarled his beard with his fingers.
There was for these two men a peculiar fascination attached to that grey garment, of which neither could rid himself, try as he would.
Upon a time it had represented ten thousand livres, a secure head, and a woman"s hand if not her heart.
Once Victor thoughtlessly clasped his hands, and a gasp of pain escaped him.
"Does it pain you much, lad?" asked the Chevalier, turning his head.
"I shut them, not thinking. I shall be all right by morning."
The Chevalier dropped his head upon his knees and dozed. The vicomte and the poet alone were awake and watchful.
A sound. It drifted from afar. After a while it came again, nearer.
The sleeping braves stirred restlessly, and one by one sat up. A dog lifted his nose, sniffed, and growled. Once more. It was a cry, human and designed. It consisted of a prolonged call, followed by several short yells. The old chief rose, and putting his hands to his mouth, uttered a similar call. It was immediately answered; and a few minutes later three Indians and two Jesuit priests pushed aside the bearskin and entered the hut.
"Chaumonot!" exclaimed the Chevalier.
The kindly priest extended his hands, and the four white men respectfully brushed them with their lips. It was a tribute less to his office than to his appearance; for not one of them saw in his coming aught else than a good presage and probable liberation.
Chaumonot was accompanied by Father Dablon, the Black Kettle,--now famous among his Onondaga brothers as the one who had crossed the evil waters, and two friendly Oneida chiefs. There ensued a prodigious harangue; but at the close of it the smile on Chaumonot"s face signified that he had won his argument.
"You are free, my sons," he said. "It took some time to find you, but there is nothing like perseverance in a good cause. At dawn you will return with me to Onondaga. Monsieur," addressing the Chevalier; "and how is the health of Monsieur le Marquis, your kind father?"
The smile died from the Chevalier"s face. "Monsieur le Marquis is at Quebec; I can not say as regards his health."
"In Quebec?"
"Yes, Father," Victor interposed.
"How did you know that we were here ?" asked the vicomte.
"Pauquet, in his wanderings, finally arrived at Onondaga two weeks ago.
Upon hearing his story I at once began a search. We are virtually at peace with the Senecas and the Oneidas."
"And . . . the women?" inquired Victor, his heart"s blood gushing to his throat.
The two Jesuits solemnly shook their heads.
Victor laid his head against the Chevalier"s arm to hide the bitter tears.
"No sign?" asked the Chevalier calmly. All the joy of the rescue was gone.
"None. They were taken by a roving band of Senecas, of whom nothing has been heard. They are not at the Senecas" chief village."
However great the vicomte"s disappointment may have been, his face remained without any discernible emotion. But he turned to D"Herouville, his tone free from banter and his dark eyes full of menace:
"Monsieur le Comte, you and I shall soon straighten out our accounts."
"For my part, I would it were to-morrow. Our swords will be given back to us. Take heed, Vicomte," holding out a splendid arm, as if calling the vicomte"s attention to it.
The vicomte twisted his shoulder and made a grimace. "I will kill you as certainly as we stand here. It is written. And after you . . ."
D"Herouville could not piece together this broken sentence.
Four days later, the first of October, they came to the mission. The lake of Onondaga lay glittering in the sunshine, surrounded by green valleys, green hills, and crimsoning forests. As they arrived at the palisade and fort, Du Puys, sighting them, fired a salute of welcome.
The echoes awoke, and hurried to the hills and back again with thrilling sound. The deer lifted his lordly antlers and trembled; the bear, his jaws dripping with purloined honey, flattened his ears restlessly; the dozing panther opened his eyes, yellow and round as a king"s louis; and from the dead arms of what was once a kingly pine, the eagle rose and described circles as he soared heavenward. The gaze of the recent captives roved. Here were fruitful valley and hill; pine, oak, beech, maple and birch; luscious grape and rosy apple; corn and golden pumpkin. They saw where the beaver burrowed in his dams, and in the golden shallows and emerald deeps of the lake caught glimpses of trout, ba.s.s, salmon and pickerel. And what a picture met their eyes as they entered the palisades: the black-robed priests, the shabby uniforms of the soldiers and their quaint weapons and dented helmets, the ragged garbs of the French gentlemen who had accompanied the expedition, the painted Indian and his ever-inconsolable dog.
"Here might a man dwell in peace," said the Chevalier.
"Not with ambition for his bride," was the vicomte"s observation.
The beginning of the end came on the seventh of October, after a famous hunting day. A great fire was built on the sh.o.r.es of the lake. The moon, crooked in shape and mellow as a fat pumpkin, hung low over the forest crests. The water was golden and red: the moon and the flames.
The braves were holding a hunting dance in honor of the kill. There were at this time about sixty warriors encamped around the mission.
The main body was at the Long House, far back among the hills. A weird chanting broke the stillness of the night. The outer circle was composed of the older braves and chieftains, the colonists, the Jesuits, and the four unhappy men who were their guests. None of the four took particular interest in the unique performance. Here they were, but little better situated than at Oneida. True, they were no longer ill-treated and food was plentiful, but they were held here in a captivity no less irksome. They were prisoners of impotency. Chance and the G.o.d of whims had put them upon a sorry highway to the heart"s desire. It mattered nothing that madame had said plainly that she loved none of them. The conceit of man is such that, like hope, it dies only when he dies. Perhaps the poet"s heart was the most peaceful: he had bravely turned over the alluring page.
The dance grew wilder and noisier.
Chaumonot guilelessly pushed his inquiries regarding Monsieur le Marquis. Those thousand livres had done so much! That generosity was so deeply imbedded in his mind! And what had brought Monsieur le Marquis to Quebec, and how long was he to remain? The Chevalier"s jaws knotted and knotted; but he succeeded in answering each question courteously or avoiding it adroitly by asking a question himself. More than once he felt the desire to leap up and dash into the forest.
Anything but that name . . . Monsieur le Marquis! "Tell Monsieur le Comte for me that I am sleeping and may not be disturbed!" It had been a cup of gall indeed that he drank outside his father"s chamber.
All this while D"Herouville smiled and smiled; the vicomte labored over the rust on his blade. When at length the good Father moved to another side of the circle, where Du Puys and Nicot sat, the Chevalier stood up and stepped before D"Herouville.
"Rise, Monsieur," he said. His voice was even.
D"Herouville rose, wondering. Victor ceased to inspect his hands, and the vicomte let the blade sink to his knees.
"You have laughed, Monsieur D"Herouville; you have laughed at misfortune." The Chevalier still spoke quietly. Only Victor surmised the raging fire beneath those quiet tones.
"And will," retorted D"Herouville, his eyes lighting with intelligence.
"At Quebec you held an unmanly threat above my head. Come with me; there is no woman here."