Down the River to the Sea Part 5

"But I'm not sure that they were _all_ n.o.ble," interposed Kate, who always loved to take the other side for argument's sake. "You know some of them, at any rate, never thought that the American 'rebels'

would succeed; and when they did, of course, with feeling running so high, they couldn't expect much comfort among _them_, in any case; and many of the Loyalists had their farms confiscated, so that they hadn't much choice but to move out!"

"Yes; and a burning shame it was for those who confiscated them!"

rejoined Mrs. Sandford, who had some traditions of the kind in her own family. "And I know well enough you got these Yankee ideas from _that_ Mr. Winthrop!"

"Well," said Kate, calmly, "it was all for the best in the end, though, of course, it was hard for the people who were driven from their homes. But you see, if they had not _had_ to leave them, we might never have had this glorious 'Canada of ours,' of which we are so proud!"

"Yes," remarked Hugh, "Mr. Armstrong told me that the narrow and mistaken policy of the American leaders at that time was really the foundation of British Canada."

And then he went on give them some of the information he had got out of Mr. Armstrong's books, the preceding evening, in regard to the beautiful valley of the Trent, through which they were driving. He told them how Champlain, three centuries ago, had sung its praises at the Court of the _Grand Monarque_, as "a region very charming and delightful," where the park-like aspect of the trees suggested the previous occupancy of the country in bygone days by some superior race. Then, putting aside this pre-historic period, it was here that Champlain, on his way to his mistaken raid on the Iroquois, which was the beginning of so much strife and trouble, had joined his savage allies in an Indian "Chevy Chase"--in which, by mishap, he wounded one of his dusky friends. But these old stories have long ago been forgotten, in the interest of mines--gold and iron--which, found in the vicinity, have, as usual, somewhat deteriorated the region to which they have given an artificial stimulus. As they drove in from Trenton, a small place at the confluence of the Trent with the bay, in the soft falling dusk, Hugh entertained his companions by repeating some of his favorite pa.s.sages from "Hiawatha;" and May, who was poetical and patriotic enough to be something of a student of Canadian poetry, repeated a sonnet by one of Canada's earliest singers, Charles Sangster, who, falling on evil days, has not achieved the fame which his genius deserved:--

"My footsteps press, where, centuries ago, The red man fought and conquered, lost and won; Where tribes and races, gone like last year's snow, Have found th' eternal hunting grounds, and run The fiery gauntlet of their active days, Till few are left to tell the mournful tale; And these inspire us with such wild amaze, They seem like spectres pa.s.sing down a vale Steeped in uncertain moonlight on their way Towards some bourne where darkness blinds the day, And night is wrapped in mystery profound.

We cannot lift the mantle of the past: We seem to wander over hallowed ground, We scan the trail of thought, but all is over-cast."

"Thank you," said Hugh, "I should like to see more of that poet. I like his vein very much."

"Oh, May can give you screeds of any length from his 'St. Lawrence and the Saguenay' as we go along. And I daresay you can get the book in Kingston--he is a Kingstonian, I believe," said Kate, who was not particularly poetical.

And then as the shadows of night drew softly about them, the fireflies flashed in and out of the woods with unusual brilliancy, affording the Scotch cousins a new subject for observation and delight.

"I declare," said Hugh, "one can scarcely get rid of the feeling that they might set the woods on fire!"

"They are not common so late in the season," said Kate. "Only now and then, for some reason best known to themselves, they show themselves, but only in the woods."

"And there is the whip-poor-will!" exclaimed May, eagerly.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" said Flora, after listening attentively. "That is one thing I _did_ want to see or hear!"

"You are much more likely to hear it than to see it," said May. "It is very hard to get a good look at one, for it seldom appears in daylight."

But soon the fireflies and the whip-poor-will were left behind, and they were once more rattling over city streets. And then, after a substantial tea, they went to rest, for the steamer for Kingston was to start at six in the morning.

As the scenery of the Bay of Quinte depends very much on the weather, the little party were fortunate in having a lovely changeful morning, with soft mists and cloud-shadows that gave a charming variety of tint and tone to the beautiful bay and its fair, gently sloping sh.o.r.es. The little steamer "Hero" pa.s.sed in rapid succession one picturesque point after another--the bay sometimes expanding into a broad, wind-rippled expanse; sometimes narrowing into calm reaches or inlets, mirroring the foliage on either side. At the head of the largest reach or arm of the bay, the steamer stopped at the pretty little town of Picton, nestling beneath a n.o.ble wooded hill, with gentler slopes rising about it in all directions. Whether Picton or Port Hope possessed the more picturesque site was a question they found it hard to decide.

Returning down this long reach Hugh was seized with a desire to see the "Lake of the Mountain," on the high table-land above the bay, of which he had often heard. And Kate, who considered nothing impossible, actually persuaded the obliging captain to keep the boat at the landing below it for half an hour, in order to give them time for a hurried visit. Mrs. Sandford, of course, graciously declined the climb, but the others hastened up the steep ascent, where a mill-race came rus.h.i.+ng down the height, amid a lush growth of ferns that grew luxuriously among the dark, wet rocks, between which they picked their way. But, once at the top, what a glorious view! Right below their feet stretched the lovely reach--widening out into the broad bay at the end of a long promontory diversified with fields and farms and wooded sh.o.r.es. Close beside them, on the other hand, lay the lovely little lake they had come to see--calmly sleeping in the suns.h.i.+ne, with as little apparent mystery about it as if its very existence were not an unsolved problem; one supposition being, that, as it is at about the same level as Lake Erie, it may be fed by a secret communication with that distant sheet. But they had only a few minutes to stay beside the beautiful mysterious little tarn, and to enjoy the lovely view spread before their eyes, for the steamer just below was already whistling to recall them, and they hurried down to rejoin her,--somewhat warm and out of breath, but with all the satisfaction one feels in making the best of one's opportunities.

As they left the reach, a sun-shower rolled up, accompanied with distant thunder; but it only seemed to add a bewitching variety to the tones of the distance, and of the water, and, when the suns.h.i.+ne broke out again, conjuring up an exquisite rainbow, and the light and shade chased each other over the golden fields of waving barley--the beauty of the bay with the perspective of the "Long Reach" in the distance, seemed still greater than before. The travelers were content to sit still, pa.s.sively absorbing the charm of the hour, while they looked on in a dreamy fas.h.i.+on at the various points of interest; at Point Mississauga, named, of course, in honor of the former "lords of the soil," whose "_totem_," a crane, seemed to be appropriately keeping guard over the spot; then at the various villages and towns.h.i.+ps;--at Deseronto, a busy little lumbering place, named after an Indian chief, whose formidable name signifies "Thunder and Lightning;"--at a forsaken-looking little "Bath," with its ambitious name, and at a long succession of "towns," or rather towns.h.i.+ps, named, by the overflowing enthusiasm of the U. E. Loyalists, after the numerous olive branches of old George the Third. There is Ernestown and Adolphustown, and Ameliasburg and Marysburgh; and there is Amherst Island, named, like Picton, after an English general, and said to have been lost by a n.o.ble owner at a game of cards! Hugh declared that the loyalty and _Britishness_ of everything were rather monotonous, and could not refrain from heartily wis.h.i.+ng that these good people had not, in their zeal, undertaken to change to the commonplace name of Kingston the melodious Indian name of Cataraqui! For here they were now coming in sight of this old "limestone city"--the oldest settlement in Ontario, the cradle of British Canada--and, to May, surrounded with a halo of romance from its close a.s.sociation with the history and fortune of her brave but hapless hero, the dauntless explorer, LaSalle.

CHAPTER III

AMONG THE BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS.

And now they were rapidly approaching the gray, "limestone city,"

which rises picturesquely on its slope behind its line of wharves, and elevators, and masts of vessels, with a certain quiet dignity not unbecoming its antiquity, and derived, partly from its harmonious gray coloring, and partly from the graceful towers and spires that form so prominent a feature in its aspect. And it was by no means easy for May to call up in imagination--as she tried to do--the wild, savage loneliness of the place, with its wooded slopes, as yet untouched by the hand of the settler, as it presented itself to LaSalle, when he first discovered the advantages of making Cataraqui his base of operations; or even as it was seen by the first detachment of U. E.

Loyalists, when their _batteaux_, slowly making their way up the St.

Lawrence, rounded the long promontory now surmounted by the ramparts of Fort Henry. One tall tower, seen long before any other evidence of a city appeared, belonged, the captain told them, to the Roman Catholic Cathedral. Presently, however, extensive piles of fine public buildings attracted their attention, which they found were unfortunately the shelter of lunacy and crime, Kingston being the seat of the Provincial Penitentiary, as well as of a large asylum. In welcome contrast, they were shown the Gothic tower of Queen's University, rising above an _entourage_ of trees, though far from being as imposing in its dimensions as these palaces of gloom. From thence, the eye wandered over other towers and domes and spires, relieved by ma.s.ses of verdure, which led them easily to believe the captain's report that Kingston is a very attractive city, especially when summer had embowered it in shade. And there were great schooners, under a full spread of canvas, and ma.s.sive lake steamers and propellers, and little active steam-launches, flitting about, in striking contrast--May thought--to the stillness of the scene, broken only by the Iroquois canoes, when Frontenac's flotilla came in state up the lonely river to found old Fort Frontenac.

"And what a glorious sheet of water around it!" exclaimed Hugh, taking in with an admiring gaze the westward blue expanse of lake and the great wide sweep of river studded with islands, stretching away to eastward, which they told him was the St. Lawrence, at last. And then, as they rounded the curve of the fine harbor, and saw before them, on the one side, the fine cut-stone front of the City Hall and on the other, on a long, green promontory, the Royal Military College, with its smart Norman towers, they observed a long bridge behind which the river Cataraqui winds its way down from the northeast, and forms this beautiful harbor by its confluence with the St. Lawrence. Six miles up its placid stream, they were told, the Rideau Ca.n.a.l had its beginning at a picturesque gorge where are the first ma.s.sive stone locks, which form one of the finest pieces of masonry on the continent. This Rideau Ca.n.a.l binds together a chain of lovely little lakes, and finally meets the Rideau River, and so makes a convenient water-way to Ottawa,--designed, it is said, by the Duke of Wellington, as a means of intercommunication remote from the frontier.

"And where are the old _Tete-du-pont_ barracks?" asked May, who had got that name, by heart, out of Parkman, that she might be able to fix for herself the site of the old French fort which Frontenac had inaugurated and La Salle had commanded. She was shown some gray stone buildings, enclosing a quadrangle, at the nearer end of the long, low bridge crossing the Cataraqui to the opposite plateau with the green slope beyond it, on which stood the main defences of Kingston,--Fort Henry above, and, near the Military College, certain round stone towers, which, scattered about the harbor, gave quite an air of military distinction to the place.

"I'm afraid none of them would be of much good, nowadays," remarked a pa.s.senger, and Hugh laughingly a.s.sented, adding, "We may trust, I hope, that they will never be needed."

"Not much danger, I think," was the reply. "We may have a tiff with the 'States' once in a while; but there are too many Canadians there now! We can't afford to quarrel."

They went, on landing, to a hotel bearing the appropriate name of "Hotel Frontenac," where they did full justice to an early dinner.

And, after that, having a couple of hours or so to spare, before starting for the island, they drove through the pleasant little city, embowered in the shady avenues extending in every direction, its streets striking off at all angles. Of course they went to look at the two cathedrals, the Roman Catholic one being a ma.s.sive Gothic building with an equally ma.s.sive tower, and at the graceful Gothic temple of Queen's University, on its fine open _campus_, and then followed the charming drive by the lake sh.o.r.e, till they pa.s.sed the great, and as they thought, gloomy ma.s.ses of the Penitentiary and Asylum buildings, and then came out on another unimpeded view of the blue lake. Then returning, they drove back past quiet suburban residences, within s.p.a.cious and shady grounds, admiring the substantial and comfortable look of the houses, and the tastefully kept surroundings;--and through the pretty little park, stretching on one side, down to the breezy lake sh.o.r.e, with its round stone tower, and, on the other, rising in a gentle slope crowned by a stately Grecian court-house, with picturesque church towers rising around it in the background. And at one side of this park, they made a little _detour_ to look at the Hospital, whose plain central building was the first local habitation of the Parliament of Upper and Lower Canada, when Kingston for a few years occupied the position of capital of the recently united provinces. Then returning to their boat, they pa.s.sed a handsome post-office and custom-house, of which, with her s.p.a.cious city hall, Kingston is naturally somewhat vain. The houses they pa.s.sed were bright with window flowers and baskets of blooming plants, prettily relieving the green sward in front; and they all agreed that Kingston bore worthily enough its _prestige_ of being the oldest historical city in Ontario--the present name of western Canada.

But though it was nearly four o'clock, and the beautiful islands were before them--they went to s.n.a.t.c.h, at May's desire--a peep at the old _Tete-du-pont_ barracks, with weather-worn gateway and interior square, in which, when the foundations of the barracks were laid, there were some traces found of old Fort Frontenac, which had therefore evidently stood on that very site. May, at least, looked at it with a sincere reverence, as she thought of how many changing phases of fortune in her hero's history that square had been the scene.

But now it was almost four o'clock, and they must hasten to the boat that was to carry them to the beautiful islands which had been beckoning them so long. As the Pierrepont glided out of the protected harbor, the afternoon sun lighted up the grey ma.s.s of the city, and the Norman towers of the Royal Military College, standing on its strip of _campus_, to their left, as they entered the real St. Lawrence, while beyond it rose above them the green hill-slope which forms the _glacis_ of the low, long-stretching ramparts of Fort Henry, with its fortified water-way, and the round grey towers at its base. And as they rounded its long promontory, leaving the distant city behind it, May once more tried to picture the solitude of the scene as La Salle first knew it, broken only by his own canoe and those of the ferocious Iroquois. Meantime Hugh, not less interested in the historical a.s.sociations of the place, drew from her, by cross-questioning, an outline of some of the tragic events of which Fort Frontenac had been the scene. But gradually the charm of the present hour a.s.serted itself and all else was forgotten in watching the changing beauty of the scenery around them. A slight thunder-shower seemed to have purified the air, and the brightly s.h.i.+ning sun lighted up the rich green of the woods, the golden tones of the harvest fields on the sh.o.r.es they were pa.s.sing, and the grey rocks and s.h.a.ggy foliage of some scattered islets on their course, one of which, Cedar island, was crowned by a round tower,--islets which were, they were told, really the outrunners of the great archipelago farther down the river. As they pa.s.sed the water-rampart of the fort, Hugh observed that it seemed to be falling to pieces, and remarked that the government might look better after its property.

"It may just as well go to pieces," said a voice behind them. "It would be of very little use if we did go in for conquest, and I hope there is no likelihood of any serious hostilities between the two countries."

--"Well, Mrs. Sandford, have you forgotten me?" the voice continued.

"How do you do, Miss Severne? I am delighted to meet you again."

Kate had looked up with a start as the first tones of the stranger's voice caught her ear, and perhaps there was just a tinge of heightened colour on her cheek as she greeted the speaker with her usual frank ease.

"Why, Mr. Winthrop! I never thought of encountering you in this quiet corner of the world. What accident brings you this way?"

"It was not quite an accident," he replied, smiling. "I met Jack Armstrong yesterday on the train between Port Hope and Cobourg, and he told me of your arrangements; and as I just got in an hour or two ago, and found out that this was the speediest way of getting over to Clayton, where I am bound for a few days' fis.h.i.+ng, I thought I would waylay you--and here I am, as you see."

"As we are very glad to see," Kate replied, gracefully. "Let me introduce my cousin, Miss Thorburn, and my Scotch cousins, Mr. and Miss Macnab."

May eyed the newcomer critically, and a little jealously, for in the interests of the incipient romance that she had begun to weave for Kate and Hugh, she did not relish his appearance--especially taken in connection with the remarks she had heard from Nellie Armstrong. He was, however, as she could not help admitting, a very pleasant-looking man, not very young, in fact, a good deal older than Hugh Macnab, with keen, scrutinizing gray eyes and mobile face, full of intelligence and expression. To May, Hugh's was much the finer face, but she could not help feeling that Mr. Winthrop's was decidedly attractive, and she inwardly trembled for the prospects of the younger man. She felt that Mr. Winthrop's quick glance took in the whole _personnel_ of the little party, as the introductions were made.

"Well, Mrs. Sandford," he resumed, when he had courteously greeted each in turn, his eye resting for a moment, with evident admiration upon the rosy, fresh-faced Scotch la.s.sie,--"I hope you are prepared in the goodness of your heart, to extend a little toleration to a reprobate Republican like me. I'll try not to wound your sensibilities quite so much, this time!"

"Oh, you didn't hurt me at all!" said that lady, good-humoredly. "I know you don't mean any harm; it's the way you were brought up. But you must not put traitorous ideas into these young people's heads.

There's Kate, now----"

But here that young woman hastily interposed: "Would you mind getting us another seat, Mr. Winthrop?" said she, "Miss Macnab is quite in the sun."

Mr. Winthrop at once performed the suggested service, and then, the previous topic having been shunted off, the whole party surrendered themselves to the dreamy charm of the afternoon--of the golden suns.h.i.+ne and dappling shade, that threw such a spell of beauty over the undulating sh.o.r.e, with its yellow harvest-fields and deep, green woods, country houses gleaming white through trees, and comfortable farmhouses nestling amid bowery orchards, beginning to be weighed down with their load of fruit.

The real width of the river, here about eight miles, is at some points narrowed down to apparently two or three miles and sometimes much less, by the large islands that divide it and extend for some twenty miles below Kingston. One of these--Howe Island, named after a British general--cuts off a very picturesque channel down which lay the course of their boat. At intervals of a few miles, the boat stopped at primitive wharves, where the country folk, who had been to market, landed with their innumerable parcels and baskets, of all shapes and sizes, farming implements, perambulators, etcetera. At one landing they put ash.o.r.e a pile of dressed lumber--at another, a horse; at still another, the heterogeneous ma.s.s of luggage belonging to a family "going into _villegiatura_"--as Mrs. Sandford put it--including a great box containing a parlor organ. For the farmer-folk their horses and conveyances were patiently waiting, and very soon they might be seen driving slowly homewards along the country roads that followed the curve of the sh.o.r.e, or struck back among the fields and woods. A beautiful, new, varnished boat that had excited Hugh's rather envious admiration from the time he came on board, was at last uns.h.i.+pped and rowed away by its happy owner, whose camping outfit proclaimed that he was bound on a delightful holiday. Here and there they caught glimpses of white tents and gay flags, where lived a little community of campers, who waved their handkerchiefs as the boat went by; and cheered as if a steamboat were a new and unheard-of triumph of inventive skill. At one point, the sh.o.r.e of the island to their right, rose picturesquely into high banks clothed with a rich growth of light, fluttering birch and sombre cedar, the contrast of which delighted the travelers. There was quite a romantic-looking landing here, beside an old ruined lime-kiln, and the road wound picturesquely up the wooded height, the two or three figures seen walking up the winding path, as the boat receded, looking--May declared--"just like people in the beginning of a story."

"And so they are--or in the middle of it," said Mr. Winthrop. "Each of us is living in a story of our own, after all, and I suppose each would have its own interest if it could only be read just as it is."

"Only some stories are more interesting than others," suggested Hugh.

"And those people evidently think theirs is particularly interesting just now," remarked Kate, for they were just pa.s.sing a little cl.u.s.ter of tiny cottages and tents, where a large and merry party were summering, with much display of bright bunting and many skiffs; and where young and old alike seemed to get into a state of wild excitement as the boat pa.s.sed, saluting her with horns and a white flutter of handkerchiefs that might have pa.s.sed for a flight of pigeons. The captain of the steamboat courteously returned the salute with his steam whistle, with the laconic remark: "Makes them feel happy," which seemed true, for the demonstrations were renewed with fresh vigor and continued till the little encampment was out of sight.

But the dark thunder-clouds had been again stealing up behind them, and now the lights on the sh.o.r.e and the foliage disappeared, the cedars looking especially sombre in the growing gloom.