TRUE AS STEEL; OR, The Belle of the Cascades.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3106, 11 June 1881, Page 5 (Supplement)

TRUE AS STEEL; OR, The Belle of the Cascades.

A STORY OF ARMY LIFE IN A FARWESTERN FORT.

BY MAJOR ALFRED ROCHEFORT.

CHAPTER XXVII. THE ARROW REA.CHES FORT CLARK IN SAFETY. " Well," said Captain Phelps, addressing his wife the day after the rescue, " I must, confess this exploit of Miss Loring is about the most daring and well-planned affair I ever heard of in my life. Only to think of the lion heart in that slender, beautiful form! If asked, when first I set eyes on her, what I thought she could best do, I should have answered, writing verses to the moon and going into raptures over flowers that she was too frail to cultivate. Instead of that, she comes here like a mountain Boadicea, or a Semiramis, leading her dusky bands, and she makes every man-jack, from the drummer up to the commanding officei, a prisoner; and only releases us when she has accomplished her purpose." " But do you blame her ?" asked Mrs Phelps. "Blame her? Why, I have the most sublime respect and admiration for that young woman! She puts all our strength and military training to the blush. She treated the men of this garrison like a lot of thick-headed boys that a teacher shows she can punish, but lets them off with a stinging reprimand. Why, if one of us were to plan a rescue, we should be sure to bring on a fight and spoil the whole thing; but the Belle of the Cascades is a strategist. Oh, the troops at Fort Clark will not get over this in a- hurry; they will be the laughing stock of the army. lam gladder than if I had been left a fortune that I was under arrest, and so no more responsible for what occurred than if I were teu thousand miles away." "Husband," said Mrs Phelps, "do you know what made Florence Loring so brave and strong ?" "Itis a talent, a genius; no cultivation could give it." " I agree with you, but I think you are mistaken about the gift—unless, indeed, the capacity to love and to dare all for the loved one be a gift. Supposing you were accused of a great crime and condemned to death ; I, at least, would be assured of your innocence. Do you think I would hesitate at any means to effect your release ?" " Hesitate ? JNo, for you are a heroine— the bravest, sweetest little woman in the world ! But, upon my word, I did not think there was another that could at all approach you. Now, I will go out and see how Germon feels after his captivity. I have a notion to go over and congratulate him on his escape, though it is my candid belief that Florence kicked him away—figuratively speaking, you know —after he had ceased to be of value as a prisoner." The captain did not go to see Major Germon, but he did see all the other officers, and he found them all stunned and trying to look on the affair as a huge joke; but _it was not a joke over which the most jovial felt at all like laughing. Dr Ross, who, being a non-combatant, could not feel particularly sensitive about " the capture of the Fort," as he called it, was certainly happy ; and it was under the impulse of this delight that he went down to see the major. "I understood," said the doctor, with professional gravity that a twinkle in his eyes contradicted, "that you were feeling exhausted after your recent hardships, so I thought I would drop in and see what 1 could do for you." " Oil, I shall be all right in a day or two ; I do not care for the fatigue, Doctor ; but it is the humiliation that chafes my spirit."

The major by this meant the surprise and capture of the Fort during his absence, but the doctor refused to understand it. i " It is humiliating, Major ; but you are i not the first man who was fooled and captured i by a woman. There was Sam —'' i " I am speaking now, sir, of this Fort,'' i said the major. "As to myself, I should 1 prefer not to speak. I shall not blush for j my'conduct if this affair is investigated." " You are right; and if Selden had been half as sensible and not such a stickler for law, there would have been no trouble, and the officers and men of Fort Clark would feel much happier to-day." " I do not understand you, Doctor." " Well, it is simply this : Selden could have saved all the trouble by postponing the execution. If I loved a superior officer I would take the responsibility of postponing an execution to save his life. And I believe I am the only officer at the post who favored it." " I thank you, Doctor." " I favored it," said the doctor, " because I always believed that Colin Morton was innocent, and that deferring the execution might result in a new trial." The major got very red in the face while this was being delivered, and his eyes threatened to pop out of his head ; but he restrained himself. " That is just where you and every other man at this post showed your ignorance of military law," said the major, sternly. " If, for any reason, an execution is postponed, and many reasons could bo cited, the case is ; not referred; back to the Governor, who signs death warrants and appoints the days ' for execution; nnder the civil law, or to the President under military law. I have been looking carefully into the case, and I find that if ever Colin Morton is delivered into the hands of the commanding officer at this post, he can be taken out and phot imme- " I would not like to be the officer that ordered it," Baid Doctor Ross, rising to " You are not a military man," said the maior, with a sneer. ''Thatis true," said the doctor. "I never was outgeneralled by a woman nor treated with contempt by a foe. Good afternoon. The doctor went out, but Major Germon made no reply. He felt now that he could have heard of the death of every man at the post without shedding many tears. # Everything had gone against him He bad built on sand and all seemed fair and

promising, but the structure had come down about his ears. Another man would have lost faith in himself, or thought in his heart that this was a fitting conclusion to sinful scheming, but not so Major Germon; he felt that he was a superior man very much injured, and was very much determined to get even with those who had wrought him the injury. His colossal vanity and pomposity bore him up, like bladders in a sea, where stronger and better men must have gone down. As he sat in his chair, with the extinguished pipe in his hand, Jean Marat came in with what seemed a smile on his face, though it was difficult to tell, from the stereotyped grimace, whether the man was in pleasure or pain. The major must have thought that his valet was laughing, and as he was in no mood to appreciate laughter, and felt himself that he would never laugh again, he began a storm of profanity, and Jean Marat a counter current of protest. " I did not mean for to laugh; it ees my face," said Jean Marat. " Well, confound you, what brought you here now ? I did not send for you." " Did you not say dot I sail come and tell you all de noose ?" " Have you more news ?" Jean Marat, in his capacity as a nejys bearer, had been in a half-a-dozen times to tell the major what the men were saying about him, and to report such uncomforting speeches as he might catch from the officers, near whom he sneaked. " Some fishermen say dot dey see a ship anchor twenty mile north," said Jean Marat. " I don't care if they saw a ship sink twenty thousand millions of miles," said the j major, excitedly. " Dey tink it is the Arrow." " I don't care a blank. Get out of here. Go down to the Sound and drown yourself, and I'll cheerfully pay the expenses of burial, if your body is ever found." " All, major," said Jean, with an unmistakable laugh, " you are vera mootch funny." It was well for him that he left suddenly after this, or the major might have done something very rash, for he felt so everything but "funny" that Marat's words roused all his ire.

Jennie Ford, in anticipation of seeing her father, had come with her uncle, Judge Loring, from the factory, and was now the guest of Mrs Phelps. She and the dear little woman talked over recent events, and both came to the conclusion that love was the greatest motive that led Florence to act, and that, under similar circumstances, they would try to do the same. It was very thoughtful in Mrs Phelps to send word to Robert Bracebridge that she wanted to see him, and still more thoughtful when the fine young soldier put in an appearance, to leave him alone with Jennie. There was a general feeling among the men and officers at Fort Clark that Robert Bracebridge knew, long in advance, of the contemplated rescue, but his conduct, thanks to the prudent forethought of Florence, had been so far above suspicion, that nothing could be possibly charged against him. Indeed, many of the men drew him to one side, and whispered, as they pi*essed his hand : " Bracebridge/old fellow, we congratulate you." " On what," he would innocently ask. _ "On the rescue of Morton. We like him, just as much as you. do, and the meanest of us would take a big risk to serve him, for, like yourself, he is an Al gentleman, even if he does wear the uniform of a private." "Thank you.?' " But this is why we're glad on your account ; you and him were like brothers. You was comrades, tried and true. You stuck one by the other; and the boys has seen that, and, somehow, it has built us up, and made us better men, without being worse soldiers." If Robert Bracebridge had remained in England—near the lost love —he might have seen hundreds of girls as sweet, refined, and attractive as Jennie Ford. If he had even stayed in New York, where his letters of introduction would have opened the doors of the best society to him, he would still have been a sad-hearted man, and brooded over his dead love. But he enlisted, and went into the wilderness. In this far-away land, there was nothing but memory to remind him of the old home and the old associations.

In the stagnating monotony of garrison life the wreck of the Arrow was a thrilling episode ; and it was only natural that he should become deeply interested in the beautiful girl he had helped to rescue. This interest was increased when he and Colin Morton lay sore and battered on the hospital oots, and the girls they had saved were acting as their nurses. (t Love at first sight" is an unintellectual impulse, that lasts with desire and withers with possession, like a flower that is plucked. The love that endures, like all strong things, is of slower growth. Association is its mother, and it is clothed with a holy respect. The English love was not forgotten by Robert Bracebridge, but he knew well that it would be sinful to love—even the unwilling wife of another man. It was this feeling, which was dutiful, and a feeling of desperation that is not peculiar to youth, that sent him abroad and that urged him into tho army. The tenderest plant may be torn rudely up, as was the first love of Robert Bracebridge ; but if there be proper nursing and care it will grow under another hand and in a foreign soil, and be the stronger and hardier for the trial it has passed. Robert Bracebridge did love Jennie Ford. He felt stronger, gentler, better, and more humane in her presence. It was the love of respect, not of impulse. It was a love in which the head dominated the heart, yet yielded to its better throbbing. It was strong, enduring, peaceful }ove, that had in it an element of worship. It is such love that light, the hearthstones of happy homes, a love that never yet ended in a divorce court, nor sought refuge in a second marriage. The following morning the people at Fort Clark found a relief from the excitement of the rescue in the expected arrival of the Arrow. Captain Ford brought his ship to anchor , [ within a cable's length of the place where

the old ship went down. He came ashore lat once, and the very first person to greet him was Jennie ; and the bluff old sailor was rather pleased to see that Robert Bracebridge was by her side. " I shall take you home, Jennie, after this trip," said the captain, noticing her pale cheeks, "for the air of the Cascades do not seem to have agreed with you." "It is not the air, dear father," said Jennie. "It is the trouble. We have had a great deal of trouble since you left." " Trouble !" repeated the captain. " Why should a girl like you have trouble ? Trouble is the privilege of the old, and most of them avail themselves of it. I must call your uncle to account. Here he comes down th« hill. Turning to Robert, the captain went on: " See here, Bracebridge, you were a kind of deputy-guardian to Jennie when I left. You do not seem to have done your duty by her." "That needs explaining, Captain," said Robert, blushing. "It _ will take a long time to tell you all about it. " Very well. You must get off for this evening. I will see to that. We can give you a better supper on the Arrow than Fort Clark affords. Hello, Judge Loring ! How are you ? You look a bit down." The brave old sailor left Jennie and Robert and went over and Bhook hands with the judge. The judge's greeting was in striking contrast. He was cold, reserved, and taciturn. " I have had trouble," he said. "I will tell you about it when we get time." " Trouble ? Well, Judge, that's an article that you have always been inclined to borrow, when most men have enough of their own invested at good interest. I loan all mine out, and having none on hand I can't make you a present. How is Germon ? I must go up and see him. I have some fine brandy for him —his own order; and I've brought ashore a bottle of my own, and a box of cigars. Let's go up and see him. Germon is a handsome fellow, even if he is stuck up ; and he has brains, if you take the trouble to dig down to the bed rock, as the miners in California dig for gold. Come, Judge, come. I feel pretty good. I bought a splendid ship at a sacrifice, and am happy. She is my new love. Great Scotland ! don't let your upper lip drop so, or you may step on it. How is Phelps ? Do you know, if I was President, I'd make Phelps and his wife major-generals!" Thus the captain rattled on, having his own way and leading the judge to believe that he had sampled the brandy before corning ashore But the captain knew what he was about. He carried under his glazed hat as cool a brain as any man at Fort Clark, at that moment, and his heart was as warm as a boy's.

CHAPTER XXVII I. PISH HAWK MAKES A REPORT, AND THE

MAJOR ACTS ON IT. Judge Loring accompanied the captain to Major Germon's quarters. The major was delighted to meet his old friend, and his own brandy being exhausted, and his cigars long since out, he was quite ready to try the liquor the captain brought up, and he was very profuse in his thanks for the box of cigars. The captain produced a second bottle from his coat-pocket when the first was drank ; and he was not a little surprised to see the judge, who was a most temperate man, if not an entirely abstemious one, drinking till he showed the effects of the liquor in eyes and speech. Major Germon was thoroughly seasoned, and it was his boast that he could drink any man he ever met up with "under the table.'' In all the armies of the civilised world, the officers take as much pride in their ability to drink, or rather in their capacity for it, as in their profession as warriors. The major felt the liquor, as even the most seasoned toper must who takes a glass : but it only served to key him back to that mental pitch which his mind had before he found a pleasure in stimulants. He became loquacious, communicative, and his pomposity shrunk with every drink he poured into it. To be sure, his selfesteem arose, and he showed a decided talent for fiction, but the shrewd captain understood this, and knowing what to expect, he drew both men out, to the great wonder of Jean Marat, who was listening in the next, room, with his keen ear to the space of the partly opened door. As the two men told their stories —the judge's alone being strictly accurate—tho 'captain affected to be surprised, and he declared, in conclusion, that lie had never heard so remarkable an account in his life.

He expressed surprise, but no aduiiration of Florence, and ended by asking the major and the judge to dine with him the next day. Both agreed to go, the major saying : " I declare, Captain, your presence has done me more good than that of any man I ever met in my life. 1 was feeling pretty blue, I must confess, when you came ; but now I am nearer right. I think now that we shall catch this rascal, Morton, and sustain the dignity of the service by punishing him." " I'd like to see you do it," said the captain, with a laugh that was contagious with the major, though he coald hardly be expected to understand the ex-ict reason for I Captain Ford's hilarity. Before the captain Lfl the major':; quarters, he got a permit for Robert Bracebridge to come on board that evening. " You see," he said. " my daughter Jennie is going to take supper with me. It '11 be a little family affair, like ; and I thought I'd ask young Bracebridge—you know he bore a hand in saving my daughter, and myself, too, on board.'' " But he is a private soldier," said the major. " Oh, I know that; but I find that now and then," laughed the captain, " it does cattje of that kind good to treat them a« if they were gentlemen. Yo<} see, ""laji.r, I have funny notions, and if a iVewi'ouridUnd dog was to save my daughter from a watery grave I'd make much of that dog, and I'd hanker to have him with me." "Quite right," said the major, "quite right, the sentiment does you credit." The captain went on board the Arrow, and with the remnant of the last bottle of brandy between them —and nearly the whole box of cigars—the major and Judgo Loring

sat down again to talk over the situation. While they were so talking Lieutenant Selden, who had just returned to the post with the handful of men with which he had been ordered to follow up the Skagits, came in and made a verbal report. He had found the trail, with a little trouble, and he had no difficulty at all in . finding the Indians, he said. "And of course, you attacked them promptly," said the major. " I did nothing of the kind," replied Seldon, gruffly. " Why not, sir ? I think I ordered you to do so, and you are a stickler for orders, I understand." " So I am ; but outside of this Fort I held an independent command and was free to attack or not, as 1 pleased." " Then you pleased not to attack ?" " Yes 5 it pleased me not to attack ; but it pleased the men a thousand times more." " Did you consult your men ?" sneered the major. " I consulted their interest and the interests of the service by not bringing on a fight when the foe was as ten to one, with all the other advantages in their favor. I shall make out my -written report at once," said Seldon backing to the door. "Do so. I am arazed that such an adherent to forms, as you, would make a verbal report when there is no necessity for it," said the major, who could not forgive the young officer for his adherence to forms, when he, the major, was a prisoner and his life depending on Selden's response. Jennie Ford went on board the Arrow with her father, but Robert Braoebridge did not follow till near night. He found Jennie in the cozy cabin, looking brighter and happier than he had ever seen her, and he naturally attributed the change to her being near her father. She made him sit down on a seat that ran around the room, and against which the ends of the table abutted; and she went on adjusting the dishes, as she and Florence had always done on the voyage out. Robert thought he had never seen so beautiful a girl, though he did wonder how she could manage to be so continuously light hearted, and why she did not make some allusion to the fugitives. Again, he was surprised that Jennie should go on setting the table for five, when the captain distinctly told her that it would be a strictly private supper, without any of the ship's officers, or other guests. He said nothing to Jennie about this. Setting tables was something he knew but little about, and he did not wish to seem inquisitive. The captain was in great spirits. When he came into the cabin, shortly before supper, he went round to all the little windows and skylights and drew all the little red curtains. Then he went to the companion-way and shouted up to the man on guard of the entrance :

"Duff, let no one else come down here till I pass the word." " Aye, aye, sir !" responded Duff, in a gruff voice that seemed to come up from the keel of the ship, instead of down from the main deck. " Now, friend Bracebridge," said the caption, throwing his hat into a corner, and shipping his thigh in the exuberance of his spirits, "let us have some supper." " As you say, sir," replied Robert, about to draw up to the table. " But," said the captain, winking one eye and throwing the other thoughtfully up at the ceiling, " perhaps you might not object to having our cabin passengers join us ? They are nice, quiet, kind of people." '' f shall be pleased to meet them," replied Robert, not a little puzzled at the captain's manner. " And you'll nlease not to say anything about them, when you get on shore ?" " Certainly not, Captain, if you desire it." " Well, I will leave that to yourself. Jennie ?" " Yes, father." " You call tho lady. I'll ditto the gentleman." The captain went to one state-room door and Jennie to another at tho opposite side of tho cabin, and instead of knocking they put their lips to the keyhole and each whispered : " Supper!" Tho little doors flew open. The reader knows the rest. But had Robert Bracebridge seen two people before him in the flesh, whose funerals he had attended years before, he could not have been 1 more amazed than he was to sco Colin Morton and Florence Loring emerge from their respective rooms. Leaving the captain and his guests to eat their suppers and make their explanations, in the guarded cabin, it may not be amiss to look in on the major, who was still "nursing his wrath to keep it warm." Judge Loring had taken supper with the major and gone out, saying he would be back for the night about ten. The major had pulled off his boots and was lying in bed with all the pillows under his head, and a second after-supper cigar between his lips, when Jean Marat came in. The major, unmindful of the very superior work that Jean Marat had done for him, had come to believe that the fellow was at the bottom of his recent ill-luck, and he hated him accordingly. Ho hated him :-..-. henfinsf). assume all the snneriovity he .-■■.,.: lit, he always folt that he was in this creature's power. " Well! What the deuco do you want here now?'' asked the major, " Nozzing for myself," replied Marat. " What is it ? More news, eh P" " Yes, sar-r-r ; more noose, and wonderful noose," said Jean Marat, shrugging his shoulders and looking up at, the ceiling. " Out with it, you grinning idiot! Why don't you speak ?" " I am too mootch overpower." " 1 hen go out and rest." " I will if you so tell me." Marat drew oaclk to i.he door, and tho -major's oyes protruded after him, " See here, ilarat." " Yes, Major." " Anything very new ?" " Mootch ; but I sail not speak if you sail not hear." " Oh, confound you, go on." " I know were Mortong and do young leddie is." "So do I," sneered the major, "but I

know a cursed sight better where they are not." "You make choke of me. I sail leave till you call." " But what about those people ?" " I can find them in one hour—" " Tou can ?" " Yes; I so say." " Nonsense!" " Vera well; den I go out." " No. Curse you! Hold up. You have roused my curiosity." The major sat up higher in the bed, doubled the pillows behind his shoulders, and invited Jean Marat to " fire away and be quick about it." Jean Marat saw his advantage and determined to take his own time and communicate his information in his own way. " You know Fish Hawk ?" he asked. "Don't be a fool, Marat," replied the major. " Fish Hawk, he have come back." " Indeed ! I was not aware that he was away." " Yes ; and he know vera mootch." '•' I was not aware of that," said the major, tickled with his own retort. "He follow oop de Skagits." " Yes." " And he see were Mortongand de leddie do go." " That is no comfort." " Den you do not wish dat I sail tell you all ?" " Yes, you idiot; but come right down to the point. I am tired of this," said the major, his choleric temper again rising. " Fish Hawk he say, if the major give me gun, powder, ball, caps, and two gallon whiskey, I show him, in one hour, were dem man and leddy is." " Where is Fish Hawk now ?" " Outside de Fort." " Bring him lere. I'll talk with him." Jean Marat darted away, and the major got up and pulled on his boots, and slipped a pistol into his pocket, for while he halffeared, half-hated his valet, he had a positive dread of the great, fierce-eyed, tigerlike Flat-Head. It may not be amiss to say here that the names of the Indian tribes, like " FlatHead," "Gros Ventres" (large stomachs), " Nez-Perces" (pierced noses), and kindred names, given by the early explorer, have long since lost their significance, and that there are not now any such tribal peculiarities. The Flat-Heads should be called " Long-Heads," for the compress, placed on the heads of children, elongates instead of flattens, and even this cranial peculiarity is lost or hid by the masses of long black hair. " Well, Fish Hawk," said the major, when that great, swarthy, tiger cat came into his room as silent as a shadow, " I hear you have been away." " I have been scouting," said Fish Hawk, coming softly toward the major, and showing his big, white teeth, in what was intended for a smile. " Scouting —where ?" "On the trail of the Skagits," replied Fish Hawk. " And you saw Morton and the white woman going off with them ?" " 1 hey went part way ; yes." " And why did they not go all the way ?" " If I told you that, Major, I would "tell you where they were," said the wily Indian. " And did you not come here to tell me ?" " I did." " Very well, do so." " Ah, Major, the white man is very uncertain," laughed Fish Hawk. " What do you mean, you savage ?" " Oh, I know English pretty good, and I mean what I say." The Indian came still nearer, and showed his teeth still plainer. " Major Germon, I do not like the way you speak. I am not a dog, and no man, red or white, can so talk to me. You act to me like a man, and so I will act to you. Yori treat me like a cur, and 1 will tell all about Lieutenant Reynolds, and I will make Marat tell it too. I am not your slave, white man ; I am your master," said the Indian, drawing up his superb form and looking down at the astonished major. " Well, well, I like you, Fish Hawk, and we shall not quarrel. What do yon want ?" said the major, now forced to lay aside his bombast, and meet this fierce, cunning savage as an equal. " I want guns and ammunition, and gold and blankets, and more whiskey, all for my friends." " And if I do this, what will you give me?" " I will deliver into your hands, before another sun rises, the white man, Colin Morten." " Do it, and I will pay you your price." ■' Ha, ha! I am getting wise. I know the ways of the white man. You must pay me first." "How am I to know that you will do what you say ?" asked the major. " I demand payment in advance, because a man who will lie, while pretending to be brave, and do murder at the hands of auother, cannot be trusted with a pledge to be paid for more work of the same kind," said the Indian. The major swallowed his indignation, and said : " Oh, I would give you what you ask, eeen if I got nothing for it." " You would ?" " Of course I would." " Then you are the first white man I ever j met wito wo nil do siuyciiiiig of the kind it is now dark, and you \'nn send the things to me outside the Fort." " And you will come back and tell me this secret—you will not deceive mo ?" " Major Germon ?" "We'll?" " I am what you white men call a bad Indian." " You am that." "Did you, or any other white man, ever catch me in a Sio ?" 11 1 no not know." " bid y.-.n ?" _ l< 1 think not." "Very well, Major, T. will not begin now. You do as 1 ask, or say you won't." # # # # * * Captain Ford, with his daughter, " the two cabin passengers," and Robert iiracebridge, had risen from the table, ami wiih his honest, face wreut !v! ■' -! listening to tue ij;UYaik>n3 or u,a y«uu ri '

people, when the talking stopped at the sound of heavy, regular tramping overhead. The captain rose to ask the watch at the companion-way what the unusual noise meant, when he heard the door opening, and then the command : " Attention !" The sound of musket butts falling on the deck followed this. " Fix bayonets!" rang out the next order, and a cold, ringing .clatter followed it. " Forward ! Double quick !" Before the captain could step back Major Germon entered the cabin, followed by a file of soldiers. [TO BB CONTINTJED.I