Elsie on the Hudson

by Martha Finley

CHAPTER XI.

Shortly after breakfast, when the whole of their little company had gathered beneath the awning upon the deck, the captain resumed his story, as all had expressed a desire to hear it.

"On the morning of the 30th of April, 1813," he said, "the British had completed two batteries nearly opposite Fort Meigs and mounted their ordnance. On one there were two twenty-four pounders, on the other three howitzers. Well-directed round-shot from the fort had struck some of their men while at work, but neither that nor the drenching rain stopped them.

"Harrison had been busy too. He addressed his soldiers eloquently in a general order.

"'Can the citizens of a free country, who have taken arms to defend its rights,' he said, 'think of submitting to an army composed of mercenary soldiers, reluctant Canadians goaded to the field by the bayonet, and of wretched, naked savages? Can the breast of an American soldier, when he casts his eye to the opposite shore, the scene of his country's triumphs over the same foe, be influenced by any other feeling than the hope of glory? Is not this army composed of the same materials as that which fought and conquered under the immortal Wayne? Yes, fellow soldiers, your general sees your countenances beam with the same fire that he witnessed on that glorious occasion; and although it would be the height of presumption to compare himself with that hero, he boasts of being that hero's pupil. To your posts then, fellow citizens, and remember that the eyes of your country are upon you.'

"That general order was given on the morning that the British made their appearance, and when he saw that they were erecting batteries on the opposite shore that would command his works, he directed his men to make a traverse, or wall of earth, on the highest ground through the middle of his camp. It had a base of twenty feet, was three hundred yards long and twelve feet high. While they were at the work it was concealed by the tents, which when it was finished were suddenly removed to its rear.

"Then the British engineer perceived, to his great mortification, that his labor had been almost in vain. Instead of an exposed camp from which Proctor had boasted that he would soon smoke out the Yankees,—meaning quickly destroy it with shot and shell,—he saw only an immense shield of earth which hid the Americans and thoroughly sheltered them.

"Proctor then changed his plans somewhat and sent a considerable force of white men under Captain Muir, and Indians under Tecumseh, to the eastern side of the river, under cover of the gunboats, to attack the fort in the rear.

"The British batteries were silent through the night, but a gunboat, towed up the river near the fort under cover of darkness, fired thirty shots. The only effect, however, was an increase of the vigilance of the Americans. The next morning, though it was raining heavily, the British opened a severe cannonade and bombardment upon Fort Meigs, which they continued with slight intermissions for about five days; but without doing much injury to the fort or garrison.

"Occasionally our men returned the fire by eighteen-pounders. But their supply of shot for these and the twelve-pounders was very small, and as they did not know how long the siege might last, it was thought best to use them very sparingly.

"The British seemed to have powder, balls, and shells in great abundance, and they poured a perfect storm of missiles—not less than five hundred—upon the fort the first day and until eleven o'clock at night."

"And was nobody hurt, papa?" asked Elsie.

"One or two of the garrison were killed," replied her father, "and Major Stoddard of the First Regiment, a soldier of the Revolution, was so badly wounded by a shell that he died ten days later of lockjaw.

"The British were building a third battery on the other side of the river; they finished it that night, and all the next day kept up a brisk cannonade.

"Within the next twenty-four hours a fourth battery was opened. The British had been making mounds in the thickets near the angles of the fort, and that night a detachment of artillerists and engineers crossed the river and mounted guns and mortars upon them. One was a mortar battery, the other a three-gun gun battery. The Americans had expected something of the kind, and had raised traverses in time to foil their enemy; and when toward noon of the 3d the three cannon and the howitzers suddenly began firing upon the rear angles of the fort, they did scarcely any damage.

"A few shots by our men from their eighteen-pounders soon silenced the gun battery, and the British hastily moved the cannon and placed them near the ravine. During the 3d they hurled shot and shell steadily upon the fort, but with so little effect that the besiegers grew discouraged, and on the 4th the fire was not nearly so constant.

"Then Proctor sent Major Chambers with a demand for the surrender of the fort, and Harrison promptly responded, 'Tell General Proctor that if he shall take the fort it will be under circumstances that will do him more honor than a thousand surrenders.'

"The cannonade from the fort was feeble because of the scarcity of ammunition, but the guns were admirably managed, and did good execution at every discharge. Captain Wood wrote, 'With plenty of it we should have blown John Bull from the Miami.'

"The Americans showed their ability to keep their foe at bay by frequently mounting the ramparts, swinging their hats, and shouting defiance at their besiegers. They were well supplied with food and water and could afford to spend time and weary their assailants by merely defensive warfare.

"Still Harrison was anxious, thinking how strong were the foe, and how Hull and Winchester had failed and suffered; he was looking hourly and anxiously up the Maumee for the hoped for re-enforcements. Since Navarre and Oliver went out he had heard nothing from those whom he had expected to come to his aid. But near midnight on the 4th, Captain Oliver, Major Trimble, and 15 men who had come down the river in a boat, made their way into the fort, bringing the glad tidings that General Clay and 1100 Kentuckians would probably reach the post before morning, being but eighteen miles distant.

"The cannonading at Fort Meigs was distinctly heard at Fort Winchester, where Oliver had found Clay on the 3d, and Clay was hastening as fast as possible to Harrison's aid, moving down the river in eighteen flat scows, with sides furnished with shields against the bullets of the Indians who might be infesting the shores of the river.

"The head of the rapids was eighteen miles from Fort Meigs; it was late in the evening when the flotilla arrived there; the moon had gone down, and the sky was overcast with clouds, making a night so intensely dark that the pilot refused to go on before daylight. Trimble and the 15 others then immediately offered their services to go with Oliver to cheer Harrison and his men with the news that re-enforcements were almost at hand.

"It was joyful news to them. Harrison at once despatched Captain Hamilton and a subaltern in a canoe with an order to Clay bidding him detach about 800 men from his brigade and land them at a point about a mile or a mile and a half above Fort Meigs. The detachment was then to be conducted to the British batteries on the left bank of the river. These batteries were to be taken, the cannon spiked, and carriages cut down. The troops must then return to the boats and cross over to the fort.

"The rest of his men were to land on the fort side of the river, opposite the first landing, and fight their way into the fort through the Indians. Harrison knew that the British force at the batteries was not large, the main body being still near the old Fort Miami, and that the bulk of the Indians with Tecumseh were on the eastern side of the river. His object was to strike effective blows on both sides of the stream at the same time.

"While these orders of his were being carried out, he intended to make a sally from the fort, destroy the batteries in the rear, and disperse or capture the whole British force on that side of the river.

"Clay came down the river early the next morning, and about five miles above the fort Hamilton met him with Harrison's order. Clay then directed Dudley to take the twelve front boats and carry out Harrison's commands in regard to the British batteries, while he should hasten forward and perform the part assigned to him.

"Colonel Dudley landed his detachment in fine order, and they gained the plain on which Maumee City now stands, unseen by the enemy, formed for marching in three parallel columns, one led by Dudley, one by Major Shelby, the other by Acting-Major Morrison. Captain Combs with 30 riflemen, including 7 friendly Indians, flanked in front fully a hundred yards distant. Thus they moved through the woods a mile and a half toward the British batteries, which were still firing upon Fort Meigs.

"There was a prospect of capturing the whole force, but Dudley had unfortunately failed to inform his men of his exact plans, and that was a fatal mistake. Shelby's column, according to his orders, moved on to a point between the British batteries and their camp below, when the right column, led by Dudley in person, raised the horrid Indian yell, rushed forward, charged with vehemence upon the enemy, captured the heavy guns, and spiked eleven of them without losing a man.

"At the same time the riflemen had been attacked by the Indians, and, not having been told that they were to fall back upon the main body, thought it their duty to fight. That was a fatal mistake, as the main object of the expedition was already fully accomplished, although the batteries were not destroyed. The British flag was pulled down, and as it reached the earth loud huzzahs went up from Fort Meigs. Harrison, who was watching from his chief battery, with intense interest, now signaled Dudley to fall back to the boats and cross the river according to his former orders.

"Probably Dudley did not see it, but he did see the Indians in ambush attacking Combs and his riflemen, and with a quick and generous impulse ordered them to be re-enforced. In response to that a great part of the right and centre columns rushed into the woods in considerable disorder, their colonel with them. It did not matter much at first, for, though they were undisciplined and disorderly, they soon put the Indians to flight, thus relieving Combs and his men; but, forgetting prudence, they pursued the flying savages almost to the British camp.

"When they started on that pursuit Shelby's men still had possession of the batteries, but the British artillerists, largely re-enforced, soon returned and recaptured them, taking some of the Kentuckians prisoners and driving the others toward their boats. The Indians, too, were re-enforced, came back, and fiercely attacked Dudley and his men, who were in such utter confusion that it was impossible to command them. Shelby had rallied those that were left of his column and marched them to Dudley's aid; but they only participated in the confusion and flight. That became a precipitate and disorderly rout, and the greater part of Dudley's command were killed or captured. Dudley himself was overtaken, tomahawked, and scalped. Of the 800 who followed him from the boats, only 170 escaped to Fort Meigs. Captain Combs and his spies were among those who were taken and marched to Fort Miami as prisoners of war."

"Oh, how dreadful it all was!" sighed Grace. "I hope the other two parties had better success."

"Yes," her father said; "while what I have just been telling you was taking place on the left bank of the river, General Clay had tried to land the six remaining boats under his command nearly opposite the spot where Dudley had debarked with his; but the current, swollen by the heavy rains, was very swift, and drove five of them ashore. The sixth, in which were General Clay and Captain Peter Dudley, with fifty men, separated from the rest, kept the stream, and finally landed on the eastern bank of the river opposite to Hollister's Island. There they were fired upon by round-shot from the batteries opposite and by a crowd of Indians on the left flank of the fort.

"Clay and his party returned the attack of the Indians with spirit, and reached the fort without the loss of a man.

"Colonel Boswell's command landed near Turkey Point. The same Indians who fired upon Clay and his men now attacked these. Boswell and his men marched boldly over the low plain, fought the savages on the slopes and brow of the high plateau most gallantly, and reached the fort without much loss. He was greeted with shouts of applause and thanks, and met by a sallying party coming out to join him in a prompt attack upon that portion of the enemy whom he had just been fighting. There was only a moment's delay. Then they went out, fell upon the savages furiously, drove them half a mile into the woods at the point of the bayonet, and utterly routed them. So zealous were the victors that they would in all probability have made the same mistake that poor Dudley did, had not Harrison, watching them through a spyglass, on one of his batteries, and seeing a body of British and Indians gliding swiftly along the borders of the wood, sent an aide to recall them. He—the aide—was a gallant young fellow, and though he had a horse shot under him, he succeeded in communicating the general's orders in time to enable the detachment to return without much loss.

"Now General Harrison ordered a sortie from the fort against the enemy's works on the right, near the deep ravine. Three hundred and fifty men were engaged in that, and behaved with the greatest bravery. Lossing says, 'They charged with the fiercest impetuosity upon the motley foe, 850 strong, drove them from their batteries at the point of the bayonet, spiked their guns, and scattered them in confusion in the woods beyond the ravine toward the site of the present village of Perrysburg.' It was a desperate fight, and Miller lost several of his brave men. At one time Sebree's company were surrounded by four times their number of Indians, and their destruction seemed inevitable. But Gwynne of the Nineteenth, seeing their peril, rushed to their rescue with a part of Elliot's company, and they were saved. The victors returned to the fort, having accomplished their object, and bringing with them 43 prisoners. They were followed by the enemy, who had rallied in considerable force. After that day's fighting, the siege of Fort Meigs was virtually abandoned by Proctor. He was much disheartened, and his Indian allies deserted him; the Canadian militia did likewise."

"Was Tecumseh one of the deserters, papa?" asked Lucilla.

"No; but probably it was only his commission and pay as a brigadier in the British Army that kept him from being one. He had hated General Harrison intensely since the battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811, and was to have had him at this time as his peculiar trophy. He had been promised that, and the territory of Michigan had been promised his brother, the Prophet, as a reward for his services in the capture of Fort Meigs.

"Beside all these discouraging things, news came to Proctor that Fort George, on the Niagara frontier, was in the hands of the Americans and that the little army of Fort Meigs was soon to be re-enforced from Ohio. He saw nothing before him but the capture or dispersion of his troops should he remain, therefore he resolved to flee. But, to conceal that intention, and in order that he might move off with safety, he again sent a demand for the surrender of the fort.

"Harrison regarded it as an intended insult, and requested that it should not be repeated. Proctor attempted to take away with him his unharmed cannon, but a few shots from Fort Meigs caused him to desist and go without them. One of his gunboats, in return, fired, killing several of our men. Among them was Lieutenant Robert Walker, of the Pittsburgh Blues, who was buried within the fort, and his grave may still be seen there, marked by a plain, rough stone with a simple inscription—'Lieutenant Walker, May 9, 1813.'

"Papa, did the British carry off those of our men they had taken prisoners?" asked Elsie.

"Yes; and allowed the savages to rob, ill-treat, and butcher them in the most horrible manner. At Fort Miami they shot, tomahawked and scalped more than 20, besides having murdered and plundered many on the way.

"It was Tecumseh who at last stopped the fiendish work, though not till after more than 40 had fallen. And this horrible work was done in the presence of General Proctor, Colonel Elliot, and other officers, as well as the British guard. They made them run the gauntlet for a distance of forty or fifty feet, killing or maiming them as they went, with pistols, war-clubs, scalping knives, and tomahawks. In that way nearly, if not quite, as many were slaughtered as were killed in battle. When those who still remained alive had got within the fort, the savages raised the war-whoop, and began reloading their guns with the evident intention of resuming their horrid onslaught on the defenceless prisoners, when Tecumseh, being told of what was going on, hurried to the fort as fast as his horse could carry him. 'Where is General Proctor?' he demanded; then seeing him near, he asked why he had not put a stop to the massacre. 'Your Indians cannot be commanded,' replied Proctor, trembling with fear at the rage he saw in the chief's countenance. 'Begone!' retorted Tecumseh in disdain. 'You are not fit to command; go and put on petticoats.'"

"Was Proctor pleased with that answer, papa?" asked Ned, with a look of amusement.

"I think not greatly," replied the captain. "Tecumseh was much disappointed over their failure to take Fort Meigs, and urged Proctor to try again. Proctor did not feel willing, but at length, near the end of June, he consented, and they began making arrangements to do so.

"About that time a Frenchman who had been taken prisoner with Dudley's men escaped from the British, fled to Fort Meigs, and told Clay of the threatened danger. Clay at once sent word to Harrison, who was at Franklinton, and to Governor Meigs, at Chillicothe.

"Harrison believed it was the weaker posts of Lower Sandusky, Erie, or Cleveland, rather than Fort Meigs, they intended to attack. He ordered troops under Colonel Anderson, then at Upper Sandusky, to go at once to Lower Sandusky; also Major Croghan, with a part of the Seventeenth, and Colonel Ball with his squadron of cavalry. He had just held an important council with the Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, and Seneca Indians at his headquarters at Franklinton. Circumstances had made him doubt their fidelity, and he required them to take a determined stand for or against the Americans; to remove their families into the interior, or the warriors must go with him in the ensuing campaign and fight for the United States.

"Their spokesman assured the general of their unflinching friendship, and that the warriors were anxious to take part in the campaign. Then Harrison told them he would let them know what he wanted of them. 'But,' he said, 'you must conform to our mode of warfare. You are not to kill defenceless prisoners, old men, women, or children. By your good conduct I shall be able to tell whether the British can restrain their Indians when they wish to do so.'

"Then he told them of Proctor's promise to deliver him into the hands of Tecumseh, and added jestingly, 'Now if I can succeed in taking Proctor, you shall have him for your prisoner, provided you will treat him as a squaw, and only put petticoats upon him, for he must be a coward who would kill a defenceless prisoner.'

"Harrison followed Colonel Anderson and his regiment, and, learning from scouts that numerous Indians were seen on the lower Maumee, he selected 300 men to make a forced march to Fort Meigs. He arrived there himself on the 28th, and sent Colonel Johnson to make a reconnoisance toward the Raisin to procure intelligence. Johnson went, and brought back word that there was no immediate danger of the enemy coming against Fort Meigs in force. Satisfied of that, Harrison left Fort Meigs to attend to duty at other points.

"That was on the 1st of July. Late in that month the British had fully 2500 Indians collected on the banks of the Detroit. These, with the motley force he had already there, made an army of fully 5000 men. Early in July bands of Indians had begun to appear in the vicinity of Fort Meigs, seizing every opportunity for killing and plundering. Tecumseh had become very restless and impatient; wanting to go on the warpath,—especially when he saw so many of his countrymen ready for it,—and he demanded that another attempt should be made to capture Fort Meigs. He made a plan for the attack, and proposed it to Proctor.

"It was that the Indians should be landed several miles below the fort, march through the woods to the road leading from the Maumee to Lower Sandusky, in the rear of Fort Meigs, and there engage in a sham fight. That, he thought, would give the troops in the fort the idea that re-enforcements were coming to them and had been attacked. Then the garrison would sally forth to aid their friends, and would at once be attacked in their turn by Indians lying in ambush, while the other Indians would rush into the fort and take possession before the gates could be closed.

"Proctor consented, thinking it a good plan. On the 20th of July he and Tecumseh appeared with their 5000 men at the mouth of the Maumee. General Clay sent a messenger to Harrison with that news. Harrison was doubtful whether it was Fort Meigs or Fort Stephenson they meant to attack, so removed his quarters to Seneca Town, from which he could co-operate with either. There he commenced fortifying his camp, and was soon joined by 450 United States troops and several officers, while another detachment was approaching with 500 regulars from Fort Massac on the Ohio River.

"On the afternoon of the 25th of July Tecumseh and Proctor tried their plan. The British concealed themselves in the ravine just below Fort Meigs; the Indians took their station on the Sandusky road; and at sunset they began their sham fight. It was so spirited, and accompanied by such terrific yells, that the garrison thought their commander-in-chief must be coming with re-enforcements and that he was attacked by the Indians; and they were very anxious to go out to his aid.

"But Clay was too wise to be taken in. A messenger who had just returned from a second errand to Harrison had had hairbreadth escapes from the Indians swarming in the woods; therefore, though Clay could not account for the firing, he felt certain that no Americans were taking part in the fight. Officers of high rank demanded permission to lead their men to the aid of their friends, and the troops seemed almost ready to mutiny because they were not permitted to go. But Clay remained firm; and well it was for them that he did.

"A few cannon shot were hurled from the fort in the direction of the supposed fight, and a heavy shower of rain came up. That put an end to the fighting, and all was as quiet as usual about Fort Meigs that night.

"Tecumseh's stratagem had failed, and as he and Proctor were ignorant of the strength of the garrison, they thought it best not to try an assault. They lingered in the neighborhood for some thirty hours, then withdrew to the old encampment near Fort Miami; and soon afterward the British embarked with their stores, and sailed for Sandusky Bay with the intention of attacking Fort Stephenson.

"The Indians were to assist in the attack, and a large number marched across the country for that purpose.

"Clay quickly despatched a messenger to Harrison with all this information. But I have already told you of the attack upon Fort Stephenson, and of its brave defence.

"Yes, papa; and it was very interesting," said Elsie. "Have we far to go now to get to Fort Meigs? and is it just as it was when Harrison and his men were there?"

"We may hope to get there soon," replied the captain; "as it is only eight miles above Toledo, and we are nearing that place now. But we shall find only ruins."

"Oh, papa, what a pity!" exclaimed Ned.

"Not a very great pity, I think," said his father. "It is not needed now, and I hope will not be ever again."

"I hope that famous elm tree is there yet," remarked Grandma Elsie.

"I do not know," replied the captain. "But probably it is."

"Oh, what about it, papa?" asked Elsie; and her father answered, "At the beginning of the siege all the water the garrison needed had to be taken from the river. The elm tree was on the opposite side of the river, and the Indians used to climb up and hide themselves in its thick foliage and from there fire across at the water carriers. In that way they killed several of our men. Then the Kentucky riflemen fired at them; and it is said that not less than 6 of them were struck and fell to the ground out of that tree."

"Why didn't our men dig a well?" asked Ned.

"It seems they did afterward, for the place is spoken of as having had a well at the time of the political campaign of 1840, when Harrison was elected President of the United States."

They were now entering the Maumee Bay, and the talk ceased, as all wished to gaze about upon the new scenes as they passed through the bay and up the river. They visited the ruins of Fort Meigs, then took carriages and drove three miles up to Presqu' Isle Hill, alighted there, and wandered over the battlefield of the Fallen Timber.

By tea-time they were again on board the Dolphin, which lay at anchor through the night in Maumee Bay. It was a delightful evening, clear and slightly cool on the water, the stars shining, and a gentle breeze stirring; and they sat upon the deck for an hour or more.

"Where are we going to-morrow, papa?" asked Grace in a pause in the conversation, which had been running upon the scenes and adventures of the day.

"To Erie, to view it as the scene of some of Commodore Perry's doings—if that plan suits the wishes of those present," returned her father. "What do you say, mother?"

"That I highly approve," answered Mrs. Travilla's sweet voice.

"As no doubt we all do," added Mrs. Lilburn.

"Yes," said her husband—"even to the one who may be suspected of belonging to the British side. But what doings there have you to tell of, captain?"

"It was there that Perry's fleet was made ready for the celebrated
Battle of Lake Erie," said Captain Raymond—"Perry's victory was won
September 10, 1813."

"Just a few weeks after the fight at Fort Stephenson," remarked
Lucilla.

"Yes," said her father; "and at that time the fleet was nearly ready. What we now speak of as Erie was then called Presqu' Isle. The harbor is a large bay, one of the finest on the lake. A low, sandy peninsula juts out some five miles into the lake. It has sometimes been an island, when storms have cleft its neck; and it was a barren sand bank, though now it has a growth of timber upon it. In Perry's time the harbor was a difficult one to enter, by reason of having a tortuous channel, shallow and obstructed by sand bars and shoals."

"Was Erie a city at the time Perry's fleet was built there, papa?" asked Grace.

"No; only an insignificant village, hardly twenty years old; and there were many miles of wilderness, or very thinly populated country, between it and the larger settlements. All the supplies for our men, except the timber for the vessels, had to be brought from a distance, with great labor."

"Captain, was it not at Erie that General Wayne died?" asked Grandma
Elsie.

"Yes," he said. "In 1794 General Wayne established a small garrison there and caused a blockhouse to be built at the lake shore of Garrison Hill. He returned there after his victory over the Indians in the Maumee Valley, and occupied a loghouse near the blockhouse, where he died of gout. At his own request he was buried at the foot of the flag-staff."

"Is his grave there now, papa?" asked Elsie.

"No," replied the captain; "his remains were removed to Pennsylvania in 1809. The first building there was a French fort, supposed to have been erected in 1749. I think some of its remains—ramparts and ditches—are still to be seen upon a point overlooking the entrance to the harbor. When Canada became an English possession the fort was allowed to go to decay."

"Why, papa?" asked Ned.

"Because it was no longer needed, my son. The blockhouse built by General Wayne fell into decay and was replaced by a new one in the winter of 1813-14, and a second one was built on the point of the peninsula of Presqu' Isle. The old one was burned by some mischievous person in 1853."

"Well, my dear, I highly approve of your expressed intention to take us to Erie to-morrow," said Violet in a lively tone, as the captain seemed to have come to the end of his account. "I am sure that I for one shall be greatly interested in everything there connected with the past history of our country."

All present seemed to be of the same opinion, and before separating for the night every arrangement was made for an early start next morning.

The yacht was again in motion at an early hour—even before any of her passengers were out of their beds. The sun had not yet appeared above the horizon when the captain was joined upon the deck by Percy Landreth.

"Ah, good-morning, Percy," he said in his usual pleasant tones. "Showing yourself so early a bird makes me fear you have not found your berth as comfortable a couch as could be desired."

"But it is surely none too early for a perfectly healthy fellow to be out, and I was anxious to see the sun rise. I never have seen it come up out of the water."

"Then I advise you to gaze steadily eastward, and you will see it apparently do that in five minutes or less."

Captain Raymond had a strong suspicion that the beautiful sight they presently witnessed was not all the young man had joined him for at that early hour, so he was not surprised when the next moment Percy, turning a rather flushed, embarrassed face toward him, said entreatingly, "Captain, I am sure you are a very kind-hearted man; will you not remove your prohibition of two years ago, and let me tell Miss Lu how I admire and love her?"

"Better not, my young friend," returned the captain pleasantly. "Believe me, you would gain nothing by it, even were her father willing to let her listen to such protestations and engage herself while she is still so young."

"Then she is still free?" Percy asked, his countenance brightening somewhat.

"Yes—heart and hand; and I hope will remain so for some years to come."

"That is some consolation, captain; and it is a great pleasure to be with her, even in the presence of others, and though prohibited to say a word in my own behalf."

"Try to have patience, my young friend," returned the captain, still speaking in a kindly tone; "you are young yet, and though you cannot believe it possible now, the time may come when you will see some other maiden who will be even more attractive to you than my little girl is now."

"I do not know how to believe it, sir," sighed Percy; but at that moment the approach of a light footstep put a sudden end to their talk.

"Good-morning, father, and Percy too! Why, you are out unusually early, are you not?" Lucilla exclaimed, holding out a hand to him. "Is it haste to catch the first glimpse of Erie—not lake but city—that has brought you on deck so soon?"

"Not only that, Miss Lu; it is a delightful time for being on deck—the sunrise was very beautiful," he said, taking the pretty hand for an instant, and giving it a friendly squeeze; "but you are a trifle too late for that."

"Yes," she said; "but I have seen it a number of times, and may hope to see it many times more on the waters of lakes or oceans."

"I hope you may," he returned pleasantly. "I wish with all my heart that every sort of enjoyment may be yours—now and always."

"Very kind of you," she said with a smile; "but I doubt if it would be best for me to be always free from every sort of trial and trouble. Papa," turning to him, "shall we have our usual stroll back and forth upon the deck—Percy joining us, if he wishes?"

"Yes," her father answered, drawing her hand within his arm; and the three paced back and forth, chatting pleasantly on the ordinary topics of the day till joined by the other members of their party and summoned to the breakfast table.

There was no disappointment in the visit to Erie; it proved quite as interesting as any one of the party had anticipated; the return voyage was delightful. They anchored for the night in the near vicinity of the island where they had landed on first coming to the neighborhood, and whence they received their daily mail.