Under Wolfe's Flag; or, The Fight for the Canadas

by Rowland Walker

The Indians were gaining upon them, although they were flying rapidly downstream. They had ceased to yell now, for the city was only two leagues away, and they were straining every nerve to overtake the lads before they could reach safety. An occasional bullet struck the canoe, but they did not look around, for they could hear the splash of the Iroquois' paddles, and the sound seemed to come nearer and nearer.

"I can do no more, Jack! My arm's still painful from the wound," and Jamie drew in his paddle.

"Hold on, Jamie! Don't give in. In another five minutes we shall be out of danger. There's the little cove where we've landed many a time, just there on the northern bank. If we can only reach that spot, we can quickly climb up to the heights, and the Indians will not dare to follow us there. Hold on for another few minutes!"

This was the only chance that offered an escape from the foe, and Jamie, despite his wound, which at times of great exertion still pained him, put in his paddle again. They were running rapidly down under the precipitous northern bank now, and with a skilful twist of his paddle Jack sent the nose of the canoe quickly ashore, right up on the narrow strand, in the cove, at the foot of the cliffs.

The Indians had perceived their intentions, and with a loud yell had changed their course to prevent them and cut them off. The first canoe was not a dozen yards away, and in another three seconds would have been beached alongside theirs, when Jack seized his rifle and, without taking any precise arm, fired point-blank into the canoe. It was loaded with heavy buck-shot, and the Iroquois at the steering paddle received half the contents of it.

Nothing could have been better done had the aim been more skilfully taken. The paddle dropped helplessly from his hand, and the rapid current carried the canoe past the landing-point. A savage yell burst from every Indian within sight. The lads responded with a shout of defiance, and then, abandoning canoe, outfit, rifles and everything they possessed, they leapt from the boat and swiftly climbed the steep and narrow ascent, pulling themselves up by the roots and branches of trees that grew on this precipitous bank.

This clever and successful shot had gained them but a few seconds of time, but they reached the summit unharmed, and after a brief pursuit, the Indians, who were getting too near the settlements, retired and gave up the fruitless chase, and from the Heights of Abraham, as they looked down upon the river, they had the satisfaction of seeing their late enemies pursued in turn by a party of Algonquins, the active allies of the French.

Spring came at last, unlocking the rivers and the lakes, and the half-wild fur-traders, with their Indian guides, were already preparing to ascend the St. Lawrence, up past Mont Royale, and the Thousand Islands, across the great inland sea called Ontario, to the rude fort of Niagara.

Even here the fatiguing journey would not end, for after a brief respite, they must shoulder their packages, and carry their long birch-bark canoes over the rough portage that led past the mighty, thundering cataract of Niagara, near by the hunting-grounds of the fierce and warlike Senecas. Then they must place their canoes again on the upper reaches of the swift Niagara River, and from thence enter Lake Erie, pass the outposts of Presqu' Isle, Miami and Fort Detroit, to the rivers, the lakes and the forts beyond, where in the surrounding forests the red man in all his primeval simplicity hunted, fished, lived and died. Even to the far-off lands of the Kickapoos, the Ojibways and the Winnebagos these brave fur-traders often ventured, drawn partly by a desire for gain, and partly, no doubt, by the added spice of danger and adventure.

Such, then, was the adventure to which our heroes were committed, as soon as the rivers were clear of the dangerous ice-floes, and the Algonquin chief Wabeno arrived with a dozen of his braves to accompany them as guides and scouts. Here was a prospect of adventure which thrilled the lads, and they anxiously awaited the arrival of the chief, which was to be on the first day of the new moon. They were to have a share in the enterprise, as a reward of their services.