Alick made no remark. I expected every instant to see Mr Meredith or some of the garrison come out to welcome us.
The gate was reached, but no one appeared. We knocked and shouted, and Bouncer barked. No answer came, neither to his nor our calls.
“The fort is deserted!” I exclaimed. “What dreadful event can have happened?”
“Mr Meredith for some reason or other was ordered to retire. Had the Indians captured the fort, the gate would have been left open,” observed Alick.
“The sooner we get in and ascertain what has occurred, the better,” said Martin.
“Faix, thin, if you’ll give me a lift I’ll soon find out,” said Pat, taking off his snow-shoes.
The poles of the tent were placed against the gate, and with our help Pat climbed them till he could reach the top with his hands, when, drawing himself up, he got his head and shoulders over.
“Sorra a man do I see,” he cried out, “but, bedad, there’s a black baste waddling along on the opposite side. There’s another, and another. They’re bears, and seem to be the only garrison left in the place. Just hand me up my gun, plase, for I should not like having them coming to turn me out without the manes of disputing the matther.”
We handed Pat up his gun, when he immediately slipped down inside and made haste to undo the fastenings of the gate.
It was opened, and we hurried in, dragging the sledges after us. We loosened Bouncer, that he might be able to do battle should any of the bears venture to attack us. They, however, the very moment we had arrived, were, so it seemed to us, on the point of evacuating the fort, and the last of them must have climbed over the palisades while Pat was engaged in undoing the door. We conjectured that their object in coming to the fort was to search for food.