“It was natural that the ruffians should break their journey there,” he concluded. “They will probably be sleeping, and I don’t anticipate any trouble in getting the prisoner into our hands. As for Lagarde, he is a blustering fellow, but a coward at heart.”
“They won’t show light if they are seven to twenty,” said I. “But do you really believe they have dared to capture one of our couriers?”
“They would dare anything, these Northwest Company scoundrels,” replied the lieutenant. “And Walker’s information, I assure you, is always accurate.”
By this time we had left Port Garry a couple of miles behind us, and far off to our right a couple of twinkling lights on the horizon marked the little settlement. On we went at a rattling pace, the hoofs of our horses ringing on the hard, frozen snow. The night was dark and bitterly cold; the stars shone in the steely vault of the sky, but there was no moon.
Presently we dipped into a heavy forest, which made the road gleam whiter by contrast. When we had come within a mile of our goal, we settled down to a trot, and a little later the word to halt and dismount was passed along the line in a whisper.
“I don’t want to give the rascals any warning,” the lieutenant explained. “It will be far the wisest plan to take them by surprise, before they can show fight. We are less than a quarter of a mile from the store now.”
The men were quickly out of the saddle, and three of them were told off to guard the horses, which we tethered to saplings by the side of the road. Then the rest of us—seventeen in number—looked to our muskets and started forward on foot. We moved as silently as possible, and soon reached the edge of the forest, where we halted in the deep shadow of the trees.
Before us was a spacious clearing, fifty yards across which stood Lagarde’s store. Smoke was pouring from the chimney and a ray of light was visible under one of the shuttered windows; but not a sound could be heard, and not a moving object could be seen on the white snow crust.
“It’s all right,” said Boyd. “They have turned in for the night, and I don’t suppose they have set a watch; Lagarde keeps no dog.”
“We had better make sure,” suggested Nicoll. “I’m light on my feet—if you say the word I’ll have a closer look about.”