CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE WEDDING, AN ARRIVAL, A FEAST, AND A BALL.
New Year's Day came at last, and on the morning of that day Jasper Derryand Marie Laroche were made man and wife. They were married by theReverend Mr Wilson, a Wesleyan missionary, who had come to Fort Erie, afew days before, on a visit to the tribes of Indians in thatneighbourhood.
The North American Indian has no religion worthy of the name; but he hasa conscience, like other men, which tells him that it is wrong to murderand to steal. Yet, although he knows this, he seldom hesitates to doboth when he is tempted thereto. Mr Wilson was one of those earnestmissionaries who go to that wilderness and face its dangers, as well asits hardships and sufferings, for the sake of teaching the savage thatthe mere knowledge of right and wrong is not enough--that the love ofGod, wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit, alone can enablehim to resist evil and do good--that belief in the Lord Jesus Christalone can save the soul.
There are several missionaries of this stamp--men who love the name ofJesus--in that region, and there are a number of stations where the goodseed of God's Word is being planted in the wilderness. But I have notspace, and this is not the place, to enlarge on the great andinteresting subject of missionary work in Rupert's Land. I must returnto my narrative.
It was, as I have said, New Year's day when Jasper and Marie weremarried. And a remarkably bright, beautiful morning it was. The snowappeared whiter than usual, and the countless gems of hoar-frost thathung on shrub and tree seemed to sparkle more than usual; even the sunappeared to shine more brightly than ever it did before--at least itseemed so in the eyes of Jasper and Marie.
"Everything seems to smile on us to-day, Marie," said Jasper, as theystood with some of their friends at the gate of the fort, just after theceremony was concluded.
"I trust that God may smile on you, and bless your union, my friends,"said Mr Wilson, coming forward with a small Bible in his hand. "Hereis a copy of God's Word, Jasper, which I wish you to accept of and keepas a remembrance of me and of this day."
"I'll keep it, sir, and I thank you heartily," said Jasper, taking thebook and returning the grasp of the missionary's hand.
"And my chief object in giving it to you, Jasper, is, that you and Mariemay read it often, and find joy and peace to your souls."
As the missionary said this a faint sound, like the tinkling of distantbells, was heard in the frosty air.
Looks of surprise and excitement showed that this was an unwonted sound.And so it was; for only once or twice during the long winter did avisitor gladden Fort Erie with his presence. These sweet sounds werethe tinkling of sleigh-bells, and they told that a stranger wasapproaching--that letters, perhaps, and news from far-distant homes,might be near at band.
Only twice in the year did the Europeans at that lonely outpost receiveletters from home. Little wonder that they longed for them, and thatthey went almost wild with joy when they came.
Soon the sleigh appeared in sight, coming up the river at full speed,and a loud "hurrah!" from the men at the gate, told the visitor that hewas a welcome guest. It was a dog-sleigh--a sort of conveyance muchused by the fur-traders in winter travelling. In form, it was as likeas possible to a tin slipper bath. It might also be compared to a shoe.If the reader will try to conceive of a shoe large enough to hold aman, sitting with his legs out before him, that will give him a goodidea of the shape of a dog cariole. There is sometimes an ornamentalcurve in front. It is made of two thin hardwood planks curled up infront, with a light frame-work of wood, covered over with deer orbuffalo skin, and painted in a very gay manner. Four dogs are usuallyharnessed to it, and these are quite sufficient to drag a man on ajourney of many days, over every sort of country, where there is no roadwhatever. Dogs are much used for hauling little sledges in that countryin winter. The traveller sits wrapped up so completely in furs, thatnothing but his head is visible. He is attended by a driver onsnow-shoes, who is armed with a large whip. No reins are used. If thesnow is hard, as is usually the case on the surface of a lake or river,the driver walks behind and holds on to a tail-line, to prevent the dogsfrom running away. If the traveller's way lies through the woods, thesnow is so soft and deep that the poor dogs are neither willing nor ableto run away. It is as much as they can do to walk; so the driver goesbefore them, in this case, and beats down the snow with hissnow-shoes--"beats the track," as it is called. The harness of the dogsis usually very gay, and covered with little bells which give forth acheerful tinkling sound.
"It's young Cameron," cried Mr Pemberton, hastening forward to welcomethe newcomer.
Cameron was the gentleman in charge of the nearest outpost--two hundredand fifty miles down the river.
"Welcome, Cameron, my boy, welcome to Fort Erie. You are thepleasantest sight we have seen here for many a day," said Pemberton,shaking the young man heartily by the hand as soon as he had jumped outof his sleigh.
"Come, Pemberton, you forget Miss Marie Laroche when you talk of mybeing the pleasantest sight," said Cameron, laughing.
"Ah! true. Pardon me, Marie--"
"Excuse me, gentlemen," interrupted Jasper, with much gravity, "I knowof no such person as Miss Marie Laroche!"
"How? what do you mean?" said Cameron, with a puzzled look.
"Jasper is right," explained Pemberton, "Marie was _Miss_ _Laroche_yesterday; she is _Mrs Derry_ to-day."
"Then I salute you, Mrs Derry, and congratulate you both," cried theyoung man, kissing the bride's fair cheek, "and I rejoice to find that Iam still in time to dance at your wedding."
"Ay," said Pemberton, as they moved up to the hall, "that reminds me toask you why you are so late. I expected you before Christmas Day."
"I had intended to be here by that day," replied Cameron, "but one of mymen cut his foot badly with an axe, and I could not leave him; then mydogs broke down on the journey, and that detained me still longer. Butyou will forgive my being so late, I think, when I tell you that I havegot a packet of letters with me."
"Letters!" shouted every one.
"Ay, letters and newspapers from England."
A loud cheer greeted this announcement. The packet was hauled out ofthe sleigh, hurried up to the fort, torn open with eager haste, and thefur-traders of Fort Erie were soon devouring the contents like hungrymen.
And they _were_ hungry men--they were starving! Those who see theirkindred and friends daily, or hear from them weekly, cannot understandthe feelings of men who hear from them only twice in the year. Greatimprovements have taken place in this matter of late years; still, manyof the Hudson Bay Company's outposts are so distant from the civilisedworld, that they cannot get news from "home" oftener than twice a year.
It was a sight to study and moralise over--the countenances of thesebanished men. The trembling anxiety lest there should be "bad news."The gleam of joy, and the deep "thank God," on reading "all well." Thenthe smiles, the sighs, the laughs, the exclamations of surprise, perhapsthe tears that _would_ spring to their eyes as they read the brief but,to them, thrilling private history of the past half year.
There was no bad news in that packet, and a feeling of deep joy waspoured into the hearts of the people of the fort by these "Good newsfrom a far country." Even the half-breeds and Indians, who could notshare the feeling, felt the sweet influence of the general happinessthat was diffused among the fur-traders on that bright New Year's Day inthe wilderness.
What a dinner they had that day to be sure! What juicy roasts ofbuffalo beef; what enormous steaks of the same; what a magnificentvenison pasty; and what glorious marrow-bones--not to mention tongues,and hearts, and grouse, and other things! But the great feature of thefeast was the plum-pudding. It was like a huge cannon-ball with themeasles! There was wine, too, on this occasion. Not much, it is true,but more than enough, for it had been saved up all the year expresslyfor the Christmas and New Year's festivities. Thus they were enabled todrink to absent friends, and bring up all the old toasts and songs
thatused to be so familiar long ago in the "old country." But these sturdytraders needed no stimulants. There were one or two who even scornedthe wine, and stuck to water, and to their credit be it said, that theytoasted and sang with the best of them.
At night there was a ball, and the ball beat the dinner out of sight.Few indeed were the women, but numerous were the men. Indian women arenot famous for grace or cleanliness, poor things. But they enjoyed theball, and they did their best to dance. Such dancing! They seemed tohave no joints. They stood up stiff as lamp-posts, and went with anup-and-down motion from side to side. But the men did the thingbravely, especially the Indians. The only dances attempted were Scotchreels, and the Indians tried to copy the fur-traders; but on findingthis somewhat difficult, they introduced some surprising steps of theirown, which threw the others entirely into the shade! There wasunfortunately no fiddler, but there was a fiddle--one made of pine woodby an Indian, with strings of deer-skin sinew. Some of the boldest ofthe party scraped _time_ without regard to _tune_, and our friendHeywood beat the kettle-drum. The tones of the fiddle at last became sohorrible that it was banished altogether, and they danced that night tothe kettle-drum!
Of course the fair bride was the queen of that ball. Her countenancewas the light of it, and her modest, womanly manner had a softeninginfluence on the rough men who surrounded her.
When the ball was over, a curious thing occurred in the hall in which ithad taken place. The room was heated by a stove, and as a stove driesthe air of a room too much, it was customary to keep a pan of water onthe stove to moisten it a little. This moisture was increased thatnight by the steam of the supper and by the wild dancing, so that, whenall was over, the walls and ceiling were covered with drops of water.During the night this all froze in the form of small beautifully-shapedcrystals, and in the morning they found themselves in a crystal palaceof nature's own formation, which beat all the crystal palaces that everwere heard of--at least in originality, if not in splendour.
Thus happily ended the marriage-day of honest Jasper Derry and sweetMarie Laroche, and thus pleasantly began the new year of 18--. But assurely as darkness follows light, and night follows day, so surely doessorrow tread on the heels of joy in the history of man. God has soordained it, and he is wise who counts upon experiencing both.