Standing on the deck and looking about, a feeling of exceeding
smallness and loneliness came in upon me. I had seen nothing like this
in New England, nor yet in Nova Scotia, for richness, for real
magnificent bigness and beauty. The sky above seemed higher and bluer,
the water below was clearer, the wind purer, the sweep of scenery finer
than any my memory could recall. Was nature to help in compensating us
for what we had lost and left behind? Had fate been cruel a year ago
in order to be kinder now? At any rate I felt as I looked out over it
all, then up at the small flag flaunting its red gaily against the
blue, that with these hills about me, with this river in front and with
that flag and God above me, I could be happy. I breathed a prayer,
then I resolved to make a home for my mother and sisters on the River
St. John.
The evening of the second day on the river was approaching when I saw
Father Bourg rise from his seat on the deck, and advancing to the
vessel's prow, look eagerly up the stream. When he turned he said
simply, 'De Indian; dey are coming in great number.'
For some time I could see nothing; but under the direction of the good
priest I was finally able to make out a long, thin line far up the
river, stretching almost from bank to bank.
'Dese are canoe,' he said, and then leaving me to look and wonder, he
was off to seek out Colonel Francklin and Mr. Simonds.
In half an hour our vessel was surrounded by over five hundred warriors
in ninety canoes. It was evident from the first that they were
hostile. The flag at our masthead became a target for many arrows; now
and then there sounded out sharply the crack of an American rifle;
there was also much shouting and wild jeering such as I had never heard
before. In one of the leading canoes waved a flag that bore stars and
stripes upon it. It was the new flag of the rebel colonies, and had
been presented to the chiefs by Washington. The sight of this filled
me with much bitterness.
As the canoe bearing the flag came nearer to our vessel, I saw some of
the anxiety disappear from the face of Father Bourg. He said something
I did not hear to Colonel Francklin, then the next moment advanced to
the rail. 'Pierre Tomah,' he shouted, 'Pierre Tomah'; then still
speaking very loudly in a language I had never heard before, he briefly
addressed a distinguished-looking warrior who sat under the flag.
When he had finished the warrior rose. He was a man of magnificent
proportions. His tall plume swayed in the gentle wind, and his
brilliant costume glittered in the evening sun. 'I baptize him
feefteen years ago on de Restigouche,' I heard Father Bourg say in a
low voice to Colonel Francklin. 'Dis is most fortunate: we may yet
succeed.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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