Voyageurs by Margaret Elphinstone

Author:Margaret Elphinstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grove Atlantic

As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me.

Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me.

CHAPTER 16

I WAS BREAKFASTING NEXT MORNING ON GRILLED pickerel, rolls and coffee – the métis woman who came each day was a good cook – when to my surprise Alan emerged from the other room. ‘I smell coffee,’ he said. ‘Oh, good: Anne, you can grill me some fish too. I'm devilish hungry. Good morning, brother Mark. I trust you slept: well?’

I eyed him warily. ‘Ay.’ I lied, for I hadn't gone to my bed till past three, and even then my mind was all of a jangle, and I couldn't sleep.

‘So.’ Alan took his seat opposite me. ‘Quite an exciting day, yesterday, didn't you think?’

‘Ay.’ I buttered a roll lavishly. ‘Ay, well, Man. Thee's had thy battle. Will thee look to our errand now, as thee agreed?’

He smiled. ‘I like your style, brother. Ariel yes, I will. But first can we take our breakfast together like gentlemen, as brothers ought to do. Anne! Are there more of those rolls, or has he eaten the lot?’

I looked him in the eye. ‘I'm sorry I threw thee, friend. ‘Twas ill done; I never wished thee harm.’

‘On the contrary, ‘tmas remarkably well done,’ said Alan irritably. ‘So much for saying you never fight. You learned that trick somewhere, or I'm a Dutchman.’

‘Will thee forgive me?’

‘Of course I forgive thee – you, I mean. Here, shake hands.’ He reached across the table and I duly shook his hand. ‘Now, can we please forget about it?’

I said nothing more until his fish was set in front of him. Anne brought a fresh jug of coffee, and I filled our cups. ‘I was out last night,’ I told him. ‘I saw the Indians dancing.’

‘And what did you think of it?’

‘Savage,’ I said shortly. But in my heart I was very troubled by the way the Indian drums and the dancing had stirred my blood. I had seen dancing before at fairs and such-like, and heard the jingling of fiddles and whistles, but never before had I witnessed a dance that seemed to embody the spirit of war itself – not war as perpetrated by armies and generals, and written about in newspapers, but the spirit of war which sleeps within all men, inciting the unwary to depart from the paths of peace, and go forth like crouching demons to fight and kill. Long after I left the dancing, the drums went on beating, and as I lay sleepless in my bed, they seemed to echo the very rhythm of my heart, awakening a devil within my breast whose presence I had never before suspected. I said aloud, ‘Does thee think it right to use these savages in a war between powers that are far away and naught to do with them?’

‘Naught? Where

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.