chapter xii.
mrs. bancroft's sugaring-off.
1814.
nancy chamberlain and sarah olmstead were neighbors, and were the recipients of numerous visits from phil and bearie. it had been commented upon by many in the settlement that there had been an unusual number of "bees" during the autumn and winter. among others, mrs. olmstead had a husking-bee, but did not invite many of the neighbors, who therefore were not slow in imputing to her certain designs in trying to form a relationship with the chief's family.
mrs. chamberlain also had a bee, an apple-drying bee, and, following the example of her friend and neighbor in the exclusiveness of her invitations, brought herself under the same ban as mrs. olmstead. whereupon mrs. bancroft, who also had a marriageable daughter, resolved, when the spring days should come, to have a "sugaring-off," and to teach her ambitious neighbors a thing or two about entertainments. invitations were accordingly sent to all the new englanders in the settlement, including rich and poor, young and old, and extensive preparations made for the greatest social event of the season.
among those who accepted the invitation were the aliens, the sheffields, the townsends, the wrights, the eberts, the wymans, the olmsteads, the chamberlains, the fessendens, the honeywells, and the moores. these with many others gathered round the glowing, crackling fire, above which a huge new potash kettle was suspended by crotched sticks.
"it will soon be ready to pour into the smaller kittle," said ephraim bancroft, "for it has been boilin' stiddy since mornin'. i only found out this spring that it takes nearly twice as long to boil down the last sap of the season as it does the first, and it is not near so sweet."
"be careful, ephraim," said mrs. bancroft, "you're pilin' on too much wood. it's getting quite syrupy, an' you'll burn it if you're not more careful. keep the fire low and stiddy."
the young people were having a gay time coasting down hill over the 'crust' on dudley moore's traineau, while the men and women "hugged" the fire and discussed the all-absorbing subject of the american invasion. the chief had just returned from montreal, and had the latest war news, which was received with keenest interest.
"it was rumored," he said, "that wilkinson was coming up lake champlain with six thousand men, followed by hampton with a large force, and de salaberry and macdonell posted our men in such advantageous positions, and were so successful in concealing the weakness of our force, that wilkinson and his men had to beat a hasty retreat.
"you have probably heard," he continued, "that colonel morrison met boyd on the st. lawrence, near cornwall, on his way to attack montreal, and drove him back to plattsburg."
"if they get montreal," said mr. fessenden, "the whole of canada will fall into their hands."
"what is the whole fuss about, anyhow?" asked a shrewd little new englander from one of the back settlements, who had bought a tract of land and was paying for it in work.
"it is a long story," replied the chief, "and a sad one, but i shall try to explain to you in as few words as possible the whole trouble, for there are several here to-night who have strong prejudices against britain, which should be removed.
"ever since america, the elder daughter of great britain, wanted to commence housekeeping for herself, and had such difficulty in escaping from her arbitrary old father, she has not had the kindliest feelings toward him. she lost sight of the fact that the british parliament was by no means the british people, a great majority of whom sympathized with her in her struggles for constitutional liberty, and regretted the misery it produced.
"though not actuated by hostile feeling against the father, she was determined to overturn his short-sighted policy. washington did his best to repress the anti-british spirit which pervaded the democratic party, and succeeded in establishing a commercial treaty with britain, but unfortunately after his death the democratic party came into power, and the dislike for everything british began to show itself more than ever.
"meanwhile europe was almost completely at the mercy of napoleon. england, whose fleet swept the seas, being the only obstacle in his way, he determined to strike at her power at the most vital part, so he closed all the ports of europe against her manufactures, and authorized the seizure of all vessels bound for british harbors.
"england retaliated by declaring all the ports of france and her allies from which the british flag was excluded in a state of blockade. in doing this britain was merely adopting bonaparte's own measures against himself.
"this state of things paralyzed american trade, and the democratic party made it a favorable opportunity of stirring up feeling against england, instead of against bonaparte, who alone was responsible.
"meanwhile two or three unfortunate circumstances, as you are aware, helped to widen the breach. an american frigate, the chesapeake, was cruising off virginia, and as she had some british deserters on board, was hailed by an english man-of-war, the leopard, and a formal demand was made for these men. the american captain refused to admit the right of search, whereupon a broadside was fired from the british ship, and the deserters were given up.
"the english government did not approve of the act, and offered to make reparation, but congress declared war. about the same time britain withdrew the order-in-council which affected the american trade, and though it was known in the united states that the cause of the war had been removed, congress did not recede from its hostile position, but had decided to drive britain from canada, and to add it as another state to the union. this policy was opposed by the republican party, who sent delegates from several counties in new york protesting against the war."
"someone told me," said mr. townsend, "that on the day war was declared all the ships in boston harbour displayed flags at half-mast, and at a meeting of the citizens resolutions were passed stating that the proposed invasion of canada was unnecessary and would lead to connection with france, which would be destructive to american independence."
"quite so," said the chief. "our friends in new england have much to contend with in the foreign element that is creeping into the democratic party—such as german socialists, refugees from the irish rebellion and of the french revolution, who have little or no true patriotic spirit."
"imagine any of our neighbors at woburn," interrupted martin eberts, "stooping to seduce the people of this or any other country from their allegiance, and converting them into traitors, as a preparation for making them good american subjects. i hear," he continued, "that eustis pointed out the advantage it would be to secure canada, and said that it was a most opportune time while britain had her whole force engaged with napoleon."
"yes," said the chief, "and he stated that it could be taken without soldiers, and that if they sent a few officers into the country canadians would rally round their standard. so they sent poor old hull, after whom our township was named, with twenty-five hundred men, to open the campaign in upper canada about two years ago. as soon as he met brock he hoisted the white flag and fell back to detroit, and he and all his men were taken prisoners. hull was condemned to be shot, but was spared because of his great age, and in consideration of former good service."
"it is no wonder," said mr. fessenden, "that the attempt has failed, for it had not the backing of thinking men nor of true republicans."
"it's an ill wind that blows nobody good," said the chief. "the price of wheat has gone up three dollars per bushel, and i have just disposed of our fall crop at a profit of $7,000."
"may the war continue," said martin eberts, "and we'll all sow wheat."
"let us hope that it won't," said mr. honeywell, "for i had to go all the way to the front for three barrels of flour, for my family was on the verge of starvation. i had just rolled it into the shanty, when who should come along but dow and billings, who wanted to buy two barrels, but i wouldn't sell, for i had hauled it all the way from kingston on a jumper. well, sir, they laid down $50, and walked off with the flour."
but to return to our party. it was a glorious moonlight night, and the young people would probably have kept up the sport the whole night long had not ephraim announced that the "lateer" was ready.
the cushions and buffalo robes were then taken from the sleighs and spread upon the snow, and the gentlemen served each lady with a block of hard snow, upon which had been poured some of the boiling sugar, which immediately hardened into "lateer," or taffy.
for a time there was a lull in the babel of voices, when suddenly their attention was arrested by the sound of a stealthy step of moccasined feet on the crust, and the tall, stately form of an indian emerged from the woods.
"hullo, machecawa, is that you?" said the chief. "you are just in time. we want you to show us how to dance the war-dance, and then we shall give you a good tin of 'sucre.'"
machecawa was quite equal to the emergency, for when asked by the chief if he liked sugar he replied:
"ba, oui," with a decided emphasis on the "oui." then approaching the fire, he asked:
"who belongs to dees pot?" pointing to the huge kettle.
"it belongs to mrs. bancroft, who will give you a good share of sugar if you will dance for us."
the young people laughed heartily as machecawa stamped and danced and sang a strange monotonous song. not a muscle of his face betrayed fun or amusement. he went through with it all as gravely and seriously as though he were about to rush into conflict with his enemies, the inevitable whoop terminating the ludicrous performance.
by this time the sugar was ready to pour into moulds. mrs. bancroft had removed the small kettle from the fire, and was stirring it vigorously, when she called:
"ephraim, it is your turn to stir now. my arms is near broke." in a moment ephraim was beside her, and was straining the muscles of his right arm in stirring the fast cooling sugar.
the contents of the pot were then poured into dishes of various shapes and sizes, which were imbedded in the snow, the largest of which was handed to machecawa, who sat on a fallen log and began to devour the contents greedily. at length he caught sight of bearie, who was seated in gideon olmstead's cutter talking to sarah.
"whoop!" cried the indian, a ray of light creeping over his dark face. "de young chief's squaw? some tam she am dat squaw, more some time she am de odder," he said, pointing his finger at nancy.
shrieks of laughter resounded through the woods.
"it is precisely what we would like to know ourselves," said mary, the chief's youngest daughter, who had made repeated attempts to draw from the boys their purposes and plans regarding the future.
"choose partners—choose partners for 'auld lang syne,'" said the white chief.
"they seem to have chosen partners," said christie, "but the trouble is they won't let any one into the secret."
"no doubt," said the chief, "they will declare their intentions in due time."
the whole party then, at mrs. bancroft's request, gathered in a circle round the fire, and forming a chain, sang:
"should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?"
after which three cheers were given for the host and hostess, who had afforded them an opportunity of spending so enjoyable an evening.
they were all seated in the sleighs and about to drive off in various directions, when mrs. wright called for abbie.
"is abbie with you, mrs. olmstead?" said the chief.
"is she with you, mrs. chamberlain?"
"no, no; she is not here," cried a dozen voices.
the anxious father called, "halt! halt! we must not leave till we can find abbie."
"wait a moment," said bearie. "it has just occurred to me that abbie left us about ten minutes ago, remarking that she had lost her muff, and was going to search for it at the foot of the hill."
they called and searched in vain, and suddenly the chief said:
"where is machecawa?"
"he left some time ago on snow-shoes," said one of the party.
"follow him up, boys," he said. "trace the track of the snow-shoes through the woods. the moon will furnish sufficient light."
fully a dozen volunteers responded, and hastened through the woods in the direction of the indian's camp, where they found the red chief and his friends before the fire smoking.
"have you seen mr. wright's daughter, abbie?" asked mr. bancroft.
they shook their heads and did not move from their lazy attitudes before the fire, except machecawa, who was on his feet in a moment, and led the way back to the sugar bush at a slow trot.
in the meantime bearie and thomas brigham had followed a track leading from the foot of the hill where they had been coasting into the woods. they waded through drifts knee deep, through a forest almost impenetrable, and to their amazement found the object of their search securely lashed to a tree by a long strip of deerskin, blindfolded, and with a red handkerchief tied over her mouth. hurriedly releasing her, they searched the neighborhood, but could find no trace of the perpetrator of the deed. she was suffering from hysteria, and could hardly give an intelligible account of what had happened.
"i saw my muff in the snow," she said, "and was stooping to pick it up when someone suddenly threw a cloth over my face and tied my hands. it was all done so suddenly and gently that i had not time to see who it was, and thought it was one of the boys who had done it in jest. the truth dawned upon me when i began to struggle to get free and found myself half-dragged, half-carried through the deep snow and tied to a tree. i was nearly insane with terror. if ever i prayed in my life i prayed then to be released."
on their return home they were met by mr. wrenford, who asked if they had had an enjoyable time. phil, in a very excited manner, gave an account of the attempted abduction of his sister, whereupon the tutor exclaimed:
"most mysterious! what treachery! what villainy! evidently the infamous work of indians. where was your friend, machecawa?" he said, addressing abbie.
"machecawa had absolutely nothing to do with it," replied bearie, sharply, "nor had any of his tribe, for the tracks were made by hob-nail boots—not moccasins."
