Young Lion of the Woods Part 6

They made a hasty exit from her presence, and did not return for some weeks.

A day or two after the rebels had left Grimross, Paul Guidon related to Mrs. G.o.dfrey his life and wanderings after his arrival at Pa.s.smaquaddy from Halifax in 1771. "He found his way from Pa.s.smaquaddy to Grimross Neck, carrying the two muskets with him, and also a knapsack filled with powder, shot and bullets, given to him by the Captain of the King's schooner."

"He then went to where the tribe was living and remained some weeks, being very tired and weary. Pere Thoma, taking a great fancy to his red jacket, offered to canoe him down the river to his old camping ground if he would give him the coveted garment on their return. Paul consented to do so. One fine morning they started from Grimross Neck and paddled all day down the river, occasionally resting on the banks of the stream. It came into his (Paul's) head, on the way down that Pere Thoma was the cause of the G.o.dfreys' misfortunes, and he suddenly felt that the spirit of "Old Mag" (his mother) called upon him to kill Thoma. The burning of the house, the escape of his mother from the flames, the driving away of the English people, the great storm on the bay, his first sight of the pale-faced woman at Fort Frederick, the parting with her at Halifax, all these events recurred to his mind in an instant and went like a flash through his brain. His head seemed to dance like the canoe on the water, then the canoe appeared to whirl round and round. He got so dizzy he could scarcely see, and was afraid that he would fall overboard. He felt something touch him on the shoulder like a dip from the wing of a bird.

He had his musket in the canoe, it was loaded. He suddenly pulled in the paddle and then grasped the musket. It was "Chief Mag," and he pointed it at Thoma who was sitting in the stern of the canoe. He fired and Thoma rolled overboard and sank. Paddling on he arrived at his old camping ground near the mouth of the river. The wigwam was still standing but very much out of order, he sat in it till daylight and then visited his mother's grave. After returning to the camp as he felt sad and faint, he took his musket and wandered off in search of game. He spent the remainder of the day near the resting place of "Old Mag," at night he went to the camp and there slept. In the morning he got into the canoe and paddled off up the river, arriving at Grimross he went on sh.o.r.e and started at once by trail for Quebec, where after two moons he arrived carrying Chief Mag with him. Here he was much in request by the military, who detained him for three winters accompanying them on their hunting excursions. During the latter part of the last winter, while shooting with some officers on the borders of Acadia and Quebec, he met an old Indian by the name of Joe Paul moving West with his family. From him he learned that the pale-faced people were again living and trading at Grimross. Paul told the officers that he must go back to the St.

John. They were not inclined to release him, until he had accompanied them back to Quebec. Yielding to their entreaties he returned with them, remaining a few days. Just before he left Quebec, there was a great stir among the military. It was rumoured that war was impending, and the officers tried hard to persuade him to remain and share with them the fortunes of war, if they should be ordered to take part in the fighting.

He said he could not stay, but promised the officers, as he put on a new red jacket they had given him, that he would never fight against the British soldiers. As Paul came to this part of his narration he looked straight at Margaret G.o.dfrey and continued, (it is given in his own words) "all Paul want to make him British soldier be pale face and little hair."

In a few days the Iroquois went out again to visit his tribe. Desiring to revisit his mother's grave he required some one to a.s.sist him down the river. He selected as his companion Francis DeFalt who appeared willing to accompany him. On the way down he found out from DeFalt, that he was one of the Indians who by Thoma's commands set fire to the Englishman's house and store. DeFalt bragged about what he had done and said his only sorrow was, that all the white devils were not burned up with the house.

As DeFalt was speaking, the Iroquois blood began to stir quickly. As soon as darkness was closing down over the face of the river Paul meditated on revenge. He seized Chief Mag, which he always took with him, and fired it at DeFalt, who turning a complete somerset over the bow of the canoe into the river, was seen no more. Paul drifted down stream a few miles, paddled to the sh.o.r.e, hauled the canoe upon dry land, turned it over and slept under it during the night, feeling satisfied that he had avenged the insult to the pale-faces. Paul remained about the old camping ground for three weeks, when he again returned to Grimross. The Iroquois was never suspected as the cause of Thoma's disappearance, the canoe was afterwards found, bottom up, in the river, and he was supposed to have been drowned.

On Paul's return to his tribe, he told the Indians that DeFalt had become acquainted with a pretty young squaw named Charlotte Toney, and had gone over to Fort c.u.mberland to spend a few months with the Toney family, who were moving over there to settle during the coming winter, and that DeFalt would likely be married before his return. The Iroquois shortly after this returned to Grimross to spend a few days with his pale-faced friends. He told Margaret that some of the tribe were greatly agitated. The American sympathisers had seduced them by making great promises and by holding up to them a grand future. Paul said to Captain G.o.dfrey, "you may all be murdered if you stay at Grimross; some bad white men now among Indians." Margaret did not care to advise her husband to leave, although she had learnt enough from Paul to convince her that great danger was all about them.

The Iroquois had proposed to Margaret to escape with her children to Fort Frederick, saying that he would take them down the river in DeFalt's canoe, which he had kept at Grimross. He said to her, "I will never leave you in times of trouble and will lose my life to save yours." She would not consent to leave her husband, although he strongly advised her to go, if she thought their lives in danger.

At length the Rebels and Red men grew furious. They arrived at Grimross early one morning, while Paul was out among the tribe trying to keep them quiet, and surrounding the house and store of Captain G.o.dfrey they demanded his surrender. The yells and whoops of the Indians were terrific, demons from the depths of perdition could not have made a more frightful noise. The children were terrified; the youngest fainted with fright. At this crisis Margaret G.o.dfrey calmly walked to the door while her husband and son Charlie stood a few paces in her rear. She opened the door, and as she did so in rushed the demons, led by the cross-eyed, monkey-faced rebel. One of the Indians by name Pete Gomez, took hold of Margaret and forced her to the floor, Charlie took up a stick of wood and knocked Gomez senseless. At this moment Paul Guidon returned, Horatio Keys, one of the rebels, had seized Captain G.o.dfrey by the throat and was holding him tightly against the wall, Margaret clinched the rolling-pin and in an instant sent Keys staggering to the floor. The squinting monkey-faced rebel's name was Will, and Will by force pushed Margaret to the floor, and was dragging her by the hand toward the door, as Paul stepped in. Paul struck him with his fist, and like lightning placed both his feet against the rebel's breast, almost knocking the life out of him. Jim Wade, Sam Scarp, and Mark Paul, three Indians, rushed in after Paul, who turned and struck Wade a terrific blow on the neck, knocking him out. The Captain, Charlie, Paul and Margaret went for the other two in lively style and soon laid them low. The remaining rebels and Indians beat a hasty retreat to the woods. The insolent invaders who had got so deservedly well punished at the hands of the G.o.dfrey household were pitched out of the house, and when they had sufficiently recovered they also made for the woods. During the tumult the four smaller children were fastened in the bedroom and their screams were terrible. The night after the a.s.sault was a dismal and anxious one at Grimross. The children trembled and sobbed during the entire hours of darkness. The morning at length dawned, and with its dawning Margaret G.o.dfrey's soul went out for counsel and guidance to Him, who in all their perils, in the darkest moments of their lives, had never forsaken them.

She said to Paul Guidon, "the rebels may kill my husband, my children and myself, but from this hour their threats shall not intimidate me from acting as a British subject should act in a British Colony. I shall do my duty, for under G.o.d I am determined whenever and however we attempt to make our escape, if I have to die I shall die free and not as a slave or traitor." The Indian who had attentively listened to Margaret's words promised to stand by her.

"Paul Guidon," she continued, "there remains to us a great duty to be performed. I am fully convinced there will be a way of escape opened to us, but we must seek it first. Cannot we escape to Fort Frederick? Is the canoe safe to convey the whole of us and what stuff we may require?"

To which the Iroquois replied, "If water smooth no trouble, trouble may be Indians 'long river bank, I go up Neck and bring down canoe." This latter he quickly did, hauling it on sh.o.r.e and hiding it among some bushes.

In a few days three of the rebels, armed with pistols, again came to the shop of Captain G.o.dfrey, and sternly demanded of him all his goods and chattels, to be held by them in trust, and to be restored to him at the close of the American rebellion, on condition that he joined General Was.h.i.+ngton. His refusal of these conditions was, by the decree of the war committee, to be punished with death. This committee had a number of armed men as the instruments by which they enforced their decrees. The three envoys gave the Captain one hour to consider their proposal.

At the expiration of the hour Margaret G.o.dfrey and her husband came into the room where the rebels were seated. Margaret asked them how her husband and family should be able to join General Was.h.i.+ngton; "Would they not be arrested as spies or enemies of the New England colonists if they attempted to pa.s.s over among them?"

One of the rebels answered her, "If you will go and join General Was.h.i.+ngton, we will give you a pa.s.s into New England, and as soon as we can consult with the war committee we will bring or send you the pa.s.sport."

Margaret trembled lest her husband would suddenly object to the proceeding, as nothing definite had been arranged during their hour of debating the situation, only that they must escape if possible. She was well aware of her husband's sterling loyalty. She caught his eye and nodded to him to a.s.sent to the proposition of the rebels.

He did so. The rebels left, promising the pa.s.s the next day, and that in twenty-four hours after receiving it, a guard would be ready to escort them on their way to New England. It being late in the afternoon the rebels then left. At noon the following day a messenger arrived with the pa.s.sport, and also an order to be ready to proceed toward New England on the following day. The permit or pa.s.sport read as follows:

Permit the bearer, Charles * * * G.o.dfrey, * * * Esqr., to pa.s.s from river St John in Nova Scotia with his family to any part of New England.

Maugerville, } By order of the Committee, ye 8 July, 1776. } JACOB BARKERLY, _Chairman_.

After a few words of conversation with the Captain and his wife, the messenger took his departure. No time was lost in preparing to escape.

Mrs. G.o.dfrey was determined to have everything in the canoe before daylight next morning. The night fortunately was fine, and if all went well they would be well on their way to Fort Frederick before Jacob Barkerly or any of the rebels were aware of their departure. Accordingly the night was a busy one getting ready and transferring bundles of stuff to the canoe, which was some distance off. At early dawn all were in readiness, and the last to leave the homestead at Grimross were Margaret and Paul, who had returned from the sh.o.r.e for a box containing the Captain's private papers, which had been overlooked in the hurry. A few minutes before four o'clock the Indian and Mrs. G.o.dfrey arrived at the canoe with the box.[4]

[Footnote 4: Many of the events related in this story are founded on facts gathered from papers contained in the box.]

The morning was a lovely one, and Margaret G.o.dfrey was the most hopeful and cheerful of the little band of fugitives who were preparing to step into the canoe. Her every act and word seemed void of fear. Defeat and disaster with her were but spurs to further effort. She possessed that fort.i.tude of soul that bears the severest trials without complaint. A few minutes after four o'clock they pushed off from the sh.o.r.e, the water was quite calm, but the progress was slow as the canoe was deeply laden, and Paul Guidon had to be very cautious in its management. Not an Indian was seen on the sh.o.r.e. The next day they arrived at Paul's old camping ground, and after resting there a few hours they started for Fort Frederick, a short distance below. Here fortune seemed to smile upon them. A small schooner lay at anchor immediately below the fort.

Margaret and her husband lost no time in going on board. The Captain of the schooner said that his vessel would sail for Port Royal, if there were sufficient wind, early the next day. He agreed to take the whole G.o.dfrey family over with them. Paul seemed bound to accompany them, and it pleased Margaret, when she found out that he was anxious to go with them, as she feared he would be murdered if caught by the rebels. Toward evening they all embarked on board the schooner, Paul having got permission from the Captain of the vessel to take his canoe on board, he, a.s.sisted by Charlie, embarked it also.

In the morning there being a fair wind sail was set, and next day all on board were safely landed at Annapolis. Fortune once more favoured the G.o.dfrey family, at Annapolis Royal there they found a British sloop of war. Margaret got Paul to take her and her husband in his canoe to the s.h.i.+p. They were received on board by the Captain in the most cordial manner, who said they had arrived in good time, as he intended to sail in a day or two. In a short time Captain G.o.dfrey and his wife returned to the sh.o.r.e, having completed arrangements with the Captain of the s.h.i.+p for a pa.s.sage to Halifax.

In a day or two the G.o.dfrey family, accompanied by the Indian, sailed in the British sloop-of-war _Viper_, commanded by Captain Greaves.

Four days later the _Viper_ arrived in Halifax harbour, and previous to the G.o.dfreys disembarking, Mrs. G.o.dfrey requested permission of Captain Greaves to address a few words of farewell to the s.h.i.+p's company. Her request being granted and all hands ordered on deck, Mrs. G., in appropriate terms and in a modest, yet dignified manner, spoke words of counsel to the company, concluding her short exhortation in these words: "And to the Captain of my salvation I commend you all."

CHAPTER VIII.

REBEL PLANS--PRAYING THE LORDS.

Before Captain G.o.dfrey sailed with his family from Halifax for England, he waited on Governor Arbuthnot and General Ma.s.sie[5] and informed them of the rebels intentions, and gave them a history of his sad experience on the St. John.

[Footnote 5: Fort Ma.s.sie at Halifax, part of which is now held as a military burial ground, was named after this officer.]

He told them that he had been offered by the rebels the command of a party of men to march forward and attack Fort c.u.mberland, and if they (the rebels) should be successful, they were to be reinforced, and at once proceed to Halifax, set fire to the town, and sack it.

In their proceedings the rebels, who were in constant communication with the New Englanders, and who were instructed by them, were talking of forming this plan in order if possible to keep General Howe's army from being largely reinforced.

Captain G.o.dfrey, though very weak and ill, offered his service to General Ma.s.sie, if the latter would arm two schooners and put on board of each of them one hundred regulars besides a crew of twenty-five men.

He proposed to proceed to Fort c.u.mberland and secure the place in case an attack was made. His offer was declined. He then bid adieu to Halifax and sailed for England, where he and his family arrived on January the 8th, 1777.

He lost no time in applying to Lords North and Germain, who after proper examination found his claims for losses in the colony well founded; and were generously pleased to order him the annual sum of one hundred and fifty pounds for the temporary support of his family. This sum was afterward reduced to one hundred and twenty pounds, and finally altogether withdrawn.

He then put his distressed condition before the government, and his case was again tossed about from Lord to Lord, and from board to board, and finally brought up again before the Lords of Parliament, and from it was sent back to the Lords of Plantations and Trade. From thence to the Lords of commission for services and losses in America, and the Lord only knows where else it was sent, until it was sent out to Nova Scotia in 1784.

Thirteen years had elapsed since the Captain experienced his first misfortune in Nova Scotia, and more than seven years had elapsed since his second loss, then his case was sent out to Nova Scotia.

During all this long time he had exercised the greatest patience, and his loyalty to his King (George the Third) was never for a moment shaken.

He had lost in lands and goods about twelve thousand pounds sterling by settling in a British Colony where Indians and rebels destroyed his prospects, and yet he had received no redress for the hards.h.i.+ps he and his family had endured, and the great wrongs inflicted upon them. His wife and children were allowed to remain in an almost dest.i.tute condition by the King and his advisers. Financially, Captain G.o.dfrey could have been in no worse condition had he joined General Was.h.i.+ngton.

But there was no power on earth that could induce the Captain to turn his back upon his King and his country.

He, with the a.s.sistance of his heroic wife, had done all in their power to rouse the whole mind and heart of their fellow countrymen in office to a satisfactory settlement of their just claims, but all they had done seemed useless, and they knew not what more to do.

After the close of the American war Captain G.o.dfrey once more thought of crossing the ocean to settle in the colony where he had experienced so much misfortune. But after he had made all the arrangements for leaving England, he found out that he was too weak in body to stand the wear and tear of a pa.s.sage across the Atlantic Ocean. In those days it usually took two months to cross from Great Britain to Nova Scotia.

The Captain's case had been tossed from one official to another, and from one commission to another, until it had probably travelled through the completely developed rounds of _Red Tapeism_. After this it appears to have been allowed to slumber till the close of the American Revolutionary War.

Captain G.o.dfrey's health, since his last arrival in England from the colony, was anything but good, and his means of support being gone, he was largely depending on friends and relatives for the means of supporting his family. His eldest son, (Charlie) through the never failing energy of his mother, had received an Ensign's commission in the British Army.[6]

[Footnote 6: In 1805, Charlie, who had received a Captain's commission, was appointed Captain in the Nova Scotia Fencible Infantry, commanded by Colonel Fred. Wetherall. In the above year Captain Charlie G.o.dfrey married in Nova Scotia.]

The last effort Captain G.o.dfrey appears to have made in trying to secure something in return for his services to his country, and for the great losses sustained by him in the colony, was after the conclusion of the war between England and America.

He got his case before the "Lords of the Commission" for services and losses in America, and there it seems to have met its doom, it was granted a sort of Ticket of Leave for transportation to Nova Scotia, where it died in exile.

Their Lords.h.i.+ps referred Captain G.o.dfrey in the following manner to the Governor of Nova Scotia:--