The Bastonnais | Page 5

sir."
His Excellency quietly took up his cap, set it on his head, threw himself back in his seat, placed his elbows on the elbows of the chair, closed his palms together perpendicularly, moved them up and down before his lips, and with his eyes cast to the ceiling, entered upon this little calculation.
"Sixty miles. At the rate of fifteen miles a day, it will take Mr. Arnold four days to reach Levis. This is the seventh, is it not? Then, on the eleventh, we may expect that gentleman's visit."
"Arnold will make two forced marches of thirty miles each, Your Excellency, and arrive opposite this city in two days. This is the seventh; on the ninth, we shall see his vanguard on the heights of Levis."
"Ho! Ho! And is that the way the jolly rebel is carrying on? He must have had a wonderful run of luck all at once. The last we heard from him, his men had mutinied and were about to disband."
"That was because they were starving."
"And have they been filled, forsooth?"
"They have, sir."
"By whom?"
"By our own people at Sertigan and further along the Chaudière."
"But horses? They are known to have lost them all in the wilderness."
"They have been replaced."
"Not by our own people, surely."
"Yes, sir, by our own people."
"Impossible. Our poor farmers have been robbed and plundered by these rascals."
"Excuse me, Your Excellency, but these rascals pay and pay largely for whatever they require."
"In coin?"
"No, sir, in paper."
"Their Continental paper?"
"The same."
"Rags, vile rags."
"That may be. But our farmers accept them all the same and freely."
Roderick here produced the small parcel which he had deposited in his breast pocket, and having unfolded it, drew forth several slips which he handed to His Excellency. They were specimens of American currency, and receipts signed by Arnold and others of his officers for cattle and provisions obtained from Canadian farmers.
"Indeed," continued the young officer, "Your Excellency will excuse me for saying that, from all the information in my possession--information upon which I insist that you can implicitly rely--it is beyond question that the population, through which the invading column has passed and is passing, is favourable to their cause. A trumpery proclamation written by General Washington himself, and translated into French, has been distributed among them, and they have been carried away by its fine sentences about liberty and independence. These facts account for all the misleading and false reports which we have hitherto received concerning the expedition. We have been purposely and systematically kept in the dark in regard to it. Left to itself, Arnold's army would have disbanded through insubordination, or perished of starvation and hardship in the wilderness. Comforted and replenished by His Majesty's own subjects, it is now marching with threatening front toward Quebec."
"Traitors to the King in the outlying districts cannot unfortunately be so easily reached as those who lie more immediately under our eyes. But their time will come yet. Meanwhile, we have to keep a sharp watch over disaffection and treason within the walls of this very city," said the Lieutenant-Governor with great earnestness and very perceptible warmth.
"This parcel may probably assist Your Excellency in doing so," replied Hardinge, at the same time delivering the remainder of the package which he had received from Donald.
"What have we here?" questioned the Governor, while unfastening the strings which bound the parcel.
"Letters from Colonel Arnold to General Schuyler, the original commander of the army of invasion. Arnold will be surprised, if not chagrined, to learn that Schuyler has been succeeded by Montgomery."
"Ah! I see. Well, as these letters are not addressed to General Montgomery, and as Gen. Schuyler has left the country, it will be no breach of etiquette on our part if we open them. No doubt they will furnish very interesting reading. And these?"
"They are letters from Arnold to several prominent citizens of Quebec."
"Impossible."
"Your Excellency will please read the addresses."
The Governor examined the superscriptions one by one, and in silence, while he made his comments in an undertone.
"Mr. L.--It does not surprise me."
"Mr. F.--I shall inquire into it."
"Mr. O.--As likely as not."
"Mr. R.--Must be some mistake. He is too big a fool to take sides one way or the other."
"Mr. G.--His wife will have to decide that matter for him."
"Mr. X.--I'll give him a commission, and he'll be all right."
"Mr. N.--I don't believe a word of it."
"Mr. H.--Loose fish. He was false to France under Montcalm. He may be false to England under Carleton."
And so on through a dozen more. At length he came upon the twentieth address, when he exclaimed:
"Mr. B.--Impossible! My best friend! But what if it were true? Who knows what these dark days may bring about? B--! B--! I will see to it at once."
Saying which, he flung all the letters on the table, and striving to master his excitement, turned