The Frontier Fort

The Frontier Fort
Stirring Times in the North-West Territory of British America
by W H G Kingston
CHAPTER ONE.
A party of travellers were wending their way across a wide-spreading
prairie in the north-west territory of America. As far as the eye could
reach, the ground was covered with waving tufts of dark-green grass,
interspersed with flowers of varied hue, among which could be
distinguished the yellow marigold and lilac bergamot, with bluebells,
harebells, and asters, innumerable; while here and there rose-bushes,
covered with gorgeous bloom, appeared above the particoloured carpet
spread over the country. On the north side the prairie was bounded by
softly rounded knolls, between which tiny lakelets were visible, shining
in the bright rays of the glowing sun. To the northward a silvery stream
could be seen meandering, bordered by willows, aspens, osiers, and
other trees of considerable height, breaking the line of the horizon.
"I am delighted with your country, Burnett; I had no idea such lovely
scenery and so much rich soil existed on this side of the Rocky
Mountains," said one of the travellers, addressing another, who rode
alongside him.
"I hope, before many years are over, to see this fair region covered with
populous towns and villages, and flourishing farms."
"That time is far distant, I suspect," answered Mr Burnett, a head clerk
of the Hudson's Bay Company, in charge of the party; "and I can only
say that I hope so, for when it comes, our vocation will be well-nigh
gone, as the Company will have to shut up shop--"
"And retire on well-won fortunes," laughingly added the first speaker,

Reginald Loraine. He was a young Englishman of good fortune and
family, who had lately come out to make a tour in Canada; but having
heard conflicting reports of the north-west territory, he had been
induced to continue his journey westward, intending to proceed as far
as the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and to return, before the
termination of the summer, from Fort Edmonton, down the
Saskatchewan, and through Lake Winnipeg to the Red River.
His intelligence, high spirits, and good humour made him an agreeable
companion. He was never put out by any mishaps or inconveniences.
His personal appearance was also much in his favour; while he was a
good rider, and possessed of activity and endurance, equal, if not
superior, to any of the rest of the party, long accustomed though they
were to the mode of life they were leading.
From the sentiments he uttered, and the expression of his handsome
countenance, it might have been surmised that he possessed many other
qualities of a higher character. Young Hector Mackintosh, who had
come with him from Toronto, declared, indeed, that he never wished to
have a stauncher fellow at his back in a skirmish with Redskins, or in a
fight with a grizzly, and that he was as high-minded and generous as he
was brave.
Hector, who was now curvetting over the prairie on a tough little
mustang, had been at school at Toronto, whence he was returning to
rejoin his father, Captain Mackintosh, now a chief officer, or factor, in
charge of Fort Duncan, a Company's post to the south-west, situated on
the borders of the Blackfeet territory. It was a somewhat dangerous
position, which only a man of courage and resolution would willingly
have occupied.
Following at some little distance those who have been mentioned, came
three other horsemen, whose shouts of laughter, interspersed
occasionally with snatches of songs, could be heard far across the
prairie. The centre of the three was a short, portly gentleman, with a
somewhat rubicund countenance--Doctor McCrab, just appointed
surgeon to one of the forts in the west. On either side of him rode two
young clerks. One of them was Dan Maloney, a light-hearted Irishman,

with whom the jolly Doctor amused himself by exchanging jokes,
capping verses, and singing duets which set all the laws of harmony at
defiance.
The other was Allan Keith, who, from similarity of taste and mental
qualities, had won the regard of Reginald Loraine; indeed, except in
point of wealth, the two young men greatly resembled each other.
Some way behind the gentlemen came a long team of Red River
wooden carts, escorted by several persons on horseback, under charge
of Jacques Leblanc, a French half-breed, who, from his reputed
knowledge of the country in all directions, had been selected to act as
guide to the whole party.
The carts, which had only two wheels, were built entirely of wood, and
each was dragged by a single horse. Some carried the travellers' tents,
cooking utensils, a tool-chest, and additional axletrees, their arms and
ammunition, together with their clothes, spare blankets, and
waterproofs. The other carts were laden with stores of all sorts for the
forts to