Annette - The Metis Spy

All day long Annette was in sore trouble, for she felt that the

words of the rebel chief boded no good to herself or to her deliverer.

"Why should he think that I loved Captain Stephens?" the girl

murmured, as a soft tinge of crimson stole into her cheek. "I am sure

that I behaved in no way to him, that a girl should not act towards

the man who had risked his life to save hers."

With the dusk came her father, his horse covered with foam; for he

had ridden fast and far.

"Why is my daughter's cheek so pale?" he asked as he came into the

sweet, tidy cottage, with its trailing morning glories, and bunches

of mignonette.

"I have been a little disturbed, papa. The Metis chief and one of

his friends stayed here last night. O, I do fear that we are now very

near an outbreak. Is it not so, my father? Will you not tell me?"

"It is even so, child. Already nearly a thousand men, including Bois-

Brule's and Indians have arms in their hands, and await the words of

their leaders."

"But, papa, can good really come of this insurrection which you

propose? I mean, mon pere, can you and Monsieur Riel, with your

scattered followers, who have no money, no garrisons, no means of

holding out in a long struggle, hope to overcome the numerous trained

soldiers of the Government, with the money and the enthusiasm of a

nation at their back?"

"You talk, my daughter, as if some friend of Government had been

pouring his tale into your ear. Now, Annette, child, I love you very

dearly, and I am grateful to this young man who has saved your life;

but as the opinions which you have expressed could only have come

from him I must ask that further intercourse between you and him

ceases till this great issue has been fought out and settled."

"Captain Stephens, mon pere, has never uttered a word to me about

these matters; and the opinions which I have, worthless though they

be, are my own. Ah, papa, you surely have not forgotten the last

struggle. Monsieur Riel, then, had some sort of right to set up his

authority in a province which for a time came not under the

jurisdiction of the Company or of the Dominion; the clergy were at

his back; he had possession of the strongest Fort in the North-West

Territories, and provisions enough to supply his forces for a year.

Yet, at the very beating of the soldiers' drums he fled like a felon,

and was obliged to beg a mouthful of food in his flight to exile. The

circumstances now are not nearly so auspicious. How, then, can you

hope to succeed?"

"You are not familiar, child, with affairs in these territories; and

you neither know the extent of the discontent, nor the causes which

have led to it. The Half-Breed people and the Indian tribes have been

treated by government and their agents, worse than we would use our

dogs. Instead of sending honest and capable men to rule here, they

appoint adventurers whose only object is to make money during their

residence, at the expense of the people. You are not wholly ignorant

of the conduct of Lieutenant-Governor Tewtney. Since his arrival in

the territories he has never been known to give a patient hour to

hearing the grievances of the half-breed people; but he is forever

abroad grabbing up plots of choice land, and securing timber and

mineral leases; or furthering the schemes of knots of friends and

advisers gathered about him. I shall relate one instance which has

just came to light, and it will serve as an example of this man's

career. Some time ago a friend of his imported a large quantity of

meat, but upon arrival it was found to be unwholesome and foul. This

man went to Governor Tewtney and he said.