Annette - The Metis Spy

The bright, windless day passed over the prairie, and whenever

Annette spoke of the bravery of Captain Stephens, Julie would tell

some praises of the chief with the graceful loins and the great

luminous eye.

"Your lover has said that he would come to see you, Julie, but, ah

me, in these troublesome times Captain Stephens can no more return to

our cottage. Do you know, my little friend, that I cannot bear being

cooped up here during all this strife and tumult, when brave men and

defenceless women are at the mercy of savages and ill-advised men of

our own class. There have been evil and oppressive doings by

government and its agents, but I do not think that Monsieur Riel and

my father have taken the prudent course to remove the wrongs. It will

not be fair or honorable war; for when the savage and cruel instincts

of the red men are once aroused, they will treat the innocent like

the guilty, and neither woman nor child will be safe from their

horrible vengeance. Therefore, Annette, I have made up my mind to go

forth tomorrow in my Indian-boy disguise.

"I shall not betray my people or bur friends, but I shall pass from

one force to the other, and whenever I can warn the loyal troops, or

apprise their people of danger, I shall do it. You Julie I shall

leave in the care of my aunt at the Portage; for it is not safe for

you, it would not be safe for you and me together, to remain in this

deserted cottage alone during these looting and lawless times."

The two maidens were now alone, save for the presence of a Cree

drudge; for Paul had mounted a pony and followed his father, with

pistols in his holster-pipes, and a large bowie knife stuck into his

belt.

So as evening drew on Annette had packed, in little, portable

parcels all the valuables about the house; and when she sat down to

supper with Julie at her side, she said that everything was now

ready, and that they needed but to get into the saddle in the

morning. Little did these two girls know, as they sat quietly eating

their supper, that there was at this very moment a band of painted

enemies hurrying across the dim prairie toward their cottage!

Everything was perfectly still in the house, and the tick-tack of the

clock smote the silence. The heart of each girl was far away, and the

eyes of both were on the white, sweet floor.

Annette was the first to raise her eyes, and a short cry of terror

burst from her lips. For there in the entrance of the little dining-room

stood the tall, straight figure of an Indian chief. The cry brought

Julie to her senses, and she too looked up: but she gave no cry; the

blood came surging into her sweet head till her cheeks, and her smooth

throat, and her little shell-like ears, became the color of a blown

carnation.