Annette, the Metis Spy: A Heroine of the N.W. Rebellion

r she felt that the words of the rebel chief

tinge of crimson stole into her cheek. "I am sure that I behaved in no way to him,

his horse covered with foam;

he came into the sweet, tidy cottage, with its t

is friends stayed here last night. O, I do fear that we are now ver

n, including Bois-Brule's and Indians have arms in

with your scattered followers, who have no money, no garrisons, no means of holding out in a long struggle, hope to

y 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

t 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 su

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 m

of meat is spoilt. Is

ians and to the Metis, with employment that would bring them food. Well, this meat was given to both, and for every pound of the foul meat the wretched Breed or Indian was

, you fellows. You will eat th

a grant of this holding under the law, but has applied in vain; and a friend of

wa by the priests and the people; and the only

half-breeds are! Cease pestering us. We will not

ut it is a fact that he actually went asleep in his chair, while the delegates were stating their case. Instead of making enquiry into the grievances, he hastily packed his trunks and went away to England to obtain

shing of cymbals; and looking through the window father and daughter beheld a numer

the Colonel said; "I wonder who has started them upon t

my friends

ficent savage, put his fing

when the moon rises. Captain Stephens, police spy, and heap of other spies there. Take em all and put em

apture of Captain Stephens. You know he saved la

ame by which Annette

t lived upon the plai

Tall Elk and his bra

th us, but he is a bra

g against us he is o

ed the chief. "Will look

deliverer's life would not be safe in the hands of the terrible man. She said naught, but a bold resolution passed like a flame through her brain. In a little while the chief departed, and at

at I cannot sit up with you as long as usual: good-night." Then she k

ut her olive face was stained with delicate carnation, and her little mouth resembled a rose just about to open. She was

Annette whispered a

iselle, what

se savages who have just left our house. Monsieur Riel hates my deliverer, and I shudde

ve seen Monsieur le Chef look upon you; and there was great love in his eye. But it was not the

y my heart flutters so for the fate of Monsieur Stephens. I want my bay saddle

ress, and then tripped away daintily

ure, walked swiftly down the path toward the bush. As he reached the lit

ing by. She wore a buff coat and deer skin leggings; and about her waist was a belt in which were stuck a long knife and a pair of pistols. She pa

rtez-vous bien,

u;" and she galloped down the gras

d must now be fully a couple of miles in the rear. But she kept on till she judged that fifteen minutes more must bring her to the encampment at Hickory Bush. Then through the hush of the night came to her ear a far off, indistinct sound, which resembled galloping thunder. She knew not what it could mean, unless indeed it was the tumult of some distant waterfall, borne hither now because, may

rer, deadlier

nd, as it seemed to her, with ten thousand devils at its core. Chained to the ground with a terrible awe, she stood fast for many minutes, till at last in the dim lig

n the shelter of which she instantly secured her horse; then running a few

The tree upon which the girl had taken refuge received many a shock from a crazed bull; and it seemed to Annette from her perch in the branches, as if all the face of the plains was being hurled toward the south in the wildest turmoil. Hell itself let loose could present no such spectacle as this myriad mass of brute l

sea when a sturdy tide sets against the storm, and the mad waves tumble hither and thither, foiled and impelled, y

with expectancy. Well they knew that many a gorgeous feast awaited them wherever boulder, tree or swamp lay in the path of the mighty herd. At last the face of the prairie had ce

oughed field. The herbage had been literally crushed into mire, and this the innumerable hoofs had churned up with the soft rich soil. The leguminous odors of the trodden clover and the rank masses of wild pease, together with the dank earthy smell of the broken sod, rose offensively in the girl's face. Her course now lay along an upland covered with straggling copses of white oak and poplar. In the di

to