The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-03-03

n Try IOlk OTOVe MIN BACK with eXecratlOnS
: The dairy-maid would not give him cuE
: OF milk; the Indian refused him bread ant
0 fire; once some little children turned hi
n boat adrift, but he swan stream, and re
d covered it. Thus, friendless, hungry, ant
at bay, he moved forever northward to-
wards the cold guilt, till, having entered
: the romantic territory of the Thousand
: Isles we lost all traces of him. Ou
t voyage through this most picturesque o
archipelagoes was rendered thrice entranc.
1 ing by the adventure which had developed
: it. There are said to be literally thou.
l sand islands clustering in the broad neck
S or estuary of the St. Lawrence. Many
of them can scarcely afford foothold to
bird; others support a single miniature
tree; some sustain huge masses of rock,
l piled In eccentric forms, and holding i'll
their crevices the palms of climbing vines
: few are large and heavy with turf and
, woodland, and all are verlant as spring.
\ voyage among them is like the reading
OF a poem or the passing of dream
one seems to be far aloft in balloon, gaz-
5 ing at the diminished land and sea: for
were there but little folk to inhabit these
pigmy continents, we should have Lilipu-
, tia indeed. Here, in winter, the drift-ice
heaps up crags and monuments. and the
tloes and fields crush up in summer, as if
they would bear the Thousand Isles away
to their Arctic home the wild birds bring
forth their young upon its surface; the
cold spawn of the fishes grows warm and
vital beneath: the stripped and spotted
snake lies among their debris, charming
the sparrow and the blue jay and the
wolf passing from land to land; stops here
in the dead midnigh to howl Not hui
man being tenants these Thousand Isles {;
they are sprinkled here and there in Won
drous irregularity the deep river winds
in and out among them rs if lost or tarry-
ing, and the tourist passing by is remind
ed of some tableau in the melo-drama,
too beautiful and unexpected to be real
In pursuit of Ingram we pursued every
islet of this region. We found hundred
: traces of him. for he was ever fitting to
and tro-now the embers of his fire, now
the echo of his rifle. now the report of
some alarmed fisherman. whom the fugi-
tive had passed like an apparation. One
day at sunset we saw him-a ragged. hag-
gard. hatless being, standing upon a rock
scarcely larger than Il mans hand, with
: the waters churning around him. and his
: bateau at his feet. He was sharply out
: lined against the red SKY, and he stood in
an attitude of despair, leaning wearily
upon his rifle | thought of the Wander
ing jew, or the last Indian of his race.
halting Oh the brink of the Pacific. Sud
denly he beheld Us. gnashinS his teeth. and
lifting his clenched hand, he leaped into
his vessel, and >culled away like the wind
. we lost him in the darkness. and saw him
no more for many days.
Two weeks had now been consumed in
this singular pursuit At last Ballagal
: became troubled and doubtful. 1t WI,
possible for Ingram, changing his position
every night, to lead lis upon wild chase
for a year. lie could plumber barns and
, river-cratts for nourishments, and fish and
game were plentiful. Desperate. in view
of the penalty of his otfense, we knew
that rowing among these green islands was
, conSonant with his adventurous nature
Fresh from five years cntombment in tn,
Jail, and hopeful of guilty gain, he would
leave no artitice mtried to retain his lber.
tv: and Ballagan feared that he would
surrender himself to the Canadian author
: tiles, when the device of Mr. Pepin Petit
, might be made manifest. One day, at
Alexandria BAY. we received dispatch
from a station far down the river; julie.
Ingram had been seen near the head of tn,
First Rapid, he had foiIed US, and with q
n long start, was making his way vigorously
towards the Gulf of St. Lawrence Every
A stroke OF the oars was new hope to him.
in ten hours he would pass the American
I boundary line, and then our difficultie.
e would be multiplied ten-fold. Ballagar
acted with his usual decision: we took
the first express steamer, and pushed or
e with the energy of current and steam. Ii
5 was midnight when we reached the heaC
OF the rapids, and rs it was forbidden t(
a descend them in the darkness. the vesse
t halted at quay, and waited for the morn
0 1t was grand steamer-"a floating pal
ace and having walked with Ballagal
!, up and down the promenade deck. listen
, ing to the roar of the waters. weariet
t of his impatience, and retired to my
n sumptuous state room. | was soundl,
dreaming, my heart was back among tn,
: Thousand Isles. and our wild search wa
: all forgotten, when raps upon my chamber
e door brought me to my feet 1t was Bal
It lagan, and | knew by his blank, sphinx
:, like countenance that somethieg was t.
:. ensue
"Come out at once" he said, in deep
Il unimpassioned monotone. "IIelp me t,
), launch the boat; you are going on tn,
n water with me. No tlinching! or, by tn,
v Great American Eagle, your life ism
It worth rushlight.'
e A premonition Of danger crept coldl!
upon me-I knew that he saw me falter
n but did not speak. l marked in TIN
d grey dawn from the windy deck the awfu
l. .urging of the rapids, tossing their foam.
d hairs into the sky, blending their spray
It in white cataracts of mist, and dashin,
e upon black rocks, imperfectly revealed, a
o if meaning to wrest them from their ever