The Hunted Outlaw, or, Donald Morrison, the Canadian Rob Roy Part 4

"There would be trouble."

"Donald had a determined look. Duquette made a mistake in taking the farm. The cowboys in the North-West held life rather cheap."

So the old people said.

CHAPTER XV. A SHOT IN THE DARKNESS.

The Duquettes took possession of the farm.

They were quiet, inoffensive people.

Donald had been seen moving about between Marsden and Lake Megantic wearing an air of disquietude.

Something was impending. In a vague way the people felt that something sinister was going to happen.

'Twas about midnight in the village of Marsden. Darkness enveloped it as a mourning garment. Painful effort, and strife, and sorrow were all forgotten in that deep sleep which, as the good Book says, is peculiarly sweet to the laboring man.

The Duquettes had not yet retired to rest. Mrs. Duquette had been kept up by an ailing child. She was sitting with her little one on her knee.

Suddenly there was a detonation and a crash of gla.s.s. A whizzing bullet lodged in the face of the clock above Mrs. Duquette's head. Who fired the shot? And what was the motive? Was it intended that the bullet should kill, or only alarm?

Was it intended that the Duquettes should recognize the desirability of vacating the farm?

Who fired the shot?

Nothing was said openly about it; but the old people shook their heads, and hinted that cowboys, with pistols ostentatiously stuck in their belts, were not the most desirable residents of a quiet village like Marsden.

CHAPTER XVI. "BURNT A HOLE IN THE NIGHT."

That shot in the darkness furnished a theme for endless gossip amongst the villagers. There was not much work done the next day. When the exercise of the faculties is limited to considerations a.s.sociated with the rare occurrence of a wedding or a death, intellectual activity is not great. Abstract reasoning is unknown; but a new objective fact connected with the environment is seized upon with great avidity. That shot was felt to be ominous. Was it the prologue to the tragedy? There was to be something more than that shot.

What was it?

Would anything else happen, and when would it happen?

The villagers were not kept long in suspense.

A few nights afterwards there was a lurid glare in the sky.

It was red, and sinister, and quivering.

What could it mean?

Was it a celestial portent which thus wrote itself upon the face of the heavens?

The villagers a.s.sembled in alarm.

"Why, it's Duquette's place on fire!"

Yes, the homestead had been fired, and the conflagration made a red, ragged hole in the blackness of the night!

CHAPTER XVII. SUSPICION FALLS UPON DONALD, AND A WARRANT IS ISSUED AGAINST HIM.

This was the second act in the drama.

The situations were strong and in bold relief. Would the interest deepen in dramatic accrument?

Donald was generally suspected; but he had commenced to experience that sympathy which was to withstand all attempts of the Government to shake it--attempts which appealed alternately to fears and cupidity.

There was no proof against him, but even those who, if there had been proof, would have condemned the act, would not put forth a hand to injure him.

To understand the strength of the feeling of clannishness in this district one must reside amongst the people.

Donald was suspected, as we have said, and a warrant was made out against him on the charge of arson.

CHAPTER XVIII. HE THOUGHT OF HIS WIFE AND FAMILY, AND HE RETURNED TO SHERBROOKE.

"Good morning, Mr. A----."

"Good morning, Mr. L----. A lovely morning."

"Yes, indeed."

"Are you going far?"

"I am going to Marsden. By the way, have you seen Donald Morrison lately?"

"I saw him yesterday. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I may tell you that I have a warrant to arrest him on a charge of arson."

Mr. L---- looked very thoughtful. "Do you know the kind of man you have to deal with?"

"I have heard a good deal about him, especially since he returned from the West. But why do you ask?"

"I don't know," said Mr. L----, "whether Donald set fire to the Duquette's place or not, but I know that his real or fancied wrongs have made him morose and irritable--aye, I will add, dangerous. You are a married man, Mr. A----?"