His Lank White Hair Flowed Over His
Shoulders, And His Neckcloth And Shirt-Front Were Smeared With Blood.
He
said he had cut his wife's throat, and that her ghost was after him.
"There, there!" he said, pointing to a corner.
I looked at his eyes, and
saw at once that I was in the company of a madman. He then said that he
was king of the island of Montreal, and that he had murdered his wife
because she was going to betray him to the Queen of England. He was now,
he declared, going down to make a public entrance into Montreal. After
this avowal I treated him with the respect due to his fancied rank, till I
could call the stewards without exciting his suspicions. They said that he
was a confirmed lunatic, and had several times attempted to lay violent
hands upon himself. They thought he must have escaped from his keeper at
Brockville, and, with true madman's cunning, he had secreted himself in
the steamer. They kept him under strict surveillance till we arrived at
Montreal, and frustrated an attempt which he made to throw himself into
the rapid as we were descending it.
At seven we unmoored from the pier at La Chine, and steamed over the calm
waters of the Lac St. Louis, under the care of a Canadian voyageur, who
acted as a subordinate to an Indian pilot, who is said to be the only
person acquainted with the passage, and whom the boats are obliged under
penalty to take.
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