In the midst of an anxious group of officers, comprising
nearly all of that rank within the fort, stood two
individuals, attired in a costume having nothing in common
with the gay and martial habiliments of the former. They
were tall, handsome young men, whose native elegance of
carriage was but imperfectly hidden under an equipment
evidently adopted for, and otherwise fully answering,
the purpose of disguise. A blue cotton shell jacket,
closely fitting to the person, trowsers of the same
material, a pair of strong deer-skin mocassins, and a
coloured handkerchief tied loosely round the collar of
a checked shirt, the whole surmounted by one of those
rough blanket coats, elsewhere described, formed the
principal portion of their garb. Each, moreover, wore a
false queue of about nine inches in length, the effect
of which was completely to change the character of the
countenance, and lend to the features a Canadian-like
expression. A red worsted cap, resembling a bonnet de
nuit, was thrown carelessly over the side of the head,
which could, at any moment, when deeper disguise should
be deemed necessary, command the additional protection
of the rude hood that fell back upon the shoulders from
the collar of the coat to which it was attached. They
were both well armed. Into a broad belt, that encircled
the jacket of each, were thrust a brace of pistols and
a strong dagger; the whole so disposed, however, as to
be invisible when the outer garment was closed: this,
again, was confined by a rude sash of worsted of different
colours, not unlike, in texture and quality, what is worn
by our sergeants at the present day. They were otherwise