"Oui, Monsieur," and making an obeisance the murderous tool
departed. Exactly as planned, it all fell out. Captain Toltbon was
put in irons, and Riel declared that for the sake of peace and order
he must be shot. Many people came and implored him to spare the
condemned man's life; but he was inexorable. "At the eleventh hour,"
however, as the newspapers put it, yielding to solicitation, Riel
said: "He is spared."
Jean presented himself before his leader.
"Monsieur, I think it will not be necessary to employ stratagem in
working our man to violence. He has been showering reproaches upon
the guards, and loading your name with ignominious reproach. The
guards knew my feelings; so during the night they put chains upon him.
As the foremost one advanced with the manacles, the prisoner raised
his arm, and dealt him a blow on the head, which felled him to the
ground."
"Bon! bon!" Riel cried, while he rubbed his hands. "Without applying
the little goad, he fulfils our will."
"Well, not in the strictest sense, mon chef. Luc had certain private
instructions from me, and he carried them out in a very skilful
manner."
"N'importe, Jean, n'importe how the thing came about; we have the
cause against him, and that suffices. What do you now propose to do,
for you are aware, Jean--" there was now a tone of diabolical
raillery in his words--"that this matter is one in which I cannot
concern myself, you being the best judge of what is due rebellious
military prisoners?"
"Merci, mon chef! I shall endeavour to merit your further regard. My
intention is to proceed forthwith to try him. Already, I have
summoned the witnesses of his guilt; and he and you shall know our
decision before another hour has passed." Then the faithful Monsieur
Jean was gone.
"No, ma chere Annette. You shall never deck your nuptial chamber
with daisies for Edmund Stephens. You will find occupation for your
sweet little fingers in putting fresh roses upon the mound that
covers him. For a feu-de-joie and the peal of marriage bells,
I will give you, ma petite chere, the sullen toll that calls him to
his open coffin, and the rattle of musketry that stills the tongue
which uttered to you the last love pledge."
For an hour did he pace up and down the floor gloating over his
revenge. Meanwhile, I shall leave him and follow the "adjutant-
general," as Jean was known under the new regime. He proceeded to the
private room of the military quarters, and entering found his
subordinates assembled there.
"Messieurs," he said, "We know what our business is. We must lose no
time in despatching it. But before commencing, let me say a few
words. Monsieur Riel is so overweighted with other affairs that the
matter of dealing with the man Stephens rests entirely in our hands.
I have just left him, after endeavouring in vain to induce him to be
present at the trial: but he could not spare the time to come. By
skilfully sounding him, however, I discovered that his sentiments
regarding the prisoner are exactly the same as those entertained by
myself. What these are I need hardly say. It is now a struggle
between the authority of the Provisional Government and a horde of
rebellious persons of which the defendant is the most dangerous. The
eyes of our followers are upon us; and if we permit the authority of
Government to be defied, its officers reviled, and insult heaped upon
us, depend upon it we shall speedily lose the hold we have gained
after so many bitter struggles; and become a prey to the conspiracy
which our enemies are so actively engaged in promoting. The very fact
that this man Stephens leagued himself with our enemies, is an
offence worthy of death; but I shall ask these persons who are here
as witnesses to show you that since his capture he has merited death
ten times over at our hands. With your permission, gentlemen, I will
proceed: "Edmund Stephens, of Prince Albert, stands charged before this court-
martial with treasonable revolt against the peace and welfare of the
colony; with having leagued himself with an armed party, whose object
was the overthrow of authority as vested in our Provisional Government.
He is likewise charged with having attempted criminal violence upon
lawfully delegated guards appointed over him, during his incarceration;
and likewise with inciting his fellow-prisoners to insubordination and
tumult contrary to the order and well-being of this community.