he sails and part of the rigging were consumed in the fire
at Grimross. He had fortunately saved two of the compasses from the
flames. After days of toil he managed to get the vessel in fair working
order. The old half-burnt blankets were patched together and a mainsail
and jib were completed. On the 30th of May, 1771, he set sail for Fort
Frederick.
On the passage down the river several Indians were seen on the banks of
the stream, but none of them made any trouble. After eleven months
absence the Captain found himself at Fort Frederick once again. Captain
Godfrey said to his wife, "Margaret, what changes are often wrought in a
few months." "Yes! true!" she replied, "we have lost our property, but
we have escaped with our lives and those of our children. Our
reputations are not dimmed, neither has the Lord forsaken us. The best
of our fortune remains with us. An honourable foundation remains on
which we can re-erect our future structure. Let us thank a wise,
over-ruling providence that a fortune still remains to us, though we
have passed through great misfortune."
CHAPTER III.
ARRIVES OFF FORT FREDERICK--PAUL GUIDON.
After the arrival of the sloop at the mouth of the St. John, the Captain
was compelled to leave his wife and family. There was not a morsel of
food of any description in the locker. The necessaries that had been
supplied by Crabtree for the voyage were entirely consumed.
The day following the arrival off Fort Frederick, Captain Godfrey set
sail in his small boat for Passmaquaddy, eighteen leagues distant. The
boat was the same one in which he accomplished his successful journey to
Annapolis Royal. His intention in setting out for Passmaquaddy was to
visit a settlement belonging to a Lieutenant of the Royal Navy, and
there procure some supplies for his family, and sails and rigging for
the sloop.
He left his family in a most destitute condition, they having neither
shoes nor stockings to their feet, and every other article of their
clothing being in rags and tatters. While the Captain was absent, his
wife and family were obliged to traverse the shore seeking for small
fish, which they were sometimes fortunate in securing. The second
evening after Captain Godfrey had left for Lieut. Owen's settlement,
being a clear, moonlight one in June, Mrs. Godfrey thought she saw an
object floating leisurely down the river in the direction of the sloop.
She went below and brought on deck one of the o
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